What a fantastic day of design discourse and discussion! Special thanks to GE and Smithsonian, Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum for providing us the video feed, and thanks to all of you who watched and participated in the discussions online. Check back here in coming days for any additional coverage, and search Twitter for #designnow an archive and continuation of today’s tweets.
Ask Unclutterer is taking the day off today, but some great discussions are currently underway on the Unclutterer Forums:
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One of our favorite Parisian hotels hosts Dita Von Teese for a month of burlesque affairs
Having visited the Hotel Particulier Montmartre when it opened in 2007, we recently returned for another stay in the artfully decorated private-residence-turned-hotel. While some of its charms remained the same—such as the view of the pétanque players in the neighboring courtyard, a curious collection of art books and fashion-forward magazines, and the feeling that you’ve stepped into an eccentric French fantasyland—the hotel’s ambiance and decor is consistently evolving, thanks to the vision of co-owner and conceptual artist Morgane Rousseau. (See more images here.)
As the former curator of the renowned Château de Bionnay, a massive castle near Lyon that’s now a residence for artists, transforming the hotel periodically comes naturally to Rousseau. Its latest incarnation, a tasteful burlesque theme, was designed to serve as the home to Dita Von Teese, who will perform there nightly for the month of October 2010.
The event, Le Cointreau Privé, is part of Von Teese’s ongoing collaboration with Cointreau dating back to 2008. Accessed by a bracelet, the exclusive cocktail club includes signature drinks and private meals held in each of the hotel’s five rooms (for guests who’ve been personally invited by Hotel Particulier).
A place where reality and dreams blur, Hotel Particulier Montmartre is the perfect place for a romantic visit to Paris.
Rooms span €290 to €590, to reserve visit Mr and Mrs Smith.
Une belle opération de marketing alternatif avec ces affiches en relief pour la marque Coca-Cola placés sur différents emplacements dans la ville. “Refresh on the Coca-Cola side of life”, imaginé par l’agence de publicité MacLaren McCann basé à Toronto. Plus d’images dans la suite.
From left, Guggenheim curators Maria Nicanor and David van der Leer, architect Yoshiharu Tsukamoto of Atelier Bow-Wow, and graphic designers Sulki Choi and Min Choi of Sulki & Min at today’s press conference announcing the BMW Guggenheim Lab (Photo: UnBeige)
It’s official: the Guggenheim is taking its curatorial program on the road. In what Richard Armstrong, director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and Museum, described at this morning’s press conference in New York City as “one of the most exciting projects the Guggenheim has ever undertaken,” the museum has partnered with BMW to launch a global initiative that will bring “labs” that are part architectural installation, part think tank, and part event hub to nine cities around the world over the next six years. “The BMW Guggenheim Lab is the largest and most ambitious cultural collaboration in the history of our company,” said Frank-Peter Arndt, member of BMW’s board of management. “It will develop solutions and concepts for cities of the future.”
Conceived as a vast and deliberately open-ended R & D project, the program will consist of three globe-hopping mobile structures, each with its own distinct theme, architecture, and graphic identity. The first 5,000-square-foot BMW Guggenheim Lab will be designed by Tokyo-based architecture firm Atelier Bow-Wow, which David van der Leer, co-curator of the project, praised for its “very witty way of dealing with everyday design challenges.” The Seoul-based firm of Sulki & Min will create the graphic identity of the first lab. It will be installed late next summer in North America, where it will present its programming (site-specific workshops, public discussions, performances) through the fall before moving on to cities in Europe and Asia. The structure will also present the responses of the BMW Guggenheim Lab Team (four early- to mid-career professionals identified as emerging leaders in their fields) to the first theme: “Confronting Comfort: The City and You.” At the conclusion of each structure’s three-year world tour, it will be the focus of an exhibition at the Guggenheim in New York City.
Many details remain sketchy, but here’s a handy diagram of how the first cycle will go and (posted below) a video explaining the project.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Aluminum foam is neat stuff, made by melting the metal down and adding a bubbling agent while it’s in liquid form. The resultant material looks like a sponge, is up to 95% air, is fireproof, sound-dampening, reflective, and can absorb a high amount of impact force. The military is incorporating aluminum foam in Humvees (click on “Blast Mitigation” at link) to absorb IED blasts, and Frank Gehry’s making a building complex out of the stuff. The informative (but occasionally silly) nine-minute video below takes a closer look at the material and how it’s made:
London studio Doshi Levien have designed this domestic spa for Italian brand Glass Idromassaggio.
Ananda has a cabinet for steaming towels with a sink on top, a concrete bench and a shower with wall-mounted jets.
Here’s some more from the designers:
Ananda – Doshi Levien design for Glass Idromassaggio.
Doshi Levien designed a personal spa environment for Glass Idromassaggio that was launched at Cersaie on the 28th September 2010.
Ananda, meaning ultimate bliss, is a personal spa that explores the coming together of water, steam, light, materials and space in relation to the body. Elevating the senses to encourage physical and mental well-being forms the essence of Doshi Levien’s design approach. Ananda constitutes a series of elements that incorporate the most advanced hydro therapy technology combined with sensual materials. The spa is no longer a place for only occasional use as Doshi Levien extended the purpose of steam beyond simply filling a room. Doshi Levien see the spa forming part of ones daily rituals; a hot steamed towel every morning, aromatherapy and foot spa at the end of day, a place where you feel comfortable to take a facial treatment or pedicure. Ananda is an adaptable environment, allowing architects and the end user to configure their own spa and to choose the individual elements as needed.
Rain shower:
The rain shower is a new object typology that visually reconnects the bathing area with the living space. Doshi Levien created a porcelain shade that produces glowing droplets of water offering a full cover of light and rain.
Steam cabinet:
Inspired by the Hammams of Morocco, Doshi Levien observed how people sit low to the ground, either on a bucket or on the floor itself. They created a space in which people feel comfortable to sit low to the ground by offering a low and horizontal element, the steam cabinet. This contains hot steamed towels and on the glass surface there is a porcelain aroma dispenser and water vessel. Doshi Levien designed these elements with pleasure of use in mind so that each function has the potential to become a ritual.
Wall panel:
Doshi Levien’s objective for Ananda was to find a new material expression for hydro therapy technology. They found a new visual and functional expression defined by the relationship between body and space, as opposed to body and product. For example, they perceived the shower as an architectural plane or interior element. This cast slab of concrete contrasts with the advanced technology concealed within. Embedded water jets are set flush into the surface and water spouts slice into the concrete as if delivering a torrent of water from the wall itself. Doshi Levien were guided by notions of infinity and the sense of space beyond boundaries as a fundamental principle of well-being.
Benches:
The bench design was lead by the question “what material is most desirable to have in contact with the body in a hot spa?”. The use of concrete provides a smooth, hard but warm surface reminiscent of Cemberlitas in Istanbul or Therme Vals by Peter Zumthor in Switzerland. The use of concrete provides an unrefined sense of timelessness, longevity and solidity that is conducive to relaxation of body and mind.
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| Apprentice shoes by Doshi Levien | Myth and Material by Doshi Levien | My Beautiful Backside by Doshi Levien |
 | After about 15 years of wearing makeup you would think that I would have mastered the art of makeup application, and you might be right! Kind of. I can do a mean mascara job with one hand on the steering wheel while stuck in traffic, and my eyebrow grooming is down to a science. When it comes to eyeshadow and eyeliner, however, I just can’t get it right. Attempt a smokey eye? I might as well attempt to run the Boston Marathon. I am, therefore, grateful for any product that attempts to help me out, and have discovered that the Smokey Eye Creator Kit from Pixi is really all that I needed to create a dummy-proof sultry look. No more guessing which eyeshadow colors should be used together or what brush to use. This kit comes with four coordinating eyeshadows that can be mixed and matched depending on your mood … and skill level. Plus, for further accident proofing, there’s also a double sided applicator for the shadow and gel eyeliner! The smudge-proof, waterproof mascara provides the finishing touch. Give me a few more years, and the smokey eye might even be accomplished in rush hour traffic. Just don€™t get any ideas about me in running the Boston Marathon.
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Tomorrow, Design Harvest, a new annual street festival celebrating design, begins in Chicago, rain or shine. The free event runs from 11am-7pm, bringing collectors, vendors, consumers and retailers together around design for domestic space.
The West Town Chamber of Commerce along with Post 27 are proud to present Design Harvest, a new annual street festival for Chicago. This one of a kind fest will feature Chicago’s best local furniture and home accessory makers, vintage and antique collectors, and local retailers of the home design industry. Renegade Handmade will present a “DIY” tent previewing their best in the home design industry. Enjoy our sponsoring beer brand, french wines by Lulu B, music provided by The Hide Out Inn, and locally roasted coffee by Intelligensia.
We’re not sure what to expect from this inaugural design street festival, but there’s no better excuse to get out of the house, enjoy the fall weather (yes, rain or shine), and meet some of the local design community.
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