Hasta La Ideas

Coco Urhausen Martinez was born into a Mexican-American family in the Pacific Northwest. She resided in-and-out of Mexico throughout her childhood and adult life before moving to New York in 2005 where she began her close working relationship with Heatherette.

Her studies at PSU (BA), the Fashion Institute of Technology and Tech De Montteray in Guadelejara, Mexico alongside experiences as a florist, back-up dancer, costume designer, production assistant and seamstress are prevalent in her craft. Much of her esthetic draws from eclectic classical costume jewelry, specifically from her ancestors’ long career in the Mexican Circus. Her grandmother, Auflelia Cardenas, who’s crippling tightrope accident ended her career as a circus performer, designed and created costumes for the Mexican Circus thus passing on her craft to her grand daughter, Coco. Inspired by her family’s heritage of versatile Mexican Circus performers including equestrians, acrobats, jugglers, and tightrope walkers, Coco skillfully combines and expresses their essence of adventure and discipline with her vast appreciation and knowledge of modern designs and fashion. As a result, she successfully merges costume jewelry esthetics with classical and modern eras by using contemporary mediums and techniques.

Coco designs and handcrafts all of her pieces. A mold for is produced for each of her designs. The molds and castings are made from silicone rubbers and urethane plastics, giving her flexible, careful control of each piece. Original designs are made from wood and wax carvings, or by the manipulation of previously assembled pieces. The earrings are hung from sterling silver or gold-plated posts. Select designs are adorned with plastic or brass chains. Finally, each piece is given a title referencing its inspiration.

Recently Coco has collaborated with Patty Wilson on custom pieces for photo shoots and with Ryan Watkins-Hughes for Heist Gallery in NY. On her own she has been doing specialty pieces for Screaming Mimi’s in New York City and Mini Market in Brooklyn. She created both jewelry and hand bag pieces for Adam Arnold’s fall runway show as well as many of the shows at New York Fashion Week.

Coco’s presentation will showcase her work and demonstrations of her creative process including details about materials, techniques and safety advice. She will also highlight resources for materials and information.

Come on by Tonight!
Tuesday January 25th
6:00 PM
Coco Urhausen Martinez: Coco Cardenas

Core77’s Hand-Eye Supply
23 NW 4th Avenue
Portland, Oregon

and right here via web stream at 6pm Pacific.

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Nice Collective opens a transportable military-inspired store in San Francisco

Quietly shaking up fashion with their utopian approach, San Francisco, CA-based label Nice Collective recently applied their forward-thinking ethos to a transportable storefront they call Mobile Supply Unit #1 or MSU. Together with Brand Director Riley Johndonnel, co-founders Joe Haller and Ian Hannula created an environment that encompasses everything from their quantum gravity theories to functional fashion and optimism—a place that feels as comfortable as it does foreign.

Completed in just eight weeks, MSU borrows heavily from military mobilization platforms that make it easy to “re-contextualize for a better use.” Nice Collective hopes their temporary home will strike a chord with customers and other designers alike, serving as a communication tool for progressive projects and events as it travels to each new destination.

Haller explains, “The intent was to transform the the core elements of Nice Collective’s soul into physical destinations where people could shop, experience and participate. The concept also required the units be quick and easy to assemble, adaptable to a multitude of geographical locations and most importantly, equipped with an efficient system for dismantling, transport, and installation in ever-changing new locations.”

The science theme falls in line with their Fall 2011 collection, which is a translation of their feelings on “the splitting of time and space, as well as ideas on how all known forces of the universe work together.” MSU will stock this line (for men and women later on) as well as pieces designed exclusively for the shop, experimental prototypes and a new lifestyle collection that will include pillows and home storage solutions.

The Nice Collection Mobile Supply Unit will remain in San Francisco until 10 September 2011, where it will then migrate on a mission to “facilitate social change” and create a sense of community wherever it goes.

MSU #1 is open daily from 12-9 pm, and through midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. Tel: +1 415-824-6426

Paris studio Plan01 Architects have completed a crematorium in Rennes, France, featuring a series of circular structures surrounded by a ring of granite blocks.

Called Rennes Métropole Crematorium, the circular form is a recurrent theme throughout the building and its surrounding landscape, intended to reference the life cycle.

The architect’s intention was to avoid imposing paths and corridors, instead creating a meandering landscape.

The crematorium includes a large central hall, two ceremony rooms and waiting rooms with adjoined patios and a little pool.

Translucent curtains lining the waiting room walls provide some privacy when required.

More architecture on Dezeen »

Here’s some more information from the architects:

The Rennes’ Metropole Crematorium

Largely marginal in the 1970’s, cremation has experienced a slow but regular progress for the last 20 years.

But in many ways, it is still evocating the roughness of a ceremonial for free thinkers and reprobate people. Architecture is a key step in the invention process of a dignified ceremony.

In this very stimulating context, the french collective PLAN01 got the chance to work on the crematorium project in Vern-sur-Seiche. Over the group meetings held during the first two years, the ten partners had the opportunity to clear individual apprehensions and refine their approach.

This collective way to proceed has facilitated the elaboration of a strictly secular space that does not expel anyone, without denying the needs of emotion. From the clearing to the shape of the rooms, the circle is a recurrent theme.

It is repeated throughout the spatial configuration and its many declinations shape both the lands cape and the building. This spatial layout referred to life circle, constellation, but also to Stonehenge or Land Art works.

The references to daily life vanish, creating a singular experience where orthogonality does not rule any more. The reflection on access was influenced by the idea to avoid imposing one single common path leading to the crematorium, but rather to create a large number of possible approaches.

Small car parks are discretely included in those wooded areas. By leaving theirs cars, mourners detach themselves from the outside world and enter a place entirely dedicated to ceremony and silence.

After crossing a broken enclosure formed by thick granite blocks (extracted in a local quarry), users go down a gently sloping planted section that converges on the building which creates an impression of fluidity between internal and external spaces. The choice of simple shapes and materials provides an integrated landscape of peace and tranquillity.

The large central hall is the key piece in the people circulation system. There are no corridors but only flowing spaces, mainly illuminated by natural light with framed external views. This space has been conceived in order to reduce the feeling of being shut in.

The two ceremonial rooms are large circular spaces with dedicated patios that bring light and air. This special layout design reconciles the contradictory need for openness and intimacy. Each room is complemented by draperies that enhance the acoustic characteristics.

The waiting areas are located as ante-rooms to the ceremonial spaces. Their walls are made of glass that can be completely hidden by translucent curtains, so that the levels of intimacy and openness can be controlled. This system also gives the possibility to avoid embarrassing encounters between two different families.

Click for larger image

With its grass-covered roof and large exterior pool, the project blends into the vegetation of the landscape. It is also an integral part of its geographical surroundings through the use of local materials such as granite and wood.

Click for larger image

The choice of simple shapes and materials provides an integrated landscape of peace and tranquillity. It creates a dignified and serene area.

Text about the monography dedicated to the building

Circles in a clearing, a game of rings and thresholds, flowing paths leading to a multitude of escapes, a spiritual and peaceful place for moments of contemplation. The Rennes Métropole crematorium is a unique building whichspeaks of death but addresses the living.

It was designed by the french architects of Plan01.The group is devoted exclusively on open and out-of-the-ordinary topics. CEREMONY is an in-depth portrait – the product of a series of “cartes blanches” given to two photographers and an author…

CEREMONY, Plan01 architects, Ante Prima AAM, french-english, 19 €

See also:

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Farewell Chapel by OFIS Arhitekti	Family Tomb by Pedro Dias	La Cándida by Adamo-Faiden

Killer work by this Aussie native now working in New York.

He’s published 2 books so far, is a founding member of a collective called Rinzen, and has shown around the world. More on his site.