Hasta La Ideas

From Bhutan to Budapest and Maasai Mara to Mexico, our most extraordinary adventures

As the Earth made its way around the sun, our team of staffers and contributors traversed the globe in search of inspiration and the stories that come from diverse, in-depth experiences. We are more conscious than ever of the traumas imparted on the environment by long-haul flights—and this has only made the travel we commit to all the more valuable as we aim to reduce our time in the air. Perhaps unsurprisingly, our love of destinations within reach of NYC—Philadelphia, the Catskills and Hudson Valley, to name a few—only intensified this year. But we remain fascinated by remote destinations, be that the wilds of Canada’s Yukon Territories or the serenity of Chile’s Atacama Desert. The 10 selections below encompass all of the above and intend to enable others discover a little more about this remarkable planet, and to live what we loved.

Notes: Navigating Bhutan Before, During + After

At a Christmas Eve gala dinner in Agra, India (home of the Taj Mahal), I approached an American family that sat nearby. A part of me wanted to hear the familiar accent, another part wanted their take on the atypical holiday extravaganza we were attending. After introductions, we began to talk about our world travels and I explained that I’d just come from Bhutan. “Did you cry when you left?” a mother from the group asked. She’d been to the nation. She’d cried upon departure. She heard others did, too. It was a very appropriate question…

Word of Mouth: Mexico City Drinking + Dining

Distrito Federal, Mexico City, now formally Ciudad de México, is a dynamic and quickly evolving destination full of dichotomies, tradition and innovation. Whether attending Zona Maco, Design Week, or at any other time of the year, food is guaranteed to be a big part. While street food and family-style restaurants are essentials (try the white pozole at Los Tolucos), there are countless sophisticated and contemporary establishments worth visiting (you have, no doubt, been directed to Pujol). Long, late lunches are ideal for many of these places—start around 3ish, and graze while people-watching through to the evening…

Basecamp Explorer’s Sustainable Tourism in Kenya’s Maasai Mara

Just over 20 years ago, Svein Wilhelmsen visited Kenya’s Maasai Mara and met Ole Taek, a Maasai Chief. As the story goes, the two men spoke late into the night, and Taek shared his fears about the future of his land, the future of the ecosystem and in turn the Maasai people themselves. Struck by the conversation, the people, the wildlife and the sheer beauty of the place, Wilhelmsen vowed to help protect it. Just six months later, Basecamp Explorer was born…

Word of Mouth: Eating and Drinking in São Miguel, Azores

Secluded in the middle of the Atlantic, the allure of the Azores has somehow remained under the radar to even the most discerning travelers. As a part of Portugal, Azorean culture certainly feels European, though being 900+ miles from the mainland has allowed a distinct culinary heritage to flourish alongside its myriad natural wonders. The largest of nine islands, São Miguel holds perhaps the most diverse representation of the archipelago’s flavors. Our guide to drinking and dining on São Miguel highlights the greatest hyper-local ingredients and distinctly Azorean specialties, in locations within 30 minutes of the capital, Ponta Delgada…

Art + Design Institutions Perfect For Day Trips From NYC

With such a concentration of artists, studios, galleries and museums in NYC, nobody should be surprised that world-class art institutions exist in the surrounding cities, towns and hamlets. Drive in any direction and within two hours there’s a stop worthy of the art curious. Depending on the direction, you’re likely to end up at the Parrish Museum in Water Mill, New York, the Princeton University Art Museum in New Jersey or the Nakashima design studio in New Hope, PA. But follow the Hudson River north, as we did in a 2019 Lincoln Continental, and pinball around Westchester, swinging through Connecticut before wandering into the Hudson Valley, and you’ll find the eight destinations we explore below, which are worth a visit year after year. And, for anyone planning on spending more than a day up there, it might also make sense to continue the drive and stop by CH favorite Mass MoCA too…

Word of Mouth: Budapest Bars

To drink in Budapest is to engage with the city’s fortunes. An economic surge in the decade following the fall of the Iron Curtain gave rise to the city’s renowned “ruin bars”—community spaces serving as hybrid bar/cafe/performance venues established primarily in the neglected remains of disused buildings in the city’s old Jewish Quarter. In reclaiming its cosmopolitan legacy in the years since, the old imperial capital has proved itself in tune with global enthusiasm for craft cocktails and obscure wine varietals. The resulting melange of drinking establishments ranges from chaotic backpacker bars to subdued speakeasies, wine bars and beyond. Here we have listed some of our favorite venues that appear at all spots on Budapest’s nightlife spectrum…

Three Unique Offerings at Wm. Mulherin’s Sons + HIROKI, Philadelphia

In Philadelphia‘s Fishtown neighborhood, by the Market-Frankford Line train, a building that used to be a 19th century whiskey-blending and bottling factory (and later a motorcycle repair shop) is now the glorious Wm. Mulherin’s Sons. Inside, visitors find a stunning four-bedroom hotel and two restaurants. Each of the three offerings could not be more different—especially the two restaurants, Wm. Mulherin’s Sons and just-opened HIROKI…

Word of Mouth: Chile’s Atacama Desert

Covering more than 41,000 square miles, Chile‘s Atacama Desert stretches along the Pacific and spills across borders into Peru, Bolivia and Argentina. Its innumerable splendors—rare flamingoes, mind-bending salt flats, desolate landscapes and celestial access, all high among the list—have many entry points. But none are so closely congregated as those around San Pedro de Atacama, which is set atop a volcano-speckled, arid plateau. To reach the remote town, a flight to Calama followed by a one-hour drive is most advisable—as we did while exploring the region with Luminox…

Hiking Yukon’s Tombstone on Arc’teryx’s New Guided Trips

Respected, innovative outdoor brand Arc’teryx steps into the guided trips business. And if our experience with them—trekking through the wildest parts of Canada’s Yukon Territories—is any indication, thrill-seekers of all sorts are in for a breathtaking, pulse-raising treat. The Arc’teryx Trips website, which is officially open now, lists trips departing in 2020. The first round of trips will offer immersive travel experiences giving participants unrivaled access to remote destinations, including Canada’s Ghost, Tombstone and Chilcotin Ranges, the Tetons, Alaska, Corsica, the Alps, the Dolomites and more, in a mixed offering of trail running, mountaineering, trekking trips…

Reef Rejuvenation at Conrad Maldives Rangali Island

There’s more than postcard views and luxury accommodation at Conrad Maldives Rangali Island, which is located in the South Ari Atoll—a place that feels miles and miles away, in the middle of the Indian Ocean. While plenty of attention has been centered on the resort opening the world’s first-ever underwater residence, The Muraka, the property’s eco efforts are just as impressive. From their plan to be entirely plastic-free by 2020 to their hydroponic garden and desalination plant, to investing in community initiatives and education, Conrad Rangali quietly but continually works on its sustainability efforts for those living above and under the clear blue water…

Hero image by David Graver

Le 6 octobre 2018, le marché aux poissons de Tsukiji, situé au centre Tokyo, fermait définitivement ses portes. Depuis entièrement démoli, ce lieu iconique, autrefois considéré comme le plus grand marché de poissons au monde, a complètement disparu, mais n’a pas été oublié. Les artistes du studio d’expériences photographiques immersives Futures Cities, Ruben Fro, Cody Ellingham et SJF, respectivement créateur 3D, photographe et artiste du son, ont créé un court-métrage hommage, qui replonge le spectateur au coeur du lieu. Grâce à la technologie, aux centaines de photos qu’ils ont capturées et à des images d’archives, le projet “Memories of Tsukiji” offre une seconde vie virtuelle au célèbre marché et à son effervescence, le temps d’une journée.

“Memories of Tsukiji” sera diffusé du 5 au 8 décembre à la galerie ARTnSHELTER, à Tokyo.

Images : © Future Cities : Ruben Fro / Cody Ellingham / SJF.

Nike’s latest kicks, the Atsuma, are here to put an end to material waste once and for all. A massive amount of waste is produced while cutting patterns for sneakers. Offcuts are the leftover materials that are thrown out once a pattern has been cut, and so in an attempt to increase pattern efficiency, Nike utilized offcuts to bring Atsuma to life.

Designer: Nike

Named after a little town in Hokkaido, Japan, the sneaker features a range of vibrant colors such as orange, blue, teal, black and tan. The offcuts have been used in the lateral and medial panels in the shoes creating an inversed look. The heel counter, as well as the eyestay display an interesting usage of the negative space provided by the offcuts.

The blue hangtag has ben formed using a cutout on the outsole.

The iconic Swoosh flashes across one side of the sneaker in teal and is mirrored by a cutout version in black on the other side. Add a recycled sock liner to the mix, and this shoe couldn’t get any more sustainable.

An assortment of colors and a retro-inspired vibe add to the sheer charm of the Atsuma. Using materials in their entirety for different sides of the shoe, and employing negative space, creates an interesting mirror image, and adds to a reversed aesthetic. Releasing on January 1^st, Nike’s Atsuma is tangible evidence of how traditional cut-and-sew footwear can be reimagined to completely cut down on waste. Being eco-friendly does not mean you have to reinvent the wheel, sometimes the solution lies in using everything you have!

Artist and illustrator Emily Forgot collaborated with British furniture brand Very Good & Proper on this series of multimedia artworks that draw inspiration from the architecture of post-war schools.

Emily Alston, who works under the moniker Emily Forgot, created the Assembly series to mark the tenth anniversary of the London-based furniture producer Very Good & Proper.

The three wall-mounted artworks are an extension of Emily Forgot’s wooden, architectural “assemblages”, which she first presented at a solo show called Neverland during the 2016 London Design Festival.

Made from powder-coated aluminium and oak, the limited-edition pieces were developed collaboratively to reflect the processes, techniques and materials used to produce Very Good & Proper’s furniture.

The starting point for the project was the brand’s Canteen chair, which was the first product developed by Very Good & Proper cofounders Ed Carpenter and André Klauser in 2009.

The chair draws on classic post-war British school chairs, and features a powder-coated tubular steel frame combine with a plywood seat and back.

“After reading about the inspiration for the Canteen chair I did some research into postwar schools and began sketching scenes to form the basis for the work,” Alston told Dezeen.

“In the end, I based the piece on an image I found in the Design Council archive from 1951 of a classroom block in Stevenage by Architect F R S Yorke.”

The design was refined through a series of meetings with Very Good & Proper, which helped to determine the final form and material palette. The three-dimensional compositions combine corrugated and bent metal with tubes and wooden blocks to represent simplified architectural features.

“It was interesting using their processes to make an artwork because I’m generally quite limited by my own capabilities in terms of what I can make,” the artist added.

“Usually my work is relief based, but I’d seen that some of their products use bent metal so I thought it would be interesting to introduce depth by bending the material rather than creating blocks like I normally do.”

Two of the assemblages feature a limited colour palette that complements the raw oak and is typical of Emily Forgot’s artworks. A third, monochrome version in salmon pink focuses attention on the textual qualities of the various surfaces. Each of the three designs is available in a limited edition of 20 pieces.

The Canteen chair was originally designed for its namesake restaurant in London’s Baker Street. It has since been used alongside other Very Good & Proper designs in new branches as Canteen expanded into a successful chain.

Very Good & Proper has also designed chairs for other restaurants, including an upholstered club chair developed for Merchants Tavern in Shoreditch.

Earlier this year, the company acquired fellow British furniture brand Isokon Plus in a move described as being based on “a shared vision for the future”. The brand’s product portfolio also includes a wall-mounted shelving system designed by Michael Marriott and a table with a distinctive A-joint leg system.

The post Emily Forgot uses furniture-making processes for architectural wall art appeared first on Dezeen.

From our thousands of stories published this year, meaningful articles selected by our NYC-based staff

Browsing the thousands of stories we published on COOL HUNTING this year, in search of personal favorites, would present many problems if the very process of writing didn’t lend itself to favoritism. When asked what we’d recommend reading, we on staff already knew the many answers. That’s because the selections below represent experiences we had with people, places and brands that left a longstanding impact. Though they may be packaged as articles, they’re also our memories. And from traversing New Zealand’s wine country to eating and drinking in London’s Islington, learning about holistic health and sustainable denim, we knew then that they’d be meaningful to people beyond ourselves.

Design Heals at Parsley Health’s Reimagined Medical Office

Wellness is a journey, not a destination. For some, it’s about living their best life with a chronic illness; for others, it’s simply about optimizing from a place of strength. These two types of people loosely summarize the member base at Parsley Health, a practice applying more holistic points of view to traditional healthcare. Everything from nutrition to compassion, technology, diet and design work in concert to break the molds of traditional medicine. Whether it’s sleuthing the cause of an illness or searching beyond its symptoms or leveling the doctor/patient dynamic during an office visit, Parsley’s doctors and health coaches take an active and engaged role in your wellness. Perhaps surprisingly, design is a big component of this, both in terms of their own behind-the-scenes methodologies and the spaces you visit as a member (they prefer “member” to “patient”)…

Atelier & Repairs and Candiani Denim’s Sustainable Collaboration

While denim is a favorite fabric of millions of consumers, it comes at quite the cost for our environment. Between the raw cotton material, dye, wash supplies and water, jeans (and all denim apparel) take a sizable amount of material to create, but that material can rarely be reused. Think of how long some vintage jeans have been kept…

Photographer Tom Blachford’s New “Centro Verso” Series

Tom Blachford‘s Centro Verso photo series flips the lens in a few ways. These upside-down images are of his hometown Melbourne, and have futuristic and dystopian qualities—unlike his previous, inherently warm but noir Midnight Modern collections. This new project is also Blachford’s first foray into CAD (computer-aided design) and 3D printing, programming and more. It has all culminated in a show at Melbourne’s Backwoods Gallery (on now through 8 December) where his striking photographs are on display alongside light sculptures. We spoke with the artist ahead of the show’s opening about misleading his audience, learning a new skill and more…

Our Visit With the Traditional Ikat Weaving Artisans In Amami Ōshima, Japan

It’s not surprising that Japan and its incredible craft culture is changing along with that in other parts of the world, with new techniques, often enabled by technology, creating similar products to those painstakingly created by hand. Companies that have been in business for hundreds of years, often family owned, are increasingly giving up their traditional craft or fighting to stay relevant and financially stable. On a recent visit to an island in Japan’s southern Amami archipelago we got a first hand look at the challenges and opportunities these traditional family owned business are facing in a world with fast-changing tastes…

Word of Mouth: Food + Drink in Islington, London

Much of the joy when traveling comes from indulging in local cuisine. When in London, culinary options range from renowned traditions like the comforting Sunday roast to exciting, contemporary dishes. In particular, the London borough of Islington bursts with creative takes on classic food, future-forward wine lists and cocktails outside of the ordinary. With many chefs focusing on local, seasonal produce, small producers, family-owned vineyards and more, there’s an overwhelming and pleasing new tradition that’s growing here. We’ve selected a few of our favorite places to eat and drink through one of London’s most entrancing areas…

The Science Behind Small-Batch Bread Baking

If packaged, pre-sliced bread exists on one end of the spectrum and artisanal loaves sit at the other, then The Standard‘s newly developed bread program lies further beyond the latter. Max Blachman-Gentile, the East Village outpost’s new chef de cuisine, put together an incredibly scientific, and limited, bread menu…

Cloudy Bay’s New Cellar Door, The Shed

“Getting the understanding of the landscape and the people in the place—that informs how we make the wines. It’s very much about the place,” says Jim White, Cloudy Bay‘s Technical Director. Unlike wine made in many other places around the world, limited to a specific vineyard or region, Cloudy Bay takes advantage of two of New Zealand‘s famous wine regions: Marlborough (in the northeastern tip of the South Island) and Central Otago, not far from Queenstown closer to the southern tip. In fact, it’s the world’s southernmost wine-growing region…

Brooklyn’s New Natural Wine Bar, Rhodora, is Entirely Waste-Free

197 Adelphi Street (in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene neighborhood) is no stranger to sustainable businesses. Originally housing the carbon-neutral Oberon Group restaurant Mettā until July 2019, the address has a new tenant: Rhodora, a waste-free wine bar under the same ownership. But if you ask Henry Rich (owner) and Halley Chambers (deputy director), this reopening represents far more than the reuse of once-defunct space. “This is very much an evolution,” Chambers tells us. While Mettā was a pioneer regarding sustainability within the NYC restaurant scene, being carbon-neutral was merely a first step for the spot, rather than an end goal. But working backwards to “greenify” their establishment proved difficult, perhaps impossible. The dup decided they needed to start anew, shutter their doors and reopen with strict guidelines on how they could best be green…

Meet Me In The Bathroom: The Art Show at The Hole Gallery

Anyone who paid attention to (or disdained, admired or aspired to be a part of) NYC’s rock’n’roll revival circa 2001-2011 understands the importance of author Lizzy Goodman’s oral history, Meet Me In The Bathroom. Goodman let the very people involved speak for themselves—weaving their words to support origin stories and break-ups, low points and milestones. Nothing will ever explain the chemistry of the genre or the explosive interest worldwide, but Goodman’s book provides insight that traces lines between sonic stepping-stones and wildly successful tracks. It’s the first (and best) testament to the time—and now Goodman and film director Hala Matar have translated the work into an exhibition…

Ray’s Embraces the Value of the Dive Bar

To swing by spots previously developed by NYC dive bar Ray’s all-star team might make one wonder how they ended up partnering on this particular watering hole. Much attention has gone to the involvement of actor Justin Theroux, but the others involved (including Jon Neidich, Taavo Somer, and Carlos Quirarte) have developed some of the most exciting and design-forward hospitality ventures in the city. From The Happiest Hour to The Smile, Acme and Freemans, Lemons at The Wythe Hotel and even The Rusty Knot, their combined impact on nightlife and dining has been markedly substantial. And yet Ray’s (177 Chrystie Street) is a destination for a Miller High Life and some whiskey…

Hero image by Josh Rubin