Hasta La Ideas

Photography by Brit Leissler for Core77

Inhabitants of the small town of Disentis, in the Swiss canton of Grisons, still mainly communicate in the Romansh language—a Roman dialect that has survived here over centuries. This is mainly because this part of Switzerland had remained rather untouched, due to being a little cut off from the rest of the world (even for Swiss standards). In fact, the name Desentis derives from Desertinas (deserted), but yet it’s the birth place of the most innovative skis that the world has seen for many decades: the ZAI skis.

They’re the brain child of passionate skier and “son of the mountains” Simon Jacomet, whose main objective for designing these skis was to “create a tool which enables people to ski easier and have more fun—to forget about the skis and just be creative themselves in the snow.” Educated in the local Disentis ministry by abbots, he developed this rather Zen design approach of “constructing a ski that is doing the skiing itself.”

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Photography by Glen Jackson Taylor for Core77

There was an abundance of inspiring contemporary art on display at The Armory Show last week at Piers 92 & 94 in New York—we should note that our picks in the gallery skew more towards the 3D wall art and sculpture, which is arguably more interesting to Core77 readers (and photographs much better than two-dimensional works behind glass).

The show was a noticeable improvement from recent years, with much a stronger curation and slightly more space for the exhibitors—clearly organizers are feeling the pressure from the Frieze Art Fair, which takes place again as part of NYCxDesign this May. The Armory Show partnered with start-up Artsy, who are quickly becoming the IMDB of the art world to provide a digital guide for visitors and real-time feed of trending artwork during the event.

There was no shortage of selfie-inducing art, and while good taste, for the most part, is subjective, one of the most fascinating pieces was Algerian artist Adel Abdessemed’s La Chine est proche, 2013, a full-scale bicycle intricately carved from camel bone. The oversized figures from Cajsa von Zeipel’s HOLES IN THE WALL series were striking and I’ve recently become a huge fan of London-based sculptor Tom Stogdon’s work, made from washed stone, steel and found objects.

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L’agence américaine Selldorf Architects a imaginé, en 2013, la galerie d’art de David Zwirner à New York. Cette bâtisse offre une façade en béton ainsi que des lambris en teck. Les plafonds sont hauts et la structure des escaliers donne l’impression d’une montée ou d’une descente infinie. Photos prises par Jason Schmidt.

Photography by Glen Jackson Taylor for Core77

Detroit may not be the most desirable travel destination in mid-January, but for the automotive industry it’s the only place to be. This year’s North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) didn’t disappoint, with a solid lineup of production cars including the Ford Mustang, Ford F-150 pick up, Lexus RC, Cadillac ATS Coupe, BMW M4 Coupe, Corvette Z06 and Audi RS7. As the car reveals get more and more sensational sophisticated with massive choreographed video projections, music and live stage antics, it’s fair to say Ford won most ambitious booth design with nearly 38-ton section of assembly line on their stand to demonstrate the robotic production process of the F-150.

One of the biggest trends was the resurgence in performance cars, possibly to attract the Millennial market who’s lack of interest in car ownership has been widely reported. Or more simply, the industry has grown stagnant and senses it’s time to inject some new excitement to appease the car enthusiasts like Toyota’s FT-1 and Kia’s GT4 Stinger concept cars.

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Ever-proud of their NYC roots, the creative community slash boutique agency that is TheGoodLife! knows well that without frequent adventures in the outdoors, life in the city wouldn’t seem so sweet. To connect the two worlds and highlight the work of some…

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