Hasta La Ideas

Speaking of powerful men with lots of money who want things done their way, there’s an interesting architecture development happening in Baltimore, stirring up some rumors in the process. The Baltimore Sun reports that an owner of a penthouse-level condo at the Ritz-Carlton Residences near the city’s waterfront has hired an architect and is seeking permission from the city to build an indoor gun range. No one is sure who wants a portion of their house torn up and spot to fire guns in put up, not even the architect, but most of the rumors point to novelist/licensing-guru Tom Clancy. A known gun enthusiast, who has built ranges at his other properties, owns and entire floor of the tony Baltimore building. Clancy is sure to be up against some big hurdles, and not just from his neighbors who might put up a fight (we also can’t imagine that the association’s bylaws include “No gun ranges may be installed in any property.”) As the Sun reports, “State law prohibits the firing of guns within 150 yards of any residence. Whether that would prevent a permitted gun owner from shooting indoors in a controlled environment such as a firing range is one of the questions being considered by authorities. ” But when you’ve already spent nearly $17 million on buying a whole floor of a building, that likely implies that you don’t mind spending a few more bucks to help grease some wheels.

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Spanish studio Cor have completed this Alicante bar with floors and walls clad in wood.

The upper half of the walls and ceiling are white, imprinted with rows of black dots.

The bar lines one side of the space and seating is on the opposite side.

Photographs are by David Frutos.

Also by Cor: Funeral Home and Garden in Pinoso.

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Here’s some more information from Cor:

26 Lounge Bar

The Portal de Elche has been a very popular meeting place in Alicante for centuries, situated at the corner of the Rambla and the Esplanade of Spain the two most important streets of the city. It was an urban space emerged on the occasion of the demolition of the walls that gripped the city.

In this place, was placed the Tower of San Bartolomé and beside it a door that had several names: Portal de Murcia, Portal de Orihuela and, of course, Portal de Elche. At present, it is possibly one of the busiest places in the city center. The proposal of our team was to create a ‘commercial and emotional window’: a place where looking and being looked beneath the huge ficus on the ‘portal’, which would generate a stable emotional link that made customers come back.

‘From inside you look outside.’ An ancient interior wounded by multiple reforms, from a tavern to a shoe store, through a thousand different businesses from s. XIX brought out an uneven volume. Given this situation we propose the construction of a ‘controlled interior volume’ able to suit lighting, temperature and acoustic sensation.

Built with two faced ’u’s: one made of industrial timber that fits on the floor, at the bar and forms the bench going up to 1.8 m height, and another punched ’u’ completely white, descending from the ceiling where all facilities (air conditioning and sound) are accommodated. These ‘u’ are crossed in a weightless way by two adjustable light sets that bathe the room from its center, and try to emphasize and define the interior space, letting perceive ‘a box within a very old local’.

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A phenomenological project. The states of light are very important due to temporary uses and change on supplies depending on the time of day. Say it is not an area that changes depending on the time, but rather different premises, where different scenarios are set, almost like a stage. Ground lighting takes all its power at night, diminishing its intensity wallwashers and the two great lamps, getting a room similar to the bistros of W. Allen.

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In contrast, in the morning are the two great lamps that catch the spotlight, making appear clearly defined spatial boundaries, something that reminds the photography of Slawomir Idziak.

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Project Outline

Architecture : COR Consulting of Creative Resources
Client: Private
Location: Alicante, Spain
Principal Use : Cafe, lounge and bar
Floor Area: 110 square meters
Budget: 91.050 €

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D’espresso by Nemaworkshop	Switch Restaurant by Karim Rashid	Barrio North by Anarchitect

The “behind the scenes” aesthetic of the Mondrian SoHo’s Mister H lounge reveals a hot spot for locally-sourced design

In sharp contrast to the Mondrian SoHo‘s pronounced “La Belle et la Bête” theme is the hotel’s swanky bar and lounge, Mister H. While the rest of the Benjamin Noriega Ortiz-designed, 270-room hotel lends itself to French trim, Mister H has a decidedly Chinatown glow, with a “behind the scenes” ambiance conceived by Armin Amiri—the man behind exclusive NYC hot spots like Socialista and Bungalow 8.

The buzz surrounding Mister H would imply it’s merely the latest place for models and celebs to stylishly sip a cocktail, but design nerds and die-hard New Yorkers also have reason to pay visit. Director of Design for Morgans Hotel Group, Heather Maloney explains the bar is actually a display of local creativity, with most of the materials and props sourced from around New York, beginning with the “this is not a brothel” neon sign. Created by Chinatown lighting specialist Let There Be Neon, the sign is a recreation of a small metal plaque adorning the exterior of a now-defunct brothel in the neighborhood. Maloney says she found the image while doing a Google search for things relating to brothels, and it spawned the bar’s overall design aesthetic.

The local groove continues throughout the petite space, with a teal and white checkerboard floor, a DJ booth and the front of the bar all hand painted by F.W. Schmitz out of Long Island. Large, second-hand authentic Persian rugs were obtained from Paul De Beer, a retired Dutch engineer living on the Upper East Side. Reportedly flying to Iran twice a year to find the vintage carpets, De Beer sells his stock on Craiglist.

The design team also commissioned original paintings by NYC-based artist Gregory de la Haba, which combine Chinese astrology’s “Year of the Rabbit” with an “Alice In Wonderland” whimsy.

Hanging behind the gauze curtains on the wall opposing the bar is another Let There Be Neon sign, written in Chinese and translating to “Happy Drunk Love.” Maloney explains they chose these three words because they wanted to maintain a relaxed atmosphere but also “wanted to say something upbeat that reflected that Chinatown flavor.”

Hanging in each of the two bathrooms are gorgeous chandeliers Maloney found on Etsy, which are handcrafted by Studio Jota out of the Bronx. She says she chose them for their muted tones, explaining it’s hard to find a chandelier that doesn’t use a lot crystal. The beaded fixtures illuminate the intricately patterned, hand-screened wallpaper by Brooklyn’s Flavor Paper studio. The two styles—”Sassy Toile” and “Celestial Dragon”—are in custom colors chosen by the collaborative Mister H design team.

Behind a beaded curtain by Spanish brand Daisy Cake is a tucked away (and most likely VIP) area, that hosts a long cushioned couch and walls bedecked with original photos of classic film noir stars, sourced around eBay and housed in an assortment of random frames.

The lounge is accented by shiny red lanterns designed by NYC-based couture lighting specialist Abyu, which mimic the shape of the quintessential hat worn by working men in China. Adding to the “love nest” feeling is a beautiful bird cage from Barreveld International, an upstate New York outfit that sells vintage pieces to the retail industry.

While many establishments keep their sources a secret, Maloney explains the Morgans Hotel Group likes to promote and show appreciation for people who do their job well and deserve recognition. Mister H officially opens today, and will will be open regularly Tuesday through Saturday from 10pm to 4am.

Rooms at the new Mondrian SoHo hotel start at $309 per night for a Superior room and can be booked online. See more images of Mister H in the gallery below.

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London designer Tomás Alonso used ceramic tiles to create optical illusions in this store he designed for Spanish shoe brand Camper in London.

The interior is lined with a grid of white 10 by 10cm tiles, but this pattern is broken in places by coloured geometric tiles to create the illusion of recesses or volumes looming out from the walls.

The space is furnished with benches and counters made of oak and bent steel tubes in Alonso’s studio, plus ceramic lamps he designed specially for the project.

Called Camper Together, the shop is the brand’s fifth in London and is located in Covent Garden.

See all our stories about Camper »

The information that follows is from Camper:

CAMPER
TOMÁS ALONSO
LONDON

Camper opens a new shop in the city of London, on the corner of Shelton Street and Neal Street.

The store’s image was conceived by Tomás Alonso, a young Spanish designer of Galician origin now based in London, who practises “slow design” and has a knack for working with simple gestures.

With this new venue, the British capital now boasts a total of five Camper Together shops.

Since the great masters of the Modernist movement, no designer has been noted for his ability to bend a steel tube. This apparently simple feat is actually quite difficult to perform with a natural flair, as Tomás Alonso does.

Tubes, wood and colour were all he needed to craft the furnishings for this new Camper store. Another simple flourish in the tile pattern creates an illusory three-dimensional effect on the walls.

“All of the furniture was designed and built specifically for the shop as part of a personal project I’ve been working on for some time now, which is based on the formal and structural language that two materials as dissimilar as lacquer tubing and natural wood – in this case, white oak – can create together.

This language also extends to the stairs and the cash desk unit. The pieces were handcrafted at my studio in London. Perhaps the most striking element is the large table with its accompanying chairs and benches, which take up most of the space. The ceramic lamps are also original designs.

The wall cladding is a simple twist on the standard 10 x 10 cm square tile. If it is combined with three additional shapes, you can create all kinds of geometric patterns and designs in isometric perspective.” TOMÁS ALONSO

Tomás Alonso (Vigo, 1974) is the prototypical young nomadic designer who, like so many others, roams the earth searching for ideas to make his work more original. He is not in any hurry; he practises his own version of “slow design”, which consists in doing things leisurely and carefully so that no detail is overlooked.

He wandered through the USA, Italy and Australia before moving to London to study at the Royal College of Art. Alonso graduated in 2006 and teamed up with five classmates of different nationalities to found OKAYstudio.

He currently combines his research work with commercial design commissions. His personal creations have been exhibited at galleries such as NextLevel (where he presented the show Variations on a Tube in 2009), Whitechapel and Aram, whose doors are always open to up-and-coming talent.

Tomás is a rising star, and this is his first interior design project. The concept—which, like every Together shop, is a limited edition—made its first appearance in Genoa, and the London store will soon be followed by another in Glasgow.

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Camper store in Malmö by TAF	Camper store in London by Tokujin Yoshioka	Camper store in Tokyo by Jaime Hayón

Australian studio Edwards Moore have stretched tights across the walls and throughout the interior of this pop-up fashion store in Melbourne, Australia.

Created for Australian fashion brand Arnsdorf, the temporary store was opened for just three days and featured 154 pairs of tights stretched and wrapped around the space.

Photographs are by Tony Gorsevski.

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Here’s a tiny bit of text from the architects:

A cave-like space, providing an intimate setting and backdrop for the Arnsdorf’s Opticks Collection.

Inspired by crystalline forms, superman’s fortress of solitude and imagery of rocky landscapes, we reinterpreted an everyday wearable item – stretching and wrapping it to envelop the space in soft hues and showcase the sculptural collection.

(using a total of 154 pairs of tights)

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The Edges of the World by Ernesto Neto	Tape Installation by For Use/Numen	Green Void by LAVA