Hasta La Ideas

The pet project of paint company Dulux, Let’s Colour is an international outreach project in which volunteers travel to drab and dreary corners of the world and enliven them with a fresh coat of paint. “Color your world” is the tagline for the program that hopes to transform communities by the brushstroke.

This year the Let’s Colour crew has travelled to London, Rio de Janeiro, Paris and Jodhpur to find and help neighborhoods paint themselves anew. They hope to expand to other countries, including Turkey, throughout the year.

In an interview with CH, Fernanda Romano—Global Creative Director of Marketing at Euro RSCG—talked about Let’s Colour. Says Romano, the idea behind it was: “let’s find locations, places around the world, they’re a bit dull, a bit grey. Let’s engage the local community.” She adds, encouraging community involvement was crucial to succeed: “Mandating things to people feels a bit old fashioned. People want to collaborate, people create content to share with the world.”

The project turned into something more than a P.R. campaign for Romano and her team. “We really wanted to get people excited about painting and color. We really wanted to get people excited about the effect color has on you. it was about a spiritual, emotional regeneration.”

When Dulux, a subsidiary of AkzoNobel, approached Romano, they brought a video of employees painting houses in Brazil that had sparked the original concept. The company approached countries where the company has a big presence about participating in the project and found enthusiasm from the local communities.

Romano found the response hopeful: “It was quite touching to see how much the community appreciated what was happening and how much they saw the benefit.”

The Let’s Colour blog documents all the locales, as well as their color choices and inspiration in each neighborhood. The project also has filmmaker Adam Berg filming the entire process. The individual video for the four places is online, and Berg has plans to release a full video of the project in the next month.

Says Fernanda, “by showing it and being it rather than telling people to do it, it’s a truer way to invite people to bring color into their own home.”

Situated in the center of Paris, the calming Six Senses Spa services and interiors offer visitors an afternoon of otherworldly respite from daily life.

Recently-opened within the Westin Hotel (one of the chain’s better properties thanks to its location in Paris’ posh 1st arrondissement), the 2,700 square-foot haven includes a menu of pampering treatments inspired by the Far East, as well as some sourced from Paris’ own backyard. Along with herbal Thai-style massage and detoxifying seaweed body wraps, one of the spa’s signature facials relies on honey pollinated from bees in the the nearby Jardin des Tuileries and produced on the rooftop of the city’s celebrated Palais Garnier opera house.

The first French branch of the notable exotic-chic spa and resort chain, other locations include Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Thailand and Vietnam. Designed by French architect Pierre David, a finalist in the recent World Trade Center Memorial competition, the space features a palette of muted tones derived from Brazilian hardwood and Greek marble. One wall displays a digitally-projected panorama of the Parisian skyline (captured in real-time), while a lush vertical garden cultivated with plant species from far-flung locales occupies another.

Even more curious, two cocoons enclose the rooms where treatments occur, lending a warmth that’s undoubtedly good feng shui. Part space pod, part mega-gourd, curved bands of oak treated with a scrim-like fabric on the interior comprise the structures.

Six Sense’s name comes from the body’s five senses, plus the euphoric sensation one has when everything comes into perfect harmony—a name aptly describing this spa.

The upcoming exhibition “Portraits de Villes,” at Paris’ Galerie Philippe Chaume, features the photographic city narratives from the pages of Be-Pôles’ petite travel notebooks.

The show celebrates the launch of the third series of City Portraits by Parisian studio Be-Pôles, this year adding Moscow, NYC, Beijing and Sarajevo to the collection. Shot by contemporary fashion photographers Harry Gruyaert and Steve Hiett, Paris-based artist Artus de Lavilléon, and former Swedish fashion model Lina Scheynius respectively, the notebooks reflect the perspectives of a carefully selected group on the cities they discovered.

Originally created for the brand’s own pleasure, Be-Pôles artistic director Clémentine Larroumet explains the City Portraits are “nothing more than the intuitive path of an artist in the city.”

Portraits de Villes runs from 26 March to 15 May 2010. City Portraits sell from online as well as in Opening Ceremony stores around the U.S. and at other select locations.

Coup de cœur pour la décoration de l’Arc Paris, situé à Etoile face au monument de l’arc de Triomphe. Un changement radical et spectaculaire du lieu, après 4 mois de travaux. A noter les nombreuses audaces en matière de design et un style contemporain conçu par Samy Chams.

Previously on Fubiz

• Nike Design Identity
• Marc Da Cunha Lopes
• Piu by Pleix

Après le spot Duracell Ultra, voici ce court film dirigé par le célèbre collectif français Pleix à propos d’un petit oiseau se cachant dans les chaussettes et chaussures. Sobrement intitulé “Piu”, il a été produit par la société Warm&Fuzzy Paris. Plus d’images dans la suite.

Previously on Fubiz

• Keffer Photography
• Paris Time Lapse
• Nike True City