If the term ventilation block doesn’t get thrown around much in contemporary architecture, blame technology. An important feature in eastern architecture, ventilation blocks—those prefabricated, decorative concrete modules we’ve all seen in older buildings—have long been a traditional, low-cost means of combating both heat and rain by allowing breezes in, whilst — Continue reading
The distinctive three bands and monochrome color scheme of the Penguin paperback cover has had more than its share of design and art world admirers—the painters Harland Miller and Alanna Cavanagh, amongst them. So, perhaps Penguin Library, a new wallpaper motif by Osborne & Little, was simply an interior design inevitability. Still, — Continue reading
Anyone looking to instantly banish the long winter blues would do well to immerse themselves in the desert colors of Palm Springs, California—and we’re not talking burnt sienna and yellow ochre. Thanks to the architects Peter Stamberg and Paul Aferiat of Stamberg Aferiat + Associates, guests at the Saguora hotel will find an — Continue reading
Stretching the definition of outdoor furniture to its limits—and just named a 2013 International Design Award winner by Elle Decor Spain—is Kettal Cottage, a cabana-cum-daybed designed by the Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola. An aluminum frame, wooden slats, a mattress that seats/sleeps two, and a privacy curtain create an outdoor refuge — Continue reading
Among the more glamorous names showing their latest creations at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile, or Milan Furniture Fair, in early April is Zaha Hadid, who, if her recent output is any indication, must have Herculean stamina. Barely done with her gargantuan Galaxy Soho complex in Beijing, Hadid will be presenting — Continue reading
If you have the good sense to call upon Eero Saarinen and Alexander Girard to create a home for you, then surely you deserve a house with as much restrained splendor as this one, built for the industrialist J. Irwin Miller, in Columbus, Indiana. In 1952, Miller and his wife — Continue reading
There are few things we welcome more, architecturally speaking, than the unexpected infusion of color. And this Los Angeles home, in paying homage to the exhilarating buildings of the Mexican architect Luis Barragan, makes use of the particularly beguiling combination of saffron and pink. A collaboration of architect, landscaper designer and homeowner, — Continue reading
If this is what rural living looks like, then sign us up immediately! The Vancouver-based architect Omer Arbel has designed a house on a Canadian hayfield that takes it’s angular, asymmetrical shape from the 100 year-old timber beams that were—in accordance with the architect’s instructions—used exactly as found, rather than cut — Continue reading
The 71 year-old Japanese architect Toyo Ito was awarded the Pritzker Prize yesterday, architecture’s grandest international honor. Lauding him for work that “projects an air of optimism, lightness and joy and is infused with both a sense of uniqueness and universality,” the Pritzker jury singled out several Ito buildings, including the — Continue reading
Understatement is not what one expects from the Italian fashion house Missoni, so the color and print extravaganza on display at Hotel Missioni Kuwait, the second in the brand’s chain of international hotels, comes as no surprise. What is a surprise is the drop-dead selection of A-list Mid-Century Modern furniture — Continue reading
Darkness and light—both literal and metaphorical—are the twin elements that inform the ravishing back and white photographs in Whitewash, a clothbound homage to southern California architecture by Nicholas Alan Cope. “Searching for the sublime core of the city’s true nature,” Cope, like many a transplanted Californian before him, has found creative solace — Continue reading
“I really believe in what Brad is doing for the community and was honored to be included. I wanted to make a house that I would like to live in and one that responded to the history, vernacular and climate of New Orleans. I love the colors that the homeowner — Continue reading
Well heavens! Pity the parents of children brought to this Manhattan penthouse, where the architect David Hotson has designed and installed a plaything for the ages: a serpentine, mirror-polished stainless steel tubular slide that winds through four floors. Through a circular entrance in the attic, anyone brave enough to give — Continue reading
Is it possible for everything you need in a living space to be encapsulated in five specific forms? The New York-based architect and designer Christian Wassmann thinks so, and has just unveiled a suite of five designs as proof. A table, a lounge chair, a pillow, a pendant light, and — Continue reading
It’s been a while since the styling of a single room stopped us dead in our tracks, but just try turning away from this bathroom, featured in the UK edition of Elle Decoration. If ever a case existed for allowing a single object to do all the work, this would be — Continue reading
Travel + Leisure magazine’s Design Awards issue is one of those annual editorial events guaranteed to make even self-proclaimed sophisticates feel like they’ve missed the boat, somehow. Its survey of the best and brightest in far-flung places is usually a baleful reminder of all the places and things we’ve never seen, — Continue reading
For architecture buffs who love those meticulously constructed to-scale building models only seen in museum surveys, London’s Design Museum has the next best thing: a set of 4 intricately laser cut pop-up greeting cards of some of the city’s famous landmarks. The impressively detailed foursome has something for traditionalists—represented by St. Paul’s — Continue reading
“We take pleasure in serving happy customers,” is the motto of Sugamo Shinkin Bank inTokyo—and pity the customers who can’t manage a smile with this confection of colors welcoming them. The French-born architect Emmanuelle Moureaux, commissioned to build a new branch for the bank, answered with a building distinguished by a stack of rainbow-colored platforms — Continue reading
If it’s possible to have a house that’s both sumptuous and spare, opulent and simple, old and new, then the interior decorator Rose Uniacke has shown us how. Her 19th Century Georgian Revival house in London, which comes with old-world accoutrements like ballroom, conservatory and abundant architectural detailing, would seem a — Continue reading
For a project that is “part an ode to architecture and part a self-challenge to never stop looking up,” the New York graphic designer Jose Guizar has taken it upon himself to create a suite of weekly illustrations featuring The Windows of New York. Thus far, the collection is a portrait of — Continue reading
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