Fun and fabulous new lighting from Perch! The sunny Zooey Chandelier will bring the sunshine inside, match with either a Hans Wall Sconce or a Frida Desk Lamp for a complete look! The alluring Perch Birdfeeder and Lunchbox Birdfeeder will have a full flock in your yard in no time! And the original and adorable Early Bird and Black Bird Pendant Lights fit in anywhere.
The Dubai design scene is booming, much like everything else here, and with the new opening of Traffic Gallery in the Al Barsha area of Dubai, the buzz from all the excitement is deafening. Not only are they having a FAB sale during May (first come first serve basis), with designers such as Droog, Magis and Tse & Tse being represented, but they have these awesome items from the Campana Brothers.
Warning: these are almost too cool.
Fernando and Humberto Campana are inspired by South American street life and successfully create vibrant, energetic & colorful unique pieces from found objects such as scraps of wood and fabric off-cuts. Coming from Brazil, one with a degree in law, the other with a degree in architecture, these brothers are establishing worldwide presence from Boston, USA to now, the UAE.
...and one for the kiddies!!!
On April 12 2008 one of the most spectacular opera houses in the world opened in Oslo. The construction of the new opera house is the largest single cultural-political initiative in contemporary Norway. It took five years to build and the cost is estimated to 500 million Euros. The result is an extraordinary building in white marble with a roof surface that rises directly from beneath the fjord. The opera house is designed by the acknowledged Norwegian architecture firm Snøhetta. It is the biggest cultural landmark built in the country since the Trondheim cathedral was finished in 1300 A.D.
The building is situated at the once downgraded eastern beach front of the city, Bjørvika. This allowed the project to be financed within the area's urban restructuring project. The modern edifice rises like an iceberg or a futuristic yacht at the fjord banks, 200 meters from the city's central railway station.
Snøhetta is also known for designing the Alexandria Great Library and also last year's Serpentine Gallery pavilion with artist Olafur Eliasson. He also helped them here, designing the walls that embellish the foyer of the new Opera. Clad with a multi-faceted surface, resembling other works of his, they are lit from behind, thus obtaining the lightness of spun sugar - in gold mind you. This, alongside with the high glass façades come into strong contrast with the main curved wooden volume forming the back of the big amphitheatre, through which a ramp takes you to the three big balconies.
The sliding roof of the Opera, clad in white Carrara marble (initially it turned yellow from the humidity, but a solution to turn it white again was found and with a reasonable cost), falls straight into the cold fjord waters. The relationship with the sea is an everyday fact of life in Norway, so it should not be surprising it is part of this building as well. It is an artificial landscape, designed to be accessible to everyone, at all times. Instead of the typical monumental buildings that characterize Opera houses around the world, this one is a monument to the true republic - it's there for everyone and everyone can access it whenever they feel like it.
Each of the two amphitheatres is marked on the outside from the tower of it's stage, covered in aluminium. Those panels are engraved with a strange looking symbolic scripture reminding one of Linear B or even Braille, giving another sensual experience to the visitor: touch.
Inside the main amphitheatre, shaped like a petal, the curved balconies are made of dark wood, much like a Norwegian boat would be. That is no accident: they were made by local boat makers. The space is dominated by the huge chandelier designed by the architects: it is 7 meters in diameter and weighs around 8.5 tons.
The theatre designers are Theatre Projects Consultants based in the London office, the acoustic designers are BrekkeStrandArup, a joint venture between local consultant Brekke Strand Akustikk and international acousticians Arup Acoustics. Norwegian construction company Veidekke was awarded one of the largest building contracts of the project. The future user of the building will be the Norwegian National Opera.
Architects: Snohetta
Location: Bjørvika, Oslo, Norway
Client: Ministry of Church an Cultural Affairs
Area: 38.500sqm
Construction start: 2004
Completion: 2007
Geological Engineer: NGI
Structural Engineer: Reinertsen Engineering ANS
Electrical Engineer: Ingeniør Per Rasmussen AS
Theatre Planning: Theatre Project Consultants
Acoustics: Brekke Strand Akustikk, Arup Acoustic
Artists, integrated artwork: Kristian Blystad, Kalle Grude, Jorunn Sannes, Astrid Løvaas og Kirsten Wagle
Photos: Snohetta, Nina Reistad, Statsbygg, Erik Berg & Nicolas Buisson
Sorry, this post is just for girls. If you are one, probably you are watching catalogs and stores to find a perfect swimsuit for you. And that means a cute one, that make you look fantastic. That is usually very hard to find, because we don't want the most common model, or the typical color that everybody will wear. That's why when I saw this beauties, finally I thought on you ;)
These swimsuits are from Anthropology. They are not very cheap, but sometimes when you find something special you deserve to spend a little more. Well at the end you will decide... this is just my fashion advise.
I love the vintage style of it!
Via the Scoop.
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I discovered the designer Shinzi Katoh, through the online store Three Potato Four shop. His whimsical designs are on everything from aluminum water bottles, lunch boxes, tote bags, and a line of fabric. Halfway between illustration and doodles, there is a sense of fun in every piece.
I love his whimsically designed mugs and what I like to call his mug plus ones; which are tea mugs plus lids which can do double duty as trays, coasters, plates, or cereal/fruit bowls. Here are just a few of the types available through Three Potato Four. Check out the Shinzi Katoh website for even more products and news.
White Rabbit Cafemug
Birdcage Cafemug
Green Pears
Song (too bad the beautiful quilt is not for sale!)
Pears
Bomi Kim's Meaning of Time is a clock mechanism that allows us to supply our own hour and minute hands. Simple, functional and customizable! Brilliant!
Thanks to Yanko.
Since Mother's Day is right around the corner (I don't know about the rest of the world, but here in Brazil it's celebrated on the second Sunday of May), I thought it would be nice to show how Imaginarium, a Brazilian design shop, prepared this year´s special collection;
The line is based on a very well known Russian symbol, the Matrioska doll. In this case, the doll is stamped in mugs, bed clothing, portraits, flip flops, night gowns and t-shirts.
Their website is worth a visit, and look for other nice fun objects, created by a design team based in the city of Florianópolis. With the view they have, there's no problem to find inspiration …
"Hotel Everland is a project by Swiss artist-duo L/B (Sabina Lang and Daniel Baumann). L/B are known for their Installations that deal with architecture and space and invite the viewer to get involved and become part of the artwork.
Everland is a Hotel with only one room including a bathroom, a king-size bed and a lounge. The bounteous 
dimensioned room represents the subjective dream of a hotel: the architecture, the playful details, as well as the request to steal the golden embroidered bath towels. All Everland guests are partaking in the project.
(Night view from Palais de Tokyo)
Also the concept for operating the hotel was defined by the artists. All facets are important constituents of the artistic idea: The room can be booked for one night only, the mini-bar is fully stocked and included in the price, breakfast is delivered to the door and a record collection stands at ones disposal."
(Looking back into module toward bedroom and bathroom, complete with shower)
Having been invited to different venues since its conception in 2002, Hotel Everland will be atop the Palais de Tokyo art gallery until the end of 2008. You can book the room online at the hotel's website and obtain further details about the project.
Another Modernist masterpiece will be sold as a work of art this month when Louis Kahn's Esherick House goes under the hammer on May 18th. Built between 1959 and 1961 in Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania for Margaret Esherick, the house
also features the original custom kitchen designed by sculptor Wharton Esherick, her uncle. The one-bedroom house, which is a Landmark Building, is symmetrical and demonstrates Kahn's fascination with the effects of light on the space within; large rectangular windows and a limited use of materials, concrete and warm wood add to the simplicity of the design.
Wright Auctions
have produced an 80 page catalog with photographs by Todd Eberle and an essay by Wharton Esherick on the unique kitchen. The house will be offered in Wright's Important Design sale with an estimate of $2-3 million. That's a lot less than the $15,000,00-$25,000,00 that The Kaufmann House in Palm Springs, CA is expected to fetch when it is auctioned at Christie's the preceding week.
Great new Modern Outdoor lounge, the Luma Adjustable Chaise Lounge! Comfortable, stylish, and modern; this great lounge fits right in with the Luma Club Chair and Sofa. Shown here with the Lounge Cushion Set (sold separately).
