Friday, May 30, 2008
If you are a fan -you know what that stands for! Just a short blog posting today as I'm WORN out from seeing a midnight showing of 'sex and the city' movie last night with friends and about 5,000 other screaming fans in heels (no, not me!).
The fashions are incredible, the apartment Carrie nearly moves into is FANTASTIC and there is even a redecoration of her former apartment (I hope that doesn't give too much away). ENJOY!! Go see the movie so they keep making more!!Thursday, May 29, 2008
Recently while doing some research for a project at work for modern glass canopy's I ran across this BLOG. While I have an affinity towards a more classical approach to architecture (even stuff as modern as this, symmetry and balance are king) this house really struck me and not just for the beautiful photography!
Designed by Shubin & Donaldson in Santa Barbara, the house showcases the views and sunlight the clients were seeking. The wife (who is an interior designer who studied under Rose Tarlow) sought a smaller sized house which I always appreciate - at a roomy 3,200 SF with 1,400 SF of additional storage in the basement ( you can never have enough storage when you're a collector like me!). The house is also very green and aims at sustainability. 
view from the back deck
the ground floor plan - that 2nd powder room off the dining room that looks like a sunroom worries me......bad placement!
the 2nd floor
yet more views from the living room - that fireplace with built-in wood storage is amazing!
views from the master bedroom corner window! Thank you for draperies in a modern house! 
Is that a powder room in the middle of hte photo through glass doors off the dining room? That must be a labeling mistake in the floor plan!
a head-on view of the front - I love the amount of balconies!
even the bathtub has a view!
The kitchen is a little too 'trendy' for me but a great layout - love the white terrazzo countertops!
What a magnificent sunset this room must look out over!
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Recently I read an article online about Paul Cadmus. I recognized one of his most famous paintings as one I bought as a child on a bookmark at the smithsonian! 'Bar Italia' was painted in Italy while he lived there in the mid 50's and satorizes the tourist in Italy. I think you can see a few similarities between his style of figure painting and John Currin's whom I blogged about earlier. While even more cartooney, it's the same modern but realism style of sketching figures and capturing their essence.
Paul had a very controversal career -I think you can see why and how that went in this painting. In this closeup, he included himself -he is in between the gigilo and the fat guy, his face leaning on his hand. I love learning little things like that about artists - it's sort of like Hitchcock doing cameos in his own films!
"URBANUS Under the leadership of partners Xiaodu Liu, Yan Meng and Hui Wang, Urbanus is a think tank providing strategies for urbanism and architecture in the new millennium.
The name of "Urbanus" derives from the Latin word of "urban", and strongly reflects the office's design approach: reading architectural program from the viewpoint of the urban environment in general, and the everchanging urban situations in specific.
Urbanus is committed to the Modernist believe that architecture is a pivotal force for a better life, and hence architects should push the boundary of their traditional role and be a progressive force in the society. Urbanus theorizes its idea and ideal through a unique practice. The core concern of this practice is design excellence.
Urbanus' design scope includes urban design, architectural design , landscape design, interior design and exhibition design. Its works have been widely exhibited in prestigious domestic and international shows, and reported by major trade magazines. It has been recognized as one of the leading forces among China 's young design firms. " to find out more...
Passage from http://www.urbanus.com.cn/cn/main.htm
Image from http://www.urbanus.com.cn/cn/PROJECTS1-OFFICE/2007-07014-ditieshanggai/2007-07014.html#7Tuesday, May 27, 2008
While in Barcelona a few months ago, I visited the Nacional Museu d'Art de Catalunya which was near the Barcelona Pavilion and was built for the same world's fair as the head building. It has some of the best views over all of Barcelona and also a fantastic restaurant on the mezzanine level overlooking the city surrounded by a BEAUTIFUL fresco'd ceiling (which is why I went to see it). 
The rest of the museum is amazing though -housing works of art by masters of art from the medieval period to current times including a large portion of the Thyssen Bornemisza collection. Included are some of MY highlights from the museum :-) If you get to Barcelona it's a must-see!
the back of this ancient church door was so modern looking, I loved it (even had my picture taken beside it!) while the front was more what would be expected -but the colors still so VIVID
this was the coolest little model of a room! We had a lot of fun looking into this!
these 2 portraits were so spanish and SO beautiful! I love the colors
Some interesting studies from AA for your browsing pleasure.
"But in some ways its radicalism in design is becoming mannered and predictable. A high percentage of the work here seems locked into a narcissistic logic that cannot stop producing the same architectural bling of distorted nets, abstract grids and curvy blobs. Although this is all drawn and modelled to an incredibly high standard, it is reiterative. But the work on cities is strong, inspiring, and authentically radical." to find out more...
Passage & Image from http://www.bdonline.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=3091651
Sunday, May 25, 2008
I am so in love with the Noah Sofa from OLY. This is what I wanted my daybed to look like in my apartment, a real couch -but this is so much better! When I was looking for a beautiful daybed I kept finding wonderful examples like this that I loved but wouldn't fit a real twin sized mattress. If you want to make your fortune and want to know what is lacking in the industry-MAKE BEAUTIFUL DAYBEDS that aren't meant for little girls and look like couches!
Friday, May 23, 2008
Ok - so maybe just this one quote and NOT every week but this one from the CAH-RAHZY and always entertaining Karl Lagerfeld made my day!
yes -not only does he WORK at Chanel -he's also trying to LOOK like Chanel (may she rest in peace) 
ok -so is this a cologen job gone wrong with his lips? something is NOT RIGHT there.....
before his reinvention -he was even more...ummmm.......strange and ladylike - but PRETTY, right? I wonder what shade that lipgloss is -and who does his eyebrows? Where is the moo-moo from and is that a big food stain on his chest or the light reflecting? That is why I don't eat with chopsticks, thank you very much, I don't like the pad thai stains on my moo-moo.
For this week's china of the week is a childhood favorite -'stawberries and cream' by Royal Doulton. My parents loved to mix and match china and our 'everyday' dishes were just 2 plates each of different wedgewood and royal doulton patterns. My brother and I would always fight over the strawberry plates! I now have a few pieces in this pattern and they really are just charming! Designed in 1978 -the detail is astonishing and they're just so pretty!
Thursday, May 22, 2008
I first heard about the demise of Doris Duke's indoor greenhouse at Duke Farms in NJ from Aesthete's Lament a few weeks ago when he blogged about 'paradise lost' -since then it has been written up by many different areas in the press and getting a lot of negative attention. 
The trustees have decided to tear down these greenhouses which housed her international gardens that she worked long and hard on for years because they are energy guzzlers (supposedly) and they want to create a model of ecological conservation and sustainable environmental practices at Duke Farms. From what I understand -she left this farm in memorium to her father to be used as a sort of horticultural workshop in trust to a board of trustees. They are taking this mission and sort of changing how the farm started out. Is change a bad thing?
I have very mixed feelings about this. While I am saddened by the loss of these fantastic gardens and their place in history, the creation of this new ecological conservatorium if done correctly will bring a lot of good to the field of ecology. 
In the future -will generations bemoan that the greenhouses were torn down, or will they find that what has replaced them more useful and important? That is hard to know. Back in the day when Pennsylvania Station in NYC was torn down (a big kick start for historic preservation) many people were opposed to the tearing down of that beautiful structure and still miss it to this day. The current Penn. Station is hideous and not even functional. Will the same fate be true for Duke Gardens? Or will whatever is coming next be so important that we will not even remember Doris's gardens....only time will tell.