Architecture Style

Are you looking forward to this year's Oscars, anxious to know who will win? Precious, Meryl Streep, Sandra Bullock? Well, one person who is winning is Architectural Digest. Each year they do the greenroom for the presenters to relax in and this year they are outdoing themselves with a room by Roger Thomas. He was inspired by Hollywood movies from the 1930s (an era I love) but there are a lot of items that hit current trends as well, such as the Chinese screen backdrop.

The floors will have a polished black base with speckled paint to look like the backlot of a movie studio, or as Thomas says “a contemporary version of those that Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers would glide across in the 1930s.”

I can't wait to see the finished product in the magazine. Also of note, the design drawing is by noted illustrator Jeffrey Schneider and is really a piece of art!

As promised yesterday, today we are having a house tour of Mark Coy's previous apartment on Lakeshore drive. Located in a grand old building, the apartment has great bones but needed a LOT of work when he first moved in. Lets see the results!

The living room contains the same aesthetic as his new apartment, but in a traditional environment. Recognize the French armchair? The grass blinds are used here again to great affect.

Another view looking back at the living room. Notice the beautiful black fireplace with unusual overmantel on the left. You see the entry through the arched opening on the left and the dining room through the cased opening on the right. I love that Mark chose a cohesive color scheme to tie all the spaces together. The apartment has a great flow to it and the color unites the rooms.The dining room has beautiful moldings, a window bench and original sconces. I love the white painted trimwork throughout the apartment and dark stained floors! Another seagrass carpet is used here and recognize the fabric on the pillows on the window seat? Tying the rooms together through fabrics and color brings a modern flow to a traditional compartmentalized apartment.I was crazy for this gorgeous chandelier and guess what....it's from the HOME DEPOT! Yes, such style for only $495 plus the added black shades which were used again on the sconces. The high and low real world decorating is used here to full affect: using what he had to work with (sconces), adding a 'low' touch from home depot (the candelier) and hanging it above a Milo Baughman dining table (the 'high' statement piece).The master bedroom continues the same color palette but in a much more soft and subtle environment. It looks like it could be a room at a spa hotel, doesn't it? So relaxing. The bathroom is probably my favorite room in the entire apartment. I instantly recognized the Ann Sacks Bellarita Travertine flooring in a herringbone pattern: I've used it in projects before and hope to use it someday in my own house! I'm all on board with white subway tiles, befitting the apartment's age and the glam sink and ebonized doors make me so happy. No seagrass blinds in here but the wallpaper (continued onto the ceiling I might add) tie in that aspect from the rest of the apartment.
The 2nd bedroom, used as a den, uses the same color palette in a darker tone: A perfect room to curl up with a good book and cup of tea. I love the blocky lamp in the background and again the seagrass shades.

The one room that does not follow rest of the apartment's color scheme is the kitchen. The wood floors were ebonized in here as well and it looks like an original built-in to the right was painted the same white as the trimwork. I love this cheerful paint, who wouldn't smile having their morning tea (or coffee!) in here? I always tend to prefer black over stainless appliances (yes I know i'm in the minority) - I think they tend to blend better into a room and not become the 'star' attraction. They also tie in nicely with the black granite countertops.

I hope you enjoyed this tour of Mark's beautiful old apartment, I know I could happily move in tomorrow! Hopefully he'll share photos of his new space once it's completed!

One of the best parts of blogging is making new friends with common interests. I have been corresponding with Mark Coy, a party planner at the Palmer House in Chicago, and he was kind enough to share some pictures of the transformation of his new living room in a Mies van der Rohe high rise. At the top you see the 'after' shot.The huge windows let in tons of daylight and expansive views (as I can testify to in my own apartment) but the natural grass shades really offer great texture and help moderate the harsh daylight; this is especially important with the hot summer sun! The placement of the couch in front of the windows might seem a bit counter-intuitive, but helps the room feel cozy and also blocks the unattractive window mechanical unit. The room remains open and airy with 'leggy' furniture and an bent glass coffee table. The seagrass carpet compliments the room nicely, much better than the wall to wall carpeting that was here previously!Look for the tour of his magnificent old apartment in a classic beaux arts building on Lakeshore drive here tomorrow, you won't be disappointed!

Marie Antoinette's bedroom at the Petit Trianon is a perfect reflection of the young queen. Recently restored, the bedroom is one of the most elegant rooms in the house. You can see it located below on the plan in blue.The placement of the bedroom would become important even with the planning of the Petit Trianon's gardens: the Temple of Love is on direct axis from the daybed out the window, seen below. Who says Marie Antoinette wasn't a romantic? Below you see the Petit Trianon from the Temple of Love, the bedroom highlighted in blue.The room features an exquisite bedroom suite by Georges Jacob made for Marie Antoinette that is probably the most famous furniture in the small palace. The furniture and embroidered upholstery all display her love of flowers.The bedroom breaks from the pale green color scheme found throughout the main floor of the Petit Trianon and is instead an icy blue. Seen below to the right is a clock featuring 2 eagles which represent the house of Austria. Marie Antoinette always discretely remained loyal to her roots. She must have felt at home at the Petit Trianon surrounded by the things which were important to her: a love of nature and her Austrian roots.Even the boiseries are adorned with flowers. Below is a sketch from the 1913 Petit Trianon book that shows the carving in detail.

The hardware, which I have been admiring throughout the tour, is extremely organic in form: again harking back to nature and details of flowers.I can't discuss Marie Antoinette's bedroom without including a picture of her as played so excellently by Kirsten Dunst in Sofia Coppola's movie.

This past weekend I watched A star is born from 1954 starring Judy Garland. The sets, in particular her house, are shockingly 'au courant'. I loved the cerused oak front doors with 3 panels and modern sidelight. Notice also the Mies van der Rohe Barcelona chair in white leather.

In the living room, this card table and chairs would be welcome in my own home, maybe minus the pink cushions. The barcelona stools in the living room were covered with a yellow nubbly looking fabric, you see the top of one here.

Excuse the poor picture quality, but here is a better view of the white leather barcelona chair up on the entry level while down in the living room the corresponding Barcelona stool has the yellow upholstery. Even the sofa looks as if it came from Room and Board last week, not 55 years ago!
However, the main reason to watch this movie is the superb acting and even MORE excellent singing. This scene is heart-wrenching and with fantastic sets - meant to show the Oscars of the time. Notice - eating and dancing: Who needs an after party?

And here as a special treat is 'The man that got away' sung by Judy Garland: You can see why she was such a star!

Definitely check out this excellent movie if you get a chance: nominated for 6 oscars. My only complaint would be that it is rather long at 3 hours, but nothing a remote control can't fix!

Posts will be light for a week or two as I pack and move house. I'm also taking this week off for my weekly page.


["Pulling Mike and Hilda Symmonds house across the road in Conche" | image source]

Update 03.02: Just got internet service today at the new place, so my weekly page will resume next week (2010.03.08). Daily posts should resume shortly.

Here are some night shots of a couple buildings completed last year as part of the AT&T Performing Arts Center at the Dallas Arts District in Dallas, Texas. Photographs are by redblank.



[Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre by REX/OMA (see REX's Joshua Prince-Ramus speak about the building at TED.)]


[Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House by Foster + Partners]

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Call me crazy, but I think this use of architectural salvage in Chelyabinsk, Russia is sort of charming. I mean, given what they were working with it's pretty creative and fun! What do you think?
image via dark roasted blend

Featured a few years ago in project form, the Rolex Learning Center by SANAA is now complete and opens on February 22 in Lausanne, Switzerland. Back then I discussed the design in terms of the trend of "Swiss cheese architecture," probably unrelated to the building's location but nevertheless found in a number of building designs by SANAA and other architects.


[Rolex Learning Center within the EPFL campus / ©EPFL/Alain Herzog / modified by archidose / click for original]

One aspect of the Rolex Learning Center which sets it apart from other horizontal buildings punctuated by round or elliptical courtyards (see Burr Elementary School by SOM) is the building section, the way the slice of cheese undulates along the ground's flat plane. In a sense the building becomes the landscape; instead of cutting and filling the earth to provide access underneath, the building rises and falls to accomplish the same.


[Rolex Learning Center / EPFL / SANAA / ©Hisao Suzuki / click for larger view]

So to what end does the undulating cheese building accomplish? It allows movement across the site without entering the building. It creates a unique topography and experience inside for visitors. And it creates a distinctive appearance for the building, especially on end, where one can see the building's elevation curve.


[Rolex Learning Center / EPFL / SANAA / ©Hisao Suzuki / click for larger view]

What most intrigues me are the in-between spaces underneath the building's "bridges." These highly compressed spaces, finished in raw concrete, have potential in terms of programming (performances, exhibitions, gatherings), though at the moment the outdoor spaces are envisioned as places of relaxation.


[Rolex Learning Center / EPFL / SANAA / ©Hisao Suzuki / click for larger view]

The program of the Learning Center currently includes a scientific library with study areas, the CRAFT Laboratory -- a research center for EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) -- and the Rolex Forum -- an ampitheater with stage for 600 people -- and dining spaces. With these aims and programming, it sounds like the only spaces open to the public are the exterior spaces under the building and within the courtyard. If this is the case, the undulations seem justified. Without them the student and research facility would be a walled-off, impenetrable mass.


[Rolex Learning Center / EPFL / SANAA / ©Hisao Suzuki / click for larger view]

Nevertheless this condition (no interior public space) is unfortunate, because the interior spaces appear quite striking, in their empty state at least. They seem like diagrams for flows of information, unimpeded by walls and right angles. Perhaps a metaphor for the sharing of data that is important with scientific research?


[Rolex Learning Center / EPFL / SANAA / ©Hisao Suzuki / click for larger view]

One design feature I question is why the roof parallels the floor. Maybe it was cheaper to reuse the formwork; after pouring the floor the forms could be raised for the roof. As well this makes the glass and its framing a consistent height, cheaper and easier to fabricate. Regardless, having the two slabs parallel means that the space is undulating but uniform. But if the roof plane did it's own thing -- maybe flat, or undulating in a different direction -- then the spaces would have further tension and compression, even more variety and diversity. As is it's still a remarkable building that transcends its Swiss-cheeseness.

Here are some photos of the Hale County Animal Shelter in Greensboro, Alabama by Rural Studio, 2006. Photographs are by schopaia.

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Since everyone seemed to enjoy my dinner party post last week, I decided to photograph breakfast this past weekend to include in this week's Tabletop Thursday!

Bacon and eggs (fried and runny), wheat toast, english breakfast tea with milk and OJ were on the menu. While the bacon fried (and then eggs done in the same pan afterwards), I took a few pictures. Daisies were snipped from a larger bunch ($4 at trader joes) elsewhere in my apartment and put into a bud vase to brighten up the winter gloom. Daisies are the most cheerful flower in my opinion and really last a long time (up to 2 weeks if you change the water frequently!).

The china is Harebell by Radford Fenton (made in England) and from the 1930s is my best guess. The linens are all from potterybarn and I liked how the green napkin brought out the green in the plates. The teapot is the one I use everyday, Martha for Macys, the juice glass is italian glassware from TJmaxx and the creamer is antique crystal from my great-grandmother: just typical old victorian glass. NPR was on and featured the listener's favorite top 10 soprano solos which was a wonderful backdrop. Renee Fleming singing o mio babino caro by Puccini was #1. I hope you are all finding ways to brighten up your winter as well!

In news that probably won't surprise anybody, the results of the voting for Barbie's next profession (reported earlier, where architect was in the running against four other careers) are in, and the blond doll will not be an architect. The winners? News Anchor (girls' vote) and Computer Engineer (popular vote). It looks like Despina Stratigakos's campaign could not even help drum up enough votes for our profession to be immortalized as a skinny figurine.



Well, as they say, it was an honor just being nominated.

(Thanks to Yazan's comment on my previous post for the heads up!)

The main salon at the Petit Trianon is probably the most often seen space and the largest: You can see it in the floor plan below in blue.

The upholstery and curtains are a very deep dark pink, practically crimson, which like elsewhere, contrast nicely with the light green and white painted boiseries.

The room is outfitted with a suite of musical instruments from the time period. If you've seen Sofia Coppola's movie, Marie Antoinette, you may recognize them.

The elegant gilded bronze work continues as do the Parquet de Versailles flooring. You can see the beautiful light the room receives, I took these pictures in the late afternoon.

Oops, a burnt out bulb! I guess this wouldn't have been a problem back in Marie Antoinette's time! Maybe on a windy day a blown out candle or two....
You'll notice the literal use of lily in the boiseries. I've never seen a fleur de lis depiected with actual lilys before! It is of course the symbol of the French Monarchy and makes perfect sense here.

These elegant armchairs are stylishly upholstered with sumptuously embroidered silk. I hope you enjoyed exploring this beautiful room!