June 2008

GSM as Terrorist concept by Laury van Eerd.

June 25, 2008. On June 20, Onamatopee Press and Design Academy Eindhoven in the Netherlands published a book called Jurkjes & Jason, examining local, and student, perceptions of terror and terrorism today...

Christian Lacroix-curated show at the Réattu Museum, Arles

July 3, 2008. Through October 31, native son and couturier Christian Lacroix has invaded the Réattu Museum of Arles. Invited to “take possession” of the Renaissance palace for several months, Lacroix has created a 22,000-square-foot exhibition that pulls from the museum’s historical and contemporary collections and them knits these pieces into his own work, hung on simple white mannequins, and more recent work contributed by artists he has invited to participate ...

(Credit: Justin Ouellette, courtesy Creative Time)

June 5, 2008. Former Talking Heads front man David Byrne has turned a 9,000-square-foot former municipal ferry terminal into a musical instrument for Manhattan arts nonprofit Creative Time. Originally commissioned by Färgfabriken, Stockholm in 2005, Playing the Building—on view now at New York’s Battery Maritime Building—features a retrofitted wooden church organ...

Take a Line For a Walk by Alfredo Häberli for Moroso

June 26, 2008. Tonight marks the opening of the first solo retrospective of Argentine-born, Zürich-based designer Alfredo Häberli entitled “SurroundThings” at the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich ...

A drawing from the re-created Interama show in Miami.

June 20, 2008. Walk into the future, or at least a midcentury – mid-20th century, that is – anticipation of the future. Opening at the Historical Museum of Southern Florida tomorrow is “Interama: Miami and the Pan-American Dream,” which will run through January 25, 2009 ...

It’s unlikely that Prince Charles heads the Richard Rogers fan club, but Lord Rogers recently received validation from another luminary when the Royal Institute of British Architects named the Rogers Stirk Harbour–designed Maggie’s Centre the winner of its RIBA Stirling Prize 2009.

It’s unlikely that Prince Charles heads the Richard Rogers fan club, but Lord Rogers recently received validation from another luminary when the Royal Institute of British Architects named the Rogers Stirk Harbour–designed Maggie’s Centre the winner of its RIBA Stirling Prize 2009.

It’s unlikely that Prince Charles heads the Richard Rogers fan club, but Lord Rogers recently received validation from another luminary when the Royal Institute of British Architects named the Rogers Stirk Harbour–designed Maggie’s Centre the winner of its RIBA Stirling Prize 2009.

It’s unlikely that Prince Charles heads the Richard Rogers fan club, but Lord Rogers recently received validation from another luminary when the Royal Institute of British Architects named the Rogers Stirk Harbour–designed Maggie’s Centre the winner of its RIBA Stirling Prize 2009.

It’s unlikely that Prince Charles heads the Richard Rogers fan club, but Lord Rogers recently received validation from another luminary when the Royal Institute of British Architects named the Rogers Stirk Harbour–designed Maggie’s Centre the winner of its RIBA Stirling Prize 2009.

It’s unlikely that Prince Charles heads the Richard Rogers fan club, but Lord Rogers recently received validation from another luminary when the Royal Institute of British Architects named the Rogers Stirk Harbour–designed Maggie’s Centre the winner of its RIBA Stirling Prize 2009.

It’s unlikely that Prince Charles heads the Richard Rogers fan club, but Lord Rogers recently received validation from another luminary when the Royal Institute of British Architects named the Rogers Stirk Harbour–designed Maggie’s Centre the winner of its RIBA Stirling Prize 2009.

It’s unlikely that Prince Charles heads the Richard Rogers fan club, but Lord Rogers recently received validation from another luminary when the Royal Institute of British Architects named the Rogers Stirk Harbour–designed Maggie’s Centre the winner of its RIBA Stirling Prize 2009.

It’s unlikely that Prince Charles heads the Richard Rogers fan club, but Lord Rogers recently received validation from another luminary when the Royal Institute of British Architects named the Rogers Stirk Harbour–designed Maggie’s Centre the winner of its RIBA Stirling Prize 2009.

It’s unlikely that Prince Charles heads the Richard Rogers fan club, but Lord Rogers recently received validation from another luminary when the Royal Institute of British Architects named the Rogers Stirk Harbour–designed Maggie’s Centre the winner of its RIBA Stirling Prize 2009.

It’s unlikely that Prince Charles heads the Richard Rogers fan club, but Lord Rogers recently received validation from another luminary when the Royal Institute of British Architects named the Rogers Stirk Harbour–designed Maggie’s Centre the winner of its RIBA Stirling Prize 2009.

++ i ++ has added a photo to the pool:

looking out from the window..
shot using a canon.

Lightning is defined to be “an atmospheric discharge of electricity, which typically occurs during thunderstorms”. A quite abstract technical definition, but does not describe what a lightnings looks alike … and especiallywhat humans think when they see and watch this. Two weeks ago I spend a day in Munique (Germany), and visited the “Deutsche Museum” (a big technical museum). It was indoor, and (only) 50.000 Volts … but a horrible feeling.
I took some pics in the darkness - and was not expecting to get such fascinating pictures, which much more look like art than like “hell”.

Mischa Barton's new look

Remembering Yves Saint Laurent

Mi conflicto mayor con Dios se da cuando lo puteo.Me pregunto: ¿Cómo puedo putear a alguien en quien no creo? (o que al menos no creo que sea puteable). Entonces automáticamente me corrijo: no es que no crea (o que no sea puteable), es que, si es realmente puteable, está completamente loco.Y voy al punto: si el hombre creó a Dios a su imagen y semejanza, y yo últimamente lo vivo puteando, ¿me estoy puteando a mí misma?Ese es el problema de vivir sola y no tener a quién echarle la culpa de, por ejemplo, haberte olvidado en el horno la tarta de acelga que estuviste preparando una hora con el respectivo gasto económico anterior y posterior, o sea, el que se va a dar a la hora de pedir las empanadas*que voy a tener que comer en el lugar de esa tarta.¡Qué digo que no tengo a quién echarle la culpa! ¡Claro que tengo! A Dios, que está loco y hecho por mí a mi imagen y semejanza. Entonces ahí lo empiezo a querer, porque soy yo, no por otra cosa, porque para mí sigue estando loco porque la verdad... ¿a quién se le ocurre venir y quemarle la tarta de acelga a Dios que con tanto amor la preparó???Hay que estar loco para agarrar y quemarle la tarta a Dios. Yo no haría algo así nunca. Entonces, si yo no quemaría la tarta de Dios, yo ¿no soy Dios? ¿No me puteo ...

One day left to enter our Elliott Lucca Calypso Shopper giveaway! So if you want to be the proud owner of a Calypso Shopper, then Enter today and subscribe to Couture in the City! If you already subscribe to Couture in the City you are automatically entered into the giveaway every week! The Calypso Shopper giveaway runs until June 18th. So subscribe if you already haven’t. The winner of our Calypso Shopper will be anounced this week in Friday’s ‘Today’s Couture’.

Eddie Vedder's updated rocker look

Last week we went to Artomatic art exhibition in Washington D.C. Artomatic is the community-driven , all-volunteer 5-week art exhibition in D.C. , which draws all the local emerging as well as established artists together. Going on since 1999, this year’s Artomatic is featuring works of over 800 visual artists and 200 of musical, dance, theatric, and other performing artists. It’s being held in a 10-floor Capital Plaza I building at 1200 First Street NE.
Each one of the 8 floors is like an art gallery, but the fun thing is that you find different styles of art with almost every step – one space would have modern-style, surrealistic paintings, the other one would have photography, the next one would have junk art, and the next one would have something totally weird you won’t even know what to call it. The other 2 floors have live performances and the bar.
I did 5 floors of art only, and that was more than enough impressions and inspiration. It was great to find out that there are so many young artists in the area, with very interesting ideas and ways of expressing themselves. I took loads of photos and artist’s flyers to check their sites. Here are some...

There is so much to see over the summer, you really need to plan your cultural activities well to fit it all in. I loved the Richard Serra exhibition that is on at the Grand Palais in Paris. It's definitely worth a visit. The catalogue is really great, too. His work is just amazing, you can literally walk into it, almost. 
The Festival of Art and Architecture is going to be fantastic this summer. It runs from June 20 to July 20. Check www.lfa2008.org and factor it in to your summer, definitely. 
You should also try to see the Street Art Exhibition that will be on at the Tate Modern until August 25. It's well worth a visit to see the work of young artists from various countries and what they have to offer that is really compelling and unique. If you love Banksy, you'll love this.  
If you happen to be in Paris - either to see the Serra exhibition or for the menswear shows coming up, definitely try to get to the Albert Kahn museum too. It's really inspirational. He was a French banker and philanthropist and he employed photographers to take pictures all over the world - of general life, really. The book that goes with it is really beautiful too - The Wonderful World of Albert Kahn. 
Albert Kahn...

It's been a week of art for me. One of my OBFs (old best friends) has become a true art groupie and I have happily tagged along in her search for The Arty Prince Charming.

First it was The Chapman brothers' new exhibition opening at the White Cube in Mayfair. The show was packed with what seemed the entire art, fashion, student and money crowd of London, all gulping down free beer and displaying an unusual degree of interest in the art on the walls. And quite rightly so - how sick and brilliant those two brothers are.

The oil paintings of disfigured human monsters and their vision of Nazi Hell were so amazingly strong, combined with the clammy sweat of art fervour and the odour of stale beer, my very pregnant body felt on the verge of making its own nauseous statement. Luckily I escaped to the party upstairs, where Fran Cutler greeted me with a glass of Champagne and a sound advice: "You're in the third trimester, the baby is fully developed now, so you can drink!" How could I not oblige?

Next it was the RA Summer Show opening last week. This year was a hot ticket indeed, which I realised when I called in the tickets only a few days before - sold out. Thanks to lovely Anya Hindmarch I still managed to get a couple of tickets, so I put on my new Giambat...

There is some collective confusion - even in fashion - about cruise or resort collections. The sensible question being, who take cruises anymore, and why do they justify a dedicated fashion collection?
To entice customers with the latest fashion has to offer, pre-collections (cruise/resort and pre-fall) are playing an increasingly important role in the business of fashion.
Originally an American solution to the problem of living in one season and travelling to another, cruise/resort now provides a seamless transition between seasons. It starts arriving in store in November when autumn/winter collections (in store August through November) look tired. Likewise, pre-fall collections arriving in June overlap with autumn/winter ready-to-wear.
Cruise and resort are synonymous. They refer back to a time before budget air travel when winter migration to warmer climates was a privilege of the wealthy. A relatively new concept in Europe, cruise/resort or pre-collections are quickly becoming big business. Fashion houses including Christian Dior, Chanel, Prada, and Gucci are just a few of the brands showing pre-season shows.
While they were originally a seasonal stop-gap, designers increasingly depend on the more accessible cruise/resort collections to give the...

Fashion rarely makes front page news or receives a tribute from the French President. Yet the death of the Algerian-born, French fashion legend and cultural icon Yves Saint Laurent, at 71 on June 1st, is a profound loss felt even by those not interested in fashion.

Yves Saint Laurent's death marks the end of an era he played a large part in shaping, with his iconic Le Smoking and liberating trouser suit for women. He was also the first designer to actively promote the more democratic ready-to-wear Rive Gauche collection and stores with the same name.

Becoming increasingly media shy in the years leading up to his death, M. Saint Laurent retired in 2002. Yet his design influence only became stronger in his absence. For example for this autumn/winter, many designers showed M Saint Laurent-inspired structured geometric tailoring for modern power suiting.

The designer currently at the helm of YSL, Stefano Pilati, regularly pays tribute to his predecessor with variations on the theme of Le Tuxedo. Yves Saint Laurent continues to inform the way we dress from the safari jacket, Le Smoking, the shift dress and trouser suit.

His extraordinary career, spanning six decades, started at the house of Dior at the tender age of 17. After Christian Dior's dea...

Image: JustJared.comCharlize Theron looks beautiful in this white poofy dress at the premiere of Hancock on June 16, 2008 at L’Olympia Hall in Paris, France on Monday.Source: CoutureintheCity.com

Aaron Betsky makes it pretty clear: it's not the buildings that make architecture, it's the architects, and they don't even really need to build. In fact, architecture is more about unbuilding than building, or so says Betsky.Betsky talks about architecture like someone who is not only passionate about the building-lingo, but about life in general. It's no surprise he wrote a lot about architecture and sex, also becoming one of the main contributors to a spatial interpretation of queer theory.During his conference at Transmitting Architecture in Turin, he explained how architecture is the whole process around building, not necessary including it. Thinking, talking, experimenting with an environment's geography, landscape, history, people, relationships, culture, beauty.The exhibition he's curating, taking place at the Venice Biennale and titled Out There: Architecture Beyond Building, deals with interventions in space and landscapes aiming to make our world feel like home, without covering it with the "architecture gra...

Summer in the City can be pretty damn hot, so a couple of waterfalls might just do. Although it looks a little like shaman material by someone from the rain forest or Niagara, it actually took a Dane to provide the Big Apple with this spectacular - and refreshing - kick to its already iconical Brooklyn Bridge. New York's last public art piece, commissioned by the Public Art Fund to artist Olafur Eliasson, consists in this one waterfall in the picture and three more, falling from free-standing scaffolding towers on the East river. The artist is known for its past success at London's Tate Modern, the Weather Project, worth the museum 2 million visits, and has had the kind of meteori rise softened by green credentials that makes him almost smug seeming to other artists.Being as tall as the Statue of Liberty, his new public installations will be temporary landmarks and, since the only thing more powerful than water in shifting our perception of a place is moving...

Turin loves us and we love Turin. Once again the Check-in Architecture crew will move to the Piedmontese capital for a gaggle of good reasons: the UIA World Congress, the Transmitting Architecture exhibition and yet another party - details about it in the flyer above.It's a good chance to witness the Check-in Architecture spirit both in video and in the flesh, we're three dimensional and rocking good dancers.

I have to admit that kate is one of my favorite celebrity's. This flawless beauty has such an exceptional sense of style from her hair to her make-up, and designer looks. She can have anyone on the brink of envy. But were here to grant that eternal wisdom on how to share that sophisticated look - called kate Beckinsale. Kate B. donning the high pony tail look - But I want that look too! Here's how; Spray hair with a light hair spray using Paul Mitchell's Super Clean Extra hairspray. And then use a Mason Pearson brush to pull hair into a high ponytail and secure with a strong elastic.

Summer is the time to take a break. You know. Kick back your heels, raise your feet on a stool and relax. Time to loosen up and go for breezy comfort.There is no need to forgo your stylish image. These 5 comfortable pieces let you stay in style and fashin. At the same time, they offer your great mileage.1. A comfortable white shirt.Get a men's style white shirt and wear it with khakis, jeans or a pencil skirt. That roomy classic goes with virtually everything in your wardrobe. For that sultry siren look, you could secure the shirt under your bust with a knot instead of buttoning it up. Or you could wear it as a super comfortable sleep shirt Its always in fashion trend.2. A pair of jeans.If you fit into your favourite pair, that would do for summer fashion. Nothing beats your favourite, broken in jeans when it comes to comfort and fashion. If your jeans are a tad too tight, go get yourself a new pair that fits. Well fitting clothing look better and make you look slimmer than too tight clothes.3. Bright, roomy, summer dressA loose fitting dress in a bright color is a hot look every summer. This is especially evident for Spring/Summer 2008 if you watch the designer fashion shows. One thing about the tent dress or roomy, loose fitting clothes that do not define your waist is t...

The pants in that last big photo... Wow. Just wow.

• The Urban Gentleman is a basic guide to men's fashion and grooming with an urban twist. The blog covers everything from how to tie-a-tie to advice on how to get the style of the best dressed men in Hollywood. Urban Gent is the perfect blog all males.
  The Urban Gentleman is a basic guide to men's fashion and grooming with an urban twist. The blog covers everything from how to tie-a-tie to advice on how to get the style of the best dressed men in Hollywood. Urban Gent is the perfect blog all males.