July 2008

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.

Last week, Mens Vogue hosted a party at New York's PS1 museum to celebrate the latest winners of its annual Young Architect Program competition: WORK Architecture Company, whose Public Farm 1 installation is currently on view ...

"Shining" by Paola Suhonen in the "Fennofolk" exhibition

July 20, 2008. On show now at the Helsinki Design Museum is the oddly named “Fennofolk: New Nordic Oddity.” Curated by Paola and Pirjo Suhonen of the exquisitely moody and brilliantly graphical fashion label, IVANAhelsinki, Fennofolk analyzes Finnish culture through the artwork of more than 80 young artists and designers…

Gaetano Pesce drawing for the Church of Solitude, 1974-77

July 26, 2008. Through October 27, the New York Museum of Modern Art will present “Dreamland: Architectural Experiments Since the 1970s,” a collection of drawings and models that use the city, and often Manhattan in particular, as the subject of, and springboard for, architectural fantasy ...

Permanent exhibition in the new Harley-Davidson Museum

July 9, 2008. This weekend will mark the opening of the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee designed by Pentagram’s James Biber with a permanent exhibition created by Abbott Miller, also of Pentagram, and coinciding with the 105th anniversary of the iconic Midwestern company. Miller’s site-specific exhibition was designed simultaneously with the architecture and fits seamlessly into the building, showcasing the bikes as if they were art. Miller, who built his extraordinary career as a 2D designer, explains how he approached the 3D design of the show without an existing building.... 

Lamps by Sébastien Cordoléani and Franck Fontana

July 4, 2008. Mixing historic and current design, the third annual Design PARADE international festival at the Villa Noailles in Hyères, France opens this weekend and will run through September 21 ...

Marbrisa Residence, Acapulco, 1973

July 8, 2008. The dramatically titled and dramatically beautiful “Between Earth and Heaven: The Architecture of John Lautner” will be on show at L.A.’s Hammer Museum from July 13 through October 12...

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.

Rick Westcott has added a photo to the pool:

This shot was taken at a fountain in the courtyard of the University of Washington tower (old Safeco Tower) in Seattle, WA. it was shot in broad daylight with a high shutter speed using ambient light. The dark background is from the part of the building that is in full shadow. The water definitely takes on a life of its own and no two photos turn out alike. I liked how this image captured the tiny pearl poised above the chasm.

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.

Not so long ago i saw the movie – Travellers and Magicians, made by Khyentse Norbu (a.k.a. Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche), who is a buddhist monk and is officially recognized as the reincarnation of a 19th century Tibetan saint. This was his first movie ever made in Bhutan. It’s a beautiful movie, i liked it very much and would recommend it to everyone. Coincidently, same week, there was a first-ever Bhutanese song and dance performance happening at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. So, naturally, we went. I really enjoyed the show, loved the dances and the singer Kencho Wangdi had an amazing voice. Here’s one of the dances they performed, it’s called the dance of the cremation ground:

Bhutan is a small kingdom in the Himalayan mountains, which is the 8th happiest country in the world, the most isolated and the least developed one. The landscapes of Bhutan are amazing. Bhutan is called Land of the Thunder Dragon or the Land of Medicinal Plants. In an effort to preserve its culture and environm...

In the early Nineties I was too young to notice the effects of high inflation, unemployment, and soaring oil prices. The closest I came to power dressing was my school uniform.
Nearly 15 years later, I am a home owner and cannot help but notice how rising inflation and soaring oil prices are having an impact everything from the price of petrol to my weekly shop.
I wonder if it is just coincidence that with the economy mirroring the Nineties, I am craving clean angular cuts, sculpted silhouettes, padded shoulders, and power suiting - think Grace Jones meets Wall Street - along with fuel efficient cars and Nirvana remixes?
I am not alone. Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton, Nicolas Ghesquière at Balenciaga, Stefano Pilati for YSL, Alber Elbaz at Lanvin, and Ricardo Tisci at Givenchy are just a few of the designers who are thinking along the same vein. Their autumn/winter 2008-9 collections work with the ideas of power and protection, and make the most of fabric cut and proportion; Tichi's lace crosses, Ghesquiere's rounded armour-like surfaces, Elbaz's fierce little black dresses - and that's not to mention Jacobs' and Pilati's inverted triangle silhouettes, banana trousers and padded shoulders.
Coincidence or déjà vu, both fashion and the economic mark...

A dispatch from Super Saturday

Designers cast a watchful eye for fall

A summer read worth its (margarita) salt

It's the launch of the new Jawbone, can't imagine what it is but I like the venue at Portland Place and the parties are always good there.

The heavens have opened and it's chucking it down, the three umbrellas usually in my car have disappeared and I'm wearing silk. I arrive looking ridiculous with rain drops spattered all over me - never mind, everyone else is in the same state so we dive into spicy ginger cocktails and wring out our clothes on the dance floor.

The Jawbone turns out to be a sexy earpiece attachment for your phone - obviously.

It's London's first Jewellery Week, a four-day event. Browns gave a party to launch an exhibition of personal treasured and unique pieces from iconic fashion and jewellery collectors.

Each item shown under a glass dome and Paul Smith's most treasured - a present from his wife - is a tiny steam train with a black diamond tucked into the coal.

Stephen Jones has a crown of mother-of-pearl buttons from the Pearly Princess in his dome and John Galliano put the signature dagger he wears round his neck under his. Check out Loree Rodkins outrageous pieces too.

These video tutorials walk you through real-world design scenarios, and show you each aspect of using Dreamweaver CS3 for experienced GoLive users.

Of course with the promise of N.E.R.D. performing at the Billionaire Boys Club party at Harvey Nicks everyone was there that night.

As I arrive, the obligatory crowd of paparazzi is outside shouting at some girl in lime green shorts (Mischa Barton?). The crowd inside is a lot more what they call "urban" rather than "fashion" and it is jam-packed.

My friend has just had new boob injections done (looking amazing) and is feeling very perky so she pulls me right up to the front of the stage. My bump is huge now so I am feeling a bit inappropriate being right there at the front like some pregnant hip-hop groupie - but three really sweet huge black guys decide that they will protect me from the crowd pushing forward and I feel safe. I have my own security guards.

When N.E.R.D. finally show up on stage, Pharrell is wearing a huge diamond watch, proving he is a billionaire, I guess. They are brilliant though, rocking the crowd, making everyone sing along to: "I want to party, I want to f*** tonight..."

He looks right into the eyes of the girls, making each one feel very special - now that is what I call a great entertainer. One of them is feeling so special that she climbs onto the stage, takes her shoes off (I can't understand why since they were f...

Will someone please tell me how to negotiate the ascending escalator at a Eurostar terminal in heels and how to control a suitcase that just wants to slide down, crushing the people behind?
Will just have to make sure the lift is working next time or wear something more manageable... I don't think so.
What a relief to arrive at L'Hotel in Paris where the most wonderful bonkers invitation for John Galliano's menswear is waiting. In my room, with its special, divine smell, I'm restored and ready for the world of Galliano.
The venue at a go-kart track took a bit of finding but the challenge is always rewarding. The show was an explosion of colour, madly and beautifully executed fun but totally wearable - loved the homage to Quentin Crisp, with Coca Cola cans rolled into pink candyfloss hair and genius make-up by Pat McGrath. Everyone left smiling and admiring.
Back to St Germain to the Rive Gauche, where Colette are throwing a party for the three MAN designers on display in the store: Hans Madsen, Christopher Shannon and of course James Long. So brilliant to see James, who deserves every bit of success and acclaim he's getting. We danced for Paris.
Later, I was nearly mowed down by hundreds of rollerbladers charging down Boulevard St Germain. Aft...

Paul Smith hosted an evening at his fabulous Albermarle Street shop showing three jewellery designers.

Loved Andrew Prince's wide scroll band tiara. Lauren Hassey's spider orchid earrings and Jasmine Alexander's exquisite collection.

Couldn't stay long as I didn't want to miss Swarovski's show and party, but the evening went horribly wrong when I discovered that my car had been clamped. Must have done a bit of fashion parking distracted by the delights of Bond Street - even a Swarovski crystal couldn't save me.

Actually that's not quite true but the whole process took forever and eventually I sulked off home.

Yo vivo sola. Mi dormitorio es la última habitación del departamento. Mi cama está en la última esquina. En el último lugar. En donde sería imposible escapar. Allí, atrapada en el último rincón, si alguien me fuese acorralando mi cama sería el resquicio final. Donde no hay salida. Huir, aunque fuese por la ventana, implicaría pasar sobre mi enemigo.Entonces abro los ojos en mitad de la noche. Noto que me dormí con las luces de la casa prendidas y un movimiento en el pasillo me llama la atención. Una sombra. Entra en el marco de la puerta un niño. Está serio, parado en la entrada a mi habitación. Me mira. Sus ojos son la imagen del mal. Un niño que no es un niño. Un monstruo que empieza a acercarse a mi cama. Mi única salida sería enfrentarlo, pero no es un niño normal. Es sólo la forma. Se acerca despacio pero inexorablemente. Empiezo a levantarme cuando sucede lo más terrible: un sonido a espaldas de la criatura hace que se dé vuelta. Miro su rostro de furia inmutable que mira algo. Algo que se acerca. Algo que está con él. El niño lo espera. Sonríe. Gira la cabeza. Me mira y la sonrisa es una mueca diabólica. Retorna su marcha hacia mí. Intento gritar pero la voz no me sale. Otra sombra entra en escena y no veo más nada.Me despierto en plen...

El cesto de la ropa sucia tiene forma cilíndrica. Tendrá como mucho cincuenta centímetros de altura con un diámetro de cuarenta.¿Qué clase de ser vivo puede esconderse ahí dentro?Porque lo que llama la atención, es que empieza a crujir la esterilla.Podría ser un insecto de grandes dimensiones. Una araña quizás. Podría ser una gran cucaracha. No se necesita demasiado para que resuene esa paja. Pero además del sonido, está el movimiento. De repente el cesto empieza a moverse, como si algo desde dentro quisiese salir.Sin embargo, ningún ser vivo con capacidad para abrirlo (porque lentamente se empieza a abrir) debería estar ahí.Me consuela pensar que debe ser algo pequeño; como mucho una rata. Espantoso, pero exterminable.Cualquier otra cosa debe ser forzosamente de naturaleza infernal.Entonces La tapa cae como en cámara lenta hacia el costado, y sale una cabecita, y unos ojitos, y las manitos ¿MANITOS????Lo último en asomarse antes de que yo salga corriendo son los dientecitos, justo cuando sale, emitiendo un infrahumano chillido de venganza, el cuerpecito vivo de

Though we're concentrating on Europe here at Check-in ARchitecture, we couldn't pass up this excerpt from Don Delillo's White Noise. We'll give a good European example of this peculiar phenomenon tomorrow.Excerpt from Don Delillio's White Noise: Several days later Murray asked me about a tourist attraction known as the most photographed barn in America. We drove 22 miles into the country around Farmington. There were meadows and apple orchards. White fences trailed through the rolling fields. Soon the signs started appearing. THE MOST PHOTOGRAPHED BARN IN AMERICA. We counted five signs before we reached the site. There were 40 cars and a tour bus in the makeshift lot. We walked along a cowpath to the slightly elevated spot set aside for viewing and photographing. All the people had cameras; some had tripods, telephoto lenses, filter kits. A man in a booth sold postcards and slides -- pictures of the barn taken from the elevated spot. We stood near a grove of trees and watched the photographers. Murray maintained a prolonged ...

We're through with editing, delaying and working on the video material we collected back in Turin last week, and we're finally releasing a considerable amount of brand new stuff for you guys to enjoy.This video blog load features:- Aaron Betsky having a talk with us about language in architecture;- Cino Zucchi and Mirko Zardini discussing about communication practices (they laugh when we ask them about communication in the congress); - P.K. Das speaking out about social changes, equality and architecture;- François Roche heavily critiquing the congress and preferring Guattari-style ecosophy to eco-sustainability;- Mario Cucinella sharing some of his thoughts on human-scale architecture and the architecture star system.- Adam Greenfield telling us about buildings with moving walls, open source and the internet;It's a lot of stuff, so take your time to check it all out and come back here often for more CIA videos.

After these four days of Transmitting Architecture, it's time for a little budget.Although we managed to get some really good video interviews, the congress itself was pretty disappointing, and the many critiques and complaints we collected from the very architects we interviewed during our stay is a further proof to this. Ok, transmitting architecture is not easy, but it gets trickier if you lock yourself into a conference stronghold and only express yourself through slides, that most of the time don't show when they're supposed to. As a medium, the congress is not a very conductive one.However, all of this doesn't mean our congress experience was fruitless. If you guys are patient enough to wait a couple of days, there's a lot of stuff coming up on our video blog, and some of it is pretty entertaining: our old acquaintance Cino Zucchi and CCA director Mirko Zardini - both with a wrestling mask on, at some point - discussing about media; François Roche and Mario Cucinella showing some contrasting views about sus...

We found this video of a rather peculiar public landmark project emerging from the Lancashire midlands, not far from Manchester. Abandoned and depressed since the industrial revolution revolved to Asia, with all the mines and factories shuttering into oblivion, the region has had to start getting creative about how to reinvigorate the local economy.One of their methods of getting creative is by building a series of unusual monuments, readymade landmarks to drive any kind of tourism up into the English hinterlands, dubbed "Panopticons" with a peculiar interpretation of the word. The "panopticon" we know is the one developed by Jeremy Bentham to provide total isolation and awareness of prisoners, later picked up by Foucault and others to describe the terrorizing surveillance that governments inflict on their citizens. Which is to say, the word c...

We've been covering the Fuorisalone in Milan a lot when it was time back in April, but we still have something more to show you guys, even in the sweaty hot days of late-July. Our own Fabio Falzone interviewed the Interni magazine director Gilda Bojardi, one of the key figures who made Zona Tortona what it is today, putting it on the Design Week map. She visited our headquarters in Via Oslavia and, after we showed her how CIA works, she told us some of her precious share of Salone history. Enjoy.

Here are a few pics from the last couple of weeks.
Below:  Emilia and Lorenzo had their birthday party at Pollo Campero this year.

 

Below:  Emilia and Lorenzo had an open house at their pre-school.  They were supposed to dress up like their favorite animal.  Emilia chose a pink pony and Lorenzo chose a brown horse.

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