BIJOU LIVING

Jun 18, 2009

6 Summer Low Tops - Simple Clean Style

A pair of lo tops should be in every man's closet. Effortlessly simple, classic, and more fashionably functional than your average sneaker, the canvas or light suede lo top trainer can be worn with slim fitting jeans, tapered shorts or drain pipe trousers. Pair a well kept leather low top with your light summer linen suit for that Duran Duran Rio feel.

1. Asics Coolidge Lo
online at Barneys

2. Chuck Taylor All Stars low tops
online at Converse

3. Keds Green
online at Keds

4. Topman Canvas Plimsolls
online at Topman

5. Vans Classic Low Top
online at Vans

6. Rachel Comey Canvas Lo Top
online at oaknyc

Jun 17, 2009

Design Lover: Mariano Fortuny Desk Lamp

Designed in 1903 by the Italian textiles and dress designer Mariano Fortuny, the sweepingly curved desk lamp is made of chrome with a solid brass and black lacquered arm. Height: 24.5 inches. Width: 22.5 inches. By Ecart International.

Jun 16, 2009

10 Things You Should Know About Oscar Niemeyer

Niterói Contemporary Art Museum, Brazil

Niemeyer, with Lucio Costa, designed the Brazilian Pavilion for the New York World's Fair.
His first executed work was a maternity clinic.
He worked with Le Corbusier on the preliminary plans for the Ministry of Education Building in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Niemeyer began his career in architecture before he graduated from university.
He was a member of the United Nations Headquarters Design Committee
He considered the Modern Art Museum in Caracás, Venezuela, as marking an essential shift to minimalism in his designs
Niemeyer was head of the design group responsible for creating the first public building in the world to be expressed in the modernist architectural medium (Ministry of Education Building, Rio de Janiero)
Mayor Fiorella LaGuardia made him an honorary citizen of New York City in 1939
With the assistance of 60 architects, Niemeyer conceived, developed, and produced final drawings for all the critical federal buildings for Brasilia in less than two years
Niemeyer will celebrate his 102nd birthday on December 17, 2009.

Modern Art Museum, Venezuela

Vintage Christian Dior 1984

Christian Dior

1984

Jun 15, 2009

Your Week's Inspiration

One of my favourite Flickr contributors, hillbillyxx, posted this found photo on the weekend. Thank hillbillyxx for sharing such a find will you.

Quote of the Week - Faye Dunaway

Edge is one of my favourite words. Energy's another.
Faye Dunaway

Jun 10, 2009

10 Father's Day Gift Ideas

1. money clip
Ferragamo money clip with one card slot
online at Saks

2. wallet - bills should not be kept in a wallet
Comme des Garcons
online at Saks

3. lighter - even if he doesn't smoke nothing says elegance like a fine light
Dunhill Turbo
online at Dunhill

4. Porsche 911
diecast
hobby shop

5. vintage inspired alarm clock
Westclox Baby Ben
online at Westclox

6. Victorinox Swiss Army Knife
Climber Special Edition
online at Victorinox

7. Chet Baker
Chet Baker Sings
online

8. case of Cabernet Sauvignon
2005 Schrader Napa Valley Beckstoffer to Kalon Vineyard
specialty wine shops or winery

9. adjustable wrenches
Crafstman
hardware store

10. collection of lounging apparel
online at
James Perse – Men

Jun 9, 2009

Design Lover: Charles Martin AD 11 Light

Designed in 1928 by Charles Martin, who is more commonly known as a set designer and illustrator for fashion journals, the classic AD11 table lamp is being reproduced by WOKA of Vienna. A weight fixates the lamp with a half rounded foot ensuring that it doesn't roll away. The arm can be tipped and the head can be turned to the side guaranteeing your light is always just right. Available in brass or nickel plated. Online at WOKA.

Jun 8, 2009

Quote of the Week - Albert Einstein

Few are those that see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts. Albert Einstein

The Style Quiz 3 - The Answer

Blumarine
F/W 1987

Related Posts:
The Style Quiz 3
The Style Quiz 2
The Style Quiz 1

Jun 3, 2009

The Decline of West Coast Modernism

Many significant West Coast Modern homes are at risk due to rapidly increasing land values, lack of recognition, lack of maintenance and inappropriate alterations. Below are five before and after examples from West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The last selections show the deterioration of a significant modernist home due to lack of maintenance.

1. Before
W.G. Marr, Designer, 1950

Description of the home before demolition: Horizontality is the dominant design element in this single family home. A flat roof with exposed twinned roof beams adds a decorative feature to an otherwise modest facade. A small deck is cantilevered off the second floor living room. Horizontal board siding is used as the primary cladding material, broken into modular sections marked by vertical beams.
(from: 1994 West Vancouver Survey of Significant Architecture 1945 - 1975)

1. After

2. Before 2060 Gisby St
Duncan McNab and Associates, Architects, 1961

Description of the home before demolition: Two storey house incorporates vertical board cladding and a low pitch side gable roof. Ribbon windows are used on the first and second floors. A distinctive breezeway and entry court is created by extending the roof beams over the carport. The site is enhanced by a rock retaining wall, and mature cedars and rhododendrons.
(from: 1994 West Vancouver Survey of Significant Architecture 1945 - 1975)

2. After 2060 Gisby St.

3. Before
F.M. Polson, Architect, 1950

Description of the home before demolition: Two storey horizontal board clad structure capped with a dramatic monocline roof, and fronted by a two storey cantilevered deck. The residence is situated at the base of a hill, and retains its original landscaping, including shrubs and bushes which has now matured to provide lush surroundings. This house was published in the RAIC (Royal Architectural Institute of Canada) Journal 1951. (from: 1994 West Vancouver Survey of Significant Architecture 1945 - 1975)

3. After

4. Before
Arnulf H. Petzold, Architect, 1955

Description of the home before demolition: One storey vertical board clad structure, with a low pitch front gable roof, features a rectangular form with a central chimney, clerestory windows and an angled entry. The site is landscaped with a rockery feature at the entry, decorative fruit tree, spruce vine maple and many pines. (from: 1994 West Vancouver Survey of Significant Architecture 1945 -1975)

4. After

5. Before
Lewis Construction Company, Designer, 1955

Description of the home before demolition: Two storey vertical board clad structure displays a rectangular form, exposed roof beams, a projecting second storey deck and ribbon windows. The site is extensively landscaped with a rock retaining wall, rockery garden with sculpted shrubs, river rock staircase, two mature cedar trees and decorative fruit trees.
(from: 1994 West Vancouver Survey of Significant Architecture 1945 -1975)

5. After

Furniture can be reproduced and so can photographs, but architecture is unique and once it is lost it is gone for good.
Giovanni Brino

(click to enlarge)

Arthur Erickson & Geoffery Massey, Architects, 1966

(click to enlarge)

Heavy timbers are used to frame the form of the house, which steps down a very steep slope in a series of overlapping narrow triangles. Posts and beams are cut to the same dimensions to balance the distinction between horizontal and vertical forces. Infill panels of horizontal siding, latice and plate glass are used within the heavy grided frame, while the entrance is marked by a sloping shed roof over the carport and entry court.

(click to enlarge)

The ends of the beams are carried past the ends of the house in flying extensions that contrast the vertical lines of the natural forces.
(1994 West Vancouver Survey of Significant Architecture 1945 -1975)

(click to enlarge)

Every work of art reveals its creator, an exact image and likeness of the person who made it. Carlo Mollino

Jun 2, 2009

Design Lover: The Bauhaus Birdhouse

The Bauhaus design principle is fundamentally, "no boundaries between the crafts". So, with the end user in mind, behold the Bauhaus birdhouse. Designed in Sweden and made from solid larch wood and painted with non-toxic colours, the house stays true to principle. Intelligent design keeps the end user, the birdies, from sitting in their food and soiling it and ensures that larger birds are kept away.

Available online at The French House.

Quote of the Week - Anne Demeulemeester

I don't do black because it's in. I do it because it's one of my favourite colours.
Anne Demeulemeester

10 Things You Should Know About Carlo Mollino

Carlo Mollino

Mollino, in collaboration with his friend Mario Damonte, designed the aerodynamic 1955 Damolnar Bisiluro racing car which was to go on and hold the 750cc category record at the 24 Hours of Le Mans race.
He was a pilot, a racing car driver, an expert downhill skier, an important photographer, an artist, a fashion designer, an author, a dabbler in the occult, an international traveler and an erotomaniac.
Most of his architecture has been demolished or left to decay. After it ceased working, his unique cableway station for skiers in the Alps at Lago Nero was left to fall apart. Squatters soon moved in and used the interiors for firewood.
Alpine architecture and territorial planning were so important to him that he set up the Istituto di Architettura Montana (Institute for Mountain Architecture).
He began to race cars seriously as soon as he learned to drive.
In the final years before his death in 1973 his preferred photographic medium was the Polaroid.
Mollino personalized sandals designed by Bruno Magli and made by Italo Bruschi by adding strass brooches. The sandals are now part of the collection of Museo Casa Mollino.
The bedroom, according to Mollino, was the 'erotic chamber' and thus only Louis XV furnishings were suitable. He believed that eighteenth century designers were the only ones who, 'knew how to wrap a woman in desire, giving the furnishings of the room the same grace as her own softly curving body...'
An avid inventor, he held 15 patents in various fields including, but not limited to, drafting, interior design, building products, automobile related devices, and everyday objects such as a cigar lighter and the 'clothing protector fairing to bicycles'.
317 butterflies were arrayed in rows in front of his bed.