Saarinen & Jacobsen Anniversary Editions

In case you missed it the first time around The Republic of Fritz Hansen is releasing a limited edition series (999) of Arne Jacobsen's 1958 Egg to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the design staple.

And while we're celebrating - let's not forget the 60th anniversary of Eero Saarinen's 1948 Womb Chair designed exclusively for Knoll.

Whatever happened to comfortable seating after the early 1970s?

image KnollStudio

Valentino Themes and Variations

photo The Met

Valentino is synonymous with the red evening dress. 

June 17 - September 21, 2008 Les Arts Decoratifs (Museum of Decorative Arts) in Paris will be presenting the first French retrospective of over 200 designs by Italian couturier Valentino Garavani.  

Known for dressing the international jet set, Valentino retired in January of this year after celebrating the 45th anniversary of the House of Valentino in July 2007.  

Valentino: Themes and Variations will be released on September 9, 2008 and is currently on preorder here.

The War on Design

Philippe Starck Louis Ghost Chair

There's a war going on right now you may not know about - it's in design. 

On one side we have designers like Philippe Stark and his theory that;

 'I have designed so many things without ever really being interested in them...Everything I have designed is absolutely unnecessary. Design, structurally seen, is absolutely void of usefulness.  A useful profession would be an astronomer, a biologist...Design is really nothing.  I have tried to install my designs with a sense of meaning and energy, and even when I tried to give it my best it was still in vain. Design is really a terrible way to express oneself.';  from Die Zit translated from German by mademoisellea.vox

 On the other, designers like Marcel Wanders.  Wanders argues that; 

'We as designers have to represent our public and their dreams instead of the machine and the anachronistic political dogmas it represents.  We have to challenge the industry so they will learn to follow instead of lead.  It is upon humanity, which the design of the future can only be built.  With love, passion and poetry we will take design to new heights.'; quote from Marcel Wanders

Marcel Wanders White Fishnet Chair

Rose Cabat Ceramics

A few weeks back I paid a visit to John Lawrence, BC art collector and antiquities dealer, to have a chat about Thomas Kakinuma and his influence on the Canadian ceramics scene.  While there I was inspired by the work of Rose Cabat. Cabat is famous for what she calls 'feelies' -  sensual ceramic shapes she creates in her Tucson studio.  

Born in Brooklyn in 1914, Cabat started throwing in the 1950s and continues to this day. Some pieces are still affordable while others are fetching five figures.

Like all things sensual, the beauty lies in the natural composition and inspiration - which she finds in her vegetable garden...

Brits Love Black Vinyl

According to a recent survey of 2,000 Brits, the technology they would most like to see saved from extinction would be -

The lp!

I knew I couldn't be the only one to feel the sadness in the sound of vinyl slowing to its last spin.

R.I.P. Yves Saint Laurent

Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Cardin

Vodka The Zero Calorie Drink

I used to know a clever toast,

But now I cannot think it,

So fill your glass to anything,

And damn your souls, I'll drink it!

Moscow Mule

• 2 ounces Absolut vodka
  
• fresh squeezed lime juice
  
• muddled ginger
  
• Natural Brew Outrageous Ginger Ale/Beer
• Muddle fresh ginger and lime together in a rock glass from Artecnica's Design with Conscience Collection.  Add ice cubes.  Pour in vodka and top with ginger ale/ginger beer. Garnish with candied ginger and a glass stir stick - of course.

My week just isn't a week without some bubbly!  Vintage Baccart serves it up nicely...

Japanese cuisine all week!  At Kaide and Yoshi it was strictly Sapporo.  

Even better in a Villeroy and Boch crystal beer glass!

Vodka Perrier Lime - short and stiff 

• 2.25 ounces vodka
  
• Lime Perrier 
  
• wedge lime
  

Add ice cubes to a short rock glass (6 ounce) Joe Columbo 5 in Uno.  Pour in vodka.  Top with Lime Perrier.  Squeeze a big wedge of fresh cut lime in.  Garnish with lime and a glass stir stick - of course.

Last but not least, Award Winner,  Seven Stones Speaking Rock 2006 Chardonnay  Being an ex- wine schmoozer at Quail's Gate I have to say this wine is SPECTACULAR! 

Of course, served in Juliska - Harriet Goblet.

Witches' Kitchen

'Double, double toil and trouble; fire burn and cauldron bubble.'.  Witches in Macbeth

Tord Boontje has teamed up with Artecnica - Designs with Conscience - to release Witches' Kitchen, a 15 piece handcrafted couture kitchenware collection.  Designed by Boontje and crafted by artisan communities in Brazil, Guatemala and Columbia.

$770 USD for set of six

For inspirational pieces try Ten Thousand Villages where I found the Kenyan kitchenware collection.

$7 USD for one

$28 USD for set

6 sofas for 620 sq ft

During a "mood" last week I sold all our living room furniture on Craigslist.

Thank goodness for oversized throw pillows and flokati rugs!

The old vintage couch 

bought in 1971 by the hubbie's stepdad

Strictly oversized cushions or tatami mats and low tables in the space could work. 

This is a great piece by Rossana Orlandi that's reminiscent of 1950s throw cushions.

 Mah-Jong by Roche Bobois is stunning and could be the answer!

We did go price out and choose our fabric for this fabulous tufted couch by Montauk - but unfortunately it wouldn't fit through our apartment door - it's very very deep!

A gorgeous piece by Moroso but too big as well.

 and this one is pretty but would be just too uncomfortable

Inge Sempe Satin Chantilly sofa for edra

Perhaps.

I'm starting to feel a touch like Goldilocks...

September 14th - update on the search for the couch - it's been found!  Click here to see.

Take A Seat in My Chairs

I have a penchant for chairs.  Whether they're Victorian, industrial, mid-century modern, 70s Italian or Louis XIV, I love them all.

To show off a collection of chairs it's best to place them in a grouping. Remember you never want your home to look like a charity shop!  If you place your collection around a raw reclaimed wood table like the one below the juxtaposition of the design elements becomes more apparent against the organic texture of the wood.

 blacksmith's table at Get Back Inc. 

mid-century industrial chair in bent plywood and steel

1960s Danish teak chairs

mid-century rosewood chair with oversized tweed cushion

When in Spain

buy a villa! 

The majority of my friends are expats now living abroad.  

In typical character, my good friend Dawn decided to go big or go home and is now the proud owner of a villa in the hills near Barcelona, Spain.

the villa

Dawn decided to do some renos on her new home - three years worth!  You can see photos of the project here.  For a woman who hates shopping, Dawn has blown me away with her design concept and material choices.  

Our washroom chronicles four different decades of bad, unmatched tile and 70s avocado green fixutres - help us, we're in a rental!

 the catalogue our fixtures must have come from...

Take a look at Dawn's washroom before and almost after pics.

before

almost complete!

For the "WOW!" effect she's used Roca fixtures and black and white Dune tiles. 

The Nose Knows

photo courtesy Le Labo

On a recent trip to San Francisco my husband introduced me to Le Labo (try Barney's in Seattle).  He was very excited because he thought it smelled like Scotch.  

I went on to have the Patchouli 24 (it's unisex) made up for him.  They blend the parfum right there and personalize the bottle for you.  It doesn't smell like patchouli at all - it's more approachable with scents like smoke, leather, birch, and vanilla. 

Le Labo describes the scent as:

A scent filled with danger for those of us who like to walk a tight rope...

Another scent I picked up was This Works: deep calm bath and shower oil .  

You smooth this oil on your body before the shower.  The heat from the water activates the essential oils and - voila - your own aromatherapy session.  The scent lingers all day and the coconut oil leaves your skin super soft.

Vancouver's Thomas Kakinuma and BC Pottery

Thomas Kakinuma
over 15" in height

John, the very knowledgeable proprietor of DODA on Richards, has opened my eyes to Thomas Kakinuma, probably one of the greatest Canadian potters - and he was from BC. Kakinuma did some beautiful ceramic animals (birds in particular) that I know I'm going to keep my eyes open for.

Thomas Kakinuma
all pieces from the writer's private collection

Stacy Reynaud

Related Posts:
Sheila White - The Mysterious West Coast Potter

Earth Integrated Architecture

'Go, play outside!'; is what my mom used to tell us.

I grew up in Langley, BC surrounded by land, grasses, trees and wildlife. It's heartbreaking to see what's happened to Langley now. There's goes the habitat.

We built some of the best forts or, shall I so boldly say, earth integrated architecture, in Langley. My favourite was the 'Moss Fort'. The Moss Fort was a grouping of huge smooth granite boulders that formed somewhat of a circle - these were the walls. The roof comprised low hanging alder and cottonwood branches and we were the only kids to have a shag carpet of moss - you had to take your shoes off before you came in the Moss Fort. You couldn't stand up in the Moss Fort, but that was okay because the low roof, moss insulation, granite and body heat kept it warm. It emitted a quiet yet powerful energy. It was protected from the adults, of course, by salmonberries and thistles.

The Moss Fort was silent like a womb and a place to go for peace.

William Lishman - underground architect - has taken the Moss Fort concept further with his underground home in Ontario. Lishman, who is receiving an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Ontario Institute of Technology in June, has been living in his home for seventeen years with 'surprisingly few problems for a design so radical..'.

Malcolm Wells, a Cape Codder, is more than an 'activist' for earth sheltered architecture. After 10 years of spreading 'corporate asphalt on America in the name of architecture...' he woke up and realized the land was alive. Wells' gas station and parking lot concepts are something well worth looking at.

Although not known as an earth sheltered architect, Arthur Erickson did a stunning job on Robson Square in Vancouver. Having grown up carousing with skateboarders downtown, I'm quite familiar with the comfortable communal gathering space Robson Square evokes. From the street it is unnoticeable but when you're in it, it's a quiet green refuge - like my beloved Moss Fort.

(photo Terri Meyer Boake)

Oldies But Goodies - Cocktails and Bubbly

Rye & Ginger short and stiff

Drink from 4-7pm during news hour

Ingredients:

2.5 ounce rye whiskey

4 ounce Diet (!) Ginger Ale

Add ice and rye to a rock glass top with Ginger Ale

Conversation topic over rye: Crown Royal was created in 1939 to commemorate the visit of the Queen Mum to Canada - thanks Mum!

Old Fashioned

2 0unce rye

1 sugar cube

dash of bitters

1 slice lemon

1 slice orange

1 cherry

Combine the sugar, bitters and 1 tsp water in a Carlo Moretti Ottagonale gold rimmed whiskey glass. Muddle well, add rye and stir. Add a twist of lemon peel and ice cubes. Add slices of orange and lemon and top with the cherry. Serve with a swizzle stick.

Veuve du Vernay Brut

Always a fun beverage to get you started. Goes well with everything, particularly, Panago Primo Vegetarian Cracker Crust Pizza.

Jackson Triggs 2006 Proprietor's Chardonnay - again. Not as good as last week. Kind of tasted like Gala Keg (wine in a box) this week.

Speaking of wine. What are your thoughts on those stemless glasses from Reidel? I'm not sold on them. Just too many fingerprints all over the glass and I like to swirl. I prefer to use vintage colored glass goblets like the one to the left.

Sweet Charlotte (Gramercy Park Jade Bar, NYC)

2 1/2 ounce bourbon

fresh muddled ginger

1 cube sugar

1 ounce fresh squeezed lime juice

Shake with ice and strain over an iced rock glass. Garnish with lime wedge.

Grower's Extra Dry Apple Cider - excellent all year round!

Serve with a lime wedge in a pottery beer stein like this one from White Horse Pottery .

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