Fun with Tudors.

Experimenting with text today.
[Original image from lib-art.com.]

Baby It's Cold Outside (Already)!

Today marked the inaugural double-layer pants kickoff of Fall/Winter 2009.

In honor of this, I decided to celebrate a new roofing innovation that was just invented by a few brainiacs at MIT.  Designed for a materials engineering contest, a group called Thermeleon created a solution that reacts to heat and encapsulated it in a tile.  Long story short, black roof tiles in the winter turn white in the summer or when its sunny.. respectively absorbing or reflecting heat.  Read the details here. Way to be green, neat, and save money.
In other news, I'm looking for ways to retain heat in my home.  With a large south facing window, it is pretty warm during the day (now that the drafts are sealed).  And generally a portion of the heat stays throughout, judging by the temperature difference in my apt and the hallway.  But how to keep the heat longer than the day?  This one I'll have to research more.

Next time I have a fireplace...

 

BBM

My Quest to Learn Everything

After visiting a kitchen showroom the other night, I decided that the best approach I could take to becoming a successful designer is to first get a thorough knowledge of New York showrooms and vendors.  I realized that if someone asked me to spec a piece of furniture, I wouldn't know where to start in this town. Over the next couple of months, I am on a journey to get an essential idea of what is here, and then continue to stay updated.
Reinforcing this idea, I opened up Elle Decor last night and there were great interviews with five successful women designers.  When asked to give advice to people starting out, here's what they had to say:

"Do your homework. Inform yourself on a daily basis. Study magazines. Go to museums. Attend lectures. Ignorance isn’t bliss." - Charlotte Moss

"Train your eye. Whether you’re going to a museum or a flea market or flipping through a book, always be on the lookout for something special." - Kelly Wearstler

"Your business needs a raison d’être [reason to be; driving purpose]. Be prepared to work 24 hours a day, and be willing to take risks. And you have to love it or you won’t succeed." - Josie Natori

"Work for—and learn from—someone who is successful. Also, travel abroad and expand your horizons by visiting museums, galleries, important architectural sites—and understand why these things have influenced design and style. Read." - Michelle Nussbaumer

"As I say to my sons—who are all artistic—be like a sponge; soak up everything. Working in this industry, you touch upon so many different ideas." - Holly Hunt

I am very excited.  And coincidentally, I'm going to update more frequently with products, textiles, materials, or furniture that I find in New York that I like.  

Starting with this rug:

Map
Harry Allen
Dune


Number one I love maps.  This rug is just phenomenal, not only because of the visual interest and the path that your eye travels.  If you look at it as a pattern, it becomes a whole new image.  I can't get enough. 

What city is this?  Paris?



Venice?

Haunted Denim

The other day I was in the park, and amidst the crisp wind -that reminded me to dig out my winter clothes- there was a particular rustle of leaves that made me realize it was Halloween season.  Time for pumpkin seeds and Frankenfurter's mansion... which I can't seem to find a good picture of.  But I did find an appropriately spooky installation at the Diesel Denim Gallery in Tokyo. 

Nature Factory created the surreal forest using various types of plumbing.  I'm pretty much obsessed with the contrast of the dark ceiling with the pristine pipes.  It's always interesting to me when you can see a change happen in the materials, and the transition from rectilinear to controlled chaos is done really well.  It helps to keep the attention on the clothes, while being visually stimulated by what is above.
It gives the whole store a new experience, entering a mysterious forest with only the jeans to guide your way.  Would you make it out unscathed?

Live Leatha.

I saw this today on Materia and it was really fascinating.  Studio Art, an Italian-based company, designs unique materials and home accessories composed of natural elements, such as stone, wood, and especially leather.  One of their specialties are leather mosaics, i.e. mosaico in pelle.  I've seen leather used in a lot of unique ways- floor tiles (what's the wear on those?) to bar tops (your glass probably stays in place), but never quite like this.  Leathers are tiled into place on walls, sometimes dyed beforehand.  They are versatile, from really bold styles, with widely varying shades, to muted, tidy mosaics of one tone.  Either way it's a statement wall.  I love that they embraced the texture by applying it to a curved wall in their showroom.  People are going to be trailing their hands all over that.

And yes, while part of me cringes at the thought of using so much animal, I can't forget that leather is a part of Italian culture.  I visited a leather production house in Florence, and the whole process was almost reverent.
It's a celebration of leather, in a way.  Studio Art says it the best:

"...offering ancient emotions, essential fragrances and tactile sensations and showing just how much leather is a live element full of expressive meaning."