David Popa's Ephemeral Earth Murals Offer a Glimpse into the Profound Mysteries of our ExistenceLand artists have always sought unspoilt natural settings for their works; Robert Smithson found his way to the Great Salt Lake in Utah early on in his career, Michael Heizer ended up in the Nevada desert, while Richard Long’s peripatetic practice took him to the Scottish Highlands, Nepal’s forests and India’s tribal lands among other places.
01/28/23
The Standard Hotel in Ibiza Channels the Brand’s Californian Origins as it Celebrates the Island's Mediterranean CharacterThe Standard hospitality brand is known for its hip urban skyscraper hotels and glamorous coastal resorts so it was only a matter of time before they launched a property that would combine both worlds. Enter The Standard Ibiza, which opened its doors last year in the heart of Ibiza’s Old Town, a few steps away from the waterfront.
01/25/23
Pedagogy and Architecture Come Together in a Madrid School Designed as a Complex EcosystemLocated in El Encinar de los Reyes, an upscale suburb in the north of Madrid, Reggio School is no ordinary educational institution.
01/22/23
Domhnall Nolan Designs a Sex Furniture Collection of Subtle Sophistication and Whimsical VersatilityDarkrooms in sex clubs aren’t usually associated with design sophistication which justifiably makes Irish-born, London-based designer Domhnall Nolan’s latest project, PLAY PIECES a revelation.
01/19/23
More Than White: A Monochromatic House in Alicante Belies a Complexity of Patterns and FinishesWhen Alicante-based architects PLAYstudio were commissioned to design a holiday house in Cabo de las Huertas, a local community that takes its name from the lighthouse that marks the rocky promontory it occupies, they turned for inspiration to the modernist architectural typologies that defined the urban development of Costa Blanca in the 1960s.
01/17/23
Caspar Schols Takes the Concept of Lodging Once Step Further with ANNA CabinWe are all familiar with the archetypal image of a cabin nestled in nature. No matter how you picture it, be it deep in the forest, nestled by a lake or perched on a verdant hillside, staying in such a place is the ultimate way to reconnect with nature, a basic human need made all the more pertinent during the lockdowns, social isolation and mental anguish of the two exhausting years of the Covid-19 pandemic.
01/14/23
Neri&Hu Design a Café in Downtown Shanghai That Highlights the City's Architectural HeritageLocated inside the recently refurbished Zhang Yuan development in downtown Shanghai's Jing'an district - one of the earliest public and commercial spaces in modern China that dates back to the end of the 19th century - the latest outpost of American speciality coffee roaster and retailer Blue Bottle initiates a dialogue between the city’s rich history and the contemporary urban social realm courtesy of Shanghai-based architecture studio
01/11/23
A São Paulo Apartment Blends Contemporary Design with Brazilian and Scandinavian Mid-Century ModernismCommissioned by a young family with two daughters to renovate a spacious apartment near Ibirapuera Park, a verdant oasis in the heart of São Paulo, local architecture practice Pascali Semerdjian Arquitetos created an eclectically styled home that channels the soulful elegance of Brazilian mid-century modernism along with São Paulo’s urban dynamism and cosmopolitan elan.
01/07/23
Andrew Trotter's Latest Country House in Puglia Draws Inspiration from the Region's Coastal VillasArchitect, designer and art director Andrew Trotter is no stranger to Puglia’s soulful beauty; his Barcelona-based studio has designed several houses in Puglia, including Borgo Gallana and Masseria Moroseta, which channel the region’s vernacular heritage through his signature style of crisp elegance.
01/03/23
Joanna Laajisto Combines Mid-Century and Industrial Elements in a Neapolitan-Style Pizzeria in HelsinkiCommissioned to design the fifth outpost of Helsinki’s Story restaurant chain located in a former shipyard turned hip culinary and culture hub in the Punavuori neighbourhood, Finnish interior designer Joanna Laajisto applied an eclectic aesthetic that harmoniously combines a sense of mid-century modern elegance with industrial elements and colourful tiling patterns reflecting the area’s multifaceted architectural character – think old industrial buildings mixed with art nouveau stone castles and neo-Renaissance houses
12/30/22
Anima: Laurent Grasso Upends our Sense of Temporality with an Installation in Paris that Blends Art, Animism and SpiritualityA man walks alone deep in the forest. On his way he encounters a fox, strange instruments and mysterious phenomena like a cloud hovering close to the ground. Welcome to the subliminal universe of French contemporary artist and videographer Laurent Grasso.
12/28/22
Studio Modijefsky Pays Homage to the Amsterdam School’s Eclectic Playfulness in an Amsterdam BarCommissioned to design the interior of Moos, a new café, bistro and bar in Amsterdam’s Spaarndammmerbuurt neighbourhood, local interior design practice Studio Modijefsky turned to the area’s most recognized architectural edifice for inspiration.
12/24/22
Aethos Ericeira: A Retreat in Coastal Portugal Reinvents Luxury Hospitality for Wave-Chasing Surfers and Slow Living EnthusiastsWhen it comes to selecting a holiday getaway to escape the stress of daily life, the old adage “location, location, location” duly applies — a hotel’s location both informs its character and complements its amenities, in other words, it’s an integral part of the hospitality experience. The recently unveiled Aethos Ericeira in Portugal demonstrates this point rather effectively.
12/21/22
Villa Petricor: A Sculpted Monolithic Canvas Amid a Tropical Garden in Tulum, MexicoTaking its name from the Spanish word that describes the earthy scent produced when rain falls on dry soil, Villa Petricor in Tulum, Mexico, was conceived by local architecture studio CO-LAB Design Office as a place of stillness, mindfulness and re-connection with nature.
12/18/22
Yatzer Transforms its Creative Studio in Athens into a Verdant Dreamscape to Celebrate its Second Limited-Edition Collection of Statement PiecesBack in distant 2016, if you recall, we celebrated Yatzer’s 10th year anniversary with “10 by Yatzer”, a limited edition collection of design objects that we presented during Milan Design Week (where else?) in a pop-up shop in the Brera district.
12/13/22
Rina Lovko Marries Classic Parisian Elegance with Contemporary Minimalism in a Kyiv ApartmentThe Ukrainian capital of Kyiv is going through some tough times at the moment but that’s all the more reason to highlight beautiful projects that both exemplify the city’s creative spirit and convey a sense of hope. One such project is this soulfully elegant apartment that local architect and designer Rina Lovko recently renovated for a young fashion insider with exacting standards of beauty.
12/13/22
Job Smeets Explores America' Fading Cultural Hegemony with Whimsical Insightfulness in a Solo Show in New YorkThere’s been a lot of talk recently about America’s decline – its democratic institutions have been shaken, its economic power challenged and its pop culture dominance seems to be fading. In any debate such as this in which the complicated subject of the US is examined, it sometimes takes an outsider to put things into perspective as French sociologist and political theorist Alexis de Tocqueville demonstrated almost two centuries ago with his seminal book “Democracy in America”.
12/11/22
Luis Mexicantina in Gdynia Takes a Page from Luis Barragán's Emotional ArchitectureLocated in Gdynia, Poland, Luis Mexicantina serves all the classics you’d expect from a Mexican canteen albeit in a very unexpected setting. Bored with the clichéd aesthetic of Mexican restaurants, Gdansk-based interior, product and graphic design studio Akurat turned for inspiration to Luis Barragán, Mexico’s preeminent modernist architect who pioneered the concept of “emotional architecture”.
12/08/22
Kim Simonsson's Ceramic Posse of Moss Children Roam a Nature-Stricken WastelandWhat happens when you combine the imaginative world of Finnish folklore with the idea of the apocalypse and the themes of William Golding’s seminal novel “Lord of the Flies”? If you’re a highly imaginative artist and radically innovative ceramist like Kim Simonsson then the answer is “Moss People”, an eerie troupe of moss-green, life-size children whose deceptively innocent demeanour belies upon closer observation a disconcerting sensibility.
12/07/22
Alex Holloway's London Apartment is a Testbed for the Innovative Ideas of his Interior Design StudioLondon-based interior and product design studio Holloway Li are experts in blurring the lines between heritage and contemporary design. Known as much for mixing traditional crafts and digital processes as for their love for colour, suffice it to say that the London apartment of their creative director, Alex Holloway, would serve as an example of the studio’s distinct design practice.