LEGO Architecture: Building blocks for grown-ups
Falling Water, architect Frank Lloyd Wright, built 1935. All photos courtesy LEGO. Frank Lloyd Wright played with blocks. So did Buckminster Fuller. Their toys were actually Froebel blocks and both...
View ArticleMexican “Mosaico de Pasta” floor tiles
An office interior. Photo courtesy Miguel Faller I would always rather be in Mexico. Everything about it is amazing—the culture, the history, the people, the design. On a trip to the Yucatan a few...
View ArticleSpace-Light-Structure: The Jewelry of Margaret De Patta at the Museum of Art...
Margaret de Patta, 1960-1964, Sterling silver, beach stones, pebbles; fabricated. Photo: John Bigelow Taylor Margaret De Patta was a truly California designer. Originally a painter, she studied in San...
View ArticleModel Museums: Highlighting the innovative curriculum of Williams College...
Ann McCallum, a practicing architect based in Williamstown, Massachusetts, taught the Architecture II course at Williams College for twenty-four years. One of her assignments was a special favorite...
View ArticleGold, Jasper, and Carnelian: Johann Christian Neuber at the Saxon Court
The Breteuil Table on view in The Frick Collection’s Oval Room; photo: Michael Bodycomb The Breteuil Table, designed and made entirely by Johann Christian Neuber (1736-1808), is distinguished as one of...
View ArticleMirror: Material and metaphor
Mirrors: Reflections of Style, by Paula Phipps. All images courtesy W.W. Norton. Friend, lover or enemy? Since the dawn of civilization man has used mirrors for practical and religious purposes. They...
View ArticleGreen Patriot Posters
Image courtesy Edward Morris and The Canary Project If you want people to save something you have to show it to them. People only save what they see.” Sharon Motola, Director of the Belize Zoo, from...
View ArticleKNOW YOUR NATURAL FIBERS:The Fleece & Fiber Sourcebook
Cover image courtesy Storey Publi It is generally accepted that natural fibers are more sustainable than synthetic ones but how much do we know about natural fibers? Storey Publishing has recently...
View ArticleDanish Teak Peppermills
Photo courtesy Mark Perlson What comes to mind when one hears the words Danish Design: Modern furniture with long thin legs, teak and rosewood, maybe Hans Wegner? How about pepper mills? While Danish...
View ArticleOttoman by Design: Branding an empire
What are the hallmarks of Ottoman style, how did this style originate, and why is it still important today? This textile clearly reveals an ogival pattern. Fragment of green-ground kemha, Istanbul ,...
View ArticleSourcebook of Scandinavian Furniture
Designs for the Twenty-First Century Judith Gura’s definitive new sourcebook. All images courtesy W. W. Norton. A compendium, with more than five hundred full-color illustrations, of the best modern...
View ArticlePlaying with color
Looking for an amusement to brighten a drab winter day? How about a card game that is not only brainy, but sure to inspire. Funnybone Toys color card games. All images courtesy Funnybone Toys. The...
View ArticleAlicia Benoist: Black and White Maiolica
Currant bowl; black Maiolica. By Alicia Benoit, from the Facebook album “Pots”, September 2010. Photo by Russell Dian. We recently met Alicia Benoist, a studio potter from New York City whose work...
View ArticleMaterial Translations: Japanese Fashion at the Art Institute of Chicago
Rei Kawakubo for Comme de Garcons, Dress, 1983. All images courtesy Art Institute of Chicago. Ever since Japan was first opened to trade with the West in the mid-19th century, Japanese arts and crafts...
View ArticleA Dollhouse for Grownups
Italian dining room, c. 1500. The objects in this room were inspired by both Italian sources (the Davanzetti Palace in Florence) and Viennese interiors. The chest in the corner is one of the few pieces...
View ArticleBright lights big city: New York Neon
Cover of New York Neon, by Thomas Rinaldi “Neon lights were both…loved and hated like no other element of the built environment,” Thomas Rinaldi says in his new photo book New York Neon. They are both...
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