Inspired by the way plants grow, dangle and wriggle their way around trees, designersRonanand Erwan Bouroulleccreated the AIM light fixture for FLOS, an Italian manufacturer of iconic lighting. FLOS is known for their dedication to research into innovative materials and technology and the AIMlighting system fits right in. A really engrossing piece I think because it is so animated........the adjustable pendant light can be angled in all varying directions. The cables are just as important, they too provide maximum freedom to adjust the direction and height of the light source. There is no limitation to this fixture's placement...pure flexibility... it can hang in the middle of your room, punch light over a table, highlight art on your walls and reflect light up on the ceiling. Like vines, the AIM LED fixture is as organic and natural. YOU can design your lighting landscape just as you want it.... true design that inspires one's imagination......
For the techies in the house...the shade is photo-etched optical polycarbonate made from varnished aluminum. The cables are about 29 feet long and can suspend about 10 feet from the ceiling. Loving that it only comes in black, white or polished aluminum, there is something very graphic about it. You can purchase it on the FLOS website for $695.
GE innovators are working on cutting edge technologies that will change and enhance the way we live tomorrow... as close as 12 years away!! They have been envisioning the home of 2025 in ways that would make our lives a bit less complex and more enjoyable... some of these innovative appliances can help prepare meals, wash clothes and even dispense medicine in a more efficient way. Hurry, hurry, I cannot wait! Have a sneak peek:
Future appliances will be refrigerated drawers for fresh vegetables..
They are developing Smart Mirrors that will be able to take biometric information and dispense medications as you need it. Great for the aging population!
This is ingenious: a laundry machine that will be able to wash, dry, fold and pick out your clothes for you. Yes, our clothes will be compressed and stored. With clicks of a button, you can pre-select outfits. See the future of GE:
Historically themed pieces can mix well in today's modern interiors. Hutton Home is a perfect example....classic, elegant, beautifully proportioned designs characterizes the European Collections designed by the late John Hutton. Their designs are reinterpretations of 18th century but are designed in a modern scale. Hutton Home distributes furniture from many regions of inspiration. Lets travel to France, Italy and the Netherlands...
The hand carved oak Boo! Chair is from Hutton Home's Pierre collection and is a modern twist of 18th century Versailles. Love the intricacies on the legs.
Eva Nero Frosted is a glass beauty from the Hutton Murano collection and was developed by John Hutton on the island of Murano, Venice.....Pure voluptuous classic still produced by hand on the island of Murano in the Venetian Lagoon.
The Full Moon Brass is from Hutton Home's Piiart collection and was developed by Hutton and Dutch artist Pii in the Netherlands. The refined base is a work of art using sand-casting techniques. Comes in Nickel or Brass (shown above)
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What is "good design?" According to architect David Mansfield ofDavid MansfieldArchitecture and Design, "design for us is 80% perspiration and 20% inspiration. While the design process is multi-disciplinary it always requires a single clear voice. Logic, lateral thinking and intellectual curiosity are the corner stones of the process but aesthetic certainty and mechanical and structural know how provide the catalyst for the built form. Our work is defined by our love of material & detail, always striving to make the whole greater than the sum of all the parts. To paraphrase Louis Kahn "materials tell you what they want to be" and the balance of this idiom with his ability to reduce space to it's primal elements are the basic inspiration of our work."
David Mansfield
Are you mesmerized by this modern interpretation of an American barn as much as I am? The owner wanted something unconventional that combined their love for Japanese and New England styles. The Lyme house, one of the winners of the Marvin's Architect Challenge by Marvin Windows & Doors, naturally embraces its site, an homage to the Japanese concept of balance with nature. I really love this modern structure's placement on the site - its precariously set on top of a sloped drop off..... A retreat for one's imagination to flourish.
According to architect Matthew Moger of Moger Mehrhof, "We believe that good design occurs through a process of evolution. Empathy is a word we often use in our office. We feel the best designs evolve through spending time with, and listening to our clients. Equally as important for us is to form a relationship with the site. We want to understand each sites natural qualities that come only from that unique place. We empathize both with our clients and with the land to allow a design to evolve that has meaning. We feel that if our design ultimately reflects our clients dreams, and feels right in the landscape, then we have achieved a good design. You can feel it."
Matthew Moger of Moger Mehrhof
The image above is of The Bragg House by MogerMehrhof Architects, one of the winners of the Marvin's Architect Challenge by Marvin Windows & Doors. Do you love it as much as I do? You can see that the architects paid attention to the site and listened to what it had to say. The building is not plopped on its site, rather its carved into the land and feels very connected to nature.
Love meeting new inventors... At Wanted Design, I had a nice chat withJoe Doucet, a NYC designer, artist, architect, and furniture designer. Yep, he crosses many disciplines of design and his mantra is "Everything communicates" ....where each design is composed of layers of meaning...
In architecture school, I learned about the brilliant work of James Turrell, an artist who explores perception, light, color and space. His work is very important as each piece is very site specific and light plays the role as a tangible element, one which evokes emotional effects.
At the Guggenheim NYC, James Turrell completely changed the museum's rotunda into a volume of shifting natural and artificial colored light with his installation called Aten Reign. Visitors were designed to either be centrally located on the floor or on slanted seating on the periphery of the space. In quite contemplation, you are enveloped by five concentric ellipses....where you become one with this perspectival vortex of ever changing light..... It was an overwhelming sense of space and vibrant color. I snapped with my I-phone so you can only imagine the colors to be ever more powerful in person.
The colors beautifully slowly change over time.The Vine below gives you a snapshot of the different colors...the experience is far more dramatic.
For a chance to gain national recognition, hundreds of leading architects submitted their most creative and inspirational projects utilizing Marvin Windows & Doors for the Marvin's Architect Challenge. Last week, the winners were revealed..... and one of my faves is the Casey Key Guest House by Florida based firm Sweet Sparkman Architects.
NY NOW, the premiere market for Home and Style came by storm this month showcasing 2800 exhibitors at the Jacobs K. Javits Convention Center. New collections and vibrant graphics were abound to personalize your home... especially words that state an opinion seemed to be a trend. The quirky, the unique and a save the earth mentality was apparent in different playful and modern applications...
Love the whimsical graphics and vibrant colors against its neutral felt covers. Her eco-aware pillows are made out of 100% recycled materials: the felt covers are made out of recycled plastic PET containers with plastic polyfill inserts. I love that it is made in the U.S.A.! All covers have zippers for easy maintenance.
Natural Curiosities
The multi-artist house of creativity called Natural Curiosities breathes expressive and vital artwork that reflects an attitude. Their production process is made in their Los Angeles studio, made by their hands with applications after they print. Art can be created by anyone and everyone with their unique typographic art....
Natural Curiosities
Thelove collection is an ever changing message of love to be created by you using alphabet, numbers, punctuation marks and hearts. The font is created with shoe polish and layering individual letters over vintage letters. Love that it is printed on acid-free paper!
Vagabond vintage
Cool over-scaled, carefully crafted industrial letter light fixtures from Vagabond vintage. The letters reminds me of an old nostalgic marquee.
Primitives by Kathy
Create a powerful wall that collage cheeky ideas and make a statement. The distressed looking box signs by Primitives by Kathycan hang on a wall, sit on a desk or on stack on the floor. Fun and whimsical!
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While on vacation, I had the opportunity to stop for a few days, reevaulate and ask myself what I have learned as a blogger/designer/architect. I wanted to share my thoughts as its important to facilitate the exchange of ideas....
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An explosion of creativity adorned the roof top of the Scholastic building in N.Y.C. for DIFFA's second annual Picnic by Design event. Forty-five designers came together to create picnic settings that awed, inspired and delighted. It was an extraordinary landscape of people, food, color, pattern and three-dimension sponsored by Robert Allen Fabric, Lenovo, Maya Romonoff Starbucks, Dwell and New York Design Center. Besides great design and the beautiful sunset, fun was had by all at the event.....make your own berry mojitos with Patron, inscribe your own Patron muddler and great raffle giveaways!
See some design...lets start with mine (MoD Design Guru's):
Life's essentials: fire, water, earth and air
Harmony between the elements is the inspiration for my picnic setting. The layers of the box pivot open to reveal the treasures inside, while providing a table for you and your guest. Many thanks to Robert Allen Fabric who donated the gorgeous Palmwood in Jet & Mod Reeves in Steel fabric, Vita lighting for the sculptural EOS light fixture and FiveStarMillwork who fabricated the picnic box.
Wanna see more great design? Take a tour of some of my faves....
I laughed, I cried and I talked about my life, my work, my philanthropy and my passion for design and architecture on Blog Talk Radio yesterday with Gail Zahtz. There was even a surprise guest who chimed in! Thank you Gail for a wonderful experience....
Gail Zahtz is the Founder & CEO of Life Guide Institute and is an amazing host! She has been on the Today show and 20/20...a real pro! When interviewed, I felt very comfortable being me and she crafts the interview into a fun conversation.
Check out the live interview. You can download from the link: BLOG TALK RADIO
Hi Modsters!! Pinch me... today at 1-3pm, I am going to be interviewed on LIVE Blogtalk radio with Gail Zahtz! Click HERE! Gail will be taking me on a tour of my life: personal, architecture and design work, MoD Design Guru and my designs for DIFFA's Picnic by Design event!
I'm really diggin' the geometric scale and proportion of the Brooklyn Console Table by the Villiers Brothers. Its robust form is constructed out of hollow rectangular steel and its sleek finish comes in old penny bronze (shown above), gold leaf or mirrored stainless steel with glass, polished granite or limestone on top. Delish! I asked Harry Villiers what inspired its form.... He adds, "the Brooklyn Coffee Table was inspired by the simple geometric Greek Key which symbolises love, devotion and unity and is also associated with eternal life, all perfect ingredients for a piece of furniture that is often at the centre of a room."
The Brooklyn Console table came along after the successful launch of the coffee table and is also based on the same simple lines as the Greek Key design.
Snazzy polished punch to any room, mod glamour! You can connect with the Villiers Brothers on their WEBSITE, FACEBOOK & TWITTER.
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Where did I find my eyewear mojo...? Well, It all started at Super Saturday in the Hamptons...I came across SEEeyewear....HIP frames that make a statement. If you are wearing SEE eyewear, then you know it is special. Cool lines, unique shapes and stunning colors...all at affordable prices. They had great deals at Super Saturday...so I snapped up my frames and proceeded to have the prescription filled at their Soho location!
I am beaming and thrilled to participate inDIFFA's Picnic By Design 2013 summer event next week and to be among an amazing group of design industry leaders! What is also really exciting is Robert Allen's participation as a corporate sponsor and key participant... they graciously donated its immense fabric range of bold colors and on-trend designs to the designers who are participating. Fabrics are showcased and utilized in five of the designers picnic settings from top design firms like Tyler Wisler Home, Cheryl Umbles Interior Design, Clark Gaynor Interiors, and Domoore Designs. MoD Design Guru included! I fell in love with their Palmwood Jet fabric which is an indoor/outddor collection with bold geometrics and a soft natural motif. Perfect for my picnic setting. See it...
DwellStudio and Robert Allen fabrics, Palmwood in Jet and Mod Reeves in Steel
SculptorLianne Gold has always been passionate about glass. Inspired by the intricate details of 20th Century Italian glass masters, Gold's creative pulse charged her to create her own gorgeous glass collection... Her designs demonstrate strong, elegant and pure geometric forms with wonderful attention to material and detail, a homage to the Italian masters that have been her inspiration. Gold joined Ralph Pucci Internationaland you can see her creations at their New York showroom.
I love her sculptural sconce beauties called Ice...handcrafted luxury that combines oil rubbed bronze, and translucent sculpted glass that actually looks like frozen ice....brava! and the geometric metal corner details that hold the glass in place are really impeccable.
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Vertical Gardens are growing in Manhattan by Plantwall design! I met Marie- Christing Steffanetti of plantwall design at Wanted Design NYC and my eyes googled at the spectacular vertical green display. I had to learn more and see some of her other green creations...She later shared with me her gorgeous two-story garden creation in a West Village apartment building. Two-thousand plants with approximately 25 different plant species create a kaleidoscope of color!
A vertical garden is easy to build and request low maintenance according to Marie. Their patented invention consists of a hydroponic system that nurtures live plants specially positioned on a vertical wall.
Different variety of plants are able to be nourished and watered with an integrated customized automatic irrigation system. Amazing how the plants stay in place....they are securely hooked onto a designed fabric filled with pockets of soil.
Each positioned plant is like a brush-stroke to a painter. Its living, growing art!
You can connect with plantwalldesign on their WEBSITE andFACEBOOK
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I love this image ..... pure energy surrounding a Brizo faucet in the makingat the Delta-Brizo Plant in Jackson, Tennessee.
PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition)- creates anti-tarnish and abrasion finish called BRILLIANCE, patented by Delta.
The forces of heat emanating in this image is reminiscent of the high energy vibe felt while touring the Delta-Brizo plant....I mean it, every employee at the Brizo/Delta plant loves what they do and are devoted to making top quality products. You really feel the satisfaction of the people working there. Every detail is attended to with a smile....
As a part of Brizo's Blogger 19 Memphis experience, we were able to interface with the employees and see where the magic happens. They were excited we were there to see what they do and personally showed us how the faucets are constructed. I was shocked to learn that all the faucets are assembled and finished by hand with stringent quality assurance checks built into the technologies leaving minimal room for error. Impressive!
Test after test also happens along the production lines.... like a water and air pressure test to ensure that the faucet is working correctly. To top it all off, a final inspector inspects all the boxes before they are shipped out of the factory to ensure a 100% perfectly constructed faucet. The inspector will not acknowledge anyone speaking to them while they are at task. Shhh!
The Delta/Brizo plant is extraordinary as well as all the engineers, designers, product and marketing teams. A special group of people I have had the privilege to meet!
The Delta/Brizo plant brand strives to improve their products performance and the homeowner's experience. They truly research and study how people use their kitchen and their showers with video coverage. Yes, people actually volunteer to show Brizo how they shower. Would you do it? Their Smarttouchtechnology grew out of this research. The touch ON and OFF technology changes your interaction with water, designed with pure aesthetics, food safety and water conservation in mind. See the VINE:
We were also drooling over the new H20Kinetic shower system...prepare yourself for the feeling of more water....Their innovative technology creates an unique wave pattern which gives you the feeling of more water without using more water. Basically a plastic chip is built inside each of its four nozzles and deflects the water just like your thumb would when placed over the end of garden hose. The image below shows how the wave is coming out of the holes.
The water is sculpted into larger droplets and gives a more concentrated experience. One of the Delta/Brizo engineers told us that they studied rain droplets around various regions of the world and wanted to attain plump shower droplets which means more water-body contact...ultimately attaining a luxurious feeling shower.
See the Video to see the wave in motion:
But ofcourse, the all around experience can be achieved with up to six H2OKinetic body sprays in addition to the H20Kinetic showerhead.
We can't forget the tub experience.... Their new tub fillers for stand alone tubs are also beauties...very sculptural!
Brizo invited me to attend an all-expenses paid reunion in Memphis.
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