Perhaps you are tragic music buff who set their alarm as a reminder to tune it at the exact time Daft Punk’s latest and highly anticipated album was being streamed last week (guilty). On the other hand, you may have forgotten about it all together but you still really love carving up the dance floor to some solid French electro. Or maybe you’re just staring blankly without actually knowing who Daft Punk is? Let’s face it – the last option is highly unlikely given that you are a reader of Yellowtrace, and we all know only the most clued-in, intelligent, astute, not to mention ridiculously good-looking people constitute this irresistibly sexy crowd.

Alas, this it not a music blog, so we shall leave Daft Punk’s brand new album “Random Access Memories” alone, while I draw your attention to something else. I’m talking about their recent slick photo shoot set in a famous modernist house in Los Angeles - Sheats Goldstein Residence, designed by celebrated American modernist architect John Lautner. There is an interesting parallel between the music of Daft Punk which utilises the most cutting edge technology to produce their songs (even though the current album may draw on the past, the disco and the 7os vibe). Similarly, Lautner’s famous building here is an example of the most cutting edge materials and technologies of it’s time. Although ultimately, neither of these two – the elusive French DJ duo nor the celebrated modernist Architect – are bound by time and space…

May I also bring your attention to Daft Punk’s outrageously awesome outfits in these shots? Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter wear custom tuxedos designed by their long term friend and collaborator Hedi Slimane for Saint Laurent. Off the chart Frenchie awesomeness right there. Anyway, if you are so inclined, you can read a Sky Ferreira interview with Daft Punk for CR Fashion Book right here. You can also visit their website to find out more about their new album.

And just beacuse these images are too awesome be shown at 640pixels wide, you can view them larger via the gallery below. H.O.T!

[Photography by Mathieu César, courtesy of CR Fashion Book with thanks.]

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Voliera circular metal shelf by Pietro Russo.
Images courtesy of Pietro Russo.

Piuma Table by Pietro Russo.
Images courtesy of Pietro Russo.

Even though my Milan report may be done for the year, I would still like to share with you a few little nuggets of goodness I’ve stashed up my sleeve – like this exquisite work by Milan-based furniture designer Pietro Russo. I met Pietro at the very first event we attended in Milan called JUICE. This is where he exhibited two of his latest products released this year – Piuma table and Voliera circular metal shelf (above), both of which made me fall in love in an instant.

During the day spent at Ventura Lambrate, I spotted some of his beautiful lights designed for Dante (below) which are equally as beautiful.

Scintilla Lights by Pietro Russo for Dante.
Images courtesy of Dante.

Yps Light by Pietro Russo.
Image courtesy of Pietro Russo.

Otto Light by Pietro Russo.
Image courtesy of Pietro Russo.

I adore Russo’s flawless and painfully elegant aesthetic, and his understanding of refined silhouettes and slender proportions. Not to mention his palette of black, brass and blonde timbers. I mean, even his invite for the Milan exhibition is painfully beautiful – don’t you think? What a dude. Needless to say, he is also a really sharp dresser.

Visit Pietro Russo’s website and his blog for more.

Invitation for Pietro Russo’s show at JUICE, Milan 2013.
Graphics courtesy of Pietro Russo.

[Images courtesy of Pietro Russo.]

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In her recent Sydney exhibition, young Melbourne artist Miso brought together a collection of works made with fine pin pricks on paper. These pieces are a reflection of her personal experience of travelling over the last few years. Drawing inspiration from indigenous artists, Dorothy Napangardi, Miso’s work maps stories and memories of the land as she travelled through it.

Capturing visual snippets from maps, objects and personal belongings, each drawing weaves together her memories of a city. The collaging of memories feels impulsive and driven by emotion, intuition and fleeting memories. The drawings invite us into the internal place where the impression of a place has left its mark.

Featured Project // Miso’s pinprick drawings from her recent exhibition “Everywhere I Have Ever Been”.
Why It Rocks // Her delicately crafted, all white drawings have a quiet, but powerful and evocative energy.

The paper master herself joins us today on Yellowtrace.
-Ella.

 Miso in her studio photographed by Olga Bennett.

+ Could you please give us a quick introduction on yourself?

My name is Stanislava. I live & work in Melbourne – sometimes between Tokyo, where I am right now for the next while, sometimes Berlin – where I’m heading next. I work mainly with works on paper – drawing, cutting, pin-pricking – but also painting walls, installations, tattooing, polaroids, sometimes design, sometimes in fashion. Lots of things, really.

Miso’s pinpricked drawings. See gallery at the bottom of this post to open images in full size. Do it!

+ When did you begin exploring pin prick drawing and how did you come to working with this technique?

It evolved from doing a lot of paper-cut works, and I started using pin-pricks for the small details that I couldn’t carve with my scalpel. I played with making works with it for a long time before I put anything out – it’s hard to think about making images carving back from a blank piece of paper, rather than adding anything to it. Making something from the empty space! It’s more sculptural that way – it’s been a really good challenge. I’m rubbish at sculpture!

Miso’s pinpricked drawings. See gallery at the bottom of this post to open images in full size. You won’t regret it!

+ Pinprick drawings mustn’t leave much room for error. Can you share a bit about the process?

No – there’s not much room for error! But that’s what I love about them – they look really calculated, very disciplined and minimal. But to make them, I’m basically hammering a pin into paper, really fast! It’s an incredibly loud and physically intense process. So I quite like the duality of it all – something kind of feminine, subtle and delicate, but also painful & difficult to make.

Miso’s pinpricked drawings. See gallery at the bottom of this post to open images in full size. You know you want to!

+ You’ve worked as a street artist, exhibited in galleries and also do tattoo art for personal friends. Is there a common thread between these? Does your artistic intent or your approach change between audiences?

There’s a huge thread in it all – a question of ownership, an interest in the life-cycle of an ephemeral artwork, a physical relationship to viewing artwork. I was feeling for a long time like I was making very ephemeral things – wheatpastes and walls that would deteriorate with weather and pollution, or be torn down or painted over. I was making a lot of artwork too, but that was always going to someone else’s home at the end of the day. And on top of that, my artwork was getting expensive, out of reach for most people that I knew at the time ; friends my age.

So home-made  tattooing became a really satisfying part of my practice, but still a hobby I’d do at night –  we sit and draw and drink all night, and they’d get something really unique, an artwork just for them in mind. So far, I’ve really just kept it as a trade system, and only for friends – it’s too important and intimate for me to take money for, at this stage. A trade for what someone feels its worth – maybe they teach me a skill in return, cook me dinner, give me a book I would love, assistiant work, whiskey. You never know, but everyone feels good about it, which I like. But more and more, I feel like it’s becoming a bigger part of my practice.

But other than that – everything I make is really personal, and the intent and approach never changes for the consideration of audiences, really.

Miso’s homemade tattoos.

+ Who or what are some of your influences? What other artists, designers, peers and creatives do you admire?

Right now, I’m more obsessed with architecture! Sou Fujimoto, SANAA and Ryue Nishizawa. The whiteness and the structure of their works, the negotiation of private, public & green space, I’m completely in love with it. I think it’s really going to inform what I make next more than anything else!

+ Apart from your work, what other interests or hobbies do you have?

I feel like making art consumes most of my time – which I’m pretty happy about, as long as I have a studio visitor once in a while. Otherwise, I’m a pretty keen reader, I swim a lot, ride bikes, make friends with neighbourhood dogs on the walk home.

Miso’s pinpricked drawing. See gallery at the bottom of this post to open images in full size. Go on.

+ Your most treasured belonging?

Maybe my pile of sketchbooks and journals – they feel like dear friends to me as I keep them, house all my polaroid archives, writing, notes, drawings. I think I’d save them from a burning house above anything else.

One of Miso’s precious sketchbooks.

+ What’s one thing other people may not know about you?

I’m really, really good at drawing Milhouse from The Simpsons.

Miso’s pinpricked drawings. See gallery at the bottom of this post to open images in full size. Nearly there…

+ It’s not very cool, but I really like…

…. taiko! I’m in Tokyo right now, and at all the game arcades, they have this video game called ‘taiko’, which is a traditional Japanese drum that’s wired to an arcade screen to play really cheesy J-Pop songs, so you have to match the beat to the song on this huge drum. I’m obsessed with it. I detour every night past an arcade with friends. I don’t know why!

+ In ten years I’d like to be…

…just as happy and just as productive. Maybe with a dog.

Gallery of Miso’s full size pinprick images. Click to view full size and use arrows to navigate.

[Images courtesy of Miso.]

The post Little Trace of // Melbourne Artist Miso. appeared first on Yellowtrace — Interior Design, Architecture, Art, Photography, Lifestyle & Design Culture Blog..

Pascal Claude Drach from My Beautiful created the branding and interior design concept for La Hache (French for “axe”) - a restaurant and brasserie in Strasbourg, France.

The rich history of La Hache dates back to the 13th century – year 1257 to be exact. It’s name remains unchanged from the very beginning, bringing about speculations of the venues’s dark past as the house of executions. Holy crap, that just gave me chills!

The project plays on the contrasts between the interior’s rough past, and the magnificent present as a home of quality food. The finishes and the overall aesthetic play the same game - materials are sometimes rich and other times austere. This approach is precisely what renders the space with a charming warmth, cozy ambience and loads of personality.

The wall of axes is a cheeky nod to the venue’s past, while the bar – made of old cutting boards and clad in polished copper – references the timeless quality of chef’s saucepans. Ok sure, I remember uni days when we would have argued these references were too literal and obvious etc, although I still think Mr Drach pretty much killed it… Boom, boom. (Geddit? Killed it, the axe thing…? Is it poor taste? Nah, it’s fine!)

[Images courtesy of Pascal Claude Drach.]

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Woweee! I hear you say. Are you still banging on about Milan? Yes indeed. I’m only just warming up… The truth is that I have (a lot) more content than time, which is a bit sad given that I’d really love to share my Milan experience with you in it’s entirety. Alas, that just won’t be possible this time but perhaps I’ll work out a way to do it next year.

Until then, I wanted to chat to you about some of the wonderful moments and installations that took place during the Milan Design Week. As you’ve probably gathered, an overwhelming amount of things happens in Milan during the Design Week – from countless new products released at the Rho Fiera and big city showrooms, to installations and emerging talent shows at SaloneStellite, Tortona, Lambrate and many other areas throughout the city. When compared to previous years, 2013 was definitely quieter and more modest due to the grim state of European (and global) economy. Having said this, there was still plenty to see and do. Let’s dive in.

A Magnificent Mistake by Ron Gillard for Italian marble producer Salvatori. An installation crafted of 4 marble sculptures that explore the thin edge between realism and surrealism. In other words – amazing! Consisting of a Swing, a Smoking Roof, a Stack of Paper and footsteps, Salvatori engaged the best of their engineers and Pietrasanta craftsmanship to execute the bizarre, to put logic in the sarcastic, and bring to life Gilads’ dreams. Superb. (P.S. Salvatori stone is now available in Australia exclusively through Boffi Studio.)

This was Budri stand at Salone del Mobile – Italian marble inlay atelier know for their exclusive marble and stone work for the last 50 years. Their new collection Earthquake 5.9 is a tribute to the earthquake which struck in May 2012, affecting many business in the Emilia area including theirs.

Patricia Urquiola designed a collection of furniture and coverings, created using hundreds of fragments of the slabs that were damaged in the earthquake. Inside the stand was a secret room where fragments of marble ‘rescued’ from the slabs covered an entire wall in a mesmerizing artistic inlay designed by Urquiola. Seriously one of those “pinch-me-am-I-dreaming-cause-this-is-so-damn-beautiful” moments!

Visiting the Boffi Apartment during Salone del Mobile is always a treat, and this year was no exepction. Meticulously furnished in Living Divani furniture, the apartment is styled and furnished differently each year. See my previous posts about it here and here. Images courtesy of Boffi.

RGB Fabulous Landscapes by Carnovsky (Francesco Rugi and Silvia Quintanilla) at Fondazione Adolofo Pini in Brera where a series of installations that took place. Read more about Carnovsky’s amazing RGB experimentation and their process here, or visit my previous post about their work here.

Zigzagging installation by Carnovsky for Missoni. If Missoni hosted a rave, this is what it would feel like (and I would want to be there)! If you want to see more, watch this great video.

‘Fluidic – Sculpture in Motion’ installation designed and produced by WHITEvoid for Hyundai’s Advanced Design Center. A cloud constellation of 12,000 illuminated spheres suspended above a pool of shallow water, incorporating  high-power laser projectors. Using 3D camera tracking system, the installation could detect the presence of people, allowing viewers to manipulate the movement of light with their gestures and movement.

“Unopiù in Wonderland” in the garden of Triennale di Milano, created by Ferruccio Laviani and inspired by Lewis Carroll. Seven small colourful gazebos – fuchsia, red, emerald green and light green, blue, yellow, orange – hosted out-of-scale microworlds, hanging between reality and fiction.

Celebrating Patricia Urquiola‘s first textile collection for Kvadrat, Moroso‘s Milan showroom hosted a dynamic installation called Revolving Room with rotating pieces of embroidered fabrics hung around the edges of the space. The bottom image shows the styling of the centre table during the launch cocktail party – seriously, how hot does it look? Super beautiful.

Les Nécessaires d’Hermès installation featured a capsule collection of furniture by French designer Philippe Nigro. Also on show was the new Hermès collection of textiles and wallcoverings. Photo by Francois Lacour.

NOMADISMI, an installation curated by international trend forecaster Lidewij Edelkoort and Raffaele Carrieri, director of the Altai Gallery. The exhibition was on show at the Altai Gallery in Brera, showcasing avant-garde design and antique primitive carpets. The installation was a comment on the return of nomadism in the third millennium and analysing their influence on contemporary lifestyle.

Cà (local slang for house) by furniture designer Valentina Giovando and artist Elena Carozzi took place in a magnificent rented apartment on Via Solferino above the Boffi apartment. The space was transformed with handmade furniture and lighting, luxurious textiles, hand-painted wallpapers inspired by Edouard Vuillard and Pierre Bonnard’s landscapes. Although not my usual style, the space was incredibly beautiful and opulent.

The newly reopened Rijksmuseum presented new designs based on Rijksstudio in collaboration with Studio Droog and deJongeKalff. The collection, which was shown at Droog’s space on via San Gregorio, is an update of century old works using contemporary techniques and materials such as ‘Rubber tablecloth’ by deJongeKalff, and ‘Tasting glasses’ and ‘Forgotten tools’by Studio Droog.

Courtyard of Spazio Rossana Orlandi – a must-visit venue during the Design Week with bonkers amazing things happening throughout (I did find it slightly less amazing this year, however it’s still without a doubt one of my favourite places in Milan). See my previous posts about it here and here.

Tea With Georg installation by Scholten & Baijings celebrated the launch of dutch designers’ new tableware collection for Georg Jensen.

ToiletPaper magazine teamed up with Seletti to create a collection of cups, plates and tablecloths featuring eccentric imagery from the magazine. Seriously bonkers!

Tom Dixon event at MOST, complete with tea house & gift shop. Image courtesy of Tom Dixon.

E-commerce site Fab.com collaborated with The Andy Warhol Foundation on a series of foam ottomans inspired by the original Warhol Brillo Box sculptures. The ottomans were unveiled at MOST and are currently available for preorder on Fab.com.

Tom Dixon collaboration with Adidas on a clothing collection called The Capsule, which included various items that convert into multiple outfits, camping equipment and luggage. For me, probably the most exciting thing about this collaboration was the incredible setting itself – amid the old steam trains. I was too distracted by these old locomotives that I had a really hard time focussing on the clothes. Can you blame me?

Ridiculously beautiful courtyard at MOST. One of Milan’s many beautiful hidden courtyards which makes this city really special.

Studio Job for Lensvelt office furniture collaboration was presented in a highly monumental context at the Sala del Cenacolo, 18th century magnificent fresco room at MOST. This ironic and surreal installation was what I like to describe as a “holy shit moment”. Just to help you complete the picture, an old-school Marshall amp was located at the back of the room, blasting tunes from Pink Floyd. Note their promotional campaign that showed posters of well known people from with gold noses. This campaign highlight the collection’s desk finger pull detail where drawers are opened by putting a finger in the nose. Brilliant in so many ways. Photos by Roos Aldershoff.

Stone Garden by Nendo for Caesarstone. This installation was first unveiled at the 2013 Interior Design Show in Toronto, Canada in late January. “The installation explores the boundary between ‘furniture’ and ‘non-furniture’. Tables that aren’t quite tables form a cluster, creating a new kind of ground surface like a garden floating in the universe, far beyond the scale of individual tables. The unique variety and quality of natural colours and textures of the Caesarstone surfaces are perfect to be arranged in a composition like the stylized landscape of a Japanese rock garden.”

Transition by Autoban with Deborah Milano at Interni HYBRID ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN at the Università degli Studi di Milano. This project consisted of a tunnel which connected the Ground and First Floor. The installation took the form of the portal interior lined with 30,000 colourful lipstick packages. Should you be so inclined, there’s a video the building of this installation here.

Hooked Up by Dean Skira at Interni HYBRID ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN at the Università degli Studi di Milano. This 16m long pavilion, gently pinched at the waist, was created in collaboration with iGuzzini. Bespoke light fittings were produced to create a special visual linear effect by using custom made optic lenses and LED sources, allowing the space to become the source of light in a delicate and gentle way. You can watch a video of how this pavilion was built. Pretty massive job!

Inversion by Steven Holl at Interni HYBRID ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN at the Università degli Studi di Milano. This installation featured digitally cut 21 million year-old limestone from a quarry in Lecce, Italy. Ummm, wow.

COS concept pop-up store by Bonsoir Paris at Ventura Lambrate. See more in my previous post here.

2.0 Exhibition at the Museo Bagatti Valsecchi, Curated by Rossana Orlandi.

Moooi Unexpected Welcome with Erwin Olaf.

Studiopepe installation for Spotti.

Danish Chromatism by Signe Byrdal Terenziani and GamFratesi at Triennale di Milano.

Ok, so that’s that. Just a couple of things really. I hope I haven’t given you motion sickness from all the scrolling! Anyway, you know the drill now. More images in the gallery below. Enjoy and see you next week!

[Unless otherwise noted, all photos by Nick Hughes for Yellowtrace.]

The post Design Installations & Other Special Moments During Salone del Mobile // Milan 2013. appeared first on Yellowtrace — Interior Design, Architecture, Art, Photography, Lifestyle & Design Culture Blog..

Idol 13, 2012. C-Print, 120 x 80 cm
Image courtesy of Lawrie Shabibi.

Idol 18, 2012. C-Print, 120 x 80 cm
Image courtesy of Lawrie Shabibi.

Idol 2, 2012. C-Print, 120 x 80 cm
Image courtesy of Lawrie Shabibi.

Idol 5, 2012. C-Print, 120 x 80 cm
Image courtesy of Lawrie Shabibi.

Idol 4, 2012. C-Print, 120 x 80 cm
Image courtesy of Lawrie Shabibi.

Pakistani artist Hamra Abbas uses a wide range of media – paper collage, painting, ephemeral soft plasticine sculptures and video are all a part of her cunning toolkit. I am particularly drawn to her Idols series in which Abbas mixes miniatures with exaggerated forms, and realism with pop art. This impressive collection of work in progress are blown-up digital photographs of miniature clay sculptures.

Although these portraits are quite serious, expressive and visually arresting, I can’t help but giggle. Something about them is really edgy and kind of funny. Do you think the same thing?

Idol 3, 2012. C-Print, 120 x 80 cm
Image courtesy of Lawrie Shabibi.

Idol 8, 2012. C-Print, 120 x 80 cm
Image courtesy of Lawrie Shabibi.

Idol 20, 2012. C-Print, 120 x 80 cm
Image courtesy of Lawrie Shabibi.

Hamra Abbas was born in Kuwait in 1976 and lives and works between Boston and Lahore, Pakistan. She received her BFA and MA in Visual Arts from the National College of Arts, Lahore in 1999 and 2002 respectively before going on to the Universitaet der Kuenste in Berlin in 2004 where she received the Meisterschueler. Abbas lists artists Jeff Koons and Takashi Murakami as some of her influences.

Super cool Ms Abbas. Love your work lady.

Idol 7, 2012. C-Print, 120 x 80 cm
Image courtesy of Lawrie Shabibi.

Idol 10, 2012. C-Print, 120 x 80 cm
Image courtesy of Lawrie Shabibi.

Idol 19, 2012. C-Print, 120 x 80 cm
Image courtesy of Lawrie Shabibi.

Idol 20, 2012. C-Print, 120 x 80 cm
Image courtesy of Lawrie Shabibi.

[Images courtesy of the Artist and Lawrie Shabibi.]

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Houses Awards recently announced their 2013 shortlist for 125 residential projects across the eight categories. Now in its third year, the Houses Awards is a survey of the best residential work by Australian architects. From inner-city terraces, warehouse conversions, apartments and townhouses, to freestanding homes that engage with the site and respond to the diversity of the Australian landscape, the projects on the shortlist illustrate accomplished design for the way we live.

Sincere congratulations to all shortlisted entrants. So many fantastic projects by amazing local architects, beautifully captured on film screen by our talented photographers. Australia’s got (some serious) talent!

Below are just a few of my favourite projects.

Merricks Beach House by Kennedy Nolan Architects. Photo by Derek Swalwell.

Armadale Residence by Made by Cohen and Robson Rak Architects. Photo by Shannon McGrath.

Carlton Residence by Hecker Guthrie (selected architectural details and project management by Ridolfi Architects). Photo by Shannon McGrath.

Brisbane Street House by Alexander & Co. Photo by Murray Fredericks.

Lilyfield Warehouse by Virginia Kerridge Architect. Photo by Michael Nicholson.

Moor Street Apartment by Clare Cousins Architects. Photo by Shannon McGrath.

Gordons Bay House by Luigi Rosselli Architects. Photo by Justin Alexander.

Torquay House by Wolveridge Architects (previously). Photo by Derek Swalwell.

Bronte House by Tobias Partners. Photo by Justin Alexander.

Bondi House by Fearns Studio. Photo by Tom Ferguson.

Stewart House by Chenchow Little Architects. Photo by John Gollings.

Jack’s House by fmd architects. Photo by Shannon McGrath.

Apartment Gregory by Tribe Studio. Photo by Peter Bennetts.

Double Bay House by Tobias Partners. Photo by Justin Alexander.

The Studio by Nicholas Gurney. Photo by Katherine Lu.

House Chapple by Tribe Studio. Photo by Katherine Lu.

Lavender Bay Boatshed by Stephen Collier Architects. Photo by Peter Bennetts.

Whale Beach House by Shahe Simonian Architect (Zanazan). Photo by Trevor Mein.

Jan Juc Beach House by Zen Architects in collaboration with Doherty Lynch. Photo by Gorta Yuuki.

Toorak Residence by Hecker Guthrie. Photo by Armelle Habib.

More images can be found in the gallery below. To see the full list of shortlisted projects, visit the Houses Awards website.

The post Australia’s Got Talent // Houses Awards Shortlist 2013. appeared first on Yellowtrace — Interior Design, Architecture, Art, Photography, Lifestyle & Design Culture Blog..

If I had to nominate a favourite typology in domestic architecture (it’s a question we’re all asked most days), it would be the courtyard house. And this one, by São Paulo’s UNA Arquitetos, is a cracker.

A good courtyard house does many things at once – holds the edges of a site, opens up a kernel of space in the middle, cradles privacy within, permits views across into other rooms and in so doing enlivens opposite ends of the home. I could go on. I wonder if it speaks to primal feelings of hearth/home/shelter… doubtless this has been theorised enough by more learned people than myself, so let’s just enjoy some lovely images. The photographs here are by Leonardo Finotti.

There’s a lot to drink in here. The simple materials palette makes the architecture raw, spare, and tough. This is saved from bleakness by the wonderfully wriggly trees and feather soft landscaping in the internal courtyards. It’s a very simple move but it makes all the difference in my eyes, and makes the place domestic rather than institutional.

I’m intrigued by the concrete tie holes running along the joints here. I also like the way that a splash of the dark paint has been applied where the steel beams meet the concrete – someone has given thought to the small junctions and components of this place.

Architecture speak alert. Spatial dynamism. There, I’ve said it.  But look at how much more interesting these rooms are on account of that courtyard, that glimpse into the upper hall, and the rooms beyond. The eye is drawn deeper into the house in a way it wouldn’t if the view was of, say, your neighbour’s house… unless of course you are lucky enough to have neighbours with a lovely lovely house…

I don’t love reglit as a building material but when it’s used well and has this lantern-like quality by night, there’s nothing quite like it is there?

And that’s that. Books furnish a room, a courtyard maketh my fantasy house… this place achieves both, I’d better move to Brazil.

Ende

-Luke.

[Photos © Leonardo Finotti, courtesy of UNA Arquitetos.]

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During the recent Milan Design Week, Danish Chromatism presented a selection of traditional and contemporary designs from 30 Danish companies in a playful and unusual chromatic interpretation.

The exhibition was curated by Signe Byrdal Terenziani, designed by GamFratesi, and presented at the Triennale di Milano design museum, allowing visitors to experience a different relationship between classic and modern Danish products.

The work of influential artist Josef Albers inspired the exhibition design. Abers’ paintings explored coloured boxes within boxes – and how colours look when seen one at a time, and how they appear in different combinations.

Danish Chormatism featured four spaces of different colour – black, grey, red and blue. While each space presented a distinct design universe of its own, they were all clearly related with each one placed like a box inside the next, giving visitors a unique sensory experience.

The designs on display ranged from speakers to cool bikes, floor tiles to lighting, songbirds to sofas. The exhibition featured brand new products from young designers side by side with designs going back to the late 19th century.

Some of 30 participating companies included &tradition, Carl Hansen & Søn, Fredericia, Fritz Hansen, Gubi, Kvadrat, LEGO, Louis Poulsen, Rosendahl, Royal Copenhagen and Stelton amongst others.

Many more delicious images of Danish Chormatism by Filippo Bamberghi can be found in the gallery below.

[Photos by Filippo Bamberghi, courtesy of Danish Chormatism.]

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Inspired by the ghosts of the former inner city nightclub’s first patrons, Captain Melville in Melbourne was recently refurbished and re-invented as a restaurant and bar by the local studio Breathe Architecture.

Previously known as Mac’s Hotel, the building dates back to 1853 – the time when the first settlers descended on Australian shores “chasing land, gold and new beginnings, while convicts railed against their injustice and the class system that created it.”

I love the way the old hotel was sensitively stripped back to an empty shell in preparation for the new story to be told. The fabric of the existing building has been left intact wherever possible, with found objects and existing materials expressed, exposed and given a new life. In signature Breathe Architecture style, the new insertions are simple and stripped back, with an honest and robust material palette used throughout the space.

Beautiful, simple, gutsy, sustainable, interesting… and soooo Melbourne. Seriously, what more could one possibly ask for? Well done Breathe Architecture. Also full props for such clever art direction and story telling, accompanied by sharp photography by Andrew Wuttke. Brilliant.

[Images courtesy of Breathe Architecture. Photography by Andrew Wuttke.]

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