The opening of the Brooklyn specialty store Beautiful Dreamers by the stylists April Hughes and Marina Burini answered that question on the tip of everyone’s tongue this time of year: Where to go for extraordinary holiday hostess gifts?“We wanted to create a destination for all the beautiful things we find,” says Burini, pointing to a twig and plant installation made by Molly Findlay that hangs alongside quirky reads like the 3-D coffee-table book  “Phantograms From Nature” by Barry Rothstein.

“I would use something really cool on a shoot and then have no use for it and it would be gone,” adds Hughes, who confesses that parting with their one-of-a-kind merchandise is often the hardest part. “Now we can savor and share those special finds with people!”

The treehouse-like shop offers everything from Rastafarian wool scarves by Taiana Giefer to Old Field Farm honey and Incense of the West with tepee-shaped burners. Click through for a selection of sure-to-please presents for home, holiday and gracious hostesses alike.

The windowless cinder block warehouses of Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood have long served as blank canvases for local graffiti writers. But in recent years, a group of street artists has turned the formerly industrial area into a grass-roots answer to the annual Art Basel Miami Beach fair.

After starting with five murals in 2006, they formed an organization, Primary Flight, to sponsor more of them. Five pieces became 35 the following year, 85 the next. “The idea was, Let’s take the street art out of the gallery and put it back into its natural environment,” explains Books Bischof, the group’s founder. With some 200 murals now wallpapering Wynwood (including Adrian Sonni’s, above), these few square miles have become one of the largest open-air street-art installations in the world.

In a reversal of the usual progression, the graffiti has led to commercial development. With the gallery giant Jeffrey Deitch, Tony Goldman — one of the driving forces behind SoHo — created Wynwood Walls, a more tightly curated and manicured exhibition of murals.

This fall Wynwood adds a much-anticipated performance space, the Light Box at Goldman Warehouse (404 NW 26th Street), and, during Art Basel, a pop-up store next to the Wynwood Walls grounds where a book of the murals photographed by Martha Cooper will be sold. For visitors who want to see all of the neighborhood’s murals in two hours, the guides at Roam Rides offer graffiti tours by jewel-tone Vespa.

FOOD ARTS

Until recently, Wynwood’s food scene consisted mostly of a few beloved food trucks that descend on the neighborhood during the monthly art walk. Then came Joey’s, run by Tony Goldman’s son, which turns out fresh wood-fired pizzas like the Dolce e Piccante, with figs, gorgonzola, honey and hot pepper. Next door, a Shepard Fairey mural wraps the interior of the even newer Wynwood Kitchen and Bar, another Goldman family production, where tapas-style Latin dishes are served alongside cocktails created by artists whose work is featured at the Wynwood Walls. (The Kenny Scharf: Plymouth gin, grapefruit juice, Cointreau, lime and basil.) A rustic craft beer bar, Wood Tavern, is opening across the street this fall. And down the block is Panther Coffee, a specialty coffee roaster started by a couple from — where else? — Portland, Ore., that has a loyal following across the city and a graphic storefront by one of the Wynwood muralists.

THINK HUMAN… Any design week will open a city’s best offerings up to the local and international public, and in Copenhagen- there is no exception. 

The Danes are well-known for conscious and talented designers, innovative thinking in sustainability, and immaculate organization.

This years theme is to Think Human. How design can contribute to local and global challenges, in relation to an individual, and the global society. The week offers an exciting line-up of Morning Talks, the inaugural INDEX:Award, guided architectural tours and accompanying exhibitions.

Discover beautiful furniture and design products through Open Studios, a chance to look into the spaces of Copenhagen’s leading designers and get the chance to personally speak with them about their work. Or learn more about Danish Design thoughts through Morning Talks, a series of talks and lectures on the Ship “Havet” with Denmark’s leading creatives.

A wonderful opportunity to discover why Copenhagen remains one of the world leaders in design and architecture.

Copenhagen Design Week 2011
Date: September 1st – 6th, 2011
Place: Kvæsthusmolen etc.
Address: Sankt Annæ Plads 36, Copenhage
Tel: +45 3369 3369
contact@copenhagendesignweek.com

http://www.copenhagendesignweek.com

Lost in the Discovery of What Shapes the Mind, Solo Exhibition at the MCAD Gallery in Minneapolis, MN. llustrator Mike Perry is having a bright show full of awesomness. Check out his wondeful work and take a peek into his process, as well as to see some of the works that will be at the show. MCAD Gallery, 2501 Stevens Avenue South, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55404-4347

The Zwarte Panther (Black Panter) is a famous art gallery in Antwerp located at the Hoogstraat, a small street where no cars are allowed, you wouldn’t expect this interesting complex building with nice spaces, a cute inner court, a chapel, a cellar and a little house behind the chapel.

During 1303 it was a little guesthouse (Sint Julianus Gasthuis) where poor pilgrims could stay a while. In 1968 the gallery opened. They say it is the oldest gallery in Flanders and the second oldest in Belgium for contemporary art. Adriaan Raemdonck, the gallery owner is passionate and takes his job very seriously.

There are almost permanently exhibitions by famous artists like Fred Bervoets, Jan Cox, Pjeroo Roobjee, Sam Dillemans, Jan Vanriet and many others.

The place is so interesting, not only because of the great art you can find there, but also because of the location from the Middle ages. The chapel (restored in 1956-1958) is simple but beautiful, the art in it is special. The inner court is idyllic, the rooms upstairs are light and pleasant. The art of Fred Bervoets is impressive.

Once in a time I walk in, and enjoy this oasis in the city. It is a spot where art meets history and that’s a good marriage.

Brain Fit, by Nutthawut Piriyaprakob of Thailand based NPDA Studio, is a learning studio specifically designed to enhance brain function, imagination and co-ordination for small children. Comprised of 4 zones, (the Reception, the Gym, the Testing Room, and the Computer Testing Room), each zone is designed as the imitation of the brain cell, blood vessel and body membrane to imply the meaning of the learning activities conducted. Trying to balance a space that will cater to a child’s imaginative side, yet not pose a distraction, the studio seeks to foster development and encourage exploration.

One enters the studio through the reception zone, a grand space wrapped in strips and ropes to create the allusion of blood vessels.

The gym serves as the large multipurpose space and encourages play. ”The shapes and forms are the imitation of the brain cell structures with the objective to stimulate children’s imagination with its unique shapes, forms and lighting effects.”

The fabrication of the ceiling design is more of a ‘fit’ installation for each unique piece is done by hand instead of machine. The Computer Training Room, known as the Fast for Word Room (the software that is designed to stimulate thinking), is designed with ovals which form cells in the room.

The room is intended to allow children to relax and focus on what is on the computer screen. The last zone, the Testing Room, is a place to test the students’ harmony of physical strength and mind. The room is the replication of the muscles of the body, as long stripes on the ceiling add to the feeling of continuous movement. With each zone specifically designed for the type of learning that will occur, the center will help the children get the most out of their experience. Location: Bangkok, Thailand.

The garden climbs the stairs, running in undulating lines of different textures and colors. Envisioned as a dynamic urban space; it moves in time and with the seasons. Its lush planting cascades down as though the garden was flowing or melting, bleeding the colors into each other.

In one gesture, it narrates a story of landscape taking over and expanding over the Public Space and Architecture, therefore transforming the way that the stairs and the space is perceived and read by the user.

It is a garden of contrasts: the contrast between native and exotic plants, between the red flowers and the green grass, between the green grass and the grey paving. In form, the garden engages the horizontal plaza with the rising vertical plane of the steps and the upright gesture of Eduardo Chillida’s sculpture.

Like the famous Spanish Steps in Rome, the garden is not only designed for visitors to ascend and descend, but for them to linger, and just be. As a member of the jury for the second edition of Bilbao Jardín 2009, Diana Balmori was invited to create a garden. Dr. Balmori chose to sit the garden on the steps between two Arata Isozaki towers leading to San­tiago Calatrava’s footbridge over the Nervión River.

The garden compliments the list of numerous projects of Balmori Associates in Bilbao that includes Abandoibarra Master Plan (competition winner, 1997), Plaza Euskadi (under construction), Campa de los Ingleses (competition winner, 2007). Location: Billao, Spain.

Edwards Moore designed a temporary cave-like space, providing an intimate setting and backdrop for Arnsdorfs ‘Opticks’ collection. Inspired by crystalline forms and imagery of rocky landscapes, Edwards Moore reinterpreted an everyday wearable item- stretching and wrapping it to envelop the space in soft hues and showcase the sculptural collection.

Although this temporary store in Melbourne suburb Fitzroy was gone almost as soon as it came, hopefully its beautifully subtle design serves as inspiration to some of the more insipid retail spaces.

Embracing the muted elegance of Arnsdorf’s Opticks collection into the pop-up’s design, Edwards Moore transformed delicately hued hosiery into an all encompassing, pastel cocoon, creating an exquisitely fragile, cave-like feel to the space…

Imagine a shop famous for its free organic OJ or with its silk-screen printed tees. Nina Garduno recently moved her westside mainstay Freecity shop from Malibu to Hollywood. While the new home is 3,000 square feet, the “supermät” will keep a neighborhood feeling with its locally-sourced goods and welcoming vibe.

The shop was founded in 2001 and is an advocate for nature, design, art, color, accessibility, like-minded love and creativity. FREECITY is most known for its bold graphics and words of goodness hand printed on simple t-shirts and sweats. All are made in-house at the FREECITY workshop, from the hand-mixed paint pigments to the handmade massive flags and mixed part bicycles. FREECITY derives inspiration from places like Copenhagen’s Christiania Community and Oscar Niemeyer’s Brasilia to create a sense of community within their total spectrum. The brand has also been seen on countless celebrities including Brad Pitt, Victoria and David Beckham, Gwyneth Paltrow, Marc Jacobs, Diana Ross, and Sting.

The Hollywood Supermat will function as a one-stop shop where patrons can pick up a range of items, from vintage bikes to freshly baked bread with an eclectic mix of clothing, records and posters in between.

]]> http://www.designsigh.com/2011/02/free-city-super-shop/feed/ 0 http://www.designsigh.com/2011/01/milan%e2%80%99s-galleries/ http://www.designsigh.com/2011/01/milan%e2%80%99s-galleries/#comments Mon, 17 Jan 2011 12:40:05 +0000 Fifi http://www.designsigh.com/?p=3850

The biggest surprise about Milan’s galleries is how few Italian artists show there. Scattered about town or gathered in a few clusters, they wield enough international clout to make up for the time it takes to travel between them. Visit the Giò Marconi gallery Via Alessandro Tadino, 15, for more cutting-edge excitement from artists like Nathalie Djurberg, Annette Kelm and Matthew Brannon, who get the run of two exhibition rooms and an underground lair. For a more historical view (for example, on Arte Povera artists), go upstairs to the Marconi Foundation, founded by the gallery patriarch Giorgio Marconi.

Across town, an open storage area greets visitors entering the Massimo De Carlo gallery, an energetic shop in a former warehouse at Via Giovanni Ventura, 5, that is equal to any in New York’s Chelsea. Since 1987, De Carlo has introduced contemporary artists from abroad; last spring the New Yorker Josh Smith and the Angeleno Elad Lassry made their Italian debuts there. Currently, the two exhibition floors are hosting shows by Matthew Monahan and Roland Flexner, a star of the 2010 Whitney Biennial.

Close by is the Federico Luger gallery, which opened at Via Ventura, 5, last April. Though Luger’s focus is mainly on European and Latin American artists, his lone American artist, Franklin Evans, has a show up through the end of November. For authentically Italian art, there’s always Leonardo’s ‘‘Last Supper,’’ at the Piazza Santa Maria delle Grazie (reservations required).

Furthermore most ambitious is the Naples-based Lia Rumma’s new temple to minimalist cool at Via Stilicone, 19. One of the largest commercial galleries in Europe, it opened last May and has attracted a fashionable clientele. Its triple-height space, designed by CLS Architetti, easily accommodates anything the artists on its blue-chip roster (Marina Abramovic, Andreas Gursky, Anselm Kiefer, Ettore Spalleti, Vanessa Beecroft) can think up.

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