Dior Show

The ambience and decor of the Dior Salons in Paris were recreated down to the last detail for the Haute Couture show in Shanghai. Here is how Christian Dior described them in 1956.

I strove to create for my house a home in the style and colors of my childhood years in Paris, which nonetheless was adapted to the climate of a couture house. I am speaking of neo-Louis XVI, white woodwork, white lacquered furniture, shades of gray, beveled glass-paned doors and the bronze wall lamps with small lampshades that reigned from 1900 to 1914 in “new” buildings in the neighborhood of Passy. Its invisible elegance survives in the salons of the Ritz and Plaza hotels. It’s sober, simple but not dry, and above all so classic and Parisian that there is no way this style could detract or divert the eye from the collection. It was important to me that my couture house not be an exceptional place in the theatrical sense; I am showing dresses, not decoration.

Therefore, it was  a matter of creating in this charming mansion on the Avenue Montaigne a decorated, but not decorative atmosphere befitting both my tastes and my project. Whare to find the decorator who in 1946 would be capable of understanding my dream and translating it without exceeding my modest budget? Victor Grandpierre had the right tradition; he was just the man I needed. Everything I desired more or less vaguely, he achieved. Our tastes harmonized wonderfully in the mutual search for our childhood paradises.  

Prehistoric age in 2012

Architecture seeks inspiration in prehistoric age!!

The house of the well known american actor Dick Clark shows how architecture draws and draws inspiration from the prehistoric age and the Flintstones cartoon. It is located in Malibu and was recently sold for 3,5 millions dollars.

The house is located in Malibu and was recently sold for 3.5 million dollars. 

 

As it can be seen the resemblance to the Flintstones cartoon series is more than obvious!

Architecture + Images

Jim Kazanjian is is one of the few exponents of the masterfull combination of architecture and images that create creations that defy the normal conception of physics and reality.

Jim Kazanjian received his MFA from the Art Center College of Design in '92. His BFA was completed at the Kansas City Art Institute in '90. He has worked professionally as a commercial CGI artist for the past 18 years in television and game production. Some of the most well known clients he has collaborated with include: Nike, Adidas, NBC, CBS, HBO, NASA, HP, Intel and others. He currently lives in Portland, Oregon.

In the artists words “I am interested in how an image can have the potential to unfold and suggest something outside of itself. By this I mean something beyond the obvious and only discovered through a continued process of viewing. It is this act of “looking” that I find fascinating because it does not follow a linear progression like language but is interactive and random”

Jim Kazanjian says that he is creating those images by digitally manipulating photographs from the internet. His vast collection spans an incredible number of 26 thousand photos!!

The collection of photos that is shown here are mostly influenced from the fictional writer H.P lovecraft and his narrative archetypes of de-familiarizing the familiar.

In order to create these images he most oftenly uses from 12-30 photos that uses as blocks that later combines in photoshop.

His process of creation is kind of organic as he prefers to describe it. He rarely pre-conceptualizes his work but lets the pieces inform his editing process just as solving a puzzle

 

The collection of photos that is shown here are mostly influenced from the fictional writer H.P lovecraft and his narrative archetypes of de-familiarizing the familiar.

   

LUCAS SAMARAS

American painter, sculptor and photographer of Greek birth. He emigrated to West New York, NJ, in 1948 and graduated from Rutgers University in 1959. He participated in the earliest Happenings, and he studied art history with Meyer Schapiro (b 1904) and acting at the Stella Adler Studio Theater. In 1960, he created the first of his well-known boxes, for example Box No. 3, 1962–1963 (New York, Whitney). His choice of media ranged from the sensuous to the menacing, and he preferred opulent textures and colours. Tacks, pins and shards of glass encrusted such early works as Book #4 (Dante’s Inferno) (1962; New York, MOMA). Always self-referential, he first secreted a photograph of himself in early boxes and constructions. On moving to New York in 1964 he created another unconventional self-portrait: a gallery installation, Room, inspired by his claustrophobic New Jersey bedroom.

From 1969 Samaras began to produce photographs using his body as subject and metaphor in a series entitled Autopolaroids (Samaras Album, 1971), which was followed by manipulated Polaroid Phototransformations (London, Saatchi priv. col., see Schjeldahl, 1984, nos 38–43), 8×10 colour photos entitled Sittings(1981; see Lifson, pp. 95–115) and the Collage Panoramas of the early 1980s (see Lifson, pp. 149–65). He continued to transform everyday items such as scissors, eyeglasses and chairs, reinventing them and always widening the range of his explorations in the process. His giant pieced-fabric Reconstructions(1977–8), for example Reconstruction ®20 (1977; Denver, CO, A. Mus.), celebrate Byzantine pattern and colour, and in 1981 he turned to gold- and silver-plated bronze, as in Sculpture Table (1981; London, Saatchi priv. col., see Schjeldahl, 1984, no. 46). An exhibition of 1981 comprised radiant pastels, and his sketchbook, Lucas Samaras: Sketches, Drawings, Doodles and Plans (1986), revealed the rich diversity of his work on paper. In 1988–9 a major retrospective exhibition, surveying his work in all media, travelled to six American museums.

The Shard, London

The Shard will be the tallest building in Western Europe, its crystalline façade transforming the London skyline with a mixed-use 310 m (1,016 ft) vertical city of high-quality offices, world-renowned restaurants, the 5-star Shangri-La hotel, exclusive residential apartments and the capital's highest viewing gallery offering 360° views.

Interesting facts about The Shard London

• The tower's form and proportions recall the church spires of the City and the masts of ships which plied their trade along the adjacent Thames.
• Southwark Towers was demolished to make way for the building.
• Residential units are situated at heights from 192 metres (631 feet) to 224 metres (735 feet) and are the tallest in London.
• At mid-level is a 197-room Shangri-La hotel.

• The lowest of the two public viewing galleries is situated at 121 metres (397 feet) and features 5-star restaurants.
• The lower level is devoted to 27 office floors.
• Each floor features naturally ventilated 'winter gardens' with operable louvre windows.
• Excess heat generated by the offices is used to heat the hotel and apartments, whilst any superfluous heat is dissipated naturally via a radiator atop the building.
• The building's façade is both double-skinned and ventilated, thus reducing solar gain whilst maximising light intake.
• The building's design has been described by the architect as resembling a sharp, crystal pyramid.
• The tower's design features angled glass façade panels which result in a multiformity of changing reflected light patterns.
• Following the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, the London Bridge Tower was structurally redesigned to improve stability and reduce evacuation times.
• The original design for this project, by Broadway Malyan, featured a circular tower of 87-storeys, 365-metres in height. This design was then replaced by an 80-storey, 390-metre design by Renzo Piano, described by many as a 'shard of glass'. Due to further consultation, a height of 310-metres was decided on, and the tower was reduced to 66-storeys.
• The building features a concrete frame which sits atop one made from steel.
• The Shard is the first skyscraper in Western Europe to both reach and exceed 1,000 feet in height.
• The internal areas are used as follows: public areas on floors 1 to 3; offices on floors 4 to 31; a mid-level public area and viewing gallery on floors 34 to 36; a hotel on floors 37 to 51; 114 apartments on floors 52 to 64; and an upper viewing gallery on floors 65 to 66.

• At the lower levels, the tower extends the existing public concourse and opens up routes connecting Guy's Hospital, King's College and the southern residential areas to the business communities stretching along the river.
• The Shard's extensive use of energy-saving materials and techniques contributes to the building using 30% less energy than other high-rises of comparable dimensions.
• The building's movement is not restricted with any form of damping. Extra rigidity has been attained by employing a 'hat truss' at the building's top, which comprises outriggers that connect the perimeter columns to the core.
• Europe's highest public viewing gallery is situated at 244 metres (800 feet).

 for more information visit: www.theshard.com,www.emporis.com/building/the-shard-london-united-kingdom

 THE SHARD HAS BEEN CONCEIVED BY THE SELLAR GROUP TO BE THE CAPITAL'S MOST DYNAMIC BUILDING. IT WILL FOCUS THE ATTENTION OF THE WORLD ON LONDON BRIDGE QUARTER.

TINY FIGURES + CLIMATE CHANGE

The Brussels-based Spanish artist uses his tiny figures, generally standing no taller than 25 cm, to display the apathetic nature of a large portion of society when it comes to dealing with or even acknowledging our dwindling environment. The miniature statues simply await their ill fate of being overtaken by destructive natural forces or pulled in by the tide. Cordal reflects on the inexplicable passiveness people have toward these imminent environmental matters, like global warming, that are bound to affect us all. 

As part of Beaufort04, the fourth edition of the Triennial of Contemporary Art by the Sea, the dozens of figures are placed along the Belgian coast including the beach of De Panne and in Villa Le Chalutier. The public exhibit is currently on display and set to run through September 9, 2012.

http://mydesignstories.net/profiles/blogs/tiny-figures-wait-for-climate-change

King's Cross Station, London from 1852 to 2012

 A spectacular new western concourse will be launched today at a London railway station first built in 1852 - after an eight-year £500million restoration project.

Described by rail bosses as 'the biggest transformation in the 160-year history of King's Cross station', the restoration of the Grade 1 listed building is part of a further £2.2billion redevelopment of the once shabby King's Cross area of north London.

A vast steel and glass lattice-work roof forms the centrepiece of the rail network's 'gateway to the North', which will provide three times the space of the current station concourse.

The station currently serves 45 million people a year, but that number is set to rise by 10million within the decade.

Speeches will be made by transport secretary Justine Greening, mayor of London Boris Johnson and the chief executive of Network Rail David Higgins.

Network Rail programme director for the new station Ian Fry says: 'We are about to usher in a new era for King's Cross and everything is on track and looking good.'

The lattice-work roof is officially Europe's largest single-span station structure, according to the architects John McAslan and Partners.

 Covering the vast Western Concourse, and spanning the full 150m length of that part of the station, it is supported by a 20m-high tapered central 'funnel' and 16 further smaller columns around the station - which allow it to cover a remarkable 8,424 square metres. 

The  domed roof is constructed from 1,200 tonnes of steel, with the castings at the top of each supporting column each weighing 1.5 tonnes.

Transforming the station - which was designed by Lewis Cubitt and built while Queen Victoria was still in the early years of her reign - has also been the catalyst for one of the largest regeneration schemes London has witnessed.

The overhaul of King's Cross has seen 67 acres of brown-field land redeveloped to create 8 million square feet of offices, shops and new homes, as well as an art college.

About 15 per cent of the roof cladding is glazed to ensure plenty of natural light while passengers wait – hopefully not too long – for their trains.

Shops - 24 in total - are spread over two floors, including restaurants and eateries.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2114782/Kings-Cross-station-overhaul-Vest-structure-unveiled-London-railway-station-500m-overhaul.html#ixzz1rYfm1nYJ

Orbs of water ???

Fine art photographer Sharon Johnstone transports us to a world where dew drops look like massive orbs of water laying atop towering, yet slender, dandelion petals. Miraculously enough, this realm is our planet through the UK-based photographer's macro lens. It is absolutely breathtaking the way the transparent spheres of liquid balance on wisps of flowers and feathers, not to mention the stunning colors found in nature.           

(http://mydesignstories.net/profiles/blogs/stunning-macro-photos-of-dandelion-water-droplets)

5,000 BOOKS + A BUILDING = ??

Artist Alicia Martin's tornado of books shoot out a window like a burst of water from a giant hose. The Spain-based artist's sculptural installation at Casa de America, Madrid depicts a cavalcade of books streaming out of the side of a building. The whirlwind of literature defies gravity and draws attention with its grandeur size. There have been three site-specific installations, thus far, of the massive sculptural works in this series known as Biografias, translated as Biographies, that each feature approximately 5,000 books sprawled out around and atop one another. (http://mydesignstories.net/profiles/blogs/5-000-books-pour-out-of-a-building-in-spain)