french fall

le tour les chapelains in southern france. why not?

interview with style

Marije Vogelzang - Interview from Design Blast on Vimeo.

in june, Jill Enders and Chris Spatschek (students from the Arts and Design academy in Karlsruhe) interviewed dutch eating designer marije vogelzang. their approach was very whimsical and creative. they crafted a box of treats that had questions hidden underneath them. marije was allowed to choose eight from the eleven bits and answer those questions. clever, indeed....

Curl up & Read

Lately we've had days that start out really sunny and clear and suddenly we have a huge downpour. Usually, I get all my work done early in the morning and so I can have the afternoons to myself to hike or just be outside. When it's raining though, I love some popcorn and a good book. 

I love to curl up with a blanket like this:


This summer blanket is from Swan Island Blankets. They are based in Maine and have high-quality, luscious textiles.

Been searching for this for months

Ever since I was last in Munich I've been searching for this bench. It was outside the Haus der Kunst and I sat there while I was waiting for my friend Jürgen before we went to the Maison Martin Margelia and Gerhard Richter exhibits. I came across it today in a magazine and found out it's designed by Jurgen Bay who has a studio with his wife in Rotterdam.

Above is the photo from droog (it's only 11,000€....) and two of mine.





gestalten has a great video featuring the two of them. linked here....

Aim for White & Blue City Fancy

Photography by Brigitte Wolfgang Drejer. Represented by sisters agency in France, she has a whole category dedicated to *snow*

These selections are from her 'white' & 'city slickers' categories.

Public Space

Link to a very interesting article on Design and Diffusion about design development of furniture in public spaces.

Fence by Dutch design house Demakersvan

Can't beat the texture

......of delicious cotton

linen draps from Caroline et Geraldine.
Hotels that have these kinds of linens are so much more romantic and real.

Observation, utility and honest use of materials

I love the values that Alex Hellum uses to direct design.

Pretty Close to Perfect

Truck Furniture

Peeing in my pants excited

My copy of EAT LOVE by Dutch 'eating designer' Marije Vogelzang is supposed to get here today. DHL bring it on! Her work is so inspiring. I have an enormous design crush on her.

I am so excited to visit Proef the next time I am in Amsterdam. Who has been before? 

What is it like?

Natural Fibers

I've been experimenting (with some help from Lee and our friend Daniel) with newspaper 'yarn'. I got the idea from Greetje van Tiem when she was featured on Greenupgrader. 

We've made some yarn and then crocheted it with thin, copper wire. I made a lampshade out of our first batch. I'm a little obsessed...

It throws a fantastic shadow and the variations in print color really stick out.

I've been looking for furniture and lighting made from non-traditional materials. I ran across these chairs and lights from Yonoh of Spain made with rope. 

Heavenly

It's so sunny here in Heidelberg today. Spring is so close, I can taste it. I went for a long hike yesterday in the rain and could start to smell the first buds of trees and flowers sprouting out. 

I have no idea what kind of tree this is, but it smells heavenly.

New Wave Woolen

Claudy Jongstra keeps a flock of 200 sheep. She keeps this herd for land management and as a resource for her wool. She uses the wool as raw material for her art. These days, felt seems to be everywhere. These pieces are created by hand and result in a product that is unique, warm and true to tradition. This felt does not rest on uniformity but rather relishes in the imperfections and irregularities of the material. 

Community

In 2006, after touring the world over, the Icelandic band, Sigur Rós, went back to Iceland to give a series of free, unannounced concerts to their public. They traveled to out of the way villages and communities - often playing outdoors or in small cafes, even an abandoned fishery made the list. As they detail in their documentary film (released November 2007), they did the tour because they felt like it was something they had to do to show respect for they community from which they came. News of the tour was passed along largely by word of mouth and was visited by young and old, families and friends to celebrate music, nature - beauty. Wow. Sigur Rós is joined by the female Icelandic quartet, Amiina on the documentary who are quite legendary in their own right.

Needless to say, the footage is breathtaking. The documentary comes with a spectacular book with photos printed on sublime paper. An amazing band and film. All made in a grand gesture of appreciation, humility and reverence for community.