game changer

less is indeed more. puma + yves = brill

unbeatable combination

a springtime bike ride and new boots from helm / a new company from friend and client, joshua bingaman. see more at helm handmade.

play time

Berlin has some of the most amazing playgrounds. Have been enjoying these inner-city treasures with my cousin and her babe.

color tick

i'm a big fan of the swatch. it's practical, simple, durable and has a fiscally sensitive price tag. these watches from triwa are a mix of rubber and stainless steel. they're a nice alternative to the swiss standard - and in succulent colors. available here

natural | imaginative | delicious

sarah weiner, my new food crush, has a few restaurants in berlin. she's a promi-chef who puts her focus on traditional, simple and healthy foods. she's one of the leading foodie activists against gen-manipulated foods.

i have one cookbook of hers, frau am herd (lady by the stove) - i love it. i am looking forward to trying her food at her cafes and checking out her set up. specifically menu design, uniforms, decor and operations.

majakowski.gasthaus | berlin

with my summertime schedule and 'new to berlin' status, i've been doing a lot of research about my new surroundings.

i found this great design work about this restaurant on the outskirts of town. i haven't found much else about it and am very intrigued. the identity is done by a berlin/vienna cooperative called up designers.

wooden design for your every need

berlin firm {wood begood} designs and builds customized wooden dwellings, furniture, kindergärtens, huts (!) ....more more more. they have some lovely photos on their site of a project in finland. the one above is a sample. check out their site for more.

{store front in berlin}

Yesterday at Vitra

It was rainy and nasty yesterday and I thought - how 'bout an outing?!

Got my stuff together and launched out to Weil am Rhein (close to Basel) to the Vitra Museum. It's a beautiful train ride there and the museum and grounds are fantastic.

main vitra entrance | building: frank gehry

balancing tools : claes oldenburg | coosje van bruggen

Saw exhibits by the Campana Brothers, Fernando & Humberto, of Buenos Aires, viewed the architecture of Frank Gerhry & Zaha Hadid, saw a very cool Oldenburg | Van Bruggen sculpture and fell in love with the bus stop.....a great day.

vitra holds workshops on a regular basis. I would love to go to the Re-Design workshop they have in September.

Berlin Architecture Treasures

Been hunting for new diggs in Berlin. I came across Rainer W. Leonhardt's warehouse in AD Deutschland. He runs an antique building materials warehouse in Charlottenburg. His online catalog details only a sliver of the treasures on offer.

Pea Green

Asparagus, peas and strawberries are all now in season. The color is almost as good as the taste. Crisp and crunchy peas with tortellini white wine sauce - shaved asparagus over arugula dressed with dandelion balsamic sabayon - strawberries and rosé. I mean....come on...does it get any better?

New Inspiration in Munich

On May 21st the newest member of the Munich Kunstareal steps onto the scene: Museum Brandhorst. It will contain more than 700 artworks of the most renown artists of the 20th century, Pablo Picasso, Cy Twombly, Andy Warhol, Sigmar Polke, Bruce Nauman, Mike Kelley and many more. One whole floor will be dedicated to the Twombly collection of nearly 50 artworks and will be thus the second largest collection outside of the US.

I've watched it being constructed over the past three years and am so excited to see a museum embody (in my opinion) the approach to art that's very much this generation - a 21st century place - colorful, creative, lively use of light and shadow. It seems to jump right out of the ground and say - "come inside see these beautiful things!" The museum is located in Schwabing/Maxvorstadt - at the corner of Theresienstrasse & Türkenstrasse (Theresienstrasse 35).

Images & Imagination has some great photos up of the exterior and a nice bit on the architects and design process.

Community Pedal Power

This feature today in NYT is so inspiring. It is a focus on Vauban, a town outside of Freiburg - close to the German/French/Swiss border. According to the article, almost 70% of the city's residents do not own a car and the city's streets are virtually 'car free.'

I'm going to take a visit to this city and check it all out for myself. Read the entire article {here}

Kitchen Helper

Have been looking for something like this for a long time at Brocantes, etc. Found one 'new' at {Octopus}

Household Indulgence

Wooden ironing board from Manufactum.

Play All Day

gestalten has a brand new book out called Play All Day. It features loads of imaginative designs inspired by the notion of play. die Baupiloten have a fantastic video about their contribution to the book (I can't embed....) Also featured is my design crush de jour, Marije Vogelsang.

Warm Light Knit

Ray Light from llot llov.

MMM

Maison Martin Margiela 20th anniversary exhibit at Haus der Kunst in Munich.
Extremely well curated and inspiring.

Green Rows

Sunny Days here in Heidelberg. On a walk today, I took a peek inside a greenhouse and saw these perfect green lines. Can't wait to gobble up those fresh, crisp salad leaves.

Also saw this team of three planting kohlrabi. They were on the back of this tractor putting new seedlings into a wheel and then riding down their field allowing them to be pressed into the freshly tilled soil. You can't see it here very well, but they are all sitting on cushions/pillows with very charming patterns.

Newfangled Furniture

SchubLaden in Berlin takes old drawers and creates new settings for them. The combinations are smart and look great. They mix textures, sizes, ages, materials in all of their pieces. They pair parts of disparate provenance in an organized, standardized fashion. The furniture is functional but not stuffy.

Farm Love

I recently returned from a two week farm stay in Grafschaft Bentheim (northwestern Germany). It was arranged by Stefan Westhuis of the Landwirtschaftskammer in Bad Bentheim (Agricultural Extension Service). I was hosted by local family that raises pigs, steers and dairy cows. During my stay I learned about the regional farming practices and visited a number of area farms. I had the opportunity to work alongside some of the farmers, my host family included. The farming industry in this area is primarily family-run and farms are small to medium-sized operations. The majority of these family farms sell their products to larger operations (dairies, groceries, etc.). 

One of the most interesting parts of my stay was learning about agricultural certification and education. Germany has a multi-track education system (which has its ups and downs). Vocational education is one track of study. This vocational track consists of extensive practical and experiential training and education that farmers in Germany are required to complete. You cannot call yourself a farmer without this training - seriously.

It was interesting for me to take a couple of steps back from the current US-food security debate and see how important it is to insure stable food production by supporting agricultural education.

When my host family asked me how one becomes a farmer in the States, I had vague, insufficient answers...., really guesses more than answers. Handed-down education? Earn a degree in agricultural management? FFA? 4-H?

Even more interesting was the thought that these young farmers emerge from their education debt-free....zero student loans. That is a step in the right direction.* 
Farm Links:
Bunte Bentheimer Pigs: Delicious Pork Products
Ekenhorst Dairy: Milk, Yogurt, Cheese

(*from article to appear later this spring in GOOD)