Best Design Books

Book Review: Interior Design Philosophy by Jorge Canete

August 26, 2015

Passing through the gates of this castle, built in 1760 in the pure spirit of the 18th century, feels like going back in time and entering a place straight out of a fairy story, to the point where one would scarcely be surprised to run into the Lilac Fairy visiting her god-daughter there… Jorge Canete The sale of this book supports The International Literacy Foundation (ILF), which is an independent, international non-profit organisation, founded in 2010 with the aim of tackling illiteracy globally and therefore improving living standards around the world. See also: Book Review: 100 contemporary concrete buildings A Genevan of Catalan and Andalusian origin, Jorge CAÑETE did not choose to devote his life to interior design by chance. Following a career in luxury products which sharpened his sense of items of beauty (Ungaro, Bvlgari, Mugler) and an MBA, he decided to express his creativity in 3D through interior design. A diploma in “Interior Design” by the London Metropolitan University and several architectural projects at architecture studios in Rome and Geneva served as his launch pad allowing him to set up his own studio: INTERIOR DESIGN PHILOSOPHY. His work has been published in numerous magazines and in the prestigious book “International…

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Interior Design

Book Review – Jean-Louis Deniot: Interiors

August 26, 2015

Featured on the ELLE Decor and AD 100 lists of the world’s preeminent talents in architecture and interior design, Jean-Louis Deniot has long been in the business of creating atmospheres. His décors are his playground, spaces where spontaneity and magic are de rigueur. See also: Book Review: Piet Boon – StyLing by Karin Meyn Recognized worldwide for his eclectic and emblematic interiors, Jean-Louis Deniot plays in a multiplicity of repertoires, never sticking to purity of style, rather letting his academic training translate into a vocabulary that is both informal and bold. If he does contemporary, it is always with a weighty dose of history and references infused into it to produce a timeless yet timely scenario. The first book on the work of a designer whose refined classical interiors are widely desired and emulated as the epitome of French style. Honored as one of the top designers by all the international design magazines and universally admired by design editors, Jean-Louis Deniot is in demand. His updated classical approach now graces interiors in Paris, the French countryside, Moscow, India, New York, Chicago, L.A., and beyond—and his legacy is already being compared to that of design greats such as Jacques Grange and Alberto…

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Interior Design

Book Review: Lauren Rottet -The Substance of Style

August 25, 2015

This volume documents the award-winning commercial interiors , furniture, and carpet designs of Lauren Rottet, from her early days at Skidmore, Owings & Merill to her thriving international practice today. See also: Books Review: Art & Makeup Biography Rottet Studio is an international architecture and design firm with an extensive portfolio of corporate and hospitality projects for the world’s leading companies and brands. In the last decade, Founder Lauren Rottet, FAIA, FIIDA has developed Rottet Studio into one of the finest interior design practices in the United States, which is consistently ranked among the corporate and hospitality Top 100 Design Giants by Interior Design magazine and was recently recognized as one of the Top 3 Most Admired Design Firms in the World. The WBE-certified firm boasts more than 40 million square feet of built design and a vast array of award-winning projects and furniture designs. The firm’s principals have worked together for as many as 35 years offering a broad range of services including architecture and interior design, furniture design, graphic design, product design, branding and art selection. Rottet Studio is known in the marketplace as innovators, not followers. Reflecting a desire to improve the human experience through the built environment, Rottet Studio provides innovative…

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Interior Design

Book Review: Piet Boon – StyLing by Karin Meyn

August 25, 2015

Piet Boon Styling is a large, wonderfully finished, and luxurious book. Both inspirational and practical, the book is the first to reveal the secrets of Piet Boon Styling. This lavishly illustrated book is a source of inspiration for all adepts of the recognizable Piet Boon style. Creative Director Karin Meyn has composed practical checklists and shares unique tips and tricks to decorate and style the different rooms of a house and beyond: living room, bedroom, kitchen, office. Piet Boon Styling is a practical manual for those who want to give their own touch to an interior. Karin Meyn has been a creative director for Piet Boon for the past 25 years. This multifunctional design studio has become a renowned international luxury brand with a versatile portfolio. With her special gift to combine different forms and colors and her passion for art, beautiful fabrics and other materials, she is the brain behind the atmosphere and the relaxed, stylish allure of the brand. Together with her team, she constantly tries to find those specific objects that enrich her many projects. She has also developed her own accessory line. Piet Boon is one of the most relevant and iconic designers of our time, and…

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Interior Design

Book Review: Interiors by Marcel Wanders

August 25, 2015

Regarded by many as an anomaly in the design world, Marcel has made it his mission to “create an environment of love, live with passion and make our most exciting dreams come true.” His work excites, provokes, and polarises, but never fails to surprise for its ingenuity, daring and singular quest to uplift the human spirit, and entertain. Marcel Wanders’ distinctive output combines a flair for the theatrical with a unique understanding of space that has vaulted him into the top ranks of contemporary design. His interiors projects range from iconic hotels like the Mondrian South Beach in Miami, to fairy-tale private residences in Amsterdam, Mallorca, and Jakarta. Developed integrally with his product design, Wanders’ spaces incorporate a romantic, monumental sensibility that has redefined interior design. Marcel Wanders: Interiors features work from four continents including highly acclaimed designs for the Morgans boutique hotel chain (Thor restaurant in the Hotel on Rivington in New York) and the London flagship for Mandarina Duck. See also: Book review: Coca-Cola Deluxe Ice Slipcase The interiors developed by Marcel Wanders combine the everyday with the extraordinary. These inspirational sources have been harnessed to create an unprecedented interior design volume. In his designs Marcel often mixes innovative…

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Art

Book Review: 100 contemporary concrete buildings

August 5, 2015

Best Design Books brings something unexpected and sober in this book review: concrete. Concrete? That characterless stuff of parking lots or Communist tower blocks, right? Well, yes. And no. Concrete is actually a name applied to a remarkably wide range of building substances, and, when properly handled, is one of the noble materials of contemporary architecture. A kind of “liquid stone” at the outset, it is malleable, durable, and capable of prodigious feats of engineering. See also: BOOK REVIEW: PIRELLI THE CALENDAR – 50 YEARS AND MORE This two-volume book highlights the best work done in concrete of recent years. It includes such stars as Zaha Hadid, Herzog & de Meuron, and Steven Holl, but also surprising new architects like the Russians SPEECH, and rising stars of the international scene like Rudy Ricciotti from France, as well as artists such as James Turrell, who turned the famous concrete spiral of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Guggenheim in New York into the setting of one of his most remarkable pieces. The author Philip Jodidio (born 1954) studied art history and economics at Harvard, and editedConnaissance des Arts for over 20 years. His books include TASCHEN’s Architecture Now! series, and monographs on Tadao Ando,…

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PHOTOGRAPHY

Book Review: Pirelli the Calendar – 50 Years And More

July 30, 2015

The notoriously exclusive Pirelli Calendar, featuring glamorous shots of beautiful women, was first published in 1964. Reserved for important clients and VIPs, the calendar has since grown into a legend of its own, showcasing the beauty of models such as Alessandra Ambrosio, Gisele Bündchen, Naomi Campbell, Laetitia Casta, Cindy Crawford, Penélope Cruz, Milla Jovovich, Heidi Klum, Angela Lindvall, Sophia Loren, and Kate Moss. See also: THE AMAZING ROBERT DOISNEAU PHOTOGRAPHY BOOK In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the now-legendary institution that is the Pirelli Calendar, TASCHEN brings you a retrospective volume reproducing the complete calendars, photographed by Richard Avedon, Peter Beard, Patrick Demarchelier, Nick Knight, Karl Lagerfeld, Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, Annie Leibovitz, Peter Lindbergh, Sarah Moon, Uwe Ommer, Terry Richardson, Herb Ritts, Mario Sorrenti, Bert Stern, Mario Testino, Bruce Weber, and many more. See also: ANGELS: THE ICONIC VICTORIA’S SECRET BOOK BY RUSSELL JAMES Bonus features include rarely and never-before-seen behind-the-scenes images of the shoots, the unpublished 1963 calendar, and a selection of “censored” imagesdeemed too risqué by the editors of the time. With an introduction by Philippe Daverioand an interview with art directors Derek Forsyth and Martyn Walsh. The author Born in 1949, Philippe…

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Art

Book Review: The Book Cover in the Weimar Republic

July 28, 2015

The years between the First and Second World Wars in Germany are famed for their cultural boom and that was the time that inpired the book that we’re going to review today! With Berlin as its epicenter, the Weimar republic was replete with ground-breaking literature, philosophy, and art. At the heart of this intellectual and creative hub were some of the most outstanding and forward-thinking book designs in history. Book Covers in the Weimar Republic assembles 1,000 of the most striking examples from this hub of publishing activity and innovation. Based on the remarkable collection of Jürgen Holstein and his rare collectible Blickfang, it combines anunparalleled catalog of dust jackets and bindings with Holstein’s introduction to the spirit and leading figures of Weimar publishing. See also: BOOK REVIEW: COCA-COLA DELUXE ICE SLIPCASE Expert essays discuss the aesthetic and cultural context of these precious fourteen years, in which a freewheeling spirit would flourish, only to be trampled, burned, or driven out of the country with the rise of National Socialism. From children’s books to novels in translation, bold designs for political literature to minimalist artist monographs, this is a dazzling line-up of typography, illustration, and graphic design at its most energetic and…

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Art

Book review: Coca-Cola Deluxe Ice Slipcase

July 27, 2015

Time to a book review on one of the most amazing brands of all the times! Coca-cola have a brand new book that is way more than a book! This limited-edition set in a unique sculpted ice slipcase is a must-have accessory not only for collectors of Coca-Cola memorabilia but also for lovers of American culture everywhere. For over a century Coca-Cola has been a touchstone of modern culture and a global icon. First sipped at an Atlanta soda fountain, the beverage has become an instantly recognizable symbol around the world, woven into people’s lives and memories. See also: BOOK REVIEW: WHEN ART MEETS DESIGN This newest addition to Assouline’s best-selling Memoire Collection, Coca-Cola: Film, Music, Sports celebrates the iconic brand’s broad-reaching influence in the domains of film, music, and athletics. With imagery of some of these industries’ most revered names, and forewords penned by Ridley Scott, Quincy Jones, and LeBron James, these volumes explore the beverage’s prominence in some of the greatest films of all time, its inspiration for legendary musicians of all genres, and its motivational support of athletes from the Olympics to professional sports. Don’t forget to leave a comment below! Source: assouline.com

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FASHION

Books Review: Emilio Pucci Vintage Art Edition

July 22, 2015

Best design Books brings to you another book review, this time an vintage art edition about Emilio Pucci! Vintage Art Edition limited to just 500 signed and numbered copies. Each book is bound in an original vintage Pucci fabric and is accompanied by four art prints of original drawings from the designer Emilio Pucci. Each book is signed by his daughter Laudomia Pucci who continued to design under the Pucci name after Emilio’s death in 1992 and who is Image Director and Deputy Chairman of the company since 2000.

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Lifestyle

Books Review: Private Gardens of Paris

July 21, 2015

An exclusive glimpse into the hidden world of secret Parisian gardens. A hidden landscape lies behind Paris’s urban facades. A special book review for garden lovers! Whether grandiose or modest, manicured or untended, these secret gardens, rarely seen by casual passersby, are timeless enclaves that provide verdant refuge from the bustling streets. See also: BOOK REVIEW: WHEN ART MEETS DESIGN See also: BOOK REVIEW: AMY BUTLER’S BLOSSOM From Hubert de Givenchy’s formal garden, to Kenzo’s Japanese-inspired oasis, or from an exotic hideaway with giant tropical ferns and rare flowers, to a symmetrical topiary menagerie, this eclectic range of urban gardens provides inspiration to the expert gardener and armchair enthusiast alike. Authors Alexandra D’Arnoux and Bruno de Laubadere, photographer Gilles de Chabaneix. Don’t forget to leave a coment!

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