Best Design Books

Book Review: Frida Kahlo Fashion As The Art Of Being

February 22, 2016

Book Review: Frida Kahlo Fashion As The Art Of Being – Frida Kahlo was not only an iconic artist, she was also a bold beauty and an avant-garde fashionista whose timeless sense of style continues to inspire and influence the worlds of fashion, media, and art today. Fashion is an optical effect that Frida employed with shrewd artistic intention. Frida knew that life is theater, and fashion was her costume . Frida understood the importance of image and attitude, no matter who you are. The canvas was Frida’s mirror, and she was the painter, the model, and the painting—author, subject, medium, and object. Frida was her own best work of art. Whether she was in Mexico City, New York, or Paris, Frida Kahlo’s unique multicultural aesthetic mélange created an exciting and matchless style that made her the center of attention wherever she went. The impact of Frida’s fashion fusion still generates an infectious attraction the world over. International fashion magazines feature editorials that clearly display Frida’s influence; fashion designers, photographers, and models continue to channel her indomitable spirit; filmmakers, songwriters, and artists of all kinds create new works that reflect her singular aesthetic. Fashion as the Art of Being is…

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Lifestyle

Book review: The Art Of Flying

February 11, 2016

Beginning with the jet age of the 1940s and 1950s, air travel has been at the forefront of technology, culture, and luxury. Travel with style through the new Assouline book in the company of stars like Lady Gaga. The Art of Flying explores its fascinating evolution, curating a vibrant cultural history from the mid-twentieth century to the present. From technological developments such as pressurized cabins and the Concorde to the flair of custom crew uniforms by renowned designers including Dior, Emilio Pucci, and Moncler, as well as its interplay with architecture and art, air travel throughout history has been at once a reflection of its time and a symbol of the cutting edge. In partnership with VistaJet and lavishly illustrated with over seven decades of imagery, The Art of Flying celebrates the golden past and the dream of luxury air travel today. Editor and writer Josh Condon has covered travel, technology, fashion, automotive, and more for publications including The New York Times, Men’s Journal, andRoad & Track. He is currently senior editor at Details magazine in New York City. You may also like: Book review: Carrier and Company – Positively Chic Interiors Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty by Andrew Bolton Keep following…

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Interior Design

Book Review: The Inn at Little Washington – A Magnificent Obsession

January 7, 2016

Book Review: The Inn at Little Washington, A Magnificent Obsession – The remarkable story of the architecture and interior design of America’s most famous country inn and restaurant. The transformation of the internationally acclaimed Inn at Little Washington—from a rural garage into a sumptuous country house hotel—reads like an enchanted fairy tale. See also: Book review: The American Mater, Jeffrey Bilhuber Legendary chef and owner Patrick O’Connell tells the story of how this property was reimagined with a team of skilled designers and architects. The inn, which opened in 1978, is considered a masterpiece in American hotel and restaurant design and has expanded to include not only the original main building, but an entire village of cottages, guesthouses, and gardens. British interior designer Joyce Conwy Evans collaborated with O’Connell in creating the sensational English-style ambience. See also: Hotel Libraries Around the World Lavishly photographed and enhanced by Conwy Evans’s watercolor renderings, this gorgeous book features luxurious guest rooms, stunning bathrooms, exquisite tabletop vignettes, floral arrangements, and displays of art, which will inspire every home decorator. Keep following Best Design Books for the lattest book reviews from the best editors like Rizzoli and the best books like Book Review: The Inn at Little Washington, A Magnificent Obsession….

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Interior Design

Book Review: The House of Thurn und Taxis

January 7, 2016

Adventure through the princely Thurn und Taxis estate, an enchanted palace where 1,000 years of history meets a thoroughly modern family. For 200 years the Thurn und Taxis family have called the palace of St. Emmeram home. Regarded as one of Germany’s finest examples of historicist architecture, the Regensburg residence’s myriad rooms trace centuries of distinctive styles: a Romanesque-Gothic cloister built between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries, a neo-Renaissance marble staircase, a number of Rococo and neo-Rococo staterooms, and a Baroque library frescoed in 1737. See also: Book review: The American Mater, Jeffrey Bilhuber Celebrated photographer Todd Eberle captures the confluence of high art and grand architecture within the 500-room palace to reveal the curious tale of the Thurn und Taxis family. Complete with stately portraits and scenes of life at St. Emmeram, this monograph offers a glimpse into the world and glamour of one of the most important dynasties of the European aristocracy. See also: Design News: Robert A. M. Stern Architects Buildings and Projects Keep following Best Design Books for the lattest book reviews!

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Interior Design

Book review: The American Mater, Jeffrey Bilhuber

December 23, 2015

In his latest book, Jeffrey Bilhuber distills thirty years of expertise and creative inspiration designing beautiful and brilliantly modern rooms. Presenting a diverse range of decorator’s most recent and important work from around the country, the book is centered around 30 signature statements by Bilhuber—pithy and insightful bedrock principles and axioms that have fueled designer’s process. Rounding out these statements Sara Ruffin Costello, the highly regarded writer and editor, sheds light on Bilhuber’s inimitable style through charming anecdotes and bright, rich descriptions, revealing a decorator at the top of his profession. Anchoring the ideas that drive each project, the statements represent different angles from which to appreciate the decorator’s vision and mastery of his craft. Some are broad and philosophical: “What’s liberating is to be fearless” and “Modernity is not about a new material, it’s about how you navigate your way through the world.” And others, specific and practical: “It’s easy to get white wrong. It takes talent to get it right” and “It’s powerfully important to sit at the table and talk to each other.” Capturing the breadth and beauty of Bilhuber’s work in city townhouses and rambling country houses throughout the country in New York City, Palm Beach,…

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Interior Design

Book Review: Island Style by India Hicks

December 23, 2015

From India Hicks, a beautifully illustrated guide to achieving her famously undone, gloriously bohemian decorating style. Born from British and design royalty, India Hicks has forged a design empire from her family’s enclave in the Bahamas. In India Hicks: Island Style, she invites readers into her world, offering never-before-seen imagery and irresistible behind-the-scenes stories. Beginning with an uproarious reflection on India’s own design odyssey, the heart of the book is an in-depth exploration of her style. Timeless and under-decorated, her rooms combine carefree Caribbean culture with British colonial form and formality. In ten chapters, India walks the reader through the basics of capturing the look: the subtle palette of island life; the miracle of tablescaping; the warm anarchy of a family kitchen; the pleasure of porches; the drama of entertaining; bedrooms as places of self-expression; the “more is more” style of living with collections; the importance of repurposing; and creating spaces of sanctuary. Witty, richly prescriptive, beautifully photographed, this book will enchant readers with a glimpse of decorating in paradise. India Hicks was born in England to famed decorator David Hicks and Lady Pamela Hicks. Her grandfather, Lord Mountbatten, was the last viceroy to India, granting their independence in 1947….

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Interior Design

Book Review: Barbara Westbrook by Gracious Rooms

December 23, 2015

In her first book, the South’s most inviting designer explores her principles for creating a beautiful home rich with comfort and warmth. Barbara Westbrook has been designing classically inspired homes full of Southern charm and a European touch for more than twenty years. A native of Virginia, Westbrook grew up accompanying her mother to antique shops and was introduced by her to Virginia’s rich architectural legacy. With a design vocabulary that ranges from casual American to formal English to French modern, Westbrook’s homes share a welcoming elegance, whether it is a country cottage or a penthouse apartment. In Gracious Rooms, she sets out her principles for creating a house rich with both polish and patina. Walking the reader through a dozen stunning homes—light-filled lake retreats, contemporary houses, and historic mansions—Westbrook shares her accessible, appealing ideas. From the judicious use of symmetry to the importance of including natural elements in a room, utilizing color to unify spaces within a house, and setting a mood with materials, Gracious Rooms is rich with advice and inspiration. Keep following Best Design Books for the latest design news! Don’t forget to leave a comment bellow!

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Art

Book Review: A Sense of Place – Houses on Martha’s Vineyard and Cape Cod

December 23, 2015

Thirteen exquisite houses create a portrait of life in one of America’s most exclusive coastal destinations, along the beaches of Martha’s Vineyard and Cape Cod. Hutker Architects, led by founding principal Mark A. Hutker, has designed more than three hundred houses along the New England shore. A member of the close community on Martha’s Vineyard since his arrival in 1985, Hutker has become an expert at interpreting the ideal lifestyles of his clients within the respected traditions and restrictive codes of the beautiful but fragile environment. In their design and construction, these houses honor the vernacular traditions of craft and indigenous materials, are deeply respectful of the cherished landscape, and demonstrate a lively range of solutions to building on the bluffs and dunes that line the shores of the Vineyard and Cape Cod. A working organic farm fulfills a family’s dream of simpler values; a luxurious renovation saves the best of an antique shingle cottage while transforming it for contemporary family life and a raised structure clad in naturally weathered boards combines the legacy of midcentury regional modern architecture with Cape Cod’s maritime tradition. The firm is committed to the principle “Build once, well,” looking to the historic architecture of…

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Art

Book review: Richard Meier Artist’s Edition

December 18, 2015

Limited edition of 100 copies worldwide, clothbound in a clamshell box, each numbered and signed by Richard Meier. The artwork is a silkscreen print (20 x 30 cm / 8 x 12 inches) on mould made paper. The trademark of celebrated architect Richard Meier (born 1934) is his use of white structures. He began his career building numerous private homes, and then moved on to administrative buildings, museums and residential complexes notable for their complex groundplans and axial twists – features that have had a decisive influence on contemporary architecture. The Getty Center in Los Angeles, scheduled for completion in 1996, gave Meier the opportunity to tackle the most ambitious project of the decade. This limited edition monograph traces the development of Richard Meier, one of the foremost architects of our times, and affords a generous overview of his projects to date, including: Smith House, Darien (CT), 1965-1967 Bronx Development Center, New York (NY), 1970-1977 Douglas House, Harbor Springs (MI), 1971-1973 The Atheneum, New Harmony (IN), 1975-1979 Hartford Seminary, Hartford (CT), 1978-1981 Museum for Decorative Ars, Frankfurt/ Main, 1979-1985 Giovanitti House, Pittsburgh (PA), 1979-1983 High Museum of Art, Atlanta (GA), 1980-1983 Des Moines Art Center Adddition, Des Moines (IA), 1982-1984…

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Interior Design

Book Review: Ottoman Chic new release by Assouline

December 18, 2015

Standing at the crossroads of many cultures, Ottoman style is spiced with influences from Chinese and Indian to French and Italian. In this spectacular volume, Istanbul-born interior designer Serdar Gülgün narrates a tour of his beautiful home, a historic mansion on the Asian side of the Bosporus. Constantly inspired by the atmosphere of his ancient city, Gülgün believes a successful interior design is a place of experience in which authentic elements of culture fuse and achieve alchemy, awakening all the senses and transporting its inhabitants to a place of fantasy. Serdar Gülgün is an Istanbul-born interior designer, international lecturer, and Ottoman art expert and collector specializing in historical interiors. His collection has been exhibited several times at Topkapı Palace. Gülgün is the writer of the Louis Vuitton Istanbul Guide, and he is the author of The Grand Bazaar Istanbul (2011) for Assouline. He recently launched a home accessories brand, Serdar Gülgün Istanbul. Swiss-born lifestyle photographer Reto Guntli travels all continents for books and articles on architecture, interiors, people, art, design, and travel. He has photographed and produced more than forty books for the best publishing houses worldwide. He regularly contributes to prestigious international magazines such asArchitectural Digest, Casa Vogue, Elle…

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Interior Design

Book Review: The 100 Most Influential Objects Of The Twentieth Century

December 18, 2015

The Impossible Collection Of Design, The 100 Most Influential Objects Of The Twentieth Century is the book of the day at Best Design Books! Chosen by design expert Frédéric Chambre, this selection of furniture designs unspools like the frames of a film, an epic picture composed of one hundred years of creative innovations in form, materials, and techniques. This hand-bound oversize luxury edition, presented in a linen clamshell case, traces the development of twentieth-century design from the Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts movements through Bauhaus and Art Deco, Pop Art and the Memphis school, to today’s digital age, illustrating the dynamic story of a groundbreaking century through the evolution of everyday human objects. With degrees in law and art history, Frédéric Chambre became a partner at the Calmels-Chambre-Cohen auction house in 1996. Chambre co-founded Pierre Bergé and Associates in 2002, and became vice president and partner in 2005; he was co-organizer of the February 2009 sale of the Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé collection at Christie’s in Paris. In 2012 Chambre joined PIASA as head of strategy and development, and he is currently vice president and general manager. Source: assouline.com Keep following Best Design Books for the best…

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