book reviews

Book Review for Kitchen Kulture: a Place to Cook, Eat and Celebrate

November 29, 2016

Book Review for Kitchen Kulture: a Place to Cook, Eat and Celebrate – The kitchen is the new living room: a space for social gathering, collaborative cooking, event hosting, and communal dining. Undergoing immense transformation through time and continually adapting to current social and aesthetic trends, the room that used to be a service area relegated to the back of the house is now the multi-functional hub of the home. See also: Get Inspirted by Contemporary Interior Designs at Interiors Now 3 Kitchen Kulture is an inspiring visual feast that shines a light on all that the twenty-first century kitchen can be. The kitchens presented in this book are testing grounds for environmentally-friendly innovation as well as lively spaces that inspire a higher quality of life by prompting better eating habits and bringing together family and friends. From a vast, open-plan kitchen in a London townhouse to a kitchenette inside a student studio in Berlin, the professionals behind these designs uncover the full potential of today’s kitchen through their creativity. See also: Book Review: Zaha Hadid Complete Works 1979-today At home, the kitchen is where the best parties end, the wildest affairs begin, food trends are set, small culinary businesses are founded,…

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Book Review: Interiors for Restaurants, Bars and Unusual Food Places

November 28, 2016

Book Review: Interiors for Restaurants, Bars and Unusual Food Places – Going out to a restaurant or bar is always about more than just eating and drinking. Whether we’re seeking the adventure of a once-in-a-lifetime culinary experience or the familiarity of traditional cuisine, atmosphere makes a difference and we increasingly want it to be all-consuming. Let’s Go Out Again is an eclectic showcase of atmospheric eating spaces from around the world. The featured projects represent state-of-the-art collaborations among architects, artists, designers, restaurateurs, and chefs that target not only all of our senses, but our identities and values too. Let’s Go Out Again is comprised of six chapters, each of which exemplifies an aesthetic and conceptual point of view: Understatement, Modern Musings, Rough and Local, Progressive, Graphic Spaces, and Dramatic. Each of these approaches goes beyond the visual to buoy and amplify the philosophies of the kitchens or bars that they help define. The result is a congenial synergy between flavor and atmosphere, place and taste. See also: Get Inspirted by Contemporary Interior Designs at Interiors Now 3 Eating is more than a basic physical process. It is a social, aesthetic, and cultural need. We go out to meet friends or business…

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Get Inspirted by Contemporary Interior Designs at Interiors Now 3

November 24, 2016

Get Inspirted by Contemporary Interior Designs at Interiors Now 3 – A successful home is the perfect synthesis of personality and zeitgeist; it is a living work of art, a cultural artifact, and the object of ceaseless curiosity. Highly sensitive to this phenomenon, Interiors Now series tracks the constantly evolving and multifaceted fabric of contemporary interior design around the world. Each new volume—destined for casual readers and professionals alike—assembles a fresh and inspiring collection of recently created residences that demonstrates how to bring out the best in the space that matters most: your home. See also: Book Review: Álvaro Siza Complete Works Whether it is photographers Inez van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin’s New York loft with its Eames 2.0 alder expanses and cozy corners, Jacques Grange’s relaxed romance for Francis Ford Coppola’s palazzo in Southern Italy, or the apartment of a young art collector couple in Mumbai—all the projects have been chosen as expressions of personal vision that together give the full picture of what really counts in interior decoration right now. See also: Book Review: Rooftops Design, Islands in the Sky The editor A native Austrian, Margit J. Mayer started her journalism career in 1983 at WIENER magazine in Vienna. Focusing…

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Book Review: New Approach of Architecture and Design by Josef Hoffmann

November 23, 2016

Book Review: New Approach of Architecture and Design by Josef Hoffmann – Before aesthete, designer, and architect Josef Hoffmann (1870–1956) came along, Austrian architecture and design was suffocating under a surfeit of opulent ornamentation and bombastic flourish. With his radical new approach and a band of like-minded figures, Hoffmann was a founding father of the Viennese Secession and Wiener Werkstätte,andrevolutionized Western aesthetics with a brave new minimalism. See also: Book Review: Álvaro Siza Complete Works This essential introduction explores Hoffmann’s key ideas, projects, and designs to understand his radical aesthetics and their continued influence on European architecture and design, from monochrome interior schemes to the cutlery we put on the table. We explore his integral role at the center of both the Vienna Secession in 1897 and the Wiener Werkstätte, and his commitment to stylistic purity, including some of Europe’s first major modernist buildings, such as the Purkersdorf Sanatorium (1904) and the Palais Stoclet (1905–1911). See also: Book Review: Rooftops Design, Islands in the Sky The author August Sarnitz is a practicing architect and professor of history and theory of architecture at the Akademie der bildenden Künste in Vienna. His many publications include books on R. M. Schindler, Lois Welzenbacher, Ernst Lichtblau,…

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Book Review: Revolutionary Architecture Projects by Renzo Piano

November 22, 2016

Book Review: Revolutionary Architecture Projects by Renzo Piano – While some architects have a signature style, Renzo Piano seeks to apply coherent ideas to extraordinarily different projects. His buildings impress as much for their individual impact as for their diversity of scale, material, and form. Piano rose to international prominence with his codesign of the Pompidou Center in Paris, described by The New York Times as a building that “turned the architecture world upside down.” Since then, he has continued to craft many high-profile cultural spaces, including the Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago; the Morgan Library Renovation and Expansion in New York; and, most recently, the Whitney Museum of American Art, an asymmetric nine-story structure in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District with both indoor and outdoor galleries. In New York and London, the Renzo touch has also transformed the skyline with the towers of the New York Times Building and the Shard, the tallest building in the European Union. See also: Book Review: Álvaro Siza Complete Works This essential introduction travels from Osaka, Japan, to Bern, Switzerland, and through many cities, structures, and islands in between, to explore the staggering scope of the Renzo Piano repertoire. From the “inside-out” Pompidou…

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Book Review: Zaha Hadid Complete Works 1979-today

November 21, 2016

Book Review: Zaha Hadid Complete Works 1979-today – Zaha Hadid was a revolutionary architect, who for many years achieved critical acclaim and won numerous prizes, while building almost nothing. Some even said her work was unbuildable. During the latter years of her life, Hadid’s daring visions became a reality, bringing a unique new architectural language to cities and structures as the Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati, the Glasgow Riverside Museum, and the Eli & Edythe Broad Art Museum in Michigan. See also: Book Review: Álvaro Siza Complete Works At the time of her death in 2016, Hadid was firmly established among the élite of world architecture, working on projects in China, the Middle East, the United States, and Russia. She was the first female architect to win both the Pritzker Prize for architecture and the prestigious RIBA Royal Gold Medal. This massive TASCHEN monograph, now available in an updated and more accessible edition, covers Hadid’s complete works, right through to the new Serpentine Sackler Gallery in London. With abundant photographs, in-depth sketches, and Hadid’s own drawings, the volume traces the detailed evolution of Hadid’s career, comprising not only pioneering buildings but also the furniture and interior designs that…

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Book Review: Rooftops Design, Islands in the Sky

November 20, 2016

Book Review: Rooftops Design, Islands in the Sky – As urban living intensifies in density and numbers, the city landscape expands both outwards and upwards. Architects and urban designers craft new and experimental structures while also investigating existing buildings for potential reinvention or expansion. In particular, the roof of a building, once a perfunctory structural element, is now a city space in and of itself, beloved for the capacity to eke out further room for living or to craft inspiring refuges away from the bustle of the metropolis. See also: Tips to Decorate and Improve your Bookshelves This international selection of urban rooftops catalogs a new urban dimension. Through over 50 bars, restaurants, temporary art installations, and gardens, it testifies to the variety of intelligent and exuberant designs that grace city summits from Sydney to Hong Kong, Oslo to Chicago. Whether it’s the panoramic views, the exposure to the elements, or a slight giddiness that comes with height, we see just how the roof has nurtured not only architectural invention but a whole new facet and thrill to city living. Just like its predecessors Tree Houses and Cabins, Urban Rooftops features both brilliant photography and bright, contemporary illustration from Boyoun Kim. As…

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FASHION

Book Review: The Life and Fashions of Elsa Schiaparelli

November 17, 2016

Book Review: The Life and Fashions of Elsa Schiaparelli – Shocking pink—hot pink, as it is called today—was the signature color of Elsa Schiaparelli (1890–1973) and perhaps her greatest contribution to the fashion world. Schiaparelli was one of the most innovative designers in the early 20th century. Many design elements that are taken for granted today she created and brought to the forefront of fashion. She is credited with many firsts: trompe l’oeil sweaters with collars and bows knitted in; wedge heels; shoulder bags; and even the concept of a runway show for presenting collections. Hot Pink—printed with a fifth color, hot pink!—explores Schiaparelli’s childhood in Rome, her introduction to high fashion in Paris, and her swift rise to success collaborating with surrealist and cubist artists like Salvador Dalí and Jean Cocteau. See also: Stylish Reading Nooks that will Inspire You The book includes an author’s note, a list of museums and websites where you can find Schiaparelli’s fashions, endnotes, a bibliography, and an index. “A studied account of the innovative and impulsive fashion legend that’s likely to inspire budding designers of any age.” — Kirkus Reviews “On broad pages appropriately accented with shocking pink and peppered with well-reproduced photos, Rubin…

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FASHION

Must-See Photos of Audrey Hepburn in New Book: Audrey The 50’s

November 14, 2016

Must-See Photos of Audrey Hepburn in New Book: Audrey The 50’s – Step Inside The 50s with Audrey Hepburn – A stunning photographic compilation showcasing Audrey Hepburn s iconic career in the 1950s the decade that solidified her place as one of the world s greatest stars in film and fashion. Devoted to her most influential decade, Audrey: The 50s brings together in one volume the allure and elegance that made Audrey Hepburn the most iconic figure in modern fashion history. Photographed during the early days of her career, both on the sets of Roman Holiday, Sabrina, Funny Face, and other classic films, and in fashion photo shoots by top photographers who adored and immortalized her, these beautiful black-and-white and color images radiate with Audrey s waifish charm, ethereal beauty, and effortless style. See also: Stylish Reading Nooks that will Inspire You Renowned author, curator and photographic preservationist David Wills has carefully selected this collection of two hundred museum-quality photos that capture Audrey in her prime as never before. Audrey: The 50s displays this star at her brightest, and brings her legacy into perfect focus. Among the highlights: Rare and classic images digitally restored from vintage photographic prints, original studio negatives…

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Stylish Reading Nooks that will Inspire You

November 11, 2016

The stylish reading nooks will be your favourite refuge this winter. Let these corner banquettes, window-side daybeds, and luxurious chairs inspire you to create a cozy reading nook! Bouleverd writing desk by Boca do Lobo. Made from mahogany, with a leather top, composed by three drawers and brass handles lacquered in black. Combined with the elegant silhouette of Eternity Chandelier that takes its brilliance from the skillful application of the crystal. The eternal circles are individually wrapped in brass and placed with astonishing attention to detail. The end result is an extraordinary source of light by Koket. Nanook is the master of bears, the one who decides the luck of the hunters in the Artic regions. This armchair blends the beauty and grandiosity of this animal through the robust body covered by white leather. Nanook armchair embodies a myth from Inuit cuture and tells a story while you leave yourself to its comfort. Apache, a contemporary lamp that takes its name from the word that defines a collective of Native Americans, the first to inhabit the wild areas of Colorado, whose unique landscapes mingled with the color of their skins. Two amazing pieces by Brabbu interior design for a reding nook….

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