designcommotion

Eye on Design

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 09:16:07 -0500

Wandering through the Miami Design District is always a pleasure, as the neighborhood is continually in flux. Not only are LEE’s, or Limited Edition Experiences, always popping up, showrooms change their offerings more often than you’d think. I visited Oscar Glottman’s expanded showroom in a new space recently and asked him about the incredibly hip vibe he’s achieved. There were so many amazing products pulled together under his direction--from Moooi to Karim Rashid, and I tapped Rashid’s Morphescape modular tableware by Gaia & Gino for my hot list for Miami Magazine (check out Miami’s blog here). My article will be out in March. We’ll let you know when it’s live!

It’s the Dorchester Spa

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 10:15:11 -0400

Award-winning interior design firm Fox Linton Associates has created a captivating, irresistible and elegant environment with an emphasis on style and exclusivity in the new Dorchester Spa. The design takes inspiration from 1930s Art Deco elegance which the designer has intermingled a contemporary edge in keeping with the decade The Dorchester was first opened. The color palate features strong accents of deep blue and ivory complimented with sumptuous velvet, silk, leather and satin materials. Low-level lighting assures an atmosphere at once elegant and discreet. Guests are first ushered into a different world via a deep blue passageway. There is no traditional reception desk, rather a light and comfortable seating area with a backdrop of white-gold mirrored screens containing a design of reeds. The focal points are a beautiful chandelier of 72,000 South Pacific white pearls and long sweeping ivory drapes. I thought this post would be just the thing all the design devotees racing around London for the design festivals could use. Breathe in, breathe out! In celebration of my trip to Italy this afternoon, visit Chair Chick, where you’ll see one beauty from a B&B Italia exhibition debuting during the fairs, which contains one awesome collection of chairs!

Are Better Than One

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 09:55:45 -0400

Four Hands introduced a new collection in Las Vegas last week called Boulevard. It’s a custom upholstery collection but the company’s imported furnishings caught my eye and works perfectly with my posting theme for the day (gypsies, kings and deities). The company’s mission statement—home furnishings that inspire the soul—reflects founder Brett Hatton’s desire to offer furniture that changes people’s lives in a very profound and inspiring way. Click on the gallery tab on the company’s web site to see why they are right on to call themselves the “ultimate explorers of style.” So you’ve probably guessed that this is the deities post in my triumvirate. To see the gypsy post, visit my Examiner page and to see a chair fit for a king, go to Chair Chick.

Blanc on Blanc

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:53:05 -0400

If you’re in London for the design fairs (and oh how we wish we were!), make it a point to see the vertical garden at the Athenaeum, which recently completed a gorgeous makeover, designed by the French architectural botanist Patrick Blanc. His living wall extends eight floors on the hotel’s facade. Design Commotion asked Blanc what he set out to create. “At first we had planned for all of the concrete or stone walls between the windows would be covered with the Vertical Garden,” he explains, “but I thought that it would be much more amazing if the Vertical Garden should cover only the high corner of the building. In this way, we respect the architectural design of the façade and we get the effect of a high vertical cliff covered with plants like a natural limestone cliff, just as if a Giant had cut with a knife a piece of Nature to install it in the center of London.” Blanc chose specific specimens appropriate for the context. In his own words: “I tailored my plans, using mostly evergreen species. In this way, the effect will be stunning according to the seasons. During summertime, there will be some bridge effect between the Athenaeum and Green Park, and during winter there will be a surprising and contrasting effect between the huge leafless trees of Green (actually not green) Park and the evergreen Athenaeum Vertical Garden. This will be also a powerful illustration of the low level of biodiversity of the forested parks and the high biodiversity level of the Vertical Garden, an illustration of the high biodiversity of the limestone cliffs mostly inhabited by herbaceous and shrubby plant species.” Max Lam will be exhibiting new works in London (see my Examiner page) and there’s lots of tomfoolery going on with Starck’s Louis Ghost chair (see what’s up on Chair Chick).

Crystal Clear

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 09:34:31 -0400

I’ve long admired the varied talents of New York-based designer Stacy Garcia. Each year, she introduces a range of products that puts her in the upper echelon of designers who seem to be able to tackle any product type. At the HD Boutique Show in Miami Beach, which wrapped up yesterday, she introduced fabrics, lighting, carpets and a new line of wallpaper for York Wallcoverings. The line has a glazed surface layered with pearlized ink, which makes the textural wallpaper glint and glimmer. Called Crystal, the papers are available in a variety of colorways and patterns. To see Garcia’s sexy Mediterranean-inspired light fixture, see my post on Design-Calendar. I also spotted other fun and flirty products at the show. See Birdie on Chair Chick, and Kapow and Kaboom on my Examiner Page.