Fish Bowls

Roger Arquer’s charming designs challenge the iconic image of the fish bowl. The attractive bowls come in fifteen different varieties which serve to personify the fish within. The bowls speak to the prescribed personality traits of pet fish. “Do Not Piss Me Off” describes the human power to decide between the life and death of the fish with a symbolic drain plug. “Suicidal Tendencies” is a bowl that prevents unhappy fish from jumping out. “Private Matters” provides an opaque area for fish who are tired of living in glass houses. “Above Water” lets your fish share its water with the plant above.

The designs are elegantly simple, sometimes so subtle that it is necessary to look twice to see what alteration has been made to the classic fish bowl. Yet the simplicity of the physical bowl in no way translates to simplicity of ideas. Richard Arquer has managed to say so much about our most overlooked pets with a perfectly minimal design. The bowls provide an endearing twist to the typical fish home. Now your little pet can have a silly, sarcastic, or playful little personality!

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Nook

The Nook sidetable is an apparently fairly simple and straightforward concept designed by Germany-based Lukas Franciszkiewicz… Yet it questions and challenges our very basic spatial conventions.

We are used to have predetermined beliefs in placing our furniture. My aim was to create an object that demonstrates new ways of dealing with the relation between space and structure. The table correlates with architecture and other pieces of furniture.

Aesthetically minimalistic but intrinsically filled with some form of questioning, however simple it may be, is the motto that frequently informs Franciszkiewicz’s designs, who is focused on research and experimental concepts, dealing with the impact of technology on human perception and behavior, often using fiction as a tool to further present his work.

In a technology-oriented world increasingly filled with products and objects and stuff, I can definitely appreciate this effort in thoughtfulness.

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Tibi’s Spring 2012 Collection

Pastel is the new black. At least for this spring. And Tibi’s proposal for this season is more pastel, elegant and breezy than many others I have seen lately. Amy Smilovic, the person behind the label, after graduating from the University of Georgia, decided to follow her husband to Asia and pursue her dream of creating a new fashion label. And the results justified her.

Her collection for Spring 2012 is definitely one of my favorites: chic, simple, clean and elegant. Soft and luxurious fabrics that highlight the best parts of any woman’s silhouette and are adaptable to various personal styles. And what about her inspiration?

modernizing and refreshing the nineties silhouette with streamlined cuts, sportswear elements and asymmetrical hems in natural fiber fabrics contrasting with modern techno textiles.

Photographs: courtesy of imaxtree.com and Matteo Volta

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House for a Photographer

Barcelona based architect Carlos Ferrater has built this stunner of a house for his brother, José Manuel Ferrater, in Alcanar, Spain. The building is placed in the area filled with gardens, orchards, and rice fields. The lot itself is a formal garden, the nod to which is seen in the landscaping techniques. Due to frequent floods in the area, the structure rests on a platform 20 inches above the ground. The low concrete walls, surrounding the house, serve as an additional protection from occasional floodwaters, allowing the full view of the beautiful mediterranean landscape.

The composition of the house is made up of three pavilions: living-dining-kitchen area, master bedroom and an artists’s studio with an alcove bedroom for guests.  The position and shape of the pavilions direct the views between them, creating a sculptural effect. The large openings offer alternative glimpses through the complex and inside the living structures. Interestingly enough, all interior pieces in the house were collected by the owners during travels - sofas from Indonesia, fabrics from Thailand, and miniature benches and chairs from Africa. No designer furniture…

Ferrater worked on this project in collaboration with Carlos Escura.

Photography by Alejo Bagué.

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Swimming Center

This swimming center by Eddea Arquitectos is located on the outskirts of Barbate in Spain. The design of the center seeks to provide an impressive health experience through a relationship with the natural landscape. The sports pavilion is housed around an interior courtyard and hall, which incorporates filtered sunlight into the center. Situated around this space are changing rooms, a fitness center, and the swimming pools. The swimming pools bask in a warm light from radiant ceiling fixtures.

The entrances, private spaces, and relationship to the outside set this center apart from the majority of sports pavilions. Eddea challenged the traditional characteristics of these centers with a design that advances the space from mere utility to a unique aesthetic experience.

One enters the center through the neighborhood to emerge in an area of soft sand dunes. One then moves through the interior void and finally into the private and swimming areas. The relationship between nature and swimming pool brings part of the surrounding environment into the interior spaces. The building is non-obtrusive overall, allowing it to blend seamlessly into its setting and give the user a tranquil health experience. This swimming center brings a new style of sophistication and quality to sports center design.

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THRIVE

Featuring my friends over at THRIVE Los Angeles, a fashion house founded by two technology innovators Rob Meadows and Ali Shahriyari.

Under the creative direction of a designer Cem Cako, a graduate of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Antwerp, Thrive’s Autumn/Winter 2012 Collection is stunning in its mature design, smart craft and flawless execution. I had a chance to ask Cem about the concept behind the collection and his answers emphasised the goal for timeless pieces, quality, respect and re-discovery of the art of making clothes. Cem was driven by the art of tailoring and expressed a satisfaction of making a garment without targeting the mass production.

There was no reason for me to go beyond this craft and start doing loud things.

Each piece in the collection can easily qualify for the classic every woman appreciating quality and beauty can add to her closet. Additionally, I believe the statement of not doing loud things when there is no reason can extend beyond Thrive’s mission and is able to resonate with many aspects of good design.

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Ellsworth Kelly in Black & White

The incredibly talented American painter and sculptor, Ellsworth Kelly is one of the main protagonists in Colour Field painting. Many of his pieces beautifully combines form, colour and space with a strong reduction of the visual language.

Kelly’s current exhibition located at the Museum Wiesbaden in Germany is devoted solely to his work in black and white. His black and white works now account for about one-third of his extensive oeuvre and provide information about the stages of his artistic development since the late 1940s. The artist has closely collaborated with Haus der Kunst to present a selection of 50 paintings and reliefs, supplemented by drawings and photographs.

This stunning and minimalist exhibition runs from 2 March to 24 June 2012. How I’d love to pay it a visit.

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Stack

In about two weeks the annual furniture fair in Milan will take place. During the fair, Singapore based industrial designer Nathan Yong will present his latest creation; Stack.

Yong created a set of colored wooden tables, differing in depth, which can be moved around and stacked according to one’s preferred configuration. Such like in 2009, when he created the sidetable named Bolle, he collaborated with the Italian manufacturer Living Divani.

I like the combination of the natural blank wooden feet, created by using a tongue and groove join, and the fresh colored tops.

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T-House by Katsufumi Kubota

Today we’re taking a small trip to Japan, to meet the work of a great minimalist Japanese architect Katsufumi Kubota and more precisely the T-House, a housing project located in Kanagawa prefecture southwest of Tokyo.

It is a monolithic, two-storey reinforced concrete construction, built on the slope of a hill, which takes great advantage of the surrounding view through a wide opening on the first floor. I love the contrast between the clean and crisp atmosphere of the interior and the natural environment. And what could be more impressive than a swimming pool at the house entrance?

The project was awarded the Dedalo Minosse International Prize 2007/2008 Special Prize.

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Moon Glass

The Moon Glass is a collection of ceramic cups, designed by Seoul based studio Tale. Created specifically for rice wine and sake, this unusual piece reflects phases of the moon. The bottom of the glass is curved in a certain way. This curve, paired with the colour of the beverage, creates the lunar effect. The glass shows a full moon when it’s full of liquid, then as your drink, it slowly unveils a half moon, then a crescent-shaped moon.

I love the subtlety of the idea and aesthetically pleasing execution. Aside from the clever moon reference, these cups are simple and unembellished. Moon Glass comes in two sizes and two colours. Designers recommend to use the white version for coloured alcohol and tea.

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