This year’s Japanese inspired “Flower Carpet” adorned the Grand Place in Brussels from August 12 to 15. The event takes place every two years in the historical heart of Brussels, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site with beautiful examples of Gothic, Baroque, and Neo-classical architecture.
The whimsical Giant Collection by Anglepoise made its North American debut earlier this year. The “Original 1227 Giant” lamp was first commissioned in 2005 by the Roald Dahl Museum and Society Center as a humorous reference to the beloved Anglepoise desk lamp used by Dahl in his writing hut. The lamp generated so much interest that it was soon put into volume production.
Stumble Upon Coffee Table and Stumble Upon Sofa by Alessandro Isola
“If you look down you may see a crease, a fold or a wrinkle in the carpet for instance. Signifying a movement or activity that happened on the surface of that very floor space. Highlighted as a small furrow, ridge, or crease on a normally smooth surface, caused by crumpling, folding, or shrinking. This usually causes a slight annoyance and is firmly pulled straight.” Instead, in 2014 the Italian-bord architect Alessandro Isola introduced the Stumble Upon Coffee Table and Stumble Upon Sofa, magnifying the imperfection until folds are large enough to offer a functional surface with a playful visual twist.
Peillon is one of several “perched villages”, just a few kilometers north of Nice and Monaco but at almost 400 meters altitude. It is a quaint pedestrian only village with narrow cobbled streets winding up and down through low vaulted passageways, offering a dramatic contrast to the busy Riviera coast to the south. A visit to this magnificent fortified village is a true trip back in time, with its unchanged stone houses being a beautiful example of medieval french architecture and Old World charm.
The historic village of Monsanto in Eastern Portugal is another example of thoughtful architecture that adapts to its natural surroundings rather than attempting to transform them. The village developed around enormous granite boulders, utilized for walls, floors, and even roofs.The homes, sandwiched between mossy boulders, and the narrow cobbled streets have hardly changed in hundreds of years, making Monsanto a living museum that has retained its medieval village charm.
Icelandic turf houses were the product of a harsh environment. They offered superior insulation compared to stone and wood houses, and Iceland did have large amounts of turf that was suitable for construction, while other building material were difficult to obtain. The end result is an example of vernacular architecture based on local needs and construction materials, that blends beautifully into its natural environment.
Designer Jae Omar blends function and art in the RIVER sink by SonoBath that features a meditative passage from Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha cut into the stone surface.
Remembering Zaha Hadid. She was, and will continue to be, a true inspiration for generations of architects.
