Spotlight On: Rafael Viñoly

I won something ~ a book.  I never win anything!  Once, I won a Ralph Lauren blanket, then left it on the train.  I didn't have it in my possession for 3 hours!  That kind of  s**t  always happens to me!  So imagine my surprise and delight.

I received this beautiful signed book by famed architect Rafael Viñoly.  RV is a world-renowned architect and classical pianist originally from Uruguay.
What makes architecture so fulfilling for RV is the ability to satisfy his clients' needs while creating iconic works that take on a most unique form of artistic commitment.

While Rafael claims not to have a visual style, I think of more of his work than not as curvaceous, but also linier with a lot of symmetry and flooded with light; conforming harmoniously with the environment in which it sits~the buildings are a matter of proportion and relationships of form and space.

I knew RV built  The Kimmel Center , which is quite a showpiece here in Philadelphia.  It is like a building within a building and a rooftop deck, all under a dome. 

I wondered what else in the area, if anything, RV designed.  I was surprised to find out he designed one of the most spectacular estates (that happens to be for sale) this side of the Keystone State: Arbor Hill.

Arbor Hill is really a masterpiece, as are many of Mr. Viñoly's commissions.  Rafael's residential projects are warm and fairly clean in design, but you feel connected to the space, not unlike his large commercial buildings.  An artist (architect), like a musician, understands not only the image or song, but the note, and it's intrinsic relationship to the whole.

ph: Kimmel Center, G. Widman, Christies 

Spotlight On: Mary Katrantzou

This story is about the evolution of a young designer from London.  We are witnessing a career "take off."

I was sitting on this story waiting for Mary to present her Fall 2011 show.  She did not disappoint.  Her cleverness and creativity are set on brilliant at the moment!  She is a conceptual artist of the textile medium.

Fall '11 was a Chinoiserie dream.  The koi, flora, Faberge eggs and landscapes create a perfect symphony on cloth.  Mary looked to Diana Vreeland and Coco Chanel's apartments for inspiration with a little Babe Paley and The Duchess of Windsor thrown in.

Mary really caught my attention with her last collection.  The homes and interiors that inspired her were literally lifted from the pages of Architectural Digest or World of Interiors.  They were then digitally manipulated onto the fluid silks and knits.  Her imagination and the computer are her tools for limitless possibilities.  Mary's clothes look completely fresh; something we have not seen before.

The trompe l'oeil and three dimentional embellishments create a new language.  Curtains, pelmets and lampshades come to life.  It is a visual feast for the eyes.

 Chandeliers and candelabras are turned into necklaces.  Mary said, "I want to put the room on the woman, rather than the woman in the room."

There were undertones of jewel encrusted, Belle Epoque inspired, Napoleonic references as well.  And somehow, it all works magnificently.

To think ~ it all started with a perfume bottle.  Miss Mary's first collection referenced the beautifully blown bottles, the shape and the movement of the glass.  Tres magnifique!

These 2 dresses are my favorites.  They're as beautiful on the runway as the real way.  As a matter of fact, I might need to do a little more research because I am in need a dress!

Do you think I am a fan?

Take a look at her work on the sites below. You need to see it a little larger to appreciate the beauty.

photos: Fashionlover.com, Style.com, Vogue.com

Spotlight On: Madeline Weinrib

Madeline Weinrib, the granddaughter of the founder of ABC Carpet and Home (one of my favorite stores) is busy with the release of a new wallpaper for Studio Printworks and is covering modernist furniture in her signature ethnic prints for a show in a Chelsea Gallery.  When not globetrotting for inspiration and shopping for vintage textiles, Madeline can be found in her 6th floor atelier in ABC where she sells her beautiful silk pillows, artisanal carpets, accessories, a growing furniture line and fabric by the yard that ( I swear) looks good on ANYTHING!  Madeline is also a trustee of Project Mala, a non profit dedicated to eradicating child labor in the carpet industry.

 

I never met an Ikat I didn't like!

These pictures, below, from Elle Decor let us glimpse into Madeline's home in NYC.  I love to see how designers/artists live and decorate for themselves.  No doubt her eclectic collections have been gathered from far away places.

Add'l photos: Belle Maison, Apt. therapy