W Hotel New York by BBG-BBGM

Conceived as an urban oasis, the new guestrooms of the W Hotel designed by BBG-BBGM offer a respite from the chaos of the city by immersing the guest in soothing colors and textures inspired by nature. Curving, organic shapes complement modern angles while crisp white is softened with tones from the forest and earth.

Wow and Extreme Wow Specialty Suites Designed to evoke the essence of “chill”- offsetting New York City’s adrenaline and energy, the newly redesigned Wow and Extreme Wow (E Wow) specialty suites at the W Lexington offer something highly coveted and rare in urban environments – a unique experiential setting filled with unpredictable creativity.

W Hotel, New York, USA by BBG-BBGM
via: Arch Daily

Rare Zapotec Effigy Vessel at Sotheby’s Auction

Sotheby’s upcoming auction of African, Oceanic & Pre-Columbian Art includes this important vessel showing Olmec influence and symbolism in regional interpretations. It is one of the few full-bodied ceramic depictions of the omnipotent earth monster or jaguar-dragon of Olmec inspiration. The dragon zoomorph is well known in Olmec art through schematized incised motifs on blackware ceramics but it is rarely seen in three-dimensional form. This vessel is finely modeled in typical Monte Alban fine-grained grayware, and shows early forms of Zapotec iconography such as buccal snout, bifurcated fang, and scrolling brows.

A Rare Zapotec Effigy Vessel, Monte Alban II, ca. 200 B.C. to 250 A.D.
$40,000 – $60,000 at Sotheby’s, New York
Update : Hammer Price with Buyer’s Premium: $92,500 USD

Exhibition: Le Corbusier — The Art of Architecture

Le Corbusier — The Art of Architecture is the first major survey in London of the internationally renowned architect in more than 20 years. This timely reassessment presents a wealth of original models, interior settings, drawings, furniture, photographs, films, tapestries, paintings, sculpture and books by designed and written by the architect himself.

The exhibition charts how Le Corbusier’s work changed dramatically over the years from the regional vernacular of his early houses in Switzerland, to his iconic Purist villas and interiors of the 1920s, to the dynamic synthesis achieved between his art and architecture as exemplified by his chapel at Ronchamp (1950-55), and his civic buildings in Chandigarh, India (1952-64). Important works by his collaborators, such as Fernand Léger, Amédée Ozenfant, Charlotte Perriand and Jean Prouvé are also featured.

Exhibition: The Art of Architecture: 19 Feb – 24 May at Barbican Art Gallery London, UK

Exhibition: Spaces Etc./An Exercise in Utility

Ron Gilad’s latest body of work, Spaces Etc./An Exercise in Utility has launched its own site.

Gilad refuses to be pigeonholed and is not interested in distinctions. Instead he moves with ease between disciplines and materials. Borrowing from the history of art and design, he draws references from the work of artists such as René Magritte, Giorgio de Chirico, and Marcel Duchamp, as well as a later generation of designers such as the Italian masters Enzo Mari, Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, and Ettore Sottsass. Links can also be made to more recent innovators, especially the work of Jurgen Bey and Richard Hutten for Droog in the Netherlands. Like them he takes an intuitive, rather than a rationalist, approach to his practice imbuing his works with a diverse range of ideas that seek to radically alter the evaluation of an object beyond its utility.

Exhibition: Spaces Etc./An Exercise in Utility by Ron Gilad, April 29 – May 9, at Wright, Chicago, USA

Exhibition: Ron Gilad: Spaces Etc. / an Exercise in Utility

A philosopher of the everyday object, Ron Gilad’s designs invite viewers to question and even doubt the form and functionality of everyday objects, furniture and lighting. Ceaselessly exploring and conceptualizing notions of proportion and scale; Gilad’s works do indeed (as his own website asserts) sit on the fat, delicious line between the abstract and the functional. From a Room Divider fashioned to resemble a door and blatantly reminding the user that he or she is entering or exiting a divided space, to a Freestanding Shelve, a tabletop surface that literally sits atop a pair of human-like legs, Gilad’s designs are an amalgamation of material wit and aesthetic play.

The works of Ron Gilad can be found within the permanent collections of many museums and institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Museum of Arts and Design in New York. Born in Tel-Aviv, Ron Gilad lives and works in New York.

Exhibition: Ron Gilad: Spaces Etc. / an Exercise in Utility, April 29 – May 9, at Wright, Chicago, USA

Distrito Capital, Mexico City by Joseph Dirand

Following on success of Hotel Habita in Monterrey, Mexico Grupo Habita unveils its 8th property, Distrito Capital, in Mexico City’s international business neighborhood of Santa Fe, and most resolutely the world’s 21st-Century metropolis. With Distrito Capital, the Company once again carries its signature chic and outstanding service to previously unthought-of environments and transforms them into instant classics.

The latest, most arresting interior design trends this time courtesy of Parisian Joseph Dirand come into their own at Distrito Capital. Grupo Habita left nothing to chance, from the most prominent vintage furnishings like Eames & Saarinen’s Organic Chair to details like John Pawson’s cutlery, and even in the smallest (yet significant) in-room amenities from Acqua di Parma. In all spaces, rigorous horizontals and verticals are enhanced by modern furnishings courtesy of Platt, Hansen and Aalto among others.

Distrito Capital, Mexico City, Mexico, by Joseph Dirand, Diámetro Arquitectos
for Grupo Habita
via: Yatzer

Moon Fragment by Tokujin Yoshioka

Japanese designer Tokujin Yoshioka has designed two perfume bottles for French jeweller Cartier. Called Moon Fragment, the bottles each include a single diamond. They are on show at the Tokyo National Museum exhibition ‘Story of…’ – memories of Cartier creations, directed by Yoshioka.

Moon Fragment by Tokujin Yoshioka, for Cartier
via: dezeen and designboom

1000 Acres Vodka Packaging by Arnell

Elegant packaging for 1000 Acres premium Vodka. Glass vessels designed for display beyond the liquor cabinet.

1000 Acres Vodka, by Arnell

Vessels by Jennifer McCurdy

Vortex Vessel no.5, Wheat Bottle, by Jennifer McCurdy

Exhibition: Second Nature by Noriko Ambe

Exhibition: Second Nature, works by Noriko Ambe, directed by Tokujin Yoshioka at 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT, Tokyo