Yves Saint Laurent, Brancusi Sculpture on Auction at Christie’s

Constantin Brancusi owes its outstanding reputation mainly his sculptures in stone and bronze, cut or molded, smooth and polished to perfection. The public knows little wooden works, much less numerous and, at first, were not well received, as to be rejected by private collectors.
Madame LR is a wonderful example of the first wooden sculptures by Brancusi: By choosing the material and the technique of direct cutting through the iconography and the intent underlying its creation, this work is Indeed, far from the normal production of the sculptor. While the Bird in Space, amounts to heaven in a spiritual movement and almost intangible—wooden sculptures are massive, rooted in soil and mysteriously enigmatic.

It is difficult to assess accurately the number of wood sculptures by Brancusi realized, as some have been dismantled, reconstructed or destroyed, but it is estimated that there were still some thirty sculptures or fragments of sculpture. Most of them were executed between 1913 and 1925, during which Brancusi also produces oak stands to put his works in marble or bronze. Although he produced some great wooden sculptures after 1920 and continued to pedestals, the works of the early years remain the most surprising.

Portrait of Madame L.R., by Constantin Brancusi, Estimate €15,000,000 – €20,000,000, Collection Yves Saint Laurent & Pierre Berge, Auction at Christie’s, 23 – 25 February

Eames and Saarinen’s Case Study House #9 is For Sale

Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen’s Entenza House, otherwise known as Case Study #9, is on the market. The house, it seems, had been converted to a guest house or annex, while owner Barry Berkus built his oversized main residence adjacent to the Entenza House.
We’ll take the maid’s quarters any day.

Entenza House, Case Study House #9, by Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen, Los Angeles, USA, $14 million (including adjacent house)
via: Curbed LA

The house is remarkably well-preserved:

This house, planned as a project for the Case Study House program, was first published in the Dec 1945 issue of Arts and Architecture Magazine. Full series available here: Amazon

Jaime Hayon is Guest of honour of Interieur 08

This Spanish enfant terrible, Jaime Hayon is considered as a trail-blazing talent in the world of design. For the 21st edition of the International biennial Interieur in Kortrijk, the Foundation Interieur managed to snare the Spanish designer Jaime Hayon. The youngest and the first Spanish guest of honour ever, is known for his frivolous design and unbridled imagination. Since the first edition in 1968, an international guest has been chosen carefully for his ability to surprise, to reflect and preferably outpace the spirit of the times. Famous designers such as Raymond Loewy, Verner Panton, Andrea Branzi and Jean Nouvel have filled this role.

Jaime Hayon, Guest of honour, Interieur 2008, Kortrijk, Belgium
via: Yatzer

Model: World Trade Center NYC

The American Architectural Foundation has donated the model of the World Trade Center to the National September 11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center, to be opened in 2012.

“Architectural models are inherently fragile and challenging to maintain,” the museum’s chief curator, Jan S. Ramirez, said in a statement. “It is a double stroke of exceptional luck and far-sighted stewardship that this outstanding model has outlived the building complex it was created to forecast.”

“This model has the unparalleled capacity to help tell the first chapter of the World Trade Center story,” said Joseph C. Daniels, the president of the memorial and museum.

World Trade Center New York, Model by Minoru Yamasaki Associates
via: The New York Times

Georg Jensen Retail Stores by Mark Pinney Associates

London-based Mark Pinney Associates is completing several new stores around the world for the Danish jewellery and silverware company Georg Jensen, including this one at Kastrup Airport in Copenhagen. The retail strategy is inspired by the company’s heritage. The new store concept is built around the concept of the ‘Danish Home’.

The challenge was to create a store interior that could accommodate the diverse range of Georg Jensen products within a single concept. The solution has been to create all the components of a home: kitchen, dining, living, study areas, and use these as an appropriate and natural setting for the Georg Jensen products.

The kitchen area is typically the focus of family life. The large bar counter forms the centrepiece of this area and and contains a customer service bar with the point of sale, prompting discussion and interaction between staff and customer over a glass of champagne or a cup of coffee. Stools at this counter allow customers to be served with refreshments while purchases are gift-wrapped.

In keeping with many Scandinavian homes, the predominant interior material is wood, both in the flooring and in the Larch wood slatted wall and ceiling panels. Unlike many homes however, where a predominantly pale pallet of colours is used, here more dramatic effect is created by using a darker pallet of greys which at the same time ensures that the silver and stainless steel products are seen at their best against the dark background. This pallet of greys is derived from the reflections present in the silverware pieces within the Georg Jensen collection.

The concept references elements of Danish architecture and design, particularly the work of Alvar Aalto, Arne Jacobsen, Vilhelm Wohlert and Poul Kjærholm. Materials used are wherever possible Danish in origin and include classic furniture pieces by Poul Kjærholm and Hans J Wegner.

Georg Jensen Retail Stores, Taiwan, New York & Copenhagen by, Mark Pinney Associates London, UK

Objectified: Documentary About Industrial Design

Objectified is a feature-length independent documentary about industrial design. It’s a look at the creativity at work behind everything from toothbrushes to tech gadgets. It’s about the people who re-examine, re-evaluate and re-invent our manufactured environment on a daily basis. It’s about personal expression, identity, consumerism, and sustainability. It’s about our relationship to mass-produced objects and, by extension, the people who design them. Personalities include Paola Antonelli (Museum of Modern Art, New York), Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec, Naoto Fukasawa, IDEO, Jonathan Ive, Hella Jongerius, Marc Newson, Dieter Rams and more.

Objectified, Documentary, Produced and Directed by Gary Hustwit.

Alexandros Stasinopoulos Briefcase Wins IF Concept Award

Alexandros Stasinopoulos has won an IF Concept Award for his design of BRIEFCeramicASE.
“The challenge in this project, was to mix the concept of traditional ceramics, a primitive material with long history in many cultures, with the unique properties high tech ceramics posses like their extreme hardness, scratch- and abrasion-resistance, skin friendliness and their unique sensuous tactility. A briefcase is the medium to explore the potentials of this combination”.

BRIEFCeramicASE, IF Concept Award, design 2008, by Alexandros Stasinopoulos

Liquid Space Swarovski Crystal Installation by Ross Lovegrove

One of the best ways to display a Lovegrove table is to dangle a large Swarovski Crystal chandelier over it. This is part of the Design Miami event this year.

Liquid Space, by Ross Lovegrove, at Swarovski Crystal Palace, Design Miami
via: designboom

1938 Gerrit Rietveld Zig Zag Chair Sells for $40,625

Two original Zig Zag Chairs made from painted wood and brass hardware were sold at Auction at Sotheby’s. The chair unadorned and the cantilever concept broke new ground in furniture design. They were designed by Gerrit Rietveld and manufactured by Gerard van de Groenekan, De Bilt, in the Netherlands, and then Cassina Italy from 1971.

Zig Zag Chairs, $40,625, Sold at Auction, at Sotheby’s

Icon: Royal Mail Design Stamps

A set of first class UK stamps are to be issued in January next year commemorating ten icons of British design. The Royal Mail’s new series offers up a discernably nostaligic look at some British Design Classics, largely culled from the 1930s and 1960s. A “prestige stamp book”, issued alongside the stamps, will provide a more extensive background and history of the designs.

Design Stamps, Issues on 13 January 2009, from The Royal Mail
via: Creative Review