Zaha Hadid Silver Paintings

Zaha Hadid has consistently pushed the boundaries of architecture and urban design. Silver Paintings showcases Hadid’s discipline in a new light and medium. The title of the series refers to the surface of the works, which in their raw state resemble polished metal or mirrors, an effect created with a polyester skin treated with chrome and gelatine and then di-bonded.

Initially, the images are digitally generated, then photographed in their virtual state. Once the images are printed they are hand-painted in a medium that complements the subject. This might be stained glass paint (which creates the transparent and cathedral like feel), acrylic and Chinese lacquer (Opaque and POP qualities) or UV resistant ink combined with Vinyl (highly reflective). These techniques combine to suggest a gradual intersection between reflectivity and opacity, from one architectural feature to the next.

Silver Paintings, by Zaha Hadid, at Buchmann Galerie

Layer Chair by Arik Levy for Viccarbe

Layer Chair Upholstered Sled, by Arik Levy, for Viccarbe

Corallo by Studio Lagranja for Pallucco

The Corallo family of lighting will be launched at Euroluce during Il Salone in Milan next month. The fluorescent light is available as either a floor lamp or a pendant and is composed of many injection-molded modular elements to create the effect of sea coral. Coloured modules can be inserted for contrast. According to Studio Lagranja, “We wanted to project a lamp that was articulated and rich at the same time, starting from a simple module that repeating itself grows just like natural structures, from simplicity to complexity.”

Corallo, by Studio Lagranja, for Pallucco
via: Mocoloco

Metla Timber Building by SARC Architects

The Metla Building stands out on the campus of the University of Joensuu due to its material and its concise form. From the exterior, the building appears to be a wood box. The forecourt, which is the gate to the building and which is demarcated by the walls made from logs from demolished houses. The offices and laboratory facilities of the research institute curl around the inner courtyard and the vestibule. The yard is dominated by the conference facilities, which resemble a boat that has been turned upside down, and the sloped columns of the vestibule, which have been inspired by the log booms from floating logs down rivers.

The Finnish Forest Research Institutes (METLA), Joensuu, Finland, by SARC Architects
via: Arch Daily

Monograph: Jeff Koons

Koons For The Poor!
Jeff Koons’s entire oeuvre to date, at a decidely unKoonsian price. From kinky to kitsch via conceptual, Jeff Koons’ art is anything but conformist. Since he stunned the art world in the 1980s with basketball sculptures and stainless steel blow-ups, Koons has been contemporary art’s bad boy—a reputation he (ahem) nailed in the early 90s via works depicting him in flagrante delicto with then-wife Cicciolina, the Italian porn star-cum-politician. He followed these with Puppy, a 40-foot tall floral terrier installed at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. Koons’ exploitation of the banal, and aggrandizement of kitsch and pop imagery, has become his trademark. Despite his many critics, the work commands millions at auction and Koons’ position at the forefront of contemporary art is indisputable.

This exhaustive monograph includes a biographical essay by Ingrid Sischy, an Eckhard Schneider essay on Koons from a European perspective, and Katy Siegel’s detailed and scholarly analysis of his work. Arranged chronologically, with hundreds of large format images, it traces Koons’ career from 1979 to today. Not merely a sumptuous objet d’art, this is the most comprehensive study of Koons’ work yet published.

Jeff Koons, Edited by Hans Werner Holzwarth, 592 pages.
Buy it here: Amazon

Exhibition: John Lautner in Glasgow

Between Heaven and Earth: the Architecture of John Lautner shows work from the Lautner archive, held at the Getty Research Institute.

Known for his extensive and progressive residential work, Lautner’s hand was behind over 100 (some built, some unbuilt) projects, many of which are present in this show, which promises to be architectural heaven for the lovers of rare hand drawings, sketches and detailed models. A series of events have been organised to accompany and compliment the show, so if you are keen to find out more about the American architect, there is a number of happenings to choose from, from exhibition tours, to film screenings.

Between Heaven and Earth: the Architecture of John Lautner, originally curated by Nicholas Olsberg and Frank Escher, Lighthouse Gallery, Glasgow, 20 March 2009 to 26 July
via: Wallpaper

Long overshadowed by modernist contemporaries Rudolph Schindler and Richard Neutra, John Lautner and the homes he built in Southern California are set to receive unprecedented attention thanks to the publication of a book published by Rizzoli. The book details Lautner’s inspirations, philosophies and legacy, not the least of which is the Chemosphere, originally derided by some critics as a silly fantasy.
Between Earth and Heaven: The Architecture of John Lautner, Edited by historian Nicholas Olsberg
Buy it here: Amazon

Neo Rocking Chair from ligne roset

Neo is a new take on the traditional rocking chair, more innovative comfort-wise and radically different in function to its predecessors. Its simple, geometrical design will appeal to a wide public, and will fit right into both contemporary and more traditional interiors. Based around a simple, truncated cone shape, its lines are pure, soft and minimalist, bold without being clinical; while its curves lend it an approachable, friendly air, making it accessible to everybody.

Neo, by Alban-Sébastien Gilles, for ligne roset

Bronze Sculpture by Tony Cragg

Born in Liverpool, Tony Cragg Lives and works in Wuppertal, Germany.

Sculpture by Tony Cragg, at Buchmann Galerie

Cabel Industry HQ by Massimo Mariani

Cabel Industry produced software systems for banks. Then new headquarters is created using a single sign: architectural global shape, fastenings, entrance cuts, furniture handles and decorations. During the day coloured glass create liquid chromatic effects inside black and white offices, instead of night time when coloured cuts project out vivid lighting effects underlining holes, cuts and shapes of the building.

Cabel Industry headquarters, Empoli, Italy, by Massimo Mariani, via: dezeen

Exhibition: Lucie Rie Tokyo

The Lucie Rie exhibition is called U-Tsu-Wa, which means vessels, and brings together around 100 works of Lucie Riethe Austrian-born, London-based ceramicist, together with pieces by Scottish ceramicist Jennifer Lee and German woodworker Ernst Gamperl.
Issey Miyake enlisted the help of Tadao Ando for the exhibition design. Centre stage is a gigantic pool of water on which Rie’s ceramics appear to float, highlighting the delicate fragility of her ceramics.

U-Tsu-Wa, at 21_21 Design Sight, Tokyo, Japan 13 February 2009 to 10 May 2009.
via: Wallpaper*