Shawn Stussy at his studio by Seth Epstein
Shawn Stussy returns to shaping boards. Something he did before he started his clothing line.
“A lot of...
Matera is an unusual town and a province in the region of Basilicata, just above the heel of southern Italy. Spread over one side of a gorge alongside the modern town, “I Sassi” (The Rocks) is an area of extraordinary dwellings, half-carved and half-built from the surrounding biscuit-coloured tufo (tuff) rock, in which people have been living since Palaeolithic times. In 1987 a law was passed opening the way for the area to be redeveloped. Five years later Unesco revolutionised its prospects by adding the Sassi, and later the rupestrian churches in the surrounding countryside, to its list of world heritage sites.
Whatever images of velvet curtains and plush sofas the word “suite” may bring to mind should be locked away when applied to Le Grotte. The unusual rooms are, in fact, nothing but caverns lit by dozens of candles, which were part of a deconsecrated church hewn from the rock. There are no TVs, telephones or even a carefully disguised minibar in the rooms at Le Grotte. The furniture is made of wooden and iron items collected in the Sassi over a period of five years and given to local craftsmen to restore or cannibalise. Much of the linen is from old dowries.
There are other hotels in the Sassi. But what distinguishes Le Grotte is a determination to preserve the character of this most extraordinary of environments and to evoke the lifestyle of the people who once inhabited it.
Sassi di Matera
Via San Giovanni Vecchio
75100 Matera, Italy
Tel: 0835 332744
www.legrottedellacivita.com
www.sextantio.it/grotte-civita
Matera is an unusual town and a province in the region of Basilicata, just above the heel of southern Italy. Spread over one side of a gorge alongside the modern town, “I Sassi” (The Rocks) is an area of extraordinary dwellings, half-carved and half-built from the surrounding biscuit-coloured tufo (tuff) rock, in which people have been living since Palaeolithic times. In 1987 a law was passed opening the way for the area to be redeveloped. Five years later Unesco revolutionised its prospects by adding the Sassi, and later the rupestrian churches in the surrounding countryside, to its list of world heritage sites.
Whatever images of velvet curtains and plush sofas the word “suite” may bring to mind should be locked away when applied to Le Grotte. The unusual rooms are, in fact, nothing but caverns lit by dozens of candles, which were part of a deconsecrated church hewn from the rock. There are no TVs, telephones or even a carefully disguised minibar in the rooms at Le Grotte. The furniture is made of wooden and iron items collected in the Sassi over a period of five years and given to local craftsmen to restore or cannibalise. Much of the linen is from old dowries.
There are other hotels in the Sassi. But what distinguishes Le Grotte is a determination to preserve the character of this most extraordinary of environments and to evoke the lifestyle of the people who once inhabited it.
Sassi di Matera
Via San Giovanni Vecchio
75100 Matera, Italy
Tel: 0835 332744
www.legrottedellacivita.com
www.sextantio.it/grotte-civita
Thailand’s Floating Auditorium
Archipelago Cinema is a collaboration between Ole Scheeren, a German architect working in Beijing, and the Film on the Rocks Yao Noi Film Festival curated by Tilda Swinton and filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul.
In Ole Scheeren words: “When we first arrived at the lagoon, the water was calm. Nothing like the choppy boat ride that took us here. There was a beach, and a backdrop of a huge wall of rocks. […] The thought of watching films here seemed surprising: A screen, nestled somewhere between the rocks. And the audience… floating. […] A sense of temporality, randomness. Almost like drift wood. Or maybe something more architectural. Modular pieces, loosely assembled, like a group of little islands. A congregation of rafts as an auditorium. Archipelago Cinema.
Local fishermen farm lobsters on rafts. Wooden frames are tied by rubber straps to foam blocks wrapped in mosquito nets. A simple construction. A local technique. Adopted to build the floating cinema. Recycled wood and materials. Reusable modularity of the raft. Assembled, disassembled. Reconfigured, reused. After the screening, it will go back to the local community. As a stage, a playground. As an event platform, an assembly space. As something that belongs to them, that was merely borrowed. As something, that is flexible, that can be towed anywhere. And as something that can appear, from time to time, to host a few people watching movies”.
The result is a a stunning floating movie theater off the island of Kudu Noi, near the resort island of Phuket.
Read more HERE
Thailand’s Floating Auditorium
Archipelago Cinema is a collaboration between Ole Scheeren, a German architect working in Beijing, and the Film on the Rocks Yao Noi Film Festival curated by Tilda Swinton and filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul.
In Ole Scheeren words: “When we first arrived at the lagoon, the water was calm. Nothing like the choppy boat ride that took us here. There was a beach, and a backdrop of a huge wall of rocks. […] The thought of watching films here seemed surprising: A screen, nestled somewhere between the rocks. And the audience… floating. […] A sense of temporality, randomness. Almost like drift wood. Or maybe something more architectural. Modular pieces, loosely assembled, like a group of little islands. A congregation of rafts as an auditorium. Archipelago Cinema.
Local fishermen farm lobsters on rafts. Wooden frames are tied by rubber straps to foam blocks wrapped in mosquito nets. A simple construction. A local technique. Adopted to build the floating cinema. Recycled wood and materials. Reusable modularity of the raft. Assembled, disassembled. Reconfigured, reused. After the screening, it will go back to the local community. As a stage, a playground. As an event platform, an assembly space. As something that belongs to them, that was merely borrowed. As something, that is flexible, that can be towed anywhere. And as something that can appear, from time to time, to host a few people watching movies”.
The result is a a stunning floating movie theater off the island of Kudu Noi, near the resort island of Phuket.
Read more HERE
House of photographer & interior designer Benedikte Ugland.
The space is decorated with inherited pieces and flea market finds is highly stylish and personal. Cabinets are IKEA covered with planks. Faucet and sink also from IKEA, the lighting with cords wrapped around a rod was commissioned by a blacksmith.
The kitchen table is self-designed, built by Enskede Construction & Interior. Around the dinner table are newly Tollix-chairs and antique rustic chairs, round silver lamp, Tom Dixon.
Ph: Anna Kern
House of photographer & interior designer Benedikte Ugland.
The space is decorated with inherited pieces and flea market finds is highly stylish and personal. Cabinets are IKEA covered with planks. Faucet and sink also from IKEA, the lighting with cords wrapped around a rod was commissioned by a blacksmith.
The kitchen table is self-designed, built by Enskede Construction & Interior. Around the dinner table are newly Tollix-chairs and antique rustic chairs, round silver lamp, Tom Dixon.
Ph: Anna Kern
Jason Madara is a talented photographer that, unlike most of his colleagues specialized in interiors, loves playing with low light and shadows creating a sort of dramatic vibe that permeates his whole work.
Visit his website and take a look at his portfolio HERE
Jason Madara is a talented photographer that, unlike most of his colleagues specialized in interiors, loves playing with low light and shadows creating a sort of dramatic vibe that permeates his whole work.
Visit his website and take a look at his portfolio HERE
Cinema Center in Matadero de Legazpi, Madrid
When architects and designers are called in to redesign a space that already exists for a specific reason and their goal is to reinvent that space for an entirely different use, professionals are faced with a duality of responsibility and potential. In order to respect what once was and bring truth and beauty to the space that is without time or purpose, the task at hand becomes visceral. Questions arise as to how we want people to feel in this space. How can this space envelop the senses and become functional in its new incarnation while retaining its inherent beauty?
These questions emerged when churtichaga+quadra salcedo (ch+qs) architects commenced on their project to turn an old slaughterhouse in Legazpi, Madrid into a public cinema center. Their imagination would become their guide to tie in the past with the present and the raw emotion with the practical. The public cinema center is a huge complex made up of several connecting buildings, housing a film archive, a film and television studio, offices, two cinemas, a canteen and a summer film patio.
The designer had the following three inspirations to draw from when creating the design: The magical backlight and contrast of the films, a childhood fascination with basketry and weaving, and technical human infinite geometries. And as one looks at the finished project, it is easy to spot these three dynamics at work. Dark gray slats of pine wood that shape the walls, ceilings and floors create a clear distinction of the new space from the jagged exposed bricks of the old slaughterhouse. This clever use of materials provides room for both, the history of the old slaughterhouse to coexist with the sleek new design and the new beginnings of a modern cinema center. The marvel is how these potentially harsh and intense materials manage to never overwhelm but look rather Zen and clean.
The dark gray pine wood acts as a backdrop where the designer let his memory and imagination come to life. His childhood fascination with basketry comes alive and influences the lighting as “floating figures” and “huge vibrant baskets” that occupy the open main spaces. The Archive Area is covered by a “permeable basket” that works as a gigantic lamp that one can walk through and on top of. It filters light and is constructed of what seems to be an infinite number of woven orange hoses (actual conventional industrial irrigation hoses). The main room is illuminated in orange by another floating basket that fades into the darkness, with only the black surface remaining when a movie begins playing. In the small projection room, the basket weaves once again through a black space and only when a window opens to let in natural light, can one see the intricate work and brilliant concept at play.
The Matadero promises to be a great attraction and public gathering space, a centerpiece project of an urban renewal effort to bring cultural and art programs to southern urban Madrid.
Details/Credits
Project name: Cinema Center in Matadero de Legazpi
Location: Matadero de Legazpi, Madrid, Spain
Program: Refurbishment and conversion of an old slaughterhouse into a public cinema center housing a film archive, film and television studio, two cinemas, offices, canteen, and summer film patio
Area: Built-up Area: 2.688 m2
Year: Design: 2009 • Completion: 2011
Cost: 4.104.843 €
Client: Madrid City Council
Project by: churtichaga+quadra salcedo architects
Team: Principal Designer: Josemaria de Churtichaga • Project Design Team: Mauro Doncel Marchán, Natanael López Pérez • Building Design Team: Leticia López de Santiago
Others: Contractor: Edhinor • Quantity Surveyor: Joaquín Riveiro Pita, Martín Bilbao Bergantiños • Structural Surveyor: Euteca • Facilities Surveyor: Úrculo Ingenieros Consultores
Images: Fernando Guerra, FG+SG Architectural Photography
Cinema Center in Matadero de Legazpi, Madrid
When architects and designers are called in to redesign a space that already exists for a specific reason and their goal is to reinvent that space for an entirely different use, professionals are faced with a duality of responsibility and potential. In order to respect what once was and bring truth and beauty to the space that is without time or purpose, the task at hand becomes visceral. Questions arise as to how we want people to feel in this space. How can this space envelop the senses and become functional in its new incarnation while retaining its inherent beauty?
These questions emerged when churtichaga+quadra salcedo (ch+qs) architects commenced on their project to turn an old slaughterhouse in Legazpi, Madrid into a public cinema center. Their imagination would become their guide to tie in the past with the present and the raw emotion with the practical. The public cinema center is a huge complex made up of several connecting buildings, housing a film archive, a film and television studio, offices, two cinemas, a canteen and a summer film patio.
The designer had the following three inspirations to draw from when creating the design: The magical backlight and contrast of the films, a childhood fascination with basketry and weaving, and technical human infinite geometries. And as one looks at the finished project, it is easy to spot these three dynamics at work. Dark gray slats of pine wood that shape the walls, ceilings and floors create a clear distinction of the new space from the jagged exposed bricks of the old slaughterhouse. This clever use of materials provides room for both, the history of the old slaughterhouse to coexist with the sleek new design and the new beginnings of a modern cinema center. The marvel is how these potentially harsh and intense materials manage to never overwhelm but look rather Zen and clean.
The dark gray pine wood acts as a backdrop where the designer let his memory and imagination come to life. His childhood fascination with basketry comes alive and influences the lighting as “floating figures” and “huge vibrant baskets” that occupy the open main spaces. The Archive Area is covered by a “permeable basket” that works as a gigantic lamp that one can walk through and on top of. It filters light and is constructed of what seems to be an infinite number of woven orange hoses (actual conventional industrial irrigation hoses). The main room is illuminated in orange by another floating basket that fades into the darkness, with only the black surface remaining when a movie begins playing. In the small projection room, the basket weaves once again through a black space and only when a window opens to let in natural light, can one see the intricate work and brilliant concept at play.
The Matadero promises to be a great attraction and public gathering space, a centerpiece project of an urban renewal effort to bring cultural and art programs to southern urban Madrid.
Details/Credits
Project name: Cinema Center in Matadero de Legazpi
Location: Matadero de Legazpi, Madrid, Spain
Program: Refurbishment and conversion of an old slaughterhouse into a public cinema center housing a film archive, film and television studio, two cinemas, offices, canteen, and summer film patio
Area: Built-up Area: 2.688 m2
Year: Design: 2009 • Completion: 2011
Cost: 4.104.843 €
Client: Madrid City Council
Project by: churtichaga+quadra salcedo architects
Team: Principal Designer: Josemaria de Churtichaga • Project Design Team: Mauro Doncel Marchán, Natanael López Pérez • Building Design Team: Leticia López de Santiago
Others: Contractor: Edhinor • Quantity Surveyor: Joaquín Riveiro Pita, Martín Bilbao Bergantiños • Structural Surveyor: Euteca • Facilities Surveyor: Úrculo Ingenieros Consultores
Images: Fernando Guerra, FG+SG Architectural Photography
My personal moment…
Corner of peace
Hard to miss
Monsieur Jean Prouvé
Atlanta-based photographer Rob Brinson has had this loft studio in the King Plow Art Center, a former plow factory from the 1800s, for 23 years now. Today it’s the full-time studio space he always dreamed of when he first became a photographer. He and his wife, Jill Sharp Brinson, stylist, designer and creative director for Ballard Designs, lived there full-time for six years but now use the living spaces as a getaway and a crash-pad for friends and relatives. I’ve always dreamed of living in a loft, and this sneak peek only encourages the dream
BONDI ICEBERGS CLUB (Sidney, Australia)
The self-proclaimed “home of winter swimming since 1929”.
Restored home in Spain
Lighted window
The NoMad Hotel by Jacques Garcia in New York
NoMad; a new addition to New York’s North of Madison Square Park district housed in a converted turn of the century Beaux-Arts building. And for those of you who quite didn’t get it - NoMad derives its name from the district that it is located in [No]rth of [Mad]ison Square; the brand new hotel oozes modern European grandeur combined with a characteristic Downtown edge. The NoMadBeaux-Arts building has been fully restored to its original splendor and its magnificent interiors are the inspiration of the multi talented French architect/interior and garden designer Jacques Garcia. Jacques Garcia himself is best known for his contemporary interiors for Paris’ hotels and restaurants including the famous Hôtel Costes, as well as for his unique house with the astonishing gardens, The Château du Champ-de-Bataille, which we were fortunate enough to visit last year as part of our visit at The Goodwill Revival.
THE NOMAD HOTEL
1170 BROADWAY & 28TH STREETNEW YORK, NY 10001T 212 796 1500
www.thenomadhotel.com
The NoMad Hotel by Jacques Garcia in New York
NoMad; a new addition to New York’s North of Madison Square Park district housed in a converted turn of the century Beaux-Arts building. And for those of you who quite didn’t get it - NoMad derives its name from the district that it is located in [No]rth of [Mad]ison Square; the brand new hotel oozes modern European grandeur combined with a characteristic Downtown edge. The NoMadBeaux-Arts building has been fully restored to its original splendor and its magnificent interiors are the inspiration of the multi talented French architect/interior and garden designer Jacques Garcia. Jacques Garcia himself is best known for his contemporary interiors for Paris’ hotels and restaurants including the famous Hôtel Costes, as well as for his unique house with the astonishing gardens, The Château du Champ-de-Bataille, which we were fortunate enough to visit last year as part of our visit at The Goodwill Revival.
THE NOMAD HOTEL
1170 BROADWAY & 28TH STREETNEW YORK, NY 10001T 212 796 1500
www.thenomadhotel.com
Shipping containers continue to be a popular choice within the design world.
In this case, San Francisco based couple Jeff Wardell & Claudia Sagan used them in the interior area of their 127 foot loft. The industrialized apartment was complemented nicely by the addition of two shipping containers that are used as the home’s guest bedroom and home office.
Shipping containers continue to be a popular choice within the design world.
In this case, San Francisco based couple Jeff Wardell & Claudia Sagan used them in the interior area of their 127 foot loft. The industrialized apartment was complemented nicely by the addition of two shipping containers that are used as the home’s guest bedroom and home office.
