Roberto Polo is the quintessential tastemaker. The Cuban-born financier, legendary connoisseur, art dealer, philanthropist, and citizen of the world, has promoted his taste through a deep understanding and knowledge of design history. He has always collected undiscovered areas and has never followed the rend. A part of his magnificent and ambitious collection will be offered […]
Design Masterpieces from the Polo Collection Read More »
I was honored to conduct an interview on stage with Fabien Naudan, vice chairman of Artcurial, this morning in Tel Aviv as a part of the program on modern design and collecting directed by Dafna Ish-Hurvitz. His career has spanned the world of design from its very beginning. While formulating a career in fashion, first
My conversation with Fabien Naudan Read More »
In my recent visit to Carpenters Workshop Gallery, I came across the sculptural lighting of the young and amazingly talented Australian-born, London-based designer Charles Trevelyan. The fact that he is holding degrees in Science, Materials Engineering, and 3D Design, is apparent in his work, which is made of steel, timber, and marble powder. His new
The Surreal Lights of Charles Trevelyan Read More »
An architectural gem of fame and glory is having a new destiny. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art has received, as a donation, a landmark, designed by John Lautner-designed in 1963, situated above Beverly Hills. Known to the public for its feature in the 1998 Coen Brothers blockbuster The Big Lebowski, this fabulous, futuristic
One of the pioneers of Finnish industrial art, Tapio Wirkkala (1915-1985) designed furniture, jewelry, and objects in glass and ceramic, drawing his strength as an innovator from his unique sensitivity to the materials he used, and from his belief that the artist should contribute to every stage of the production process. His leaf dishes in
Tapio Wirkkala’s High Resolution Read More »
While Frank Lloyd Wright had always envisioned the home as a total work of art, constantly rethinking the American home in its integrated design and furnishings, in 1955 he designed mass-produced furniture for the first time. He was 86 years old, and this collection of furniture for Heritage-Henredon was branded as “Taliesin Ensemble,” referring to
We fall in love with the architecture of the past. While the latest talk in the NYC architectural circles is related to the small and not impossible chance that the Pennsylvania Station will return to its original glamourous Beaux-Arts masterpiece, I would like to point to another architectural gem, which had suffered a similar disaster,
The White Square of the White City Read More »
For those lovers of concrete architecture, Rowan Moore created a list of the ten best concrete buildings in history for The Guardian, spanning from antiquity to the present. The list includes such seminal buildings as the Pantheon in Rome; Unite d’Habitation by Le Corbusier (1952); Los Manantiales restaurant in Mexico City by Felix Candela (1958)
10 Best Concrete Buildings Read More »
Love reading Morris Lapidus’ (1902-2011) autobiography, which the American architect, known as the “architect of the American dream,” published in 1996. Entitled “Too Much is never Enough,” summarizing his aesthetic philosophy, the controversial Lapidus provides a glimpse into the world of mid-century tourism architecture. For many years he was disregarded by those writing the history
Too Much is never Enough Read More »
In the world of French couture furniture of 1960s and 1970s, stainless steel had become that special material that suggested the spirit of the moment and the futuristic imagery of Space-Age aesthetics. The furniture created by such key designers of the period as Maria Pergay, Guy de Rougemount, and Michel Boyer was meant for the
The Allure of Stainless Steel Read More »
