Daniella On Design

“Modern architecture and design,” argues Elena Shapira in her new book ‘Style and Seduction’ (published by Brandeis University Press, 2016), “were how Jewish intellectuals and art patrons exchanged their ideals of lifestyle and defined their social visibility in Vienna.” This thesis, that the innovative design culture developed in fin-de-siecle Vienna, the first serious manifestation of […]

Since launching its annual fair six years ago, NYC-based Collective Design has sought to define its identity and to mark its place in the territory of design fairs. Tonight, it has succeeded in this task. Collective, which has moved its calendar from the Design Month of May to the Armory Show week, has also moved

March is Women’s History Month, and I will devote a weekly post to one of the women who have shaped the design world throughout the last century. The first is Charlotte Perriand (1903-99), one of the most gifted and active designers in postwar France. A quintessential Modernist, she devoted her career to the pursuit of

A piece of history is what you can take home with you, now that Parisian auction house Artcurial will be conducting a sale of 10,000 emblematic items from the Ritz Paris. Entitled ‘Once Upon a Time,’ the sale occurs after the legendary hotel has undergone an extensive renovation. After all, since opening its doors in

Don’t think fashion or style when visiting the exhibition ‘Jewelry of Ideas’ at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. Think art. This is only one of the lessons we have learnt this week when renowned collector Susan Grant Lewin guided us through the exhibition of her extraordinary collection, celebrating her gift of studio jewelry to the

Visiting the newly-opened solo exhibition “Unhomely,” of Detroit-based designer Chris Schanck at Friedman Benda, is identical to visiting a fine art show. The pieces which look like jewels, precious sculptures crafted of non-precious and found materials, cannot be simply understood as functional objects. It is when you understand the story, that you can find the humanizing

It is two exhibitions that the Noguchi Museum presents, but they fold into one, a remarkable show that has transformed the entire second floor of the Long-Island-City-based Museum into a magical experience that merges light, air, space, memory, and cutting-edge design. The core of the two, curated by Dakin Hart, Senior Curator of the Museum

The Lighting sculptures which Spanish, Eindhoven-based designer Nacho Carbonell has created for a solo exhibit presented by Carpenters Workshop at the Armory Show this week are powerful. They are so strong, intriguing, and dominant, that they stand out in the enormous art fair, drawing you deep into the booth, which looks more like a forest

Art or design? Statements or function? Design or anti-design? These are some of the issues that stood at the core of the Italian Radical Design Movement, also known as the Critical Design Movement, active in Italy between 1965 and 1979. These were also the questions addressed at the course Collecting Design this morning. Those decades

Trompe-l’œil (French for “deceive the eye”) is an ancient artistic technique that uses realistic imagery to create an optical illusion. It was used to paint the frescoes in the grand Roman villas; on furniture crafted in ancient Egypt to accompany the royalty in stylish life after death; and in the Renaissance. To Eric Serritella, the