Brad Pitt’s Shopping Spree

By the time you read this, Angelina Jolie may have finally ended the media speculation and popped those twins out, but it seems her equally-gorgeous partner is the one who’s nesting. Pitt was spotted picking up a few items – likely for the growing family’s new pad in the South of France – at the Design Miami/Basel event in Basel, Switzerland. And while most dads-to-be concentrate on the staples like cribs, changing tables and rocking chairs, Pitt’s spree had a decidedly modernist twist. And a price tag that could probably put his soon-to-be brood of six through college – twice.

Pitt started with an appropriate choice for a man with a houseful of kids – a pair of lamps representing a family by Atelier van Lieshout. The lamps are made of foam and reinforced fiberglass, so they’re not only good design, they may also be baby safe! The perpetual Sexiest Man Alive also scored a pair of Ron Arad chairs from New York’s Sebastian + Barquet, and a rug from New York’s Cristina Grajales that retails for a whopping $175 a square foot, possibly because it’s woven from aluminum thread. The piece de resistance, however, was Dutch Designer Jeroen Verhoeven’s Rococo-style coffee table fashioned from hollow white marble. The cost of this creation – supplied by London’s Carpenter’s Workshop Gallery? A whopping $293,000.

The Newest Bathroom Must-Have

Modern Furniture

Glass block is so eighties. Bare walls are…well…bare. If you’re looking for this year’s must-have bathroom accessory, it’s time to hit the internet and track down your very own illuminated bathroom screen. The screen design is somewhat ornate, but the fact that it glows from within makes it oh-so-modern. No wonder these screens have been the talk of the recent design shows and blogs, usually appearing alongside an equally fabulous transparent bathtub. The downside? These beautiful bathtub screens can’t possibly be cheap, as they’re designed and manufactured by London based designer Jona Hoad.

Hoad specializes in creating and manufacturing unusual lighting products for luxury hotels and restaurants, along with yachts (yes, yachts are actually a Jona Hoad specialty) and other luxury residences. His Catherine Wheel ceiling light, combining the reflective qualities of mirror with detailed laser etching, recently captured an award, and his color-changing (at the touch of a button, no less), illuminated DeVigne Bar and London’s Mandeville Hotel has also garnered plenty of positive press. So while his bathroom screens may be pricey, if you absolutely must have a Hoed in your home you can be sure they’ll only increase in value. Today, they’re an internet sensation – tomorrow, they may be a classic.

Modern Accommodation on the Cheap

Modern Furniture

If you’re up for a new kind of travel adventure, and happen to be in or around the Austrian city of Linz, check out the Dasparkhotel. But only if you don’t mind minimalism at it’s most minimal. Created by designer Andreas Strauus, each room in the hotel is actually a repurposed, two meter-long concrete drain pipe. Within each pipe-slash-room is enough headroom to stand up, along with a double bed, storage for your luggage, light, power, a warm woolen blanket for those chilly nights and a light cotton sleeping bag. Other hotel services like toilets, showers, a café and a minibar are located nearby on the premises – although not within your own personal drainpipe space.

The hotel’s website describes their unique take on accommodation as a “temporary comfortable uncomplicated home for a certain time.” Apparently, how long you stay is up to you. And amazingly, so is how much you pay. In keeping with the hippy-dippy, egalitarian spirit of inviting people to sleep in a drainpipe, Dasparkhotel also invites their guests to pay whatever they see fit for the experience. So at the very least, it’s definitely a bargain. The hotel is only open from May through October, and while it may not be your personal dream vacation ideal, it’s definitely worth at least a drive-by!

Classy Trends in Chandeliers

Chandeliers are often seem as being a bit stuffy. Something the well-to-do hang in their soaring entryways or in the ballroom of their home. Glitzy and glorious, they feature cascading crystals and gilded gold that exude wealth and status. But, today’s homeowners can still enjoy the beauty of these classic lighting fixtures without going to the poor house in the process. There is virtually a chandelier for every budget and taste these days.

Contemporary Options While traditional chandeliers are heavy and heavy looking – made of wrought iron and lead crystals – contemporary chandeliers are much lighter. Made of aluminum, these beauties are lightweights in terms of weight and corresponding price. Thanks to new advances in design and materials, you don’t have to pay for raw materials that aren’t seen or needed for strength or support. One of the great things about these contemporary chandeliers is that they go with a wide range of styles, from traditional to modern. Let’s face it. It’s hard to match an overly ornate gold and crystal chandelier with a modern furniture grouping. They go together about as well as peanut butter and Swiss cheese. Eschewing complex designs, contemporary chandeliers get their beauty through intriguing and innovative design concepts. But don’t think these chandeliers are blasé. Hardly. They instantly draw the visitor’s eye while adding superior lighting design to any space in your home. Thinking Small is Big These Days Not all chandeliers are monstrosities that require a crane to install. Mini chandeliers are really popular these days and fit into smaller spaces than their full-sized counterparts. Minis are particularly well suited for hallways and open spaces where a full sized chandelier would look silly. Thanks to their smaller size, they’re also easy for any homeowner to install. If you’ve mastered a ceiling lighting fixture or a ceiling fan, a mini chandelier is a snap to add to your home. The process is virtually the same and they can usually be installed without the need for additional support or bracing in the ceiling.

How about… creating the perfect dining room all year round!!!

For many of us, growing up meant family dinners in the dining room where everyone shared his or her day with one another.
My how times have changed. Today, busy families find little time to gather at the dinner table. And the formal dining room in many homes is relegated to special occasions and holidays.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. With a little thought and some creativity, you can convert this little used space into a place where the family spends a lot of their time, doing homework, working on school projects and just hanging out talking.
Before you start your dining room project, you want to take an inventory of your existing furnishings, accents, accessories and décor. Often, it’s easy to simply swap around some things in your home to create an entirely new living space.
Of course, the dining room table is the focal point of the room and it obviously guidesmost of your decisions. Like other rooms, decorating usually starts with the focal point of the room and everything flows from the dominant piece. In this case, it’s the dining room table and chairs.
Flexibility is key in selecting the right table and chairs. Unless you plan to use this space just once a year, you want to choose a table that suits your personal tastes and which has the ideal seating arrangement. For instance, if you have a family of four and don’t entertain often, you can opt for a smaller table and add other furnishings to the room, such as a buffet or china cabinet to use for storing games and craft items.
If you entertain occasionally or often, you may want to get a table with leaves. That way, you can expand the table easily to handle larger dinner parties, and then shrink the table back to its more intimate size for daily use.
Taller dining room tables are very popular these days. Not only do they make the room look less formal, but they’re the ideal place to play board games, work on school projects or enjoy an evening of poker with friends. When it comes to selecting furnishings and decorating, professional designers agree on one thing. There are no rules these days. Rooms are empty spaces waiting to be filled with the inspiration, beauty, energy and personality you bring to them.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t some basic guidelines you should follow. For example, your dining room should still look like it’s part of your home. It should have complementary color schemes, styles and woods. Contemporary fabrics can breathe new life into heirloom furnishings. And tired tables can be rejuvenated with a new layer of stain or varnish.
If you have the budget for new furnishings, you have endless options. Dark finishes tend to support a more formal dining look while oval and round tables finished in lighter stains are more informal. Be sure that the table has enough room for your guests to be comfortable so they’re not bumping elbows constantly. If you have small children, stain resistant seat fabrics will pay for themselves in a very short time.
Surprisingly, your chairs don’t even have to match one another these days. You can create an eclectic dining area by mixing and matching different designs of chairs or different colors. Be careful in doing this, since you don’t want your dining room to look like the circus is in town. Rely on your sense of taste and you should be O.K. When in doubt, ask your family or friends for their opinions before you plunk down a lot of dough on chairs that will just end up in a garage sale six months from now.
Once you have the dining room table and chairs it’s time to finish the rest of the room. Obviously, the walls deserve some attention before you add any other furniture to the space. Choose paint or wallpaper that sets the room off yet which complements the rest of the home. If you have dominant artwork in mind, you may want to choose colors that will work well with it. Before you paint, it’s a good time to add any new sconces or other wall lighting that will require some electrical work. No need messing up a great looking paint or papering job after the fact.
Now you’re ready to add the other elements to the room. Depending on the space available, this may include a china cabinet, hutch, sideboard or buffet. If you don’t have room around the table for all the chairs you have, you may want to factor that into your space planning. Chairs against the wall take up space and you don’t want the room to look crowded.
Finally, don’t forget the little things that make a dining room an inviting place to be. You want to add personal touches to the space. If you’re using a sideboard or buffet, consider adding candlesticks and some family photos. If you have a spectacular serving piece, consider using it as the focal point as well. When you’re not using it for entertaining, it can serve as a piece of art.
Like the rest of the spaces in your home, your dining room should reflect your personality and tastes. Make it an inviting place to eat, relax, entertain and work and you’ll find that this once empty space will soon be overflowing with good times with family and friends.

David M. Schwarz

It was only a turn of fate that David M. Schwarz became an architect at all. Having started his own practice (in his own words “too early”), with little success, he realized his dream of becoming an architect was as good as over and had all but given up hope. However, a chance encounter with a friend gave him an ‘eleventh hour’ second chance, when he was offered a project by the friends’ boyfriend. His career is now considered remarkable, and his architectural practice is established having received awards from a wide range of organizations, including the American Institute of Architects and the Art Deco Society of Washington.
Prior to this success, Mr. Schwarz received his B.A. at St. John's College in Annapolis, MD, and Master of Architecture at Yale University. He also earned a Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of California at Berkeley and a Bachelor of Science from Humboldt State University. As founder and CEO of David M Schwarz Architectural Services, Inc., Washington, DC and Fort Worth, TX, he now has over thirteen years of design, planning and landscape construction success.
"...It really is being exacting in your principles and sticking to them, even when it’s hard, that makes it possible to have real success”, explains David.
His environmental sciences background is a key in the development of site-specific landscapes that involve slope and soil stabilization, habitat restoration, and new vegetative management. His strength lies in his ability to focus on developing spaces that are artistic, suited to the client’s needs, and responsive to the surrounding environment.
Perhaps his most iconic project, the Schermerhorn Symphony Center of Nashville is personification of Schwarz’s signature style, being wonderfully classic, with a modern twist.
In describing his philosophy of design, Schwarz explains, “Our architecture is what would have happened if modernism hadn’t happened. But modernism did happen”.
''We set out to create what we call the appropriate neoclassicism for 21st century Nashville,'' says Schwarz ''The building and all its details are a lot less serious, a lot lighter, a lot friendlier, a lot less imposing than straightforward neoclassicism from, say, the 19th or early 20th centuries.''
One of the more interesting features of the 197,000 square-foot, 1,872-seat concert hall is the enormous amount of indirect daylight. Not normally found in performance spaces, after touring concert halls worldwide, in particular Vienna's Musikverein, Schwarz decided natural light was an important element to include in the interior. Innovative features include a convertible seating system designed to give the hall unique versatility.
Schwarz describes Schermerhorn as “the most classically inspired building we’ve ever done’’
Another classic design with incredible scope and utilization of space is the Dr Pepper Ballpark. Following its construction in 2003, the Dr Pepper Ballpark received the Texas Construction award for Best Architectural Design for 2003 and the surrounding sports complex received the Best Sports and Entertainment award.
Schwarz had a stated goal of creating a "park within a (ball)park" in the stadium. Nine interconnected pavilions, where concessions, restrooms, and luxury suites are located, are built separately from the main seating area.
The concourse area, between the pavilions and the seating area, wraps completely around the ballpark featuring 360-degree views.
His Disney's Wide World of Sports complex features "Florida Picturesque" architecture, with tall towers and seemingly endless archways in the field house and baseball stadium.
Other projects include the Tarrant County Family Law Center which is historically suggestive in design, and the Bass Hall critically acclaimed as "the last great hall built this century”, and voted by Travel and Leisure Magazine as one of the Top 10 best opera houses in the world.
Within his firm, Schwarz’s primary responsibility is that of director of design. In this capacity, he leads, orchestrates and reviews the design process of all the firm’s projects. . He is frequently asked to create unique, custom furniture to complement the firm’s interiors. Fine detailing, rich materials and a high level of craft identify Schwarz’s furniture projects, which have ranged from the straightforward, such as a highly-detailed, inlaid buffet of arts and crafts inspiration with an imaginative and protective floating glass top; to the technically adept, such as an art deco-inspired oval loggia table. The table can be folded in half lengthwise to be set against the wall and contains custom fabricated hinges and a device which automatically centers the half-top over the base, allowing the tabletop to convert between full oval and half-oval without sacrificing center of gravity. He has also explored modern elements in furniture design, such as a custom freestanding medicine cabinet and stool of stainless steel and glass. The variety and range in style, inspiration and material realize his vision, regardless of scope or scale.
Schwarz is committed to teaching and, participating at university level and lecturing to the public. He currently serves as Chairman of the Dean’s Council for the Yale School of
Architecture, and serves on the Board of Overseers for the Corcoran Gallery of Art, located in Washington, DC.

Moden Furniture

Coop Himmelblau

Coop Himmelblau is a cooperative architectural design firm which was located in Vienna Austria. This award winning post-modernist group of creatives was founded by Wolf Prix, and Helmut Swiczinsky. These architects are very famous for partaking in the 1988 exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art called “Deconstrucitvist Architecture.” That show, which is now three decades old change the way we view commercial and residential architectural projects and the post modernist influence of this cooperative dots landscapes all over the world.
Coop Himmelblau now also maintains offices in Los Angeles in the U.S. and in Guadalajara, Mexico. The name means “heaven construction” in German and in English translates to mean “sky blue.” The coop is not like “chicken coop” but rather the abbreviation for the work cooperative.
If the building seems crooked, twisted or missing a few beams or if it seems a bit out of perspective or balancing magically with no support than it is probably is designed by someone from Coop Himmelblau or by someone who has been influenced by Wolf Prix, Michael Holzer or Helmut Swiczinsky.
A very famous building is the UFA-Palaste in Dresden which looks like a giant pointed quartz crystal extending out of the side of the building. The construction is made of hundreds of facets of window paned glass and looks like it is naturally growing out of the building.
Yet another very famous piece of architecture designed by the Coop Himmelblau is the Gasometer building in Vienna, which looks like a thin, bent stick of gum with balconies running up the side. It is one of the narrowest buildings in the world.
Another signature building is the Groninger Museum in the Netherlands, which has a beautiful deconstructed roof. It literally looks like a bomb has dropped on top of the building and the beams fixed together in an artistic jumble.
This team of famous designers has been together for a good part of the last century. Wolf Dieter Prix was born in 1942 in Vienna. Helmut Swiczinsky was born in 1944 in Poznan, Poland. They formed Co-op Himmelblau in Vienna in 1968 as an alternative and creative approach to architecture.
The sketeches that the buildings are created from are very free form and are intended to be gestural and free from the restrictions of formalism. The intent is creating open minded free spaces that are undefined, interesting and complex.
From out of this process came a trend for designing buildings that are almost entirely made out of panes of glass. A very good example of this is the Skygarden building in their hometown of Vienna which is 25 stories of leveled glass. Along with experimenting with the look of glass the cooperative has also been experimenting with the passive heat and cooling systems that can be developed for a building that has such a façade. Another reason for paying attention to this element has been to develop “gardens in the sky” that can be cultivated by humans who before this time in history had to be happy residing in dwellings on the ground. The concept behind the firm named Himmelblua is to literally uplift mankind into the sky with the use of architecture.
If the firm is known for anything it is also its theoretical process of designing buildings. Everything that manifests from Coop Himmelblau begins with many long conversations that re eventually transformed into drawings. Coop Himmelblau is so famous just for it’s concepts that sometimes simply the plans for a project are exhibited at a famous gallery museum.
This team has won many awards including two American Architecture Awards for the Chicago Athenaeum in Illinois and the Akron Art Museum in Ohio.
One of the most interesting things about this firm is that their vision is still creative yet it has never changed. The influence of Coop Himmelblau is absolutely seminal and their designs are taught as a primer in basic deconstructivism in every university or college that is devoted to design in the world.

A bedroom that looks and feels good

Is your bedroom an inviting oasis of relaxation? Or does it look more like a storage unit, a veritable wasteland of clutter, dirty clothes, dirty dishes and kid’s toys.
If your room is the latter and you’re finding it increasingly more difficult to find the bed when it’s time for bed, you may want to consider giving your bedroom a well-deserved makeover.
With just a few changes, some hard decision making and some tough love, you can transform you bedroom into everything you ever dreamed it should be. And it’s easier than you think.
Start with the basics First, your bedroom is not a storage facility. If things in the room do not contribute to relaxation, enhance the beauty, add space or provide some entertainment, get rid of it. Pack it up, move it to another room or put it in the garage or trash. If you like to watch a little television before calling it a night, consider getting an armoire to hide it away when it’s not in use. If you’re an avid reader, make sure your nightstands have a drawer so you can put your book or magazine away, along with your glasses. If you love the latest fashions, add more dressers, wardrobes and a closet organizer to the room. Finally, get a hamper for the dirty clothes so you’re not tempted to leave them wherever they fall. As they say, “A place for everything, and everything in its place.”
Add furniture to the mix, Now that your room is clear of clutter, it’s time to add beauty and charm to the space. Start by looking at your furnishings. Do they have the same style or at least complement one another? Are there pieces that should be moved out to make way for others? Does the style of your furniture match your tastes? For example, if you have a love of modern or contemporary furnishings, why do you continue to hold on to that monster of an oak four-poster? Creating a cohesive or at least complementary look is essential to promoting relaxation and a sound sleep. As you review your bedroom’s needs, consider the space you have to work with as well. If you are in desperate need of another dresser, do you really need the California King or can you do with a Queen bed instead? This is not the time to be in denial. Once a piece of furniture is purchased, it tends to stay with you for a long time, so you want to choose carefully and deliberately. Nothing is more maddening than creating a bedroom retreat where the furniture is so big you can’t make it to the bathroom without stubbing a toe or cracking an elbow.
Think of your future storage needs The old adage, “stuff expands to fill the space available” is certainly true in the bedroom. Fashions change seasonally and what’s hot now may not be next year. So clothing and footwear seems to multiply as the years pass, even though storage remains the same. Here’s a couple ways to gain space in your bedroom without knocking out a wall or doing a major remodel. First, choose furniture that offers maximum storage. A platform bed with space or drawers underneath provides a surprising amount of additional storage without adding to the overall furniture footprint. The same is true with dressers. A nightstand with drawers is a better choice than one with a single open shelf. Several highboys take up the same space as a low dresser, but offer two to three times the space. The same is true of a lingerie chest. A shoulder height lingerie chest offers more storage than a Queen Anne dresser for your unmentionables.
When you’re evaluating the space you need to store your clothing, don’t ever think you have enough. It’s far better to have a few nearly empty drawers for a few years than to have drawers so tightly packed that you have to struggle to get them open in the morning. Nothing puts the damper on a day than getting a black eye from a bra strap that got caught on the back of an overstuffed drawer.
Don’t go it alone – ask an expert A well-designed bedroom doesn’t happen by accident. If you’re not comfortable with doing it yourself, there are lots of good resources out there. The Internet has sites devoted entirely to the subject of interior and bedroom design. Another good source is a reputable furniture retailer. Because they deal with design, style and fashion at every turn, these experts can help you create a bedroom that meets your needs perfectly. They can also provide you with good advice about colors, materials and fabrics so you can mix and match with ease and confidence.