A “Picture Perfect” preview

Click over to Pointed Leaf Press–Suzy Slesin’s design-centric imprint–to pre-order Scott Sanders’s quasi-monograph, Picture Perfect (featuring some text by yours truly). Or to snag a copy of any of their glossy tomes, which includes the definitive guide to Dorothy Draper and Mie Yim’s cheeky The A.B.C. of S.E.X (saucy!).

The format of Picture Perfect is pretty neat (I can say such boastful things because I had nothing to do with the cool conceit!): The book starts by introducing readers to Scott’s work–such as a retro pool house for art impresario Jennifer Rubell (below)–then segues into a step-by-step rehash of how he designed and kitted out a traditional-with-a-twist family home in New Jersey farm country. The book devotes whole chapters to the construction of the house and even the furniture installation (complete with hunky movers). A must-read for anyone building a dream home.

And if you’re a fan of the whole before-and-after design stories you see in shelter mags, you’ll looooove this book. Tons of construction shots a la the below! 

 

I get to hang with rock stars!

Keep forgetting to post this! Small review of “Who Shot Rock & Roll” in last month’s Interiors. Read here.

Tiles, tiles, tiles

Yes, my friends, more tiles! Wrote about the porcelain faux-wood-plank tile phenomenon in SNAP, a great new product-focused spinoff of ArchRecord. Article here or visit the Tileist for a little more bloviating. OK, I’ll shut up about tiles now…

The Vera book!

My next big project: collaborated with Susan Seid on “Vera: The Art and Life of an Icon”, a coffee table book showcasing the work of artist/ designer/ entrepreneur Vera Neumann, who was huge in the 1960s and 70s. In addition to being an amazingly talented artist in her own right (she was the first living female whose work was shown at the Smithsonian), she was a serious art patron who tapped Marcel Breuer to design her home and showrooms, wore brooches designed by close friend Alexander Calder, and lived among a blue-chip collection of Picassos, Matisses, and Kokoshkas. Oh, and ran a multimillion-dollar biz.

The book is an initiative of  The Vera Company (led by the fabulous Susan), which owns the designer’s vast archives (20,000 scarves!) and teams with licensing partners like the Met and Bardwil Linens to create new products featuring vintage prints. For more, check out this post on the Vera Company’s adorable and informative blog. 

“Vera,” which is being published by Abrams, will be available exclusively at Anthropologie for the first six months of its release, slated for  in March 2010. (Grace at Design*Sponge did a nice post on the Vera exhibition Anthro mounted this summer.) 

More to come closer to pub date!

[Fab tablecloths and napkins at Macy's featuring Vera prints:]

“A Taste of Olde New York”/Interior Design

Oops…a little slow to post this! Check out Interior Design’s September issue, chock full with NYC-based deliciousness, including this project: an art installation in Tiny’s Giant Sandwich Shop on the Lower East Side by Mike Brown of Lot71. The design is based on a local building facade, whose likeness was projected onto the interior walls and ceiling at a rakish angle, and then painted–thus creating a little indoor/outdoor confusion. Nifty!

Check out my article here, or click Lot71’s site for more information on the concept and process–and how Mike’s background in theatrical set design came into play.

[photo: Mike Brown]

Aug/Sep Interiors: “Pleasure Island”

This was a fun story: the gorgeous Philippines home of the very talented and extremely stylish designing couple Tina and Riccardo Ocampo–she makes ridiculously beautiful handbags, he is debuting a luxe furniture line at the Gift Show next week! (Go visit!) In addition to impeccable taste, the Ocampos (who basically started the Collette of Manila) also have a giant Gaetano Pesce UP7 foot, featured prominently in their entryway on a mirrored pedestal. Super. Cool.

Digital version here. Or pick up a copy of the real thing, which has articles by the inimitable Lynn Yaeger (glass art @ Venice Biennale) and Massimo Ferragamo (Florence) this month…ideal high-style beach reading! Unless you happen to be a freelance writer and never get to the beach…sigh…

ArchRecord: sparkling new kitchen/bath goodies

Redesigning your kitchen? Snag a copy of ArchRecord’s July issue to see all the schmancy new products I spied at Kitchen & Bath show. Yes, that’s a vent hood disguised as a crystal ball–crazy! It’s by Elica and I want one for my 2-by-2-foot cookery. My landlord is like: NOT.

Visit the online version here.

Big news: tiny Times!

Quite keen on the New York Times Magazine’s slimmer new trim size (more portable, saves trees) and the rather invigorating redesign. Check it out this Sunday if you missed last weekend’s debut–which included a series of sidebars called “Future System” that I helped research. (Viewable here, here, and here if you don’t have a recycling bin to rummage through.)

The tiny Times made a big statement with two different covers:

Brant Publications launches MODERN Magazine

Take that, recession! After watching so many design magazines fold (and shedding tears while reading the Magazine Death Pool), it’s exciting to see a publisher committing to a new title: Brant Pub debuts MODERN, which covers modern (natch) and contemporary design from a collector’s point of view. It’s supersmart without being stuffy and–best yet–edited by the brilliant Gregory Cerio, a fellow ex-House & Garden-ite. 

Click the cover above to link to a PDF of an article I wrote about Tribeca’s inimitable R Gallery…and co-founder Evan Snyderman and Zesty Meyer’s commitment to contemporary design talent.

(And click here for more info on R’s participation in the eagerly anticipated Makers Market at Socrates Sculpture Park, which opens later this month.)

InDisposed is jetting to L.A.!

Psyched to announce that InDisposed, the ICFF off-site show I co-curated with the fabulous Dan Rubinstein, is heading to Los Angeles! Product developer/eco-consultant Zoe Melo will host the show in her gallery-cum-studio, TOUCH, from June 24 through July 10. Check it out if you are in town for Dwell on Design…there may even be a few additions to the NYC show.