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Halston House : : Listing

Incomparable. Groundbreaking. Emulated. Iconic. Legendary. These words describe not only the spectacular architecture of 101 East 63rd Street, but the figures associated with it: Paul Rudolph, Halston, Gianni Agnelli and Gunter Sachs. Now, for the first time in generations, this unadulterated gem of architectural history and heirloom of 20th century New York’s golden age of art and culture is available for purchase. Rudolph had already served as Dean of the Yale School of Architecture and achieved international acclaim when he built the house in 1966. His clients wanted an “urban retreat,” and thus, Rudolph constructed a facade of steel and glass which purposefully demurs to its more traditional neighbors. Step inside, however, and the space comes to life, surprising and delighting guests with its unconventional use of space and light. An understated slate entry hall explodes into the vast expanse of a living room with 32′ ceilings and skylights. A double-height master suite, bamboo garden and floating staircase delight. On the top floor an additional living room, kitchen and 2nd master suite are complemented by a 1,600 s/f terrace. A garage provides the ultimate in privacy and security. All told, there are 4 bedrooms, 3 living rooms, a dining room, study, 2 kitchens, terrace and solarium. As Rudolph intended when he completed this as his only complete residential townhouse in Manhattan, and as Halston, Agnelli and Sachs all agreed, this home is truly without equal. ~ The Corcoran Group Real Estate

The only truly sexy house on the Upper East Side. Halston’s amazing collaboration with Paul Rudolph defined the pinnacle of the Studio 54 era. A timeless house for an art collector and it has a garage!!!! ~Peter Dunham

Price: $38,500,000
More here and listing here

 

~images via 1st Dibs & The Corcoran Group

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dwell on Design 2012

 

LOS ANGELES, CA (March 13, 2012) – Dwell on Design, the
West Coast’s largest Design Show, returns to the Los Angeles Convention Center
June 22-24, 2012. Curated by the editors of Dwell Magazine the three-day celebration brings together the best and brightest products, services, and thought leaders in modern design today for a series of conversations, demonstrations, tours, and much more. In addition to featuring over 350 exhibitors on the show floor, Dwell on Design encourages an ongoing design dialogue, showcasing over 70 presentations on three separate stages. This year, the show goes beyond the urban dwelling to encompass all aspects of the modern lifestyle, seeking out a new definition for modern beyond expectations.

I will be attending on Friday.  If you see me, please be sure to say Hi!

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Houses of the Sundown Sea

text by Lisa Germany with accompanying photos by Juergen Nogai

Gesner himself at his 1957 designed Wave House in Malibu

Wave House

Raven’s Eye in Malibu

For more than 60 years, passersby have strained to catch a glimpse of maverick architect Harry Gesner’s houses in Southern California. This is the first book to examine Gesner’s architecture, tracing his career from 1945 to the present and opening the doors to 15 of Gesner’s intriguing homes, all located in or near Los Angeles and built in the 1950s and 1960s. An insightful and revealing text accompanies new photography by Juergen Nogai along with historical photographs and Gesner’s own drawings, floor plans, and blueprints drawn from his remarkably rich archive. Gesner’s utterly unique, often eccentric and unorthodox designs are outside the canons of doctrinaire modernism, yet he is undoubtedly a Modernist, and one whose romantic, quixotic nature has caused his truly extraordinary body of work to be overlooked by many—until now. ~via Amazon

Harry Gesner draws inspiration from nature and the energy of having lived by the ocean in Malibu all his life. Gesner, an avid surfer, whose Malibu Wave House has given inspiration to such architectural icons as the Sydney Opera House, describes his experience in 1956, sketching the ideas right onto his balsa-board with a grease pencil, sitting out in the ocean facing the beach where he camped for a few nights to get to know the elements. ~Eric Minh Swenson

 

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Selexyz Dominicanen Maastricht

Incredible bookstore designed by architecture firm Merkx + Girod right inside a 13th century Dominican cathedral in Maastricht, Holland.  The project, Selexyz Dominicanen Maastricht, incorporates  3 stories of shopping space, a cafe, and eating area all done in a modern aesthetic while maintaining the ancient and religious details of the space.

See more dope pics here.

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ArchiZOOM

Archizoom Association was a design studio founded in 1966 in Florence, Italy, by four architects: Andrea Branzi, Gilberto Corretti, Paolo Deganello, Massimo Morozzi; and two designers: Dario Bartolini and Lucia Bartolini.

The team produced a rich series of projects in design, architecture and large scale urban visions, a work which is still a fundamental source of inspiration for generations to come. 

Together with Superstudio, Archizoom invented “Superarchitecture“, endorsing creative processes along the lines of Pop in architectural and design development, exemplified by objects such as the “Superonda”-sofa, (still made by poltronova) which invites unconventional postures by its waved shape.

The « Dream Beds » and « Gazebos » are results of “Superarchitecture” transformed into a productive system, which by the creation of eclectic objects and kitsch, undertakes the critical destruction of functionalist heritage and the spatial concept of the modern movement. A system which finally leads Archizoom to the discovery of the concept of the void and neutral, characteristic for the projects of their final period of activity.

The research of Archizoom culminates in « No-Stop-City », one of the most enigmatic and radical visions of the city of the future; without boundaries, artificially lit and air-conditioned. To use and populate No-stop-City’s continuous surfaces Archizoom conceived and realized multifunctional furniture and clothing for the inhabitants of the highly artificial environment.

By the end of their activity Archizoom achieved an all-embracing creation, reaching from object to clothing, from furniture design to large scale urban proposals; a heritage transpiring the passionate ideals of a generation believing an a humanity liberated of the constraints of architecture, fighting for alternative cultural concepts, hoping for a nonconformist lifestyle and total freedom. ~Wikipedia

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<< TREES >>

Carpenters Workshop Gallery in Paris brings Italian architect and designer Andrea Branzi, of Archizoom Association fame, his TREES exhibition; seven shelves, in different shapes and formats, in aluminium and birch wood.

“When birch tree forests are pruned or agricultural cultivations of fruit trees are picked, they are dispersed or burned. I have always been fascinated by these parts of nature, that continue to give off a grand expressive force, more powerful when they are combined with modern, perfect and industrial materials. They become mysterious, always diverse, unique, unrepeatable and somewhat sacred presences. Trees, trunks and branches are part of our ancient culture but also of actual culture, because in the age of globalization, design searches to trace recognizable ‘anthropologoical’ platforms. The collection, ‘Trees’ consists to place simple, everyday objects, books, and images next to the strange presence of branches and trunks, like in the reality of the world.”   Andrea Branzi

With « Trees », he adds a dimension, an extra slice of soul, as nature becomes art, a contemporary icon, an emotional window linked to the knowledge of the vital importance of this precious, common heritage. ~Carpenters Workshop Gallery

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Take A Peak

 

 1960s – Living with Art 
 This is the living room at “Four Winds” in Palm Beach, Florida, showing the collection of J. Patrick Lannan.  A huge painting by Nicholas Krushenick almost dwarfs the python covered sofa and Italian chairs below it.  Its vidid colors (?) are reflected in the brass around the mosaic top of a coffee table.

 1960s – Art Indoors and Out 
In one of the rooms devoted to the collection of the Lammam Foundation, even the furniture is art.  Two chairs and table by the Mexican sculptor, Pedro Friedeberg


  1960s – The New Look of Swimming Pools 
A delightful surprise is in store for first-time vistors to the DOnald Sheff’s pool at Great Neck, New York – a table top island emerging a few inches above the water level.  Like the pool and surrounding terrace, the island is built of concrete, but faced with mica stone that blends naturally with the encircling greenery and flowers.
1930s – The Coming and Going of Tides of Taste
In this exciting circular setting-combination studio-library-Katherine Brush writes her alluring tales.  California redwood burl with German silver moldings and green leather wainscot welted in black.  Chairs are black satin corded in green, the desk redwood burl with green leather top.  Carpet is green and black.  The architect was Joseph Urban; Irvin L. Scott, associate

1950s – Build the Outdoors Right into Your Kitchen or Bath
Kitchen designed by architect Thorton M. Abell, with Interior by Jane F. Ullman, showing barbecue grill, with revolving baffle, tiled counter, with translucent sliding panel that functions as a pass-through into the dining area.  Glass wall and skylight provide light and view of nature.


I’m giving you a peak into a book published in 1980 that I picked up at the Long Beach Antique Market last weekend.
These are my favorite pages and the captions that went with the photo.
*Attention.  Dinner will now be served in the pool.
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Home on the Nile

Last night I received the Jan/Feb issue of Elle Decor in the mail.   When I saw the lovely cover photo of a seaside cottage in Portugal, I had to wince a little.  I’ve already seen this photo many times online, perhaps on Tumblr and Pinterest.
Ok, I do understand how hard it must be to get content into a magazine and considering how long it takes to get it published, it is just not as fast as it would be as something posted online.  But when I saw 2 or 3 other homes inside this issue that I have already seen before,  well it kinda bummed me out.
BUT, one home I haven’t seen before and really fell in love with is Shoe Designer, Christian Louboutin’s private retreat in the Egyptian desert near the banks of the Nile. I love how it is not overly decorated, the clean and interesting lines of the architecture and the traditional furniture that DOESN’T fill up the space..  Nice.
See more photos and read the article here.

~Images via Elle Decor
~Photographer: Ivan Terestchenko

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Mad Love for Morocco

 
Majorelle Garden via moroccotravelblog
Villa Oasis –Lisl Dennis/”Living in Morocco,” Thames & Hudson via NYT
Villa Mabrouka via swide.com
Villa Oasis –Lisl Dennis/”Living in Morocco,” Thames & Hudson via NYT
via aestheteblog
Villa Oasis –Lisl Dennis/”Living in Morocco,” Thames & Hudson via NYT
via aestheteblog
photo by Ivan Terestchenko © 2009 courtesy of The Vendome Press, New York
This post was inspired by another movie I watched the other night, “L’Amour Fou,” a documentary about Yves Saint Laurent, the French couturier, narrated by Pierre Bergé, his partner in business and in life. You see, I haven’t really seen many movies since my son was born 3 1/2 years ago and we JUST got Netflix over the holidays, so you could say I’m catching up on MY viewing pleasure.

I LOVED this movie. It was full of amazing imagery; Yves Clothing of course, hanging with Andy Warhol, Mick Jagger & the likes from the 60s and 70s, the incredible collection of objects d′art which in 2009 sold at Christiesfor $484 Million, and the fabulous homes that Yves and Pierre owned. I’m totally fascinated by the ones they owned Morocco, 3 in total. Dar es Saada and *The Villa Oasis were both decorated by Bill Willis and Jacques Grange designed Villa Mabrouka.  *Both designers collaborated on Villa Oasis.

I found a great article in T Magazine on decorator Bill Willis here and another– The Things Yves Loved  on Vanity Fair.