Category: Design

Bracha Haviv proposes Workshop for building modular bee nests

Designer Bracha Haviv devises a workshop for modular nests for wild bees, raising awareness of bee decline in nature. Nestincity, a platform focusing on wild bees, sheds light on their vital role and offers crucial aid for their survival in both natural landscapes and urban settings. The declining wild bee population, driven by the competition for nectar and pollen resources, habitat loss, and habitat destruction, underscores the urgency.

all images by Nadav Goren

nestincity sheds light on bee decline through a creative process

Through the innovative process of casting soil into dynamic molds, participants in the workshop, along with designer Bracha Haviv, will craft diverse nests for wild bees. This endeavor not only brings attention to the decline of bees but also engages participants in a hands-on, creative experience. The resulting bee habitats will be integrated into community gardens, contributing to the augmentation of pollinator populations.

Nestincity is a workshop for building modular nests for wild bees

the platform sheds light on bees’ vital role and offers crucial aid for their survival in nature

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jX29LeFhErY[/embed]

"When we bought the house, the walls of two of the rooms were covered with frescoes, but we knew there had to be more," the owners say, and indeed there were, quite a few as it turned out. From trompe l'oeil decorative details, to ornate floral patterns, to weathered fragments, the diverse collection of frescos that were uncovered imbue the interiors with a sense of artistic flair and nostalgic sophistication. Another gem they uncovered are the graniglia (terrazzo) floor tiles which date back to the 1930s. Featuring, in some cases, Art-Deco-inspired patterns, the polished terrazzo floors further add to the house’s charm, while oak parquet, installed where the terrazzo was beyond salvation, imbues the house with warmth.

In order to enhance the house’s historical charm, as previously mentioned, the owners have assembled an eclectic collection of antique and mid-century vintage furniture which they handpicked in local markets and Italian and Spanish merchants. Mixing époques and styles, the collection nevertheless comes harmoniously together, with each room boasting its own character in reflection of the property’s multi-layered architectural heritage.

Creative Director of Lore Group, Jacu Strauss uses exploration and experimentation to showcase the beauty, characteristics, and context of each project he brings to life. The destination where the property sits is just as important as everything else during his design process. While designing both Pulitzer Amsterdam and Riggs Washington DC hotels, Jacu actually relocated to each city to ensure that each property properly reflected the communities around them. Now that’s dedication.

“My baptism for hospitality design happened once I finished the Pulitzer in Amsterdam, only the second hotel I have ever worked on,” Jacu said. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime project with many challenges, but we overcame all the complexities with clever and unique solutions, and with a great attitude all the way. It was when this hotel opened, and seeing people’s delight when they walked in, that I realized that I wanted to design more and more unique hotels in wonderful (often unloved) buildings in amazing locations.”

Jacu and his team led the complete redesign of the award-winning Dutch hotel, Pulitzer Amsterdam, and Lore Group’s U.S. properties, Riggs Washington DC and Lyle. Most recently the team has overseen the redesign, refurbishment, and launch of One Hundred Shoreditch, a well-known hotel in East London. Jacu and his team even design and create bespoke furniture, fixtures, and equipment for each project.

Though firmly entrenched in the hospitality design industry, Jacu said that if he ever made a pivot to another creative medium it would be jewelry design, or anything to do with gemstones. “I grew up in an area famous for diamonds and gold and other precious natural gems, so I was always exposed to the beauty and diversity of all these bright and colorful things coming from mother earth, and how there is beauty in its raw forms and how through craft and human hands this beauty becomes a celebration.”

Currently London-based, Jacu has lived in several countries, beginning his architectural training in New Zealand and going on to study at the Bartlett School of Architecture and Westminster University in London.

Today, we’re happy to have Jacu Strauss joining us for Friday Five!

1. My Collection of Busts + Statues

I have a certain obsession with Greek and Roman antiquities, particularly busts and statues. I love these sections at museums. I have several examples, mostly reproductions, but I do have one from 1 or 2 BC where the face is long gone but the silhouette is enough of a “Memory” to recognize it being a statue of a man. I am intrigued by these imperfections caused by time that adds to the mystery and beauty. My other favorite is a meter tall bust of Antinous, the lover of Emperor Hadrian. He is a 60’s reproduction done for some fair. I bought him in the US and had him shipped over, where sadly his head broke off! But thanks to Rebekah Dunsmuir, he has been perfectly restored.

Photo: Gareth Gardner

2. Sir John Soane’s Museum in London

Just a magical museum showcasing the lifetime collection of English Architect Sir John Soane (1753-1837) in his London house. It is like a treasure cave, and unlike museums in general there is something particularly charming about the clutter in a domestic setting – loads of “grand tour” ancient pieces from Greece, Rome, Egypt and beyond. It resonates with my passion for collecting things on my journeys. I also like how he came up with certain “tricks” to display items, like the folding panels of art in his art room and how he used skylights (big and small), often through colored glass, in various rooms.

3. Verner Panton Heart Cone Chair

This is one of my favorite chairs of all time, it was designed in the 60s. I think it goes with almost all interiors as the ideal hero piece, I have used it in several different projects and it always works. It is also surprisingly comfortable and I think anyone sitting in one feels extra special.

4. Georgia Jacob’s Athene Lamps

I adore these lamps from the 70s. The shapes and pinkish beige tones and the light source are fantastic and they look great during the day, too.

5. Travel Items

It is hard to sometimes justify expensive luggage and travel pieces, but it makes all the difference. I love great travel cases by Rimowa and Away, long-term investments that make traveling a thousand times more tolerable, I especially love them even more with some wear and tear over the years. I also love British brand Smythson, they are fun and the quality and practicality are spot on. I have their Panama wallet in orange and a navy Passport holder – a gift from a friend when I became British earlier this year – and both are just perfect. The travel wallet even holds some sachets of Tabasco that I simply cannot travel without.

Work by Jacu Strauss:

Pulitzer Photo courtesy of Lore Group

One Hundred Shoreditch Lobby Bar Photo courtesy of Lore Group

One Hundred Shoreditch Photo courtesy of Lore Group

Kelly Beall is Director of Branded Content at Design Milk. The Pittsburgh-based writer and designer has had a deep love of art and design for as long as she can remember, from Fashion Plates to MoMA and far beyond. When not searching out the visual arts, she's likely sharing her favorite finds with others. Kelly can also be found tracking down new music, teaching herself to play the ukulele, or on the couch with her three pets – Bebe, Rainey, and Remy. Find her @designcrush on social.

Raymond Elbert Kelley, one of five children, was born on Dec. 1, 1951, in Sedro-Woolley, a logging and mill town. His father, Cecil, was a mechanic in a mill. His mother, Wanda (Janicki) Kelley, was a homemaker who baked her own bread and churned butter; her parents, Polish immigrants, had homesteaded the land Ray grew up on. The family raised beef and dairy cows.

Ray studied drafting in high school and attended Western Washington University on a football scholarship. He studied art there but dropped out after two years and started designing buildings. When he showed his swirling sketches to a local builder, he later recalled, the man said, “You better get a hammer, boy, because nobody is going to build this stuff for you.”

In addition to Ms. Howard, Mr. Kelley is survived by a brother, Tim; a daughter, Kumara Kelley; three sons, Rafe Kelley, Kai Farrar and Eli Erpenbach; and seven grandchildren. His marriage to Judy Farrar, in 1978, ended in divorce.

Mr. Kelley lived by a few credos, which included what he called “barefootism” — he adamantly eschewed footwear, believing that being barefoot was a grounding behavior that connected him to the earth’s energy, no matter the weather.

Ms. Howard recalled buying him a pair of boots one winter early in their relationship, and coming home one blizzardy day to find the boots by the door where she had left them and a track of footprints leading away from the house and disappearing into the deep snow.

“Dessert first” was another mantra. Mr. Kelley’s habit was to eat dessert before dinner, and he did so with terrific gusto — Mr. Tortorello of The Times recalled him enjoying a hot-from-the oven apple crisp with his bare hands. “His line,” Ms. Howard explained, “was, ‘You never know when your bubble’s going to pop, so eat dessert first.’”

Refik Anadol COLLABORATES WITH THE Yawanawá COMMUNITY

New media artist Refik Anadol collaborates with the Yawanawá community, indigenous to the Brazilian Amazon, on a multilayered digital artwork that responds to real-time data from the rainforest. Commissioned by Impact One, Winds of Yawanawá is composed of a central video artwork and a collection of 1,000 unique and dynamically evolving NFT data paintings. Anadol co-created the generative AI series together with the communities of Aldeia Sagrada and Nova Esperança, immersing viewers in a visual rendition of one of Earth’s most vital ecosystems – the Amazon rainforest – while highlighting the importance of protecting it. Each data painting harnesses weather data from the tribe’s village, including wind speed, gusts, direction, and temperature, which is then merged with works of young Yawanawá artists, resulting in a mesmerizing play of traditional shapes and colors of data pigmentation.

Refik Anadol, Yawanawá Chiefs Nixiwaka and Isku Kua, along with their family members Ninunihu and Ykashahu Yawanawá, unveiled the project at Scorpios Mykonos earlier in July to kickstart the Encounters In Resonance summer art program. Proceeds from the sale of the NFTs go directly to the Yawanawá community as part of a fundraising initiative to support them in protecting their natural and cultural heritage.

Event images by Fotinos Bakrisioris, artwork stills courtesy of the artist and Scorpios Mykonos

winds of yawanawá unveiled at Scorpios mykonos

Curated in collaboration with HOFA Gallery (House of Fine Art) and M. Stahl, the In Resonance two-day event at Scorpios brought together Refik Anadol and members of the Yawanawá community to the Greek island of Mykonos. Chiefs Nixiwaka and Isku Kua led a prayer and musical performance of traditional songs together with Nixiwaka’s daughter Ykashahu and Ninunihu, granddaughter of the great medicine man Yawarani, while the video artwork kept playing in a loop, serving as the heart of the event. To accompany and explain this historic initiative, CEO of Impact One Mikolaj Sekutowicz hosted a panel discussion to discuss the significance of the cross-industry collaboration from which the artwork emerged, and how Web3 can be used an additional driver of global stewardship of natural ecosystems.

‘I am a part of the new generation that has witnessed the new technologies arriving within our territories,’ Yawanawá Chief Isku Kua said while pondering the arrival of the new technologies to the Indigenous community. ‘We understood the need to adapt to these new instruments that you bring in order to adapt to this new reality. I don’t need to fight with my bow and arrows anymore. I only need to speak the same language as you. Who would have thought that indigenous people from the middle of the forest living in such a traditional way would today be launching an artwork with this artificial intelligence and all the technology it involves. It doesn’t make me and my people less Yawanawá or less indigenous. When I return back home I will be walking barefoot on the ground. I will continue to play in the river with my children and lighting my fire under the starry sky. But when I want to speak to you or to my brothers, I will take my phone and speak to whoever I want and continue protecting my forests in the same way. But now speaking the same language as you.’

Yawanawá chief Nixiwaka (left) and Refik Anadol (right) at Scorpios

A CENTRAL AI DATA SCULPTURE AND SERIES OF UNIQUE NFTS

Winds of Yawanawá consists of a central AI data sculpture and collection of 1,000 unique evolving NFT pieces. Each data painting is composed of a video with soundtrack, generated from the Winds of Yawanawá artwork video. Central to the creative process of the pieces are the young Yawanawá sisters Nawashahu and Mukashahu, whose artworks form the foundation and visual inspiration of Winds of Yawanawa, combined with traditional Yawanawá chants. Meanwhile, real-time weather data from the Yawanawá sacred village of Aldeia Sagrada flow into the central artwork and dictate its movement, making it a living and dynamically evolving representation of the community’s identity and its connection to the Amazon.

In support of the Yawanawá community, Refik Anadol and Impact One decided to waive their full share of the revenues from the NFT sales, with all proceeds given to the indigenous-led organization Instituto Nixiwaka. The funds will support their long-term initiatives for the protection of Yawanawá lands and cultural heritage, including a historical convening of indigenous peoples of the Amazon that will be held in the Yawanawá Sacred Village in 2024.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDS1X2EVMCQ[/embed]

the digital sculpture flows from the top before rising back up in an ever-shifting explosion of colors

the generative AI series is co-created with the communities of Aldeia Sagrada and Nova Esperança

central to the creative process of the pieces are the young Yawanawá sisters Nawashahu and Mukashahu

As its name suggests, the Cycladic island of Antiparos is in many ways the antithesis of its larger neighbor, Paros. Whereas the latter is a large, cosmopolitan island bustling with tourists thanks to its picture-perfect towns and villages, dramatic landscape, buzzing beach bars and high-decibel nightlife, the much smaller Antiparos is a tranquil, off-the-grid destination with a single settlement, flat, arid terrain, and a seriously laid-back rhythm. A bohemian getaway in the 1980s, the small island has remarkably managed to retain its unpretentious sensibility despite, or because of, having evolved lately into a haunt for American movie stars, global celebrities and old-money Greek shipping families.

The island’s combination of unflashy charm, chilled vibes and worldly sophistication is what attracted restaurateurs Thanasis Panourgias and Harry Spyrou to Antiparos after projects in Athens, Mykonos and New York. Their new bar-restaurant bardót, which opened its doors in June in collaboration with Los Angeles and London-based hotelier Leon Economidi, soulfully reflects the island’s seamless marriage of modernity and tradition. Working closely with the team, architect Andreas Kostopoulos, co-founder of the New York-based studio Manhattan Projects, has transformed the former home of a local shipbuilding family into a relaxed, effortlessly elegant venue that tiptoes between artisanal soulfulness and modernist starkness. Serving tapas-style dishes and signature cocktails based on local ingredients, bardót aims to capture modern Greece’s creative discourse with its past.

The Mater tile collection is a graphic lover’s dream come true. Designed by Patricia Urquiola for Mutina, the bold yet organic design is inspired by graphics from the 1950s and the artisanal ceramics of Vietri. Mater, a name derived from “matter,” is a nod to the earth used to create the tile’s neutral base.

“The collection started from the floor of the Mutina meeting room. Massimo and I strongly wanted to reinterpret that handcrafted tile. So we started this empathetic journey, made up of a lot of research and discoveries,” shared Urquiola. “In fact, inside Mater there is technology, experimentation, visual craftsmanship.”

The collection offers a selection of tactile surfaces that bring with them a strong visual impact, with glossy enamel playing a main role. An innovative VOC-free glazing technique is used to apply it that achieves the effect of a pleasant touch and striking color. Once finished, Mater’s geometric, saturated tiles are ready to cover residential and commercial environments – both inside and out.

Mater is produced in three size formats, 15x60cm, 60×60 cm, and 120×120 cm. Available in a basic version with neutral background in Uni Beige and Uni Moka, the two styles are able to develop into six with the Segno pattern. In Uni Beige it gives rise to the Segno Bianco, Segno Blue, and Segno Terra variants. Using Uni Moka it gives life to Segno Nero, Segno Verde, and Segno Ocra. The double finish and range of colors of the Mater collection gives you plenty of room to experiment, until you get the combination just right.

Blue Sign

Green Sign

Earth SIgn

Black Mark

White Sign

To learn more about the Mater tile collection, visit mutina.it.

Kelly Beall is Director of Branded Content at Design Milk. The Pittsburgh-based writer and designer has had a deep love of art and design for as long as she can remember, from Fashion Plates to MoMA and far beyond. When not searching out the visual arts, she's likely sharing her favorite finds with others. Kelly can also be found tracking down new music, teaching herself to play the ukulele, or on the couch with her three pets – Bebe, Rainey, and Remy. Find her @designcrush on social.