Retail Therapy

I may not be able to afford to purchase anything besides perhaps an accessory of little use in these shops but I just couldn't miss checking out their delicious spaces.

1st
the entrance to comme des garcon an impressive moncoque structure by future systems leads you through... too bad the employees make you feel like a bum that just walked in off the street. Ugh if you are going to follow my every move could you at least say hi and be friendly?

2nd
new super minimalist outpost of Yohji Yamamoto in NYC by Junya Ishigami Ahh super friendly in here in fact I could peruse all day the pieces of hanging art they are calling clothes.

3rd
Just a gorgeous door we walked by in SoHo that I had to take a snap of.

4th
Ahh this gritty but lovely space was the conception of the same designer as the clothing that inhabits. Its right down the street from Yohji Yamamoto and down a flight of stairs which is where I came across this ingenious light fixture. mmmm so delightful and simple. I wish I could remember the name of the designer. Does anyone know?

UPDATE: Here is the space.... I mentioned directly above and it wasn't as I was informed designed by the clothing designer...

Marc Dizon, Principal Partner of ORB, the Manhattan based architecture, interiors, and design group has designed the Buckler meanswear flagship store, located in New York City's fashionable Meatpacking District.
Dizon, one of New York's hottest emerging designers, specializes in the creation of avant-garde retail, restaurant, and hotel space.
"We wanted to be in the Meatpacking District and we wanted to be underground, so that's what we did, literally," said Dizon.
The 3,000 square feet subterranean retail space, located in a former copper smelting factory, features design elements inspired by the installations of British artist Damien Hirst.

Exposed wood beams run the length of the room with cast iron and wood columns supporting the ceiling and white porcelain walls.

Full height glass walls separate the showroom and the office from the retail space.
"When lit from behind, the glass transforms into a dreamlike reflection of carved, vaulted spaces, but when lit from the front, the glass takes on a mirror effect showing a ghosted trace of the spaces beyond.


I also got a chance to stop by the following and recommend taking a peek.

Alexander Mcqueen by London architect William Russell
Stella McCartney by Universal Design Studio
Ted Meuhling

SANAA

Mr. J and I were able to stop and see the new museum while in NYC. Love love love that it reminds me of a stack of hat boxes and of course its inelegance posing as elegance. Who wouldn't fall for a museum that has "hell yes" in rainbow bubble type across its facade. Sanaa is a collaboration between two Japanese architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa. I also have a taste for their restrained and exquisite candylike drawings of floor plans elevations.

Kiosk Kiosk

While we were in New York you know we had to stop by and check out Kiosk. We met the ever delightful Alisa Grifo who is just as refreshing an individual as the collections she brings to you. I've always collected little items that speak of their origins from my travels so needless to say when I came across Kiosk for the first time I definitely had the 'why didn't I think of that' thought running through my head.

And p.s. you can see a little sneak peak into my place over here

ICFF: Molo

Even though molo wasn't showing us anything new I loved the environments they created.

I think thats enough ICFF if you wish to see the rest of my photos go here.

Also since blogger has updated some kinks it has passed them on to me. Does anyone know how to fix the words that are creeping up the sides of my posts after I've taken great pains to make sure all lines of text remain at the bottom of the images? If not forgive the way my blog is looking until I can fix each and every post. How very annoying! Thanks Blogger!

ICFF: Lladro

Lladro was one of those that really took me by surprise. Perhaps this is because I think back and remember my mother wanting all of the figures in their nativity scene. Suffice it to say I never really thought of them as cutting edge... pretty little figurines but not cutting edge. But it looks like things have changed since then... or since Jaime Hayon has taken over as art director and all I can say is WOW!

ICFF: Contra Forma

Three stars for anyone who can tell me whose puzzle rug this might be. I can't find her information. It might have been tossed at the airport when they threatened to charge me $80 for my overweight luggage. It's similar to Flor but more fun and comes in packs of 50 pieces if I remember correctly.
** update I figured it out... Its by Contra Forma and its called 'Imperial' and comes in packs of 10 and the darling I spoke with and who designed them is Nauris Kalinauskas.

ICFF: CCA

It was good to see CCA out there and doin it. Their booth was well designed with quite a few juicy pieces. My fave of course was the terrariums by Liz Boscacci but you knew that didn't you.

ICFF: Birds of Fancy

I was awestruck when I came across this chandelier by Yeni Mao. Each piece is a casting of a birds skull it even chimes if it is blown or strikes against itself. You can find it at artware. You'll also find a lovely story of the Chukar bird is entwined in its formation.

ICFF: Pablo

The Uber talented Pablo and his new led lights. I'm a bit partial of course because while I was still in school and working at Limn is where I first met Pablo for we carried some of his first designs. His breadth of work from then until now is breathtaking. There is just one bummer here I have no idea where the photos of the genius magnetic task lights are. I think I saw them over at Design Sponge... nope its was mocoloco. In fact I think I need one of those.
And I'm not the only one who is partial Pablo won best lighting for the show.

ICFF: Blob Wall

Greg Lynns' blob wall. While I love the story of how it came about ( He was inspired by all the toys that were left around the place by his little one and just the shear number of toys you go through with kids in the house) I'm not so sure about the name, 'blob wall' is not selling it to me. (Toys ended up not being the bricks for their incredible mark-up made them not viable but their material of choice polymers are what were used)
Each brick is cut with high precision automotive robots which are fairly inexpensive considering the recent hit the automotive industry has taken.
What I do love abut this piece is that its not a one off like a lot of his work. This one actually has to be reproduced in a fair amount of numbers and configurations.

ICFF: The Dutch

Per usual the Dutch kicked my arse.

ICFF

So I fell off the map for awhile. I think I needed to just get into my schedule again after the craziness of nonstop New York.

I also know you have all seen loads of coverage of the ICFF but I'm pretty sure you didn't see these guys floating around blogland. What a hoot, this guy's booth is attracting people of the same colors and material ... plastic!

Walking around with all these crazy characters around me (as a show of this caliber is surely to pull in) made me want to record them all.

Now its not really my thing, all these plastic pieces but, they did put a smile on my face.

I also ran into the lovely Grace Bonney of Design Sponge and Kristina of Three Layer Cake which was (of course) super exciting to meet such talented ladies in the flesh.