Form Plus Function

Usually I hate seeing the long days of summer disappear, the evenings on the deck, meals al fresco. But then I think of the pleasures of cozy evenings indoors: – candle light, fire in the fireplace and hearty stews.

I have a collection of brass candlesticks I use as a grouping with candles in fall colors.
(We import THE most fabulous candles from Denmark and sell them in our showroom in Santa Fe!)

This grouping of silver candlesticks with all white candles is a wonderful, elegant  choice, though.

Sometimes I come across photos of interiors that just speak to me because of their stark beauty.
I’d personally never be able to pull it off to choose just a few colors and stick with them – there are just too many colors that I love.  But I don’t even have to -  these rooms make me feel tranquil and good, just looking at them.

Ingo Maurer Lucellino

Ingo Maurer kokoro

The Kokoro by Ingo Maurer is a poetic, sensual creation that is so much more than just a table lamp.
Kokoro  is uniquely intriguing with its rich red color, gracefully formed swirl of handmade paper and the heart- shaped reflection  it casts onto the wall.
It is part of the MoMaNouchies series of lights by Ingo Maurer.
Ingo Maurer’s long-standing interest in materials and his passion for paper are combined with his admiration for Japanese art.

With the MaMo Nouchies series of lights , Ingo Maurer and Dagmar Mombach, who developed the technique for transforming the paper, pay homage to Isamu Noguchi, whose ideas were based on the traditional Japanese craft of Akari.
The name of the series comes from the first two letters of Maurer’s and Mombach’s last names, along with Nouchies, a pun on Noguchi.

In the Ingo Maurer showroom in Munich the Kokoro table lamp  is greeting you right as you enter, on a table with the guest book, setting the  stage for a great experience.

Ingo Maurer has for many years celebrated the simple beauty of the bare light bulb as the “perfect union of technology and poetry.”

Lucellino (1992), the bulb with angel’s wings made from goose feathers, is one of his most well-known pieces.

Ingo Maurer Lucellino Table Lamp

It is here shown in front of the LED wall paper by Ingo Maurer.

The  Lacrime del Pescatore by Ingo Maurer is here shown at Spazio Krizia in Milan.
What a spectacular installation!

I stumbled across the photo on the Chelliswilson  blog (http://chelliswilson.blogspot.com/2009/09/more-maurer.html) and ended up spending the next half hour on their site.

I have photographed the Lacrime del Pescatore myself several times and it’s really hard to gauge the size of it, probably because it stretches from corner to corner and each installation therefore looks different.

But here are the hard facts:

Three nets with 350 crystals. Top net: 56″ x 56″, middle net: 40″ x 40″, bottom net: 28″ x 28″. Overall height: 32″.
Weight: 7.7lbs

From Denmark – the Collage pendant light from Louis Poulsen.  Like light filtered through branches of a tree there is a constant play of  light and shadows which changes when  the fixture is viewed from different angles.
It is constructed using three pieces of laser-cut, glossy extruded acrylic.
Available in 5 colors with enticing names: Hotlips, Juicy Orange, Lemon Yellow, Smoke Screen and Snow White.
Great for application in conference rooms, restaurants, retail environments, lounge areas, over dining tables and sitting areas.

Collage pendant light from Louis Poulsen

Collage pendant light from Louis Poulsen

Collage Pendant Light from Louis Poulsen

Collage Pendant Light from Louis Poulsen

I was leafing through the most recent copy of Metropolis Magazine when I came across an article about a fabulous new restaurant in Philadelphia: Mark Vetri’s Amis Trattoria. The reason for my interest (aside from being an absolute fan of great food ) is the fact that we provided the Ingo Maurer Campari Lights for the restaurant.Will have to make a trip to Philadelphia to visit the place!!

“Marc Vetri, one of Philadelphia’s most celebrated chefs, had a somewhat atypical goal in mind when he sat down with the architect Michael Gruber to plan Amis, his newest addition to the local food scene. “I really wanted to create a neighborhood gathering place, a social space,” Vetri says.

Located in an old factory due east of Rittenhouse Square, the 90-seat restaurant has the look, and the slightly worn patina, of a place that’s been around for decades, instead of months. “The typical trattoria is very undesigned,” says Gruber, a principal at Jagr: Projects. “We don’t know how to do anything with no design what-soever, so what we worked for was something that wasn’t overwrought.”

Amis is a collage of the reclaimed and repurposed. “The building itself
is an old warehouse,” says Gruber, who had previously collaborated with Vetri on the restaurant Osteria. “The concrete, cement, and original windows were all retained. The artwork is old industrial molds that we found. Some of the lighting fixtures we got from architectural salvage yards. The communal tables are scraps of wood from a cabinetmaker’s shop that we glued together into butcher block.”

The restaurant’s spatial cues—clear sight lines, a wide bar suitable for dining, communal tables, and an open, convivial kitchen—all contribute to the social atmosphere. “Certain restaurants are like coffee shops,” Vetri says. “You don’t really go to a coffee shop for coffee. You go to hang out, to meet people. They’re about creating community. Recently, I think, restaurants have taken on that role.” —Martin C. Pedersen

hotel alexandra, copenhagen

Hotel Alexandria in Copenhagen, Denmark is on my list of my favorite hotels in the world.

Having grown up in Denmark during the good old times when the Danish design classics were contemporary (am I dating myself? – Oh well) I am on a high when I come across a collection like this. Exquisite!

Hotel Alexandria, Copenhagen, Denmark

Beautiful Outdoor Dining

Just had to share this romantic dining spot.
I especially like the chandelier!
Why not bring some romance outdoors?
Everything just feels so cozy on this porch: the colorful chairs that special because they don’t match, the whitewashed peeling paint.

I want to sit down for a nice long dinner with friends!

Home Envy is a great Australian blog with lots and lots of really beautiful home photos.

Worth visiting!