Lost

We all rush after the beauty and sparkle of the ordinary things in live. We go to a shopping centre and see this piece and that thing and everything so artificial, manufactured and put there to get us spell bound. Yes, do not get me wrong, there are certain things that we need, some things that in it`s design form and function that is a piece of art. But those are usually for the few who truly understand them. It is like looking at a piece of Art. You can judge or critique it, but what is it that the artist is portraying. Is it a master piece due to technique, or is it the message that is being translated to us, or is it both? There is a very fine line between these things, and the majority of the worlds population just cannot see this. They look at art and wonder why, they cannot grasp the complex yet simpleness of it. Is it so hard to let your inner walls down, and entertain a thought only to eventually broaden and make yourself a better person, more diverse and interesting in nature. Not only that, but more educated as well. Not just running after everyday things, and one being money, and fame and all these unnecessary things we are exposed to.

I took a walk, and found a different world around me. I walked away from home, into a field with tall grass. There was a sense of fear in me, cause I didn`t know what to expect beyond the tall grass and trees. So I entered this cluster of trees, and suddenly felt I have a vantage point, and I felt safe for a moment. Surrounded by nothing, yet in this cluster of dense branches the sun was dancing around on the floor and I felt completely separated from everything else that bothers me. I wanted to take this feeling with me, just being me and clear of thought, purely enjoying the moment and having nothing to worry about. The warmth of the sun on my skin, and the sound of leaves rattling in the wind.

Walking back home, cars and people once again intruded and made me weary. Coming home, there was people and the irritating noise of voices and televisions and a heavy feeling coming over me. I cannot escape it, this cold and hard feeling of death and decay. It is killing me slowly, and finding me to become lost in it. If I need out, then it was now. But as all thing happen, nothing is instantly achievable. For me to find my own sanctuary and a place of quiet to turn to and let my thoughts wonder, this I accept is all part of settling in again, turning my back on this world, and finding myself again. My soul feels empty, and I can only wait. Wait for the day my soul can be relieved from all this evil and corruption, and misery.

I wish for a day where I can say: "I am me again, not judged by this world, nor involved in anything that drags my soul down and binds it to a pole exposed to the misery of this world. I can be free and live beautifully to be happy and content in my soul." Maybe to share this with someone else, but to know that we will do it as one. I have been through enough heartache and moments of bare lust, driving away anything that is humane, and causing my heart to harden every single time. It is like wearing a jacket, and every time you rub against something and it leaves a dirt mark, adding up as you walk. And at the end of the day, you are filthy and in dire need of a new jacket.

MIPIM report, Cannes

Wallpaper* was a first-timer in MIPIM this year, nevertheless we already knew that in the architecture world, the annual Cannes fair is almost shorthand for large property developments and big investments. It forces everybody to think more realistically about finances, and spells “business” much more clearly than similar gatherings in the architecture agenda, like the Venice Biennale or the London Festival of Architecture.

For more info and to read further please follow this link:

http://www.wallpaper.com/architecture/mipim-report-cannes/3197

INFORMATION

Website
http://www.mipim.com

Letter to Insanity.

Something beautiful is always to me a means of sadness and interrupted morale. I cannot seem to explain, but by finding beauty it has always fallen to me the undeviating curse of some intense sadness, yet we carry on and find something, making this beauty know to others. Even though in it`s most subtle ways of expression. They seem to find joy and pleasure from this, but it seems as though the totality of them in their souls laugh at us. Cursing us to become mere images of normality. Always bearing the fruits of mankind, and what they desire to see. Those close to us, the ones far away. My soul now has come to a point where it cannot be suppressed any longer. I feel as though I have been killed slowly by society, my whole lifetime. Every step is a pain full one, yet I kept on walking until this far. It is like new leather shoes, at first they are nice, then you wear them and they start to hurt, they hurt even more, until one day you realise there is no more pain. Then I could ask, is it that we just do not feel the pain anymore, but it is still there? In my life I have become numb to this pain, merely telling myself that this too shall pass. Putting a blindfold on, and treading along. Being led by sounds and images of imagination. Trying to see the world as a picture you have in your imagination. Becoming by force that that I don`t want to be. Could that be the cause of thing I didn`t see, or is due to the fact that I walked in this world consuming its normality's. Although in the same breath I could say I have become what I am, and only to change it and redirect myself into the path I want to walk. Imagine the possibilities if I could free myself from this, and become the person I should have been by now.

The Ecstasy of my being, the pure gravity therein weighs me down, yet pulls me up into a state of mind where creativity cannot be shared fast enough for the means of translation known is just not efficient to me. Bountifully my heart is, and filled with so much more than ordinary things. The love for my violin, and music and anything creative. A simple curved line can be beautiful, depending on so many factors though. Knowledge escapes us, myself, and my heart becomes weary and fills my eyes with tears as I see the masses trampling along, consuming and not finding the mere thing that drives us. I feel a deep pain, for myself and others, I wish to myself that I could express this thing inside of me, yet the means and ways are to elaborate for men of this place. And I would be crucified like a Jean de Arc for the extremity and blindness of ordinary men. The mere gesture of sanity would be trampled by the consuming masses, and there would only be the industrialist and the corporates.

Maybe my energy in this world is to small a thought, yet it does tell a tale of great significance. Then I find myself and my violin to be one, yet separated for this world, longing to be heard and grow and become more. To express the mere songs of joy and awe, to fall on the ears of a silent audience. To walk and stand tall, naked to the world, silent and to be the beauty of the moon by night, and be enthralled by the gracefulness of wonderful things.

And then again, my soul gets stung by the prick of this lives mere insanity. My creativity left to bleed and slowly die a bitter painful death.

II- Résultats de Schizanalyse.

Under my skins
Dreams of bliss
Sharp Bones of ink
and Razor-thin sins

With butter
Bread and narcotics
Red Creation down the gutter
On mother of pearl wrists

Eating numb angel skins
Or Dolls on shelves
A taste of Matrice
Id or Ego, of my Selves

Persona made out of clay
Art of Escapology
At Night my therapists say
"Tis' possibly Vanity over Sanity"
…

(II- from 'Bondage-stitched dreams)
by Fayçal J.
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=52901783559#/profile.php?id=621680709&v=info&viewas=645799738

"this winter there is no place like home. . ."

_home is one of the leading home ware stores in South Africa. A few years ago they launched their furniture range (livingspace) which has taken of with great success! Their new winter range (for those who live in the southern hemisphere) has launched, and is taking South Africa by storm. From textured scatters to funky and edgy monochrome prints, to 'black is back' combined with striking silver highlights and while white still makes a clean cut statement, right? Warmer undertones in white create a softer feel to a bedroom, where as cool whites keep you fresh and on edge for that office environment.

Have a look at their new winter range on this following link:
http://www.home.co.za/mirror.asp?linkpage=Catalogues/winter2009/main.html

INFORMATION

www.home.co.za

Contact Person: Matt (decor consultant)
Tel: 011 916 7900 / 3
email: MattP@home.co.za

Story Hotel: Stockholm

With design from the Swedish supremos at Koncept , Story is an amalgamation of heritage sophistication and contemporary innovation. Adapting original features from the period building, Koncept have maintained Story’s historical integrity, whilst expertly mingling bespoke design pieces throughout.

Filled with original wallpapers and wooden flooring, eclectic contemporary pieces dotted with artistic abandon and an understated tertiary pallet - Story is the ideal mix between comforting and cutting edge.

INFORMATION

Website
http://www.storyhotels.com

Telephone
46.8 5450 3940

Address
Story Hotel
Riddargatan 6
Stockholm
Sweden

Letter from Norway

The recent series of 'Norwegian Wood' projects has impressed with its experimental sustainable designs in wood. This innovative open-air stage has become a focal point in the centre of the municipality of Sandnes. The glass roof covers a level, flexible space, creating an acoustic shelter within the open public square - sound is amplified during concerts and background noise is reduced. The semi-transparent roof structure is supported on bunched columns in slender sections of solid, untreated oak – reminiscent of a cluster of trees. (September 2008)

Krzentowski collection at La Galerie des Galeries

The Galerie Lafayette, a Parisian institution for nigh on a century, has long been nurturing the raw creative talents of artists and designers alike.

In turn, the latest pioneering show set to grace its hallowed halls, Today More Than Yesterday and Less Than Tomorrow, is a model collaboration between two of the champions of the design underdog.

The show will present a selection of cherry-picked work from Didier and Clemence Krzentowski's seminal collection of design. Gradually accumulated over the last thirty years, the vast collection is one of the most influential and comprehensive in the world.

The Lafayette, more specifically La Galerie des Galeries (the top floor of the former), will - from the beginning of this month - host an exhibition of 164 pieces from the Krzentowski's collection.

Didier and Clemence, with the assistance of their own institution the Gallery Kreo, (now in its tenth year), have accrued some of the most prolific pieces of design ever produced.

The pioneering pair founded Gallery Kreo as a means of supporting, informing and fostering design talent - regularly resulting in creative collaborations between the Krzentowski's and their countless proteges.

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow, will be divided into sections representing 7 domestic locales (kitchen, office, bedroom etc) in order for viewers to appreciate each object in its own 'habitat'.

Resultantly, the fluidity of the Krzentowski's collective process is made astoundingly evident. Like a living, breathing mass, the collection can, in the words of the gallery, 'never be a finished whole'.

With work by industry heavyweights ranging from Le Corbusier to Hella Jongerius and Marc Newson to Rudolpho Benetto - the array of design on show is set to be a true reflection of the Krzentowski's enduring passion and, of course, their impeccable taste.

Regium Waterfront project, Italy, by Zaha Hadid

The upcoming Maxxi National Modern Art museum in Rome will be the first Italy project by Zaha Hadid to be completed in 2009, but meanwhile the architect has a growing number of ongoing projects all over the country, including a modern art museum in Cagliari, a housing block in Florence and a train station in Naples. Last week, one more was added to the list, when the agreement for the Regium Waterfront project was officially signed at the Italian embassy in London.

The complex, realised with private as well as public funding, will consist of two different buildings; a Museum of the Mediterranean History and a multifunctional building for performing arts, including a library, auditoriums, gym, craft workshop areas and a cinema. Keeping its connection with the Reggio Calabria area strong, the museum will be devoted to one of the most famous people coming from the region, Gianni Versace.

Website
http://www.zaha-hadid.com

Q&A with architect and director of Llewelyn Davies Yeang, Ken Yeang

Malaysian-born architect and director of Llewelyn Davies Yeang, Ken Yeang has been synonymous with skyscraper design for years; and his focus, embracing the growing demands of green design, swiftly developed into an extended analysis for the contemporary eco-skyscraper. He insists that in order to be both ecologically sustainable and high rise, a building needs to be the perfect balance between engineering infrastructure and mimicking nature - Yeang approaches each building as an addition to the earth’s living, breathing eco-system. Adopting techniques used in urban planning to analyse sites horizontally, he proposes their almost literal vertical application on skyscraper design – from circulation analysis, to vertical green zones.

In his new book, Eco Skyscrapers, the architect touches on aspects of his green design theory and presents stages of his 30-year-long research, through a plethora of plans, models, sketches, details and diagrams.


INFORMATION
Eco Skyscrapers, by Ken Yeang, (ed. Ivor Richards) Images Publishing

Website
http://www.ldavies.com