I’m not a person who likes to wear watches, but the black one isn’t that bad.  I’d prefer not to know the time.

designer philippe starck and the watch maker fossil released two new watches in their ongoing

collaboration. palindrome too and veiled are the two new models. palindrome too is an update of

a previous model featuring a polyurethane strap and stainless steel face. the watch tells the time

through two dials each with a single hand. the hours are on the left and the minutes on the right.

the watch comes in two colour combinations including black, silver and gray, orange. veiled on

the other hand is a more traditional design featuring a black stainless steel bracelet and two handed

face. the design is stripped down to only the basics and the face is partly covered to make it blend

into the rest of the bracelet. the new veiled is a slimmed down version of a previous design.

via philippe starck: new fossil watches.

We are being bombarded with information that’s ethical, organic, sustainable, ecological, green… Is this another attack of marketing? Another strategy to sell more? On the contrary, the dictatorship of anti-consumerism? Maybe just the result of the sad ecological assessment: global warming, species disappearance, weather shocks… It appears that emergency is real and the World is in our hands!

Interior designers seem to have worked hard lately to think about a sustainable home in the years to come, and I’d like to focus on how one can make its home greener in France, being fun, creative and fashion forward.

Cardboard Design

In the world of green furniture, cardboard furniture is most evidently one of the biggest revolutions. I can’t think of my Grand Mother buying a cardboard dresser or even imagine it! However, it is fun, green, cheap, light, cardboard is known to be recyclable and biodegradable and despite beliefs, it is a very strong material! Table, chest of drawers, bed, armchair, bookcase… The most crazy shapes and colors are to be found all over the house. There is no such need of coatings, solvents or toxic glues and the energetic cost of production is very low, especially when the cardboard has already been recycled!

The Parisian Christophe Flahaut, who created tonkR is undoubtedly one of the industry leaders. All his creation are hand-crafted but sold at reasonable prices ranging for example from 800 to 1000 euros for a chest drawer. More industrial pieces are to be found on this market too, as it is the case with Orika and its set of four chairs and a table sold for 154 euros!

 Flea Market

Shopping in flea markets is fun, full of discoveries, nice smells, reminds you of the good all times and makes the perfect Sunday walkway. And as you all know, buying antiques means recycling. As a real amateur of old furniture and antiques, I have a predilection for the Montreuil and Vanves “Puces”.

The one in Porte de Vanves (Avenue Georges-Lafenestre and Avenue Marc Sangnier)  has an enormous range of bric-a-brac antiques, whereas the Puces de Montreuil (cross the ring road and make a left) is more into pieces of furniture as such. These two flea markets are open on Saturday, Sunday and Monday in Montreuil all year round, from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM.

 Personal Wind Turbine

After proclaiming that “everything he had ever designed was useless” Philippe Starck started designing something truly useful and trendy: a mini-turbine for people to use at home to generate their own wind power. The mini-turbine is made of clear polycarbonate and is said to be capable of providing 20-60% of the power needs for the average home. It comes in stainless steel, bright orange or a transparent plastic that will be almost invisible on your roof.

The Starck turbine is being developed in conjunction with Pramac Lifter France, and after a couple years of research and hard work, it will be available this coming December with a price tag around 400 € for the smaller version (150w), plus connectic costs, and price of the roller and battery. The future distributors are kept secret until the formal launch but The Conran Shop could be a good guess!

The first Starck turbine to be released will be the1000w model followed by the 400w and 150w in the weeks to come.

Hotel Mama Shelter Paris

109 rue de Bagnolet 75020 Paris. Tel +33 (0)1 43 48 48 48

Both sensual and comfortable, the 172 rooms have the feel of a sensual refuge with their five star bedding  (including 100% cotton satiny smooth sheets), a microwave oven, minibar, 24 inch IMAC (TV, radio, cd/dvd, Internet… and free wifi), an office where you can work or write a love letter, an elegant and functional bathroom… and some surprises to unearth.

Across from the reception desk, there is a large square table equipped with two 24 inch IMACs available for reading and sending e-mails or printing important documents.

www.mamashelter.com

Design for Life, reality donde 10 diseñadores se enfretan a Phillpie Starck, para ganarse un lugar en su estudio.

And so it happened. Here is the last episode of Design for life with Philippe Starck. Did you guess who’s going to win?

And what do I think about it… controversial? Yes. Interesting? Indeed. Showing design thinking out of the box? Definitely so.

I do hope you liked the series as much as me.

—–

No i koniec. Ponizej ostatni odcinek Design for life z Philippem Starckiem. Zgadliscie kto wygral?

A co ja mysle o programie… Kontrowersyjny? Tak. Ciekawy? A jakze. Pokazujacy zupelnie inny wymiar dezajnu? Jak najbardziej.
Mam nadzieje ze ta seria podobala Wam sie tak samo jak mi.

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trabajó con el señor marketing Philippe Starck y con Denis Santachiara ( el que diseño la lampara que proyectaba ovejas saltando una valla )  , se tomó todos los Bombay Saphire de todas las barras de los bares parisinos para luego recrear los productos de esa gran marca, se sentó en todos los sofás para repensarlos y diseñarlos a su manera, y lo más rico para quien escribe , es su amor por los colores y el marketing, sus creaciones  son cuadros que rebosan de alegría.
Ella cree que el diseño es una actitud respecto a la vida, no tiene que ver con las formas o con los materiales, tiene que ver con las preguntas y con la vida cambiante, con la antropología del diseño.

un bloody bien rojo para Matali Crasset.

Un boudoir moderne aux saveurs en demi tons

Situé en plein triangle d’or parisien, le restaurant de Flora Mikula, Les Saveurs de Flora, a trouvé refuge dans un écrin feutré, aux allures de boudoir chic et moderne. L’établissement signe là une véritable ode à la féminité et promet un élégant diner romantique où se croisent notes méditerranéennes, cuisine du monde et savoir-faire reconnu puisque Flora fut auparavant le second d’Alain Passard à l’Arpège***.

Le décor tendrement féminin offre une véritable petite bulle cosy au cœur de l’activité incessante de la capitale. L’atmosphère y est délicieusement ouatée comme celle d’un boudoir d’antan et s’exprime en couleurs susurrées et poudrées largement dominées par le rose. Lustres scintillants, tables coquettes, soie et papier peint naïf lui donnent un air coquin où se confondent esprits contemporain et rétro. Signé Dorothée Boissier, disciple de Starck, le cadre se fait ainsi intimiste et enjôleur.

Le lieu est donc très prometteur. Malgré les critiques dithyrambiques des guides gastronomiques et des gourmets inspirés par cette cuisine, nous avons été surpris hier soir par la qualité des mets. Nos attentes étaient sans nul doute tout autres…

Pour commencer, la carte pourrait encore mieux se prêter au rêver et au voyage en jouant à la fois sur les mots et la mise en page. Ensuite, la présentation des plats, qui reste relativement soignée et emprunte de raffinement, mériterait de séduire davantage les yeux: il ne faut pas oublier que ce sont eux qui offrent aux papilles leurs premiers émois gourmands.

La cuisine quant à elle manque de toute évidence de finesse… Très dommage étant donné le CV du chef. Le met imaginé autour de la langoustine propose notamment un consommé épicé à la citronnelle: celui-ci est tellement relevé qu’il masque l’intérêt du plat et surtout la chair exquise du fruit de mer délicat. Le risotto au homard ne dévoile aucune saveur subtile lui non plus: ce crustacé recherché manque littéralement de goût, et le peu de riz se noie dans une sauce-émulsion aux fruits de mer. Quant au dessert, le macaron à la pistache est très loin d’être aussi léger et fondant que celui d’un macaron Ladurée ou Pierre Hermé: il se découpe difficilement et porte un chapeau de fruits exotiques entouré de sucres pétillants sans intérêt.

Il ne manque sans doute pas grand chose à cette table pour faire exploser les saveurs en bouche, ou peut-être ne sommes-nous tout simplement pas sensibles à celles exprimées par Flora Mikula. Une chose est sûre, nous avons trouvé l’addition fortement salée pour la qualité proposée.

Les Saveurs de Flora, 36 avenue George V, 75008 Paris. Réservation au 01 40 70 10 49

http://www.lessaveursdeflora.com/

S’il n’est pas nécessaire de présenter le célèbre designer Philippe Starck, sa collaboration avec LaCie est quant à elle indispensable. Ceux-ci ont en effet créé les magnifiques disques durs LaCie Starck Desktop et Mobile, de 320 Go à 2 To, dans un style aluminium et chromé vraiment bluffant. La version bureau innove également par la surface tactile en façade, vous permettant d’ouvrir rapidement l’application de votre choix d’un simple toucher. Prix : de 110 à 270 €.

Un cadeau design et original pour Noël, non?

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

…and the next episode

——-
…i kolejny odcinek

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Despite some really bad press that the show has received I’m really enjoying the new reality TV series, Design for Life,  that started on the 14th September and is shown on BBC2. I’m afraid I can’t tell you what day or time it is on as I always miss it, but you can watch it on iplayer if you live in the UK.

The series is basically based on Philippe Starck’s hunt for the next big British Designer. The aim of the series, according to Starck, is no less than to create an ‘English style’ as he believes that the Brits haven’t had a new national design aesthetic since Terence Conran opened his first branch of Habitat in the early 1960s.

Slightly ironic I would say that a French man is trying to create an English style and exactly how English it can be if it has been created by a French man I do not know.

The series started out with 12 eager designers, all chosen by Starck himself, to compete against each other for a six-month placement working as part of his ‘tribe’ in his Paris Studio. In the program, which is basically Philippe Starck’s version of The Apprentice, Starck sets the designers creative tasks and each week he eliminates the weakest.

I must say I was very pleased to see Polly Firth in the programme as I had picked her out as a designer to watch from New Designers 2008. I was also happy to see Nebil sent home so early on. I found him somewhat over confident, but luckily Starck had him sussed, much to his surprise.

I shall be catching up on the programmes I have missed tonight on iplayer and at this point in time I would have to say that my money is on Ilsa Parry to win the series.

You remember when I said Design for Life starring the genious Philippe Starck has started on BBC a few weeks ago?

Well it turned out that BBC iPlayer is only available in the UK so for those who asked to see it.. here you go

First episode here:

Further episodes will follow shortly

————
Pamietacie jak mowilam ze nowy program Design for Life ktorego prowadzacym jest wspanialy projektant Philippe Starck zaczal sie niedawno na BBC?

Daliscie mi znac ze BBB iPlayer do ktorego podalam wczesniej link nie dziala w PL, dlatego powyzej wklejam pierwszy odcinek.

Kolejne niedlugo

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Miroir, mon beau miroir, dis moi que Philippe STARCK est le plus original.

Voici la sublime collection de miroirs conçue par le design français Philippe STARCK , pour XO DESIGN intitulée ” L’Oreille qui voit “.

Le concept, le mélange des sens.

L’oreille n’entend plus chez Starck, elle voit. Quelle ingénieuse idée, pour un miroir design totalement décalé, où notre reflet apparaît dans une étrange oreille oversize.

Quand l’art s’invite dans votre salle de bain…

Existe en 4 dimensions, finition en feuille d’argent véritable.

LaCie hat sich neue externe Festplatten ausgedacht, die nicht nur optisch was hermachen, sondern auch bei den Funktionen Neues zu bieten haben.

Die Front der Speichergeräte, die irgendwie nach verflüssigtem Metall aussieht, soll nämlich nicht nur nach was aussehen, sondern sie dient auch als personalisierbarer Touchscreen.

Was bedeutet, dass man mit kurzem Anklopfen die eineAktion auslösen kann und mit einem langen Fingerstrich eine andere. Dumm nur, dass man sich das dann auch noch irgendwie merken muss, um kein  heilloses Durcheinander im eigenen Datenbestand auszulösen.

Die Festplatten, deren Design von Philippe Starck kommt(der sein Logo als LED-Anzeige auf den Untergrund projizieren lässt) gibt’s in eckig und oval/abgerundet mit Kapazitäten von 320GB bis 2TB zu Preisen von 100 bis 250 Dollar. [dieter]

[via Gizmodo]

I having been watching the tv reality series Design for Life and I have to say, where on earth did they find these people.

The show, in a nutshell, is a competition between 12 people with the prize being a 6 month work placement under the auspices of Philippe Starck. According to The Independent “Starck’s quest is to discover the next generation of British design talent in a BBC2 10-week fly-on-the-wall series.” If this is the best of our next generation of designers then god help us.

With no passion, fire, creativity or even an ounce of simple hard work these 12 are dwindled down to 4 in an even shorter number of weeks. They all have some sort of design background and were selected, by Starck, out of hundreds based on a design they each submitted. One candidate stood out in the beginning, above the rest, doing well in the first task. Described in the press release:  ”At the tender age of 22, Nebil’s confidence is astounding…” In other words, a bit of a tit. And it didn’t take long for that to become apparent. Any potential he may have remotely had was completely destroyed by a self-inflated ego. He was entertaining though, in a weird kind of way.

The rest of the candidates, they all seem nice enough, in a nice sort of way. In the sort of way that a office clerk is nice. Nice but dull. Like dishwater.

No matter what you think of Starck, he is anything but dull and rarely would people describe him with the word nice. He is outspoken, over-opinionated, controversial and a slight egotist. But he is never dull. He is never just nice. Which is why it is funny when he is upset that a bunch of nice, dull people can’t give him what he wants.

They are clueless. Desperately trying to unravel what it is Starck wants them to do while not really achieving anything at all. Their demise is enjoyable. They start full of confidence and over inflation that seem to come as standard these days with this generation. They big themselves up. It is TV after all. It doesn’t last long.

Starck’s tasks are pretty basic. Really. He gives them freedom to do anything they want. Sure you can argue that anything is a pretty big concept. So big you could get lost in it. But I could come up with something better than a lampshade cum baseball bat for attacking intruders when given two weeks to design something that fits the brief: design something that would benefit humanity.

I am no designer, and I don’t want to suggest design is easy, but come on, two weeks and all you come up with is a drawing of a container that is supposed to make smoothies but you have no idea how the smoothie mechanism is going to work. You have the container though. Its a start at least. And this was presented by the wally who claimed he really, really wanted to win, more than anything else, ever. Its kind of sad that he even looked disappointed when Starck sent him home. Honestly, you get out what you put in.

It is laughable. Starck is terribly disappointed. So are the candidates. They want to be told to redesign X, where X is a small basic thing. Like a toothbrush. Starck wants new ideas. He was looking for creative geniuses and instead he ended up with a bunch of comfortable people who like comfortable things. People whose idea of a hard day’s work is 9 to 5. People who like to be told exactly what to do and when to do it and, if possible. how to do it and then go the pub for a quiet pint afterwards. Starck told them to go design him something and their minds seemed to collapse inside themselves.

In the last episode the remaining candidates had stepped up their game a bit. They actually seemed to be working harder. The final results were still pretty dire. After two weeks, no one is expecting perfection. However they have to better than a few drawings and pictures to win an opportunity to work with their hero.

Design is not easy. Coming up with new concepts that actually work is tough. That’s why people are paid a lot of money to do this. But in this show, no one is looking for perfection, or the next greatest idea. Starck is merely looking for a hard-working, creative individual who can think outside a box, even just a little.

There are a few more episodes left. Four people remain. Whether anyone actually makes it to the final is anyone’s guess.

Carrefour gigantesque de Shibuya, enseignes et signalisations omniprésentes à Shinjuku, lumières crues de néon, foules disciplinées mais pressées s’élançant pour traverser en choeur d’immenses passages piétons… Tokyo est une ville pressée et constamment baignée de lumière. Cris des hommes sandwich racolant pour des commerces divers, sirènes d’ambulances, corbeaux, jingles publicitaires lancinants des grands magasins qui envahissent les rues (cf. vidéo ci-dessous)… Tokyo est aussi une ville (très) bruyante. Amour des mangas et magasins d’électronique gigantesques à Akihabara, quartier futuriste d’Odaiba, quête sans cesse renouvelée de la dernière mode vestimentaire à Harajuku… Tokyo, enfin, est une ville assoiffée de modernité et de changement.

Une ville que nous avons adorée, donc, à l’atmosphère passionnante et stimulante, mais qui donne parfois envie de se ressourcer dans un quartier plus calme et à l’architecture ancienne mieux conservée… Heureusement, il suffit de tourner le dos aux dernières merveilles technologiques d’Akihabara et marcher quelques centaines de mètres pour gagner le sympathique quartier populaire d’Asakusa.

Situé dans l’ancienne shitamachi (ville basse des quartiers populaires), cet ancien quartier de plaisirs d’Edo puis Tokyo a longuement prospéré autour de ses parcs d’attractions, cinémas, théâtres de kabuki, cabarets et maisons closes avant de rater le tournant de la reconstruction en 1945. Il s’est apparemment recentré sur le commerce plus orthodoxe des ustensiles de cuisine et de restauration, à en croire les nombreuses échoppes de ce type qui peuplent aujourd’hui les principales rues du quartier. Des casseroles et couteaux à découper aux plats de service en passant par tabliers et pantalons, cet étonnant décor n’est perturbé que par quelques étalages incongrus d’objets publicitaires américains des années 1950, pompes à essence rouillées et autres verres de Coca Cola patinés.

Pour le reste, les habitations traditionnelles restent largement représentées, notamment aux alentours du temple bouddhiste de Senso-ji, construit en 645 et qui demeure le coeur incontesté de la vie du quartier. Erigé en l’honneur de Kannon, déesse de la miséricorde, Senso-ji est un lieu de pèlerinage extrêmement populaire. Le grand brûleur d’encens circulaire qui trône devant son entrée attire les nombreux fidèles qui brassent l’air de leurs mains pour s’asperger de sa fumée purificatrice. Le halo qui l’entoure produit une impression étrange qui ajoute à l’atmosphère unique de ce lieu où profond recueillement des pèlerins et joie de vivre des locaux vaquant à leurs occupations cohabitent le plus naturellement du monde.

Quelques allées plus loin, des bistrots minuscules accueillent des discussions animées, partiellement éclairées par une douce lumière qui filtre à travers des tonnelles. Attiré par cette lumière magnifique, notre regard croise bientôt celui d’un chien qui, installé sur une chaise en toile, tente sans succès d’attirer l’attention de son maître absorbé dans la lecture de son journal. Pas moyen de lier contact avec Fido, mais une tranche de vie paisible et rafraîchissante servie par une lumière exceptionnelle ; de bonnes images en perspective ? Le développement des rouleaux de pellicules nous le dira… Quelques images digitales ci-dessous pour commencer :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10301605@N04/sets/72157622401625481/detail/

Encore quelques rues du même type, puis la modernité reprend ses droits à l’approche de la rivière Sumida. Sur sa rive est se dresse le bâtiment « La Flamme », siège des brasseries Asahi conçu par le prolifique Philippe Starck en 1989. L’énorme flamme dorée qui surmonte le bâtiment principal en granit noir est effectivement spectaculaire mais pas au goût de tout le monde, puisqu’elle a été surnommée « golden turd », ou crotte dorée… En tout cas, elle ne laisse pas indifférent ! Et si vous voulez vous faire une idée :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Asahi_Breweries_Head_Office.jpg

Après avoir passé un peu de temps dans une galerie photo très sympa, il est temps pour nous de nous restaurer. C’est alors que nous tombons sur un restaurant à l’enseigne de Sushi-Zanmai, mini-chaîne tokyoïte dont nous avons entendu beaucoup de bien. C’est notre dernière chance de nous régaler de sushis et sashimis, alors que nos tentatives en la matière nous ont un peu déçus, même si nous avons adoré la cuisine japonaise dans son ensemble. On tente ? Allons-y – accueil très sympa, on s’assoit au comptoir où on peut voir travailler les itamae (chefs sushi), on passe commande, on attaque… Et on est absolument bluffés ! L’encornet est merveilleusement doux, la coquille Saint-Jacques très goûteuse et le thon fond en bouche de manière incroyable. Enfin, les sushis dont nous nous régalons sont réellement différents de ceux que nous avions goûtés à Paris et Londres ! Le riz est parfaitement pressé, le wasabi pas trop présent et le gingembre très frais. Le bonheur, partagé d’ailleurs par les habitués qui prennent leur temps (assez incroyable dans un restaurant au Japon).

On déguste lentement nos nigiri, histoire de savourer jusqu’au bout ce moment unique, puis on part tranquillement retrouver les gratte-ciel et l’agitation de Shinjuku, ravis d’avoir découvert un Tokyo différent et des sushis incomparables… 

It was great to listen to Radio 4 last week and hear the guys from Preston is my Paris discussing their love for the city while describing their inspiration for their new exhibition.

Obviously taking their name from the classic Clarke’s shoes advert of some years ago, they run an ezine of the same name and had just launched their new exhibition. Wish I’d known about it earlier as I’d love to have gone to the launch, had it not been the same night as Design Conscious‘ private opening of their new trade showroom.

Featuring the design world’s biggest names, Design Conscious stock everything the contemporary living space would ever need. The showroom has been open for a while but the new lighting section has literally only gone live this week.

Leon Lemmen (KFF), Jacqui Jones (Design Conscious), Janet Robinson (Inspire Bespoke) and Piergiovanni Longarini (Rotaliana)

Owned by a good friend of mine, Jacqui Jones, and business mentor extraordinaire, this was never going to have been an ordinary night.

For a start she hired award-winning chef, Iain Martin, to do the catering and to ensure that it reflected style, cosmopolitanism and exceptional taste. So it really was a case of Burnley meets Milan. We dined on mini pizzas, smoked salmon breadsticks, Lancashire cheese and gooseberry chutney tartlets,  mini fish and chips, black pudding, Italian sausage and tiramisu chocolate cups….among other things…..gastronomic heaven.

Iain Martin's divine selection

The evening was a stunning success – the showroom jaw droppingly comprehensive in its selection of design-led lighting.

Johnson Akinbinu relaxing in an outdoors wonderland!

If you love Flos, Foscarini, Rotaliana, Serralunga, B.Lux, Artemede, Kundalini, Luceplan and Kartell, then this is your nirvana! Drink up furniture by Starck, Castiglione, Giovannoni and, of course, the divine creations of Mr Grcic!

The NW's designerati flock to Design Conscious

It’s amazing when you  get talking to people just how much creative talent resides in the local area and naturally, birds of a fleather…….

Admiring the iPod docking station with a huge difference - Diva, Rotaliana

No doubt the design world will be talking about this night for a long time. Very interesting chatting to the likes of Leon (KFF) and Piergiovanni (Rotaliana) about how business is conducted elsewhere throughout Europe and Italian cuisine (thanks for the cooking tips!!)

MMU's David Edmundson-Bird enjoying some bubbles with Business Link NW's PR Officer, Gina Rand

Outside Design HQ braving the wind and rain - Blofield and Lady Mary

My favourite lights had to be the Lady Mary by Serralunga and the stunning conical Kampazar by B.Lux – oddly both outdoors but uber stylish! Added to which the Lutyens style bench by Serralunga an equal winner in the style stakes for me.

Gina Rand, PR and Marketing Officer at Business Link NW did not leave empty-handed either – her long lusted-after Stone Stool by Starck for Kartell finally came home with her!

Gina Rand falls for a Caboche light but walks out with a stool!

Don’t forget therefore that Design Conscious isn’t all lights, there’s a huge selection of furniture and the wall of chairs is a sight to behold – and even then the wall is just the tip of a huge Chair iceberg! I’m lusting after the KFF dining chairs in white leather but my other half isn’t a fan of white.

The incredible wall of chairs!

It was a great night and thanks, Jacqui, for the effort you put into a throughly enjoyable evening.

(PS We were very pleased to be able to use the area as a backdrop for some of our own new stock, Saffron Winds, marrying their new recycled range of former Cambodian rice bags into stylish new bags with cutting edge Philippe Starck – groovy!)

In August 2010 the German kitchen and kitchen equipment producer Miele will change its name to Warendorf.
Although Warendorf is the name of the village where Miele is based and as such we can kind-off understand the choice of the new name:  A) we simply cannot understand why an established and succesful brand would  decide to change its name and B) Translated into English Warendorf means “village of goods/wares/merchandise” – and as such implies some sort of tacky discount village where bus loads of pensioners go to drink coffee and buy appalling coloured pullovers.

Whatever.

As part of the relaunch Warendorf/Miele have persuaded Philippe Starck to design his first ever kitchen series.

The resulting 4 concepts are something that, for our money, couldn’t be further removed from Starck’s “democratic design” principle; rather, using classic “big” kitchen styling Starck has created kitchens that in most respects resemble the same old stuff that can be found in most large kitchen retailers showrooms.

What did impress us however, and that enough to write this post, is the concept “Tower”, where the kitchen is contained in rotating towers. And by “kitchen” we mean cooker, fridge, dishwasher etc, etc…

Now there is no way we could ever use or work with such a set-up. Or kitchen habits simply would not allow it.

However, we know a lot of people and locations where such an idea would fit perfectly and where removing the “kitchen” from the “kitchen” would positively improve aesthetic and functionality of the space.

At the moment concrete details appear a little thin on the ground, but from what we have seen we are very impressed.

Equally impressive is the part-sink: part-hob:part-seating/working “Trumpet Table”  The styling is a bit too gaudish for us, but the concept is a dream and is more or less exactly what we need. Populate it with a few “Ghost” chairs and we have the basics of a dream kitchen space.

Starck by Warendorf – not the best Philippe Starck Collection ever, but a couple of excellent moments.

A representative layout of the Tower kitchen by Philippe Starck for Warendorf

Tower by Philippe Starck for Warendorf ... detail

La verdad no se cuanto lleva, pero la BBC en conjunto con el diseñador industrial Philippe Starck, formo un reality para Inglaterra donde las bases son juntar a 12 diseñadores industriales teniendo como maestro a Starck para cada semana (10 en total) ir haciendo proyectos y eliminando participantes.

El premio para el ganador es la oportunidad de trabajar en el despacho de este diseñador en Paris.

Les mostramos el primer capitulo.

Vía Nice Fucking Graphics

e.me

“And before, there was this soup, called “soupe primordiale,” this first soup — bloop bloop bloop — sort of dirty mud, no life, nothing. So then — pshoo-shoo — lightning — pshoo — arrive — pshoo-shoo — makes life — bloop bloop — and that dies. Some million years after — pshoo-shoo, bloop-bloop — ah, wake up! At the end, finally, that succeeds, and life appears. We was so, so stupid. The most stupid bacteria. Even, I think, we copy our way to reproduce, you know what I mean, and something of — oh no, forget it.” Philippe Starck @TED.

I’ve been watching Design for Life on BBC2 – partly to indulge myself with footage of Paris and partly to be horrified how how stupid these pudding-brained designers are and question why I am not making my millions putting them all to shame.

When they’re not piggy-backing on idées reçues and re-doing things that have already been done to death they’re just plain stealing other people’s ideas and stopping to marvel at how difficult it all is – bar one irritatingly precocious prodigal son, who didn’t take long to realise he was the only one with a brain.

Still, seeing this makes it easy to understand why Starck claims no great designers have come out of Britain since Conran. Who would have thought it: a joystick’s a male object, and a plug is female. The buttons symbolise things. A bike is, erm, ecologically sound. Batteries aren’t. Big wow. Maybe it’s true: British people just don’t know how to think any more. But then, I’m not there, putting my life on the line in front of the cameras, so maybe I couldn’t do any better.

Nos vamos a rodar a Buenos Aires, a finales de septiembre o principios de octubre; después de finalizar las largas sesiones de rodaje, estoy deseando escaparme a pasear por sus calles, por Caminito, por Puerto Madero, por el barrio de San Telmo, por La Recoleta, y terminar cenando en alguno de los restaurantes que jalonan el barrio de Palermo.
También me gustaría conocer el Faena Hotel Universe, fundado en el año 2004 por el visionario Alan Faena, y diseñado Phillippe Starck (elegido por la revista Wallpaper el mejor de los hoteles diseñados en ese año)
Puerto Madero Este es la zona dónde se ubica este hotel, y que no conozco en su desarrollo dado que mi último viaje a Buenos Aires fue en la primavera del 2000; este puerto fue el primero en inaugurarse en Buenos Aires, en 1897, pero debido al aumento de calado de los barcos quedó en desuso, y como un arrabal, hasta que el Gobierno Argentino a mediados de los noventa decidió impulsarlo, y que gracias a empresarios como Faena, que compró los terrenos en 2001, comenzó a poblarse de bares, restaurantes, hoteles, edificios de viviendas y oficinas…
y todo ello gracias a que había recibido un mensaje del mar.