Above: First prize in the competition for concept architectural design of the Polish Pavilion for EXPO 2010 in Shanghai
The victorious design entry for the Polish Pavilion in Shanghai's 2010 Expo is an unusual building resembling a giant paper cut out. To learn more about the contest, the jurors and the rewards, please go here.
Designed by a team of architects which is made up of Wojciech Kakowski, Natalia Paszkowska, and Marcin Mostafa, they describe the winning design as such:
Due to the nature of the exhibition the object must also aesthetically characterise its country of origin, forming a recognisable and stylistically strong cultural landmark. In our basic proposition the essential theme for cultural communication is that of the folklore cut-out. The subject will be presented in a contemporary architectural design. The design will fulfill two goals. Firstly we hope to avoid literal traditionalism and the mechanical repetition of canonical forms. The design of the object is intended to link with tradition, but also to be contemporary, a stylised reinterpretation, creatively connecting to today and inspired by the past, yet not followed it rigidly.
Secondly, a major concern is that the pavilion is a self contained structure, in a purely architectural sense: a calling card of Polish architectural achievement. It must be an attraction and an object which is distinguishable externally, among the backdrop of the other EXPO buildings in daytime – also being lit up outside – at night, it must also make a strong impression internally, by an interwoven design so that the sunlight forms space beneath vaulted arches. The shape of the mass, with many acute surfaces, on one hand fulfills and suggests a folded cut-out card, while on the other hand creates a geometrically interesting interior, which is also an elastic space, that can be creatively divided into interior sections, divided into functional areas for expositions, concerts and domestic needs.
Above: the design team
Above: the totally cool entry ticket, designed in keeping with the look of the pavilion.
Above: Two of the three members of the design team with their winning entry.
Above: the pavilion as it would appear lit at night
To see more sketches, elevations and learn more about the design process, go here. Congratulations guys! It's beautiful. I can't wait to see it in person.You can congratulate them too. Right here.
In the US we are all aware of M•A•C Cosmetics. Highly publicized has been their latest collaboration, a line of make up products, scarves, t-shirts, dolls and makeup cases by French artist Fafi.
But who the heck is Fafi?
Above: french artist Fafi and below, her profile from her own site:
Born and raised in Toulouse France, Fafi's strong presence in the graffiti and fine arts scene was first witnessed on her hometown walls in 1994. Back then, as she was painting and hustling, her sexy, funny, and sometimes aggressive girl characters made the whole world look and help kick-start a whole new graphic language; by exploring feminity through stereotypes,and using it to her advantage, she drew enormous attention and thus started to travel the world with thousands of Fafinettes in her brushes and paint cans. Europe, USA, Japan, Hong-Kong, the planet is a playground. And it's only started.
Soon enough Sony would ask her to design a six-character toy set for the Time Capsules collection, an almost natural move for her three-dimensional measures. Other successful figurines would follow, as well as numerous expositions and collaborations with Colette, Adidas, LeSportSac, Coca-Cola and countless press stories in the most prestigious magazines (ie. Vogue, Elle, The Face, XLR8R, Yen etc...).
The animation world started to eyeblink her vision in Mark Ronson video featuring a Fafi-ed Lily Allen. Her multi-faceted work was all documented in her books GIRLS ROCK (2003) and LOVE AND FAFINESS 2006), both being also succesful prints in museum libraries and selected shops.
As for 2007, Fafi entered a new phase. Having become a mother and moving to Paris made her introduce a new depth to her creations. Now not only the Fafinettes are fly girls, they also run a whole universe of creatures, homes and vehicles. It's called The Carmine Vault. It's a dreamy and peculiar place.
Not only are the products' packaging fun to look at and like little art collectibles, but the colors are nice and springlike without being too bold. See many of them below.
Highly sought after in particular seem to be her little figurines, Eriko, Monoka and Ermine, which sell for 9$ a piece:
The M•A•C FAFI microsite is not only filled with the whimsical product line but is a delight to click through, with lots of multimedia and interactive fun:
Luxury brand Chanel has launched an exhibition called Mobile Art in Hong Kong's Central district February 26, 2008, which will be travelling around the globe over the next two years.
Above: Housed in a futuristic pavilion resembling a spaceship designed by Zaha Hadid, the exhibition shows artist interpretations of the iconic Chanel quilted 2.55 handbag.
Artists and photographers such as Araki, Loris Cecchini and Michael Lim will present their work alongside Yoko Ono’s interactive Wish Tree, where you can write down your desires on rice paper. After Hong Kong, the exhibition will move to Tokyo, before hitting New York, London, Moscow and Paris.
About The Concept:
the press release:
MOBILE ART is a traveling exhibition devised as a three-dimensional film and presented in a futuristic pavilion specially created by the architect Zaha Hadid.
The creative concept of MOBILE ART is the result of an aesthetic experiment conducted over the last two years in which the values and visual language of CHANEL confronted those of some twenty contemporary artists from all geographic and generational origins.
Invited to visit Mademoiselle Chanel's Parisian apartment, rue Cambon, and the workshops where the CHANEL handbags are made, these artists were given complete freedom to create artworks inspired by the elements that create the identity of CHANEL's emblematic accessory, the quilted bag.
All means of expression currently being used in contemporary art will be represented: installation, sculpture, photography, video, sound etc...
MOBILE ART is not so much an exhibition to be visited as a landscape to wander through in a completely new way: to experience the artists' installations, visitors equipped with a MP3 player must let themselves be guided mentally and physically by a soundtrack created by the label "Soundwalk" in collaboration with each of the artists. This soundtrack mixes the original music of a diverse range of artists with voice and ambient sound effects.
MOBILE ART is above all a new form of artistic expression, an unique experience, combining architecture, art, sound creation and fashion.
EXHIBITION PERIOD: 27 February – 5 April, 2008 (Venue closed on 12 & 13 March)
SOUNDWALK: Approximately 35 minutes Available in Cantonese, Mandarin, English, French and Korean
About the Container (aka The Chanel Pavilion):
Chanel commissioned around 20 artists, including Yoko Ono and the Japanese photographer Nobuyoshi Araki, to produce works for the show loosely based on its famous bag.
The artists were taken to Coco Chanel's Paris apartment and shown how the bags were made. The resulting works include sound installations, sculpture and video.
But it will be painstakingly taken apart and rebuilt in a few weeks' time, when the exhibition, which ends April 5, moves to Tokyo on the second leg of a two-year world tour that will take it to New York, London, Moscow and Paris.
The 180-ton pavilion was built in Yorkshire in northern England. It was shipped to Hong Kong -- piece by piece -- in more than 50 cargo containers.
A team of builders spent four weeks rebuilding the pavilion in its new harbourside location, and it will take another 20 days to ship the 700 individual pieces that make up the building from Hong Kong to Tokyo.
When Hadid and Karl Lagerfeld of Chanel got together to realize their dream of a traveling museum, they named Fabrice Bousteau, editor-in-chief of Beaux Arts magazine, as the curator.
above: Fabrice Bousteau, Zaha Hadid, Karl Lagerfeld discussing the building in July of 2007
Visitors are encouraged to wear headphones to listen to music specifically designed to enhance the artwork.
Fabrice Bousteau, Curator of Mobile Art Exhibition said "This exhibition is totally new because it was conceived like a real landscape and a 3-dimensional film which comes to life with visitors and with headphones."
Bousteau says the exhibit is intended to be experimental -- and to move art away from the more traditional museum setting.
Fabrice Bousteau said "Mobile Art in my view is an expression of utopia and the future. It's a completely weird architectural project because it's the first building in the world which will travel, which will circulate and which is nomadic."
About the Art:
The artists were told to base their creation on the best-selling Chanel quilt bag, called 2.55 after its month and year of issue.
After the French artist Sophie Calle received Chanel's commission, she advertised in a Japanese magazine in the fall of 2006 seeking an artist to carry out her project. She wanted to stop passersby, tell them to empty their bags, and offer to buy both contents and carrier. Soju Tao signed up, and the result of this collaboration will be shown at the exhibition.
The artworks inside include a giant sculpture of a black Chanel handbag that encases a video. By Swiss artist Sylvie Fleury:
above: Staff stand next to Crystal Custom Commando 2007-2008 by Sylvie Fleury as part of a global art exhibition unveiled by top fashion brand Chanel in Hong Kong.
There's also a work featuring two stuffed pigs next to encased Chanel handbags. It's called "Jesus Love and 2 Handbags" and it's by Belgian artist Wim Delvoye.
above: A photographer takes a photo of Jesus and Chanel Bags by Wim Delvoye.
Araki, known for his erotic photographs, will put up a slide show "The Dance of the Seven Veils," depicting the image of a young woman untangling herself of Chanel bag chains transposed against languid, close-up shots of poisonous flowers. Music by Fumio Yasuda and vocals by Aki accompany the exhibit.
Paying homage to Coco Chanel, founder of the fashion house, South Korea's Lee Bul builds a plastic sculpture, lit from the inside, and crowned with hundreds of re-assembled bags and chains.
above: A woman walks past an artwork called "Untitled 2008" by French artist Daniel Buren
Visitors will be guided through the tunnels in the exhibition hall with an iPod presentation by Stephan Crasneanscki, a French photographer and sound artist who works under the title Soundwalk.
Subodh Gupta has a video installation in two parts called "All Things Are Inside," reflections on people in transit and their aspirations, such as the life of an Indian laborer who returns from prosperous Dubai where he packed gifts.
Near the end of the tunnel lies Ono's "Wish Tree," where visitors may write a wish on a piece of rice paper and tie it to the branches of a tree, which will be collected and sent to the Imagine Peace Tower in Reykjavik, Iceland, a tribute to Lennon based on his peace anthem, "Imagine."
Ono, a veteran at mixing social, political and corporal elements into her performances, will participate alongside Tabaimo, a 32-year-old Japanese video artist who exhibited her "Doll House" installation at the 2007 Venice Biennale.
Japanese artist Tabaimo designed a black hole with graphic animation. It's her interpretation of unlocking the secrets hidden inside a handbag.
Above: Tabiamo's piece in the exhibit
Personal fantasies and visions of the world are celebrated in the work of photographic duo Pierre & Gilles. Italian Loris Cecchini, on the other hand, distorts reality physically and visually - from cinema chairs that crumble into themselves to optical illusions of people climbing up buildings.
Other artists at the show include the U.S. photographer Stephen Shore of Andy Warhol's The Factory fame, whose images highlight social issues; fellow American David Levinthal; Russia's Blue Noses; Sylvie Fleury of Switzerland; Y.Z. Kami from Iran; and Argentina's Leandro Erlich.
Mobile Art is at Star Ferry Car Park, 9 Edinburgh Place, Central, Hong Kong. For information and tickets, go here.
I couldn't help but notice the draw my post on the 24k gold plated macbook has received over the past few months, so I can only imagine how the Blingophile's will feel about Bling My Things' 24k gold plated, Swarovski Crystal encrusted Macbook Air by master 'crystallizer' Ayano Kimura.
While it defeats the purpose of the computers' being the world's thinnest or lightest, I'm betting that many don't care.
Want to see all things gold plated? Go here. All things Blinged? Go here. Real diamond encrusted? Go here.
As CABoom moves into their fifth year, the california architecture and design show is growing and getting very popular. Below are stats as to how the show has grown over the past few years:
Past CA Boom Stats for the past four years:
•CA Boom 4 - March 2007 over 8500 attendees, 120 exhibitors, 15 homes, 10 prefab exhibitors, 15 first timers, 75 unique media outlets & 100 registered journalists.
•CA Boom 3 - March 2006 over 7500 attendees, 100 exhibitors, 15 homes, 10 prefab exhibitors, 15 first timers, 60 unique media outlets & 90 registered journalists.
•CA Boom 2 - July 2004 just under 5000 attendees, 70 exhibitors, 15 homes, 50 panelists & moderators, 47 unique media outlets & 81 registered journalists.
•CA Boom 1 - Aug 2003 - 4200 attendees, 50 exhibitors, 15 homes, 30 speakers And this year promises to be bigger and better than ever.
When: Friday, March 14 to Sunday, March 16, 2008 Where: Barker Hangar at Santa Monica Airport 3021 Airport Ave, Santa Monica, 90405
Friday is Trade Day - 11am to 5pm Friday Night Event- open to all ($50) Friday: 7:30pm to 10:30pm
Main Hall Exhibits ($20) Sat 11:00am to 6:00pm & Sun 11am to 5:00pm
Design & Architecture Tours ($75) Fri, Sat, & Sun: Departures 11:15am to 2:30pm (includes shuttles, same day or return visit to exhibits)
This year's architecture tours:
PREFAB DEBUT from Jennifer Siegal Santa Monica Prefab 001 by Office of Mobile Design Beach Cities Tour - Sunday
* Building Accessories * Doors/Windows * Home Accessory, Tabletop & Gifts * Indoor/Outdoor Living * Int'l Design Brands * Lighting * Modern Kitchen and Bath * Modern Parenting * Modern Prefab * National/Regional Design Mfr * Rugs * Solar/Renewable Energy * Studio Furniture, Studio Art & Design Art * Surfaces, Finishes & Floor Covering * Dealers/Retailers
