NY Post-Alexa - April 13, 2016

April 13, 2016 · New York Post · alexa · 1
tRiBUte
Zaha’s
last bow
D i s pat C h
From
Dubai
with
love
PAGE 6
DÉCOR
Lighting
theway
PAGE 14
PAGE 2
D i s pat C h
Paris!
Milan!
London!
favO R i t e t h i n g s
The
director’s
chair
alexa
FROM THE NEW YORK POST
APRIL 13, 2016
PHOTO BY JOSHUA JORDAN
PAGE 8
The Best of Everything
tHe
DeSIGN
ISSUe
Home • Style • Art • trAvel
6 · alexa · New York Post · April 13, 2016
news & notes
from
dubai
CLiCk baiT
withlove
THE gLObE’s HOTTEsTdEsigNERs
This Carlo Puccini carved-wood mirror ($730) can be
snagged on italian-focused design site artemest.com.
Photo CourTesy of ArTeMesT.
dazzLE iN THE dEsERT
site seeing
By CaRRie seim
By Jason CHen
t
HE world of high design can be overwhelming, even for the most sophisticated
tastemakers. But these five Web sites
curate the best of the best, helping the
interiors-obsessed capture that exact je ne sais
quoi — for home, work or holiday.
1
2
‘t
THE power of ambition here is
really high — I think it’s beautiful.”
That’s how Marcel Wanders (the
renowned Dutch designer
whose work is part of
MoMA’s permanent
collection and
whose solo show
just wowed NYC’s
Friedman Benda
gallery) kicked off
the fifth edition of
Design Days Dubai
in March. Alexa
joined him in the glittering desert to explore
the most diverse design fair
in the world, with creators
from more than 37 countries (including several with NYC
roots) showing off their vibrant and
edgy contemporary pieces.
Wanders’ iconic “Golden Blossom”
was on display next to work from
emerging young female talents, like
26-year-old Lebanese-Syrian-American designer Zuleika Penniman and
her alluring “Coral 1” room partition
(made of coral rock reclaimed from
demolished Emirati homes), as well
as 24-year-old Saudi designer Ayah
Al Bitar, whose clever “Wisada” floor
cushions — shaped like gigantic bicycle seats — were originally part of her
2014 thesis project at NYC’s Parsons
School of Design. “I decided to reinvent my heritage in a modern, comfortable way,” Al Bitar tells Alexa of
her orthopedic cushions, which were
among the hits of the fair. “They deal
with the social issue of transportation
for women — they’re very approachable and positive and they create a
dialogue, which is key for
any social change.”
Meanwhile, Carpenters
Workshop Gallery (based
in New York, Paris and
London) was at the fair
for the fifth time, displaying “Sushi Cabinet”
from the famed Campana brothers (Brazilians
Humberto and Fernando)
as well as the sculptural
“Askance” lamp from
Aussie Charles Trevelyan.
And the Fatima Bint
Mohammed Initiative
unfurled elaborate, handknotted rugs (whose sales
benefit Afghan women),
along with plans to
open an NYC showroom later this year.
Across town at Alserkal
Avenue — the beyondcool warehouse arts district where
prominent Chelsea gallerist Leila
Heller has now set up shop — New
York conceptual artist Mary Ellen
Carroll (whose work has been shown
at the Whitney Museum) erected her
grand “The Circle Game” installation,
including a five-story climbable platform and two LED signs in the sky
that demand to know: “When did you
arrive” and “When will you return.”
Very soon, we hope.
theapartment.dk Tina Seidenfaden Busck
may run this limited-edition home-furnishings site from an apartment-cum-showroom
in Copenhagen, but her aesthetic isn’t all Danish
modern. Think bright rugs (from $2,500), vintage
benches ($3,360) and Ilse Crawford specialties
(plus design consultation services).
daraartisans.com After working NYC
media jobs and traveling extensively, Dan
and Dara Brewster launched DARA, which
gathers homemade creations from global artisans.
You can snag woven throws from India ($300),
pillows from Nepal ($380), vases from Nicaragua
($75) — and help communities around the world.
interiorarchive.com If you need a
glossy photo for your uber-cool lifestyle
blog, the Interior Archive offers some of
the world’s most beautiful destination and architecture photography (from $125) by masters like
Miguel Flores-Vianna and Simon Upton.
artemest.com Spotlighting home
objects and baubles by Italian artisans,
like mirrors from Florentine carver Carlo
Puccini ($760) and earrings by Venetian goldsmith Sigfrido Cipolato ($1,290), Artemest is
the brainchild of Ippolita Rostagno, a NYCbased and Florence-born jewelry designer.
themodernhouse.com Want to try a
new home design without hiring a demolition crew? Rent a gem from the Modern
House, a British site that specializes in “letting”
architecturally significant homes. Choose from
a modernist getaway in Barbados (from $8,400/
week), a series of cattle sheds in Norfolk, England
(from $2,600/week) or a countryside cottage in
southern France ($2,500/week). Vive la difference!
3
4
1
1. Ayah Al bitar (left) created her
“Wisada” orthopedic floor cushions
(above) for her senior thesis at
NyC’s Parsons school of Design.
2. “Coral 1” room partition was
imagined by 26-year-old Zuleika
Penniman (pictured), who has
American, syrian and lebanese
roots. 3.“Golden blossom” by
keynote speaker and acclaimed
Dutch designer Marcel Wanders.
2
5
ConneCtiCut
by design
3
Architect Philip Johnson’s iconic Glass House (above),
in New Canaan, Conn., will celebrate its May 1
reopening with a slew of festivities. Photo by robiN Hill.
By Hana R.alBeRts
W
4. This“When Will you
return” sign, part of “The
Circle Game” installation by
New york artist Mary ellen
Carroll (right), towered over
Dubai’s Alserkal Avenue.
5.“sushi Cabinet” by
Humberto and fernando
Campana was displayed
by NyC’s Carpenters
Workshop Gallery.
4
Photos by
roybeesoN. CourTesy
of DesiGN DAys DubAi.
AlserkAlAveNue .
[ 33,000
5
galleries
1. saudi DesignWeek, supported by kingAbdulaziz
Center forWorld Culture
2. Tashkeel 3. Marcel
Wanders 4. Alserkal
Avenue 5. Carpenters
Workshop Gallery
ITH several stunning building debuts
and revamps of classic gems in the last
year, the Nutmeg State has become a top
architectural destination within day-trip
distance of New York City.
For design with a dose of springtime sun,
head to Grace Farms — a New Canaan community center with 80 acres of outdoor space that
opened its doors last October. The pièce de résistance here is the striking River Building (courtesy of Pritzker Prize-winning Japanese architecture firm SANAA), which winds through
the greenery like a snake. The complex, which
includes an amphitheater, library, dining room
and tea pavilion, also programs poetry readings,
films and classes (gracefarms.org).
Also in New Canaan, not far from Grace Farms,
are several modernist-design homes by masters
Philip Johnson, Marcel Breuer and Eliot Noyes.
Queen among them is Johnson’s iconic 1949 Glass
House, which will reopen on May 1 following its
winter hibernation. To honor its 10th year as a
public museum, the transparent, angular house
will play host to a swath of special events. Most
exciting, Japanese pop-art doyenne Yayoi Kusama
will scatter her “Narcissus Garden” installation,
made of 1,400 mirrored balls, on the house’s landscaped grounds (theglasshouse.org).
Further east, the Yale Center for British Art
will relaunch in New Haven on May 11 after
a painstaking eight-year conservation and
restoration project. Built by modernist great
Louis I. Kahn in the ’70s, the concrete, steel
and glass icon — which is centered on two
courtyards — will reopen with an exhibition
of 500 British paintings, sculptures and paper
works (britishart.yale.edu).
T H E C U LT U R E CO U N T
The number of designers, architects, retailers and other creative types who will
take part in the ICFF contemporary design fair from May 14 to 17 at NYC’s Javits
Center. Roughly 750 exhibitors will show off furniture, lighting and accessories
from around the world. Take a tour during the public peek on May 17.
]