NEW SOUND

SHOGU TOKUMARU - BUTTONS

YOUR FAVOURITE GENTLEMAN IS IN TOWN

I believe you all are familiar with Scott Schuman. Yes, this time he will be in town, both Sydney and Melbourne for his very first time. Sourced from ft.com Maybe it is time to start practising your angle :)

Ps. End of April, Scott will be in town.

WORKSHOP AT BY THE BRANCH

XR and I had some fun!

PLAYTIME

Getting Playtime dvd tomorrow! French modern elegance -

JUNKO SHIMADA

FRENCH CHIC FIRM

LUFT

They have meticulous craftsmanship on all their works.

AD CAMPAIGNS 1

Marc Newson by Inez van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin for YSL FW/08

BACK FROM MELBOURNE

Melbourne again - this time i see even more things than previous trips. Bought nothing though. Notice shop 280 on Chapel St. A Day On Earth. Notice also shop 60 on Chapel St, Tarlo & Graham towards Windsor -

Notice shop 472 on Bridge St in Richmond for some nice tables.

CLASSICS

PRADA LOOK BOOK

Download the S/S 09 new Prada look book.

ROUGH LUXE

Lanvin, Paris flagship store.
Have you seen the Balenciaga store in Bangkok? The interior is secondary to the products. Impressive.

"If you go into a boutique and the only thing you see is the architecture, it's not good," Elbaz says.

Beucler concurs, "A sophisticated element must have something rough opposite it."

ITEMS 5

'Dome' by Todd Bracher for Mater.

EXPRESSION OF THE DESIRE TO POSSESS ALL THAT IS BEAUTIFUL

A modern kind of primitive
By Edwin Heathcote
Published: March 10 2009 00:56 | Last updated: March 10 2009 00:56
One of the strangest stories in modern architecture is that of Le Corbusier’s obsession with a villa (modernistically named E 1027) by the Irish designer Eileen Gray at Cap Martin in the south of France.

Gray was a hugely talented but little-known designer whose reputation today far outstrips the one that she had during her career. (As if to underline how far, last month an armchair by Gray fetched an astonishing €22m [$28bn] at the Paris auction of Yves Saint Laurent’s collection.) Le Corbusier was the most famous and influential architect of the century. Yet Le Corbusier was so drawn to Gray’s villa that, after staying there, he returned to the site to build himself a cabanon, a retreat or hut of the most elemental kind.

A replica of that hut now stands in the loft of the Royal Institute of British Architects, the Art Deco Florence Hall. But it is a strange object. Reproducing the interior only, it appears as a blind black box, its creators – the Italian furniture manufacturer Cassina – having apparently decided that the log cabin non-aesthetic of its exterior was somehow unnecessary.

This seems odd to me, as it embodies such an obvious, if subconscious, memory of Le Corbusier’s Swiss roots. Entering the tiny space feels a little like walking into a fun-fair ghost house and, indeed, it reveals a space haunted by the contradictory dreams of modernism.

Le Corbusier, imaginer of a world of towers in parkland, of elevated walkways and endless freeways, of the destruction of central Paris to create boulevards of terrifying but monumental banality, and inspirer of the worst high-rise housing in the world, built his primitive hut in 1952.

A minimal cell measuring only 14 square metres, exquisitely planned and furnished with considered rigour, it is surely something like the retreat every writer, architect or artist has dreamed of. Austere yet framing picturesque views of the Mediterranean, it is that seemingly paradoxical blend of luxurious self-denial characteristic of modernism’s great moments. The tea-chest stools, the industrial copper piping of the plumbing, the coarse bent steel of the simple light fittings – all embody a viscerally primitive variety of modernism.

Le Corbusier designed the Cabanon just as he was abandoning the sleek aesthetic of his earlier work for a more expressionistic, sculptural style. It was built as he was working on the church at Ronchamp, the powerfully primitive Maisons Jaoul and embarking on the Indian city of Chandigarh, each a vision of modernist monumentalism.

The Cabanon is an intriguing counterpoint to the Le Corbusier show at the Barbican. That sprawling exhibition, situated in London’s most famously Corbusier-inspired complex, presents the grand vision; here the hut appears as a refinement of all those years of theory.

Just to complete the story of Gray’s house, after she moved out, leaving it to her former lover, Le Corbusier painted a set of hideous murals over its exquisite whiteness. Gray was horrified. This has often been cited as an example of architectural rape, the expression of the desire to possess all that is beautiful.

Le Corbusier was a terrible artist but, as this little hut shows, an architect who still has things to tell us. He drowned mysteriously in the Mediterranean near his Cabanon in 1965, and the little hut and the villa he had defiled were probably the last buildings he ever saw.

‘Le Corbusier’s Cabanon 1952-2006 – The Interior 1:1’, sponsored by Cassina, RIBA, 66 Portland Place, London, until April 28. Tel +44 20 7580 5533; ‘Le Corbusier – The Art of Architecture’, Barbican Art Gallery, London, until May 24. Tel +44 20 7638 8891

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009

MAGNOLIA

My favourite florist in town: http://www.flourish.com.au/

Fraser Magnolia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnolia_fraseri
Globe Magnolia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnolia_globosa

SOKO

SOKO
new office ipod playlist
been listening to this more than 13 times in one night

PETRINA HICKS

Rosemary's Baby, 2008

taken from: http://www.petrinahicks.com/descendants/3.html

BOOK DROOL 6

The long time wanted list of favourite books.

ITEMS 4

Adorable, when used in the right context, it can be really effective.
Clusterlamp by Joel Degermark from moooi.com



Oculo by Jeremy Pyles from nichemodern.com

CASA

clean vegetation around the house.



traditional japanese interior vs exterior modern look, clean vegetation outside.



that fireplace

GOTAN PROJECT LIVE

Contemporary and tasteful video footage shot by Prisca Lobjoy presented as a visual background for the live performance. Loved it.

SUZANNE VEGA

It was around 1996 I guessed... the first time I heard of this song, and started humming all the way at the back of my tutor's car. It was her favourite album at that time, I did not bother asking her or have the song repeated - she is a monster. That's usually the case if you're a good teacher isn't it? :)



The original version, and the remixed version.

TYLER BRULE

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyler_Brûlé

Im sure this name is familiar to you, to quote Mr. Brule

'Getting information first, is one of the biggest luxuries of all' - google.com source

LOOK OF THE WEEK

DIFFERENTE

Interesting - Interesting

AFFAIRES: DU JOUR AGENDA

Found: 18.95$ from NGA Melbourne. To record etc/etc of your daily-what-to-do and to-remember.

Arrived at Melbourne 10.00
Arrived in NGA 10.30

Quick skim through every single title on each shelf up till 12.30
Skip out for lunch, quick stroll down some of my favourite stores :
Saw one very interesting long wallet :) 'Hot Water treated Leather' This item is beautiful !
Saw one minimal black leather belt with discreet green backing bleeds about 2mm at either long end. Interesting, but not interested.

Back in NGA at 14.30
Continued with Buggati Exhibition - bump into P.Hecker from HPG. Said Hi.
Done the whole NGA affairs by 15.45

Adam's flight delayed, so will have to wait til 16.30
Home at Brunswick - Malaysian dinner at Lygon St.

Blank - Not knowing what to do next for interviews. hmm..



Oh - I've got this snow globe gift from Granpa Poss. Does it snow in SF?

BLACK TIPS

DA MOUTH - ALWAYS BY YOUR SIDE

As cheesy as it can get!

HAPPY SUNDAY ALL!

*fingerscrossed all design packages gets thru as smooth as last friday