Ray Eames!

 

Bernice Alexandra “Ray” Kaiser (1912-1988) was born in Sacramento, California  and together with her husband Charles Eames (1907-1978)  gave shape to America’s twentieth century.

 

They were in fact the most influential designers of the mid 20th century,  designing furniture, working in the field of architecture, film, photographic art, industrial design and more!

 

 

Ray and Charles were responsible for many classic, iconic designs, their molded plywood chair was called "the chair of the century".

 

 

 

Other iconic pieces:

 

 

 

 

Ray and Charles in their living room.

From  New Advertising site “Fifteen things Charles and Ray teach us”

1. Keep good company
2. Notice the ordinary.
3. Preserve the ephermal.
4. Design not for the elite, but for the masses.
5. Explain it to a child.
6. Get lost in the content.
7. Get to the heart of the matter.
8. Never tolerate “O.K. anything.”
9. Rembember your responsibility as a storyteller.
10. Zoom out.
11. Switch.
12. Prototype it.
13. Pun.
14. Make design your life. (And life, your design.)
15. Leave something behind.

I believe this sums up very well their aesthetic and their philosophy.

Regarding comments received I am happy to say that Robin was the first to answer correctly, unfortunately we don’t know who Robin is, since we don’t have a link to a website or a blog but nevertheless…congratulations!

You can read the other comments on my previous post Can you guess who she is?

©2013 Brillante Interiors writes about new trends, timeless decor, iconic pieces, design ideas, or at times just musing about "a certain Italian way of doing things".

If you receive this post by Email and wish to leave a comment please click HERE and go to the comments section. I love to hear from you!

Can you guess who she is?

She would have turned 100 years old this month. In this picture she wears a simple skirt, a simple sweater, but a big smile! A friend said: “ For her to dress up for big events means to wear a clean shirt”. An issue of Vogue in 1959 describes her as a feminine, petite lady with pink lipstick, a small nose, not beautiful but attractive, mostly because “she is passionate, enthusiastic, warm…a woman definetely happy with only a hint of rage in her eyes”.

A simple lady…and yet…she became an icon in the world of design.

Please don’t comment on Facebook or other social media, but only on this post, so nobody could see the answers before they are published by me. The first correct answer will have “an honorable mention” and a link to their website or blog.

The answers will be published all together in the New Year.

©2012 Brillante Interiors writes about new trends, timeless decor, iconic pieces, design ideas, or at times just musing about "a certain Italian way of doing things".
If you receive this post by Email and wish to leave a comment please click HERE and go to the comments section.

I love to hear from you!

Jasmine and Philippe Starck!

Can you guess whose house is this? was the question posed in my previous post, with that beautiful fridge open to reveal a hat and different treats. Let’s enter the Parisian home of multitalented Philippe Starck and wife Jasmine and discover more visual treats.
When he does not redesign the rest of the world he travels…they own 11 homes around the world, including one in Venice. I leave it to you to comment on these beautiful images full of surprises.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From an article on The National Post: “People often ask what inspires me. The answer is nothing. Nothing inspires me directly. I live outside of everything. That means I have no direct information. My inspiration comes from the existence of my life. (…) You also need to live outside mainstream thinking. If you go out every night for dinner or to a cocktail party, where you speak with everybody, you cannot create because you end up just repeating what people tell you. You get very comfortable and very unoriginal. The only way to create, the recipe for creativity, is to be alone. In front of a blank sheet of paper or your computer in the middle of nowhere. It’s the best way to find only your ideas, your intuition”.

Leave a comment on the image that most attracted you, we are curious to know your reactions…as for me…I love brick walls accompanied by flowing curtains and Venetian mirrors but I also love books, free standing tubs, Baccarat vases, old English roses and L’Air du Temps by Nina Ricci reminds me of my youth...
It was not an easy question but Fingers glued together gave the right answer. Congratulations, well done. If you want to see the other comments go to Can you guess whose house is this?

Source

©2012 Brillante Interiors writes about new trends, timeless decor, iconic pieces, design ideas, or at times just musing about "a certain Italian way of doing things".

Brillante Interiors now offers also online consultations so please send an email and we can start the process. It will be an investment in happiness at home, a well designed house is always a good part of a great life and a beautiful room will make you happy every time you walk in!

Can you guess whose house is this?

Tips: he is a designer constantly reimagining and rethinking the quotidian, very famous, very creative, sometimes he wears a hat…now surprise me with your answers!

Please comment only on this post, not on other social media, otherwise it is difficult to track all comments.  I will not publish your answers until the end of the week, so keep writing. The first person with the right answer will have an "honorable mention" and of course a link to their Web site or blog.

©2012 Brillante Interiors writes about new trends, timeless decor, iconic pieces, design ideas, or at times just musing about "a certain Italian way of doing things".


Brillante Interiors now offers also online consultations so please send an email and we can start the process. It will be an investment in happiness at home, a well designed house is always a good part of a great life and a beautiful room will make you happy every time you walk in!

Karim Rashid!

Karim Rashid, born in Cairo, half Egyptian and half English, grew up in Toronto and is one of the most creative and diverse designers today,  dynamically touching every aspect of design from  furniture to accessories, sunglasses,  toys, in fact he has over 3000 designs in production, over 300 awards and is working in over 40 countries but still manages to  have fun in the meantime. 

From his website: “In his spare time Karim's pluralism flirts with art, fashion, and music and is determined to creatively touch every aspect of our physical and virtual landscape”.
If you did not visit his website yet…please do it now, if not only for the fun of interacting playing your own music on it. What did I say above? FUN!

Vibrant colors and extravagant shapes are a trademark of this brilliant designer who I had the pleasure of meeting  in Vancouver during IDSWest 2010 (Interior Design Show) to exchange a few words in Italian (he spent lots of time in Milan and Naples, studying design with Ettore Sottsass and others) and the energy he gave the audience was unbelievable, it was a very intense talk and we were scrambling to keep up with notes while he continued moving on the stage, standing, sitting, walking…very entertaining and inspiring. You can read my post on this event, and his philosophy of design, clicking on “Karim Rashid at IDSWest, Vancouver”.

Karim in his kitchen, no fear of PINK! Of this color he says: “It's positive, it's the new black. So many men have issues with anything they consider feminine. I'm trying to break down those gender differences. I want every product I design to soften the world”.
Of course he has a few houses around the world, some simple as the prefab home (cost of about US 5,000 and three days for assembling it) outside new York and others more expensive and elaborated.

Let’s take a peek to some of his interiors:

A Loft with his own iconic pieces.

Yellow, pink, blue all mixed together harmoniously.

Talk about Neon colors!…I have to say I love colors but this interior will make me agitated!

Another house, another vibrant mix of colors in the living room: the picture on the wall was taken by Karim while his wife was kissing the shower door!

A bedroom in hot pink, white and purple, the painting on the wall was made by his wife.

Vibrant orange for this bedroom, full of energy.

A bathroom with funky tiles, pink sinks and red towels

Fresh mint green for another bathroom

He also loves RED! We can see it here not just on the carpet but on many of his clothing. Sometimes when I meet a new client for a project I love to see her/his closet, I can judge their preferences in terms of colors by the hues of their clothes, love of neutrals, love of blues, or lots of pastel colors... a major hint on their preferences.

A modular shelving created by Rashid, here with a collection of fun

and functional objects designed by him.

Finally…relaxing at home with  his wife, probably a rare moment in the

life of this energetic and vibrant couple.

***

And now who first answered correctly my question on the previous post:

Can you guess whose house is this?

Congratulations to Princess Fingers Glued Together blog and to the others who took the time to write (you can see their comments on that post).

©2012 Brillante Interiors writes about new trends, timeless decor, iconic pieces, design ideas, or at times just musing about "a certain Italian way of doing things".


Brillante Interiors now offers also online consultations so please send an email and we can start the process. It will be an investment in happiness at home, a well designed house is always a good part of a great life and a beautiful room will make you happy every time you walk in!

Can you guess whose house is this?

“Design is about the betterment of our lives poetically,

aesthetically, experientially, sensorially, and emotionally”. 

In the spare time this multifaceted designer flirts with art, fashion, and music and is determined to creatively touch every aspect of our physical and virtual landscape.

Can you guess?…

Please comment only on this post, not on other social media, otherwise it is difficult to track all comments.  I will not publish the comments until the end of next week, so keep writing. The first person with the right answer will have an "honorable mention" and of course a link to the Web site or blog.

©2012 Brillante Interiors writes about new trends, timeless decor, iconic pieces, design ideas, or at times just musing about "a certain Italian way of doing things".


Brillante Interiors now offers also online consultations so please send an email and we can start the process. It will be an investment in happiness at home, a well designed house is always a good part of a great life and a beautiful room will make you happy every time you walk in!

Vittoria Marisa Schiaparelli Berenson!

Marisa Berenson seated in the back seat of a Rolls Royce, wearing a Chanel pant suit, photographed by Arnaud de Rosnay, 1969

Berenson was born in New York, the eldest of two daughters. Her father was an American career diplomat, her mother, known as Gogo Schiaparelli was a socialite of Italian, Swiss, French, and Egyptian ancestry. Berenson's maternal grandmother was the fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli.  Her younger sister, Berinthia, became a model, actress, and photographer known as Berry Berenson, she tragically died in the first plane crashing in New York on Sept. 11, 2001.  Marisa is also a great-grandniece of art expert Bernard Berenson, so obviously art, fashion, culture are the true background of her life.

Wearing a  brocade dress with matching long stole by Sophie, photographed by Irving Penn, for Vogue, 1965  in the New York apartment of Vincent Fourcade (French interior designer who once said: “Outrageous luxury is what our clients want”  and founder of Denning & Fourcade with his life partner Robert Denning).

 

In white lace top and a loosely pleated skirt by Valentino, photographed by Henry Clarke for Vogue, 1968. The floor is Art Deco concrete glazed hexagonal tiles, so fashionable in the 1920’s and 1930’s and luckily still preserved in many European houses.

In a white organza dress embroidered in flowers with plisse on the sleeves by Valentino, photographed by Henry Clarke, Vogue 1968. The diagonal pattern on the floor is very graphic and greatly contrasting with the antique furniture and the contemporary art piece leaning on the sofa.

A 1970 photograph taken by her sister Berry.

Wearing a colorful silk dress by Gino Charles, in the Op Art style of the Sixties,

photographed by Irving Penn for Vogue ,1967.

With Emilio Pucci’s bags, photographed by Bert Stern for Vogue, 1965.

Look at those eyes!

A beautiful photograph by Bert Stern for Vogue, 1965. She is so fresh and young!

But Marisa Berenson is known not just as an icon of beauty and fashion of the 60’s and 70’s she is also an accomplished actress, she started her acting career in Morte a Venezia (Death in Venice)directed by Luchino Visconti  and continued with Barry Lyndon by Stanley Kubrick plus many other roles.
Fast forward through many decades… Berenson was recently a major character in the superb Italian movie Io sono l’amore (I am love) (you can read more about it and the extraordinary house it was filmed in HERE).

The poster for I am love, truly one of the best movies I have seen lately

and not just because it was filmed in Milan!

 

Marisa Berenson and Tilda Swinton in the streets of Milan.

In 2010 a book titled Momenti intimi (which I can translate as Intimate moments even if I believe it is not yet translated in English…) was published in Italy as her autobiography of a life full of love, celebrities, art, adventures, fashion, beauty but also tragedies like the death of her beloved sister Berry.

In Milan, November 2010, to present her book, wearing Moschino…even now she is stunning and elegant as she was then, a timeless icon!

And now the announcement: In my previous post “Can you guess who she is?” several answers were right but the first correct one received came from

Peppa Martin of Truth and Beauty photography Studio and Gallery in Vancouver.

Take a moment to enjoy her website.

©2012 Brillante Interiors writes about new trends, timeless decor, iconic pieces, design ideas, or at times just musing about "a certain Italian way of doing things".

If you receive this post by Email and wish to leave a comment please click HERE and go to the comments section.  I love to hear from you!

Can you guess who she is?

Image by Bert Stern, Vogue 1965

Continuing with the beauties of the Sixties still dictating style today:
Model, actress, style icon…don’t be fooled by her hair! Hope you have fun guessing!

The answers will be published all together next week.

Please don’t comment on Facebook, but only on this post, so nobody could see the answers before they are published by me.   The first correct answer will have “an honorable mention” and a link to their website or blog.

©2012 Brillante Interiors writes about new trends, timeless decor, iconic pieces, design ideas, or at times just musing about "a certain Italian way of doing things".

If you receive this post by Email and wish to leave a comment please click HERE and go to the comments section.

I love to hear from you!

Pizza-Kobra!

  

In my previous post "Can you guess what it is?" I had the  image of a strange object…

 

It is an unusual light, called appropriately "Pizza-Kobra" by Ron Arad for I Guzzini, an unstructured, flexible lamp which at times resembles a pizza, at times a cobra...depending on the mood at bed time!


                            Thanks to one of my readers, Bobby, I found this video on YouTube
                            

Always interesting to hear designers talk about their creations.

To read more about the apartment above go to my previous post A classic apartment.

Nobody guessed what it was, not even A Critic’s Eye who is always the first to answer!

Till next time…

©2011 Brillante Interiors writes about new trends, timeless decor, iconic pieces, design ideas, or at times just musing about "a certain Italian way of doing things".
If you receive this post by Email and wish to leave a comment please click HERE and go to the comments section.

I love to hear from you!