BIG

West 57th street, NY

Amagerforbraendingen Waste to Energy plant

Danish pavilion at Shanghai World Expo

8 house Copenhagen 

V house Copenhagen

Last night I went to an amazing conference by David Zahle from BIG architects, one of the most up and coming architectural firms on the international scene. It was fascinating, he presented us about 10 projects, most of them residential, and proceeded to explain the whole thought process behind the concept and the realization of each completed project.

What made the conference so captivation was Zahle, he was so energetic and charismatic, you could really sense how passionate he is about his work. BIG is pretty much takes a project and explodes it into something that is useful for society as well as visually striking, their motto being "Yes is More". Take for example the Amagerforbraendingen Waste to Energy plant, the contest brief was to simply create an envelope for the plant, but they decided to turn it into something for the people. Hence they created an urban ski hill, with vertical gardens and a smoke stack releasing ironic smoke rings. 

The slide presentation was also super fun, he really went from A to Z for each project, showing easy to understand but very well thought of diagrams as well as video presentations for some of them. Just to show how fun they are, they used Empire State of Mind as a soundtrack for their first American project, West 57th street. 

In a couple of weeks I have a conference by an architect from SOM, on of the world leaders in architecture, somehow I have a feeling that exposé will be a little less dynamic...

Laguna modern

After Positano, it was off to Venice! I went there once on a school trip when I was 15 and always wanted to go back and wander through the alleys and canals. Last summer I attempted to go but my efforts were crushed by an Italian train strike (NEVER trust Italian trains).
We stayed in a gorgeous Bed & No Breakfast right smack in the middle of Venice, but just off the annoying touristy traffic. It was in a 15th century house so we had a view on a courtyard, exposed beams, classic terrazzo flooring and moldings. So much better than staying in a generic hotel on land or a dingy hostel. Of course Venice is breathtaking and all, but the ridiculous amount of tourists made me feel like I was in a giant tourist ant hill, it really takes away from the charm of it. Positano might have been the definition of touristy, but there people are elegant and sophisticated. In Venice you are surrounded by every single tourist stereotype, everywhere. And the food is not as delicious... however we did find a great bakery near our flat where we got our morning cappuccinos and cheap sandwiches for lunch.
Going to Venice I had two things that I REALLY wanted to see: Palazzo Grassi and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. Upon arrival I found out that Palazzo Grassi, a foundation created by French luxury tycoon François Pinault (LVMH) showcasing an incredible collection of contemporary art and installations, was unfortunately closed until June. However I found out that they had a sister museum called Punta della Dogana that just opened last year after an extensive renovation by starchitect Tadao Ando. Finding that out made my spidey sense tingle.

The building is incredible: it is airy, modern, ancient and timeless at the same time. Perfect for showcasing large scale contemporary art installations by the world's most influential and shocking artists.
I fell in love with Jeff Koons for the first time, I had always thought his work to be too easy and tacky, but it really has an eerie presence that captivates you. There were also installations by one of my longtime favorites Bruce Nauman (his retrospective at the MAC in Montreal a few years back is the first contemporary art exhibit I remember being moved by), Paul McCarthy (crudely thoughtful), Julie Mehretu (epic, intricate images that I could stare at for days) and Maurizio Cattelan (I was familiar with the name but not his work, his marble "gisant" sculptures were really haunting, loved it).

Julie Mehretu

Maurizio Cattelan

Jeff Koons

The Peggy Guggenheim Collection is probably one of the best modern art collections of the 20th century. It really is a must see even if it is kind of a zoo (the tourists know about this one...) because a who's who of art is assembled here and creates a deliciously eclectic mix.

The food in Venice was good, but not great. I blame the tourists, I feel that restaurateurs got lazy. But I did have a mean crab gnocchi, this being once again a fishy kind of town. My favorite food moment thought was walking thru the Rialto market everyday, the fish and produce on display was salivating! The fact that it is housed in the same building for the past 500 years helps too. 

Anyways thats it, Venice really is a place to see because it is absolutely unique and charming, but an extended stay is really not necessary, the smells and hoards of tourists are quite suffocating. However, be sure you check out the contemporary art there and not just the palazzos! 

I found the beautiful people

I just got back from my 13 day European Spring Break Extravaganza and lets just say I have done it all. High end, low end, classy, trashy, modern, ancient, etc. 

After staying in Naples for a night (dirty dirty city, fun people thought) the first leg of the trip was in Positano, the premiere resort town on the Amalfi Coast. The people we met there were quite surprised to see two youngsters actually staying in such a posh town (people usually just come for the day) but we kindly omitted the fact that we were staying in the one and only hostel and quite literally had the best deal in town: private bedroom with large terrace and a million dollar view. All for 80 euros a night. 

This town is just beautiful. Built on the hillside with winding staircases and dramatic views everywhere. But what really makes Positano so incredible is the high quality of EVERYTHING. You will not find any bad tourist trap restaurants, or tacky street vendors. It is all high end and fabulous, without actually being overpriced!

Of course one of the highlights was the food. Pasta, pizza and lots of seafood. I think that we ate pasta with some sort of seafood at LEAST once a day. I also discovered my ultimate pizza: pizza bianca (no sauce) so basically just a baked crust, topped with fresh mozzarella, paper thin prosciutto, large parmesan shards, arugula and a drizzle of olive oil. The pizza in Positano was actually better than the pizza we had in Naples... go figure.

The beautiful people. This place is known for attracting the "jet set" crowd. And wow. It really does. I have never seen so many PERFECTLY dressed beautiful men and fabulous women in one place. I think Audrey found her future husband at least 10 times. The people watching alone makes the trip worth while. 

And now for the fabulous partying. Little did we know that easter weekend was the "launch" of the season so when we showed up at THE club, Music on the Rocks, we had no Idea how ridiculously amazing it would be. As you can see the club is quite... um.... kitsch. It is right down by the beach and INSIDE a cave, but somehow the decor just works and really makes you feel like you are in another world, which is what a club should do. The crowd was just so beautiful we were at a loss for words. Music on the Rocks really exemplifies the club mystique that most places fail to attain. It is glamorous, dreamy and filled with beautiful people drinking fantastic (strong) drinks. The VIP is filled with actual VIP's and there is no Ed Hardy trash to be seen anywhere. Men wear sharp blazers and are dressed to the 9's, and women are glamazons in high heels. 

What made our evening particularly pleasant was the people we met: fabulous jet setting older gay men (with a personal assistant and an 18 year old protégé in tow) who invited me and my two girls to join them for the evening. We had the ONLY private VIP area overlooking the dancefloor and the whole place, other friends from the hostel would pass by and be just like WTF. I want to be like these men when I glow up they are the definition of class. They rent a villa overlooking Positano each Spring, have houses in Miami, NYC, London, Switzerland.... One of them is on the board of Ferrari, another is in some sort of field relating to politics, and they do NOT order bottles. Drinks have to be made by the bartender and swiftly delivered to our box as soon as the previous one is done (the personal assistant made sure of that). They went clubbing only to show the 18 year old (the son of a good friend straight out of boarding school) a good time, and boy did he have a good time with "his" brunette and blonde that came with me. But it was all innocent pleasure drunken debauchery. 

I really recommend going to Positano. It is another world, unlike any other resort town I know. Eat, tan and party.

Salone del Mobile aka Disneyland

I went to Milan on Friday with school for a few hours (yes 12 hours of bus in a day but it was worth it) to visit the Salone del Mobile aka the Word's most important design happening aka Disneyland for design lovers. I started off the day by having lunch at Obika mozzarella bar in central Milan. We ate the most AMAZING ricotta spinach ravioli and had a tasting of 3 different kinds of fresh buffalo mozzarella.  As you can see, the view was worth a million bucks. 

The whole city gets into the Salone game, unlike the bi-yearly fashion weeks, this event is open to the public but still super relevant. Here is Via Montenapoleone in the Golden Triangle, one of the best shopping districts in the world. Every year the city sponsors some sort of art installation on this street, these squiggly white suspensions must have looked great at night!

The Kartell casa was beautiful, super high end bathrooms with ghost lamps an the most elegant garden furniture, like these light sculpture/planters.

We finished the day at the Wallpaper Handmade exhibit at Palazzo Brioni. Those who know me well know how OBSESSED I am with Wallpaper magazine, it is my ultimate design reference. I dream of working for them one day... 

I was so excited when they gave me a free Wallpaper! It isn't even out yet in Switzerland so I felt super special :)

Hopefully one day Ill be able to come back to the Salone del Mobile for the whole five days, it could be a great holiday or a wonderful business trip!

Kitchen' Dreamin'

Last week I had a "workshop" week aka we have no regular classes and have a one week intensive project. Of course I picked the kitchen workshop and actually got to design my ultimate dream kitchen. Unfortunately I was in a team, but i mayyyyy have completely taken over and made it MY project. Oh well hehe. In the end the critics were really impressed with all the details and thought I put into it but thought it wasn't "conceptual" enough. Frankly I don't give a fuck, it is the most efficient kitchen ever, based on the theory of the triangulation of cooking, which is a way to organize the space to facilitate cooking. Sliding cutting board covering a compost garbage, herb tower, waste and recycling management, exposed spice rack next to cooking block, integrated knife rack, crater shaped gas stove, etc...

It would be made out of grey volcano rock (cool eh?), apple wood and black galvanized steel. I cannot wait for the day that I can actually build my own dream kitchen! You know its going to be insane :D

Ps: I taught myself how to use ArchiCad for the 3d rendering in one day... frustrating but fruitful!

Tangerine dream team

My friend Lauren came to visit me in Lausanne for the weekend. And we really had fun with our color... Lets just say we really stood out (no idea if it was a good thing ahaha) and we did not risk getting hit by a car!

Slowly figuring out Geneva

I am finally figuring out what to do for fun in Geneva, this town is not much of a "party" town and options are limited. When other plans never concretized, a friends boyfriend suggested that we go to the Halles de L'Ile. I was told there was no cover, a fabulous venue, good music and no door drama. Jackpot, just my kind of place. The location itself is amazing as you can see, it is in a converted warehouse occupying the entire tip of an island at the mouth of a river. The design is simple and industrial with a large bar in the center. The music was EXACTLY what I like and the DJ was super cute, in my drunken stupor I had a conversation with him and asked about other places where he spun but I unfortunately don't remember what he said :(

The courtyard has a really cool feature, old ski lift cabins! Perfect for a smoke and to ghetto drink out of a plastic bottle in your friend's purse... 

The only downsides are the ridiculous prices (15$ for a G&T but I guess it's normal here, everything is just mad expensive) and the fact that the crowd doesn't really mingle, but I think that's just how it is in Geneva. 

Fun fact: i took the train at 2:36 am to get home and made a huge effort to stay awake but of course i dozed off only to be woken up by a conductor telling me I was at the end of the line. I stumbled out and had no idea where I was, started to panic thinking I was in Zurich or something, wandered towards the exit and only there realized that I was actually in Lausanne. At the station I go to every single day. The lesson of this story: try not to drunkenly pass out on a train in Europe, you might just end up in another country.