F

Flavorwire

Daniel Libeskind

Architecture

Extreme Architectural Makeovers: 12 Startling Frankenmuseums

By Claire Cottrell on

The idea for Mary Shelley’s most famous novel, Frankenstein, came to her in a dream while summering in Switzerland with the notoriously melancholy poet, Lord Byron, and the manic creator of the vampire genre of fantasy fiction, John Polidori. As you do when you’re bored, conflicted writers obsessed with the occult on holiday, you hold a competition to see who can come up with the best horror story. Mary’s tall tale about a hideous creature created by a science experiment gone awry clearly won.

We’re all for trial and error, and as our favorite visionary architect and staunch advocate of pushing the limits, Bucky Fuller, said “there is no such thing as a failed experiment, only experiments with unexpected outcomes.” A boundary pushing bout of genius is the hope when you’re a castle-builder looking to change the world, but there’s a fine line between botched and brilliant (ahem, Lady Gaga). Click through to check out twelve extreme experimental designs that we think are too brave for their own good. Let us know in the comments if you agree, then tell us what modern buildings you think should have been left on the design world’s equivalent of the cutting room floor. … Read More

Design

Spontaneous Design Genius: Important and Inventive Napkin Sketches

By Claire Cottrell on

The Finnish architect Alvar Aalto famously said that “God made paper to draw architecture on it.” And apparently, cocktail napkins. Proof that design genius knows no boundaries, here is our roundup of impromptu sketches illustrating the many creative ideas that have originated in bars, lunchroom cafeterias and gem museums from the likes of Liz Diller, Andy Warhol, and Steve Martin’s character in Housesitter.

Should you suffer from a similar inability to effectively disengage and leave your creativity at the office, check out this helpful book to up your napkin sketching ante: Dan Moyer’s self-published Napkin Sketch Workbook. Let us know in the comments about the wackiest place you’ve ever been inspired! … Read More

Fashion

Incredibly Bizarre Shoes We Actually Want to Wear

By Claire Cottrell on

With New York Fashion Week in full swing, our eyes are on the blogs to see what glorious ensembles the fashion elite are wearing in and around Lincoln Center. The inordinate number of orange puffers aside, the statement shoes have us seriously contemplating upping our fashion ante.

In researching the best bold footwear options, we came across the work of Marloes ten Bhömer. More Margiela than Mulleavy, ten Bhömer’s creations are both idiosyncratic and sensual, as any good foot fashion should be. Lacking name recognition in mainstream fashion circles, her design genius comes as no surprise given that the great Alexander McQueen hired her to create technical drawings and prototypes for his bespoke shoe collections while she was still a student at the Royal College of Art in London. She went on to intern at the Italian design office of Tod’s before starting her own line, Hunt, inspired by the work of architect, Daniel Libeskind, and Vivienne Westwood. Interior Design comments on ten Bhömer’s artistic and architectural approach by stating, “in the space between design disciplines, strangely beautiful objects live.”

From couture creations to commissioned projects, click through to see her work over the years, and let us know your favorite foot fashion moment in the comments. Tommy Ton, eat your heart out. … Read More

Architecture

Architecture Drama: Dresden Military History Museum

By Kelsey Keith on

Identity politics, architectural decorum, Neo-Nazis, and a bleak recent history: building a military history museum in Germany is just as complicated as you might expect. American architect Daniel Libeskind — most well-known for his Jewish Museum in Berlin — has designed a modified shell for an old arsenal building overlooking the city of Dresden, a town almost entirely decimated by Allied forces in 1945 at the end of World War II. George Packer covered the brouhaha in a recent issue of the New Yorker, and Libeskind has been defending his design to press in days surrounding the 65th anniversary of the Dresden bombing on February 13. Examine the issue and check out the project’s design after the… Read More

Design

SANAA Transforms the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion Into a Hall of Mirrors

By Caroline Stanley on

We’ve been curious about how SANAA’s Serpentine Gallery Pavilion would turn out since we read that the Tokyo-based architecture firm (made up of husband and wife team Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa) had been chosen to transform a small corner of Hyde Park from July through this coming October. … Read More