The 1970s was an exciting time in the world of design. Architects and engineers were competing to build the tallest building in the world. Buckminster Fuller perfected “Spaceship Earth.” Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers “turned the architecture world upside down” with the inside-out Centre George Pompidou in Paris. And as we discovered via our favorite passport to another time, Retronaut, Graystone Press published a massive, eighteen volume anthology known as The Practical Encyclopedia of Good Decorating and Home Improvement. Arranged alphabetically by topic, the books cover everything from “how to select chairs that are comfortable and durable” to “how to arrange collections to create focus and visual rhythms” to “why the ancients used color.”
We were so inspired by the quirky range of entries that we had to make our own abridged version of our new favorite design reference. Let us know in the comments what has you wanting to invest in some avocado green accent pieces or give couching a whirl.
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Wikipedia says that succulents are water-retaining plants adapted to arid climates or soil conditions. We say they’re the greatest eye candy since Ryan Gosling. OK, that’s pushing it. But, really, could there be an easier way to add a touch of graphic, quirky charm to any space?
Succulents and their most notable family member, the cactus, have been a fixture on the design circuit for as long as the Eames Eiffel Chair has been around. Winning hearts and minds of designers the world over, the succulent embodies the Modernist movement’s overarching belief that form follows function. A timeless testament to the lasting value of the organic form stripped of all unnecessary ornament, here’s our guide to living with the best looking, utilitarian plants in the world.
Let us know in the comments what has you Yelping your friendly neighborhood garden center.
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We’re up to our ears in modern, accessible design. No offense CB2, West Elm, or IKEA. Really, you’re great. You helped us furnish our first apartments, and we love you for that. But, we’re a little older, a little wiser, and we want more. More substance. More soul. Which is why we’re migrating en masse to intermittent flea markets, scouring Craigslist and enrolling in classes to learn everything from upholstery to blacksmithing to the lathe.
It’s not the first time we’ve resolved to roll up our sleeves and make more of our world. The last time, a New Age was upon us and the Western saga that produced the hipster’s predecessor was embracing simple living and imaginative expression. Art Boericke and Barry Shapiro, two builders living in Northern California, the movement’s epicenter, set out to explore what was happening in the woods and valleys around them. Boericke writes that it was a time that saw houses with “tiles that have never been in a store because the tilemaker’s kiln is just beyond her kitchen door.” Now out of print, The Craftsmen Builder and Handmade Houses, A Guide to the Woodbutcher’s Art document what they found.
We’ve rounded up the best of what these two tomes have to offer thanks to Mr. Chum’s comprehensive scans. Now, put on some Vashti Bunyan, grab a kilim pillow and click through to revisit these inspiring collections of handmade houses.
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We love the Pritzker Prize-winning architectural team of SANAA because they gave us the New Museum, a whimsical steel stack of a building that sits at the intersection of Bowery and Prince Street in New York’s Lower East Side shouting out a rainbow colored “HELL, YES” to everyone who walks by. We love them even more for their minimal houses filled with light, quirky furniture, and lots and lots of plants.
SANAA is Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa. Based in Tokyo, their architecture has been described as metaphysical, dreamlike, and ethereal. A reaction to the chaos and cluttered complexity of the modern world, says Kristine Guzmán, architect and curator at MUSAC, “SANAA’s houses are capable of transforming a person’s way of life.”
Taking cues from our favorite houseplant loving design icons, here’s our guide to bringing a little SANAA into your world. Click through to check it out and let us know what inspired you the most in the comments!
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No matter who you are, the fir tree is an inescapable emblem of the holiday season. And since Americans are slated to spend more money on Christmas trees since before the start of the recession, it looks like the sidewalk arbor hawkers are going to do pretty well this year. However, if you have an itch to be a little more creative — or heaven forbid, a pine allergy — you may want to take a look at these alternative holiday trees, from the do-it-yourself to the highly designed (and highly expensive). Click through to see our collection of trees, and let us know which is your favorite in the comments. Read More »
We have to admit that the latest installment of Design Porn comes to you from a slightly self-interested place. When you live in a tiny apartment, it can feel like there’s only room for you or your bike — but not both. In fact, we’ve got plenty of friends who have been forced to part with their beloved rides when confronted with more modest quarters, and we’re betting that there are plenty of you in the same boat. Hopefully one of the aesthetically-pleasing storage options that we’ve found after the jump can help you free up a little wiggle room. As always, feel free to leave your own suggestions in the comments.
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Even though we’re not in school anymore, we can’t get through June without starting to daydream about summer vacation — airplanes, beaches, foreign cities. So, as long as we’re planning our fantasy escape, we thought we’d pack for it, too. In this edition of Design Porn, we round up a variety of beautifully designed travel accessories, many of which we could never afford. The suitcases, camera bags, and beach towels of our dreams are after the jump.
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If the findings of a new study from the University of South Carolina are true, and sitting too much can actually kill you, then it only makes sense that you’d want to live out your final moments in something more memorable than a La-Z-Boy. After the jump, we’ve rounded up 10 of the most interesting chairs that we could find — from an $11,000 seat that’s made out of sugar to a bathtub that has been reincarnated as a rocker. Click through to check them out, and let us know in the comments which one is your favorite.
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What do you get for the book nerd who has everything — or at least all of the paperbacks that their apartment can hold? How about something that allows them to proudly display their love of literature for all the world to see? After the jump, find a roundup of some of our favorite accessories for bookworms, from a tiny typewriter necklace to a ring fashioned out of pages of Jane Eyre. Be sure to leave a link to anything that you’ve recently spotted in the comments.
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As you’ve probably noticed by now, we’re big fans of interesting typography here at Flavorpill — whether we spot it on someone’s forearm or in the MoMA’s permanent collection. With that in mind, click through for our roundup of ten of the craziest fonts we could get our hands on, from a design that’s made out of raw meat to one that’s created using beard clippings.
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