The Intelligent Kitchen: The e-House

Kitchen trends to come are showcased here in this on-going laboratory for building science designed by Michael McDonough. He is a pioneer in sustainability in the built environment. His kitchen features a loft-like aesthetic with lots of natural light, beautiful light fixtures and integration with the out-of-doors. The e-house is a high-performance website-controlled building, and was developed with a team of engineers, scientists, environmentalists, and over 100 manufacturers.

Reed Kroloff: Architecture, modern and romantic

Reed Kroloff offers an interesting, blisteringly blunt 15 minutes on the state of architecture in the year 2003. He is Director of the Cranbrook Academy of Art and Art Museum, and a nationally known commentator in the world of architecture and urban design. He previously served as Editor-in-Chief of Architecture magazine.

But sometimes designers need to be saved from themselves

This topic refers back to the previous post about a beautifully designed car from the 40's during a time that designers ruled. But, sometimes decision makers do have to step in and pass judgment on the validity of a design - a role that Barbara D'Arcy played as the creative director in the heyday of Bloomingdale's . Every little detail about the shopping experience was well-coordinated and always in the best of taste, when other stores were selling either bastardized reproductions, stripped-down Scandinavian or "red, black and fuzzy" things in the home furnishings department. When Barbara swept into the offices of the furniture company where I worked at the time in her royal purple cape, everyone listened.

The Barbara D'Arcy's of the world are so often missing today... Phillipe Starch rails against the entire design establishment as only a Frenchman can, and then creates a bizarre installation like the LAN restaurant in Beijing, as if mocking "who knows exactly what." His "Ghost" chair is genius, but I am afraid he is a one-trick pony with way too much to say. (The LAN bathroom above, there are hundreds of images out - so you can "google" the work.)

This leads me to the fact that companies think that affiliating with someone that has created their own "brand" will rub off on them -yes it can, but only if the product is well-designed and appropriate for the particular marketplace and there is someone inside a company that can tell the difference.

I have often wondered why in the world anyone would buy ceramic tile that looks like wood, but now wonder of wonders - Martha has put her name on an area rug that looks like wood. With the hundreds of beautiful handmade rugs in both traditional and updated patterns available these days, who would put a faux wood-look area rug on an authentic hardwood floor? I haven't a clue. (Rug is middle image and tile is to the right.)

Nike Courage Commercial (I've Got Soul But I'm Not A Soldier)

My bet is that this commercial, aired during the Summer Olympics, will go down as one of the all-time great commercials. There is an interesting white paper titled "The Rhetoric of the Mythological Branding" by Fabian Bautista that discusses early Nike advertising and why they get emotions right at brandchannel.com.