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Category Archives: Lifestyle

Glamping it Up in San Fran | Urban Daddy

08 Tuesday May 2012

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Camping Butler, Glamping, Glamping Interiors, interior design, Luxury Camping, style, travel

There are a few things we could be talking about today.

The Avengers. Sarkozy. How in the world Mad Mencould afford a Beatles song.

But instead, we’re talking about camping. And how you can win at it.

Up first: get a butler…

And meet Shelter Co., a fleet of wilderness-savvy hosts setting up luxury campsites all over California, taking reservations now.

Sure, roughing it has its rewards: fresh air, peace and quiet, the rare opportunity to commune with woodchucks. This is who you’ll call when you want all of that—without having to forego your morning shower.

It’ll go like this. Step one: pick where you’ll be camping (think intimate rendezvous for two or something group-oriented on the Playa). Step two: call these guys. Step three: pick your amenities (fire pits, outdoor movie theater, private restrooms—seriously). Step four: show up to your fully furnished, carpeted, European-style canvas tent and enjoy responsibly. Step five: they’ll come in and break it down for you. Boom. You did it.

Oh, and about that butler thing: you can get a camping butler, who’ll unobtrusively tend the fire, mix cocktails, roast marshmallows and provide turndown service.

You’re on your own for fending off bears.

Shelter Co.
415-967-3630

ANDREA BRANZI / TREES / PARIS

05 Saturday May 2012

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Andrea Branzi, architecture, arts, Carpenters Workshop Gallery, French finesse, furniture, interior design, interior design consultants

10 MARCH – 16 MAY 2012 / PARIS

“When birch tree forests are pruned or agricultural cultivations of fruit trees are picked, they are dispersed or burned. I have always been fascinated by these parts of nature, that continue to give off a grand expressive force, more powerful when they are combined with modern, perfect and industrial materials. They become mysterious, always diverse, unique, unrepeatable and somewhat sacred presences.
Trees, trunks and branches are part of our ancient culture but also of actual culture, because in the age of globalization, design searches to trace recognizable ‘anthropologoical’ platforms. The collection, ‘Trees’ consists to place simple, everyday objects, books, and images next to the strange presence of branches and trunks, like in the reality of the world.”

Andrea Branzi
In a short time, Carpenters Workshop Gallery in Paris has already treated us to a regular and rich demonstration of Design Art: in March, Andrea Branzi will be given space to express himself as a free and committed thinker with this new collection « Trees ».
In a space that was once the Galerie de France, a place where contemporary art flourished, Catherine Thieck will come back to pose a few objects from her own collection on the shelves of Andrea Branzi. Works by Marcel Duchamp, Constantin Brancusi, Méret Oppenheim and Rebecca Horn will fill the shelves
of an artist whose personality and preoccupations have remained consistently at the avant-garde of the architecture and design world.
The Italian architect and designer Andrea Branzi, born in 1938, was ahead of his time in Florence in 1966 when he set up Archizoom associati, the first, internationally renowned avant-garde group. In order to define this remarkable character, one must use the vocabulary of projects: theoretical research, new
design, experimental laboratory, leeway, mass creativity, new organisation… He also knows how to share his battles, he coordinates and curates exhibitions, he regularly exhibits his personal work, publishes manifestos, teaches generations of students and participates in conferences all over the world. In fact, multiple spaces would be needed to cover all angles of the man: a screening room, an auditorium, a museum and more than a few metres of shelf space.
Andrea Branzi is passionate about the morphology of urban space; he breaks down the accepted codes and vigorously shakes the foundations of the ever-present conventions. Today more than ever, this insatiable troublemaker continues to disrupt the status quo and places humans and nature at the centre of his thinking.
« Trees » represents a continuation of his thinking on architecture. He creates a minimalist space of shelves, veritable pieces of micro-architecture made from aluminium that spread out in neo-plastic bursts like a Mondrian. However, through the splits in the frame, Andrea Branzi introduces trunks and twigs gathered in the wild. This strange encounter that began in the eighties with « Animali domestici », questions the duality of the nature-culture relationship.
With « Trees », he adds a dimension, an extra slice of soul, as nature becomes art, a contemporary icon, an emotional window linked to the knowledge of the vital importance of this precious, common heritage.
Pieces on show:
Seven shelves, in different shapes and formats, in aluminium and birch wood.
Trees 1-2-3-4, Trees 5, Trees 8-9

Made in England | The Lyonheart

04 Friday May 2012

Posted by Y2DC© in Lifestyle

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Aircraft Design, interior design, Interior Design Philosophy, Luxurious Spaces, Luxury Cars, Lyonheart, style, Y2DC, Yacht Design

Over the years, the British car industry has seen many legendary names disappear or fall into the hands of foreign groups. Now is the time for a new, truly British car manufacturer: LYONHEART CARS LTD.

Based in Coventry, the original home of the British automotive industry, Lyonheart Cars is synonymous with rare, exclusive, super luxury cars, hand-built in a limited series. The goal at Lyonheart Cars is to make the ‘Made In England’ label into a truthful concept, not just a statement. Every part of a Lyonheart car is developed, engineered and hand-built in England.

The first car ever to wear this kingly name is LYONHEART K.

Its design codes unmistakably reflect the very soul of Britishness at its best: cool, elegant, refined, understated yet powerful and dynamic. Lyonheart K is also breathtakingly beautiful. This is a truly inspiring beauty, one which excites us here at Y2DC. We not only appreciate all things interior but all aspects of design which touch us and push us to deliver truly luxurious spaces, whether in a home, aircraft, yacht or automobile.

Powered with a 5.0 litre Supercharged V8 engine delivering a staggering 550PS and 680Nm of torque, Lyonheart K is built around a state-of-the-art aluminium chassis covered with carbon fibre panels. The weight is under 1600kg, which gives Lyonheart K rocket-fast performance: 0-100kph under 4 seconds. Top speed is electronically limited to 300kph.

Lyonheart’s interior design philosophy is very simple: use only genuine materials. In the comfortable leather seats, holding the thin, graceful steering wheel, touching the elegant dashboard or any of the command switches, levers or buttons, your hands will feel nothing but chromed metal, polished or brushed aluminium, genuine leather or pure wood veneer. The engine is a beautiful aluminium jewel, unveiled when opening the traditional, front-hinged clamshell bonnet.

Lyonheart K epitomises high-technology and performance motoring, while capturing the essence of a centennial, British car-making tradition. Preorder now, and you will have the unique opportunity to enter an extremely privileged club, limited to the 50 first owners of Lyonheart K. The new legend in British motoring history: The Return Of The King.

Lynn Chadwick: The Complete Candelabras 1953 – 1996

03 Thursday May 2012

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arts, Candelabras, Lynn Chadwick, sculpture, style, Willer

26 April – 26 May 2012

The Willer gallery is proud to present a unique exhibition of the complete series of limited edition bronze candelabras created by Lynn Chadwick, shown together for the first time.

Lynn Chadwick is one of the pre-eminent British sculptors of the 20th Century. During a career spanning over 50 years until his death in 2003 he secured an international reputation underpinned by major prizes, important commissions, and a lifetime of private and public exhibitions, culminating with a major retrospective at Tate Britain in late 2003. Represented in the world’s leading public and private collections, increasing recognition of his major contribution to British sculpture ensures that his reputation continues to grow.

Throughout his career, Chadwick’s work drew on the natural world in abstracted human and animal forms, and developed archetypal constructions instantly recognisable to those familiar with his work.

But even those well versed in Chadwick’s oeuvre are unlikely to be familiar with his fascination for a domestic object, the candle holder, which he returned to at regular intervals throughout his life. Never previously shown together, the candelabras, seen as a whole, undoubtedly reflect, and are a part of, all the elements being explored in his ‘pure’ sculpture.

Chadwick clearly did not approach the candelabras as an element apart requiring special treatment. They were as much a part of his life and work as the wonderful fire pit hood he created for the monumental main room at his home, Lypiatt Park in Gloucestershire. Some are forms into which holes were punched for holding candles, others were scooped out for the purpose, and still others harked back to his early career working in an architect’s practice and as a designer.

Like the well known sculptures, the candelabras are cast in bronze, a material that dominated his work. The working of their surfaces – in texture, relief, and patination – also mirrors Chadwick’s main body of work. Cast in the same foundry as his other sculptures, using the same methods which he rigorously managed and controlled.

The only tacit acknowledgement of any difference between the candle holders and his other creations may be found in the larger editions Chadwick authorised for these functional pieces, which he often used in dramatic large groups. In all other respects they can stand alone, with or without candles, as fascinating examples of his work, creations spanning virtually the whole of his working life.

For further information please contact: Tamasine Osher Tamasine.O@willer.co.uk
+44 (0)20 7937 3518

12 holland street | kensington | london | w8 4lt

The Martell Trunk | Pinel et Pinel

02 Wednesday May 2012

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French finesse, French Luxury Brand, French Style, Luxury Trunk, Martell Trunk, Pinel & Pinel, style

Here’s the luxurious Martell Trunk which we adore.

The trunk is actually the ultimate blend-cognac-at-home-cocktail-unit. It’s a precious toy, with lots of specials, for connaisseurs who want to play, to experiment with different eaux-de-vie. And yes, there is an ice machine in this huge blue box.

Martell La Malle Trunk Pinel & Pinel

Martell La Malle Trunk Pinel & Pinel

Martell have teamed up with luxury French luxury designer Pinel and Pinel to create a combination of pure opulence.  The trunk has revealed compartments and drawers embellished with soft leather and a myriad of fine crystal glasses and carafes.

Blend your own Cognac

Now, the cool thing about this 150.000 € trunk is, that you can actually blend your own cognac. Create your own cognac – that’s the idea. Use the little book, with pre printed tasting notes structure, fill the mix into a bottle.. or make a cocktail. But that perhaps rather with the VSOP. Crush the ice. Everything seems to be possible with this upscale luxury set.

Cognac bottles in Martell trunk

Cognac bottles in Martell trunk

The trunk icludes the whole range of Martell bottles, and 4 exclusive blends, that you can blend again. Those 4 are single Cru blends from the different growth area of the cognac appellation Fins Bois, Borderies, Grande Champagne and Petite Champagne millesimes, vintages. The Fins Bois is quite remarkable.

Humidor in the trunk

Humidor in the trunk

And of course there is one L’Or de Jean Martell bottle, in the center of the trunk, further down you find candles, scents and a humidor – a worthy accompaniment to these prestigious bottles of cognac.

Knives and cocktail equipment

Knives and cocktail equipment

Further adding to this trunk of luxury are twenty eight unique and classic wristwatches which bathe in the soft light which caresses the interior. We also find knives, cocktail utilities.

Candles, a notebook for tasting notes and more

Candles, a notebook for tasting notes and more

It’s basically a cocktail bar. But you can’t call it that way, it’s just too exclusive. Truly a stylish creation of functional luxury. The brand of Martell succeeds in balancing tradition, modern understatement and desire.

Ice machine in the trunk

Ice machine in the trunk

There is an ice machine, and a crusher, and a bottle where you can fill  in your new home made blend. And you will discover many other little details. Everything is well organized. You also find little lamps at the top of the trunk, which enlight the interior. They are shaped in a way that they remind of alambic pot still elements, and are made of copper.

Eaux-de-vie from Martells paradise cellar

The trunk was launch at a cocktail event, in a villa in Paris. Good athmosphere, food, music, and some cigars added up to a nice evening.

Martell Trunk Launch Event

Martell Trunk Launch Event

Here we see the four exclusive bottles. For explenation: If it says e.g. No.4 on the label, it means there are four different millesimes in this blend. The maitre du chai of Martell told us a bit about those. Those eaux-de-vie were selected from the paradise cellar of Martell.

4 exclusive blends for blending

4 exclusive blends for blending

The Martell Trunk or La Malle is a giant of understatement, something to interact with. You so want it in your living room.

Pinel & Pinel

02 Wednesday May 2012

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Bang Olufsen, Beolab 3, Beovision, Brompton Bike, Crystal Champagne, French Luxury Brand, iPod, Krug Champagne, Louis Vuitton, Luxury, Pinel & Pinel, Ricola, style, Trunk

We love the French Luxury Trunk maker Pinel et Pinel, it appears at a first glance to be some sort of a Vuitton type reinvention of a decades or centuries old brand, in fact it is no more than 13 years old having been started in 1998 by Fred Pinel.

They have quickly established themselves as a quirky an innovative little brand that produces trunks at the absolute highest eschelons of luxury.

We thought we would show a few more of Pinel et Pinel’s creations.

The Ricola Trunk with 10 spaces for small jars and one for a large jar

The ‘Music Centre’ trunk, opens to reveal 26 drawers for CD’s a space designed for the Bang Olufsen Overture Sound System and two spaces for Beolab 3 speakers.

Two Varieties of Watch trunk, the one on the left is designed for jewellery and watches with a central winder area for 3 watches and 8 other watch slots, plus drawers for jewllery and accesories, the one on the right is more for watches only, featuring 14 watch areas, one extra central winder and drawers for accessories.

The Krug picnic Trunk, 3 slots for bottles of krug, one for a krug champagne bucket, drawers for accesories and spaces for crystal champagne flutes

The brompton bike case – simply that a case designed to fit a folded brompton bike.

The home cinema case – 4 central drawers for DVD’s, a space for a beovision 17″ Television, 2 slots for beolab 3 speakers, one slot for a beolab 2 subwoofer, 2 slots for beolab 6002 tower speakers.

The travel ipod speaker box – the most accessible little piece of Pinel et Pinel’s collection, a powerful set of speakers are housed within a case with a handle on top for easy carrying, plus plush inner pouches to hold your ipod of ipod’s

(on the right) the mobile computer workstation – designed to hold a complete computer and all accessories for travel, has a slot for a desktop mac, keyboard, speakers and all other accessories.

All prices for Pinel et Pinel cases are upon application, they are set to open an online store for their smaller accessories, but all trunks must be to order, reason being the price is dependent upon your specification of leather and sizing, they can supply anything from standard calf to Crocodile, Galuchat, Lizard, or whatever else your heart desires.

pinel002.jpg

Pinel et Pinel’s ridiculously cool products transcend mere furniture; from luxe picnic sets to workstations, media cabinets to folding bike holders, the luxury trunkmaker manufactures a variety of experiences that all fold up into a box. Check out their website and dig, or hit the link below and see our convenient one-stop-peeping roundup.

pinelall.jpg

Lofty Goals Choosing a Rooftop for Your Next Party

01 Tuesday May 2012

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New York, New York Party Scene, new york style

Your all-time, no-limits party-spot wish list goes a little something like this:


1) The Fortress of Solitude.
2) Madison Square Garden.
3) The Nestlé Toll House, circa 1930.At least one of these is totally doable today…

Introducing Eventup, a site where some comically amazing fantasy party venues are yours for the booking, available now in New York.

Before you throw the Earth Day fete they’ll tell the grandkids about, you’ll go here. They’ve got a solid chunk of New York’s finest restaurants, celebrity pads, cultural landmarks and criminally underutilized rooftops available for your merrymakings. Little hovels like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Radio City Music Hall.

But if your guest list is just a shade under 20,000 (you do have standards, after all), you can grab places like 21 Club, the Modern or the Breslin for a more intimate affair.

All you need to do is decide what kind of place you require. Maybe Bob Dylan’s old residence for a little blonde-on-blonde-themed double entendre action. Maybe Birreria for the rooftop launch of your new eponymous fragrance. From there, just choose a date, book online, and the city is your oyster.

You can also feel free to rent out your own place to Eventup if it’s got, say, a view of the High Line.

Just make sure to write your name on the chips.

Watches, They’re Everywhere

30 Monday Apr 2012

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interior design consultants, IWC, New York, new york interior designers, new york style, style

Published April 27, 2012 | URBAN DADDY

Your wrist.

Strong. Stable. Capable of a McEnroe-esque ping-pong forehand.

One problem… It’s just not nearly as Swiss as you’d like.

But help has arrived.

Give a warm welcome to IWC, an imposing monument to watches and leather with the occasional flight suit, now open in New York for the first time.

You’re aware of IWC. Swiss gods of timepiecery. Well, this is where you’ll go to immerse yourself in their perfectly wound glory. Naturally, they’ve gone all out with all the things you’d expect from a fine watch shop: world-encompassing leather chairs. Racing bikes. A flight simulator. You know, classic watch shop.

You’re working your way through five mini rooms here—one for each collection. Shifting seamlessly from checking out the Portuguese in a nautical-themed den to lusting after the Portofinos in a library. You’ll end up in what looks like an Air Force locker room as imagined by Ernest Hemingway: chronographs surrounded by studded leather, modernist aircraft statuary and the occasional five-foot, remote-controlled French WWII plane.

And lest you think they’re a little too horology-obsessive, there’s also some handsome leather luggage and the supple fruits of a collaboration with Cockpit. We’re talking the same calfskin bomber jackets that Navy fighter pilots wear. And, in case you know someone with a Goose fantasy, an actual flight suit.

God, you miss that crazy bastard.

VITALS

IWC
535 Madison Ave
(at 54th)
New York, NY 10022
212-355-7271
official website

 

Contemporary Schein Loft in New York

30 Monday Apr 2012

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contemporary interior design, interior design, interior design consultants, luxury development, new york design, new york interior designers, New York Loft

by Loredana Sava, posted in Apartments, on April 29th, 2012

Not everything that is old is necessarily broken and ruined and must be destroyed. Some things keep their patina and this makes them even more beautiful. All you need to do is give them a new face, a make over, and they will look great again. For example some guys from Archi-Tectonics in New York thought of giving a new face to an old warehouse in Soho and covered it in a waterfall of glass. Underneath the apartments were given a modern look and the result can be seen in this Contemporary Schein Loft.

 

 

This loft is situated on the eighth floor and is illustrative for contemporary interior design. First of all it does not have rooms per se. They are more like open spaces overlapping each other. You know this is the dining room because you use it as a dining room, not because there are any walls and a specific furniture for this. The whole place is open and there is glass everywhere, giving you a feeling of freedom and space.

All the rooms are covered in tiles that you can see both on the floor and sometimes on the wall , too – like in the bathroom. However, the coldness of the tiles is very well combined with the warmth of the wood, as there are wooden panels and floors and also all the furniture is made of wood. It has kept the natural colour of the wood, which makes the whole picture a cozy one.

The contemporary design is completed by the leather couch and armchairs and also by the metal accessories spread here and there. The oblique windows give you a nice view and the whole place breathes comfort and style.{found on Adelto}.

One World Trade Center, Now New York’s Tallest Skyscraper

30 Monday Apr 2012

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architecture, empire state building, interior design consultants, New York, One World Trade Center, Skyscraper, WTC

This afternoon, One World Trade Center will pass the Empire State Building as New York’s tallest skyscraper, reclaiming the city’s skyline and reviving the race for height that originated in Manhattan but which was resolved with the building of the World Trade Centerover 40 years ago. In just a few hours, workers are scheduled to install the first column of the 100th floor of the tower’s steel frame, which will rise 1,250 feet in the air, peaking just 21 feet over the crest of the Empire State Building’s observation deck.

 Upon its expected completion in 2014, One World Trade Center will stand 1,776 feet and will become the country’s tallest structure, a title which currently belongs to Chicago’s 1,450 foot-tall Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower). Much jubilation greeted the announcement for many reasons–the director of the Port Authority giddily anticipated the views from the tower’s future observation platform, while architect David Childs welcomed the progression of construction as a sign towards the eventual rehabilitation of Lower Manhattan’s urban life. Yet, today’s events can hardly be seen as a milestone, says author and chronicler of New York’s skyscrapers Neal Bascomb, who told the NYTimes that the construction is “kind of like competing against a ghost.”

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