Stockholm’s Royal Opera House Restaurant by Claesson Kovisto Rune

Claesson Kovisto Rune created a new interior for Stockholm’s Royal Opera House
without interfering with the ornately decorated 1895 interior, protected as cultural heritage.


The strongest architectural component is a series of free-standing, giant, angled mirrors, defining the space and separating the passageway from seated guests. The gold-tinted mirrors are laminated with a film that controls the sector of vision, preventing you from seeing your own face clearly reflected.


They also designed a complete range of new furniture, carpets, lighting, etc. made by a handful of Italian and Swedish manufacturers.
The veranda was not protected as cultural heritage, allowing Claesson Kovisto Rune much greater freedom. The floor level was raised to match the dining hall. The windows were cleared, affording a fantastic view of historic central Stockholm beyond. http://coolboom.net/interior-design/stockholms-royal-opera-house-restaurant-by-claesson-kovisto-rune/

SOMA by Ayala Serfaty

SOMA, the Greek word for body, is an installation representing the topography of light by Ayala Serfaty. Thin glass filaments are woven to produce spatial structures that are ultimately sprayed with a polymer to generate a skin-like layer, a membrane of sorts. It has taken six years to develop SOMA, after many landscape formations that have resulted in this final version. The effect is akin to glowing leaves of snow. http://mocoloco.com/art/archives/012555.php

SCAD Student's New Water Saving Design

ID students at the Savannah College of Art & Design are currently engaged in a hands-on project with local relevance: Helping a nearby vacation destination, Tybee Island, reduce its water consumption to preserve a local aquifer.

Vacationers flocking to Tybee's beaches have already found their beachside showers turned off, as the island undergoes a government-mandated reduction of water usage by 44,000 gallons a day.
To that end, SCAD students are devising systems to meet Tybee's needs using rainwater, bamboo, and even Astroturf. http://www.core77.com/

Construction Begins on Amazing Tunnel-Shaped Rotterdam Market Hall

Bridgette Meinhold for Inhabitat



Imagine having this sweet public market pop up in your town? Well the lucky residents of Rotterdam are actually getting one! This week, the mayor of the city announced the commencement of construction on the huge tunnel-shaped market hall which will flash images of gigantic fresh fruits and vegetables via LCD screens on the inside and be lined with balconied apartments offering killer views on the outside. This true mixed-use development combining residences, shopping, restaurants and a public market will be a central hub of activity for citizens and tourists. The project is being developed by Provast and was designed by MVRDV. http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/11/20/construction-begins-on-amazing-tunnel-shaped-rotterdam-market-hall/

Thanks

This is the time of year we reflect on all the things for which we can be thankful. Due to the current state of the economy that has affected so many of us this year I've made it a personal challenge to remember the intangibles that don't waiver with fluctuating markets, interest rates, real estate values, or employment status. One such aspect of life is the creative nature in all of us.

The pleasure I gain from compiling this blog is derived from being able to explore our creative forces that manifest in so many different ways. The cornucopia of ideas, images, and perspectives pouring out from within continuously fascinates me. The power we have to communicate emotion, enhance our environment, and sustain ourselves in inventive ways is a testament to the power of the human spirit. This spirit is at the root of our relationships, passion, and vision.

Whatever circumstance you find yourself in this Thanksgiving remember to reflect on the gifts that you intrinsically hold and be thankful for them. I'm thankful to you for sharing your gifts here at Creative Juices.

"If I were given the opportunity to present a gift to the next generation, it would be the ability for each individual to learn to laugh at himself." Charles Schulz

Tim Buton Exhibit at MoMA

November 22, 2009-April 26, 2010



Accompanied by the film exhibitions Tim Burton and Tim Burton and the Lurid Beauty of MonstersTimed tickets are available for this exhibition at no extra cost. Simply select a specific date and time when you purchase your admission ticket online. Timed-ticket holders are guaranteed entry at the selected time. Untimed tickets do grant entry to the exhibition, but there may be a significant wait. Members and accompanying guests need not wait to enter Tim Burton. Simply present your membership card and/or member guest admission ticket at the exhibition entrance. http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/313

Social Housing for Miners

Zon-e Architects projected a new social housing for miners located in a mining town in the heart of the Cantabrian Mountain in Spain.


The project, which is state-funded, is the first new residential development in the region for 25 years. The form of the building comprises two masses perpendicular to each other. The concept for the building form takes precedent from the jagged mountains, which at times become geometric.


The colors and materials, such as the local slate, keep the building in context. The black facade acts like coal, absorbing almost all light that falls on it. Each of the 15 apartments is different in terms of size and floor plan. This contrasts with the building’s overall uniform appearance. Each room enjoys views over Asturia’s landscape. http://coolboom.net/architecture/social-housing-for-miners/#more-7744

Books

Keith Haring
by George Condo, Jeffrey Deitch, Julia Gruen, Keith Haring, Kenny Scharf, Mark Coetzee, Suzanne Geiss
reviewed by Robert Atkins


Publisher: Rizzoli International Publications
Haring remains a lightning rod for critical discord and hyperbole. According to various observers, he is either one of the best or one of the worst artists of our time. http://www.artinamericamagazine.com/books/keith-haring

Perhaps with a Bedazzler?

Perhaps not even the iconic Bedazzler could offer any sort of improvement to this design. Maybe Crest White Strips?

I'm out of suggestions so if you want to read more you'll have to follow the link to the post by Yuka Yoneda for Inhabitat: http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/11/15/jewelry-made-from-human-teeth/

Dress with 24,000 LEDs

Each of the flat, extra-thin LEDs that illuminate the dress measures a mere 2×2 millimeters, but they work together to create a dazzling light show of hundreds of colors that pulse across the flowing skirt. And we’ve come a long way from those lame, scrolling LED belt buckles—the intricate circuitry that underlies this futuristic frock was painstakingly hand-embroidered on a layer of silk, imbuing it with the fluidity of fabric.

To diffuse the light and create an even more ethereal effect, the designers added four layers of silk chiffon, along with 4,000 hand-applied Swarovski crystals that extend the gown’s glittery sheen even after the LED bulbs go dim. And although the Galaxy Dress is lightweight, the heaviest part isn’t the technology but rather the 40-layer pleated silk organza crinoline that gives the skirt its flounce. http://www.ecouterre.com/5815/bewitching-led-galaxy-dress-by-cute-circuit-is-worlds-largest-wearable-display/

A Drunken Accident Waiting to Happen?

I found this on one of my favorite design blogs. Blogger "hipstomp" came up with a few more compelling solutions for storage using otherwise wasted stair space. Thank you hipstomp for finding an alternative to this drunken accident waiting to happen.

You may see hipstomp's ideas at: http://www.core77.com/

Czech National Library

A project by: BeL
Architecture

The New National Library is a hybrid typology between utilitarian functionality and public grandeur. 60% of the floor area is solely used as storage space, only 20% of the floor area is open to the public. The presence of 10 million books creates a monumentality by shear number, similar to baroque libraries visitors and … read moreemployees are completely surrounded by books. With generic typologies such as supermarkets as a model the scheme juxtaposes the programmatic necessities of separating magazine and public spaces with the baroque approach of universal presence. The enormous size and complexity of a National Library reflects into simplistic spatial matrix. In plan the 97,20 m deep open space is structured by supportive cylinders and voids in the floor. The voids connect spatially to the lower floors, which are mainly used as magazine spaces. http://www.architizer.com/en_us/projects/view/czech-national-library/1256/

Into the Woods

Trey Champion: Interior Designer, Photographer, Vocalist

I recently had the pleasure of attending the opening of an exhibit showcasing the photography of Atlanta artist and designer Trey Champion. Like most creative types Trey has many talents.

A native of McCalla, Alabama, Trey Champion earned bachelor’s degrees in both interior design and opera performance from The University of Alabama. His career as a vocalist spans more than 20 years leading to extensive travel throughout the United States and Western Europe. Trey’s interest in photography developed alongside his education in interior design.

The photographs in this series, Into the Woods, showcase nature in and around Atlanta. “Inspiration for this project came from working with so many nature images for healthcare. It seems that we always choose images from the Midwest or more exotic locales and are largely unaware of the beauty that is, quite literally, in our own back yard.” Following a series of hikes, all within 60 miles of Atlanta, Trey has captured compelling images that are featured in this exhibition.

Trey Champion is an interior designer with Stanley Beaman & Sears, where he continues to advance his interior design career and education, pursuing his love of both music and photography. Into the Woods is currently on exhibit at the Atanta office of Stanley Beaman & Sears through February 1, 2010 http://www.stanleybeamansears.com/

'From the House of the Dead' as Literature, Theater, and Music

By James R. Oestreich

With the New York City Opera safely (one hopes) up and running again, the spotlight swings back to the Metropolitan Opera in a season unusually thick with new productions. Next up is Janacek’s “From the House of the Dead,” in a staging by Patrice Chéreau that had its dress rehearsal on Monday morning and opens on Thursday evening...

So this production promises a particularly rich experience of the opera, and the prospect already has New York Times critics buzzing in realms beyond the musical. The basis for the work, after all, is a great literary masterpiece, Dostoyevsky’s novel “The House of the Dead,” which drew heavily on his experience as a prisoner in Siberia. And Mr. Chéreau, though best known for his work in theater and film, earned his operatic spurs early on, with his acclaimed centennial production of Wagner’s “Ring” cycle in 1976 at the Bayreuth Festival in Germany, which framed the work in the context of the industrial revolution. http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/from-the-house-of-the-dead/

A New Home for Film in Amsterdam

By Joel Weickgenant

AMSTERDAM | On the harbor directly across from Centraal Station, a symbol of Amsterdam’s next cultural evolution is rising from the ground — and, by sometime in 2011, cinephiles in the city will be rejoicing.

The organizers behind Filmmuseum, an Amsterdam institution that has been an important agent in screening and preserving old movies, broke ground in September on a site they hope will widen the museum’s audience and appeal.

The museum’s current location, within the Vondelpark, close to the Museum District, has its limitations. The new harborside building, say the museum’s spokespeople, will help the museum move beyond its core vision — serving as a tool to educate movie geeks. The new space will offer state-of-the-art, modern viewing spaces; the organizers hope to draw more than 200,000 visitors per year to the new building. http://globespotters.blogs.nytimes.com/

Ken Smith Landscape Architect

Ken Smith: Landscape Architect Introduction by John Beardsley Designed by PentagramThe Monacelli Press, 232 pp., $50

In his 20-year career as a landscape architect, Ken Smith has designed public parks and private gardens, but also experimented, in museum shows and installation pieces, with projects that redefine the scope of his discipline and its media. Typical of Smith’s more experimental work is a design he completed in New York in 2007, for which he draped oversized man-made flowers, attached to a bright synthetic scrim, over the Cooper Hewitt museum’s 91st Street façade; photos of the project, which grace the cover of Ken Smith: Landscape Architect, make the juxtaposition of cartoon screen and staid Fifth Avenue mansion seem artificial, like the two images were culled from different sources and combined in Photoshop. Generally, Smith’s work is clever and conceptual, and the book presents a thorough documentation of fifteen projects Smith has worked on since 1992. It’s not exactly an exhaustive review of Smith’s career, but as an exploration of the possibilities of landscape architecture and one of its more interesting practitioners, the book is undoubtedly worth

Could Encasing Cities in Giant Domes be an Energy Solution for Our Future?

by Bridgette Meinhold,

Back in 1979, Winooski, Vermont, a town that often experiences -20 degree weather in January, proposed building a giant dome over their city to help reduce energy costs and keep warm throughout the winter. Thirty years ago, we were experiencing an energy crisis with rising oil prices, and people were looking for solutions to reduce their costs. Nowadays, while we’re also looking to reduce our carbon footprint in addition to costs, the concept is still applicable. By doming off the small city of 7,000, Winooski could stay warm all year round, reduce energy costs and emissions, grow food all year, and ban cars inside the dome. Environmentally, it seems like it has potential. http://www.inhabitat.com/

Refurbishment of an Urban Wall

This dividing wall is located in one of the new urban spaces of Barcelona: the ”Rambla Brasil”. This space is the result of covering an urban highway called "ronda del mig" that has become in one of the most attractive city walks of Barcelona. The location has a high urban interest that … read more
needed the participation of the nude wall to complete the urban landscape.
The wall turns into an spectator of exception of the day-to-day live of the neighbourhood and its untidy presence was not accompanying on the harmony of the zone, creating a necessity of designing something to integrate the wall into the urban environment. http://www.architizer.com/en_us/projects/view/refurbishment-of-an-urban-wall/835/

Welcome to Creative Juices!

Designers and Friends,

For the past year I've enjoyed compiling ideas and inspirations from the design community and sharing them with you in the form of a Monday morning email publication Creative Connection. With the vision of providing an interactive outlet where we can share our favorite projects, artists, designers, events, and web sites this publication as morphed into a daily bog called Creative Juices.

When you have something to share simply contact me so you may have access to the blog in order to create your post.

I'm excited about the potential of what can happen when creative, talented people influence one another through our various contributions, so let's stir up those creative juices!

Best regards,


Craig Segars
craig@theworkplaceinc.com

A Rally Marked by Bold Strokes

By SOUREN MELIKIAN

NEW YORK — A new breeze of optimism blew over the art world this week. As a host of top level Impressionist and Modern works came up on the block and triggered bidding matches as intense as any in pre-recession days, prosperity appeared to have been fully restored to the auction scene.

The rally, rather discreet on Tuesday at Christie’s where a very thin sale nevertheless managed to rake in $65.67 million, became spectacular at Sotheby’s on Wednesday when the pickings added up to just over $181 million, exceeding the global high estimate for the first time since May 2006.

Image: Kees van Dongen's 1910 “Jeune Arabe” was sold for a world record of $13.8 million at Sotheby's on Wednesday night.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/07/arts/07iht-melik7.html?_r=1&ref=arts

Extreme Art

By Marjorie Welish

Who among us has not envisioned a better world and imagined ways to transform the troubled here and now to a new and radiant day? William Blake (1757-1827), an artist and poet of uniquely configured creative talent, put his eye, heart and soul on the line with each attempt to transform the world on behalf of himself and us. So it is no wonder that “William Blake’s World: ‘A New Heaven Is Begun,’” now at the Morgan Library & Museum, is as fresh as it is exciting. http://www.observer.com/2009/culture/extreme-art

Duplicate Array

By: Sam Jacob



Just back from Lausanne, where FATs show "Duplicate Array" opened at Gallerie Lucy Mackintosh.

"Dulplicate Array: Objects/Buildings/Plans presents a series of architecture, design, and art projects by London based practice FAT ranging in scale from objects to buildings and masterplans. The projects explore an idea of architecture narrative, media and communications engaging directly with culture, communities and scenarios that surround them. Using tactics which include appropriation, irony and juxtoposition they set out an architectural agenda addressing issues of taste, ornament and meaning in contemporary culture." http://www.strangeharvest.com/

Transformable LED Trask Lights from MIO

by Lea Bogdan,

Philadelphia-based design team MIO has upped the ante for end-user creativity yet again with the introduction of their first LED light fixture. Called Trask because it can switch from being “track” or “task” lighting, the function of this ingenious flatpack lighting system is completely up to you! The modular units can form everything from desk lamps to linkable suspension lights, giving this eco-centric product the option to snake its way across your entire room. http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/05/26/led-trask-light-from-mio/

Scoop High Chair

The Scoop High Chair, designed by British firm Seymourpowell, brings design to the table--from a toddler's position. Looking rather like the customer throne from a hair salon, the Scoop's rounded surfaces leave no place for dirt to accumulate and can be height-adjusted, from sofa to table height, by means of a foot pedal that drives the pneumatic lift.
Unlike its brethren barber shop chair, the Scoop isn't mounted to the floor; the round base conceals castors, so it can be wheeled out of the way for cleaning. And the adjustable integrated table acts something like the safety bars on an amusement park ride, keeping the child in place and obviating the need for a harness. When it's time for the kid to come out, the table can be slid forward for easier access.http://www.core77.com/

Metropol Parasol

A project by: J. MAYER H. Architects Architecture

'Metropol Parasol' is the new icon project for Sevilla, - a place of identification and to articulate Sevillas role as one of Spains most fascinating cultural destinations. 'Metropol Parasol' explores the potential of the Plaza de la Encarnacion to become the new contemporary urban centre. Its role as a unique urban space … read morewithin the dense fabric of the medieval inner city of Sevilla allows for a great variety of activities such as memory, leisure and commerce. A highly developed infrastructure helps to activate the square, making it an attractive destination for tourists and locals alike. http://www.architizer.com/en_us/projects/view/metropol-parasol/152/

$555 Billion Sahara Solar Energy Belt Takes Giant Step Forward

by Bridgette Meinhold,

A giant step has been made in what will be the world’s largest renewable energy project. While previously just a grand vision for the production of clean energy in the Saharan desert, the project now has a core group of backers and a signed agreement between 12 companies wanting to move forward with the $555 billion renewable energy belt. The 12 collaborators signed articles of association last week for the DESERTEC Industrial Initiative (DII), which will work to bring more companies and groups on board as well as focus on regulations and conditions to get the project successfully completed and generating pure power from the sun. http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/11/03/ginormous-saharan-renewable-project-moving-forward/#

Rob Pruitt

By James Franco for Interview

There's great irony in the fact that Rob Pruitt is the man putting together the Guggenheim’s First Annual Art Awards, a sort of tongue-and-cheek version of the Oscars for contemporary American art. It’s the kind of irony more befitting a Hollywood film script than the New York art scene. On October 29, before an assemblage of heavyweights in the Guggenheim Museum rotunda, faux-champagne-bottle-in-ice-bucket lamp awards will be doled out to the winners of Solo Show of the Year, Group Show of the Year, Curator of the Year, and Artist of the Year, among a myriad of other categories. While a committee helped select the nominees, the awards show itself was 45-year-old Pruitt’s brainchild—his way of giving back to the art-world community that has made him one of its own unorthodox, uninhibited stars. http://www.interviewmagazine.com/art/rob-pruitt/

Locked Away by Nazi's for 70 Years!

Less is More at Christie's
by Mary Lapides

This week the auction world kicks into high gear with Christie's and Sotheby's much anticipated Impressionist and Modern Day and evening sales on November 3 and 4 in New York. According to specialists at Christie's the number of lots offered this season is down from the usual 50 to 60 lots to a leaner 41 lots. Connor Jordan, the newly appointed Head of the Evening sale and a seasoned Christie's veteran stressed that well priced, tightly edited offerings typified the evening sale. http://www.artinamericamagazine.com/news-opinion/the-market/2009-11-02/christies-impressionist/ Image: Pissarros, Le Quai Malaquais et l'Institut, (1890–1903).

Hight school gymnasium. LA TOURELLE A SARCELLES

Located 16 kilometers from Paris, Sarcelles is part of the “banlieue” that hurriedly accommodated the immigrants who arrived at the end of the 50s. With a current population close to 60,000, Sarcelles consist of a small old core and a huge expansion to the south known as Le grand Ensemble and conceived in 1965 by Jacques Henri Labourdette. http://www.architizer.com/en_us/projects/view/hight-school-gymnasium_la-tourelle-a-sarcelles/209/

Life Goes On

By: Jennifer Busch

Northside Forsyth Hospital Women's Center

(excerpt)

Kris Kirchner of K2J Inc. was called upon to help design the interiors, which are heavily influence by the Arts & Crafts style. The guiding principles here included an honest use of materials, simplicity in details and surroundings, nature as a source of inspiration, and furnishings that promote comfort, not formality; so natural stones, woods, textures, elements of nature, and abundant natural light were used to create a soothing atmosphere. "We also wanted to appeal to Generation Y with interiors that were streamlined, with clean lines and a spa-like feel," notes Sugg. And while the boutique-like interiors certainly appeal to the high-end demographic that is rapidly transforming Forsyth County, the Center did not want to alienate the more rural community that still makes up a good portion of the population there. "The simple, honest use of materials is something that any demographic understands," notes Lee. For this article in its entirety please visit: http://www.contractmagazine.com/contract/content_display/esearch/e3i19437ccbf2fa6773e53bbb2d5d3b0cd3

Christine Nuell: Laser Engravings

Nuell, a printmaking professor at MTSU, creates laser engraved prints that have a playful sense of improvisation by mixing imagery from the Victorian Era with images of technology. The exhibition will be shown in the Leu Art Gallery through December 3. The exhibition are free and open to the public.

http://www.belmont.edu/cvpa/

A Distant Bauhaus Star

By ALICE RAWSTHORN

Published: November 1, 2009
LONDON — Josef and Anni Albers, Herbert Bayer, Marcel Breuer, Walter Gropius, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Oskar Schlemmer. The names of the students and teachers at the Bauhaus art and design school read like a roll call of some of the 20th century’s greatest artists, architects and designers.
Their work is to be celebrated in “Bauhaus 1919-1933: Workshops for Modernity,” an exhibition opening Sunday at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/02/arts/02iht-design02.html?_r=1&ref=arts

Speed and Spectacle in UAE

By: George Beane for Metropolis

If oil money is the figurative blood of the UAE, dazzling architecture might be its skin. And if that metaphor seems a bit strained, it should make more sense once you’ve seen images of Asymptote’s new project in Abu Dhabi. The 500-room Yas Hotel, which sits alongside the city’s Formula 1 racing circuit, features 5,800 pivoting diamond-shaped glass panels—its epidermis, so to speak—covering two hotel towers and a bridge linking the structures. Asymptote took the raceway as its inspiration, and in the spectacle of the hotel the designers have attempted what principal Hani Rashid calls an architectural reaction to the “art and poetics of speed.” Fittingly, the glass-panel roof and façade actually traverse the racetrack, making the circuit integral to both site and structure. Yas is scheduled to open on November 1st, which, not coincidentally, marks the start date of the inaugural 2009 Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. http://www.metropolismag.com/pov/20091029/speed-and-spectacle-in-the-uae

Necklace by Michaela Niegeman

Why wear your heart on your sleeve when putting your emotions on a necklace allows easier access to your feelings, nails and all?

Michaela Niegemann chooses forgiveness, understanding, love and hurt as the focus for her jewellery of copper and rubber, and uses silhouettes of people who have hurt her and those that she loves as nail-clad pendants.
http://mocoloco.com/archives/012321.php