Is a De Reus Designed Spa in the Cards for Ubud?
This project has been on the website of architect Mark de Reus for a couple of years. But there’s no indication whether it’s going to be built or not. The master plan (below) shows a spa resort with 60 rooms, which are tree-housey. Sort of.
De Reus has been the design engine for much of the Kukio development on the Kohala coast in Hawaii. It’s a vast golf community where many homes have been created by Silicon Valley and Wall Street über rich couples of a certain age.He also did work for Tommy Soeharto’s Pecatu Indah mega-development (see below). Read more…
Bored with Boring Bali Furniture? Yaari Rom’s Got Insane Alternatives
This is seriously crazy furniture from certifiably wacky Bali-based artist, Yaari Rom. So if you’re bored of synthetic rattan sectionals and routine teak garden furniture, go see Yaari. Bali is a magnet for creative eccentrics, but few are as prolific and irrepressible as Yaari is. He does furniture, furnishing fabrics, fashion and body painting events (for which he is internationally famous, or more accurately, notorious). Read more…
The Splendour of Sumatran Textiles on Show in Phoenix
The Phoenix Art Museum presents an exhibition of Sumatran textiles from the collection of Dr. Thomas J. Hudak, through 4 July 2010. The island of Sumatra is far larger and more diverse than most people might think. It’s five times the size of Great Britain and Ireland combined, and is home to a variety of peoples and cultures, some of them little known and studied. This exhibition offers a representative selection of textiles which reflect the island’s cultural diversity and rich history. Dr. Hudak is a professor of linguistics at Arizona State University, focusing on the languages and literature of Southeast Asia, with an emphasis on Indonesian culture, heritage and identity.
Shoe. Chair. Design Synchronicity? Or Separated at Birth?
At left is a shoe by Rem Koolhaas and Galahad Clark, from their new collection of footwear for their UK footwear brand, United Nude. At right is a chair by Joris Laarman Lab at the Friedman Benda gallery in New York. Strange. Are black webs the new black? Dezeen blogged both of these yesterday. BTW, I absolutely love United Nude shoes. And they are very comfortable. And not so terribly expensive.
Blog Backlog: The Embellished Simplicity of Lawon Prada Textiles
John Ruddy and Kumi Masumoto (among our most favourite textile dealers), showcase an antique Sumatran prada cloth in their catalog page for the New York Arts of Pacific Asia Show 2010 (on page 85). We’ve been keen on these extremely rare textiles for over a decade, and are delighted whenever one appears in public, which is not often. Read more…
Roger W. Hollander, Irma Lake, and “Buffalo Bill” Gates
Last June I heard that Bill Gates bought Irma Lake Ranch (above), the property of a dear friend of mine, Roger W. Hollander. I was happy to hear the news. I loved the place, and will never forget the time I spent there. Knowing that it is staying in private hands is somehow heartening. (More info from Huffington Post here.)
Roger bought Irma Lake in the 90s to serve as his private home, and headquarters of his Empire of All Things Extraordinary. The ranch had belonged to Buffalo Bill Cody, and was used to entertain celebrities and heads of state on hunting and nature outings in the mountains and plains near what is now Yellowstone National Park. Cody even had the Burlington Northern Railway build a spur line out to the ranch. Many of the original structures from Cody’s time still survive intact on the 500 acre property. Thanks in part to Roger’s conscientious stewardship of the property during the years he called it home. (You can download a property brochure from it’s listing agent for the sale, here.)
Roger was involved in a terrible car accident a few years ago, while driving down the seven mile mountain drive from Irma Lake Lodge, his spectacularly beautiful, and intensely personal home. In the pre-dawn hours, heading for the Cody airport, he rolled his SUV, and was left in sub-freezing weather, unconscious and upside-down, held in place by his safety belt. Several hours later, he was found by ranchers and rushed to hospital. The head injuries and exposure were so severe, that even a hardy soul like Roger has been unable to recover. He remains in rehabilitative care in Wyoming to this day, and all of his friends are still saddened by Roger’s tragic story.
Blog Backlog: Contemporary Textiles in Kolkata
Contemporary textile arts don’t get any better than this. Check out Weavers Studio in Kolkata for kantha cloth, felt, applique, embroidery, hand prints, kalamkari, zardozi, chikanwork, pintucks, pleats, shibori, and more. This is much more than a production house, it’s a textile study and development centre, devoted to fine handwork and learning from the legacy of world textile traditions.