Let's Go Plant Hunting!

Casa Luis Barragán

….With the Plant Hunter; my new favourite online magazine exploring relationships between people and plants through designing, writing and thinking.

Spring! - according to Christophe Lemaire.

A blast from the past: PE13.
Awakening a sheer sense of Beauty (fashion+ music+ interiors).

Christophe Lemaire Femme PE13 from Christophe Lemaire on Vimeo.

UTILITY

Bottle openers from the Fort Standard are just as beautiful as they are functional.

The Plant #05 – Banana

The Plant, the best magazine on plants and the beauty of botany so far. 

I am so happy to have made its acquaintance!

Thank you, Marco.

IIDEX 2013

Getting ready for Canada's national Design+Architecture Exposition & Conference. Will attend the event with Marco as Garden Designer for Atelier Jacob.

Looking forward to it:

A restoration of the Don Jail is only one of the interesting elements of the new Bridgepoint Active Healthcare facility.

 

IDS13

 

Attended Trade Day at the IDS. It was Lola's first immersion in the world of Design Shows at age 18 months an our little trio had a very good time.

This year what caught my eye, besides the sexy Italian kitchens of Scavolini and the light fixtures by Fontana Arte, was the booth of landscape designers and architects firm Earth Inc. Three very friendly men with a clear vision, not to mention the fact that they love France and The International Garden Festival in Chaumont ...

Marco Jacob's latest design: Airy Granite!

Brass and granite coffee table - Design by Marco Jacob, 2012.

Marco designed this coffee table for his twin brother, Miguel Jacob, the fashion photographer.
*******
La dernière création en date de Marco Jacob. Une table basse circulaire, plateau en granit et pieds en cuivre poli (H:30cm / L: 90cm).

That was good!

Faye Toogood for Studio Toogood - Townhouse Interior- Casa da Abitare - April 2012

Acne Paper: my favourite!

I hereby officially declare the Acne Paper the best magazine I have ever read - both regarding content and design, that is.

"Each issue is created around one key idea – a timeless theme that in various ways touches all those working in the creative fields regardless of age, cultural background or social status. In an eclectic yet coherent mix portrait, fashion and art photography as well as interviews, memoirs and prose the editorial narrative aims to unite artistic minds of all generations. It pays tribute to past luminaries whilst still keeping a firm grip on the present, evoking something timeless, something nostalgic yet refreshingly modern." (David Carlson for David Report)

Wallpaper Obsession...

We just bought a house dating back to 1935. It is a beautiful house with healthy bones, in need of some tender loving care though, which we are more than happy to provide!

As we are just realizing what happened, we are getting house-ready. So now has officially started our quest for wallpaper inspiration, fixtures, door knobs and other good-to-start-with and affordable decorative adornments.

Here is a sample of what we stumbled upon:

* Last weekend, at the grand re-opening of the Spadina Museum, Historic House and Gardens

All photos by Christine Rochet-Jacob

* This weekend was dedicated to wallpaper ideas for the living room and/or the dining room...We therefore meticulously browsed through the internet and through our pile of World of Interiors magazines...Here are a few patterns that caught our attention.

Marlborough- Paris Grey,  by Little Greene

 Maharani collection, May 2009. By Henry Wilson for Osborne & Little

 Rose Chinoise, by Colefax and Fowler

 * We also got inspired along the way of our weekend trip that took us to a few shops on the Designers' Walk of Toronto. For your viewing pleasure, check: Cole & Son; Brunschwig & Fils

Dagobert Peche, Antinous Wallpaper; Designed 1922,  produced by Brunschwig and Fils. Neue Galerie exclusive.

* Not to forget the reference arts and crafts master, William Morris & co.

William Morris

May Morris

* And then we entered the world  of contemporary wallpaper designers like Georgia Horton, Timorous Beasties, and Neisha Crosland. Dazzling!

Oriental Orchid, by Timorous Beasties

McGegan Rose by Timorous Beasties

 

 Designs by Neisha Crosland : 

Et voilà! À suivre...

Step by step, we will build our nest!

Provocative Visioning Launches Speaker Series at OCADU

 'Hylozoic ground' by Philip Beesley architects for the Canadian pavilion at la Biennale d'Architettura di Venezia 2010 ( Photo Marco Jacob)

"The Goethe-Institut Toronto, in cooperation with the Faculty of Design at OCAD University (OCADU) and the MaRS Centre, present a speaker series as part of Ecology.Design.Synergy: Green Architecture & New Ideas from Germany & Canada. The series will launch with Provocative Visioning: The Artist/Designer as Eco-Provocateur, bringing together the remarkable creative explorations of Berlin-based Friedrich von Borries and Canadian Philip Beesley, with presentation of their work and ensuing conversation, at OCADU on Thursday, October 7, 6 p.m."

Read more on OCAD's website.

See you there...

Marco Jacob's Public Displays of Affection in Toronto

 Edmond Place side chair. CNC routered baltic birch plywood (clear varnished or laquered)

Last Thursday, September 23 was the Opening Reception for an exhibition of Public Displays of Affection  at Toronto's Gladstone Hotel. PDA for Edmond Place is an exploration in community-engaged design. Over 60 pieces of locally designed and built furniture were on display.

My husband, Marco Jacob, presented the design of a new chair.

Eclectic sources of Inspiration on a Thursday night!

Photos by Geneviève Caron, represented by Lisa Bonnici, photographer's agent.

Last night, we went on an art cruise. The trip took us first to the Gladstone Hotel where part of the Contact show is currently exhibited. Strangely enough, my attention got caught by the photographic works of two Genevièves... Geneviève Caron and Geneviève Thauvette.

Photos by Geneviève Thauvette

Then while browsing through the Gladstone floors, we got invited for a drink by a friend, artist Bruno Billio, resident of room 209. This stop-over in his room sure crowned our visit to the Gladstone with a certain sense of Sprezzatura. Bruno's interior offers a subtle dialogue between the ultra-modern and the classic, which might well reflect his own personality.

And last but not least, we ended up at the Enter OCAD 2010 show. Simply breathtaking! If you have the occasion this weekend to spend an hour or two in the university’s Faculty of Design, you will sure enjoy the eclectic mix of their graduating students' works- ranging from drawing and painting, printmaking, photography, criticism and curatorial practice, integrated media and sculpture/installation in the Faculty of Art, to advertising, environmental, industrial and graphic design, illustration and material art and design (jewellery, fibre and ceramics).

What a night!

On my wall of inspiration...

Pina Bausch, Nelken (Carnations), first performed Dec. 30, 1982

Ettore Sotsass (1917-2007)
5 totems, "Flavia" set. Signed: "Flavia Bitossi Italy E. Sottsass 1996 "


Céline S/S 2010 collection, designed by Phoebe Philo