designer in exile: September 2009

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Killer Designs For Fall

Autumn is here, and so is a new season of TV shows. One of my favorites is Showtime's Dexter, the compelling series about a forensic specialist who also happens to be a serial killer - a cerebral-minded one at that. Watching Dexter has always been a solitary compulsion for me; I was convinced that I was alone in my addiction to the show...

But then I heard about the Dexter rooms and other Showtime TV series inspired interiors at the newly created Metropolitan Home Showtime House in Tribeca, and I knew I was not alone.

According to the design site dornob.com "each of these six Showtime interior designs is themed around a particular popular Showtime original series. Some are elegant, others macabre, all according to the theme of the given show.

Perhaps the most interesting one (no surprise to those familiar with the show) is Dexter’s dining room. Dexter, the semi-heroic sociopath who uses his affliction to take out evildoers, has a fascination with blood that is also tied to his occupation as a blood spatter analyst for the police department. The furniture in this disturbingly white room shows the traces of a particularly brutal Dexter project.

An all-star team of designers was enlisted to convert this pricey Manhattan apartment into a showcase of these Showtime-inspired interior designs: Jamie Drake, Tori Golub, Laura Kirar, Amy Lau, White Webb, Vicente Wolf, Johnny Grey, Luca Andrisani, Kristen Brant, Jim Zivic and Enea worked on rooms representing Californication, The Tudors, Weeds, The L-Word and United States of Tara.

To go with these essentially themed core rooms are a set of support spaces that are equally impressive if not moreso, including an exterior garden space, funky modern kitchen, overly-pink lounge area and futuristic white media room. Regular readers beware: there are more bloody designs where this one came from – stay tuned!"

Visitors can tour the exhibit, which opened last week, until October 18th. For more details, see the Metropolitan Home Showtime House link at the bottom of this post.

Below is a fabulous time lapse video of designers creating the Dexter rooms:

An overview of the entire Showtime project in its early stages:

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Splender In The Grass

My last couple posts have been a tad bleak. A friend mentioned that even listening to Joy Division songs cheered him up after the reads...

So this time let's take our minds to a warm, fuzzy place. I'm imagining a 70's style movie clip - a close-up of a sun drenched daisy field, followed by a zoom to a mod-styled Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg strolling gently in the distance to the sounds of soft grooves, then later, glasses of Riunti clinking in front of a glowing fireplace, shag rug and all.

Fast-forward a few decades and you'll get that same hip, fuzzy feeling at Grasshopper, a fabulous chic boutique in Old City, with all the latest fashions for the new generation of Jane Birkins and Serge Gainsbourgs. The stylish apparel and accessory shop, which recently celebrated its 3rd anniversary, is the creation of Tracy Lutz and Regina Louise, two young ladies with an amazingly keen and playful fashion sense.

Both met at a t-shirt design company here in Philadelphia, and though neither were of formal fashion design education, (albeit Tracy was previously a fashion model, and Regina worked in the design department at Philly-headquartered Urban Outfitters) they shared an intuition for style and love of clothes, and decided opening their own "supertique" would be an ultimate dream come true.

They also seem to have an uncanny eye for interior design, especially 70's style, evidenced by the store's great decor. The walls are done with colorful mylar floral and photo prints, the crystal lighting fixtures give a neo-baroque sense of elegance, and the lipstick red metal fireplace and bearskin rug near the dressing rooms adds sexiness and warmth, literally.

"I didn't want this to be just another vanilla box," says Tracy, (referring to standard white-walled boutiques and galleries that house clothes and art) "I wanted the space itself to be art."

Based on the looks of Grasshopper, they've made that happen in a fun and beautiful way.

www.grasshopperproject.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Birkin/Serge_Gainsbourg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joy_Division

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Beauty Amid The Ruins

26th District Police and Patrol Station, Door

When I walk through the old industrial neighborhoods of Philadelphia, I often get this notion of being in Rome. So much of the vast Kensington area, once the brick and mortar of our nation's industrial economy, still lay in ruins from the great exodus of manufacturing jobs. It's an unforgettable sight when riding the elevated blue line train to the Northeast - seemingly endless miles of abandoned factory buildings mottle the landscape. In all, the hellish demise left 25 percent of our city below the poverty line, and Kensington seems like an urban wasteland equal only to parts of Detroit.

I lived in west Kensington when I first moved to Philly. I needed a space for a custom lamp design business, and leased a 2500 square foot warehouse loft on Allegheny and D street, once home to the Pine Tree Silk Mills Company, a prodigious textile maker, circa 1900. The building was architecturally stunning, and one of the largest factories I'd ever seen. Outside the giant rows of windows was a view of the famous Stetson hat factory, now an empty hull, but its copper peaked bell tower stood noble nonetheless.

I soon learned that Philadelphia was not like my previous Chicago domain, where hedging on artist loft spaces in slightly dicey areas was of minimal risk. The area surrounding the Allegheny spot was downright scary. In fact, after a shooting occurred just outside our building, the Philadelphia Weekly labeled my street corner one of the most murderous in the city.

It was certainly dangerous, but it was no wasteland, least not in this designer's eye. I was amazed at the multitude of architectural masterpieces still standing, despite their dilapidated condition. It was beauty amid the ruins, and I spent many days researching and photographing these remarkable phantoms. I imagined them in their bustling era of glory, and the trials and tribulations of America's great industrial age...If only those buildings could speak, such stories they could tell.

Below is a small sampling of the pictures I have taken, many them include buildings in the Fishtown area where we now live.