Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Design- och Inredningsbloggen i Hus&Hem

Ni har väl inte missat intervjun med Pethra och Mikael från Design- och Inredningsbloggen i Hus&Hems senaste nummer. Ni kan även läsa intervjun på nätet här. Grattis Pethra och Mikael!


Monday, December 29, 2008

Flera dimensioner med Dimensions

Svenska tapetföretaget Decor Maison har tagit fram en ny tapetkollektion som heter 'Dimensions'. Det är en kollektion som på olika sätt vill lura ögat och ge intryck av tre dimensioner. På deras pressbilder kan man se hur detta bl a förstärks genom en kreativ tapetsering med sneda vinklar och mönster som växer ut på golvet eller upp i taket...


Sunday, December 28, 2008

The Golden Mean and Modern Design

I was first introduced to the Golden Mean in an Elements of Design class. My professor, in her French accent, sat at the front of the class and slowly and methodically explained the Golden Mean and how it relates to many things in the world; architecture, art, music, design. It was fascinating to me then and still is today.


The Fibonacci Sequence

Fibonacci Sequence

1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 89
Every figure is the sum of the two preceding
1 2 + 3 = 5 8 13 + 21 = 34 55 89


O.K. Stay with me here… The Golden Section is devised from this ratio. When a Golden Rectangle is progressively subdivided into smaller and smaller Golden Rectangles, a pattern is obtained. From this, a spiral can be drawn which grows logarithmically, where the radius of the spiral, at any given point, is the length of the corresponding square to a Golden Rectangle.






The given symbol of Phi, which symbolizes the Golden Ratio.

Since then, it’s opened up a lot of doors for me in how I look at design, how I look at architecture and how balance and harmony are present in the world.

Since the Renaissance it has been used extensively in art and architecture, it has been used in historical and important architectures, such as the St. Mark's Basilica and the Parthenon and has become a standard proportion for width in relation to height as used in facades of buildings, in window sizing, in first story to second story proportion, even in the dimensions of paintings and picture frames.



The Parthenon in Athens, Greece.



Ceiling Mosaic in St. Marks Basilica.


Great Mosque of Kairouan


A geometrical analysis of the Great Mosque of Kairouan reveals a consistent application of the golden ratio throughout the design.


The Swiss architect Le Corbusier, famous for his contributions to the modern international style, centered his design philosophy on systems of harmony and proportion. Le Corbusier's faith in the mathematical order of the universe was closely bound to the golden ratio and the Fibonacci series.


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Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye, Poissy, France.


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Villa Savoye Plan View and the use of the GOLDEN SECTION (1:1.618).

Le Corbusier explicitly used the golden ratio in his Modulor system for the scale of architectural proportion. He saw this system as a continuation of the long tradition of Vitruvius, Leonardo da Vinci's "Vitruvian Man", the work of Leon Battista Alberti, and others who used the proportions of the human body to improve the appearance and function of architecture. In addition to the golden ratio, Le Corbusier based the system on human measurements, Fibonacci numbers, and the double unit.




Le Corbusier’s Modulor System.

Le Corbusier took Leonardo's suggestion of the golden ratio in human proportions to an extreme: he sectioned his model human body's height at the navel with the two sections in golden ratio, then subdivided those sections in golden ratio at the knees and throat; he used these golden ratio proportions in the Modulor system.



File:Da Vinci Vitruve Luc Viatour.jpg


Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man (ca. 1487).


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Palladio’s Villa Rotunda.

The Villa Rotonda is symmetrical on all axes, including diagonals. Any architect will tell you this is hard to do, much less sell to a client; even Palladio only did it once, probably just to see if he could. Palladio based his design on simple progressions in the Fibonacci series leading to the Golden Mean. This is also hard to do.


In India, the Golden Mean was used in the construction of the Taj Mahal, which was completed in 1648.




Piet Mondrian used the golden section extensively in his geometrical paintings.


And today, architects are still frequently using the Golden Mean or Ratio in their work…



The CN Tower in Toronto, the tallest tower and freestanding structure in the world, has contains the golden ratio in its design. The ratio of observation deck at 342 meters to the total height of 553.33 is 0.618 or phi, the reciprocal of Phi!




The College of Engineering at the California Polytechnic State University have plans for a new Engineering Plaza based on the Fibonacci numbers.


What can you create using Fibonacci’s Golden Mean?

Saturday, December 27, 2008

H&M Home

Att H&M börjar med heminredning måste väl ändå vara decembers stora nyhet. Idag visar jag några av produkterna i ett montage på svd.se. Ambitionen är tydligen att textilkollektionen ska kunna blanda, matcha och mixa i en redan befintlig inredning. Pressbilder från H&M Home.





Friday, December 26, 2008

Stilren perfektion

Svart, vitt, grått, lite lila och lite blänkande inslag blandat med några asiatiska detaljer. En stil hårddragen näst intill perfektion. Lägg märke till de tunga svarta gardinerna tillsammans med svart golv, vackert och vågat tycker jag. Inspirerande miljöbilder från Villa Collection.



Thursday, December 25, 2008

God Jul lite i efterskott...

och jag hoppas ni verkligen har en underbar jul och att allt blev så fantastiskt som ni tänkt er. Så här på juldagsmorgonen blommar alla mina hyacinter, amaryllis och tarzetter i kapp och det känns riktigt skönt och välbehövligt med några lata dagar.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Silver and Gold

Silver and Gold… Silver and Gold…. Everyone wishes for Silver and Gold.  How do you measure it’s worth?   Just by the pleasure it gives here on earth….

Inspired by a Woman’s Day magazine, I thought it would be fun to stretch my interior design blog today into some more sparkly items for the holidays….

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Gold earrings hereGold dress hereGold purse hereGold shoes here.   Gold sunglasses here.

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Silver handbag hereSilver earrings here.  Silver shoes hereSilver ring here.    Silver/Diamond sunglasses here.

And, this is an interior design blog, so I could not forego some interior design ideas for you as well.

Venetian Glass by Martino's Import Collection

Venetian Glass by  Martino's Import Collection

 

Silk Velvet - Opera by Holland & Sherry

Silk Velvet-Opera by Holland and Sherry.

 

Gold and Platinum “Pailette” Stemware can be found at Gore Dean.

 

The BeatrizBall Collection can be found here.

Amarillo 2 Silver Small Pendant Lamp

Amarillo 2 Silver Small Pendant Lamp can be found here.

 

Click For Details

Thin Silver Plate Napkin Ring can be found at Gore Dean.

 

Click For Details

Anichini Verona Throw can be found at Gore Dean.

Merry Christmas everyone!  I hope you have a little sparkle in your holiday!