Green digital station - in the park

which can be situated in the parks or at the bus-stops!   'Еscale numérique' for JCDecaux, the world's leading outdoor advertising company, is the first urban development of French designer Mathieu Lehanneur, 
but  it is not only a good green design, it is all that modern way of living requires - comfort and access to all information sources everywhere!It is a shelter with a green roof covered in foliage, with swivel seating for citizens made of concrete with mini tables and equipped with plugs for laptop use, and a large touch screen which gives updated information about services happening in the city such as guides, news and interactive signage for tourists and visitors. 

mathieu lehanneur: escale numérique for JCDecaux, source: designboom

,,,  
I hope some day we shall have this here, in Sofia, too.

Another hot trend - in fashion and interior design

Color blocking appears to be a huge trend this year in both fashion and interior design. We saw it at  EuroCucina 2012, and it has been in fashion for quite some time. And I have memories from the 80s when it was popular, too. How is this technique applied? - To say it in a simple way, it is the use of two or more blocks of colour in an ensemble.Still, for a successful design, one has to know some color theory or rely on imborne intuition with color use.

Gruppo Lube

Municchi Cucine

elle.com
 http://www.glamour.com -

Spring 2012 Trend: Cheerful Color-Blocking

A symbol of the new luxury

In the years of heavy economic problems everything changes - including the idea of luxury. It now shows no useless excess or pure glitter and glamour - it is subdued, but still retaining the value of beautiful craftsmanship and achievements of the past. And much more accessible, like British product and interior designer Lee Broom's  Crystal Bulb launched at this year's Milan Design Week:

“I wanted to create a light bulb as a more accessible design product and incorporating cut crystal seemed the most logical design as this has become a familiar style within my product ranges.”, explains the designer.

Kitchen trends from Milan Design Week 2012

- modularity and free standing units:

La-Cornue

I like the idea of the French brand best known for traditional ranges and stoves La Cornue with the new W collecton presented at Eurocucina in Milan from 17 to 22 April to introduce a hob and oven system that look more akin to furniture than electrical appliances.They are free standing and elegant and mix well with the rest furniture we have used to see in our living rooms. 
Design is by French architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte.

A little retro look, but that is obviously also a trend, because we can see a similar approach with Diesel Social Kitchen for Scavolini:

image via designboom

 "the diesel social kitchen is made not only on the modularity of each element but also on separate modules to assemble freely with each other.
this aspect of the project is represented by the MISFITS collection, a line of non-modular freestanding objects which fit in the kitchen
such as carts, tables and storage units."source

Doesn't this picture above remind you of your grandma's kitchen dresser?


How do you like this trend? I would prefer to design my kitchen in a similar way because of the freedom to move furniture much more easily and the possibility to merge functions and entertain better in your kitchen-living room.

Fashion for the home

I have posted a lot about how fashion and interior design connect, but I think that may be we have to talk more about the decoration and fashion connection, because most often fashion designers have projects and products related to decoration, rather than interior design. Like the fashionable Missoni Home range, for example. It is true that they have hotels with interior design by them, but thie products for the home are mostly textile and decoration. Still, for fashion lovers and for anyone who has attitude to good design it is great to have their products at home. I am fascinated with their colorful suggestions for home decor and would use any of these with pleasure in my interior design projects. Here below are some beautiful decorative pieces you may like, too:
 

the ERODE Throw by Missoni Homeis the soft, colorful way to keep warm. Made out of a wool/polyamide blend, this blanket comes in a striped pattern available in three distinct color palettes. As a bright decorative accent, drape over the back of the sofa or keep at the end of the bed. Coordinates with the ERODE Cushion. Missoni Home collection features a range of products from high-end home linens and rugs to furnishing, accessories and lighting. Missoni Home's leading trends boast an exceptional and unique graphic approach to color and pattern designed to complement today's top fashion brands.






ERODE Cushion by Missoni Home(right)




JOCKER Throw by Missoni Home


HUMBERT Cushion by Missoni Home    You can have this colorful style in your lighting scheme and , too:

Bubble Lamp by Missoni Home


Lara Bath Mat by Missoni Home
This Ken Bath Collection by Missoni Home has a very good price and is definitely a great choice - for yourself or as a present:

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Fashionable trends - for the catwalk and for our homes

If, like me, you are interested in the relation between fashion and interior design, you will be very satisfied to read ELLE DECORATION's fashion report 2012 in their March issue. You will find there that the bird motif appears to be one of the fashionable trends this spring - for the catwalk and for our homes.


left: a teapot from "Butterfly Home" collection by British fashion designer  Mathew Williamson.

Carolina Herrera spring 2012

 

Carolina Herrera's spring 2012 collection includes some pretty prints of sparrows in canary yellow and robin red.
Reed Krakoff's Spring 2012 also includes some very colorful large scale bird prints, too - right:











If you like the idea for your home, a very good suggestion is Birds 'n' Bees - Ochre wallpaper by Timorous Beasties - right and below:

But someone may find wallpaper too intrusive - for just a small accent, use a piece of art like these Max Accents 27577-4 Kincaid Bird Canvas - Set of 4 below or something even smaller, like  these Birds on a Hot Tin Sign - right::

My choice for a bright accent piece would be something like this Novica's Mirror, 'Bird Sonata' below - I like very much its warm colors:
Tree Little Birdies Wall Hook (right) is also great for introducing the bird theme in your home, especially for childrens' rooms.  Fashion relates more and more directly to interior design - at the last Milan design Week we saw a lot of new proofs for that. Very wide publicity receieved luxury brand Hermes debut at the fair with impressive new furniture range and accesssories.

A more recent example is Kate Spade japanese floral collection the pattern from which one can find even on classic canvas lace-ups: