Concept For Living

Stills From a Foreign Land

Friday, May 23rd, 2008

To gaze upon the languid work of Korean-born illustrator Jeana Sohn is to step into a surreal world where faceless girls battle with birds in the air, converse with crows in the woods and steal precious eggs in vivid colours of blue and gold.

Jeana paints mythologies and fairytales of her own making inspired by nature in subtle hues onto wood panels, paper and wooden objects. The overall pieces give an impression of suspended energy – a moment of wonder fixed in time.

The appeal of Jeana’s work is her ability to mix and perfect an enticing palette of colours and use them in abundance. These mesmerising colours coupled with a childlike but intricate composition of block colour and graphic patterns, form a type of visual not dissimilar to a complex tribal quilt or tapestry.

You can read the rest of this article in issue 23 of Spaces magazine

City Lounge by Carlos Martinez

Thursday, May 22nd, 2008

City Lounge is an outdoor space in the center of St. Gallen, Switzerland, designed by Carlos Martinez in collaboration with Pipilotti Rist, as a result of a design competition to create a public living room.

A red carpet flows all around the buildings, recreating places to relax, places to converse, places to park, fountains, even fake cars you can climb on.

It’s an amazing project that brings life to the city.

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Liverpool ONE

Wednesday, May 21st, 2008

Completion of Phase One of Liverpool ONE will be celebrated on May 29 when some of the biggest names in UK shopping will open their doors in the city for the first time. All Saints, American Apparel, Aldo, Pull & Bear and Apple are just some of the exciting new names.

Liverpool ONE’s opening will be marked by a “Theatre of Fashion” and those attending can expect a variety of thrilling entertainment.

Villa Storingavika

Wednesday, May 21st, 2008

Overlooking breathtaking fjords and a stretch of Norway’s west coast archipelago, Villa Storingavika is a robust yet refined vessel from which to appreciate the delicate coastline and sometimes harsh climate. It is a pale-timber volume enrobed in a crisp, ‘pleated’ dark-timber exterior.

Previously there was a small cottage on the site, and when Eli Bakka and Jan Sem-Olsen acquired the property from Jan’s mother in 2004, they decided to tear it down and build a permanent home for themselves and their two grown children, Ina and Erik. ‘Ever since Jan was a boy, his family had the land and the cottage, which the family often visited,’ recalls Eli. ‘Because Jan had such strong feelings for the place, we decided to build a new house to live here. It has a very beautiful view, we had the possibility to build, and I had always been interested in design and architecture.’

When the owners first approached architect Todd Saunders, they had a clear idea about what they wanted. Their brief called for an upper level with generous open-plan living rooms and a master suite, while a lower level would be used by their children and include a small, self-contained apartment. But they were also already thinking about details: ‘We wanted no trim around doors and windows,’ says Eli, ‘and no baseboards where floor meets walls.’

You can read the rest of this article in issue 23 of Spaces magazine