Chanel Travelling Art Pod

The Chanel Art Pod is snap-together mobile gallery that will tour the world showing works inspired by Chanel’s padded bag. “Mobile Art” gathers the works of some 20 artists, including Japanese photographer Nobuyoshi Araki and Yoko Ono, widow of slain Beatle John Lennon, in a flying-saucer-shaped pavilion designed by the Pritzker Prize-winning architect Zaha Hadid. When Hadid and Karl Lagerfeld of Chanel got together to realize their dream of a traveling museum, they named Fabrice Bousteau, editor-in-chief of Beaux Arts magazine, as the curator. The exhibition runs from Feb. 27 through April 5 in Hong Kong - it's first stop - before moving to Tokyo, New York (Sep 08), London, Moscow and finally Paris in 2010.

Via Yatzer

Hoo-Ray For Massachusetts

My friend Seth - my Boston attache - sent me these cool images of a building in Cambridge, MA. Great stuff, huh? Swiss cheese and building blocks comes to mind. He also e-mail me this fun window from Camper on Newbury Street in Boston. I love the vintage-looking robot dude made out of shoe boxes. Faboo!

Manekineko - Cool Sushi Place in Rio

This past Thursday I returned to one of my favorite Japanese restaurants in Rio, Manekineko, at Casa Shopping in Barra da Tijuca. I had been to this location once before earlier this year and had been dreaming of returning there ever since. Manekineko has four locations in Rio but the one in Barra is still the best looking one. It's located inside Casa Shopping, a high-end design center, on a cozy indoors/outdoors corner. The courtyard's red lacquer tables are set amidst very tall palm trees and exotic ferns, in a Japanese-meets-the-Tropics style garden. Sheer floor-to-ceiling white curtains shield you from the rest of the mall, making it very intimate and charming. They also have a brand-new adjacent restaurant/bar/club called Gloss, that has a live DJ on the weekends, and is supposed to be very hip & happening with the younger crowd now. One of Manekineko's trademarks are the geisha wigs motifs that decorate all their locations to a very cool effect. Another thing that caught my eyes was their sexy men's room decor, with a topless Carla Bruni-looking model standing above the urinals. Inside the private stalls there is another naked beauty stamped on the inside of the door.

This place gets my vote for excellent service, that is a rare thing in Rio, and for it's delicious food.

Tactile - High Touch Visuals

New developments occur when boundaries are crossed. Today, the most progressive designers are working at the intersection of various creative disciplines. They are challenging existing design principles and defining them anew. Many designers from different areas are choosing to no longer work exclusively in two dimensions and are instead dealing intensively with space, material and physical products. Now, Tactile shows how graphic design is moving into three-dimensional objects and products and presents graphic design that works with space – or the perception of space. The book focuses less on murals than on products, objects, installations and collage that demonstrate how designers are developing and implementing their ideas spatially from the very outset of a given project. Tactile proves that spatial innovation in graphic design is not limited to personal work or artistic endeavours for exhibition, but is being sought out more and more often by commercial clients, for example in store design. With its insight into this experimental field of graphic design, Tactile targets young, progressive designers as well as professionals from the fields of advertising, architecture and interior design. Because its topical content is compiled in a way that highlights the interesting multi-disciplinary interactions between the various works, Tactile also offers inspiration for creatives in fashion, lifestyle and art.

Tactile - High Touch Visuals

Price: € 44,00 / $ 65,00 / £ 33,00
Format: 24 x 28 cm, 208 pages, full colour, hardcover

Via Die Gestalten Verlag

Copacabana Beach - Today, 8:40 AM

I took these shots this morning at Avenida Atlantica in Copacabana Beach, here in Rio. Spring is around the corner for us and the weather has been beautiful recently. In the evenings you can still feel the chill in the air but daytime has brought sunshine and beach weather. I love seeing the kids play in the sand and the second picture shows a group of boys in "soccer school". There are several "little schools" - paid classes for soccer, volleyball, body-boarding, etc. - teaching kids and adults to play certain sports, along the beaches of Leblon, Ipanema and Copacabana. There are also Tai-chi and regular exercise classes for the older folks. I also love the classic art-deco facades of the traditional buildings along Avenida Atlantica, reminding us of the glamorous "Old Copacabana". Enjoy!

Cool Shop in Rio - Farm

Farm is a successful Brazilian women's wear label based in Rio and their new flagship store opened in Ipanema this past July, after months of renovations. The window-less space is divided in 3 floors of mirrored walls housing all their different lines, including their new home collection. Their changing rooms are equipped with MP3 players so you can choose your personal soundtrack as you try on your selections. They even have beach umbrellas & chairs for rent, as the shop is just 2 blocks from the sands of Ipanema Beach. You can also have your Havaianas sandals customized and eat some Biscoito Globo while waiting to pay at the counter. Farm started very small with a stand on Babilonia Feira Hype and they now own 8 stores in Rio de Janeiro alone. The architectural project, by Bel Lobo, is stunning and made me very intrigued to step in to take a look around. The giant metal mesh mimicking the weave of a wicker chair is amazingly beautiful and covers the whole front of the shop. By the way, Farm is meant to stand for Farme de Amoedo, a well known street in Ipanema and evoking of the carioca spirit.

Vintage Elevator @ CCC Rio

I was visiting an exposition this week at Centro Cultural dos Correios when I spotted this charming early-1920's working elevator. The show itself was pretty forgettable but this old lift was what kept me in awe and made my visit worthwhile. There is even an uniformed attendant to take you through the different floors, very old world. Unfortunately here in Brazil, specially in Rio, we are deprived of this type of cultural heritage as many old buildings were demolished to make way for "progress". Probably most Europeans wouldn't think much of it, specially in Paris where elevators like this are quite common, but I was delighted to find this beauty in my hometown.

Beware Of The Dog

There is something about some signs that really catch my eye. Maybe it's the dog's picture or the color scheme but I really like this one I found in the Santa Teresa neighborhood in Rio.

Ilha Fiscal

I found this sign while visiting Ilha Fiscal, in Rio, this past Friday, August 10Th. The contrast of this very modern-ish every-day sign against this 1889's small castle caught my eye. It was attached to one of the smaller buildings, a power station next to the main construction. The guided tour was a bit boring to my taste and I was disappointed with the place itself. After hearing so much about the island where was held the last ball of the Portuguese Empire in Brazil I must confess that I expected something like Versailles, full of gilt and mirrors. I am not a fan of Gothic architecture or stone walls and the whole look inside was quite plain and furnished with just replicas of period furniture. I will say that the parquet floors and the stained glass windows were quite beautiful and well done. The place is well kept, was renovated in the late 80's and the guides were quite courteous and informative. It was worth the trip but it would not be on my top 10 list of things to see in Rio.

Portuguese http://www.rio.rj.gov.br/riotur/pt/atracao/?CodAtr=1519

English http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/central-and-south-america/brazil/rio-de-janeiro/attraction-detail.html?vid=1154654622237