Boy, oh boy, oh boy… Isay Weinfeld, one of Brazil’s most renowned architects, sure knows how to put together a smoking hot hotel! You may recall that I recently blogged about another fine example of Weinfeld’s many awesome design creations – Square Nine Hotel in Belgrade. This time, he is responsible for the supremely beautiful Fasano Boa Vista, which opened it’s doors just a few months ago. The hotel is located on a magnificent property just outside of São Paulo in Brazil, surrounded by lakes, forests and amazing gardens.

There is a lovely old-world authenticity about this hotel, an overall aesthetic which is sophisticated and oh-so-very-grown-up. Mid-centrury clean lines meet late 60s to mid-70s furniture pieces sourced from local antique shops, 1980′s tapestries, and countless natural design pieces and accessories sourced from local artisans. Hotelier Rogerio Fasano was also very hands-on with many of the design choices – he selected all the art, music, and design books on display.

Isay Weinfeld designed an equestrian center with 29 pickets and 230 stalls which forms part of the hotel, giving guests an option to enjoy this amazing property and it’s surrounds on horseback. I always thought that every shit-hot hotel needed to give their guest this kind of option. And if a good game of golf floats your boat, there is a world-class 18-hole course designed by Arnold Palmer (regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of men’s professional golf.) I would personally chose to spend my days on the adjacent Wagon Bar deck, where the bar is found inside an antique train car from the 1930s, which once connected the nearby city of Sorocaba with São Paulo.

[Images via Fasano Boa Vista.]

Steve Lambert is an American conceptual installation artist and all around shit-stirrer. My kind of dude, really. I find his work to be intelligent, brave, eye-catching, interesting and funny, but these are just some of the reasons I love it so much. Each piece is also relevant and engaging, casting a light-heart but solemn critique on our daily lives, questioning our society and our beliefs.

Genius!

[Discovered via The Jealous Curator. Images courtesy of Steve Lambert.]

Dark Island is a series of mixed-media works by Denver-based artist Evan Hecox, currently on show at the Joshua Liner Gallery in New York City. Evan has a passion for exploring unfamiliar cities with his vintage Polaroid camera in hand, which he later uses to recreate impressions left behind in his memory. These beautiful artworks are created using acrylic and gouache on vintage newspaper, capturing Hecox’s explorations of lower Manhattan and west Brooklyn in New York City.

I really love the way these pieces take a humble medium like broadsheet to a whole new level, using beautiful imagery and brilliant colour choices, and in turn giving them a new lease of life. Extreme love!

[Images via designboom and Evan Hecox studio blog.]

Even though I tend to stay away from projects which have recently been covered to death elsewhere, I couldn’t resist jumping on the bandwagon with this pure Scandinavian beauty. Regular readers would probably know about my “design love affair” with Swedish architects Claesson Koivisto Rune (previously). This awesome threesome (get your mind out of the gutter) strikes yet again with a stunning home, situated on the west coast of the Baltic island Öland. Villa Widlund stands out as a true landmark against ocean views and beachside landscape. The building mass is elegantly pinched at the waist, with prefabricated concrete walls featuring graphic lines dancing across the facade that further accentuate the overall form. This pure white and robust concrete mass boasts consistent but minimal approach to construction and detailing, where main highlight in each room are generous proportions, soaring ceilings and windows looking out to spectacular outdoor views.

Even though I am not quite convinced about this project in it’s entirety – i.e. stark approach to furnishings, outdoor dead horse sculpture (what the..?), acoustic quality in the living area (I imagine it to be very echoey and cold, but I could be very wrong there) – I remain drawn to the building form, fine proportions and spectacular volumes. To be perfectly frank, this is the type of house which makes me want to unleash my “inner decorator” and “cushion fluffer” so, so badly. Bloody interior designer, huh?

[Photography by Åke E.son Lindman, via Contemporist.]

Dearest yellowtrace friends,

And so we meet again… I hope you’ve enjoyed all the posts during the last 5 weeks and that you haven’t missed me too much. Do tell! I thought it was only fair to give you a little update on what I’ve been up to, especially since many of you have been asking about our little ray of sunshine. So here goes.

Our baby boy arrived at 00:22am on 16th of April 2012. And just like that – everything changed. The world got bigger, hearts grew fuller and life meant more because he was in it. This is something I’ve often heard but never fully understood… until now. His name is Luka (he lives on the second floor - and no, he wasn’t named after that song).

Everybody always tried to tell me how much I would love my own child, and how this is something that can never really be explained. They were absolutely right! Growing a life, giving birth and raising a baby is something that has to be experienced to be fully appreciated. And let’s be honest – even though this is one very tough job, the rewards make all the sleepless nights, countless cries, soiled nappies, constant feeding and mountains of washing pale into insignificance. I feel humbled and honoured to be a mum to our beautiful little boy. He is a lovely mix of the two of us and our families, carefully made of and raised with nothing but love. He is my heart outside my body. And I simply could not be happier.

Thank you for all your wonderful messages, tweets, comments, emails and gifts, and for welcoming our little man so lovingly and so generously into this world. He is such a lucky boy, I am one super lucky mama and you guys are truly the best there is. And just one more thing, in answer to one of the most frequently asked questions – this blog is definitely not going to change it’s focus from now on. There will be no “how to decorate your nursery” type posts (puh-lease!), banging on about motherhood or sharing cool baby related tips and “stuff”. Ok? I’m going to keep that shit to myself and my mothers group. So… Off you go to your days and I’ll see you back here tomorrow when we will resume our regular program. Good one.

Mama yellowtrace xx

[All images taken with an iPhone camera by mama & papa yellowtrace].

I decided to take a trip down memory lane today. These beautiful images of Vincent Van Duysen‘s home in Antwerp have been permanent residents in my image collection for a number of years. Photographed by the celebrated Spanish photographer Manolo Yllera (previously), this painfully stylish Belgian architect’s home awakes in me an equal amount of admiration and design envy. Yes, I admit it – I can get jealous at times too you now! In fact, I specifically remember purchasing a copy of Vogue Living several years ago just because it featured this amazing home on the cover (July/August 2009 issue, to be exact).

Completed more than 10 years ago, this house looks as beautiful and relevant today as it did back in 2001. Featuring Vincent Van Duysen‘s signature spare aesthetic, the house is a true expression of honest design essence, abstraction and purity. The choice of materials is sheer perfection - natural and raw, limited array of colours, combination of rough woven textures and smooth surfaces. Wide open spaces ooze calm and understated style, complemented beautifully with carefully selected furniture, objects and artwork. I am in love with the way historical references and detailing meet the sharp and the contemporary to create a perfect union. It is precisely this combination of formal rigour and sensuality which makes this home a very special one indeed.

While I was doing my usual snooping around the net, I came across a book by Manolo Yllera which features a different rendition of this home (images below). Here you can see completely different furniture and styling which creates a whole new look, which I find equally as beautiful.

For me, this represents undeniable proof that good architecture and careful design of “bone structure” provides a fool-proof canvas for any number of ways to furnish, style, accessorise and decorate. Anyway, I am seriously having a hard time picking a favourite. What about you?

Oh, and just one more thing and then I’ll go – is it just me or have both those rugs used in the living room been “reinterpreted” by IKEA?

[Images © Manolo Yllera. Via Manolo Yllera & blurb.]

I am loving these sculpted portraits of famous people created by photographer Philip Karlberg for Plaza Magazine. Mr Karlberg used approximately 1200 carefully arranged wooden pins and clever lighting to recreate faces of “classic wearers of sunglasses”. Scuplting and shooting took 6 days for the 6 faces.

Now, I must admit I am having trouble identifying all the wearers. I (think) can make out Karl Lagerfeld, Anna Wintour, Johnny Depp and Lady Gaga. Do you know who the other two are?

[via HUH.]

Hello everyone! Chloé from Plenty of Colour here again. I have always loved great set designs/styling and it feels like more and more, shops and makers have embraced finding unique ways to showcase their products and overall brands. A pure white background and great photography will always be classic but there are endless innovative styling oppourtunities to be explored. One company that often grabs my eye in that department is HAY, a Danish furniture company. The HAY 2012 Catalogue not only displays handsome products but features fantastic styling with a real behind-the-scenes feeling. I love the industrial look, quirky details and set-like sensibility. Even the close-up product shots are great with their blue-grey backgrounds and gorgeous, artful arrangements. Probably my favourite shot? All of the products clustered across a concrete floor in colour-coded sections. It feels like the cast of a play assembling to receive a standing ovation from an adoring crowd…

- Chloé.

[Images courtesy of HAY.]

Sketch of Boating Club, Ireland by Alan Dunlop. Excerpt from his folio.

Sketch of New residences and Restaurant, Leeds by Alan Dunlop. Excerpt from his folio.

Sketch of St Pancras Penthouse, Alan Dunlop. Excerpt from his folio.

Ella here again of pages from my moleskine. Dana is still busy laying the foundations for design-eagle-eye junior (it’s no easy feat) so I’m hanging around for one more post.

Today I’ll be talking hand drawings. I’ve witnessed many designers gush about hand drawings with an adoration normally reserved for a firstborn. Despite this, presentation hand drawings are disappearing from the architectural landscape. The sad reality is, they aren’t as zippy-zoo as a computer generated image. So in this age, where immediacy is king, we’re saying sayonara to manual drawing.

Such a shame, as hand drawings can communicate a warmth and intimacy that computer renders so often struggle to do. Hand drawings are so engaging because of that palpable evidence of the human hand. There’s a magic that happens when a designer understands and consciously commits to every imprint on the page. Yes, there’s a place for digital drawings, but wouldn’t it be a shame to see hand drawings reach extinction?

With that, I leave you with this swoon-worthy collection of hand drawings. I hope they get you gasping at your screens as I did. Better still, I hope these encourage you to dust off the ol’ 6Bs and rotrings and revive this dying skill. Come on. Brave the world without Ctrl+Z! I dare you.

- Ella | blog | twitter | facebook |

Research Futures by Daniel O Donnell of Edinburgh College of Art. Image via Project Context.

The Rehabilitation of the Fragment by Geordie Shaw. Project from third year (2009) via Drawing Architecture. By the way, Drawing Architecture is a mind-blowingly good blog for  presentation drawings. Absolutely worth a visit.

Jacob Peel of University of Florida. Winner of 2009 Student Hand category at Ken Roberts Memorial Delineation Competition.

James Thompson, 2010. Winner of 2010 Best in Show at Ken Roberts Memorial Delineation Competition.

Terra Nova by Lebbeus Woods 1988 via Lebbeus Woods.

Moon Joo Lee. Finalist in 2011 in the Professional Hand category at Ken Roberts Memorial Delineation Competition.

Sketch of Callahan Residence, Birmingham, Alabama, by architect Paul Rudolph, 1965. Image via.

More Paul Rudolph mastery. Left: Dharmala Tower Rendering. Image via Design Observer. Right: Yale Art and Architecture Building, currently displayed at MoMa. Image via.

Steve Quevedo. Winner of 2009 Physical Submission category at Ken Roberts Memorial Delineation Competition.

Drawing by Su Wang, University College Dublin. Image via Drawing Architecture.

City sketch by Tom Fotheringham from Edinburgh School of Architecture. Image via Project Context.

AZL Pension Fund Headquarters by Wiel Arets Architects via Architecture Ideas.

Colin Chillag is a New York based artist who paints these incredible “unfinished” photorealistic portraits of the elderly. Each one of his pieces looks as though Colin decided to step out to lunch or out to the pub before returning to finish the work. However, instead of perfecting them, Chillag allows viewers a glimpse into his process by deliberately revealing all the various steps taken to create his pieces – from pencil sketching, to mixing various colour shade to achieve the final portrait.

Extreme love!

[Images © Colin Chillag, via iGNANT.]