During the Stockholm Design Week David Report stayed at the newly opened Hotel Skeppsholmen. Situated only a stone’s throw away from the city centre – on the green and lush islet skeppsholmen, animated by art, culture and busy maritime activity. combined with the surrounding water and the view over scandinavia’s capital this is a truly unique place. It also seems like the international design community will find Hotel Skeppsholmen. During our stay prominent guests like Jasper Morrison, Ross Lovegrove, Karim Rashid, Inga Sempe, James Irvine and many more could be seen at the hotel.

Hotel Skeppsholmen is modern and of minimalistic design, but Erséus Architects together with Claesson Koivisto Rune keep its swedish heritage with beautiful antique floors and great embrasures. the hotel, earlier known by locals as “the long Row” has functioned both as barracks for karl XII:s personal elite force and a hospice for the poor people infected with the plague during the early 18th century.

– Naturally this has put exceptional demands on the renovation, says ola Rune, architect at Claesson Koivisto Rune. we have put an enormous amount of time and energy into creating perfection. we have kept a lot of the buildings character and used traditional materials such as soaped wood floors and linseed oil-based paint on the timber, but also a reception desk in solid, brushed aluminum. showers with glowing water droplets, magical sinks and a seven meter long dining table from Botswana. our design influence has been something that appears between sea and land – ‘fog’.

Hotel Skeppsholmen offers a nice and relaxed atmosphere. Almost like you are staying somewhere far away at the countryside.

Ping Intressant.se

Here follows part two of our short image story from a recent visit by David Report to Miami Beach. You can read part one by following this link. We are actually off to Miami Beach later this week again to make further reports, stay tuned.

W hotel is the latest addition to the legendary hotels along Collins Avenue.

Miami beach is all about pool life and sipping cool drinks. The question is if it gets better than at the Delano hotel courtyard by Philippe Starck.

Ian Shrager’s latest project in Miami Beach, Mondrian hotel designed by Marcel Wanders.

Nikki Beach is still offering a relaxed life close to the ocean.

Outdoor restaurant Mai Tardi in the design district with nice atmosphere.

Ever seen the movie Scarface? Then you probably remember the scene from this building at Ocean Drive.

David Report just spent a week in Miami Beach relaxing and hanging out at some cool places. We have put together a package of images to show you some highlights from our trip. Here we go for part one.

The above pictures are from Standard hotel. Probably the best experience in Miami Beach. Cool, scandinavian styled and relaxed. André Balazs know how to do it. Maybe you have been at his Shelter Island hang-out?

The new Herzog & de Meuron 1111Lincoln road building offering a new context for retail, residential, dining and parking experiences. Developed by Robert Wennett.

Raleigh hotel garden with the famous and classic Esther Williams pool. Another bohemian chic hotel by André Balazs.

And some beach life of course.

More to come from Miami beach in a few days. Stay tuned!

100 Places to Remember Before they Disappear features 100 photographs from one hundred different places around the world in risk of disappearing or seriously threatened by climate change.

The pictures are taken by some of the world’s best photographers and all the places are based on reports from UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

On their website you can see the photographs and find further information and news about climate change and the project.

“100 Places to Remember…” is also an outdoor exhibition that among other places was exhibited in Copenhagen during the COP 15 climate meeting.

Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec has just finished the interior for Dos Palillos, the new restaurant of the Casa Camper Hotel in Berlin. Looks great. Will try to go there soon. Between the images below you will find the story about the project told by the Bouroullec brothers.

Camper invited us to design Dos Palillos, the restaurant of the Casa Camper Hotel in Berlin Mitte that will open in January 2010. What immediately interested us was that Dos Palillos was a one of a kind culinary experience offered by Albert Raurich, elBulli’s former chef. In order to celebrate his cuisine, the concept of the restaurant gives full means of expression to his culinary art.

Naturally, the kitchen had to be the centre of the space and thus, it had to be wide open so that guests could see the preparation of the dishes from the beginning to the end. We have decided to articulate the environment around one long wooden table and the stainless steel kitchen, one module facing the other. Consequently, the guests find themselves at the centre of the kitchen, while the chef acts in front of them.

It was important for us as well to set a dialogue between the 10 cooks and their nearly 30 guests, invited in the chef’s kitchen. In order to emphasize such an interaction and encourage eye contact, we worked on different ground levels so that the guests are able to have a global experience once seated at the table, as if they were attending an artistic performance. Throughout the project, our intention was to reduce our level of intervention to the utmost to let the scenery express itself. Indeed, the space is voluntarily raw with very few elements and materials to sustain the idea that the legitimate sense of the space comes from the relation between the guests and the cuisine.

The restaurant is located on the ground floor of the Casa Camper hotel. Large glass windows separate the space from the street in order to invite the people passing by to participate to the show that is happening in the kitchen.

Ping Intressant.se

LOTS Design (Gothenburg), Koucky & Partners (Gothenburg) and Green Idea Factory (Berlin) teamed up to design an innovative bike sharing system for the City of Copenhagen. The team’s entry, called OPENbike, was yesterday awarded a first price at the city’s international design competition with 127 entries from 5 continents.

The City of Copenhagen, one of the world leading cycling cities, aims at establishing a new bike share system and has therefore initiated an open international design competition. The winning entry, called OPENbike, puts the user in the centre and proposes a system that is easy to use, flexible and fully scalable. The design goal has been to create a system that seamlessly integrates with public transport and becomes a natural part of Copenhagen’s existing bicycle culture. The system proposes a smart card system and positioning solutions integrated in each bicycle to create a fully floating bike share system. OPENbike does therefore not need special stands and bicycles can easily be repositioned and adapted to the cities changing needs.

Ping Intressant.se

Peroni Nastro Azzurro, the premium Italian beer, has joined forces with renowned fashion designer Antonio Berardi. The collaboration comprises the creation of the ultimate travel accessory - a piece both timeless and functional. Available this spring, this limited edition weekend bag is a beautiful piece of design, innovation and craftsmanship from Italy.

“Valigia Peroni” is the definitive travel solution for the sophisticated jet setter. It embodies the best of versatility and can be used as a weekend bag, as well as a carry on bag when travelling long distances. Inspired by the glamour of the 1960s, the time when Peroni Nastro Azzurro was first launched, the piece successfully combines the rich heritage of the brand with a sense of classic aesthetic and functionality.

Andra bloggar om: väskor, design, resor, resa

The Standard Hotel in NYC is now open. They’re doing a bunch of stuff around the opening. The current one is Standard’s new calendar featuring staff from the various Standard hotels…it was just launched this Monday. The calendar has a “high school” theme - and was shot by Michael Elins who was behind the cover of Rolling Stone magazine’s 1000th issue and has worked with likes of Vanity Fair and Time magazines.

Andra bloggar om: new york, hotell

A café environment that stirs up curiosity with its wonderfully clashing mix of design, food and products

With many cafés today becoming too uniform and predictable, The Royal Café in Copenhagen is one of the few that has a noticeable soul. As Rud Christiansen, the owner and creator of the café says, “our interior is almost indefinable. It is a mix of all styles: baroque . . . funkiness . . . feministic . . . humourous . . . a true clash of all styles. It’s like taking a big box with all of these elements and mixing them thoroughly - and as if by magic - throwing them into a vacant room.”

With the mixing of various historical eras leading to a design confusion that is both humorous and chic, Christiansen (and his business partner Lo Østergaard) have created a special atmosphere where some of the Danish minimalism has been broken in a positive way. “There are no borders anymore,” he explains, “and what used to be is not a guideline anymore. Though we really feel we’ve been very faithful to our colourful Danish roots.”

Not only visually stunning, the café is also a sophisticated example of product placement. Famous Danish manufacturers like Royal Copenhagen, Georg Jensen, Fritz Hansen, Bang & Olufsen, Kvadrat and Holmegaard are presented with a café focus that is so appealing in society today. (Royal Copenhagen adapted several serving items to be functional in a café environment, and Holmegaard Glass produced chandeliers according to Christiansen’s design.)

But while the design, environment and history all beautifully play off each other, the food and drink menu is equally attractive. The café is known for its signature double roasted coffee and its focus on traditional Danish foods that have been around for more than 300 years - like the smørrebrød (Danish open-faced sandwiches) - as well as traditional cakes, cookies and historical desserts. All though are created in an artful way with a culinary twist that opens the menu up to a worldwide audience. The café has also invented a new form of cuisine called ‘smushi’ (created by using the two words smørrebrød and sushi). These delicate, bite-sized, open-faced sandwiches are decorated with the best local produce and have become the café’s signature dish.

People have always wanted to meet, socialise, gossip, drink and eat in a relaxed yet buzzing atmosphere. But as the large coffee chains put more emphasis on functionality, and the logistics of executing orders, it’s refreshing to be in a café environment that exudes warmth, and stimulates both the eye and palette. “Customers keep telling us we have created a wonderful pause in their daily routine . . . that we’re constantly stirring up their curiosity with our design, food and products.”

As Christiansen continues to explain, “in cafés you don’t have to drink alcohol. You don’t have to eat a seven-course meal, and you don’t have to spend a lot to please your appetite. You often sit closer, you mingle and you can come as you are. I often think designing a café is like creating a piece of art, a painting, a house, a cake, jewellery, fashion or sculpture. Because if done in this context, the café will contain all of these elements.”

The Royal Café is all about a break in everyday conformity. Time spent in a different world. It’s a short trip to the unexpected. And I’d take this journey over Starbucks any day.

This is a post by David Report contributor Kristina Dryza.

Ping Intressant.se

Andra bloggar om: design, produkter, mat, café, köpenhamn

Chef Bill Granger brings his famously laidback Sydney brunch scene to Japan.

This is post by David Report contributor Kristina Dryza.

Ping Intressant.se

Andra bloggar om: australien, café, restaurang, design, inredning, japan