Pat Finn
High fashion is all about aspirational fantasy. Flicking through Vogue, one cannot help but imagine the fabulous lives implied by the photo-spreads. The clothing is just one dimension of the idea of glamour, which is the real product on display. And for the fantasy to be sustained, the idea needs to seem just a little…
For the most part, commuters don’t stop to notice the complexity of the systems they use to get arou nd each day. Like water and electricity, the smooth operation of the rail system is mostly taken for granted, commanding attention only when something goes awry. Counteracting our collective apathy, Tomoyuki Tanaka’s ballpoint drawings of Tokyo’s train…
By including rich examples of international architecture and design into his drawings, Wakelin depic ts an urban tapestry that has been greatly enriched by diversity.
The “House Vision” exhibition was launched in 2011 as an opportunity for the leading lights of Japan ese design to explore future possibilities for the house, a structure that — perhaps more than any other — intimately reflects the way people live. Indeed, archaeologists have been known to study the home designs of lost civilizations to…
People never tire of imagining the apocalypse. Whether in disaster films or speculative books, there is something darkly alluring about the idea of a world without people. Now, two artists have taken up the apocalyptic mantle in a new medium: the humble diorama. In a series titled “The City,” Lori Nix and Kathleen Gerber modeled…
The parking garage is generally a utilitarian affair. Like the cars they house, parking garages are generally seen as necessary evils, blights on the urban landscape that are better left in the background. There is one city, however, where this isn’t the case: In Miami, parking garages, like all buildings, are designed to stand out.…
Zürich has a special relationship with the avant garde. Dada— the first modernist movement to define itself as “anti art,” a radical insurgency against the status quo — was born here. Beginning in 1916, renegades like Tristan Tzara and Hugo Ball published manifestoes, put on inscrutable performances, and basically did everything they could to shock…
MVRDV is not known to create buildings that blend into the background, but the Dutch firm’s latest p roject — a library in Tianjin, China — is one of its most mesmerizing creations yet. Nearing completion and scheduled to open in mid-2017, this rectangular glass building has an almost gravitational visual pull. Tianjin Library is articulated…
With the end of Barack Obama’s presidency fast upon us, many Americans are scratching their heads, w ondering how eight years could have possibly gone by so fast. One group that is not feeling caught off guard, however, is the Obama Foundation, which has been laying the groundwork for the 44th’s post-presidency for some time now.…