Looking at these computer generated images, you can see why  Oppenheim Architecture recently  won the contract for a new desert lodge in Wadi Rum, Jordan. I feel an immediate need to cue up Maurice Jarre’s classic soundtrack to the film ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ and soak up the incredible atmosphere of this brilliant design work. The new luxury eco lodge will help sustainably develop the area, which is already known for its eco-tourism, climbing and trekking.  When the project is finally built – it will be fascinating to see how well the architecture has worked. Perhaps a visit is in order?

Read more: Wadi Rum Resort: Luxury Eco Lodge Built Right Into The Desert Cliffs | Inhabitat – Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building

Wow.

A completely unique way of using light to make photographs. And in my view – these images are beautiful.

Robert Buelteman works indoors in total darkness, forsaking cameras, lenses, and computers for jumper cables, fiber optics, and 80,000 volts of electricity. This bizarre union of Dr. Frankenstein and Georgia O’Keeffe spawns photos that seem to portray the life force of his subjects as the very process destroys them.

Buelteman begins by painstakingly whittling down flowers, leaves, sprigs, and twigs with a scalpel until they’re translucent. He then lays each specimen on color transparency film and, for a more detailed effect, covers it with a diffusion screen. This assemblage is placed on his “easel”—a piece of sheet metal sandwiched between Plexiglas, floating in liquid silicone. Buelteman hits everything with an electric pulse and the electrons do a dance as they leap from the sheet metal, through the silicone and the plant (and hopefully not through him), while heading back out the jumper cables. In that moment, the gas surrounding the subject is ionized, leaving behind ethereal coronas. He then hand-paints the result with white light shining through an optical fiber the width of a human hair, a process so tricky each image can take up to 150 attempts.

Again . . .  Wow.

On a recent trip to Paris, a stylist friend of mine recommended that I check out the Bonpoint store at  6, Rue De Tournon.  This is Bonpoint’s flagship store  - ‘the mothership’ of the company . . . and it shows.  The attention to detail and the imagination in the way that the store is presented was fascinating and indeed inspiring.  More of a stage set than a shop – the effect is to successfully spark our curiosity an tempt us to look around the whole store. This must be the complete antithesis of those companies (who shall remain nameless . . . but we all know who they are)  that ‘channel’ you round the store and treat their customers like a flock of sheep.

These images are just down-right beautiful, not to mention clever, thought-provoking and technically excellent.

The author of all this inspiring work is Peruvian artist, Cecilia Paredes who currently lives and works between San Jose, Costa Rica and Philadelphia.  Her artistic career began as a painter but her creative concepts evolved, revealing themselves first in three-dimensional objects, then through photography. This work is a series of self portraits where Paredes paints her own body to blend in with the background.

Fantastic stuff!

It’s rare these days that I come across a product which makes me want to reconfigure my home !!   In the case of  Young & Battaglia I liked their Stone Angels wallpaper so much that I immediately found their web-site and . . . guess what  - it seems that ALL of their designs are brilliant.

Trompe-l’œil wallpaper has been a popular trend in recent years – but it’s a difficult design trick to pull off. For me,  simplicity is the key to success, and here, Young & Battaglia really excel. They opt  for  simple white themes, combined with historical patination. Not shabby chic – but something much more versatile and potentially long-lasting.

Stone Angels

Cast Iron 

Brendan Young and Vanessa Battaglia (who are also the team behind Studiomold and Mineheart) launched in 2010. Their designs can be purchased directly or via the uber-popular Rockett St.George.  Expect to see A LOT of these guys products in the coming months . . .

White Bookshelf

It’s a trick that is often employed by interior photographers – to take the products ‘outside’. Nothing wildly new there. But the trick is to do it well and even with an element of mystery.

Since 2005, conceptual artist Rune Guneriussen has been working on site specific projects in Norway that combine installation and photography. Most of his installations are not seen by an audience, only photographed.

Inspiring stuff.

Saw this beautiful piece on Atticus and Finch - a great design blog by super talented stylist Emily Blunden.

Just a great example of what you can achieve with minimal budget but a great imagination. Congratulations Angela and Ithyle who shot this beautiful film.

. . .  ”Also available in white”.

“I wish my missus was . . .  ”  etc. etc.

It never ceases to amaze me that people still write these same old ‘witticisms’ in the dust on dirty cars and vans around town. They must be some of the most repeated and least funny jokes there are.

So –  It’s a cold  &  grey monday morning.  You’re walking on your way to work and you suddenly pass a car or van with these pictures drawn in the grime and dirt or their rear windscreen.

I would defy anyone not to break into a smile and take a second look.

Love it.

Welcome  Mr.  Bond  . . . Bevan.

Come on. What guy hasn’t at some stage wanted to feel just a little bit ‘James Bond’?

I was enjoying an early evening walk with my camera  around the beautiful greek town of Nafplion when I stumbled into my very own (sort of)  Bond film.

A quiet path led me away out of the town until arriving at a strange opening in a cliff that over-looks the harbour. I stepped inside, curious to see what, if anything, was there.

Incredibly this long modernist interior stretched out ahead, leading up to a set of mysterious elevator doors. I nosily stepped inside one of them and pressed the only button that I could see  (with no clue as to where it would end up).  ’Q's’  headquarters ?  Blofeld’s  secret lair ?

Turns out this is the ‘quiet’ entrance to the casino at the town’s Grand Hotel, built in the ruins of  the 3rd Century BC Akronafplia fortress. An incredible place certainly worthy of a martini  . . .  shaken . . .  not  etc. etc.

I was politely and immediately asked to leave.