Happy Birthday Hello Kitty!!!

A design icon from the east, Japan´s Hello Kitty is turning 35 soon…  The Moment reports, “On Nov. 1, Hello Kitty, the much-loved Sanrio character, celebrates her 35th birthday. For the occasion, Sanrio has teamed up with Royal/T, an exhibition space and cafe in Culver City, Calif., to present “Three Apples,” a show celebrating all things Hello Kitty. Visitors can enjoy a Kitty-themed tea or lunch in Royal/T’s Maid cafe, where, in a nod to the Japanese cosplay tradition, the servers dress in French maid costumes. Visitors can also shop in a Sanrio pop-up store that offers Hello Kitty products not previously available in the United States, and see a retrospective exhibition of iconic Hello Kitty merchandise from 1974 to the present, including collaborations with Anna Sui, Dior, Heatherette, Tarina Tarantino and special 35th-anniversary items from Asics and tokidoki.”

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Facebook San Francisco Office

It is always interesting to see how “creative” companies actually work and how their offices look.  Here is a peak inside the new San Francisco office of Facebook (interior by Studio O+A and pictures via Contemporist- click for more images).

In my opinion, a little cliche…  looks like Vitra and Herman Miller splattered in an old industrial building…

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“My Turn” by Basement Jaxx

I love this video- those bears are so cool…

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Universe of Keith Haring

A great new movie about pop artist, Keith Haring, has just been released.  The synopsis is as follows…

THE UNIVERSE OF KEITH HARING by director Christina Clausen is an intimate portrait of world-renowned artist Keith Haring whose mantra was that “Art is for everyone!” The film is a thorough and intimate exploration of the background and career of one of the most popular and significant artists of the 20th century. The film features interviews and archival footage of Fab 5 Freddy, Jeffrey Deitch, Kim Hastreiter, Grace Jones, Madonna, Yoko Ono, David LaChapelle, Kenny Scharf, Carlo McCormick, Andy Warhol, Ann Magnuson, Tony Shafrazi, and Junior Vasquez, among many others. Audio excerpts from original interviews with Keith Haring, were conducted by Haring’s biographer John Gruen (Keith Haring: the Authorized Biography). The film’s theme song is by the famed DJ and record producer, Junior Vasquez, with an original soundtrack by Angelo Talocci.

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Maison Martin Margiela Book Release

The long awaited Maison Martin Margiela book has finally hit the streets.  The book, which is designed by the designer himself gives a fascinating and intimate insight into one of the most creative fashion houses in the world.  The book also features essays from Jean Paul Gaultier and Vanessa Beecroft (among others), which appear as mini booklets throughout the book.  The package is wrapped in a white embroidered fabric cover.  As with all MM limited edition projects, grab one of these quick before they are all gone!

(via SlamXHype)

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Snow Patrol… Ski Season begins!

We have just unveiled our first ski promotion of the year…  In addition to bringing some of the best and most stylish hotels in European ski destinations, we have teamed up with Berlin-based sunglasses brand Mykita to give away a pair of coveted Bernard Wilhelm X Mykita shades!  Simply send an email with your name to SkiContest to be entered to win the glasses and receive the Design Hotels newsletter.  We will accept entries until November 30 and contact the winner by Dec. 2.

 DESIGN HOTELS SNOW PATROL

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The Robots are Coming!

Robot soldiers, robot chefs, and now robot bricklayers?!?  In New York, a computer-controlled brick-laying machine, which has used over 7,000 bricks to build an “infinite loop,” weaving along a pedestrian island.

Fast Company reports,

Designed by architects Fabio Gramazio & Matthias Kohler, the structure took just a month to complete–which might sound like a long time, until you realize that a project like this would have been next to impossible a decade ago. The intricate, minute adjustments required by the undulating brick-pattern would be far to time-consuming and expensive, by hand.

By contrast, the robot here (dubbed “R-O-B”)–which uses technology lifted from the auto-industry–can create the form with almost no errors and no mortar at all. (Can you imagine a bricklayer that would do that, what with the fear of messing up and brining the whole thing down around his head?) The same robot recently built the award-winning installation, Structural Oscillations, at the 2008 architectural biennial in Venice.

The piece sits at the intersection of Pike and Division, and is being sponsored by the nearby Storefront for Art and Architecture. They’ve billed it as the “the first architecture project to be digitally fabricated on site, at 1:1 scale, in the US.”

Pike Loop from Storefront for Art&Architecture on Vimeo.

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Os Gemeos “Vertigo” in Sao Paulo

Os Gemeos, the increasingly famous Brazilian street artists who recently took over Keith Haring´s legendary mural in NYC, have just recently opened a solo exhibit in Sao Paulo´s Museum of Art.  Admired by both young and old, these twins are going to go far…

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Curated by Arkitip incase products by Andre

The infamous Parisian “artist” and nightclub owner, Andre Saraiva has finished his designs for the Curated by Arkitip line by incase.  Though it is just a preview, we can see from the image that the cases will feature Andre´s famous “Mr. A” character featured on MacBook and iPhone cases.

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Diesel Flash for Fun

Diesel has just launched their latest gimmick- “flash for fun.”  It is a collection of jeans, shoes, underwear and all reveal special colors and messages when put under a black light.

The jeans sell online or at Diesel stores throughout the world for $120.

 (via Cool Hunting)

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