Brinca Dada, for modernist kids

Do you really think that the children of any self-respecting starchitect would play with normal toys???  Of course not, and that is why Brinca Dada has created their modernist toy houses (and for rich poseurs).

Nevertheless, the Brinca Dada products are really cool, as Cool Hunting points out…

“At the Dwell on Design show I checked out the toymaker’s recently-completed Bennett House (above and below), which takes its cues from a mix of aesthetic influences.

With the overall simplicity of Rietveld’s Schröder House, Piet Mondrian’s geometric shapes and Christian Liaigre’s interior design, Brinca Dada’s second offering combines an attainable assortment of architecture’s best.



Other models, like the Emerson House, inspired by Richard Neutra’s Kaufmann Desert House and A. Quincy Jones’ stone, glass and steel structure made for Gary Cooper, also features impressive details, such as glass corners, realistic hardwood floors, a stone fireplace and LED recessed lights powered by roof-mounted solar panels.

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Design Hotels Clips, WORLD CUP EDITION…

We recently invited you to experience the combination of beautiful digital motion graphics, soundtracks by some top producers and, of course, our beautiful hotels via the Design Hotels Clips.  In honor of the World Cup however, Google has done the unthinkable and made our clips even better using the latest in Vuvuzela technology.



If you watch one of our clips on YouTube you will have the option to activate the “World Cup Feature” by clicking the small soccerball icon at the bottom of the frame… and then, close your eyes and enjoy the sounds of a million Vuvuzelas blasting your ears!

Visit our YouTube page here…

Also, take advantage of the increasing discounts with the Design Hotels World Cup Rate where you can get up to 50% off hotels based on the performance of their country…

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World Cup Update

So… here we are…  The first round of the World Cup is coming rapidly to a close and we wanted to give a quick update about where our hotels, err… countries, stand and where you can/should act fast to take advantage of the World Cup rate!

For approximately 3 more days, take advantage of 10% off all participating hotels from all countries!   As soon as the round of 16 begins, the discount increases to 20% but ONLY FOR QUALIFYING COUNTRIES.  All other discounts are off the table (this means, if you want 10% off in Italy or Greece, you better act fast!)

See the promotion here…

For our contest, so far readers have chosen the following countries in this order as most likely to win…

1. Spain
2. Brazil
3. Argentina
4. Germany
5. England
6. Italy
7. Holland
8. USA…

Predict the winner for your chance to win one of 5 hotel vacations in Mexico, Austria, London, or Berlin!

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Future Forum 2010 is over…

It came and went like a flash of light through the desert night…  FUTURE FORUM 2010!  Though still recovering from the fantastic events, food, demonstrations, lectures, networking, partying, etc… I can easily say that this was my best FF experience ever.



I am going to be posting video clips, images, and presentations from the entire event over the next days and weeks but first wanted to thank all of our member hotels from around the world who made the trip!

As well, thanks to our presenters who were all amazing.  Check them out here…

Finally, Future Forum would not have been possible without the support of our event partners…

LAPP & FAO
Bremen | Germany
DMY
Berlin | Germany
BAUHAUS LIVE
Berlin | Germany
APOLLINARIS
Berlin | Germany
LAVAZZA
Torino | Italy
OMNIHOTEL.DE
Berlin | Germany
BULTHAUP
Bodenkirchen | Germany
ERCO
Lüdenscheid | Germany
ARCHITONIC
Zurich | Switzerland
MAGINWULF
Berlin/Mannheim | Germany
EGGERSSOHN
Bremen | Germany
SCHOTTEN & HANSEN
Munich/Peiting | Germany
VELTINS
Meschede-Grevenstein | Germany
FRANCE 24
Issy-les-Moulineaux | France
BMW
Munich | Germany
DE SEDE
Klingnau | Switzerland
LAURENT-PERRIER
Tours sur-Marne | France

A few impressions…

(beautiful sofas from De Sede and Apollinaris and Lapp and Fau in the background)

(Gala dinner at the Collectors Room in Berlin)

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Mykita is Golden

Last night was the Berlin premier of Sex and the City 2 at the awesomely retro Kino International theater.  Of all the stars in the movie however, the brightest one you may not know…  Known simply as Franz, when this player in the movie appeared on screen, cheers erupted throughout the audience even louder than when Carrie herself or Mr. Big showed up.



No, Franz is not some hunky guy who beds Samantha- Franz is the model of sunglasses produced by our good friends Mykita that Carrie wears in the opening scene.  Seen below in their 24k gold versions, Mykita (who organized the premier) cleverly attached a slightly less luxe (but no less cool) version of Franz to beer bottles to democratize the style somewhat.

(Franz)

(Me with paper Franz)

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Design Hotels Original Experience in Munich…

Showcasing the spirit and personality of the Original individuals behind the entire Design Hotels portfolio, we have created a series of packages called Original Experiences…

The architect Albert Weinzierl and the gastronome Rudi Kull, two Design Hotels™ originals and founders of the Louis Hotel invite you to the Bavarian capital Munich. Located directly on the bustling Viktualienmarkt, the Louis Hotel is an ideal starting point for any Munich visitor! It combines the modern with the traditional, the local with the international, and the comfortable with the luxurious. Combination is also the key at the kitchen where Tokyo-trained chefs mix traditional Japanese dining culture with modern European flair using fresh foods directly from the market!

Enjoy an original experience with the “You Only Live Twice” package! Stay three nights at the LOUIS room with view on the “Alten Peter” and daily breakfast with local products from the market. Indulge yourself with an amazing 10 course dinner at EMIKO Restaurant and visit the BMW classic buildings accompanied by the hotel director André Garcia and admire there original BMW James Bond cars and Mr. Q´s armament.

Get details about the package here…

Albert Weinzierl & Rudi Kull: Extraordinary Epicureans & Local Heroes from Design Hotels on Vimeo.

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Brazil: Design´s next Superpower

Fantastic article from Fast Company about Brazil and its design community…  Read below:

I recently returned from a trip to São Paulo where I was a member of the IDEA/Brazil Award jury. Arriving I expected to find a chaotic, dangerous and gray metropolis. Instead, I was more than surprised to find a colorful, dynamic and vibrant city. These same qualities are uniquely evident in Brazilian design.

For those of you who may not know, IDEA/Brazil is the Brazilian version of the IDEA Awards. Now in its third year, IDEA/Brazil is promoted by the design organization Objeto Brasil and led by Joice Joppert Leal, who according to my friend, Helen Walters of BusinessWeek, is “a force of nature.” After a week with Joice, I couldn’t agree more! In a partnership between Objeto Brasil and IDSA, the winners of the IDEA/Brazil are entered automatically into the IDEA awards judged here in the United States.



In 2008, Brazil made history with 12 award wins in the U.S., a feat never achieved by any South American country. This secured the third position among participants, trailing only the U.S. with 114 podiums, and South Korea with 19. Last year, two Brazilian projects, including the Havaianas store in São Paulo (above), won IDEA gold. Design work competed in 18 categories, including one exclusive to Brazil:  jewelry. Industrial products, personal accessories, home living, environments, eco-design, packaging, transportation and student projects, among others, were awarded…

Continue reading at Fast Company

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Future Forum 2010, Berlin

The Design Hotels™ Future Forum 2010 will focus on „Hybrid Thinking“ in the context of hospitality. Hybrid thinking requires much more than a multidisciplinary team – it requires a team of multidisciplinary people. Hybrid thinkers blend different skills and fields of thought to develop innovative concepts. Their ideas have the ability to shape entire industries from automotive to hospitality. Like-minded, visionary hoteliers around the globe have started to create hybrid properties that go far beyond the original purpose of simply providing a bed.

Multidimensional hotel concepts focusing on authentic experiences are on the rise, combining elements from galleries, hospitals or film theatres with the classic idea of hospitality. Find out more at this year`s Design Hotels™ Future Forum.

Get more details here…

Check out some highlights from FF2008

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Triptyque video on Cool Hunting

The good folks at Cool Hunting have just wrapped up a great video about the hottest design/architecture team in Brazil- Triptyque.

“Visiting the Franco-Brazilian architects Triptyque in their São Paolo offices, this video explores the firm’s work, including their recent buildings Harmonia_57 and Loducca. Two of Triptyque’s four partners, Carolina Bueno and Guillaume Sibaud, share insight on recent projects and the city’s role as muse.”

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The World´s Smallest Mid-Century Furniture Collection

Many design enthusiasts love showing off their collections of Eames, Corbusier and Panton pieces.  All of this “collecting” can cause some serious damage to wallets and bank accounts however.  With this in mind, one mid-century minded wannabe collector, with the help of her husband, has come up with an interesting comprimise.

CHRISTINE FERRARA, a 39-year-old public affairs director for the Institute for Advanced Study, a research center in Princeton, N.J., has a passion for modern architecture and design. It began in 2008, when her husband, Steven Birnbaum, a technology consultant, bought her an airy modern home with floor-to-ceiling windows.

It was to be her own little place, to decorate as she pleased without regard for his more traditional tastes or worrying that their three children might break something. “I had seen the house on Craigslist and thought it was too frivolous to buy for myself,” she said. “But he gave it to me for Christmas, probably not realizing what he would unleash.”  Since then, she has bought six more modern houses and filled them with appropriately modern furnishings — streamlined upholstered sofas, leather loungers, molded plastic chairs, glass tables, Pop Art and steel lamps — which she is constantly rearranging and staging for photographs worthy of the cover of Dwell or Architectural Digest. Except for one thing: the size of the rooms. An inch in Ms. Ferrara’s modernist world is equivalent to a foot in the real world.

Ms. Ferrara haunts Internet auction sites and online toy sellers for vintage and new mini-modern items made by companies like Reac in Japan and Elf Miniatures in England, as well as Minimodernistas, Brinca Dada and PRD Miniatures in the United States.   (via NYTimes)

(images below from Ferrara´s blog, Call of the Small)

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