Metropolis Magazine - Metropolis Magazine May 2008
Looking for a Restaurant in Downtown Chicago?
Every year Chicago stakes a new claim on America’s dining map. In repurposed architectural spaces, indoors and out, large plates and small, the Windy City just keeps getting tastier. Check out our listings online and be sure to pick up your own copy of Taste of the Town at NeoCon.
Light in the Attic
Noel Clarke, of 2C Design Studio, recently transformed the neglected attic of his Victorian house in Somerville, Massachusetts, into an immaculate modern work space. Rather than bury the room’s past under layers of Sheetrock, he integrated most of its existing features. “There are ways to make interventions that develop a dialogue between old and new so they feel like they…
Craft on the Dial
Looking to create sustainable jobs for the skilled workers of his hometown, one Indonesian designer produces a handmade radio.
A River Runs Through It
It was four years in development, but this summer an idea for a pool on the Hudson finally comes to life.
Stamp of Approval
The post office issues an unusually rich offering in recognition of an unusually rich career.
Spanish Armada
The next international design stars will come from the Iberian Peninsula.
Modern Paradise
Though largely unknown outside of Hawaii, architect Vladimir Ossipoff created a singular body of work that fully utilized the lush tropical climate of his adopted home.
Mobile Home?
The relocation of an early Frank Gehry design raises questions about the nature of architecture.
Invited to the Table
When design competitions reach for relevance, they can lead to discussions that move our thinking forward.
Eternal Sunshine of the Elastic Mind
A new MoMA exhibition captures our era’s giddy moment of convergence.
Classic Revival
This month Rosenthal, the 129-year-old china manufacturer, expands its classic repertoire with Landscape, a tableware series by Patricia Urquiola. Though the cutlery may have been modeled on a seventeenth-century marrow spoon, the collection— which debuted at Ambiente, in Frankfurt—showcases the designer’s penchant for tweaking tradition. The all-white dishes feature geometric patterns that form irregular handles and asymmetrical rims while highlighting…
Moment of Reckoning
Faced last year with severe droughts and floods, we must now embark on a new understanding of our relationship to water.
2008 Next Generation Winner: The Pleated Bucket
A young architect uses a high-tech material to solve a chronic problem: the transportation of clean water.
Compilation Art
The Wolfsonian–Florida International University’s recent discovery of a lost 1936 oil painting by Lloyd Morgan, chief designer of Schultze & Weaver, was an odd and welcome revelation to scholars of the New York–based architecture firm. Jonathan Mogul, a curatorial research associate at the museum, believes that the 6-by-14-foot canvas, a sort of greatest-hits collection of the firm’s work, was once displayed…
Process Makes Perfect
Konstantin Grcic’s newest project uses a durable state-of-the-art material and nanotechnology to create a twenty-first-century take on that modern classic: the cantilever chair.
The Maestro’s Last Chair
The final project of Ettore Sottsass’s illustrious career–completed after his death by a longtime collaborator–updates one of his old favorites.
Signature Style
Another season, another collaborator—and this year the Rug Company has added interior designer Kelly Wearstler to its fashionable roster. The chic Angeleno’s eight-piece collection (which debuted this spring and will be highlighted at ICFF) was inspired by a range of things—vintage clothing, seashells, op art, wood grain—with palettes as varied as their motifs. Having trouble identifying the origin of Zephyr’s…
A Canadian Offensive
One enterprising designer aims to push his countrymen into the limelight.
Looking Backward
A new lighting manufacturer combines high-end design with prehistoric inspiration.
Up on the Farm
Vancouver, British Columbia, hatches a program that brings food cultivation into town.
