In fall of ‘09, Gotryke Productions headed to native country (Detroit) to catch up with Ian Callum, who heads Jaguar design for Part II of an interview series with Jaguar designers.
Gotryke spoke with Callum for an exclusive one-on-one interview about his design philosophy. Interactive Jaguar will show off the handiwork of Creative Director/Co-Founder Chuck Gibson in an upcoming video featuring my interview with Callum. (The first video featured Chief Designer Giles Taylor)
But first, a little background on Callum’s world tour to introduce the 2011 XJ. The setting: the Argonaut building, where perhaps the most influential 20th century designer Harley Earl set up shop in the heyday of General Motors design. The revamped building houses the College of Creative Studies highly-coveted automotive design program, among other artistic disciplines. Callum spoke to the future car designers of the world about the XJ and his job. It’s not a stretch to say the students were enthralled — after all this is what they want to do, Ian is the man. The day was an ultra cool blend of automotive history with tenements of futurism that define the current of design.
The architecture of a new museum is poignant reflection of the moment, which will mark that period in time. When it comes to the monumental construction of the Louvre’s newest addition, the design stands to define the interpretation of an era.
Lille France is home of the new branch of the Louvre-LENS scheduled to open in 2012, an environment planned to be condusive to a new way of ingesting art. Designed by a team of architects from the New York, Tokyo and Paris, including Imrey Culbert, Sanaa, and Mosbach Paysagistes, the space will include 300,000 square feet of new construction, with over 75,000 square feet of galleries and storage for the Louvre’s storied collection.
The quarters will be sequestered into a series of five pavilions. Polished and anodized aluminum façade clad surface make for muted enhancements of the surrounding facade that evolve into something else with changes in the scenery, the weather, and the perspective of the viewer.
The Louvre was founded in 1793 — and is the world’s quintessential art museum, but with this expansion, the Louvre is able to coexist in a contemporary society, with collections of the Louvre that will be on temporary exhibition.
The aim is to educated the public on viewing art and the structure is designed to be a part of that conversation.
The former General Motors Research Laboratory on 460 W. Baltimore, in known as the Argonaut Building, designed by legendary architect Albert Kahn. It was here that GM established its designers as company leaders, making the shape of the car, outside and in, forever interesting. The College of Creative Studies, an art school that is also one of the preeminent schools for car design in the world, has claimed the building along with a $145 million-dollar refurbishment, as home for it’s transportation design program.
Design is indeed back in fashion.
Chrysler unveiled it’s long-term plans today and the first presentation established the definitive tone — it starts with the way things look and feel, so eloquently put as “soul by design.”
Well it’s not widely-touted, most cars feature similar technology, differentiated by function, space and performance demands. With the race to build leaner cars as a global mandate, car companies are joining together to work with universities and research institutions to make cleaner cars — that’s in everyone’s best interest. The point of differentiation, personality and style left to the consumer comes down to the outline — car design. Hello car, welcome to the era of car design. [click to continue…]
When I received a review copy of Remake It Home, I was instantly sold — thick presumably recycled cardboard jacket, perhaps a project outlined in the book that details how to reuse household objects? It was perfect fit for Coolhunting’s aesthetic, but I have to let Gotryke readers in on the action, and share one additional technique: how to reuse old tires. Tire furniture, imagine. How many car parts would make substance for cool home decor? I have a seatbelt purse. Nevermind cash for clunkers, how about cache for clunkers? I digress:
In Henrietta Thompson’s thoughtful DIY book “Remake it Home: The Essential Guide to Resourceful Living,” everything has a purpose. Her introductory essay traces the recent history of recycled design, citing Marcel Duchamp’s ceramic urinals and Ron Arad’s car seats as examples of essentially making something out of nothing.
Let us depart from discussions of carbon fiber and aluminum to another form of transporation — the well-heeled shoe. The discerning style site Refiney 29 captured the imagination with these looks, which walk the designing line.
Jump the line to find out what they have to say about the next platform in shoe conceptualization: [click to continue…]
VITAMIN-3D: New Perspective in Sculpture and Installation (Phaidon Press 2009) bursts onto bookstore shelves in September, unveiling 117 of the most iconic three dimensional works in the contemporary sculptural movement. But first there’s the packaging to hanker with — I pulled and prodded, imagining that this was a box containing a book. My optical illusion bad — it’s a sculpture within a book with kelly green page trim and a thick cardboard like cover, resembling a material used for a science project presentation. Brilliant, really.
And then for the imagery contained inside. I keep flipping to page 03 and a piece called “Overleaf” by Adel Abdessemed — essentially 9, 10 or is 11 dull knives stuck in one spot, casting a reflection against a concrete backdrop. I peruse past Urs Fisher’s giant nail in a piece of cheese with the brilliant title “Lie to a Dog.” Lili Reynaud-Dewar’s “Queen Mother Nanny of the Mountains” represent the Rastafarian flag with a ritualistic leanings, according to the text. I like the quixotic “Untitled” Bread House created by Urs Fisher — just that a house constructed out of stacks of bread loaves.
Authored by Laura Hoptman, a curator at the New Mueum, Jens Hoffman, director of the CCA Wattis for Contemporary Arts at California College of the Arts and Shamim Momin Branch Director and Curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art, here is a current discussion of sculpture and installation across the globe with plenty of fodder, imaginative materials, and vision for great discussion amongs the three-dimensionally inclined.
CHANEL announced the creation of the above urban personal transporter, which seems to have more fun than a bike and it looks as crazy as rollerblades.The rich-rider drives it by leaning in the direction he or she wants to go at speeds of nearly 20kph. With a range of 20km and an adaptation of the famous CHANEL 2.55.
What one should spend hard earned dough on in these dour days is simple and personal, and even better when a sense of romance adds a sweet note to the purchase. For the bespectacled, consider the bespoke. Cutler and Gross make an enticing vision with word’s worth of eye wear in love letter form. Gogosha Optique in LA tagged these frames for Valentine’s Day. We knew said owner many years ago, but are honestly thrilled by her sense of style and smart savvy that Julia Gogosha has brought to the designing eye, recently celebrating her first anniversary. Her pick of the day on her blog is always eye catching and her selection ranges from haute couture vintage to the young Danish brand Oregreen. [click to continue…]
A few days ago, a four-month old child discovered the joy of newspaper. He took his tiny fingers with newly-acquired dexterity and clutched the paper with two hands. Then, in astonishment, he pulled and the paper began to tear in a profound Isaac Newton moment of physics. He was transfixed, and then he ate the paper. Perhaps the little one discovered the essence of Wishpaper, a design conceived by Daniel Young who asserts that chance of tearing paper allows for wishes and decisions made by completely natural chance. Take 100 sheets of invisibly fibrous paper in a 4′x 5′ pad that start tearing at a designated point. The bigger piece of paper wins in unbiased revelation. Wishpaper selects the chosen wishmaker, Decisionpaper is designated for daily business moves and Lovepaper for romantic crossroads. You can write on them, too. Here’s Young explanation, incorporating the design philosophy:
In my case, I was idly tearing newspaper, with no particular purpose, just finding it interesting how the paper tore perfectly straight one way and crooked the other. (So perhaps the proper category for this invention is pure mindless play with a material.) In any event, the uncontrollable tear reminded me of the uncontrollable or unpredictable behavior of material used for decision-making since ancient times. It was like pulling petals off a flower, throwing coins or dice or … breaking a wishbone. I cannot fully explain why I made this connection. Part of my attention must be on the alert for the operation of chance in life. Once that connection was made, the transfer of the bone-breaking to paper-tearing came to mind quickly. I realized that tearing a printed image of a wishbone would be functionally the same as breaking it. It would be a submission of the “question” to the unpredictable operation of a simple, unpredictable physical process. After that, it was only a question of finding the right paper, the right imagery, the right position and size for starting the tear and the right package.
I see the use of chance as a healthy balance to the relatively modern (and immature) idea that everything in life and the world can be subject to complete human control. It is healthy because it does not involve us in excessive and unbalanced attempts to control everything. The “acceptance” of imponderable or uncontrollable elements in life allows greater concentration on the essentials of life. In this respect (but without the theistic element) this design embodies the wise prayer of Reinhold Niebuhr, “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
Just like a four-month old, discovering the next cool thing on the horizon.
Incidentally, Young also makes pragmatic Swiss navy greeting cards that cover every occasion, Mozaniac picture puzzles for four different moods, ultra light New Wave chess and checkers, BB Mystery magnets that balance yin, yang and inquisition to every fridge.
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