Mini-Mods on the radio – NOW!

There's an interview taking place right now on WPKN out of Bridgeport, CT, and streaming at wpkn.org – Binnie Klein talking with blogger Christine Ferrara, who creates miniature rooms in the Modernist style... Listen in (this is the entire archived show from Nov. 17) – GF

New documentary on the Eameses

Eames: the architect and the painter, a new documentary on DVD by Jason Cohn and Bill Jersey from First Run Features, sounds like something anyone with an interest in things Modern – whether it be architecture, furniture design, film and other visual communications – must be sure to see.

“Eames: The Architect and the Painter draws extensively from a virgin cache of archival material, visually stunning films, love letters, photographs and artifacts produced in mind-boggling volume by Charles and Ray with their talented staff during the hyper-creative forty-year epoch of the Eames Office. Interviews with family members, including Charles’ insightful grandson Eames Demetrios, and design historians guide the viewer on an intimate tour of the Eames era, while junior designers who were swept into the 24-7 world of “The Eamery,” as they called it, flesh out a fascinatingly complex blueprint of this husband-and-wife powerhouse. The film shares a candid view of the emotional inner lives of two great American artists as they apply their genius to practical problems and innovation, not out of a sense of ego, but out of sheer creative necessity.”

I love that: ...“apply(ing) their genius to practical problems and innovation, not out of a sense of ego, but out of sheer creative necessity.”!

You can pre-order the DVD at a 35% or wait 'til the release on December 13. Here is a list of screening dates and locations. I plan to ask my library to get a copy as my Christmas gift : )   – GF

Modern Playhouses have lots of room for imagniative play

Play Modern's snap together plywood playhouses look great and "... aren’t just modern and modular, but eco-friendly. The panels are made out of environmentally friendly FSC certified plywood and have a low-VOC finish made from a whey protein — a by-product of cheese making. In addition, the handrails are made from fully recyclable aluminum." See Design Milk for more.

The Cuba and 2Cuba playhouses are baby steps on the path leading to the fabulous adult versions at baumraum.de (see this one... with plumbing!) or one of your own ingenuity and design, such as Alexandra Meyn's that I read about in today's NY Times. – GF

Dreaming on – Stone, glass and water in perfect balance

I'm not complaining – far from it – but . . . what I wouldn't give for a studio like this (oh, and the house it is part of as well). Villa Rotonda is in Goirle, the Netherlands, and was designed by Dutch architects Bedaux de Brouwer.

The reason I'm not complaining, but rather feeling grateful, is that our house, and indeed our entire town, lost power 5 days ago due to a freak snowstorm that dumped almost 20 inches of heavy snow on still-leafy trees, causing an amazing amount of damage to limbs and trees that crashed down on the power lines. I am grateful to be working – warm, with light and running water – from the studio of my sister's house a few hours north of our home. Our power is estimated to finally be restored in the middle of tomorrow night. This is the second time in 3 months that we have been without power for 6 days!

So although I'm not gazing out on the serene, glass-like reflecting pool through the glass wall of my dream studio, a temporary cluttered basement office deep in the woods is pretty dreamy. – GF

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