dessert chains

is it just me or are new dessert and pastry chains popping up like crazy? usually i'm not one for sweet foods but i can't help but to drool over these. 

pinkberry
the new frozen yogurt craze. i've been craving for more ever since i had some in westwood last january, and the store design made me even more appreciative [the green dot counter pattern, minimalist aesthetic, funky plastic furniture including starck's ghost chairs(!)]. the yogurt comes in either natural or green tea flavor, and actually has the sour taste of real yogurt which compliments the fresh fruit and toppings that are methodically arranged. i can definitely see this blowing up and can't wait until it hits new york.





the taste that launched a thousand parking tickets [la times]
pinkberry website


sprinkle cupcakes
these cupcakes are sickeningly adorable. they look like something i would nibble on at first, then inhale immediately afterwards. the store originated in beverly hills but seems to be opening up stores nationwide in the near future. dark chocolate, ginger lemon, and mocha all sound like pretty good flavors though i think after the icing is put on i don't have much preference, they all look so tempting. i dig the clean lines and natural wood for the display/counter in the pictured store, but there seems something just off to me about it. or maybe it's just the inexplicable paranoia that those precious cupcakes could suddenly fall off the edge or get sneezed on without the glass immediately in front of it.





sprinkle cupcakes website


kyotofu
kyotofu opened up last november in hell's kitchen in new york city as a "dessert bar serving up traditional japanese desserts and cocktails with a modern twist", using ingredients that include green tea, bean paste, and homemade tofu. from the menu online, toasted walnut tahitian vanilla parfait is on the top of my list and hey, perhaps the warm chestnut mochi chocolate cake could be a cheaper alternative to my unfulfilled 2-year craving for nobu's bento box dessert [curse you, generous older siblings and in-laws! gack...i miss nobu's lobster salad too]. hiromi tsuruta's interiors provide a nice backdrop for the food too.





kyotofu website


tisserie
venezuelan brothers morris and ronald harrar have recently embarked on making tisserie the next generation in the pastry/bakery/coffee world. their food looks delicious, including the sandwiches- everything seems delicate and made with care. i think it might find itself quite a cozy niche...the closest chains that are comparable are probably starbucks and au bon pain, both which aren't as known for a big pastry/dessert selection.






new chocolaterie franchise- max brenner line
i read a new york times article a while back on how chocolateries/dessert bars were taking over and becoming one of the next big things. well, max brenner's chocolate by the bald man opened up last year and looks like a sanctuary for serious chocoholics. even though i like it, i'm glad now i burnt out in eating too much chocolate as a kid and now can only handle it in occasional doses. i have to say i was sort of meh about the store. so maybe it was successful in its intention to give it sort of an industrial, old new york undertone with some pop culture references but even this store doesn't quite evoke my sense of lust for chocolate enough for me to be sold.





pics of the store [offthebroiler]
max brenner's site

miwa koizumi

i lovelovelove this artist for her aquatic creatures and would love to get my hands on a piece. part of the PET project (water animals made from plastic water bottles), these were made only using a heat gun, soldering iron, and cutting utensils.


[san pelligrino water bottle]


[poland spring bottle bottom]


[san pellegrino]


PET project

skin obsession

skin seems to be a commonly used term nowadays- here are a couple i've stumbled on that use it:

skins footwear



a relatively new company that has rethought the traditional shoe by breaking it down into two components: the support section "Bone" and the collapsible and interchangeable "Skin" surrounding it that comes in different variations the consumer can by. that way the wearer can keep the fit and structure of the shoe without having to buy a whole pair for a different look. sounds ingenius and plain conceptually mind-blowing. check out the video for a flythrough of the whole concept.



skins footwear site


skin+bone: parallel between fashion and architecture



"Architects and fashion designers produce environments defined through spatial awareness—the structures they create are based on volume, function, proportion, and material. Presenting the work of international fashion designers and architects, the exhibition examines themes such as shelter, identity, tectonic strategies, creative process, and parallel stylistic tendencies including deconstruction and minimalism."

i visited this in january at MOCA in los angeles and even though the theme did highlight the interdisciplinary trend between fashion and architecture, it didn't seem to connect as well as i would like it to. the exhibit just didn't seem to visually mirror common techniques and concepts both fields used...rather it approached them individually. anyways, the exhibit was still impressive in bringing so many avantgarde designers' works under one roof. viktor and rolf's russian doll collection which built layers of clothing onto a model into a shelter-like cocoon, preston scott cohen's vision for the new Tel Aviv Museum of Art, issey miyake's Pleats Please collection...the list goes on.

SKIN + BONES Gallery Guide

live within skin



a living wall panel inhabited by plants and used as a biofilter for indoor environments by improving air quality and reducing energy use. while the idea isn't new, it looks cool and quite an untacky, user-friendly green installation.

greenmeme living walls

los angeles river gets a new makeover

i first saw this at the venice bienalle last fall and was really wowed by the possibility, but i didn't realize it could be implemented so soon! the LA river, the channelized concrete waterway which has pretty much been neglected and regarded as unsafe and ugly over the past few decades, has finally been given a chance for a new makeover that would turn it into a recreational and communal space. LA officials released the master plan for its revitalization a few days ago and while it's costly and ambitious, would dramatically improve the urban landscape and bring back value into the river itself and surrounding greened neighborhoods. los angeles has never had a public space such as nyc's central park and needs one that serves as a retreat from city life and a common destination. the master plan includes 4 major goals: revitalize the river (improve water quality, make it publicly safe/accessible, restore the ecosystem), green the neighborhoods (create a continuous green riverway, incorporate open space and recreation into neighborhoods), capture community opportunities (educational/public facilities), and create value (develop housing, employment opportunities, commerce). check out their website; though the renderings are kind of bad the proposal is still put together well. this one hits close to home for me. as much as the LA river has been recognized famously as the concrete channel in countless movies like the racing scene in Grease...that man-made atrocity of a channel needs a new face.


la times article: costly LA river plan brings a raft of new ideas
la river revitalization master plan

iPad: architecture docks in to the iPod craze

omniyat properties recently announced its future launching of projects in 2007 starting with iPad, a 23 story residential and office building with a slim shape and smooth, metallic surface with rounded corners [think iPod mini]. designed by james law cybertecture international (hong kong), the building will sit at a 6 degree angle on top what resembles a docking station and is rumored to be installing iPod docks into each unit upon completion in 2009. first the artificially built palm islands hotel, then the hydropolis underwater hotel, what will developers in dubai think of next?



via uaepropertytrends

designer cell phones

cell phones have come a long way from their neanderthalesque brick ancestors in the '90s. from the 5-pound handset and its accompanying charger (as one so fondly remembers ross from friends carrying in a briefcase), it has gotten lighter, slimmer, and more multi-functional with technological advances. and of course, with this has arrived the desire for sexier and more high-design cell phones. while some brands like D&G and Prada have collaborated to make signature editions, others have experimented with materials or the form itself. the AU design project, for example, was started by KDDI in japan as a response to the traditional cellular device in seeking to create new and original models. the big wave of 2007 though seems to be geared towards music phones and touch screen interfaces, especially with the iPhone which was unveiled at MacWorld 2007 earlier today. note that i'm not so concerned or savvy about the functions included on each phone but more on the design. here are some of my picks:



apple iPhone
a widescreen LCD multi-touch interface, 4GB flash memory for music and movies, 2megapixel camera, visual voicemail options, wi-fi and bluetooth and more...could this be the superphone? the iPhone will undoubtedly cover the gap for those overly technogadget phones that have left much to be desired. them the release is expected in june and will start at $499.
via zdnet | gizmodo



LG ke850
the LG ke850 recently won the if product design award of 2007 and is rumored to be the prototype for which prada will base their rebranded cell phone on. there haven't been much on the specs yet as it hasn't been released, but prada or no prada label, the ke850 is pretty as it is. the touch-screen replacing the conventional buttons will probably take some getting used to though like the iPhone since it looks more like a tablet than something you talk into. i've heard that the lg chocolate touch interface is hard to use so i wonder if they've resolved it in this version.
via gizmodo




kddi neon by naoto fukasawa
the neon was released in 2006 as the latest model from the AU design project. the form is a rectangular solid that comes in three colors and a black interface. features include a 1.3 megapixel camera, miniSD card slot, FM tuner, and 50MB of memory for music. but the coolest thing that this phone offers is the top smooth surface of the phone that acts as a display for song functions and details.
via kddi | mocoloco


black diamond by jaren goh
the black diamond concept phone is a luxury item that will be sold in early 2007 by swiss manufacturer VIPN for a gi-normous sum of $300,000! this super sleek limited edition is made out of titanium, real diamonds, and has a glossy mirror finish. features include a 4 megapixel camera, 2-in. touch sensitive screen, intel 400Mhz processor that runs windows mobile 5, 128 mb internal memory, and sd card slot.
via jarengoh

other honorable mentions:
motorola rizr z6: suped up sliding rizr z3 with a better interface
sony ericsson w200i: the budget walkman
samsung ultra music phone: dual face music machine
hulger pip*phone: african hardwood shelled phone- wax with care

happy holidays

happy holidays! and oops for the hiatus- i have regretfully left copenhagen and am back in LA, but being in a design capital for 4 months definitely left me thirsting even more for innovative design and solutions. additionally, it's made me realize the importance of digital and print media today in dispensing ideas and information to people around the world. publicity and physical accessibility makes such a big difference in discovering cutting edge products and buildings etc., so it has only been till now that i've truly appreciated how magazines have compiled everything neatly into a few pages. this explains my excitement for the way some of my favorite reads are finally starting to expand their horizons. let me be one of the first to say that i am going to subscribe to the coolhunter magazine as soon as it comes out in march!! they have always been ahead of the game and never cease to wow with their finds and trends in design, dropping comprehensive blurbs and pictures that leave you wanting more. it is probably one of the few times an online magazine has been successful enough to go into print, so i wonder what coolhunter will have to offer in addition to what juicy content they already have online. frame, self-dubbed 'the great indoors', has recently come out with a digitalized version of their monthly magazines which is really great for people who love reading the articles but dont necessarily want or need to keep the whole book as a reference. in opposition to coolhunter's move towards print, frame's digitalization reflects the trend in mobilizing information via internet where users don't need or want to be bothered with physical ownership. prime examples: phonebooks and encyclopedias. but hey, sometimes it's nice to see it in print anyways...

my favorite magazine is still surface, which covers up-and-coming luxurious fashion, architecture, and design through fresh and sexed up spreads. monitor, a super conceptual product/project savvy magazine which i discovered at the venice bienalle's bookshop this october, is a graphic masterpiece in itself and the thought of ripping out pages or discarding it makes me slightly uneasy. and don't worry, i didn't forget wallpaper*, which covers a lot of international ground in interiors, fashion, and travel. their magazine is worth a read but and their site adds new finds consistently, though it's been admittedly hard to keep checking for updates for lack of feed accessibility. i could probably go on for a while, but these are just a few of the great comprehensive design magazines out there. to be continued...

exclusionary

exclusionary, by jasper thomas, is a collection of photo stories which are reminiscent of minimiam's style except with slightly darker twists. [if you haven't stumbled upon minimiam yet, an AMAZING photo series by pierre javelle and akiko ida, i highly advise it!] though each photograph may not evoke quite the same amount of delight as a delicate figurine mowing his lawn on a kiwi, the overall composition of each story will guaranteedly make you snicker in glee. penguins vandalizing a corn-cob building, and chicks making bunny sacrifices..... how can you hate them when they're just so cute?



minimiam




exclusionary

pics courtesy of design*sponge/minimiam and exclusionary

food and decor down to a science?

molecular gastronomy, or food chemistry has become an increasing trend over the past decades. after being quite intrigued by bo bech's paustian restaurant menu, i decided to look more into molecular gastronomy and the relationship of such meals to the restaurant interiors. developed by nicholas furti, the "physicist in the kitchen", pioneers of the gastronomic cuisine which include ferio adria of el bulli (spain), pierre gagnaire (intl), grant achatz of alinea (chicago), and wylie dufre of wd-50 (nyc) have experimented with different chemical processes and combinations of ingredients to create unique dishes. for example, using liquid nitrogen to make tobacco-flavoured ice-cream or serving earl grey tea as hot and cold gel in a glass.

while there are still a couple degrees of variation in the style of each restaurant, moto's design philosophy may sum up the underlying reason behind these characteristically modern and simple interiors that most of these restaurants appear to follow: "our minimalist decor - warm whites accented with chocolate and cinnamon - allows diners to focus on the main attraction: Chef Cantu's food." as a recent diner at the hotel fox kitchen , i agree that decor, however cool, should be at minimum to detract from food (the nearby neon pink and blue LED light screen projected on the wall admittedly made me feel sleepy and stuck in a perpetual dream world). i also agree that gastronomy can work: for one dish i was served roast venison on grilled [dehydrated?] corn with a side of cherry ice cream paired with an elderberry cocktail, which was surprisingly good. but my only qualm is how long a diner will continue going to such a kind of restaurant before the food loses its novelty. obviously the aforementioned have found a way to retain the businesses of their restaurants, but in places such as nyc, few gastronomic restaurants have yet to be accepted. also, that if one does not enjoy the food, then they might not get much out of the atmosphere that was created most purposefully to compliment the food. so i guess the question is, can you have the success of a restaurant rely completely on the food itself? i'll let you be the judge of that.


moto, chicago


the fat duck, london

alinea, chicago


paustian, copenhagen


the paul, copenhagen


fox kitchen, copenhagen

more on food experimentation, analyses, and gastronomy:

molecular gastronomy: the science behind cooking
hungry in hogtown: gastronomical reviews
drink science: make jellied jin and tonic
wild sweets: molecular gastronomy hits the chocolate scene

first post

helloo~

this is mlin, or minimalnectar here with my first post. i am currently a 3rd-year interior design student who loves all thing design. this blog is meant to share some of my interests and commentary on current design and improve my writing skills, as well as give updates on a new design community web project for my university. a bio on me if anyone cares: i'm a californian-born girl going to school upstate new york and I freeze at anywhere below 50 degrees. i'm currently studying abroad in copenhagen for the fall semester and am addicted to two things here: the danish style and hotdogs. My favorite museum is the Tate Modern, my favorite artists are van gogh and rauschenberg, and I don't care what anyone says, but the modern art museum I.M. Pei built on my campus still looks like a giant concrete toilet. hope this intrigued you. enjoy!