Floto + Warner Beacon Lamps

by CH Contributor

by Sarah Moroz

Floto + Warner really know how to light up a room with their original creations. Their past project was both good-looking and sustainably made from recycled materials. Their current project involves a cheeky take on the natural world—by using fake bugs. Hoards of them crawl up the lamp bases designed by Kartell, Phillippe Starck, Martin Baas and others, swarming towards the bulbs. Now either you're a design aficionado with a taste for Animal Planet, or you're just going to be too icked to even flip the switch. Either way, talk about moths to the flame. Read More...

U2: No Line On The Horizon Album Design

by Karen Day

No matter how you feel about the epic band U2, their new album, "No Line On The Horizon," takes a stand, showcasing their position on music piracy with clever packaging and enticing purchases of the physical album instead of downloading the digital version. From drawing attention to environmental issues to problems people in Africa are facing, it's another example of how the band lets their opinions be known.

The box, seemingly inspired by Apple, includes a poster of a seascape photograph by Japanese photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto, a DVD of an Anton Corbijn film and a hardcover book with interviews and photographs that document the making of the album. With a shiny mother-of-pearl-effect logo superimposed over Sugimoto's photo on the CD case and yet another booklet and fold-out poster inside, the package makes for a tangible artifact in such fleeting times.

Read more about the album at Fast Company.

Nike Stages Art Tour: Shepard Fairey

by CH Contributor

by Ariston Anderson

After Andre the Giant and Barack Obama, the latest person to be immortalized by Shepard Fairey is seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong. Fairey created a giant mural for the Nike-backed Stages Art Tour, a global traveling exhibition to benefit the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF). Lucky for Armstrong, who has admitted to being a serious Fairey collector, the artist will also be among several others who will paint the bikes Armstrong will ride in the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France this year.

On Saturday, 700 cyclists took to the streets of Hollywood with Armstrong for a 2.2 mile ride, launching the show. Among the 22 artists commissioned for the tour are Marc Newson, Os Gemeos, Tom Sachs, Kenny Scharf, Taryn Simon, Eric White and Christopher Wool, who will create work to raise awareness about cancer. The show will cumulate in Paris, on 16 July 2009, at the Emmannuel Perrotin Gallery, going on to visit New York, L.A. and Portland. Both sales of the work, as well as proceeds from two new Nike lines, "Hope Rides Again" apparel and footwear and "Greatest Hits" footwear, will go toward the LAF and their constant mission to find a cure for cancer.

Winvian Hotel, Connecticut

by CH Contributor

by Anna Chisholm

Were Alice to stumble down a rabbit hole today, the wonderland she'd discover would surely resemble Connecticut boutique resort Winvian. This whimsical world of magical, individually designed cottages peacefully exists amid 113 acres of wild woodland in the state's Litchfield Hills.

Owner Maggie Smith and her daughter Heather, ably assisted by Yale School of Architecture graduate David Sellers, enlisted 15 architects to wave their magic design wands and bring life to their original idea. Today, the 18 cottages that are the fruit of their labors, each one named after the idiosyncratic design concept that defines it, surround Winvian's antique-filled, colonial-style farmhouse.

Secret Society, Treehouse (pictured below), Beaver Lodge (pictured at right), Charter Oak and Helicopter are just a few of the titles to pique the interest of any adventurer looking for a truly innovative departure from the typical hotel experience.

Treehouse is quite possibly your wildest childhood fantasy come true—minus the creepy crawlies, of course. Double-storied and decked out with every luxury amenity imaginable, it's a piece of abstract architectural ingenuity suspended some 35 feet up in the treetops. Charter Oak literally brings the outside indoors (a giant oak tree grows gloriously through its core), while Helicopter, based on a Connecticut Coastguard chopper, is bold and totally bizarre—the perfect venue for a Mad Hatter's tea party.

Throw in a 5,000 square-foot spa, manicured lawns that blend into unruly and atmospheric woodland and a traditional fine-dining restaurant where Alain Ducasse protégé Chris Eddy serves up impeccably fresh Italian-French inspired cuisine (and you've got the perfect recipe for a ridiculously relaxing treat.

To book online visit Mr & Mrs Smith, rack rates start at $1,450 which includes all meals and beverages.

Winvian
155 Alain White Road
Morris, CT 06763 map
tel.+1 866 610 3867

Human Host

by Lost At E Minor

If a bunch of monkeys had a bunch of typewriters, they might come up with Shakespeare, but if they had drum machines, broken synths, out-of-tune guitars and old Casio keyboards, they might end up with something that sounds like Human Host. The Baltimore band channels the languid sneer of the Stooges, the absurdist spazz-outs of Men's Recovery Project, and the sproing-y dissonance of Nervous Gender.

Raeburn Autumn/Winter 2009 Collection

by Karen Day

We had the fortunate opportunity to get a glimpse of Raeburn Design's debut of their Autumn/Winter 2009 womenswear collection, which thankfully offers plenty more of their renowned high-end jackets constructed from re-deployed parachutes and military fabrics. Even with carefully considered details like a shower-proof zip front and wind-resistant pockets to keep you going in rainy conditions, more severe weather calls for denser gear. For this, Raeburn has duplicated each of the silk parachute jackets in pure black British wool.

RCA grads and brothers, the "ethically intelligent" garments are all produced in Raeburns' East London studio, where they strive to design collections that perfectly address the needs and concerns of the contemporary city dweller.

Their online store is still a work in progress, but until then you can contact them directly to purchase.