Best of CH 2017: Instagram
Extraordinary finds from world travels and our home city of New York
Just about every Cool Hunting team member can attest to the fact that it’s easier to write a feature length story than an Instagram caption. With the beauty we cross in a year, images really do speak a thousand—or more—words. We do our best, though, to provide additional insight. As a collaborative editorial effort, cataloging our adventures both at home in NYC and abroad, the Cool Hunting Instagram has become a place where we tease to future stories or share what we find inspirational on the fly. We strive to take all our own photos—and we think we’ve done a good job of capturing many special moments. Once again, we’ve observed that travel imagery and architecture stand as high performers. But other themes—from the quiet places to automobiles—also manifested. Thanks for following along and helping us cross 300K. We look forward to another year of sharing.
Automobiles
According to our co-founder and Editor in Chief Josh Rubin (and many others), it’s all in the details. This is evidenced by the recent Land Rover Range Rover Velar. In turn, co-founder and Executive Editor Evan Orensten found a beautiful orange 1970 Audi 60 L coupe while enjoying a sunny Sunday in Copenhagen.
Spatial Design
On site at the new Steve Jobs Theater, Rubin captured the beautiful chaos and near-alien design during a keynote address. In Granada, Managing Editor Katie Olsen captured a super-quiet and immaculately decorated oasis at Tribal Hotel.
New York City
Contributor Nara Shin took in the late Zaha Hadid’s first NYC building, from nearby Hotel Americano. Elsewhere, Senior Editor David Graver caught a bird’s eye view of a Jeff Koons’ ballerina from the roof of Saks Fifth Avenue, where the artist released a collaborative project with Kiehls.
Peaceful Places
With the intensity of the last few years, peaceful places have become ever more valuable. From The Moonlight Table at Agua Restaurant, overlooking the Sea of Cortés where guests can swim, snorkel and surf to a box over the jungle in Hoshinoya Bali, we have seen many beautiful reprieves.
Extraordinary Spaces
On an adventure to the north, we stayed at the Fogo Island Inn on a clear night in Newfoundland—with the Nomadic School of Wonder. It was a destination with the extraordinary environment grappled with the industrial structure. Later in the year, international contributor Paolo Ferrarini attended the opening of the Louvre Dubai, designed by French architect Jean Nouvel. It’s another building in dialogue with its surroundings.
Outdoor Art
Large-scale outdoor (and generally free-to-the-public) art works tends to be Instagram favorites, as is evidenced by the Pigalle Basketball Court in Paris. A collaboration with the Pigalle brand, Nike and Ill Studio, the colorful work updated the Paris Duperré destination with vivid colors. During London Design Festival, Adam Nathaniel Furman’s “Gateways” installation, a collaboration with Turkish Ceramics, celebrated seminal tile interiors from around the world in a bold way.
Reflective Art
Who doesn’t like their visage reflected back in a manipulated way? Reflection has been used by artists since sculptors built reflective pools. And with
Günther Vogt and Olafur Eliasson‘s mirrors on the Kvadrat campus in Denmark, this concept has been updated to the present day. Famed artist Yayoi Kusama made her grand return to David Zwirner gallery in NYC this year, unveiling new Infinity Rooms that simply must be experienced in person, for the sensations they trigger and inspire.
Images by Cool Hunting
