Table Talk

 

While tables most of the time serve a functional purpose—such as providing a level platform to eat dinner or work—Ball-Nogues Studio (BNS) is calling attention to this timeless furnishings’ more socially attractive qualities.

In a very progressive design, the Los Angeles-based integrated design and fabrication practice collaborated with UCLA Department of Architecture and Urban Design, the Herb Alpert School of Music, and UCLA Design Media Arts to create The Table Cloth, an architectural installation. Located in the courtyard at Schoenberg Hall at the Herb Alpert School of Music, it is composed of hundreds of intertwined low-styled coffee tables and three-legged stools, which drape over the eastern wall of the courtyard, much like fabric, and sprawls out onto the ground below.

The design is meant to serve as a backdrop for not only daily social interactions (symbolically representing how tables are at the center of social and family gatherings) but to an in-the-round performance space that features two configurations: a stage with removable platform and no stage. Conveniently, The Table Cloth simultaneously provides ample seating space for the venue.

“As a visual concept, the installation serves as a symbolic gesture of sustainability and a poetic reminder that the buildings and pavilions we construct although seemingly timeless, are actually impermanent: frozen moments in an ongoing flow of products and materials,” reads the description at ball-nogues.com. 

The project officially opened on April 26 with a musical performance by Herb Alpert School of Music. Eventually, The Table Cloth will be dismantled and the tables and chairs will be given away to the UCLA community.

Project profile available at architizer.com

--Stacy Straczynski

To Designers, With Love

By Stacy Straczynski, Associate Editor

With Valentine’s Day quickly approaching, it’s a perfect time to revisit some of the top romance-inspiring designs from around the world. Whether you’re looking to take your sweetheart to a sexy resort for a weekend getaway or enjoy a quiet dinner for two—or even if you’re single and on the prowl—these top destination designs are sure to get your libido pumping.

The in Poznan, Poland centers itself on the suave inspirations of jazz music--literally. The jazz club and restaurant, designed by designed by Ewelina Jankowska, features a bright red piano at the heart of its interior that gives life to the seductively smoky room, outfitted with natural stone walls, copper tones, and plush sofa seating that creates the perfect space to snuggle up with your date and enjoy the sounds of passionate improvisation.

Nothing speaks to romance more than a blatant sexual innuendo. Ultra, a Toronto restaurant hotspot that recently received a redesign by 2010 Interiors Awards winner Munge Leung Design Associates, boasts walls adorned with cocks (roosters, that is—get your minds out of the gutter!), which Munge Leung managing partner Alessandro Munge told Contract can be interpreted in many ways. Overall the space screams provacative luxury, perfect for the man looking to really strut his stuff on the dating scene. 

There’s nothing like a trip to the great “indoors” to inspire love. Guests at the Four Seasons, Jackson Hole, with interior design by Brayton Hughes, can experience all the natural beauty found outdoors through the casual, yet elegant design detail metaphors. High-trussed ceilings and large-framed widows take advantage of the natural mountain views, while zigzag patterns and natural elements incorporate river scenery into every corner. The hotel was rated by Travel + Leisure readers as one of the top romantic destinations--probably due to its status as the perfect cuddle zone.

  

While many people have experimented with interplays between sex and food, Toronto’s Mildred Temple Kitchen, designed by Brian Brownlie of du Toit Architects,  is taking this naturally-found relationship a bound beyond oysters and chocolate by encouraging its diners to “get it on” in one of its modernly-styled bathrooms. So once you’ve finished entrees in the chic dining room, featuring classic ivory-colored seating and large floor-to-ceiling windows, be sure to leave room for “dessert.” 

 
What better place to walk on the wild side of romance than in Sin City? The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, designed by Mark Zeff of Zeff Designs, boast trendsetting towers that feature a rock n’ roll atmosphere with dark purple, black and brown interiors for lavishly sexy sophistication. Add in the room service menu that includes selections of lingerie and other adult items for late night fun and its no wonder guests will want to skip the craps table in exchange for a night in.

What designs and destinations have insired romance for you? Share them with us by commenting below.

The green scene hits NYC

Earlier this year, we reported on the emergence of sustainable nightclubs, bars and discos. Thumping bass, flashing strobe lights and...a dance floor that converts the kinetic energy of clubbers into electricity for the venue? Such were the goals of Enviu, an international collective of sustainability driven entrepreneurs and by the time of our report last March, Rotterdam-based architecture firm Döll—Atelier voor Bouwkunst was developing a Sustainable Dance Club (rendering above) in Rotterdam that would do just that. What's more, dancers' perspiration would be channeled into grey water circuits, biometric wall displays furniture that changes color to match clubbers' body temperature.

Now, less than nine months later, New York City is jumping into the center of the circle with the opening of Greenhouse, a downtown Manhattan club that opened last week. As reported in The New York Times, Greenhouse, whose sustainable features were crafted consulting firm National Progression is seeking LEED certification. How? The two-level, 6,000-sq.-ft. venue houses high-efficiency heating, ventilation and air conditioning, an LED lighting system, and waterless urinals and low-flow sinks in the bathrooms. All materials used to furnish it are recycled or recyclable.