Upper East Side loft / Pierce Allen

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Jean Pigozzi

A Day at the Bon Vivant’s Ettore Sottsass-Designed Pop Paradise

Entrepreneur, art collector, snapshot photographer, and streetwear designer Jean Pigozzi lives large, as filmmaker Matthew Donaldson discovered at Villa Dorane, Pigozzi’s residence-slash-playground in the jetset Cap d’Antibes. The villa is a monumental testament to his long-term collaboration with late Italian architect and designer Ettore Sottsass, who played a significant role in the design of Pigozzi's seven homes. He inherited the house, built in 1953 by neo-classical architect Tomaso Buzzi, from his father Henri–who founded Simca cars–but it was postmodernist Sottsass who “pimped it out.” A member of the Memphis Group, Sottsass’ playful provocations are evident in the clash of off-kilter geometric furnishings and flamboyant colors, accessorized by Baluchi carpets, kitschy ceramics, and giddy light fixtures. “Ettore would say it was boring to have a normal house, you have to change things around all the time. He was not scared of funny colors and funny things,” says Pigozzi. The jubilant décor is enhanced by pieces from Pigozzi’s extensive African art collection, including photographs by Malick Sidibé and an entrance hall hand-painted in bold motifs by Esther Mahlangu with her trademark chicken-feather brush. Around the hall’s perimeter stand four life-size sculptures of notable R&B singers, including Aretha Franklin, by Ivory Coast artist Nicolas Damas—Pigozzi jokingly calls them his “cousins.” Sottsass makes his biggest impact here with the guest quarters, a blocky architectural feat in multiple shades of green paint and even greener balustrades, the interior kitted out with boxy sofas, chairs and beds in hues reminiscent of 80s-era Esprit fashion. Though the pair would collaborate on every aspect of the design, shapes and colors were strictly down to Sottsass. “He was a complete genius [at those],” says Pigozzi. Villa Dorane attracts a steady stream of “friends, venture capitalists and pretty girls” and Pigozzi’s annual Festival de Cannes party is the stuff of legend. “My main idol in life is Howard Hughes,” he says. “I like how he lived all alone with airplanes and girls, but on the other hand I’m a social animal.”

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David Karp Williamsburg Loft

David Karp, founder and chief executive officer of Tumblr. Bought himself a brand new loft, for $1.6 Million dollars in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York. David Karp ‘s new home is a 1,600 square-foot, with a 20-foot-high ceilings, a corner loft duplex in the 1914 former Shoe Polish factory, a home office, and Brooklyn and Manhattan views. via shockblast

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Château in Provence / Pierre Yovanovitch

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Eichler Homes

Joseph Eichler (1900–1974) was a 20th-century post-war U.S. American real estate developer known for developing distinctive residential subdivisions of Mid-Century modern style tract housing in California, United States. He was one of the influential advocates of bringing modern architecture from custom residences and large corporate buildings to general public availability. His company and developments named "Eichler Homes" remain in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area and Greater Los Angeles regions of western California.

Between 1950 and 1974, Joseph Eichler's company, Eichler Homes, built over 11,000 homes in nine communities in Northern California and homes in three communities in Southern California. They all came to be known as Eichlers or an Eichler. During this period, Eichler became one of the nation's most influential builders of modern homes. The largest contiguous Eichler Homes development is 'The Highlands' in San Mateo, built between 1956 and 1964.

Unlike many developers of the post war housing boom, Joseph Eichler was a social visionary and commissioned designs primarily for middle-class Americans. One of his stated aims was to construct inclusive and diverse planned communities, ideally featuring integrated parks and community centers. Eichler, unlike most builders at the time, established a non-discrimination policy and offered homes for sale to anyone of any religion or race. In 1958, he resigned from the National Association of Home Builders when they refused to support a non-discrimination policy. via flickr

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Dialoguemethod

"Dialoguemethod based on Furniture and Product design is a group which communicates with design to people around the world. We think design wouldn’t be hard, which means it’s an evolving process to well design with communicating. We design variety items of furniture what make us smile. Our products are designed and manufactured with our motto, furniture design is more earnest design and products are more fun, to translate concepts into reality." text dialoguemethod.com via artnau

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Waterfall Bay House / Bossley Architects

Located in a remote bay in the Marlborough Sounds, this house emphasises the intimate qualities of the small bay. Set close to the water it runs along the contour as a two storey primary element incorporating living areas above and guest rooms below.

Linked by a glazed bridge is a main bedroom, raised above the cliff on visually unstable legs to emphasise its eyrie-like relationship to tree tops and sky.

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