#both big names in the art industry …. lots of galleries and events ……

[twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat]

am thinking dangerous dangerous thoughts of middle-aged milf duo sugusho coaxing you into their long-term relationship . and keeping u there

[wonderlustxennial]

Thoughts on TFATWS Season 1, Episode 3

This shit has gotten ridiculous, so I’ve decided that I’m going to start doing reaction posts, rather than posting 20 individual observations. The following was written after my second viewing.

DISCLAIMER: Some of these are my observations, but others I didn’t notice until my favorite YouTube and Tumblr analysts pointed them out. I’ll try to drop credit where it’s due.

NOTE: There’s something I wish more people were talking about, and it’s down in the Madripoor section. If I’m reading this wrong, I would appreciate getting some help in seeing it. So, if you’re game, please check it out and let me know your thoughts. (#tw:racial bias)

[spoilers below the cut]

Walker Raiding the Flag Smasher Sanctuary

Here we get a further illustration that Walker not a defender; he’s working in the interest of fascists. Also, he’s on an invisible countdown to flip his shit. ALSO-also, dude just told the GRC cops not to give anyone “a second…to breathe.” (Marvel, what are you doing? I am not accustomed to relevance from you.) Did you notice the juxtaposition of Bucky asking the cops, “Don’t you know who he is?” to get the cops to stop harassing Sam, against Walker asking, “Do you know who I am?” while roughing up a refugee for not cooperating with him? Same asshole move, very different contexts. Anytime someone thinks it’s a good idea to say, “Do you know who I/this am/is?” they’ve already lost face.

Zemo in His Cell

Clearly, I’ll have to get better about zooming in on stuff, because this is the first time I’ve seen anyone catch that the book Zemo is reading in his prison cell is about Machiavelli AND Leonardo da Vinci; specifically, about how their friendship and exchange of ideas was highly influential on the future of the world. So, does Zemo think he’s Machiavelli or da Vinci, AND who is his “silent” partner? [I didn’t notice that, until The New Rockstars pointed it out (at 04:00 https://youtu.be/xHXhbw_EGL8) annnnnndddd now I’m going to have to read that fucking book (Fortune Is a River: Leonardo da Vinci & Niccolò Machiavelli’s Magnificent Dream to Change the Course the Florentine History by Roger D. Masters, and the bump in book sales is about to have Masters owing Marvel BIG TIME).]

Zemo Is “Royalty”

And here we have my first problem with this episode. BARONS ARE NOT ROYALTY. They’re nobles—low-ranking aristocracy. But do you know what does check out? Zemo and his butler’s thinly veiled distain at entertaining the two low-born Americans.

On the Plane

Look out, y’all: Satan just took the wheel.

THE NOTEBOOK/S

If Bucky has Steve’s notebook, what happened to the one he had in Romania? In CA:CW, I was stressing throughout that WHOLE fight and chase sequence that followed Bucky running from his apartment; not for his safety, but because I hated how vulnerable it left him to have to run without his notebook. I’m not even kidding. Because Steve picked up that notebook, right? Did he think to take it with him? Surely, an embassy or intelligence service swept Bucky’s living space afterward, so who has it now? THIS is the shit I obsess over. Who has that fucking notebook? WHO??!

TROUBLEMAN

There are at least three different things at play here. First, Sam’s enthusiasm and nostalgia for this relic made me tear up a little. He was so hopeful that Bucky would share Steve’s appreciation this classic piece of socially aware art. Second, we get more evidence that Bucky might be having a harder time adjusting to life as a white man in the 21st Century than we’re led to believe Steve did. Third, we know from Zemo’s interactions with his steward just seconds before that, when he praises Troubleman, what he’s actually doing is virtual signaling to build trust with Sam and put Bucky on the back foot. Fourth, I don’t think Sam knows for sure if Zemo appreciated it as much as it says, but he intuits enough about Zemo’s character to be aggravated at the inference they might have something in common; or, that Zemo might be manipulating him to empty rapport. (RIP, Marvin Gaye. You weren’t done.)

DAS OFFENE NEIN IN DER LIEBI

The New Rockstars win again. (Seriously, I have to start paying closer attention.) A book using mythology to explain the psychology of relationships, just before Zemo namechecks Red Skull. Oh shit, y’all.

ZEMO’S PHILOSOPHY ON SYMBOLS & POWER

The slipperiest thing about Zemo is that nearly everything he says has a kernel of truth; you just have to dig out what his true intentions are. Honestly, this is what makes him…I don’t know that he’s the most dangerous villain in the MCU, but it certainly sets him apart. He’s both educated AND smart (the latter doesn’t necessarily follow the former), and he’s particularly insightful in his ruminations on power and its potential to corrupt both the people who hold it and the people who admire them. Bucky and Sam both loved Steve deeply and believed wholeheartedly in the capacity he served as a defender; however, they have a tendency to over-romanticize both. Multiply that problem by the millions who never personally knew him and, when he’s gone, you get…fake!Cap.

More Relevance from Marvel

I read that Marvel had to do reshoots because a few of the themes in this show hit a little too close to home after the pandemic hit (also because the Black Widow movie was supposed to hit first, but again…global fuckery, so they had to shuffle a few plot points.) But also, refugees? “Displacement” camps? Hoarded resources? You don’t say?

Madripoor

Or “When Murder-Sugardaddy Goes Slumming with His Awkward Sugarbabies and Heinous Fuckery Most Foul Ensues”

AT THE CLUB

THE POWER BROKER. THE POWER BROKER. THE POWER… Soooooooo. Many. Name drops. At this point, I don’t even care to speculate on the identity of the mother-fucking Power Broker. Just surprise me already.

And here’s my (potential) second problem with this episode: The Black bartender doesn’t recognize the Black man he’s presumably seen before.

A CAVEAT TO START: I bartended very briefly in one of my many former lives. I was terrible at it. But here’s what’s relevant for the moment: when you work in the service industry, you meet a lot of fucking people, and you don’t necessarily remember them all. I would work giant events where I would serve 1,000+ people in a night, and people would complain all the time that I was carding them even though I’d served them previously. (1) I live in a state where alcohol is highly controlled, and the ABC Board is zealous about doing stake-outs to catch vendors serving to minors. The ABC Board enforcers would only see me serving someone without having carded them first—not all the times I served them previously. None of these people were EVER worth going to jail for over alcohol. Get your fucking card out—EVERY. GODDAMN. TIME. (2) Dude-man-bro, I’ll have served 1,000+ people by the end of the night. Get your fucking card out, EVERY. GODDAMN. TIME.

I’m not saying this bartender in a rogue nation should’ve carded all of his patrons; I’m only saying that when you work in the service industry, you can sometimes serve someone 20+ times before you finally recognize their face or learn their names, and the process can start all over again if they haven’t come in for a while.

Here’s the real issue with this scene, as I see it: In-group bias is an actual thing. There are disciplines of social psychologists and sociologists who specialize in studying it. We’re supposed to believe that the “Smiling Tiger” person Sam is posing as is well-known enough, both by reputation and in that establishment, that the bartender remembered his favorite drink but not Sam as an imposter? I can believe Selby, a Caucasian-European woman, didn’t recognize him on-sight. [Frankly, Whites can often (regrettably) get away with not making any effort to overcome cross-racial bias.] But what about this bartender not recognizing a notable local criminal’s face when they belong to the same racial group, when we’re led to believe he’s served him many times before? And how did he know Tiger-whatever’s favorite drink if the guy had never been in the club? Are we to infer this guy wasn’t high enough on the local criminal food chain to have merited an introduction to Selby?) Is this a plot hole, or am I reading too much into this? I just wonder, given how much this series has devoted to exploring racial relations.

Sam just saw Bucky the most vulnerable as I think he ever has. For the first time, very little was left to Sam’s imagination as to what it must’ve been like for Bucky and Isaiah to have been exploited. And Sam is so good, he can’t help but jeopardize the mission to check on the friend he can’t acknowledge to himself he’s found in Bucky. (He also has no guile, which is so very Steve of him! I’ve just loved Mackie’s performance this whole show.)

I don’t know what to think about how easily it came to Zemo to objectify and use Bucky, again—even if only to pretend.

Bucky is the MCU character I most identify with, but I don’t care to analyze the way the bar scene made me feel. I will say this much, though: THIS is how badly Bucky wants this whole thing resolved. He subjected himself willingly to the stuff of his nightmares, even if to just to perform in the world’s most dangerous live-action role play. As many people were taking pictures in the bar, it’s pretty safe to say that this charade is going to going to have long-term consequences.

People are talking about Bucky “suddenly losing his super-speed” when they had to hoof it away from the bar like it’s a lapse in characterization, but it’s not. Bucky could’ve taken off and left both Sam and Zemo sucking dirt, but he lagged to stay with them. He didn’t ghost them.

SHARON IS A BLACK-MARKET ART DEALER

Godammit. I despise the practice of the filthy rich removing fine art and cultural artifacts from the public view so they can use them for tax breaks and currency. Way to push my buttons, Marvel! And I’m so sure the National Art Gallery of Art and all other art museums worldwide will I mean WON’T appreciate Marvel calling into question the authenticity of their collections, seeing as museum funding and attendance is already anemic thanks to the pandemic. I know it’s bad priorities on my part, but that’s temporarily preempted how much I should probably sympathize with her after her abandonment.

EDIT: The person who gave Sharon the intelligence will figure she had something to do with his demise just a few hours later. I wonder if that will help/harm her ability to do business. Also: holding the barrel of that assault rifle while it fired off rounds should’ve burned her hand horribly.

ZEMO BREAKS THE INTERNET

Did anyone else think “Sprockets!” when Zemo started dancing??!

NAGEL

This is two references to Langley in one episode. For anyone not aware (especially non-Americans), “Langley” is commonly used to reference Langley, Virginia, which is where the most prominent institution is the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (C.I.A.) headquarters. Both Hoskins and Nagel name dropped them in the same episode. Shit.

The Sugars Roll Up to Zemo’s Latvian Bolthole

Bucky’s mission just got a helluva lot more complicated. Sam might have bought the “just going for a walk” bit, but I doubt Zemo did. Bucky owes the Wakandans, but he still needs Zemo. Oh, boy.

Wrap-Up

I’m going to keep coming back to how unexpected it’s been to me that Marvel has finally started to course correct, focusing on characterizations and bringing in themes that are relevant to current events. WandaVision’s explorations of Wanda’s mental health and Monica’s forging of her new identity and TFATWS trying to engage with the audience on topics like race, violence, exploitation, and identity is hugely compelling to me. It’s a fucking TV show, but at this point in popular cultural history, I can’t think of anyone/anything else better positioned to address all of this in an entertaining and accessible way.

[wildandsexyjacks]

Mocktails & (Not So) Useless Company Parties

Seungyoun + #11 from this holiday prompt list

Word Count: 1.5k

Warnings: alcohol consumption

You love your job, you tell yourself over and over again, looking at your own reflection in the mirror of the ladies room. You do what you’ve always wanted to do, what you’re good at, what makes you happy. It pays extremely well too, so really no complaints there either. The real problem is your boss. The old cranky son of a bitch has no life of his own and for some reason, he believes you don’t need one too, which is why he’s making you stay in town for Christmas when in fact you should be back at home eating your mom’s cookies and drinking hot cocoa with tons of marshmallows.

This stupid event is not even that big of a deal, to be honest. It’s just a boring business award ceremony, filled with fancy-dressed people from the entertainment industry drinking mocktails (mocktails!!) and bragging about their achievements this year and YOU are what your boss has to brag about right now. You know your cooking show’s been pretty popular lately, with a lot of celebrities wanting to join in as guests and its rating points only going up every week, so it was obvious he’d want to show you off... But it’s Christmas. Your favorite holiday and you’re spending it in an expensive designer dress with uncomfortable heels, looking pretty and greeting people who don’t give one real fuck about your show or the story behind it, only its numbers.

While you stare in the mirror and hate everything, the giggly pair of girls who got in the bathroom right before you come out of their stalls, so you smile and wait for them to wash their hands and leave. As soon as they close the door, you take a silver flask from where you previously stashed it under the sink and pour it in your drink. After taking a sip, you put the flask back in it’s hiding spot and fix your hair one last time before exiting.

The moment Mr. Yang - executive producer of your show and close friends with the company CEO - said you’d be his date for the year-end events it became obvious you couldn’t be sober for this. However, the CEO’s wish to hold the party at his wife’s art gallery and the fact that she abominated alcohol had you mastering a plan to do it under everyone’s nose.

It was all going very well up until your third visit to the bathroom for refills. Someone storms inside without warning and catches you red-handed.

“Oh, sorry, this isn’t the-.” the guy frowns “Are you okay?”

It’s when you realize you’re probably a bit tipsier than originally intended. You look from him to the mirror again, taking in your reflection one more time: shoes discarded on the floor, flushed cheeks.... you’re obviously looking at least somewhat drunk. With your glass set on the sink and the open flask in your hands, there’s no point in trying to pretend this isn’t exactly what it looks like, so you just mumble a yeah and resume spiking your drink.

His brows furrow even more.

“Don’t you think this is a bit too...? Um, okay.” The man moves forward, grabs your arm and takes the flask from you, then smells it and instantly makes a face “Woah... Would you like some eggnog with your rum?”

You look him dead in the eye.

“This is the ladies’ room.”

“Well, I admit to my mistake.” He closes the flask, and puts it into the inner pocket of his blazer “But you don’t look too good right now so is there something I can help you with before I leave? It’s Y/N, right? You’re representing tvN so we’re both under CJ and it’d be bad form to leave you like this... I also happen to really like your show, even tried the pear risotto at home and no one died after eating.” You laugh, and he smiles, seemingly taking pride in that “Seriously, I’m a big fan.”

That’s funny because you’re looking at the Cho Seungyoun, a.k.a WOODZ, hip-hop and r&b star and variety show king. He looks ridiculously handsome in an all-black suit with his hair pushed back, which makes you vaguely embarrassed of your current state so you try to discreetly fix your appearance.

“You look beautiful, don’t worry, that’s not what I meant.” he leans against the marble sink and crosses his arms in front of his chest “What’s the matter? I mean why are you sneaking booze into a company event?”

You roll your eyes and mirror his posture, sighing.

“I don’t know what I’m doing here, my boss won’t even let me promote my show. I’m only allowed to greet people and smile while he does all the talking. This is so stupid, I should be on a plane to Toronto right now but I’m in this useless party wasting my time instead.”

Seungyoun rubs his chin, pondering his next move. After a while, he nods to himself and glances at you, arching an eyebrow.

“I can’t send you to Toronto but maybe I could help fix the other issue. How quickly can you sober up?” You shrug and bend down to put your shoes back on while he downs your drink, grimacing at the taste “Ugh, awful.” 

You laugh again while checking your make-up, then wash your hands and hold onto the arm he’s offering so you can both exit the bathroom.

And for the next couple of hours, Seungyoun does the absolute most, introducing you to everyone he knows and talking about your show with enthusiasm. He wasn’t lying when he said he was a fan, you notice. He talks in detail about the dishes and the guests from previous episodes and seems truly interested in what you have in store for the next season when you explain it to higher-ups from other CJ subsidiaries. 

It’s a blessing Seungyoun be so charismatic and funny because everyone is too busy falling in love with him to pay attention to the way you lean on him for balance and laugh just a little too much. By the time they start handing out the awards, you’re sober enough to go up on stage with Mr. Yang, who gives a quick speech thanking you and the staff - and you do the same. After that, you’re free for the rest of the night and Seungyoun makes good use of that, tapping your boss on the shoulder as soon as you get up from your seats when the ceremony ends.

“Excuse me, sir, can I borrow her for a moment?”

Busy talking to other executives, Mr. Yang waves his hand, barely looking at him, and you take that as a yes.

“Thanks for saving me.” you say as he offers his arm once again “I had a lot of fun tonight.”

“Don’t mention it. I know it’s hard to believe but I’m actually kind of shy so it was nice to have your company.” he pats your arm, glancing at you “Have you seen the paintings here? They’re pretty awesome.”

You shake your head no, so he takes you to the first open room he can find. The sign by the door says the exhibition is called FLOWERS ON A RIVER, a series of gongbi flower and bird paintings by a chinese artist named Chen Zhifo.

When you go inside, there’s no one else there, the guest using up all their time for networking instead of art appreciation. Seungyoun drags you to study a very long line of flower paintings hanging on the wall, reading their titles and descriptions out loud and making funny comments about the birds.

“You know,” he starts when you reach the last painting “I’ve never been invited to guest on your show even though we’re from the same company...”

He glances quickly at you, pouting and blinking several times, and it makes you laugh. Yes, you both come from sister companies but no one could call that a real connection. Not to mention you didn’t even know he could cook before earlier tonight, anyway.

“My boss picks the guests.” you shrug. “Sorry.”

“I see. Well then maybe I could cook you dinner at my place, say, later this week... and you could put in a good word for me with your boss or something...”

You look up at him, surprised. Maybe you’re still a little drunk, but you muster up the courage to take a step closer and ask him what’s on your mind.

“Are you trying to buy your way into my show or ask me on a date, Seungyoun?”

“Oh, I don’t care, whatever helps me see you again the fastest.” he leans down a little, bringing his face closer to yours while staring at your lips “Which one do you prefer?”

“I think right now I’m gonna go with the date and we can talk about work later.” you decide, wrapping your arms around his neck and standing on your tiptoes to meet him halfway for a kiss.

“Ho ho ho.” Seungyoun mumbles, smiling against your lips.

It’s Christmas and you’re in a stupid useless party, but now you don’t regret it anymore.

-

it’s still christmas where i live so..... happy holidays everyone 💜

also i’m a time management disaster so i missed seungwoo’s birthday because when do i finish anything on time right? but i WILL have the next ysay chapter finished before the weekend so wooseungdans stay tuned xx

[benjaming1205]

Not So Berry Mobile Edition

Have you done the Not So Berry Challenge in The Sims 4? Do you want more? Are you broke and only play The Sims Mobile? Well I hope your up to take up the originally by @lilsimsie . A challenge converted from The Sims 4 to The Sims Mobile!

Introducing The Not So Berry Challenge Mobile Edition! A ten generation legacy with a focus on bright colours and new experience.

1. All heir must be female.

2. Each heir must represent the colour and a theme of the generation (i.e. hair, makeup, clothing), but brightly colored skin is not necessary (these aren’t actually berry Sims, that’s the joke). Of course, this is optional but a big portion of the fun.

3. One room has to be dedicated to the heir and need to be decorated based on their colour and theme. (a bedroom is the most practical)

4. Each of the heir’s name has to be almost similar to the colour that they are representing (i.e. the colour is rose, therefore the name can be Rosie) and the last name can only be Berry.

5. Each time you start a new heir, it has to be fresh out of the box. Your heir can’t be a townie or a child and they can’t get the Good Upbringing Trait.

6. The colors of the spouses don’t matter as they aren’t part of the challenge. Unless otherwise stated you can do whatever you please with them.

7. Every generation is supposed to complete all tasks that they’re given of the heir unless explicitly stated otherwise.

8. You need most of the traits. The trait level doesn’t matter. You’ll get to choose two traits but the other two are fixed.

9. If you play this challenge and want to share it with us, go ahead and post with #NotSoBerryMobile so we can see!

Generation One: Mint (Intelligence Boho)

You’re a odd scientist. One day you wish d to open an art gallery but not only that but also to release your own single but your mother forbids you from pursuing your dream as it will not last. For now you just love sharing your creation with other so even, you even decided to have a one night special to showcase your work.

Traits: Musical, Creative

Career/Hobby: Lab Science

Task:

• Complete the Lab Science Career Story

• Complete Art Aficionados TWICE

• Complete Soundtrack of Soul Story TWICE

• Make the heir of the generation to host a studio party ONCE

Generation Two: Rose (Legal Seducer)

You work at a very justifying place, the Civic Centre but you love to head out of town and meet every guy you know. Then bringing back home to have a hot and steamy time. The room is never clean and filled with cameras and studio lights? That’s sounds fishy. While seducing other people around town you came across a friend that you never seen for quite some time. You realise that friend was into you and seduce the person back at home only realising that you were pregnant with the person’s baby.

Traits: Alluring, Evil

Career: Law

Hobby: Internet Icon

Tasks:

• Complete the Hand-Knit Justice Story

• Complete the Authentically Iconic Story

• Complete the Tainted Love Story TWICE

• Complete the Secret Crush Story TWICE

• Complete A Missed Connection Story ONCE

• MAKE at least one child with the person from A Secret Crush Story

Generation Three: Yellow (The Astronaut’s Baby Factory)

Growing up you never had a close relationship with anyone since you have a disease called Babytouchositis (Baby-touch-o-site-tis) which is when you touch anyone you would instantly get pregnant. You were quarantined this whole time and spent the majority of your time alone in your room obsessing over space. You just really love space. You’ll do whatever it takes to get to Sixam no matter the cost even if you had to meet people and get pregnant.

Traits: Ambitious, Athletic

Career: Rocket Science

Tasks:

• Complete the Rocket Science Story

• Reach Chapter 3 with 7 other Sims

• MAKE at least 7 babies with different “daddies”

• Name the baby after the colours of the rainbow and dress them up according to the colour they’re given

Generation Four: Sliver (The Dazzling Introvert)

You are a very trendy person and your always up in your taste. But in your free time you like to relax and meditate. The kids (from the prev generation) is worried about you all by yourself. They want to reunite you with one of your high school friends. After the work the kids have done you have been reunited with your friend. You and your friend had a great time together and was wondering if they could be more then friends. You then adopt two kids and make them as your own

Traits: Stylist (If you don’t have it choose Creative), Active

Career: Fashion Designer OR Hair Stylist

Hobby: Yoga

Tasks

• Complete the Trending Now Story OR ASOS Fashion Forecast Story OR A Cut Above Story

• Complete the Yay for Vinyavas! Story

• Complete the Better Late then Never Story until Chapter 5 SEVEN TIMES (possible with the 7 kids from the prev generation)

• Complete More then Friends with Benefits Story ONCE

Generation Five: Chocolate (E-Girl Writer)

You are very sad person and you friends with some sad people too. You are extremely close to them. Your friend soon have a significant other and you need to find one before your friends start to tease you. You got a job to become a barista and shockingly enough your co-worker asked you out. Your co-worker is the total opposite of you but you let him into your life hoping to change yourself. He/She don’t want to change you and feel just right for him/her. Soon you two begin to settle down and started a family and making sure you’re always there for your kids making sure they will not become sad like you did. You soon begin to document your amazingly-sad life with your husband/wife, your kids and the support of your friends

Traits: Artisan, Mean

Career: Barista

Hobby: Writing

Tasks

• Complete The Way of Latte Story

• Complete the Tales from the Script Story

• Complete the Misery Loves Company THREE times

• Complete The Fixer-Upper Story with your co-worker (unless it’s an elder, if so, you’re free to choose any TOWNIES)

• Get married to your co-worker

• Have TWO babies with your co-worker

• Get both kids’ Good Upbringing Trait to a THREE star

Generation Six: Orange (Perfect Everything)

Just because of your mom (from the previous generation) your life is tied with a ribbon. Just like your typical American family. A loving significant other, two amazing kids, an excellent job and you friends who always comes over to spill some tea. But you heart sank knowing that your husband has been cheating on you with one of your friends and your friends are spilling tea about you! But you ignore those facts and made sure you kids become kind and caring people.

Traits: Good, Competitive

Career: Business

• The heir can be a FEMALE child from the previous generation

• Complete the Like Nobody’s Business Story

• Complete the Frenemies Story THREE times

• Complete the Soulmates Story ONCE

• Get married to your significant other

• Have TWO babies with your significant other

• Make your significant other cheat on you

• Get both kids’ Good Upbringing Trait to a THREE star

Generation Seven: Pink (Life of the Party)

You were a mega party-goer in your younger days, attending hundreds of parties hosted by your friends and family. And now, you're doing it again, except with more fun and more... steaming hot. You have always wanted to become the most amazing host of a party, which made you The party-giver in multiple events in your house. But you needed more space, more fun and more crazy and music, and the key to that: A DJ. But something was missing... You needed a partner in this music industry to help host the ultimate party. And when you found the right person for the job, you go on the journey for hosting the party everyone will remember...

Traits: Party Animal, Outgoing

Career: DJ

• Complete the Remixology Story

• Attend Level 10 Parties SIX times in a row

• Make the heir of this generation host a Concert Party TWICE

• Complete the More then Friends with Benefits Story ONCE

• Get married to your significant other

Generation Eight: Green (Life Saver)

Your hands work like magic! Anything you touch will save the person physically, mentally and spiritually. Your works creates a big buzz both good and bad. Mostly bad, you will soon begin to have a lot of rivals coming to your door step. Could you handle the pressure?

Traits: Generous, Attuned

Career: Medical OR Surgeon OR Wellness Guru

• Complete the Something in the Water OR The Mystery Cure OR The Mysterious Benefactor Story

• Complete BFF Forever Story THREE times

• Complete the Old Rivals Story FOUR time

Generation Nine: Gold (Danger in the Building)

You are hot-headed person. Your temper can go at out of any building you’re in. If things don’t go your way expect everyone to evacuate the building IMMEDIATELY! Everyone is afraid of you, including your own significant other. At the end, you guys didn’t ended up getting married. You guys also avoided doing anything physical together that you decide to adopt a boy instead. But whenever your angry you cool down by plucking the strings on a guitar. You temper didn’t just appear out of nowhere. When you were young, you’ve always wanted to be a boy but society didn’t agree that’s why you adopted a boy. So that you can feel it through him.

Traits: Evil, Competitive

Hobby: Guitar

• Complete the Six-String Fling Story

• Complete the Tainted Love Story ONCE with a Male Sim

• Complete the Arch-Nemesis Story FOUR time

• Adopt a boy with the Male Sim

• Get the kid’s Good Upbringing Trait to TWO stars

Generation Ten: Blue (High Taste, Secret Life)

You are the Toast of the Town! A luxurious house (in this case a room), friend who never back stabbed you, and may other find taste.... in food. You also been seeing someone. The person seems cute. But even with your exquisite life you also been working at the cafe. For your friends may wonder why you are a barista when you own such a majestic house (room) but one of them spotted you going down an elevator in very suspicious clothings. It’s best to keep this secret away, especially from your crush’s baby

Traits: Foodie, Sly

Career: Secret Agent

Hobby: Cooking

• Complete the Top Secret Story

• Complete the Now We’re Cooking Story

• Complete any friendship story THREE times

• Complete the Secret Crush Story ONCE

• Have a baby with your secret crush

• Make the heir of the generation host a Foodie Party ONCE

More optional generations will be coming soon! I’m open to feedback. I’d like to thank you for my friend, Owen for helping out writing some of the generation’s story. I would like to thank everyone’s support too! Without it, I don’t think I wouldn’t be able to make it without you! Hope to see your Not So Berry!

[qdtquietdownthere]

Day 11- A day of reflecting in an art gallery and painting, glueing and giggling in the sun.

Day 11

The waking up process, if it can be called a process, is the trickiest part of the residency actually. Waking up in your own bed, in Tottenham, seeing your flatmates, talking about the day ahead. It is a different world. I have to go from that, to the tube, then be in Pimlico. To this new, yet familiar place of comfort. What is the most exhausting is this point of change and transition- waking up in the life you are used to then diving into a day of fresh, exiting, uncertainty. No one really understands whats going on, and no one really wants to listen to me describing every detail of my day. I do not think this is something I would enjoy to do either. It’s lonesome in this sense. A temporary community which no one else is experiencing. That is so special though. I feel useful, like my existence and participation means something. 

I am very aware it is ending. Second last day. I am so comfortable now.

I walk around the area following a gentle map. I have walked these streets before. The Thames, the Bridge, the view of brutal Battersea, the tiny parks and the contrasts. There are so many contrasting textures, architecture and people. An area of extreme wealth, and then a definite lack of it. I feel uncomfortable with it at points. In my favourite park which sits just behind Tate Britain I watch a very wealthy man spend half an hour with a puppy trainer and his pedigree puppy. He tells me they have traveled from Devon. There is a visible contrast when you look for it. You can maybe hear it more than you can see it. I hear coffee orders which are 3 minutes long, decaf, soy, skinny milk. At the community centre in Churchill Gardens a cup of tea will always be milk and one sugar. I wonder where I sit in this pool of people, I wonder where other people see me belonging.

CCA is based next to Tate Britain and I try to go in to see the degree show but I am told it ended last week. There aren't many students around, ever. The whole time I have been in Pimlico I haven't noticed anyone who jumped out to me as looking like a student (whatever that means). I guess they have all gone home for summer. Over the past week I have seen a few Chinese students, as I guess flying home at such a high price isn't necessarily an option for international students. I wonder about the loneliness of living in this city when your purpose of being here is to purely be a student. I did my undergraduate at Leeds and it was the loneliest time for me. Sometimes I would walk to town, to the big Boots and back, just to get out, see people and feel like I was a part of what everyone else was doing. I worked all through university but I didn't really hang out with work friends, and with a class size of 10, well, there wasn't much social life going on. I wish I had gone out more, joined societies. Even if they didn't interest me, I should have pushed myself. I was nineteen and maybe I was shy, but I think what kept me being lonely was a reluctancy to say I was lonely to anyone apart from my family and friends who all lived back home in Edinburgh. I think about the mother I met during the babies library session at Victoria Library and how she was frustrated there were no classes on for her thirteen year old son. Kids don't want to look uncool, and I think this can continue for some people into university. There is a pool of opportunity in this pool of young people who are desperate to engage in a world, but scared and uncertain how to. No one whats to stand out from the self conscious crowd of teenagers and there is opportunity in making activities which both work with, and eradicate this. 

I walk across the courtyard from CCA and find a different art show; “Observer: John Latham and the Distant Perspective”. Latham’s body of work explores derelict land outside of Edinburgh and was developed from an artist placement with the Scottish Development Agency. The three month long artist residences took place in different locations, from industrial settings such as fishing villages to a residency exploring the mental health care service (https://mapmagazine.co.uk/john-latham-incidental-person). What was the desired outcome of these residencies? Well, the hope was that by involving an artist, “his creative intelligence or imagination can spark off ideas, possibilities and actions” ultimately benefiting development projects in Scotland (Lyddon, 2007). When the committee introducing Latham to the project asked if the artist was going to solve problems, Lyddon replied “No, the artist is going to show us problems we didn't know were there”. In the end, if there is ever an end to a body of work, Latham decided to explore the area in Midlothian from an areal perspective, or ‘from the distance’. It was from this, and through interacting intensely with archival aerial photography from the area, he was able to map out distinctive land features from the shale industry and turn these into a piece of re-conceived monumental, or sculptural work. The act of doing this changes how the public interact with the local landscape. I find the work fascinating and oh so funny to have stumbled into work made in this context during my time doing the residency in Churchill Gardens. I haven't continued to read into the work of Latham, but it has brought up interesting ideas as to how perspectives of place, how history, and fresh eyes can have an impact on how individuals engage with space. I think of how my view of the streets have changed since I began engaging in the area. How the image of a street morphs the more you walk down it. How the build up of memories connected to place erode and evolve as you step away then interact with them again. I am lucky to know these streets now and I get an overwhelming sense to draw them. Once again I'm excited by the power of naming, of bringing into the spotlight, places or people to create a transformative effect on how we engage with them. As I have been unable to draw or make during my time on the residency, I have taken up naming and writing lists of names instead. My diary has one section which includes as many names I can remember from all the people I have interacted with since my time in and around Pimlico and Churchill Gardens. Drawing cements and validates a memory or idea through the act of mark making, and I believe the power of naming and writing these names validates all the connections I have had to people over the course of the two weeks. I have found this at least itches my little creative scratch. Or rather, it scratches my creative itch.

In the afternoon I return to the Thamesbank Centre to volunteer with Shambush as part of the South west festival. With children from the surrounding housing estates, Shambush are holding creative making events in local community centres to try and create a way for children to engage with art and their neighbouring communities. We work to a brief which is to design, paint and glue onto paper ‘solar panels’ these of space, which will later be put together and secured to a huge metal structure and presented as a space shuttle in the gardens of Tate Britain. For each making event a child attends in their local area, they receive a stamp on their ‘space engineer passport’. It is a fantastic idea and I find it so exciting to hear that there is an activity in place to connect these very separate housing estates which tend to never really mix. When speaking to both Shambush and the local children who come to do the making session, it is apparent that Tate Britain is another world to this community. Im not surprised. It is a twenty minute walk away, yet completely inaccessible as a cultural engagement. This is sad but a very real reality.  Fine art is most easily digested by those with the confidence to enter into the gallery space and those with the education to understand how to interact with it. 

The kids are wonderful and messy and giggly and I laugh a lot with two girls in particular. We are silly and happy and I feel in my element. I feel so lucky to be in this space making with such interesting and wonderful kids. A group of boys come over and make maths themed solar panels. One boy manages to name every dwarf planet in our solar system and I feel very stupid when I talk about the ‘fire hurricanes on Venus’ (he probably knows the scientific latin name for them). Its so great how the space works. We are outside, the sun is shining, kids come and go and there is a real sense that we are in the heart of the community. We are on Peabody estate on Tachbrook Avenue so the street is lined by beautiful tall flats. In its centre is the park which is connected to the community centre, so every flat can watch down on us. I speak to one boy who is in year 5 and he says because of the park he has lots of friends who are older and younger than him. It is a place for all ages. 

Throughout the day only two parents come and talk to us and engage with the activities. Its a shame because so often it is the parents who are cautious and scared to venture out and try new things, and go new places which ultimately gets passed down to the kids. When we age we tend to view creativity as something that we have or we don't have. The older we get the more we become aware that we can or cannot draw. The older we get the more we isolate ourselves from activities and places we don't feel comfortable, or that accentuate the fact we cant draw, or paint or act. The kids seem to want to come to Tate when we tell them their work will be shown there, but unfortunately that isn't enough, it is about the parents. Pimlico toy library was great for this, and Shelia was really passionate that she was creating a space which was confidence building for parents. This is vital. 

The children power through the activities and start getting a little bored. I suggest making some space themed origami fortune tellers. Im worried that maybe I should have asked before doing this but Shambush are lovely and energetic about getting stuck in and keeping busy. The kids seem to love it and I get a real sense of right. I don't really know how to describe it. I feel in my element. This is huge for me and something which means the world when you're at the start of a career as a young artist who is still trying to find her feet. I wouldn't have had the means to experience bringing ideas to a children's art session before this and I feel so lucky that I am in this position. I feel validated that it is met with so much enthusiasm. 

The afternoon wizzes past. The father of the two girls who I had spent a lot of time with is brought down by his carer to go to the park. From the top floor flat their mother calls them up to go and help with caring for the neighbours. They give me lots of cuddles goodbye and run off with hands covered in glue and crisps. I cant help but think about what a potentially tricky life they must have, but how wonderful and giggly they are. I wish I could meet their mother and tell her how great they have been. How great all the kids have been. I leave and have a little cry down the phone to my friend because I'm so sad it has ended. It felt pivotal for me as just me, as someone who is unsure of my next steps, of what areas of work I would like to pursue. It is because of this afternoon, and because of this residency that I have been given this opportunity and this space to gain confidence and experience in wonderful exciting and giggle fuelled roles. 

Today is one of the best days I have had. Volunteering gives the residency a whole new level as i feel I'm working as part of a service which is effecting change. This is something I have a growing need to do. Its a wonderful thing that these two great volunteering opportunities with Shambush and the food distribution with Mike happened on my last few days. I feel I am more ready for them at this stage. I think about the residency ending, but on a larger scale, I think about goodbyes. I am not very good at them. I am home and I'm writing lots, I will have vegetable ratatouille for tea and I am going to have a gin and tonic too, because the sun is shining and I am happy. Big day tomorrow. Sad day. Big day. Last day. 

[firjii]

Writers (and anybody else who makes stuff), I wanna talk about the whole "networking" concept for a sec. 

Networking and self-promo are both hugely important. I'm not questioning that. The smaller you are, the more weight they hold. Fine. I accept that. But ideally, the people you hang with don't ONLY stick around for networking.

A few years ago, I went to an open house thing for writers. The idea is a rented space where writers can go to get away from life's clutter and focus on writing and workshopping. It's not a store or a business, so presumably it's quieter and calmer and more private than, say, a coffee shop. Membership is $85 a year (which was wayyyy too much for me to justify at the time since it was also a 40-minute drive from home and tbh I was okay with writing at home, but I don't begrudge them that money because the space had a kitchen and a nice bathroom and was supposedly stocked with food and you could reserve the entire building in advance just for yourself if you really wanted to).

There was a good attendance, maybe 30 people (a LOT for the size of the building). Folks milled around and chatted about writer encounters and joked about book titles and so forth. A few people even came up to me and initiated convos. I explained a bit about myself - that I was busy on a big project (which I *was* at the time: my fantasy series), that I also did art and music, etc etc.

But after a few talks, I noticed a distinct pattern. They asked me what I'd published, or what stage productions I'd sung in, or which authors I'd met, or if I'd done any gallery events lately. It wasn't even accusatory or anything - they just really assumed I'd be able to spew forth a bullet point list on command. 

Every time, I politely explained that I didn't have anything like that to my name yet because I was mostly focusing on work itself rather than building credentials (because after all, you can't build credentials without finishing some work, right?).

Every. Single. Time. They shut me down as soon as I said that. 

It happened about a dozen times, no joke. They didn't really want to talk about the writing process or even gush about crazy tiny fun little details of their WIPs. They were ALL there hunting for other people that they could use to further themselves, period. Some of these were even people who had been conventionally published and didn’t necessarily “need” that kind of help, but that’s what they were all there for. One guy even bragged that he was still making a living wage on something he'd written 20 years ago.

I get it. All creators have to do that kind of stuff sometimes. It’s an uncomfortable necessity sooner or later. But this wasn’t an event promoting an agency or a contest or anything remotely “industry.” It was supposed to just be a fun meet-and-greet for a facility that is nonprofit both in terms of functional principle and technical tax code. The upstart money was put up by several local bodies, but none of them were doing it as an excuse to hand out pens with their website stamped on them (in fact, none of them were actually present at the event). By all accounts, recreational writers were perfectly welcome.

I was disappointed but not very surprised. In fact, it reaffirmed my urges to write in complete solitude in my messy cave of a bedroom. It confirmed that I wasn’t really missing much as far as the local writing scene and, as far as raw creativity, was far better off keeping my own personal idea incubator locked off from the world.

If you have to deal with people like that, I’m sorry. Hold your nose for however long you have to, but don’t believe for a minute that they’re more valid than you just because they know a bit more about business. Write. Research. Study. But never reduce it purely to “how many units of usefulness is this person to me.” That road eventually always veers too closely to the path of frustration and creative block

[architectuul]

FOMA 18: Building Up the Screen - The Rise and Fall of the Mexican Cinema Spaces

In today’s digital era, its is difficult to think of the experience of going to the movies as something related to a grand design or glamorous spaces, but rather a generic and multipliable model of the contemporary movie theater, a globalized phenomenon where the experience is limited to the world on the screen. 

Cine Olimpia Opening Poster (1921). | Photo via Mexican Silent Cinema

For this Forgotten Masterpieces edition Tania Tovar Torres revisited the history of the fallen heroes of the grande époque of cinematographic palaces that contributed to the consolidation of the modern image of the city during the golden age of the Mexican Cinema. In a time when film theaters were buildings with grandiloquent conditions as the movies exhibited in their spaces, and the reason why their aesthetic and formal conception was intended to have palace-like features. 

Cine Encanto (1937) by Francisco Serrano was lost in the earthquake of 1957. | Photo via Archivo Francisco Serrano

From the old atmospheric to environmental cinemas looking to generate from a built imaginary a particular experience, they have since included exoticisms, far away lands, esoteric worlds and references to the unknown held within their walls. Today, they have slowly turned into ruins and dust to give place to a new era, no more related to its physical architecture but to those ones on the screen, where it has set its new limits not without nostalgia.

After the Revolution (1920s)

The Mexican Revolution marked a great gap in the realization of fiction films in Mexico. At the moment, the main import of films to Mexico came from Europe; the US had not yet been fully established as a film producing center, and the tense relations between Mexico and the US, together with the stereotypical image of the Mexican bandit led to rejection, both officially as well as popular, towards many American films. France and Italy became the patterns to follow for the reopening of the Mexican Fiction cinema in 1917.

Cine Olimpia from 1927. | Photo via Mensajero Paramount

By 1920s, the frictions with the northern neighbor had softened, Hollywood began to conquer markets across the world, and the cinema became witness to a world transformation. However, The Russian as well as the Mexican revolutions, had marked the way of thought of the country. The Mexican intelectual scene was divided between revolution and socialism. This environment, wasn’t a stranger to the tendency that the Mexican cinema followed once established the basis of the national cinematographic industry, where politics and art pointed towards revolution as the main topic which the new industry followed.

Cine Olimpia (1921). | Photo via México en Fotos

One of the first pioneer projects of what would eventually become the architectural program of the theaters-cinemas of the 1920’s was the Olimpia Cinema (whose original construction dates 1916), re-opening its doors to the public on 1921. With a capacity of 4,000 seats, it hosted two ballroom salons, a smoking room, two halls and a Wurlitzer pipe organ. Located on the City’s historical centre, it became the stage where Carlos Chávez, Agustín Lara and Manuel Esperón came to musicalize mute films. The Olimpia was one of the first theaters with sound, and projected the first ever sound film, Alan Crossland’s The Jazz Singerin 1927. 

Cine Olimpia, Theater interior (1921). | Photo via Mexican Silent Cinema

After 1920, the Mexican Cinemas maintained a uneven race against the growing popularity of the Hollywood films. From the Olimpia, XEW started radio transmissions in 1930. By 1941, the theater was remodeled by Carlos Crombé, and remained like that until 1995 when its was fragmented into multiple theaters and then ended operations in 1999.

Despite of sound having been incorporated into the the cinema in 1927, in Mexico it happened until 1929. A new version of Santa (1931) was the first successful Mexican film to incorporate direct optical sound, recording with a parallel sound band the images of the same film, that revolutionized the way to obtain the perfect synchrony between image and sound in the theaters.

The Golden Age (1930s)

For some historians, the true golden years of the Mexican cinema correspond with World War II; however, years before it started, the Mexican Cinema had already reached great technical and artistic level, and had a well established market. 

Cine Ópera (1947). | Photo via MXCITY Guía Insider

Cine Ópera (2015). | Photo via MXCITY Guía Insider

Cine Ópera, Reception Hall (1947). | Photo via Social Climber

Big North-American cinematographic studios supported altogether the development of the national cinemas for strategic reasons and to keep control over Mexicans in a time of Communist influence, which translated into a mass media strategy over the scarcely educated and easily influenced Mexican population.

Cine Ópera, Upper Level Hall (2015). | Photo via MXCITY Guía Insider

From the 20’s on until the late 60’s a generous period for the construction of this typology was held in Mexico, when a strong impulse on Cinema edification brought to life a number of the greatest theaters in town, as an answer to international events and the explosion of the Mexican Film scene. The 1930’s and 40s became the decades when the “Dream Palaces” like the Ópera, Orfeón and Palacio Chino Cinemas were built.

Cine Ópera, Theater (2015). | Photo via MXCITY Guía Insider

Commissioned to Architects Félix Nuncio and Manuel Fontanal in 1947, the Ópera Cinema was intended to reincarnate the peculiarities of Art Deco as part of the apogee of the Mexican Golden Age, involving its glory on each decorative feature -stairs, balconies, frames, doors, lamps and seats. Its facade, held then two female statues wearing the tragedy and comedy masks, where Mexico City was the exquisite repertoire of details and histories. From its opening on 1949 the Ópera Cinema became one of the most populars in the Mexican capital for decades. 

Cine Orfeón (1938). | Photo by Juan Guzmán, FotográficaMX

For 44 years, it operated as a cinema and theater until it started its decline after the cracking of one of its screens during the 1985 earthquake. After that, the Ópera Cinema remained very quiet until 1993 when its was taken again as a concert hall, however, due to an altercate with the British band Bauhaus, the place closed for good on October 12, 1998.

Cine Orfeón (2016). | Photo by Karina Áviles, El Exclesior

A similar fate is shared by other cinemas like the Orfeón, the colossal theater hosting up to 4628 seats. Originally built in 1938, it re-opened in 1948 after a remodeling into Art Deco style under American architects John y Drew Eberson, the Orfeón was part of the renowned premier theaters, together with the Alameda (destroyed during the ’85 earthquake) the Metropólitan and the Palacio Chino. Remembered for being one of the largest and the long queue lines to get in, the theater of this cinema was constituted by the lunette, the box, and a gallery that allowed to receive up to 6000 visitors. Today, these three cinemas are occasionally used as event theaters.

Cine Palacio Chino (1940). | Photo via La Ciudad en el Tiempo

Cine Palacio Chino (2018). | Photo via Dulce Ahumada, Más por Más

Cinematic Urban Sprawl (1940s)

The boom of the Mexican Cinema favored the uprising and consolidation of an authentic frame of national stars that would become the main figures in a precedent-less star system in the history of the cinema in Spanish. During those years, the Mexican Cinema explored more themes and genres than ever before, especially the “ranchera” comedy genre, cultivated in Mexico without paragon in the rest of the world due to its Mexican culture and idiosyncrasy. 

Centro Cultural Bella Época (2018). | Photo by Ligia Bang, Revista Fernanda

Centro Cultural Bella Época, interior (2017). | Photo by Christian Gama, Progreso

Its internationalization came with the film ¡Ay Jalisco, no te rajes! (1941) interpreted by Jorge Negrete, and its ulterior ending came with the demise of the popular actor and singer, Pedro Infante in 1957. 

Cine París (1954). Juan Sordo Madaleno and Jaimes Ortiz Monasterio | Photo via Una Vida Moderna

Cine Arcadia (1936). Turned into a Parking Lot. | Photo Unknown source

Literary pieces, comedies, police movies, musicals and melodramas formed part of the Mexican cinematographic inventory of those years. Also, by the end of this period a new genre would be instated that as the rancheras comedies, had no rivals outside Mexico: the “Luchas” genre or Lucha Libre films. Because of this, the construction boom of elegant and palace-like cinemas proliferated particularly in the city center, but they slowly extended to the surroundings, a phenomenon linked to the urbanization of the neighborhoods of the time.

Cine Lido (1942). | Photo by Juan Guzmán, FotográficaMX

Located today in the Hipódromo CondesaNeighborhood, the Lido Cinema was the first movie theater located outside the city center. Designed by Charles S. Lee, its was based on Art Deco style and designed to host approximately 1310 viewers. The architectural trends at the time gave to the building influences of the Californian Colonial and Spanish Revival styles, taking old ancient Spanish and Mudejar elements, where its most  important compositional elementwas a 20 meters tall tower located in the entrance, framed by the marquee. 

Cine Lido, Theater (1942). | Photo via Sinapsis MX

The Lido opened in 1942 and ran three decades of famous reputation. However, in 1978 its decadence started due to an increment in admission prices and to the establishment of newer cinemas with more attractive facilities from comercial chains. Despite an attempt of remodeling and re-opening under the name Bella Epoca Cinema in 1980, the prices and competitions couldn't be stopped and by 1999 the Mexico City Government acquired the estate that was later sold to the Economical Culture Endowment, and with the support of the neighbors that sought the protection of the building as a cultural space, Mexican architect Teodoro González de León was commissioned to remodel the space, today the building stands as the Bella Epoca Cultural Centre.

Cine Lindavista (1942). | Photo via La Ciudad en el Tiempo

Cine Lindavista (1942). | Photo via La Ciudad en el Tiempo

Cine Lindavista (1942). | Photo by William Gabel, Cinemas Treasures

The Lindavista Cinema opened too on 1942. Built in a traditional monastery scheme, this cinematographic monument in the north of the city took advantage of its location in a corner, with a tall tower that stood up as a urban beacon above a roundabout and marquee where the ticket booth was held and the complex integrated the enormous entrance door to an open space. The architectural proposal of the Lindavista cinema was of simple characteristics in its composition and saturated in neocolonial details that made for a resemblance to the old catholic temples of the viceroyalty. The entrance to the theater was defined by a large arch and two dome volumes that conformed the facade. In the 1970s, the building suffered a great change as it became a children cinema, for which its interior decorations were traded for animal kingdom cartoons, and the tower was painted to resemble the Disney World castles. The cinema was closed and short after, abandoned. In time, the building underwent a slow transformation on an incomplete process to become the San Juan Diego Sanctuary.

Cine Lindavista - Sa (2017). | Photo by Archive Fhasaov

The Mexican cinematography also tried to develop and consolidate a realistic tradition. Marked by the time where diverse realisms reached its classic dimension, the work of Alejandro Galindo - framed between 1938 and 1953 - is one of most significant of the Mexican Social Cinema. The intentions of the Mexican realistic cinema reached a new dimension in Campeón sin Corona (1945) directed by Galindo. The movie offered a detailed psycho-sociological study of the historical, racial and cultural conditions that, according to a certain perspective of the time, determined the Mexican lower class. The genre showed the life of the neighborhood of the city, reflecting the growing urbanization phenomenon of the country.

Cine Lindavista (2017). | Photo via Dulce Ahumada, Más por Más

Next to the big theaters, smaller neighborhood cinemas also known as “de piojito”(cuddling places) were built and survived with the second run programming, but eventually turned into spaces of coexistence for a social sector that was growing, where the city and the cinemas, managed to develop a close and daily relation with their environment while leaving a mark in their audiences. Going to the movies during this time, was a unique sensorial experience. It was a motive for families to move to the cinemas; seeing the announcement of the film with the light bulbs on at the entrance marquee showing what was projected, preparing its audience to an immersive experience; go the the candy-shop during the film break and comment among them the movie.

Modern Decline (1950s)

By the 1950’s, the projection theaters proliferated but in functionalist and modern buildings, like the Roble, Continental and Las Americas Cinemas. The Theater El Roble opened in 1950, and was one of the most spectacular and elegant cinemas that the city had. 

Cine El Roble (1950). | Photo via Colección Carlos Villasana, Más por Más

The theater with three gallery floors, was one of a kind in Mexico. It was the venue where all the luxurious international movie premiers and cultural events of the 60’s and 70’s were held. Its neoclassical interiors with its yessum sculptures, beveled glass niches for its water fountains and smoking salons, however, suffered severe damage during an earthquake in 1979. A slow agony that ended fifteen years after when its was demolished.

Cine Las Americas. José Villagrán García. Movie Theater lost in the earthquake of 1957. | Photo via Colección Carlos Villasana, Más por Más

The first transmission of the Mexican Television initiated in 1950. Soon after, the television reached an enormous penetration power into the audience. Television antennas became something common in the the Mexican household, an while the first image of the television in black and white appeared in a small oval screen very much imperfect and lacked the resolution of the cinematographic image; the television represented the competition of the new medium, influencing decisively cinematic history, forcing it to look for new outcomes technically, but also thematically and genre-wise. Wider screens, 3D cinemas and an improvement in color and stereophonic sound, where some of the innovations of the North-American cinema in the early 50’s. The elevated cost of the technology made it hard for Mexico to produce films with the same characteristics. With an antiquated infrastructure, little money, a more demanding public, and a saturated market of North-American productions, the Mexican Cinemas faced its own dawn.

Cine Continental (1958). | Photo via Algarábia

The cinemas became a unique spectacle accessible to all audiences. Among all the memories, there were still those of the cinemas distinguished for their thematic. In 1958, the Continental cinema was opened with a capacity of 2350 seats that operated as an exhibition theater for national and international films for 15 years, before closing doors to be remodeled and become La Casa de Disney (The house of Disney) on 1974. 

Cine Continental / La Casa de Disney (1980). | Photo via La Ciudad de México en el Tiempo

The theater had the peculiarity of having restrooms designed for its young audience, but more important was its facade that had been transformed to look like the Disneyland trademark Castle. Even though the Continental preserved its original program for many years, the building didn’t escape the transformation at the end of the XX century. In 1998, its main projection salon was divided into eight theaters equipped with dolby sound system and reclining seats, becoming the Multimax Continental Cinema. The Continental is considered the only children’s cinema to ever exist in Mexico of those dimensions before closing its doors for good in 2008, waiting as a graffitied and deteriorated estate to become a self-service store.

Cine Continental (2014). | Photo by Carmen García Bermejo, El Financiero

By the end of the 50’s the Mexican cinema was experiencing an almost complete inertia. The traditional formulas had exhausted its entertaining capacity and had began to repeat the films with other actors but with the same themes to an everyday more indifferent audience. By the end of the decade, the Mexican Cinema crisis was not only advertible to those who knew its economical problems: the same tired, routinely and vulgar tone, and a lack of inventiveness and imagination only evidenced the end of an era.   The censorship removal in the U.S. allowed for more bold and realistic themes: France had a young generation of filmmakers educated in the the cinematographic critiquethat started a new movement; in Italy, neorealism had affirmed the career of new directors. In the meanwhile, the Mexican Cinema struggled with bureaucratic and union problems. The production was concentrated on a few hands and the possibility of new filmmakers to emerge was almost impossible. By making the cinema an affair of national interest of the Mexican government, they were digging the industry’s own grave.  

From castles to multi-cinemas (1970s)

Upon the 1970s, the government used the cinema, radio and television as a formal means of national and international communication for the first time in political history. The cinemas experienced a virtual nationalization; something particular for a non-socialist country. But among the changes, the Cinematographic National Bank received a thousand million pesos investment to modernize the technical and administrative apparatus of the national infrastructure. It was precisely during the 70’s when the small and majestic theaters began to be fragmented and displaced by the multi-cinemas predecessors to the multiplex model. 

Multicinemas La Raza (1970). | Photo via Cazadores de Mentes

These were spaces designed with three or more theaters equipped with more modern technology. Among them, there were La Raza, Universidad and Satélite Multi-cinemas located in the outskirts of the city. The 70’s started a process of new exhibition models and new types of facilities; smaller and well distributed in different points of the city; the larger cinemas were fragmented and changed programing, while others disappeared.

Multicinemas Universidad (1969). | Photo via Archivo Sordo Madaleno Arquitectos

The technological exhibition development, the crisis of the Mexican theaters, the exhaustment of the exhibitions model in Mexico, as well as the 1985 earthquake that destroyed many of those old big theaters, affected the urban surroundings where they were located turning them unsafe, dirty and therefore driving people away. The 90’s disappeared the last Theaters Operated by governmental organisms that subsidized the exhibition and distribution of Mexican cinema in the country, and the so called New Mexican Cinema underpinned the “quality cinema”.

Multicinemas Satélite Information Napkin (1914). | Photo via Los Satelúcos

In the coming years, the Mexican cinema slowly recovered. However, the cinematographic palaces built to host it, proved to be obsolete and were almost forgotten. Today the Mexican film industry shall live in the thousands of movie theaters of multiplex Mexican empires Cinemex and Cinepolis around the world, and in the memories behind each demolition of those old temples that gave them sustenance.

___

#FOMA 18: Tania Tovar Torres

Tania Tovar is an architect, writer and curator with an interest for narratives where architecture stands as main character. She graduated from the National Autonomous University of Mexico; studied at the Stuttgart State Academy of Fine Arts in Germany; and holds a Masters in Critical, Curatorial and Conceptual Practices in Architecture from the Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation in New York. She is founder of Proyector, a curatorial platform an exhibition space based in Mexico City. She is a Consultant for the German Cooperation Agency for Sustainable Development in Mexico; and has previously worked at the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal, the Arthur Ross Architecture Gallery in New York, the Museum of Science and Art and the National Council for Educational Development in Mexico City. 

[possibilistfanfiction]

a shelter from oblivion (we will be in history)

[so this is a new years gift for @turnandchasethewind​ bc i shes my best pal but also bc we are sluts for teen vogue & the new 21 under 21 issue is SO LIT so heres some ridiculous fun queer fluff for u: 

lexa & clarke are both activists featured in 21 under 21. they might fall in love a little.]

//

a shelter from oblivion (we will be in history)

.

queers are intimately familiar with the costs of being queer—that, as much as anything, makes us queer. the question really is not whether feelings such as grief, regret, and despair have a place in transformative politics; nor is it how to cultivate hope in the face of despair. rather, the question that faces us is how to make a future enough that even the most reluctant among us might want to live there.

—heather love, feeling backward: loss and the politics of queer history

//

you know a lot about lexa woods: a queer, trans activist who argued legislature when she was 15, started a non profit for lgbtq+ youth and legal aid in brooklyn when she was 16, spoke at the women’s march in new york, is now 19 and a sophomore at harvard studying political science and queer theory. also, notably—because you admire her and also because, honestly, she’s hot as hell—has walked the past two fashion weeks in both paris and new york and is the new face of mac. 

so, whatever. you know a lot.

you’d expected her to be intense, which she is, and professional, which she definitely is, letting like five people in front of her in line at craft services during your shoot and sitting down for her interview after literally shutting off her iphone, smiling gently, and leaning forward like those next twenty minutes were the most important of her life.

what you hadn’t expected, though, is how she’s funny, and kind of silly, even, and actually honest to god giggled at a stupid joke you made when you were talking to her after you finished your interview. 

and now, now, you’re at some vegan diner in the middle of east williamsburg, because she’d started talking to you about your art and you’d talked to her about how you always want to be more inclusive—both in your subjects and what your art is conversing with itself��and then she was grabbing your coats and leading you to the L train. she’s sneaking a little whiskey into your milkshakes with the sexiest, cutest wink you’ve ever seen, and, just.

‘i’m sure you get this all the time,’ you say, trying to let the milkshake cool you the fuck down, because your cheeks are burning, ‘but you’re the prettiest girl i have ever met.’

her smile is small, bashful, radiant, and you want to see it for your entire life, you think, in that moment. which is dramatic and young but whatever. she’s beautiful.

‘i don’t, actually,’ she says, and it’s full of a little sadness and the sort of bitterness—in a different way, but not too dissimilar—also know.

‘well,’ you say, ‘that’s dumb. because like—’ you gesture at her, and she looks down, blushing, ‘wow.’

‘i’ve thought similarly of you,’ she says, ‘since i saw some of your art two years ago.’

your heart pounds at the confession but before you can say anything, or reach under the booth and grab her hand, your server comes by with the bill, flushed cheeks and stammering at lexa, or maybe at the two of you, who knows. that’d be cool.

you climb out of the booth and it’s cute, the way lexa methodically pulls on her scarf, then her jacket, a little beanie, gloves, before she heads to the door. you think distantly that your mom would admire that kind of precision, that carefulness, and then you have to reel that in because, really, meeting your mom? 

lexa smiles at you, turns a little in the chill under the streetlamp. ‘i’m afraid i have to go back to boston tonight.’

‘that’s cool,’ you say, ‘i have class tomorrow too.’

she nods, seemingly hesitant, and you think she might kiss you, which would be so fucking awesome, but then she shrugs. ‘i would love to work with you, if you wanted? i always need more designers and artists for events for my non profit, and i can commission you.’

you smile, and it’s gentle, because she’s nervous and swallowing a lot and her eyes are really green, and maybe she’s not nearly as put-together as she seems. ‘that’d be cool as fuck,’ you say, and she grins with a laugh, then nods.

‘you can take the L all the way back to your school,’ she says, and it’s sweet and not condescending at all.

‘i know, you say, elbow her good naturedly when she blushes. ‘i come down to bushwick a lot.’

‘right,’ she says, almost to herself. ‘artist.’

‘and the parties.’

there’s silence—like she doesn’t quite know what to say, or even how to say anything, but then she nods and says, ‘my ride is here,’ and points to a black town car. 

‘it was nice to finally meet you, clarke griffin,’ she says, offers her hand very formally.

you shake it with a roll of your eyes—but you don’t want to invade her space without asking or anything. ‘it was nice to finally meet you too, lexa woods.’

she smiles with a single nod of her head and turns to walk toward her car. 

‘wait,’ you say, jog a few steps. 

she looks surprised, embarrassed, a little turned on, and you hand her your phone.

‘i need your number,’ you say, ‘if we’re gonna work together.’

‘of course,’ she says, and types it into your phone with thin, agile fingers and jesus fucking christ your mind thinks of some Things quickly. you have to swallow when she hands it back to you. 

‘i’ll text you.’

‘goodnight, clarke,’ she says, walking to her car with a little wave.

one thing’s for sure: you know a lot of things about lexa woods, but you sure want to know more.

//

clarke griffin has had art in the MoMA and the tate, and in so many galleries you voluntarily lost track. she goes to the new school, has worked alongside multiple sexual assault support organizations, and primarily focuses on the female form—in all its varieties—and consent. she paints, sculpts, photographs.

she’s exquisite, you think, and undoubtedly brilliant, and then you’d met her and everything you’d accomplished in your life somehow seemed very small when her eyes were so blue and she was talking so openly about art, and her own work, and how she wants to be more inclusive and contemplative. 

she, also, has been texting you for 12 days, which has been really great other than the fact your heart almost leaps out of your fucking chest each time you get a message, which is a lot because clarke is somehow able to produce incredible art at almost a superhuman rate and also text you back about the most random, mundane shit, like how dirty manhattan snow is, and her dad’s mild obsession with still trying to take her to the batting cages—she complains but she loves it, you can tell. 

you wait a few days before mentioning that you’re going to be in the city over the weekend; you think modeling is not really where you should be devoting your time but anya insists that it’s making a difference and you get it, representation matters and all that, but you don’t want to do casting calls because you’re tired and have a 12 page paper on willa cather due tuesday, but whatever. it’s fun and you get the prettiest clothes you’ve ever seen and people fawn over your hair. you can handle a weekend.

when you tell clarke—finally, the wednesday before you head down on a friday—she’s casual and relaxed when she responds, asks you if you want to come by her studio if you have time on saturday night because there’s some friends coming for drinks and stuff. you have to snag anya from the library and talk it over first, not because you’re hesitant but because you’re nervous, but anya rolls her eyes and slings her arm over your shoulder and tells you to be safe and come back with details.

you go about your casting calls—some of which are really awesome, some of which are not, but nothing horrendous—before you’re outside the address clarke gave you, some huge building in bushwick with industrial doors and gigantic windows. you want to laugh because, of course, bushwick, but you do the breathing techniques you’ve practiced with your therapist. you used to have to do them a lot when you were really dysphoric, or when people would call you names or shove you into lockers, but now you’re on the cover of a magazine and maybe a pretty girl will kiss you tonight so. 

there’s that, a great big fuck you to everyone who was shitty, you think, and it makes you smile.

the door buzzes and you walk up, bottle of really expensive champagne in hand—you’d been given it today, so that’s convenient—and then it’s loud and fantastic, a loft full of paintings and strings of fairy lights and a lot of queer people. you feel happy, and safe, and then clarke sees you and smiles, leaves the group of friends she was talking to and walks over.

she hesitates for a moment but then you pull her in for a hug, and she sinks into it. she smells so good, and her breath is warm against your neck.

she backs up and kind of sucks in a breath when she looks at you, and you do the same because wow, her lips are so pink and, whatever, sue you, that dress is doing heavenly things to her boobs.

‘i’m glad you made it,’ she says, after a few seconds of just staring, and you nod, then take off your coat and hand her the champagne. she looks at the label and then whistles. ‘you were with miu miu today, i guess.’

‘why would i lie about that?’ you ask with a laugh, following her to the kitchen to get two glasses.

‘to impress me,’ she says with a shrug, handing the bottle to you to pop. you do, carefully because it’s good champagne and it’s not worth wasting for flair, and she takes it back and pours.

‘i think my track record is already impressive enough.’

clarke laughs and hands you a glass. she clinks her with it and says, ‘it’s not terrible, i’ll give you that.’

//

you know a lot about lexa woods but now you know this: she is absolutely splendid beneath you, full of the kinds of dips and curves you’ve dreamt of sculpting your whole life. her lips are swollen and her eyes are hooded and green and her pupils are blown and her hair is fanned out all around her, and, like. she’s an actual goddess, topless in your bed, heaving with this smug little expression.

you’d kissed at the party, and then the next day after brunch while you walked through central park, and you’ve kissed a few times since. 

but tonight it was just the two of you, after dinner near your apartment, quietly and you’d laughed as she’d fumbled with the button on your jeans, and your heart is pounding when your hands are above her waistband. 

‘is this okay?’ you ask, softly, because the lights are soft and she’s soft and so beautiful.

she nods, then says, ‘yeah,’ then says, ‘yes,’ and you kiss her because, like, you’re a little bit in love with her.

you take her jeans off reverently, her underwear off slowly, and you catch yourself staring while she swallows. ‘is everything—are you—’

‘everything is perfect,’ you say, and the look of relief on her face is wonderful and kind of heartbreaking. ‘you’re perfect.’ she kisses you, pulls you toward her. you break it, though, because she’s about to cry and you really don’t want that. ‘also, i’m perfect, as you’ve told me a number of times now, so let’s not ruin that, okay?’

she laughs and sniffles but she nods, and you touch her, and she touches you, and, like, whatever. 

it’s perfect.

//

it’s not the first time you’ve woken up in clarke’s bed, and it’s much the same: she’s awake, over by a huge canvas, in one of her dad’s old t-shirts, hair in a messy bun and usually barefoot, even in the winter. you put on your glasses and watch her contemplate which stroke to make next, which oil to press to the surface, what to bring to life.

she paints you, more than anything, especially this early. you watch her paint for a while, watch her get the green of your eyes right, watch her think carefully about your shoulders. she’s beautiful and she makes you feel venerated, seen, and you want to give that back to her, even though sometimes you don’t think you really know how.

you sigh and stretch and get out of bed, in a pair of her sleep shorts and a sweatshirt because she always runs warmer, and you’re always cold, and you kiss her forehead.

‘i’m really glad we’re incredible people,’ you say, to make her laugh, ‘so we met.’

‘i’m glad we met too, goof.’

‘i’m going to go get some bagels,’ you say, because you’re overwhelmed with the way she’s smiling at you.

‘okay,’ she says.

you get ready quickly, in comfortable quiet, while she paints. 

‘lex?’ she says, as you’re grabbing your keys from the counter.

‘yeah?’

she looks at you, tilts her head like you’ve seen her do when she takes in rembrandt, or van gogh, or hadid.

‘i love you.’

you don’t know if you’ve literally ever been this happy. you stay rooted in place, because what else can you do? if you touch her right now you think you might explode.

you can tell her, though: ‘i love you too.’

//

you know a lot about lexa woods, including the way she says i love you, bathed in sunlight in your doorway, hair gathered on top of her head, wrists still in their panic and in their comfort.

she says it back again, laughing, and, whatever.

this is probably the coolest thing yet.

[enterprisemag]

This is How 2020 Changed Art Fairs for Good

It has been a tumultuous year for art fairs: the vast majority of organizers had to cancel or postpone their events. Those who were lucky enough won not only experience but important lessons for the long run, too. Now organizers and prominent stakeholders share their 5 tips for a successful art event in the coming years.

 The pandemic posed the biggest ordeal in the history of art fairs – it jolted the art industry more than any other crisis of our time. Although most events had to be canceled, the now ending art fair season hasn’t been uneventful, and we can learn crucial lessons from those who could organize despite all circumstances.

 The consequences of COVID have been catastrophic in the art world. Galleries’ turnover collapsed (sometimes even by 90%) due to closures and the lack of physical sales – even worsened by the mass cancellation of art fairs, from which they reported only 16% of their income in 2020, compared to 46% last year. Major museums will struggle to survive into 2021 and 2022: the American Alliance of Museums reports that 30% of US museums are still closed, and even those that are open receive only 35% of normal attendance. In the UK, 60% of museums and galleries are facing an existential threat, according to Art Fund’s survey. Most major art fairs (e.g. Art Basel in Hong Kong, Basel and Miami Beach, Frieze in New York and London, FIAC, Paris Photo in Paris and New York, etc.) were canceled or moved online, others were trustingly postponed to 2021. Only a handful of them could stick to their schedule and keep their live, physical events. Those who did had a few months to learn about safe organization, had a strong mission to support artists and galleries before their eyes and shifted focus to comply with the new realities. These successfully held events present important lessons for the future of art fairs.

 Art Market Budapest – the largest art fair in the Eastern and Central European region – organized their 10th edition in October, with a virtual platform running until November 8, for those who could not attend personally. With 80 exhibitors from 20 countries, it lost only 10% of its viewership – with as many visitors as pandemic regulations allowed. The experience – along with the wisdom of fellow organizers and other top stakeholders in the field (such as Georgina Adam – editor-at-large and journalist at The Art Newspaper, Juan Canela – Artistic Director of ZONAMACO Mexico City, Attila Ledényi – founding director of Art Market Budapest, Mandla Sibeko – founder of FNB Art Joburg, and Carlos Urroz – former Director of the International Contemporary Art Fair ARCOmadrid) at the panel discussion of the adjoining Inside Art conference – shed light on 5 recent expectations of a successful art fair for the upcoming years. As they see it, these are the 5 key trends for a post-COVID art fair in 2021 and beyond.

 1.   Regionality

 Of all art fairs since the outbreak, only those with a regional focus could endure. This shouldn’t mean seclusion at all. Instead, we have to be aware of our regional peculiarities, represent them in a global context and find connections between local and global. An illustrative example of this were the two Paris art fairs: while the global FIAC had to be canceled, Art Paris Art Fair of regional interest could run successfully. 

 Even without COVID-19, many collectors already prefer “treasure hunting” at less overhyped regional fairs instead of global ones, looking for uniqueness and new impulses. Whenever the crisis ends, regional events will retain their attractiveness as an original meeting point of like-minded enthusiasts, who are willing to travel for an exciting regional fair rather than a mainstream global one.

 This was already a tendency before the pandemic, consolidated by this year’s developments.

 2.   Community

 Art fairs play a crucial role in creating communities – no wonder 70 percent of collectors say they still prefer seeing art in person, despite their unbroken eagerness to purchase and the indisputable advantages of online sales. Successful organizers such as Art Market Budapest consider their community-building capacity and the “soul” – its friendly, inclusive atmosphere – to be one of the event’s all-time key features. Its cohesive capacity even helped the formation of a strong professional community around the event which turned out to be a crucial factor in 2020. 

 This has been a ‘nice-to-have’ until now, but it has now become a ‘must-have’: a social responsibility to bring artists, gallerists, and the audience together. Creating this community has become imperative for creating irreplaceable connections, subsidizing artists’ livelihood, and stimulating the economy. The organizers’ responsibility for a reliable income doesn’t stop at gallerists and artists: it serves all members of a broader community, from technical staff through to framers and builders – many of whom lost all their other revenue streams due to the pandemic.

  3.   Sustainability

 The question which has been up in the air in the past few years: can the world sustain such a huge number of art fairs? Attila Ledényi emphasized at Inside Art’s panel discussion: “An art fair is not just an art event but a commercial and business event, too. Market and demand should decide how many art fairs should exist, how many it can support. Those who can survive in difficult situations can succeed in the long term. It’s a test. The audience will always be there, as there is a hunger for physical art enjoyment. The key question is whether galleries can be there and guarantee the level the audience is used to. I believe they will continue to attend as long as they can gain new audiences and clients at the art fair.”

 Carlos Urroz added: “International art fairs have reached their peak in growth and visibility, and the communities they created became too big. Then a consolidation followed, some started pulling back even before the pandemic, holding exclusive views and so on – it’s a danger of halting an already started democratization process. Art fairs should be the center of recovery after the crisis. They have to lose their expensive, exclusive format and find publicity and visibility. Organizers also have to consider environmental aspects, such as the carbon footprint of the art world. We should reconsider the way we travel. The art fairs that will survive will be linked to a community, be sustainable, affordable, environmentally conscious and run by nice people.”

 It’s an open question whether online versions can fully replace larger events as a more sustainable, environmentally conscious alternative. So far, their popularity and sales volumes are lagging far behind traditional events, indicating that they won’t become adequate substitutes. 

 4.   Mission

 All art fairs that could thrive despite wartime conditions have a strong mission – from community creation to social causes, such as supporting black communities. 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair in London was a great example of a successfully organized event, despite the cancellation of Frieze of which 1-54 is normally considered a satellite or even accessory event. 1-54 owes its success to its strong, timely mission: its focus on African art and on supporting African artists – a pivotal cause in the heyday of social causes and movements around racial equality and attention to previously neglected sources of cultural values.

 Mandla Sibeko stressed the timeliness of the necessity of this shift: “African art seems to be getting overhyped, but there are 54 countries in Africa, which are not equally represented, and it still has a lot to catch up with. The continent still has a huge potential, and art fairs can be great opportunities for more and more black and African artists receiving the prominence they deserve.”

 Art Market Budapest, as an Eastern European fair, serves other, previously discounted groups as their mission: they expose the region’s underrepresented art to the global audience – a mission that benefits the global public and the regional artists alike.

 5.   Hybridity

 Despite spectacular results in OVRs, online will never entirely replace in-person attendance and buying. However, online versions bring some benefits that complement physical events. “It brings price transparency – prices are visible at OVRs. Many people would feel embarrassed to ask personally at the booth, they would feel humiliated that they can’t afford a work of art. Online can’t replace the experience but people are discovering new names, new directions through it.” says Georgina Adam. This brings about a long-awaited democratization process after the over-exclusivity of the largest physical fairs of recent years.

 Merging physical encounters with online platforms also opens opportunities for widening both the audience and the selection of artwork and galleries. And, for those who can’t attend personally, it remains their only option to stay in touch. As well, galleries on virtual platforms may more easily become physical exhibitors in the future.

  The common denominator among these five trends is that none of them came out of nowhere. Industry experts had already expressed their wishes, warnings and concerns on these topics years ago. COVID brought nothing unfamiliar into the picture, it just accelerated the process. It made certain features indispensable, which some events had already implemented before as an ‘extra’. Those who can innovate along these values can become big winners in the art fair industry. And those who keep them in mind for the future can thrive in the long run, too.

 The year 2020 entails experiences and conclusions that, though often being born amid panic and haste, will last long and change the future of art fairs. Hopefully, this year will not only be memorable for its catastrophic events, but also for the positive changes they consolidated.

[perfectirishgifts]

New Brand To Know: Maison D'Etto

New Post has been published on https://perfectirishgifts.com/new-brand-to-know-maison-detto/

New Brand To Know: Maison D'Etto

Brianna Lipovsky

For Maison d’Etto founder Brianna Lipovsky, it was her extensive life experiences that aided her to shape her lifestyle business. A former executive at Pfizer PFE , Lipovsky took on a pre-med post-baccularate course, which helped her understand the frameworks of perfumery and product development. Lipovsky’s background also includes working at companies including  RoAndCo Studio, KiDS Creative Box Studios with Pascal Dangin and Fairchild Fashion Media, a division of Penske Media Corporation (PMC). Alongside running Maison d’Etto, she also oversees Maiden Ventures, her brand, product development, and advisory consultancy. Launched in 2019, the company is based in New York.

Maison d’Etto

What inspired you to launch your brand?

Honestly, it was a little bit of everything. Most importantly, I was craving independence and freedom of thought, mind and time. I always had a creative itch, but I never knew how it would manifest. Fragrance and brand building are the perfect medium for me to engage my creativity. With my past experience in building other brands I found space for a luxury brand that was purpose-driven, actively engaging with community, like many of the D2C brands, however ensuring that the products we put forth are the utmost of quality and craftsmanship. Bringing the utmost of luxury back, but in a modern way and utilizing the macro and micro shifts I was noticing in society. In addition, financial control over my life was a big one. I no longer wanted to be dependent on others to dictate my worth. Lastly, the perceived notion of having more time to spend with my family and competing in the equestrian sport of Dressage. Ironically, I now have little to no time!

Why fragrances?

It was a choice that was deeply personal to me. I wanted something that spoke to my heart and soul as much as horses always had and scent, olfactive storytelling, fragrance measured up very nicely for me. I saw so much opportunity in the space for something really unique. But everyone told me, “no, you can’t be in fragrance, find a whitespace that’s not dominated by multinationals.” This was 3 yrs ago the era of D2C “white-space” blanding madness. I evaluated many other, possibly much more lucrative, “white space” opportunities but they just didn’t feel right on a personal level, I wasn’t motivated on the inside. Fragrance motivated me on the inside, and I still can’t tell you in words why. But coming to this conclusion was a lot of hard work — spiritual work, meditation, working with a shaman to get me out of my head and into my heart, allowing me to find my intuition. From there, everything flowed.

What is your brand ethos?

To create moments of connection, reflection, well-being and nurture the human spirit one moment at a time.

A lot of people ask about the name too. What is Etto? Etto is actually a combination of ethics and motto — representing your core truths and beliefs that you carry with you regardless of where you are and what is going on in your life. It also stands for “Each To Their Own”. It is a brand that refuses to dictate values and beliefs to its wearer but rather empowers them to explore what Etto uniquely means to them.

The name derives from a combination of Ethics Motto, which represents the core truths and beliefs we carry within ourselves despite where you are or what you are going through in life.

How would you describe your unique selling proposition? 

As a primarily self-funded entrepreneur I have a few stakeholders that I have USPs for. There are the obvious stakeholders, our clients and retail partners. I also have to convince my employees, partners, vendors and collaborators. So I am going to answer for both scenarios.

For Clients:

Maison d’Etto is a luxury brand of artisanal, unisex fragrances created to inspire moments of connection, reflection and well-being. We draw inspiration from art, architecture and design as well as our interpretation of the modern equestrian lifestyle. I brought together some of my favorite creative collaborators to bring this brand to life. I am committed to the highest quality ingredients exquisitely crafted by the best perfumers in the world to bring their own style to Maison d’Etto.

For Partners, Perfumers, Vendors Collaborators:

Freedom. Authenticity and Creativity for all! The highest quality ingredients, exquisitely crafted by the best perfumers in the world who are encouraged to bring their own personal style to Maison d’Etto. It is a creative platform for everyone from me, to our perfumers, evaluators, creatives, packaging designers, photographers and ultimately our wearers and clients. 

Can you tell us about your key products? 

At the moment we are focused on EDP Fine Fragrances and Extrait/Parfumes. Our next product categories will be candles in the new year, but prior to candles we will venture into a complimentary lifestyle product for the holidays. It will launch in December. 

Who is your customer? 

As a lifestyle brand, Maison D’Etto speaks to and resonates with people from all genders, ages, cultures and places globally — consumers from jetsetters and equestrians to passionate fragrance collectors Which is such an honor as they are really the critics of our industry. To have our fragrances in collectors temperature controlled rooms or refrigerators is an honor. We also have incredible street cred with the art, design and creative communities, which was important to me from the start. In fact, the campaign photography and launch event was held at The Future Perfect gallery in New York City.

What are your plans for the brand? 

Long term vision is to create a modern and purpose-driven luxury lifestyle brand. And build a company that is an inclusive, nurturing, diverse and creative place to work, learn, grow and thrive. I want to have built a successful and sustainable (multi-generational) business that is able to impact people’s lives, the way they live, consume, think and feel. I have always wanted for Maison d’Etto to be a force of change and to help humankind in one way and so that really is my goal. The multi-generational framework is because my 6 year old daughter has already asked for co-founder credit for all of her “sweaty equity”. It has been so cool building this business with her by my side for the past 3 years.

More from Style & Beauty in Perfectirishgifts

[my-house-of-fashion]

DesignByGemini is creating Instagram worthy designs with their playful and immersive projects

https://designwanted.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/DesignByGemini-19-1600x1067.jpg

Founded in 2015 by twin sisters Elena and Giulia Sella, DesignByGemini is taking social media by storm with their playful, creative and innovative projects.

Based in Milan, DesignByGemini is a creative design studio that focuses on merging both, design and the digital. Collaborating with international brands and clients, their eye-catching and immersive designs have been showcased around the world. Their specialty lies in installations, visual merchandising, retail and pop-up project with careful attention to the development of social media promotional content.

At heart, DesignByGemini has a forward-thinking, and modern approach; using social media as their best friend and promoter, they are constantly on the lookout for creating original and innovative concepts.

Who are Elena & Giulia Sella? How did the journey for DesignByGemini begin?

Elena and Giulia Sella: “We are twin sisters, born and raised in Milan; since childhood, we had a great passion for everything related to art, design, and creativity. We both have an arts degree and graduated from the Politecnico di Milano, Giulia in interior design and Elena in architecture. During her master’s degree, Elena carried out an Exchange Program in São Paulo, where she also had working experience in a design gallery, while Giulia was in New York at the Daniel Libeskind Studio after a two-year experience in the Milanese studio.

DesignByGemini was born just as we were far away, perhaps to feel closer, but most of all to start taking a first step towards our dream of working together. We were both working full-time, but in our spare time, we were always looking for new trends and going around galleries, exhibitions, and events, which is why we decided to start a blog where we shared our travels and our continuous research and experiences of design and art around the world. From our experiences to a selection of objects, we shared it all by creating articles on our site and opening our Instagram account DesignByGemini. As twin sisters, we share the same zodiac and rising sign, so for the name, we hardly had any choice.

”

Elena and Giulia Sella: “In September 2015, we decided to go back to Milan and start integrating DesignByGemini with the design aspect that is our real main focus and profession, and from there everything evolved! Today we have our own creative studio where we follow projects such as pop-ups, installations and visual merchandising projects with an eye on the aspects related to communication, and we continue to do digital collaborations by connecting with brands as brand ambassadors.

A contemporary approach is at the base of our design, which makes social media a successful ally for promotion, researching constantly for original and innovative concepts. Among our projects are the Millennial Pink Room, which was built during the Fuorisalone’17 in the window of SuperStudio Piu’. The Pool Club containers located in Piazza XV Aprile in the Brera Design District ‘18 and projects designed for beauty, fashion and lifestyle brands including Max&Co, Lancome, Sanrio, Bulgari Parfums, Bombay Sapphire, Atelier Emé, O.P.I., Mc2 Saint Barth.”

Why DesignByGemini, why a combination of installations, retail design and visual merchandising? What moved you to begin this career? 

Elena and Giulia Sella: “We can say DesignByGemini was born as a dream, that of working together, following our passions and expressing our creativity: a goal that we had for years and decided to begin at the moment that felt “right” by putting all our commitment and ambition in it. As soon as we started, our approach was to bring design and communication together, hence our “Instagram oriented” aesthetics. The promotional aspect of a project is very important for us and it must be in some way communicable through social media, even if it is a stand or a product.

The “turning point” was our first exhibition, which was held during the Milan Design Week ’17 at Superstudio Piu’. We were selected in the section “Discovery: the People and Stories”, our project was a pop-up where the protagonists were mirrors with “filter” graphics created just by emojis designed for people to interact with. The booth, even though it was only 2x2m, was a big hit. It was always full of people having fun, taking photos and created a high return on social media. We were interviewed by Tg Com, and soon after we were contacted by Le Bon Marché to create a special edition of the mirrors for their Christmas Sale.”

Elena and Giulia Sella: “This showed us how one thing leads to another, and that for everything you want to achieve, you need to find a way to go and get it! Even in the years that followed, our projects during the Milan Design Week have shown a great following, both of visitors and above all ‘shares’. It allowed us to consolidate our style, which is evolving but always keeps our approach.

These aspects, combined with strong communication through our channels, have led brands, mainly related to fashion, beauty, and lifestyle, to contact us for collaborations and request to have installations, showcases, and sets designed by us. This is because, if you consider various aspects, design can be the perfect way to promote a brand; attractive and powerful installations are the perfect synergy between design and marketing, and on our side, we always try to give a creative interpretation to the brief with productions that have a strong impact and a real message behind it.

What we usually offer is a “complete package”, starting with a shared brief, it goes from the creation of the concept, to the execution with our developers, to the photographic material of editorial quality, to image creation for the project announcement, and promotion on our social media channels.”

What is your ultimate goal?  What purpose do you serve with your practice? Ultimately, why do you do what you do?

Elena and Giulia Sella: “We want DesignByGemini to be always growing and evolving, through multiple projects and influences, continuing to create sets and installations for fashion and lifestyle brands, visual projects and capsule collections, following both the design phase and the development of social campaigns and promotions.

Our goal is to continue to create, to make bigger and more immersive projects, to create spaces that can amaze and entertain, that can attract people online, and at the same time have a message, that for us is fundamental. We do this because for us the real satisfaction comes when the projects come to life, and that happens not when they are done, but when they are experienced by visitors; it is the people who give meaning to the spaces, who interpret them, who spread them. We always try to amaze and to be able to offer an experience.

Creating for us is beautiful, and we will never stop!”

How would you describe your works to someone who has never seen them? Imagine describing what you do to your 5 years old little brother. What are your projects similar to? 

Elena and Giulia Sella: “Our job is to create very colorful spaces that attract people’s attention. Like rooms that can last just a few days, but where people can come in and they can “play” and touch things, have fun and take a photo to show their friends.

Our projects are similar to the photo-sets designed for a company or product, usually made for campaigns and advertising. Unlike the sets we see in magazines or on television, our spaces can be “lived” and are accessible to more people for a short or long period.”

Your creations are visually striking and highly engaging. Can you break down the design elements that create an Instagram-worthy installation or interior? Which kind of shapes, colors, features, details, and techniques do you combine and add up to create interiors and installations which result in being a photo-opportunity?

Elena and Giulia Sella: “People nowadays, and Millennials above all, are increasingly attracted to ‘instagrammable’ environments and for this reason, interior design projects must also be ‘photo-proof’.

During the concept phase of our projects, we think about the impact that the project can have both live and online, in terms of images and sharing. So we always try to translate the idea into a highly impactful and unconventional concept and then go on to “play” with colors, textures, and materials. For us, the greatest value is to try to make a difference by creating projects with contemporary aesthetics that can offer an experience and have an online return. Contrasts, optical games, shades of colors and original concepts are the elements that characterize us the most, our style is recognizable but constantly evolving, because we always try to follow the latest trends.

When we are asked to create a ‘Photo Opportunity’, we do not stop at the aesthetics, we also think of the experience: from this comes the objects to interact with, spaces that come to life with visitors and that everyone can interpret. We create situations where aesthetics are as important as the interaction; the success of our projects is found when they are shared, but above all, it is found in the enthusiasm and enjoyment of the people who visit them and then decide to share them.”

Which designers, architects or artists are you inspired and influenced by? What other fields and inputs outside of the design world provide you inspiration? 

Elena and Giulia Sella: “Among architects and designers, we’re sure to mention Ettore Sottsass and Verner Panton. Among the artists, James Turrel: his immersive work of light and color is truly amazing!

In addition to design we find a lot of inspiration from the world of fashion and contemporary art. In general, we try to be up to date with the latest exhibitions and events in the industry, and traveling is certainly a very important part of our lives and our work. In every city we visit, we always look for different trends and observe everything from exhibitions to hotels, restaurants to street art and concept stores. When we can’t travel, the inspiration and the research is more and more effective online: for example, on our Pinterest and Instagram we have a very useful collection of inspirations!”

What is one aspect of your job that is hard & invisible, but definitely crucial to your practice? Some aspects of the design process are not visible when the work is complete, but are still essential to the realization of a successful project: what are those aspects for you? Research, experimentation, trials, brainstorming?

Elena and Giulia Sella: “For us, the most crucial part remains in the ‘idea’, which is how we interpret the client’s brief.

We first look for a concept that can be the guiding principle of the whole project, we listen to the client’s requests but always try to get to an original solution that makes the most of our creativity. So we always try to translate the brief with an impactful and unconventional concept, and then “play” with colors, textures and materials.

The concept comes from brainstorming: after hours and days of research and comparison, necessary for each project, we usually “connect the dots” and start to make the concept concrete. We connect ideas, images, memories and visions, and we continually confront each other until we get to a final idea that fully satisfies us. We understand that it is the right one when we are satisfied and excited to realize it! The process is constantly evolving, taking into account both the comparison with the client and the comparison between ourselves.”

Elena and Giulia Sella: “Then we go to the “operational” phase. If the concept is already defined, we always try to take into account the form/content constraints and the budget available, which we see not as a limit but as important criteria for the delivery. In general, we try to divide up our tasks and also our roles: while the ideation and concept part is done together by “connecting the dots,” for the development part, Giulia typically focuses on the more practical and enforceable aspects while Elena focuses more on communication-related aspects.

Sometimes the execution phase can be a little ‘stressful’, especially in events where the execution is often delayed, so we always have to give the maximum to respect the timing or last-minute requests, but once completed only the feeling of great satisfaction remains!”

Tell us about your first client, how did you get it and what was the project about?

Elena and Giulia Sella: “Our first project was a temporary shop in Cordusio Square for the Christmas sale for Genagricola wines, the agricultural enterprise of insurance company Generali Assicurazioni, and the Taveggia “panettone” (Milanese Christmas cake) made by Michelin starred chefs. The store manager, who contacted us after seeing our social profiles, asked us for a first proposal requesting to have a contemporary and original approach to present both products, together but both with a story to tell.

Our proposal, which was accepted and implemented, was to create two exhibition walls, one dedicated to the wine and one dedicated to panettone, with black and white stripes at full height that continued on the floor creating a checkered pattern.

This way, both products were highlighted, but also ‘united’, it was a simple but visually impactful concept, which was very much liked!”

What kind of advice would you give to young fresh graduates inspired by your career? Would you recommend to begin working for a studio or launch your own as soon as possible? 

Elena and Giulia Sella: “The advice we would like to give is definitely to invest in your own preparation, from the choice of university to the first work experience.

There are no fixed rules; in our case we have always given our best in every experience, even if we knew that sooner or later we would start our adventure together because we knew that everything would be useful for our journey.

In a studio experience, you learn how to present the project to the client, the importance of timing and precision, and how to manage clients and suppliers. In our case, these experiences have allowed us to have a technical background and create an autonomous structure. Having studied and worked abroad enabled us to discover new styles and approaches and gain an international vision on how to set up our studio.”

Elena and Giulia Sella: “On the one hand, we recommend gaining experience, but on the other, to listen to your “inner voice” and prepare an action plan. If you want to start your own studio at some point, you have to jump, you create the “right time”.

Our motto is: creativity takes courage! The courage to start your business and believe in your dreams is the first big step to take.”

What mistakes did you make in your early days, that you will not do again today?

Elena and Giulia Sella: “The mistake we made at the beginning was to let us get caught up in the enthusiasm at every request, starting immediately a phase of in-depth research and sharing the first idea when requested, even if it was a draft, even before we had finalized the agreement. For us, especially at the beginning, every project was an opportunity to demonstrate we really knew how to do things, so in front of important companies and brands, we were willing to take the risk.

The truth is that many requests are not made, not because of the proposal, but because of the change of internal strategies or many other factors that we cannot control and do not depend on us.

Over time, we have learned to protect ourselves with formal agreements and by investing time and resources only when the client has a real intention to proceed. Our true value is the idea!”

What is the best way to kick-start a career in installation design?

Elena and Giulia Sella: “It is very difficult to find the client and the project of your dreams right away, for that reason our advice is: show as much as you can! This means working hard and getting the most out of the first requests that come; but, in addition to that, finding a way to get promoted and show your own style.

Instagram is certainly a way to be known and promote your work, which is increasingly being used by designers, both established and emerging: it allows us to break down barriers and connect with many great people.”

The post DesignByGemini is creating Instagram worthy designs with their playful and immersive projects appeared first on DesignWanted.

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[thebestintoronto]

THE ULTIMATE 48 HOUR TORONTO ITINERARY

After so many years of travelling, I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to put together a 48 hour Toronto itinerary. It’s where I was born and it’s where I live, work and play so you think it would be easy to put together a list where to go in Toronto, right? Well, it is and it isn’t. Toronto is a world-class city but for me when I return from a trip, I just want to relax and slowly try to get back into the groove of the daily grind. But as a travel blogger who creates short trips, mini-breaks, and weekend getaway itineraries, I’m sort of obligated to create an itinerary for Toronto.

I GOT HOMETOWN ADVANTAGE.

HERE’S MY 48 HOUR TORONTO ITINERARY

All that said, I live in a very big city so I decided to stick with the downtown Toronto attractions instead of things to do near Toronto. Some are Toronto tourist spots while others are hidden gems that only a local like me would know about.

In addition, our national airline Air Canada is allowing you to hook up a stopover for up to 7 days in Toronto on your way to Europe or Asia. Sweet! You can bookmark this itinerary for when you get here. Hell, I’ll even welcome you at the airport with open arms.

WHERE TO STAY IN TORONTO

Fairmont Royal York Hotel

Fairmont’s historic ballroom is legendary and the hotel itself is a city icon.  Its spacious rooms feature floral accents and include designer bath toiletries and robes. It has a skylit indoor pool, 5 on-site dining options, its across the street from Union Station with shuttle bus to both airports.

Thompson Toronto

The Hotel has a rooftop pool and bar with views of the city and CN Towers – I could pretty much stop there. But, it has designer linens and bath amenities. Fully stocked minibars, 24-hour concierge, on-site valet and a 10-minute walk from the bars and restaurants of King West.

Hyatt Regency Toronto

Located in the entertainment district in the centre of Toronto – trust me there is no better place to be. It’s a modern hotel with flat-screen TVs and Apple docking stations,  on-site sauna, outdoor pool and it’s King Street Social Kitchen and Lounge serves regional cuisine

DAY 1

BALDWIN STEPS

The first stop is Casa Loma but in order to get up the hill, we need to use the Baldwin Steps, which are a public outdoor staircase that dates back to the 19th century. They are named after a former landowner of the area, the Baldwin family, which included Robert Baldwin, a former premier of Ontario.

CASA LOMA

This 98-room castle was commissioned by Sir Henry Mill Pellatt, a Canadian soldier, and investor who founded the Toronto Electric Light Company in 1883. Sir Henry Mill Pellatt ordered Toronto native and architect E. J. Lennox to design Casa Loma. The 3.5 million dollar castle began construction in 1911 and was finally completed by 1914. Today Casa Loma is used as a filming location, a museum, as a venue for weddings. It is also one of Toronto’s most popular landmarks.

ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM (R.O.M.)

The Royal Ontario Museum is one of the largest museums in North America and the largest museum in Canada. The ROM is highly regarded as a “preeminent field research institute and an international leader in new and original findings in biodiversity, paleontology, earth sciences, the visual arts, material culture, and archaeology”.

PHILOSOPHERS WALK (*HIDDEN GEM)

The Philosophers Walk is a scenic footpath located in the St George campus of the University of Toronto.  It runs north-south along what was once a natural water called Taddle Creek, which was buried during the industrial age and now flows underwater.

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO (CAMPUS)

The University of Toronto was originally founded in 1827 as King’s College and as the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada. The university is comprised of twelve colleges. The University of Toronto also has two satellite campuses located in Scarborough and Mississauga.

BALDWIN STREET, RESTAURANTS (*HIDDEN GEM)

Yes, you might have guessed it’s the same Baldwin family who owned the land that the steps used to get to Casa Loma are built on. This small Toronto enclave is located in Toronto’s Grange Park neighbourhood. Baldwin Village is famous for its small shops and restaurants like, Shawarma and Falafel Place, Chardise, Sid’s Deli, and many other favourited restaurants of Toronto.

KENSINGTON MARKET

Kensington Market is Toronto’s self-proclaimed “most vibrant and diverse neighbourhood”.  This bustling Toronto neighbourhood serves as a fine indicator of Toronto’s multicultural diversity. No establishment in Kensington Market is the same. Vendors, shops, and restaurants of all sorts of ethnicities make up the melting pot that is Toronto’s “most vibrant and diverse neighbourhood”.

ART GALLERY OF ONTARIO (AGO)

The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) is home to over 90,000 different artworks and is lauded as one of North America’s most distinguished art museums.  This massive museum carried works of art that range from the Renaissance to contemporary pieces of art. Aside from being an astonishing physical museum, AGO also has launched its social media website called Collection X, which grants users access to a digital art forum that is opened to artists and art lovers.

GRANGE PARK

Right beside the AGO is OCAD U (The Ontario College of Art and Design University) and right behind that is Grange Park which happens to my local park.

Many-a-blog-post was conceived in this park!

There are two large sculptures by world-famous sculpture, Henry Moore and 14 nature related, inscribed granite paving stones from famous Canadian authors.

QUEEN STREET WEST

Named “the second coolest neighborhood in the world” by Vogue magazine, Queen Street West is downtown Toronto’s most celebrated (fashion) district. Queen Street West is a hip, urban strip that extends for two kilometres (1.25 miles) between Bathurst and Gladstone and is comprised of some of the city’s most trendy boutiques, art galleries, bars, and restaurants.

GRAFFITI ALLEY (*HIDDEN GEM)

Just south of Queen Street West is one of Toronto’s most surprisingly artistic accomplishments: Graffiti Alley. Graffiti Alley stretches for approximately one kilometre (.6 miles) and is teeming with urban art that is (legally) painted each summer by an artistic troupe called Style in Progress. If you’re looking to explore Toronto in hopes of finding a hidden gem that reflects the urban, artistic capabilities of the city, then Graffiti Alley is that and more. Read more about Graffiti Alley from my post: Toronto’s Graffiti And Street Art

KING STREET WEST | KING WEST VILLAGE

King West Village is one of Toronto’s fastest growing communities. With waves of young professionals moving into the neighbourhood, Kings West Village has experienced a boost in its economy and social scene. Aside from the rapidly changing demographic of the neighbourhood, King West Village is well-known for its landmarks, 19th-century buildings, and iconic brownstones.

ROGERS CENTRE (A.K.A. THE SKYDOME)

Opened in June 1989 and originally named the SkyDome, Rogers Centre is a multi-purpose indoor stadium that holds some of Toronto’s wonderfully exciting venues. Notably, the Rogers Centre is home to the Toronto Blue Jays (MLB) and has served as the venue for an array of different events: sporting events, concerts, auto shows, circuses, Disney on Ice, and much more.

Architecturally, the stadium is well-known for being the first stadium to have a fully retractable motorized roof, having an annexed 348-room hotel attached, and is also the last dual sporting major-league stadiums in North American (MLB and NFL).

TORONTO RAILWAY MUSEUM

The Toronto Railway Museum, a mainstay attraction of downtown Toronto located in Roundhouse Park,  is “dedicated to preserving the physical legacy, history, and experience of rail transportation in Toronto and Ontario.” The museum has lots to offer, such as a railway simulator, in-depth historical displays, and interactive displays. Be sure to check out the gift shop and go on a Miniature Train ride before you leave!

CN TOWER | 360 RESTAURANT

Often viewed as the pride and joy of Toronto, The CN Tower is a spectacular architectural and engineering feat that captures the livelihood of the city. This national icon and landmark are well-known for its (cost-efficient) state-of-the-art LED lighting system, as well as recently being on the cover of Drake’s critically-acclaimed album “Views”.  Aside from its stature as a culture and urban icon, the CN Tower is home to the revolving 360 The Restaurant.  This world-class restaurant is managed by Executive Chef John Morris and General Manager of Restaurants and Events Cameron Dryburgh, who helms the culinary team at the award-winning restaurant.

DAY 2

THE BEST 48 HOUR TORONTO ITINERARY

DISTILLERY DISTRICT

Despite its name, Toronto’s Distillery District is known for being “Canada’s premier arts, culture and entertainment destination”.  The district gets its name from the 47 buildings that were formally known as the Gooderham & Worts Distillery. Since 2003, the Distillery District has been offering locals and visitors a “hip, cool dynamic” that is comparable to New York City’s SoHo or Chelsea. Be sure to check out the Distillery District’s unique shops, galleries, studios, restaurants, cafes, theatres, and more!

ST. LAWRENCE MARKET

The St. Lawrence Market is an encompassing, nostalgic shopping destination in Toronto. The market is made up of three main buildings that each provides their own unique services and products: The South Market, the North Market and St. Lawrence Hall. The South Market is known for having vendors that sell fresh produce, meat, fish, grains, baked goods, dairy products, as well as non-food items. The second floor of the South Market, home to the Market Gallery, serves as an exhibition space for City of Toronto’s Cultural Services. The North Market is well-known for its Saturday Farmers’ Market, Sunday antique dealers, rental spaces. St. Lawrence Hall is comprised of various retailers on the ground floor, city offices on the second floor, and auxiliary rooms for special events on the third floor.

GOODERHAM BUILDING

Toronto’s Gooderham Building, also known as the Flatiron Building, is one of the city’s historical landmarks. Located in Toronto’s Financial District, the Gooderham Building was completed in 1892 as a premature model of its current architectural state. Now, the building serves as not only an office building but as a historical landmark that adds to Toronto’s pizzazz.

CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF ST. JAMES

Opened on June 19, 1853, the Cathedral Church of St. James stands as one of the largest Toronto-built buildings. The Cathedral was constructed with the intention of replicating Gothic Revival architecture. The cathedral is well-known for its 92.9 meters (305 foot) tower and pointed spire.

YONGE-DUNDAS SQUARE

Yonge-Dundas Square is Toronto’s equivalent of New York City’s Times Square. This bustling, vibrant square experiences fluxes of tourists and locals who relish in the square’s open space and eccentric ambiance. Yonge-Dundas Square’s myriad of LCD displays brings a one-of-a-kind luminescence to Toronto and capture’s the city’s animated downtown vibe

EATON CENTRE

Located in downtown Toronto, the Eaton Centre is Toronto’s only mega shopping centre. This massive shopping centre is home to over 230 national and international retailers, as well as offering patrons tons of dining and entertainment options.

OLD CITY HALL

Old City Hall is just one of four city halls to be constructed in Toronto. The building boasts a Romanesque style of architecture, as well as a distinguishable clock tower. Since 1984, Old City Hall has been designated as a National Historic Site of Toronto.

TORONTO CITY HALL | TORONTO SIGN

Toronto City Hall, also known as New City Hall, serves as the home of Toronto’s municipal government.  Despite its round base, Toronto City Hall is comprised of two towers that are curved in, and stand at varying heights. Toronto City Hall’s courtyard, Nathan Phillips Square, serves as the primary host of various festivals and events in Toronto.

YONGE ST.

Centered around Yonge-Dundas Square is Yonge Street. As is typical of the streets of downtown Toronto, Yonge Street is lined with heaps of restaurants, bars, and shops. Yonge Street is one of Toronto’s main streets, it is the longest street in the world and divides the city between East & West.

HOCKEY HALL OF FAME

In the typical Canadian fashion, Toronto is home to the Hockey Hall of Fame (HHoF). The Hockey Hall of Fame building was established in 1943 and is located on Yonge Street. The HHoF houses 15 various exhibit areas that cover 60,000 square feet. Visitors of the HHoF can view trophy displays, memorabilia, and player equipment worn during special games. The Hockey Hall of Fame also has an interactive display called “Be a Player” that allows patrons to use shoot real pukes against a simulated legendary goaltender, Ed Belfour.

HARBOURFRONT | HARBOUR CENTRE

The Harbourfront Centre is nonprofit cultural organizations that put together events and activities to enrichen and enhance downtown Toronto. Located at 235 Queens Quay West, on Toronto’s waterfront, the Harbourfront Centre is a must visit destination for all those looking to enjoy the cultural diversity and creativity of Toronto, right on the water.

AMSTERDAM BREWHOUSE

Located in the Harbourfront, Amsterdam BrewHouse specializes in offering patrons craft beers and delicious eats. Amsterdam BrewHouse’s ideal location makes it the perfect place to enjoy local craft beers, delicious local foods, and a lakeside view of Lake Ontario.

Visit my post called The Best Harbourfront Restaurant in Toronto to find out more about this awesome place!

Also, while at the Amsterdam BrewHouse I got to hang out with a good friend of mine and fellow travel blogger Danielle from the Thought Card. She’s a pro at cost effective travel so if you’re curious about budgeting a trip to Toronto she wrote a great post called Toronto Budget: How Much Does A Trip To Toronto Cost?  

The post “ THE ULTIMATE 48 HOUR TORONTO ITINERARY “ was first seen on Rudderless Travel by Christopher Rudder

The IV Lounge - IV Therapy Toronto Drip Clinic

[brooklynfireproof]

Films of Brooklyn Fire Proof Classroom Screening on April 12, BFP Sponsors The Queens World Film Fest, and BFP Stage Openings and News

"The Films of Brooklyn Fire Proof Classroom" - Free Screening April 12, 2019, 7:30pm

Brooklyn Fire Proof is pleased to announce a new initiative launched in early 2019: Brooklyn Fire Proof Classroom. The first step of the program aims to bring filmmaking education and skills to members of the New York community with no previous filmmaking education, while utilizing a simple, and universal tool: the cell phone. To commend the completion of the first workshop series, BFP will present a free, open-to-the-public screening of the completed films, along with a short documentary about the program, at Brooklyn Fire Proof on Friday, April 12 at 7:30pm. The filmmakers, programmers and educators will all be in attendance.

The BFP Classroom initiative has come together thanks to key organizations that BFP has worked with over the past decade, bringing together the Millennium Film Workshop and Job Path as partners this inaugural session. Together they’ve launched a “new media” filmmaking class, with an emphasis on cell phone filmmaking, utilizing avant- garde techniques. The creator of the BFP Classroom program, Kenneth Filmer, BFP’s Director of Stages, Production and Programming elaborates: “The goal of Brooklyn Fire Proof Classroom is to give people filmmaking skills who might not ordinarily be making films. Despite the talk about diversity in the media, most films still seem to be made by well-to-do, fancifully educated types. We want to see the students become skilled filmmakers, and hopefully eventually film professionals (a second-tier, job placement program is in the planning phases). And for purely personal reasons, I just want to see the films created as a result of the program.”

The Millennium Film Workshop, a renowned NYC-based experimental film organization, took the lead on instruction. The four Classroom sessions were led by Millennium’s Joey Huertas & Paul Echeverria and taught students the basics of screenwriting, production, editing, screening and distribution (all within the cell phone). Students were selected by Job Path, a NYC organization focused on assisting those with developmental disabilities to live independent lives.

During the break in the workshop’s 5-week schedule, a gallery show—“The Exhibitions”—ran for two weeks in one of BFPs on-site galleries. The group show was co-curated by Art//Division’s founders, Johnny Mattei and Robert Hill, and BFP’s curatorial arm, BFP Creative, and offered a look into a journey through the lives of the artists. 


The inaugural workshops, and the associated art show, were both successes, and BFP looks forward to planning its next round of Classroom workshops and seeking new partners to collaborate with. To close the kick-off season Brooklyn Fire Proof will publicly premiere the initial students’ films, as well as a documentary made throughout the process.

ABOUT THE MILLENNIUM FILM WORKSHOP:

The Millennium Film Workshop is an NYC-based non-profit organization that has pioneered filmmaking workshops since its founding in 1966, and is dedicated to the exhibition, study, and practice of avant-garde and experimental cinema. Joey Huertas is the Executive Director of the Millennium Film Workshop, and is an award winning film & performance artist, social worker and art therapist. He also runs his own DIY underground monthly film screening/reading series called Hijack! Paul Echeverria is an assistant professor of communication & media arts at Western Connecticut State University and the founding director of the Digital and Interactive Media Arts (DIMA) program, and Millennium Film Workshop board member.

ABOUT JOB PATH:

Job Path is an organization that helps people with autism, intellectual and other developmental disabilities find stable and satisfying employment, live in their own homes and contribute their skills and talents to community life. Established in 1978, Job Path was also a pioneer, being the first organization of its kind in New York State and one of the first in the country. Last year the people Job Path supports worked at close to 100 different businesses and not-for-profit organization across New York City. Job Path’s art program, Art//Division, was built to reinforce the idea that art is for everyone, regardless of backgrounds or life experiences.

For more information about Brooklyn Fire Proof Classroom, or to get involved, email kenneth@brooklynfireproof.com. For information about the upcoming screening, or other special events, visit www.brooklynfireproofstages.com/screenings.

“The Films of Brooklyn Fire Proof Classroom”

In Association with Millennium Film Workshop and Job Path
 At Brooklyn Fire Proof’s Seltzer Room Studios, 102 Ingraham St., Brooklyn, NY 11237 Friday, April 12, 2019, 730pm FREE - Seating will be available for approximately 160 people and will be first-come, first-served.

Opening Night of the Queens World Film Festival Tonight!

Brooklyn Fire Proof is a proud sponsor of the Queens World Film Festival, which tuns nine in 2019. This year's festival includes an annual multi day/multi venue festival, youth-oriented educational initiatives and year round screening opportunities for QWFF filmmakers, past and present. The festival is programmed in thematic blocks with evocative titles, and each program is followed by a post-screening dialogue to engage audiences from the demographically diverse communities that comprise the borough of Queens. Each year the festival has a very robust submission session, with films coming from all over the globe, 63 nations to date, including Cuba, Franc, Spain, Serbia, Korea, Bangladesh, China, Italy, the Ukraine, Iran, Scotland, Belgium, Finland and the UK to name just a few. In every year’s festival there are tender films, heartbreaking films, and several works that are extremely provocative, maybe even, disturbing and the selections tie us into conversations people are having around the world via the real stars of the festival: the films. It’s about surrendering to the films, without looking for familiar names, titles, scores. It’s about creating the right context for personal, intimate films grouped together for a cinematic experience you will not get anywhere else on the planet. The 9th Annual Queens World Film Festival returns to the Museum of the Moving Image in both the Redstone theatre and the Bartos screening room as well as the historic Zukor Theatre at the Kaufman Astoria Studios located right next door for 11 days of exciting indie films - March 21 - 31, 2019. Strategically placed between the two venues is the fabled Astor Room with incredible food and special discounts just for QWFF participants and attendees. The festival village is located in the Astoria Arts District which is subway close and easy to find via foot or in your car (Yes, there is street and metered parking!) Tonight is the Queens World Film Festival's 2019 opening night. More information is available here: https://www.queensworldfilmfestival.com/events/2019/opening_night/

We'd also like to highlight the fest's two honoree screenings: https://www.queensworldfilmfestival.com/events/2019/TPOG/ https://www.queensworldfilmfestival.com/events/2019/honoree/ The two panels this for this year are also a highlight: https://www.queensworldfilmfestival.com/events/2019/panel/ https://www.queensworldfilmfestival.com/events/2019/blockchain/

Some Open Availability and New Developments in Our Stages

We have a lot of our regular clients tell us that they can never get into our stages because we're always booked with long term shoots. While it's true that we've had big shows in about 70% of the time over the last 4 or so years, we do have a decent amount of open availability over the next few months. For anyone who hasn't been here in a while, we have made some significant changes and additions in our stages, including: -An additional 15 tons of HVAC air conditioning added to our large stages, for a total of 35 tons of air conditioning (as well as another 15 tons of HVAC in our smaller stages). -A new, robust gigabit up/down FiOS WiFi connection with high-speed Ubiquiti base stations installed in every support stage, studio and support room. -Two new parking lots, one with a rolling gate, security cameras, and a turn-key production office on site. Of course, we're still a New York State QPF, with five soundstages, support rooms, cycloramas, drive-on access, heavy cam-lock power, a huge array of industrial locations and two buildings full of additional loft office/work space. We're constantly doing everything we can to make our environment a welcoming, creative place to work. Email us at stages@brooklynfireproof.com or call us at 718-456-7571 to set up a scout or to discuss availability and rates.

[jasoncontemp]

Cape Town Art Fair Questionnaire

1.  

The Goodman Booth was very different to the Gallery space. In the gallery space the work is all spaced out and all work similar in visual aesthetic with some walls painted black. While in the booth all the work differs in medium and are placed very close together. In the booth I recognized work by Yinka Shonibare and Kendell Geers.

 Blank Projects gallery space is very spatious with work of a minimal aesthetic and focus on metals. In the Blank Booth there is a range of materials which are all crowded into the space. The only correlation between the two spaces would be the white walls and each space having a metal work/s. I recognized work by Igshaan Adams and Gallerist Tyra Naidoo.

 The two Stevenson Gallery/booth spaces were very similar in visual aesthetic. Both spaces focused on large wall work. Both spaces have sculptural elements to them. However the wall colour of Stevenson Gallery differs to that of the white booth at the art fair. I recognized work by Kemang Wa Lehulere.

 2. I ENJOYED:

Stephen Allwright

‘Fluid’

Ink, graphite, crayon, pencil and water colour on paper

2018

Initially I was drawn to this work purely for the sunflowers. However when further admiring the piece I started to love it more. I love the muted tones of the yellow paired with the dull pink of the man’s underwear. I really enjoy the way in which the character is drawn, his form is almost organic, and matching the shape of the chair he is lounging on. I am also very attracted to the repetition of texture in sunflowers, facial and arm hair, creating depth and shadow.

 Chris Soal

‘Kids see ghosts sometimes’

Toothpicks in polyurethane on industrial fabric

2018

This piece sparks a great amount of my interest. It pretends to be something it is not, which I am somewhat drawn to. From far this hanging piece seems to be a soft flowing fabric draped onto the wall to the floor. However when approaching the work it is evident it is actually quite the hazardous piece. Thousands of toothpicks stick out at the viewer, causing some discomfort to some. I really enjoy the texture created by the toothpicks and how it creates a movement.

Carolyn Parton

‘Notes on the wind’

Reconstituted paint strata

2018

What I enjoy most about this work by Carolyn Parton is the use of materials and colour palette. The piece has a great sense of movement due to all of the intertwining and swirling of the materials. I also enjoy the sculptural aspect of the work.

 I DID NOT ENJOY:

Ndikhumbule Ngqinambi

‘The masters unexplored library’

oil on canvas

2019

I do not enjoy the amount of greyness within this painted artwork. I believe that if one is going to resort back to being traditional and working with Oil on canvas, there should be something done different. However I find this piece to be very mundane and no different to any oil painting I have seen.

 David Koloane

‘Untitled (assemblage II)’

mixed media on canvas

1990s

In this artwork I di not like the materials used. I also question why it ha to be done on a canvas and not taken off the canvas and become some sort of sculptural work. The colours are also all very similar, blurring together becoming somewhat muddy.

 LR Vandy

‘Crimson and Black’

Hull

2019

I enjoy work that contains some type of textural aspect, however I do not feel like this artwork is complete. I do not enjoy the shapes created and find it to be oddly shaped.

 3. Many of the works are done in acrylic/oil paint. However there is a dominating presence of mixed media/ materiality based work in the fair. Many works use a minimum of two different mediums and are combined to create one piece, example; some work has fabric mixed with painting and sewing. There is also a great deal of works that use found objects. However, the one dominating medium used either primarily or secondarily is paint.

 4. The booths this year did not differ too greatly when referring to different colours, only when it was solo exhibits was it any different. The works are curated different in each booth, changing wall colours and spacing of work. Many booths keep their furniture simple with just a table and chair, while one or two booths had an exotic couch and furniture for the curators to lounge on. Some booths have many small works climbing and covering th wall, while some galleries chose to put one or two small works on a wall or one larger one.

 5. The labels were almost different for every booth. Here are the ways I noticed labelling:

·         Standard double sided tape labels onto the wall

·         Writing directly onto the wall and underlining it

·         Using stickers that are transparent

·         Written on paper placed into the floor

·         Instagram name instead of artist name

·         Labels not directly next to artworks but scattered around the booth

  6. The fair is organized to be a great never ending maze. However the booths are positioned in a way that transitioning booth to booth feels natural/ organic. There two or three ‘main’ walkways that lead directly to the back of the building, however due to open gallery booths everything simply bleeds together. Around every corner is art and even more art. The booths are structured in a way that if you walk around multiple times you could see something different every time; almost as if it’s a treasure hunt for art and sanity.

 7. The lighting this art fair was not done very well. Many of the works had glares and those that didn’t have glass were lucky. The light is however mainly focused in the booths, not so much the pathways. I felt the lighting felt more natural this year. There was no specific lights pointing out and at specific work. There was no one work that demanded more attention than the one next to it.

 8. As predicted a good amount of the people walking around were men in suits with their high-heeled wives on their arm. However there was a lot of differently dressed people. Many people were dressed fluidly, disregarding gender. Also many of the people seemed younger and on trend. There was no person who was standing out due to their fashion choice… Besides the man who wore a blue Hawaiian shirt which matched his blue crocs... Iconic.

 9. There’s a definite target market for people of many industries and tourists, but predominantly to those interested in Contemporary art. This is shown through the multiple stands found to the left and back of the convention Centre. There is fresh meals and wine available, promoting a target at so called ‘foodies’. It also attracts the market of book collectors. Many books are sold, example; Art Times, and someone who is interested in collecting these books can do so here. There is also some clothing attracting people wanting to have trendy/ limited edition printed clothing.

 10.

Paola PIVI

Untitled (Leopard)

Photographic print, dibond, frame

I believe this to be a spectacle of wealth. Many wealthy Northern-Africans flaunt their purchased leopards and other wild animals while in the desert. However this also heavily links to a picture of American rapper, Tyga, who posted an Instagram image of himself posing with a pile of money and a leopard while on a jet. Rapper, Carbi B also flexes a leopard in her music video for her break out song ‘Bodak yellow’. Therefore I think the leopard has been commodified t a symbol of wealth.

 11.

Ande Stead

‘Life’

Hand forged stainless steel on granite base

To me this does not fit in the art fair. I think the theme dealt with could have been approached very differently and the specific way he approached it is overdone. I also feel like if the artist wanted to do something that has been done a multitude of times, they should consider size, placement, and other possible conceptual titles for the piece.

 12. Being second year I found more confidence to ask curators and gallerist’s questions. I spoke to many of the curators however the response differed with each. Some were more accommodating to my questions and curiosities, while one or two denied telling me prices.

 13. I did not notice any major branding besides Investec, but that could have just been my poor eyesight. This targets anyone who does banking and targets a wide range of people. This could be a sponsor because they may want to show that the Bank is interested in many industries, including Contemporary art, showing inclusivity in their brand. The fair would be a good place to target masses of people, both foreign and local.

 14. The convention center is a good place to hold this massive events as many other events occur in this space too, such as; seminars, design indabas and other large scale conventions.  The space is large and can accommodate large amounts of people. It is also very close to the city center and many other tourist attractions.

 15.

Albert Newall

‘Untitled’

Watercolour and ink on Paper

1952

 16. Smith Gallery was showing a large amount of Michaelis Graduate student works. One of the graduates showing, who was gaining a lot of attention, is Talia Ramkilawan.

 17. The Solo Booths are much stronger conceptualized booths than those of shared booths. The booth will be a coherent space. The curation of the booth will emphasize the work creating a distinct aesthetic and visual for the solo artist.

 18. One of the big names of the art fair was Georgina Gratrix. Her work has a very strong aesthetic and a specific process of creating which is visible. Many work seen in the art fair has similar motifs which Gratrix uses, showing she has influence in the market.

 Although she only had one work up, I heard may people mumbling over an artwork by Marina Abramovic. The level of art she creates and her status level within the industry always brings even more attention to her artworks.

 19. There were many works that resembled map-like visuals. Along with this many works dealt with themes of memory and capturing time. However it’s impossible to neglect the fact that majority of the work dealt with identity and the ‘self’.

 20. As a young artist right now I would love to be represented by Smith Gallery. It seems to be a good and open minded gallery space, as it exhibits many graduates at the art fair. However I would love to be represented by Smac Gallery. The Smac both had a wide range of mediums and subject matters, showing they are diverse and possibly always looking for new talent.

 21. I would also love to work for Smith. I would love the opportunity to work with young artists in the industry. If I worked for them I would want to be involved in every aspect of the Gallery.

 22. Curious as to why so many booths had their storage space open for the public to view.

 23. Yes. The space would have minimal emphasis on the furniture, and more emphasis on curation. I would want very similar works to be shown (possibly even a solo show) and have the whole booth transformed by changing the colours and lights. The space should be organic and one simple path to follow, nothing hidden behind walls.

[sebastiankurz]

The Ultimate Design Guide For ISaloni & Milan Design Week 2019

From the powerful design event iSaloni 2019 (Salone del Mobile.Milano) to the hype and design celebration of the top Design Districts of Milan, with this Guide, you will have everything you need to know to get by Milan Design Week from April 8th to April 14h!

In order to help you get by this guide here are the most relevant topics for Milan Design Week:

iSaloni 2019/ Salone del Mobile.Milano

General Information

Euroluce 2019

SaloneSatellite

Workplace 3.0 2019

International Furnishing Accessories Exhibition

Luxury Brands to Visit

Milan Design Week/ Fuorisalone 2019

Ventura Centrale Design District

Tortona Design District

Brera Design District

5 Vie Art Design District

Explore the City

Top Hotels to Stay In

Top Restaurants & Bars

To Galleries & Museums to Visit

Top Attractions

iSaloni 2019/ Salone del Mobile.Milano – General Information

This year it’s the 58th Edition of the popular and powerful Salone Internazionale del Mobile event that will be held in April between the 9th and the 14th! This design showcase that has always mixed business with culture, shaping the history of design and furnishing every year. We can see this as a global platform for truly top-notch products with an emphasis on innovation.

The Salone Internazionale del Mobile is split into three style categories: Classic: Tradition in the Future, which draws on the values of tradition, craftsmanship and skill in the art of making furniture and objects in the classic style; Design, products that speak of functionality, innovation and boast a great sense of style and xLux, the section devoted to timeless luxury re-read in a contemporary key.  A range of goods that combines quality and technology, shaped by the creativity of the leading sectoral companies, practiced at developing their businesses by investing each year in innovative products and home furnishing solutions.

The Salone Internazionale del Mobile was founded in 1961 as a vehicle for promoting Italian furniture and furnishings exports and soon became the most keenly awaited event in the world of furniture. Last year’s edition was a huge success and the 58th Edition of iSaloni is ready to step up to the expectations and surpass the success of the 57th Edition. The many exhibitors along with the thousands of products being unveiled for the first time confirm the Salone Internazionale del Mobile’s enormous value as an international showcase for creativity and a forum for industry professionals, with more than 330,000 attendees on average, every year, from 165 different nations.

EuroLuce 2019

Euroluce: the International Lighting Exhibition, runs every two years since 2011 and presents the most innovative solutions in the field of light for interiors and exteriors. With more than 480 of the best exhibitors in the sector, half of which foreign, the International Lighting Exhibition – at its 30th edition – is recognized as the global benchmark lighting exhibition, where technological innovation and design culture take center stage.  The huge array of goods encompasses the very latest devices for outdoor, indoor and industrial lighting to lighting for shows and events, hospital lighting and special use lighting, home automation and lighting systems, light sources and lighting application software. Euroluce is not just the meeting place and business venue par excellence, it is also the most avant-garde trade fair in the field of eco-sustainability and energy saving in both the decorative and the lighting technology sectors.

SaloneSattelite

SaloneSatellite was the first event to focus on young designers, instantly becoming the unrivaled place for interface with manufacturers, talent scouts, and the most promising young designers, and since 1998 runs concurrently with the Salone del Mobile.Milano. Its creation was essentially a declaration of faith in the creative potential of designers under 35.

Many of the prototypes presented in the previous editions have gone into production, and many of the 10,000 designers who have taken part over the years, along with 270 international design schools, are now big names on the design scene. Indeed, SaloneSatellite’s challenge has always been to imagine the shape of design to come and to try and imagine how future generations will forge a new, perfect balance between project, function, and beauty. The 2019 Edition of iSaloni will promote a New Edition of this Awards and we can’t wait to see the projects from the contestants.

Workplace 3.0 2019

Workplace3.0 is conceived as an irreplaceable think tank for finding out about and understanding upcoming necessary changes to workspaces. More than just an exhibition, it is a starting point for stimulating forward-looking ideas capable of catering to a changing market and changing needs.

As from 2015, the Salone dedicated to the workplace has taken on the new designation Workplace3.0, an innovative exhibition area devoted to design and technology in workspace planning, that confirms its new vocation as an exploration of brand-new approaches, forms and solutions to the workplace “of the future”, in which the human factor and smart technologies have a vital role to play.

International Furnishing Accessories Exhibition

Now into its 30th edition, the exhibition rounds off the Salone Internazionale del Mobile trade events with a wide variety of products – furnishing accessories, objects, decorative pieces, textiles – and styles. Launched in 1989, in response to the growing demand for decorative goods, the International Furnishing Accessories Exhibition has become the sector’s leading event, showcasing an increasingly varied and comprehensive selection of excellent pieces year by year, encompassing the entire home furnishing system, ranging from decorative objects, furnishing accessories and textiles for the home.

With more than 200 exhibitors, the over 330,000 visitors who flock to it each year will find the exhibition packed with everything that helps to bring character and originality to the domestic spaces. Innovative design, style and trends are the buzzwords for this particular event. Stand-alone accessories in their own right, but which help to redesign a space when combined. Exclusive pieces spanning modern to a classic design, to make homes even more welcoming and ensure they reflect the personalities of those who live in them.

Luxury Brands to Visit at iSaloni 2019

Brabbu

This top design brand reflects an intense way of living, bringing fierceness, strength, and power into an urban lifestyle. With a diverse range of furniture, case goods, upholstery, lighting and rugs, and through sensory design, we pass on a unique experience in every piece we design and produce. Every day our tribe of designers and craftsmen search for the highest – quality materials and innovative techniques to bring the comfort, functionality, and personality your spaces deserve. At iSaloni be sure to also check out Brabbu’s sister brands: Foogo & Brabbu Contract.

LUXXU

With a prestigious and revivalist attitude, LUXXU provides increasingly bolder designs and always combined with the finest craftsmen technics. This brand’s pieces represent an endless promise of elegance and distinctiveness that shapes LUXXU’s future.

Delightfull

Focused on Lighting Pieces, DelightFULL’s designs reflect a personality, a frame of mind and strong emotions are present in each detail. Inspired by jazz music, DelightFULL’s mission is to conquer the world through unique lamps! Made by local artisans that practices the elementals of craftsmanship, this brand’s products are long – lasting masterpieces and you’ll be able to see at iSaloni. This year is special for DelightFull because 2019 marks the 10th Aniversary of this Brand and what better way to celebrate it then in iSaloni and at a special edition of EuroLuce!

Circu

Circu was built under a dream! The dream is to allow children to dream their own dreams and to really give them space to be and live their fantasies and magical world. It’s stunning hand-crafted and hand-tailored pieces are made in Portugal with the finest materials, combined with a lot of passion, so we can deliver only the highest quality furnishings. If you want to dive into some magical inspiration, then you must visit this stand!

Essential Home

It’s the Sister Brand of DelightFULL, and like that Luxury Brand, Essential Home is the epitome of bohemian elegance and design. It’s mid-century modern lines that merge important historical references from the 1930s and 1960s and with contemporary influences. The harmony of masculine and feminine, classic and contemporary, is the essence of the Maverick brand with its refinement and emblematic style.

Boca do Lobo

Haute Craftsmanship & Luxury Inspiration are at Boca do Lobo´s DNA! At iSaloni they will present a strong showcase of stunning pieces and incredible pieces. Expect waves of contemporary and high-end furniture form this top Portuguese brand that always tries to elevate design and craftsmanship!

Pullcast 

At iSaloni discover the exclusive and luxury world of PullCast and dive in this brand’s amazing and elegant list of decorative and architectural hardware products.

Rug’s Society/ Homes’s Society

Rug’Society is an exquisite Portuguese brand of Rugs and covering selections, that mainly aims to transform rugs into pieces of art. Rug’Society appears with a strong connotation to the eclectic style, a brand that transmits emotions, and that is our starting point for every different design that we conceive to stimulate and develop new trends. It’s time to be masters in tapestry and, for that, Rug’Society presents us with a bold and contemporary design, always thinking in the future, and giving our products uniqueness, exclusiveness and luxury Design.

Covet House 

As per usual, Covet Group will be represented at iSaloni with a super stand by Covet House that will incorporate pieces for all tastes and from all the major design brands in the world, namely, Boca do Lobo, Delightfull, Brabbu, Maison Valentina, Circu, Luxxu, Essential Home, Rug’Society, Pullcast, Monsyeur and Foogo. Don’t miss the chance to enjoy a luxury experience at this Covet Stand.

Maison Valentina 

At iSaloni, Maison Valentina will be presenting fresh, elegant and unmissable bathroom news. With its bespoke and bathroom pieces, Maison Valentina will present a strong and luxury display that will make several heads turn.

Luxury Living Group

Fendi Casa, Bentley Home, Trussardi Casa, Baccarat Maison, Heritage Collection, Ritz Paris Home and Paul Mathieu. All of this Top Brands belong to the Luxury Living Group and this Top Italian Group will have a strong and powerful presence at iSaloni! With an extensive portfolio of interior collections that reflect the perfect combination of tradition and innovation, all the collections of these top brands celebrate the expressive principles of luxury design in a harmonious blend of fashion and design.

Seletti 

The worlds of design, art de la table, furniture, lighting, object and decoration. Seletti has a history of vision and evolution. Ever since it was established in 1964 in Cicognara, Mantova, the company has pursued its mission of making the most of professionalism, service and above all, endless product research, striving for improvement, innovation and originality. A top Italian Brand for a top Italian Event.

Sahrai Milano

Sahrai Milano is a top brand of luxury custom made rugs designed in Italy. This brands products fully embodies the values of Italian tapestry craftsmanship, and Sharai’s Collections are excellence in the furnishing accessories field.

B&B Italia

Founded in 1966 with the entrepreneurial vision of Piero Ambrogio Busnelli, B&B Italia is a leading Italian company in the international world of designer furniture for both home (B&B Italia Home Division) and contract (B&B Italia Contract Division). The company distinguished itself from its inception for its innovative industrial approach to manufacturing in contrast to the small traditional artisan competitors typical of the sector. Based in Novedrate (Como), north of Milan, the firm’s prestigious headquarters were designed by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers in 1972. At iSaloni 2019, B&B Italia will present, once again, some stunning products made in Italy.

Milan Design Week/ Fuorisalone 2019

As one of the Design Capitals of Europe, Milan has more events happening during the Milan Design Week besides iSaloni/Salone del Mobile.Milano. The major event of this Design Week it’s the Design Week Event itself that is better known as “Fuorisalone”, a term that’s used to define the events and exhibitions that animate the entire city of Milan during this week. During the Fuorisalone, many of the stunning design places in Milan will feature longer opening hours. It’s expected that the most important brands located in the design districts of Milan will introduce their new collections and host special events with live music and entertainment for a totally unmissable extravaganza.

The force behind Fuorisalone is the Design Districts of Milan. It’s at these districts that most of the top events, design showcases and parties take place and you have to get to know them better. Let us introduce 4 of the Most Popular Design Districts:

Ventura Centrale Design District

The formerly abandoned 9 spaces of the Magazzini Raccordati in via Ferrante Aporti, once home to important local warehouses, provide visitors with a visually evocative experience. Under the rough tracks and characteristic vaults of the Milan’s Stazione Centrale creativity – a specific focus on design from the Netherlands and Belgium – takes center stage featuring an eclectic mix of contemporary design by showcasing both emerging as well as established brands. Projects in the area are curated and powered by the international design organization Ventura together with local association Centrale District, spread over the core areas of Centrale Railway Station and the nearby area of Repubblica.

It has been announced that for the 2019 edition of the Fuorisalone, Ventura Projects and Grandi Stazioni have joined forces to devote the spaces of Magazzini Raccordati, within the Centrale District, to the world of fashion. This means, a whole year featuring fashion parades, exhibitions, cultural events, and shootings.

Tortona Design District

Although Tortona is the name of a single street, during the Fuorisalone the events in its neighboring area – namely the one lying behind the Navigli, known for its “viby” atmosphere – multiply. The area, home to former warehouses and factories, becomes a major display platform featuring a slew of futuristic, original and experimental events targeted, according to the organizers, at creating a truly knockout effect. Big names and loads of emerging talents create an urban workshop of contemporary design.

Design Week in Tortona promotes various events spread over some of the most important hotels and recently renowned open spaces. It’s at Tortona that we find the SUPERSTUDIO, the iconic place of design in Milan, the pioneer of the Fuorisalone phenomenon in the district, the most visited and sought-after place of the Tortona District since 2000. With SUPERDESIGN SHOW project, according to the original format “less fair and more museum”, Superstudio pursues its mission on quality, excellence, research. The next edition of Gisella Borioli‘s project with the art director Giulio Cappellini follows the usual ONLY THE BEST mission with particular attention to the TECH&GREEN theme.

Brera Design District

This is the district that houses a Pinacoteca and art Academy famed throughout the world. This artsy neighborhood with its narrow, cobbled streets boasting a dense concentration of antique shops, galleries, showrooms, and prestigious locations, exudes a truly alluring, bohemian aura year-round.

During the Fuorisalone, Brera offers a high-profile events calendar, featuring several of the world’s most prestigious brands, and focuses on attracting a design savvy, culturally oriented public. Brera Design District is a territorial marketing project promoting excellence and commercial real estate development.

5 Vie Art Design District

Aptly named 5vie after the “five streets” that form the area, the district is simultaneously one of the city’s oldest but also emerging districts. The area spans from the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, up to the Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio and the church of San Satiro, where Bramante worked.

One of Milan’s least touristy and best-kept secrets, the area participates officially in Design Week with a triple circuit consisting of showrooms displaying the latest in design, old artisan workshops where you can admire traditional handicrafts (in particular in via San Maurillio and via Santa Marta) and a cultural itinerary featuring museums, churches, cloisters, archaeological sites and breathtaking inner courtyards. 5vie District involves a cultural and territorial marketing project to promote Milan’s Old Town.

Explore the City

This is the basis of what you can expect from ISaloni 2019 and Milan Design Week, but Milan has a lot more to offer. You can enjoy these events, but you should also enjoy the city and that’s why we want to present you with a complete Milan City Guide that you can use wether it’s during Milan Design Week, or any time of the year!

Top Hotels to Stay In

HOTEL PRINCIPE DE SAVOIA

With a rooftop spa and spacious rooms with classic design and luxurious furnishings, Hotel Principe Di Savoia is located 100 meters from Milan’s Repubblica Metro and Railway Station. Rooms at Hotel Principe Di Savoia are decorated with traditional dark wood furnishings and luxurious fabrics.  The spa has a sauna, a hammam and a pool with frescoes. Principe Di Savoia’s attentive staff can book tickets and provide a free limousine service to the city center. The ideal place to stay during the Milan Design Week 2018.

PARK HYATT MILANO

In all of its 81 rooms and 25 suites, the Park Hyatt Milano offers luxury and serenity in the form of clean design and quiet comfort. Park deluxe executive king rooms feature fruit baskets and your choice of mineral waters, while a Park terrace suite boasts gorgeous views of Milan from a private terrace. You’ll never go hungry with mouth-watering, on-site dining options like Michelin-starred Restaurant VUN, where you can enjoy a multicourse tasting menu unlike any you’ve ever tried. For breakfast, La Cupola features daily selections of croissants and fresh juices.

BVLGARI HOTEL

Settled in an 18th-century edifice, the Bulgari hotel will make you feel right at home in the heart of Milan. It’s impossible not to fall under the charm of the ideal setting.  The friendly staff will give you the impression of being welcomed in a luxury private residence. All rooms and suites are so elegant and combine modern design, polished lines and luxurious details. The centerpiece of the Bulgari hotel is probably their private garden, an oasis of tranquillity. A perfect place to enjoy an aperitif alla Milanese. For some downtime away from the hustle and bustle, guests can retreat to the stunning spa for a swim.

PALAZZO PARIGI HOTEL AND GRAND SPA

From the outside, Palazzo Parigi Hotel & Grand Spa looks like any of Milan’s modern office buildings — glassy windows, metal frame, business style. Just take a deep breath and walk inside. If the magnificent Murano glass chandelier doesn’t blow your mind, then the “I wanna wear a ballgown and traipse down this luscious marble staircase” will. Palazzo Parigi is neoclassical luxe with a French twist throughout its ten floors. Its vibe is cosmopolitan and stylish, shown off by its staff, a well-heeled team of polyglots straight from the runway. Location is key: Turn the corner, and you’re in the Fashion Quadrangle, the very epicenter of Milan’s finest.

MANDARIN ORIENTAL MILAN

The Mandarin Oriental Milan offers luxury accommodation a short walk from the fashionable Milan’s fashion boutiques. The property features a restaurant on-site with 2 Michelin stars and meeting facilities. Set in a complex of 5 connected 18th-century buildings, all rooms and suites are air-conditioned and designed by Antonio Citterio, modern décor and taco floors. They offer views of the courtyard or the street, and some offer views of Milan’s Cathedral.

BAGLIONI HOTEL CARLTON

The excellence of the services offered by this hotel, along with its strategic location in the heart of the fashion district and the most important city hubs, make the Carlton one of the structures favorite by many tourists, but it is its attention to privacy to have gained the trust of major international personalities, from the world of finance to that of music and fashion. The Guest Book at the Carlton and at the whole Baglioni Hotel group really has few equals. The whole project was designed by the Spagnulo & Partners Studio.

Top Restaurants & Bars

CERESIO 7 

Ceresio is located on the rooftop of fashion label Dsquared2’s Headquarters and it has a stunning view over Milan. The restaurant, designed by Dimore Studio, has a polished, clean-lined design that almost feels like being transported to midcentury Palm Springs with an Italian twist.

GIACOMO ARENGARIO 

Envisioned by design firm Studio Peregalli, this Art Deco Bar & Restaurant is located on the top floor of the Museo del Novecento and overlooks the stunning Piazza del Duomo. This gleaming cocktail bar is surrounded with 1930s decorative touches and walls covered with geometric patterns that provide a stunning bar vibe.

RISTORANTE BISTROT MARTINI DOLCE&GABANNA

This luxury location owned by the popular fashion brand Dolce & Gabanna is the perfect spot to have a fine dining experience.  It’s also the place to relax and become aware of the latest interior design trends. 

T’A 

This restaurant was designed by local architect Vincenzo de Cotiis who gave the space a 1960s retro Italian flair mixed with the designer’s signature edge. It has a mix of white and black marble on the floor, sophisticated upholstery and modern suspension lights. The food is just as good as the decor!

BAR LUCE 

This restaurant interior was designed by director Wes Anderson. With green as the base colour, it includes stunning patterned wallpaper prints, Formica chairs, terrazzo floors and pinball machines that create an atmosphere with a quirky, retro feel.

Top Galleries & Museums to Visit

MIART

The international fair of modern and contemporary art has just announced its 24th edition, organized by Fiera Milano and held from April 5 to 7 at Pavilion 3 of Fiera Milano City during Milan Design Week. Under the artistic directorship of Alessandro Rabottini, 186 international galleries from 19 countries will exhibit works by modern masters, established contemporary artists, emerging talents, and experimental designers divided into seven different sections.

Many international galleries will return from previous editions, including A Arte Invernizzi, Alfonso Artiaco, Bortolami, Galerie Isabella Bortolozzi, Campoli Presti, ChertLüdde, Clearing, Galleria Continua, Raffaella Cortese, Thomas Dane Gallery, Massimo De Carlo, Dvir Gallery, Rodolphe Janssen, Kalfayan Galleries, Gladstone Gallery, Kaufmann Repetto, Peter Kilchmann, Andrew Kreps Gallery, Lelong & Co, Magazzino, Mai 36, Giò Marconi, Massimo Minini, Office Baroque, P420, Gregor Podnar, Almine Rech, Lia Rumma, Sprovieri, and Zero.

A strong selection of galleries active in the promotion of historical positions and post-war art will include Cardi, Casoli De Luca, Cortesi, Galleria dello Scudo, Mazzoleni, Montrasio Arte, Repetto Gallery, Robilant + Voena, Richard Saltoun, Gian Enzo Sperone, Studio Marconi ‘65, Tega, and Tornabuoni Arte.

MUDEC

In line with constant efforts on the part of the municipal authorities to preserve the memory of the economic and social processes that have shaped the city’s identity, the Milan City Council took steps in 1990 to buy the old Ansaldo industrial plant at Porta Genova and use it for cultural services. The disused factories, authentic monuments of industrial archaeology, have been converted into studios, workshops, and new creative spaces.

MUSEO DEL NOVECENTO

The Museo del Novecento was established on 6 December 2010 with the goal of spreading knowledge of 20th-century art and offering a more comprehensive insight into the collections that the city of Milan has inherited over time. Besides its core exhibition activity, the Museum is active in the conservation, investigation, and promotion of 20th century Italian cultural and artistic heritage with the final aim of reaching an ever wider audience.

GALLERIA CARLA SOZZANI

The gallery is located in a former industrial building, typical of the Milanese architecture. Since its opening, Galleria Carla Sozzani has established itself as one of the most important photography galleries in Italy. Over 200 exhibitions have been shown at the presence of famous photographers, often presenting works that had never been shown in Italy before: Helmut Newton, Annie Leibovitz, Bruce Weber, Bert Stern, Sarah Moon, Paolo Roversi, David Bailey, Hiro, David LaChapelle, amongst others.

PAC

PAC’s exhibitions are often a source of interest and debate in Milan because they highlight issues of great social importance (for example Regina José Galindo’s 2014 “Estoy Viva” show addressed the female condition, while the 2013 “Rise and Fall of Apartheid” exhibition gave insight into life before, during and after apartheid).

HANGAR BICOCCA

If you love art, design and getting out of the city center, you’ll love Hangar Bicocca. Housed in a converted industrial building in an up-and-coming area outside the city center, Hangar Bicoccaattracts artsy types with its cutting edge exhibitions and workshops. This place is famous for its site-specific installations (similar to those at London’s Tate Modern) that over the years have included giant balloons and rooms set at -30 °C.

LEONARDO DAVINCI SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY MUSEUM 

After seeing the last supper of DaVinci at the Santa Maria delle Grazie, you should visit the Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Technologia Leonardo da Vinci where you can find more of his original drawings and numerous models of his scientific innovations. Moreover, it has interactive labs, a submarine exhibit, and a section devoted to science for young children.

Top Attractions 

You can’t visit Milan without visiting the Duomo di Milano, not only because it’s the fourth largest cathedral in the world, but mainly because it’s Milan’s main touristic and cultural attraction. Even though it was started in 14th century, the final touches were made during the reign of Napoleon. Through the centuries this church has been the scene of countless social cultural and religious events. The Duomo is a place of history, religion, art and Italian power. If you prefer to do some shopping, but still want to visit a historic place, then why not mix both in the same place? If you want to do that, then you can visit the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. It’s one of the most popular shopping destinations as well as one of the most beautiful galleries in the world.

Besides Design Events and Luxury Hotels, Milan’s also the home of Centuries of History. To experience Art and History, you must pay a visit to some of the hundreds of museums, cathedrals, shops, gardens, historic places and art galleries of Milan. One of the top museums of Milan is also one of the Most Historical Buildings of the City:  The historical Castello Sforzesco. It’s in the Pinacoteca of this castle that you can find Michelangelo’s Rondanini Pieta, one of this legendary’s artist most recognized works of art! As you can see there’s a lot to enjoy in the city aside from Milan Design Week!

from Sebastian Kurz Blog https://www.designbuildideas.eu/ultimate-design-guide-isaloni-milan-design-week-2019/

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Your Guide to Feasting (and Drinking) Through Portland Happen to be in town for Feast too? Thinking about planning a trip anyway? Here's how to eat (and drink) your way through Portland's best. Welcome to Portland! Photo by scott1346 via Flickr.  Portland and I had a good run: I turned 21 at a now-thriving cider bar where my roommates and I tried to start an under-handed darts league, I slung cupcakes while taking a postbac class in archeology, and I built my own bike.  Honestly, I moved to Portland, Oregon on a dare, before Portlandia had aired or Pok Pok had become famous. It was there I witnessed “put a bird on it” first hand, watched as the small restaurant Jam grew to five-times its size, and benefited from classic food carts going brick and mortar. It’s been about three years since I called Portland home, but I go back every year—here are the places I cannot miss when I visit. (Please add yours in the comments, too!)  More: Our community has slew of recommendations, too. Find them here.   The shelves at Powell's City of Books. Photo by Kenny Louie via Flickr. To get around Portland like a pro, you’ll need a crash course in PDX navigation. Portland is divided into quadrants: Southwest, Southeast, Northwest, and Northeast (which, for this purpose, includes North Portland). Each “quadrant” has a few different commercial streets where you’ll find most of the shopping, eating, bookstores, coffee shops, and other ephemera. And look out for Burnside, the street that divides the city north and south on both sides of the Willamette river.  Southwest: You’ll find downtown Portland, Powell’s books, the farmers market, and the biggest food cart pod in Portland. Don't stay here, but do check it out at least once. Southeast: I lived here, so I speak with an acknowledged bias when I say it’s the best. The main streets to check out are Hawthorn, Division, Clinton, and Belmont. Sellwood is a little further south, but it’s quaint and worth the treck.  Northwest: This part of town is a little more mainstream, but if you're looking for a fun day of shopping and pastries, 23rd Ave is hard to beat.  Northeast: N.E. is hip—get lost in art fairs, independent bookstores, and beer bars; Mississippi, Williams, and Alberta are all worth exploring. Getting Around: Portland is best seen by bike or foot. (The more exploring you do, the more likely you are to find a bungalow that will have you calling your realtor.) Remember, if your legs are tired, or you are trying to go the distance, public transit (buses and the MAX) is your friend. The Must-Do List: Drink coffee at Heart. Go to the Burnside location—this is a coffee shop that knows how to cortado. Give yourself a little extra time, get your coffee to stay, and snag a sidewalk seat for one of the best Portland pastimes: people watching. Shop at New Seasons Market. You may not be on vacation to go grocery shopping, but New Seasons Market is a fun stop all the same. They sell local produce, have an amazing sampling policy, and I like to use their home goods section as a souvenir shop.  Spend an Afternoon at Powell’s City of Books. If you haven’t heard of Powell’s, better late than never: This Portland book store takes up a whole city block, has color-coded rooms, a café, and everything your book-loving, board-gaming self could ever desire. If you're only in it for the cookbooks, they have a store dedicated to the home on Hawthorne.  So the line is long. This one is worth it—we promise.   Satisfy your sweet tooth: Salt and Straw (NW/SE/NE): This ice cream joint lives up to its hype. Lines can wrap around the block, so do what I do: Buy a pint, skip the line, and eat ice cream straight from the container with friends. If you want the full experience—a cone, and lots of samples—the line is a must. Blue Star (SE/NE/SW): I’m telling you what I tell all of my friends. Voodoo Donuts isn’t worth your time. The line is too long (even for Portland standards) and the donuts are often stale. Instead head to Blue Star—they have four locations, bless them—and their donuts are some of the best I’ve had. Ken’s Artisan Bakery (NW): Please go here, even if it’s the only reason you go to NW. Get the morning buns, and a loaf of bread if you're planning a picnic for later.  Two Tarts (NW): The cookies here are excellent, but tiny—so get five. (At least.) I go for the salted chocolate chip.  Say it with us: Brunch early, brunch often.  Your new motto? Brunch early. Brunch Often.  Jam on Hawthorne (SE): Jam’s build-your-own-hash brown bowls and squeeze bottles of inventive homemade jam at every table make me swoon every time. Screen Door (SE): Have brunch here, but bring a coffee because chances are good the line will be long—Portlanders know it’s good. Olympic Provisions (SE): This sausage maker might be better known for the saucisson sec sold nationwide, but it's also one of the best brunches in town. Get there right when they open.  Pine State Biscuits (SE/NE): These are some of the best biscuits in the north. (Bonus points for combining them with a trip to the farmers market on Saturday morning.)   Get your food cart badge. Big Ass Sandwiches (NE): The name of this food cart does not lie. Their sandwiches are huge and house layers of meat, fries, and cheese sauce. Fried Egg I’m in Love (SE): Go for breakfast. Get the Sriracha Mix-a-lot.  The Big Egg (NE): This beloved breakfast cart is moving on to a brick and mortar—which is good news because sometimes it can take over an hour to get one of their ridiculously good breakfast burritos. Pro tip: Always go with the bacon.  Honkin’ Huge Burritos (SW): This is known as the food cart that started it all—it’s been in operation for over 20 years. Each vegetarian burrito is made by the cart owner herself, Shelly, and they are the best burritos in town. The best. Order an Andrea. Viking Soul Food (SE): This cart, which makes wraps out of lefse, is in the Belmont pod which hosts other gems like Namu. Bring all of your friends here, and try everything.  Where to take your dinner date: Toro Bravo (NE): Get a “French Kiss” and a few plates before heading to a show at the Wonder Ballroom next door. Bollywood Theater (NE/SE): This restaurant is a Portland institution. Always start with an order of Papri Chaat, then find a table in the warehouse-like space. The best part is sharing, so bring a crowd—that way you can try everything.  Lardo (SE/NE/SW): Lardo started as a food cart and has grown into a mini sandwich empire. Everything is great, but I go for the meatball báhn mì with a Moscow mule. Sizzle Pie (E Burnside/SW): Did things go late? Grab a slice here.  Sen Yai (SE): Head here for lunch or dinner. You can walk down the street and enjoy the Whiskey Soda Lounge and Pok Pok to make a crawl of it.   Apex has 50 brews on tap. Photo by Simon Wright via Flickr.  Where to grab a beer: Belmont Station (SE): Known for having the biggest beer selection in Portland, this is a place you can’t miss if you’re a fan of fermentation. Cascade Brewing Barrell House (SE): If you like your beers sour, this place is for you.  Basecamp (SE): Basecamp is a newer brewery, but they have things figured out. I recommend coming with a board game in tow to take full advantage of their front yard.  Apex (SE): If you're a beer and burrito person, this is the bar for you. Apex is located right next to Los Gorditos, a vegan (and non-vegan) friendly burrito joint with an amazing salsa bar. Things to do when you can’t eat anymore: OMSI After Dark (SE): This over-21 event happens at the Museum of Science and Industry. It happens every last Wednesday, and happy hour starts at 5 P.M—the theme changes every month, but they always have exciting vendors and events.  Forest Park and The Rose Garden (SW): Portland has been named the Rose City for good reason. You can head to the Rose Garden to see the city's best blooms and catch a great view of the city. If hikes are more your style, check out the rest of Forest Park, where you can wander through lush greenery for hours.  Overlook Park (NE): Here is the best sunset spot in the city. Hands down.   Happy Hour at Portland City Grill (SW): Order a drink and take in the unobstructed views from Portland’s highest, pinkest skyscraper.  First Thursday and Last Thursday (NE): If you love art, this is a fun way to see Portland. First Thursday is downtown in galleries, and Last Thursday is an outside street fair. Beer and Bike Tour (SW): If you love biking and drinking, than these bike brewery tours are for you. Don’t worry—you are not responsible for steering.  People’s Food Co-op (SE): Portland has a great food co-op scene. Check out People’s to stock up on snacks, and if you're there at the right time, there will be a juice food cart out front.  Sunshine Tavern (SE): Free arcade games, soft serve, shuffleboard, and beer—be sure to stop here to get your fix of all four. Do you have a favorite, can't-be-missed spot in Portland? Tell us in the comments! All photos by Hannah Petertil unless where otherwise noted.