Time Out…

…oh my goodness…time to pour a pisco sour…this is going to be an amazing adventure.  We arrive in Iquitos, Peru…gateway to the Amazon.  Aqua Expeditions will be guiding us on our exploration of the Amazon, onboard a luxurious riverboat, the Aria.

Designed by Peruvian architect Jordi Puig, the MV Aria, constitutes one of the two uber-luxury boats that sail down the Amazon. With 16 suites, it is like floating 5-star luxurious hotel with panoramic views……onboard, it’s all about attention to detail and the provision of high-end services including a doctor and emergency medical care and security…

…onboard the Aria are biologists who have grown up around the Amazon and they are very enthusiastic in sharing all their knowledge with the guests onboard…

…the Aria features a lounge area with a library and comfy sofas, a small exercise/massage room, dining room and a beautiful sun-deck with a Jacuzzi ideal for chilling or stargazing on a clear night…

…culinary feasts even for the most demanding foodies, are perfectly complemented with a selection of fine wines and cocktails. Peru’s star chef Pedro Miguel Schiaffino – of Malabar fame – creates the daily menu…

…tomorrow, the adventure begins anew…

Text and images by Katerina Katopis for Yatzer…images by Aqua Expeditions

Not Horsing Around…

…designed inside a former equestrian academy by Paris studio Jouin Manku to create the 55-room Les Haras de Strasbourg Hotel and adjoining Brasserie Les Haras…

…coiled oak strips…

…luxury and comfort…

…restrained and subtle…

…pods (which I’ve come to identify with this Parisian studio) and benches wrapped in saddle leather…

…leather headboards with perfect stitching and handsome bedding…

…a destination hotel and restaurant…

via: dezeen and patrickjouin

Shake It Up…

…and then I’ll meet you out here…

the american trade hotel, the historic casco viejo district of panama city

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Omoshiroi-ne…

…omoshiroi-ne means ‘how clever’ in japanese…Leo Tatemichi, architect and owner of Pompon Cakes, is indeed clever.  Using his mother’s recipes, Tatemichi opened his bakeries two years ago.  He was inspired by his travels through the U.S. by street vendors.  “It looked like so much fun, so I wanted to bring that warm and inviting spirit along to Kamakura. I wanted create an environment in the urban context, where it resembled something close to a living room”…omoshiroi-ne…

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Architecture of Density…

The structural urban fabric of the city of Hong Kong is one of the most astonishingly condensed, populated and vertical in the world, propelling its edifices soaring into the sky to contend with the lack of lateral space.

German photographer Michael Wolf, and current resident of the Chinese metropolis, has captured a series of images that acutely acknowledge the landscape’s overwhelming concentration of soaring buildings and skyscrapers. Architecture of Density is a collection of large scale works, which focuses on repetition of pattern and form to cause an infinitely complex visual reaction and rediscovers the city scenes by highlighting its forest-like expanse of high rises.

…wow, quite amazing…the exhibit is at Flowers Gallery, London, UK, through February 22, 2014…

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Creative Production Space…

…scenic beauty in the desert of Joshua Tree, California…the vision of Marc Atlan Design and Oller & Pejic Architecture…simply stunning…

The Black Desert House is designed to be the backdrop for fashion and editorial photo shoots, advertising campaigns, TV commercials and film and video production from the nearby creative hub in Los Angeles.  This house is not just a two-dimensional set, it’s a real and livable home with all the amenities of a typical contemporary retreat.  The design of The Black Desert House is functional in this sense, but it has taken shape to provide high-contrast backgrounds for image-focused commercial endeavors.  The hard lines and pitch-black texture of the home stand in hard contrast to the natural desert beauty beyond.  This contrast is an ideal framing point for everything from high fashion models to suspenseful film stories and plenty in between.

…gets your creative juices flowing, yes?  Just imagine the photos you can take here…

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Killer Apple Pie…

…get it right here…Katsutadai House is located in the suburban neighborhood of Katsutadai (Chiba) East of Tokyo, Japan.  After 35 years of creating delectable pastries, the bakery owners enlisted the help of Yuko Nagayama & Associates to design a bottom floor bakery with a two-level family home above…

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Time Out…

…meet me at Boulibar in the Ferry Building, San Franciso…by the high-end international design firm, Kallosturin..

…where texture abounds…

…and Tom Dixon pendants light the way…

…where elegant brass beads shimmer…and the flower design couldn’t be more on point…

…gorgeous brass oven…

…and cozy communal tables..

…and is there anything better than a little unexpected humor in a stunning visual design?

all images via Kallosturin

Choices, Choices…

…Living Architecture is a social enterprise dedicated to the promotion and enjoyment of world-class modern architecture.  They have asked a series of great architects to design houses for them around Britain and are making these available to rent for holidays all year round. Exciting, yes?  But now you have a choice to make…

The Dune House lies just to the south of the picturesque village of Thorpeness in Suffolk, on an idyllic spot on the very edge of the sea, nestled among rolling dunes. You can walk out from the living room directly onto the beach and enjoy extraordinary panoramic views over the sea from the terraces, bedrooms and bathrooms on the upper floor.  Sleeps nine…The Dune House is the product of creative thinking and work by Norway’s JVA,  Jarmund/Vigsnæs Architects.

…The Balancing Barn stands on the edge of a tranquil nature reserve a few miles inland from the Suffolk coast, near the historic towns of Walberswick and Aldeburgh.  Clad in elegant silver tiles, the house dramatically cantilevers over the landscape, providing views from its huge panoramic windows over woods, ponds and meadows. The house was designed by the Dutch firm MVRDV, who have won a world-wide reputation for the ingenuity, playfulness and comfort of their designs.  Sleeps eight people…

…Have you made your decision?  I’m still pondering…

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AWD…

all wheels engaged…enjoy the journey…

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Time Out…

…this is my cup of tea…a modern appeal, one that feels both ancient and contemporary, which yields an air of luxury.  We are visiting the southern coast of Italy…Corte San Pietro Hotel in Italy’s Cave City, Matera…Daniela Amoroso, architect.

The ancient Italian city of Matera, located just off the heel of the Italy, is home to deep caves that have been used domestically for millennia.  The Corte San Pietro Hotel takes shape amongst these caves in the Sassi District, a celebrated UNESCO World Heritage Site in central Matera.  This centuries-old dwelling now welcomes guests from around the world to explore the history of Matera and its complicated topography. – thecoolist

PierMario Ruggeri, photographer

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Contemporary Cool in Venice…

…a pioneer in affordable luxury, Generators’ Hostel in Venice has opened…

via: yellowtrace

Time Out…

…I have long been smitten with the rural cabins for artists built on Fogo Island in Canada by Saunders Architecture…now, Fogo Island Inn is ready for the rest of us…

via: dezeen

Time Out…

…we are off to a gem of a hotel… Zash in eastern Sicily, in the province of Catania…can you smell the citrus trees?  Rugged and luxe…a treasure…

Zash is described by the hotel as, “a country boutique hotel where historical fragments meet a contemporary taste, in an ‘elegantly quiet’ project, to let nature’s physicality emerge, to respect our past vestige and to satisfy our traveller’s needs. A place which is refined in its rooms, rural in its context and vital for the soul.”

via: desiretoinspire

Time Out…

we are on our way to Bangkok, Thailand, to the House of Salad by Metaphor Design Studio.  The neutral interior is ‘lightly tossed’ like the ingredients of a delicious salad.

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