Laure Joliet
Laure is a Los Angeles–based photographer and design enthusiast. When not contributing to Dwell and Apartment Therapy, she's opening too many tabs in Firefox, baking, gardening and exploring the great outdoors.
Islands of LA
On my commute last week I noticed a sign posted on a traffic island declaring the narrow grassy strip an 'Island of LA Nat'l Park.' Intrigued, I took a look on the internet and found that for the past two years, Ari Kletzky has been creating Islands of LA all over Los Angeles, giving these interstitial places their own definition in an effort to spark ideas about the use of public space and to reclaim them as community territory.
Pleats-Pleats Sofa
In accordance with the old saying, March has come in like a lion from coast to coast. If we're lucky, by the end of the month, we'll be ready for lawn chairs and lemonade (or at least some spring cleaning). Among the new designs emerging in time for fair weather is the Pleats-Pleats Sofa by Imaginary office.
Matryoshka: Public Art in West LA
As the LA Times attempts a controversial mapping of LA neighborhoods, which appears to be creating more divisions in the city than anything else, a public art show in West Hollywood is embracing its heritage and (hopefully) bringing people out to the park.
Modernica's 20th Anniversary Eames Chair
In honor of Modernica's 20th anniversary, the company is releasing a new iteration on the classic mid-century fiberglass shell chair originally designed by the Eameses.
Ferm Living Washable Wallpaper
Living with kids and living in style can often feel like a catch-22. If it isn't the clutter of all the stuff that seems to tag along with them then it's the messes that inevitably get made when no one is looking. For walls that seem to attract fingerprints, markers and food, glossy washable paint has been the best bet, but who wants glossy paint everywhere? Ferm Living's new washable wallpaper may solve the dilemma.
Melissa Manfull's Tesseracts
The term Tesseract was coined in the 19th century by science fiction writer Charles Howard Hinton to describe the 4-dimensional, convex-sided geometric form related to a cube. A new exhibition of Melissa Manfull's explores these forms through 2D drawings that combine natural and manmade architecture in multi-dimensional, almost optical illusion-inducing imagery.
New Marimekko Spring Line
The famed Finnish textile brand Marimekko, renowned for simple, bright prints (and owing their original popularity in the US to Jackie Kennedy's Marimekko shift dresses in the 60's) has released their new spring collection, a nod to Finland's rich history.
7 Questions For Mark Allen of Machine Project
I met Mark Allen about 10 years ago when he was getting his MFA, and even back then he was a connector. Sure he made great art installations (one composed of slowly rotating organically shaped disco balls spotlit in a dark room) but his ability to connect people was astounding. So it's no surprise to see him now at the helm of Machine Project in Los Angeles, bringing together artists, architects, designers, makers, scientists, programmers, plant enthusiasts, poets, and gaming nerds.
Cable Camouflage
Now that laptops and iPods have become like extra appendages for most of us, tangled cords and unsightly nests of cables are a constant problem. Even with the myriad systems for keeping them organized, it's almost impossible to beautify gadget-charging hubs. So it makes sense then to stop trying to hide all these wires and start making them into something that can be proudly displayed.
French Adbusters
There's some citizen adbusting going on in France where groups describing themselves as "deboulonneurs" or "unscrewers," are fighting against the visual pollution they see overtaking their cities. Upset by all the giant billboards filling the streets and subways, the group, whose motto is "Who pays for advertising? We all do!", has been staging marches and defacing billboards with spray paint and paint bombs in an effort to block out advertising in public spaces.
