Harry and Sal's Design Blog

HARRY: Having returned from two years in LA and settled back into Sydney I feel slightly jealous of any fellow Aussie living OS. Vicki Archer's book, My French Life was certainly fuel for that fire. My friend Helen is a great fan of Vicki's and showed me the book over the weekend. Vicki left Sydney a few years ago for France and renovated a beautiful old home in the country. Julie Gibbs at Penguin/Lantern published Archer's book - Gibbs' has got a great eye for beauty. Photographer Carla Coulson shot the pics for the book (I worked with Carla when I was deputy of the Sydney Magazine and she does do great work). The book's definitely worth looking at...life overseas is worth thinking about. Although Tokyo interests me much more that France....

Labels: Books, Harry

posted by cerentha harris at 1/21/2008 0 Comments

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HARRY: Charley Harper: An Illustrated Life, put together by Todd Oldham, has garnered a fair amount of attention. And fair enough. Charley Harper's illustrations offer an exquisite sharpness and naiveté that I love. His work certainly deserves this monograph. Barney's is selling the book along with limited edition Harper prints (the Greenjay is above, Bluebird below). At $400 they aren't cheap but they would make a very nice Christmas present for some lucky person. The book normally sells for $200 (without the print).

Labels: Art, Books, Gifts, Harry

posted by cerentha harris at 11/06/2007 0 Comments

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SAL: It's going to be hard to resist going on to ebay to check out those cool Aboriginal prints that Harry picked out. You have to be very careful when buying Aboriginal art - there's a lot of corrupt practices going on so it's important to go through reputable dealers or artists with established reputations. Anyway, something for the wee ones now. I'm always on the look out for interesting books for my 2 year old and absolutely fell in love with the sensibility of the selection that Julia Rothman over at Book by Its Cover writes about on her blog. Check out the wonderfully whimsical illustrations by Junzo Terada above. Terada also has designed a very cool wallet that can be found online at an Aussie shop Harry will love - Via Alley. Check out more from Julia's selection below. I think I remember the Lazy Lion from my own childhood!

Labels: Books, Gifts, Kids, Sal

posted by Sal Taylor Kydd at 10/21/2007 0 Comments

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HARRY: I'm going to do the books page for Monument so I've started making a list of publishers to approach (I need to know what's coming out) and I came across this book. An interesting concept - 1000 things to see, do, eat, before you die. Plays into lots of interesting anxieties! I can't wait to get this book and check out how many of the buildings I have already seen. And with great buildings in mind I stumbled across German photographer Thomas Mayer's cleanly designed website a few days ago and have been trawling through ever since. One of the most beautiful buildings must be Le Corbusier's Chapel Notre-Dame Du Haut. I've seen a lot of shots of it but this series really captures the magnificent light. What an inspiration. I haven't visited it. Maybe that's my next trip?

Labels: 94, Books, Harry

posted by cerentha harris at 10/02/2007 0 Comments

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HARRY: Had one of those days where you feel like a super woman. Did the kids, did the house, did my work, did food shopping. Did the lot... and now I am TIRED. But inspired. I met with the new editor of Monument magazine today, Peter Salhani. Very enthusiastic. I'm going to cover some residential stuff for them and maybe do the books page. Fun to be in the thick of it again. He gave me Davina Jackson's new book... 'Emerging Talents in Australian Architecture'. Looks lush. Spectacular photography by Melbourne woman Shannon McGrath. The cover shot for the book of a Mark Cashman project is pictured above. The book sits here on my desk by my glass of wine waiting to be opened. Davina also wrote, with her architect husband, Australian Architecture Now - a great survey of what is happening down under. I also got a very cool mag today from Remo Giuffre, the powerhouse behind Remo. The magazine is called 'Dumbo feather, pass it on' and is just an exquisite piece of design. God only knows how they keep themselves going - there's next to no ads. But for the reader it is pure bliss. You can now get it at Barnes and Noble (but not online) ... definitely check it out. I've pasted the cover of the current issue below.

Labels: Books, Harry, Magazines

posted by Sal Taylor Kydd at 9/27/2007 0 Comments

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HARRY: Loved reading Sal's shoe adventures. I too have wandered the halls of Zappos and felt completely overwhelmed. But today I wanted to rant about Los Angeles. It's such an ugly city. One vast undisciplined sprawl. The thing that saves it for me are the architectural gems. Think the Eames house, Schindler's house with its outdoor sleeping chambers and the wonderful Arts and Crafts Gamble house. Last night I was reminded that the Hollywood Bowl is one of those gems. (It also helped that we saw three amazing bands, The Decemberists who played with the LA Philarmonic, Andrew Bird and Band of Horses). In 1928 Frank Lloyd Wright's son, Lloyd Wright designed the nine concentric arches that form the bowl. It reflects perfectly that time - unornamented, curvilinear. Modern. And it is still the largest natural amphitheater in the US. For more on the Bowl and other important LA buildings check out the excellent book, Iconic LA by Gloria Koenig.

Labels: Architecture, Books

posted by cerentha harris at 7/08/2007 0 Comments

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HARRY: Inspired by Sal's wallpaper post I wanted to let you know about a great new book by Australian journalist Helen O'Neill. She's written a carefully researched biography of the extraordinary designer Florence Broadhurst. Mystery still surrounds the designer's death (you'll need to read the book to find out about that one). What isn't a mystery is Broadhurst's amazing talent as a fabric and wallpaper designer. Marc Jacobs and Stella McCartney are fans of her work. You can check it out online at Signature Prints.

Labels: Art, Books, Walls

posted by cerentha harris at 7/02/2007 0 Comments

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SAL: Yes, yes - I am well aware Friday night may be a touch late in the game for writing about Father's Day ideas - but hell - get the Phaidon Color Library Series anyway - just because it's gorgeous! And I quote: "Each volume contains an introductory essay, forty-eight full-page colour plates, accompanied by extensive notes, and numerous comparative illustrations in both colour and black and white." And it will look divine on the shelf! Available at Auto.

Labels: Art, Books

posted by Sal Taylor Kydd at 6/15/2007 0 Comments

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HARRY We will renovate out house when we get back to Sydney. We already got the plans through council and just need to scrape the money together to do it. I've been buying books with the reno in mind, looking for things that inspire me and this book on Japanese style is my latest acquisition. Incredible photography and lots of interesting information, but it's not beautifully written (to be fair you get the feeling English is not the writer's first language). Where's the A. A. Gill of interiors? Why does almost all writing on homes come across as pandering, simpering rubbish. Where's the poetry, where's the joy, where's the creativity so manifest in the work being written about? Any recommendations would be much appreciated.

Labels: Books

posted by cerentha harris at 6/15/2007 0 Comments

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