MADE IN COPENHAGEN: Green Retail Therapy at White Line Hotels’ Danish Collaborators

Sometimes we all need a little help justifying our indulgences, don’t we? So, what’s even better than bringing a shopping bag through your front door, unwrapping the coveted object it contains, and knowing that it’s yours-all-yours? Knowing that your little splurge is also helping the environment…or at the very least, not hurting it any. wink wink

Where can you find this kind of guiltless gratification? Copenhagen, of course. Go on, get your retail therapy on the Danish way with environmentally friendly design from White Line Hotels’ Collaborators Bullitt Bikes and Design by Us.

Read the rest of this entry »

Avenue Hotel’s Tips for Living on the Edge, Copenhagen Style

Along with the tip about Radio being one of Copenhagen’s hottest secrets (for now anyway!), White Line Hotels Edit Avenue Hotel has shared even more ideas on how to take in Copenhagen from the insider’s perspective. While you’re busy scribbling their notes into your little black travel book, why not be generous and share some of your own? We’ll make it worth your while. Go on! Give it a shot!

Read the rest of this entry »

Le Labo’s Most Exclusive Destinations, Within Reach (For A Limited Time)

The sense of smell is the one sense most closely linked to that most mysterious thing called memory. What does that mean for you? Well, you have a lot of control over how you’re remembered, for one, so you’d better make a smart choice.

What smarter choice than one of the intriguingly exclusive scents by White Line Hotels Collaborator Le Labo? You won’t smell their uniquely mixed, hand-made scents on every 10th person walking down the street, and with their bottle refill program and cruelty-free policies, you can feel even better about sticking out in the crowd of smells.

Read the rest of this entry »

Bathroom Culture at Roca Gallery

Mention the words “pavillion” and “Barcelona” in the same breath and undoubtedly you’ll think of Mies Van Der Rohe’s magical project erected for the Barcelona International Exhibition in 1929 (demolished in 1930 and subsequently rebuilt by these wonderful people between 1983 and 1986). Whilst I couldn’t help but draw a parallel, this wasn’t actually the pavilion I had in mind when writing this post. Being heavily into interiors and always on the lookout for interesting and unique products, a recent visit to Barcelona lead us to the much talked about Roca flagship building on the Carrer de Joan Güell. Distinguished Barcelona architects OAB completed the Roca Barcelona Gallery in 2009, creating a luminous showcase “representing the company’s past, present and future” over 3 floors. To interpret and convey a brand’s values by means of a building, can’t be easy; an architectural challenge that Borja and Lucìa Ferrater of OAB managed to achieve with impressive grace and eloquence, however. For those not familiar with Roca, they are world leaders in bathroom spaces and very relevant in design and architecture terms for the likes of us who are “in the trade”.

Read the rest of this entry »

A good time to be young, creative and talented

Nurturing talent is clearly where it’s at. Not sure about you, but recently I’ve been coming across an increasing number of platforms and showcases that are solely and entirely dedicated to the young, their talent and the development and support thereof. This phenomenon appears to be spreading at a particularly fast rate within the creative sector, from fashion to furniture, from interiors to graphics – so if you’re young, creative and good, the conditions are excellent and your chances of getting exactly the right support in order to emerge successfully as a contender on the international design scene, couldn’t really be better. Cue design spotlight on Vienna from the 14th to the 16th October – where young creativity is pooled big-time within the superbly appointed blickfang international design fair.

The blickfang concept was launched a few years ago and has since established itself quite firmly as one of the most important international design events. It stands out from other design trade fairs as it welcomes not only trade visitors but also the general public; visitors are invited to explore new design resources, be inspired and also purchase directly from this new generation of carefully selected designers. So far blickfang venues have included Stuttgart, Basel, Vienna and Zurich – from 2012 the map broadens with the addition of new venues in Hamburg and Kopenhagen. Visit www.blickfang.com for updates and the latest on forthcoming dates and venues.

Next month’s blickfang sees the start of a curatorship by Stefan Diez, Munich-based interior designer, and his wife Saskia Diez, award-winning jewellery designer. As Curators of the Year, the renowned couple will lend their guidance and support to all four blickfang events over a period of one year, offering advice and answering questions on creativity and design at each event in Stuttgart, Basel, Vienna and Zurich.

Underlining the “nurture and promote” concept, the Vienna event will feature regular blickfang highlights such as:
blickfang design award – where a winning product is nominated and subsequently featured for several months at the prestigious MAK (Austrian Museum of Contemporary and Applied Arts) Design Shop
blickfang selected – five specially selected young designers are given the opportunity to exhibit free of charge and present their products to the general public and trade visitors
blickfang promotes – young design graduates, industry novices and innovators who would not usually have the possibility to exhibit at such an event, are given the opportunity to present their products and concepts through the support of the Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, Arts and Culture.

See you in Vienna!

Another spot in Vienna where creativity is pooled big-time? White Line Hotels edit The Hollmann Beletage, of course!

————————————————

Contributing writer: Stefanie Soar

Photos courtesy blickfang