Pitti Uomo

This week in Florence the Pitti Uomo annual tradeshow for men will take place... Oh how I would love to be there! Italian style is so incredibly unique, so classic, so stylish, so much attention to detail I love it!

Check out one my favorite blogs by Sartorialist Scott Schuman for updates and quality photos:

http://www.thesartorialist.blogspot.com/

enjoy.

Milano bookstores

I LOVE bookstores, when I travel I search for them, but not the general chain stores, the ones down random laneways, off the beaten track, supporting independent publishers and specific categories.

Milan has proven to have the best bookstores I have found so far. One of my favorites is Libreria 121+ . It started as a Libreria al Tempo, a Temporary Bookstore, a concept I didnt know exhisted but is supposedly popular in Milan. They started with a shop lease for 121 days to trial the bookstore and see if the location fit the shop. A great concept!

It features books on design, graphics, architecture, interior design, planning, landscape architecute, urbanism, photography, art, art history, and a selection of great contemporary kids books. A very specific collection of books and magazines from around the world... I was in heaven! Books are a real weakness of mine and unfortunately my need for them results in excess baggage fees when I travel...

121 was a real experience too, Nicoletta the lovely girl working there offered me an espresso, we had a good chat and had more espresso :) The owner then walked in, a soft spoken white haired italian man. He was the mind behind the unique collection of books. He facinated me. Funny thing was almost all books were in English and he didnt speak a word of it! Through Nicoletta's translation we chat until we discovered we both spoke French and off we went into conversation. I spent about 2 hours there. A great memory of cultural exchange.

Another favorite is the bookstore in the picture above, just around the corner from La Scala, Nicoletta put me on to it. Thanks!



M.





http://www.corraini.com/boxcorraini.php

National Museum of 21st Century Arts AKA Maxxi

The new National Museum of 21st Century Arts (also known as Maxxi) opens in Rome on the 30th of May. It will feature contemporary art and architecture and hope to compete with the contemporary art profiles of London and New York.

The building was designed by Iraqi architect and 2004 Pritzker Prize (architectures most prestigious award) winner Zaha Hadid. She is known to be a visionary architect that produces quite extreme designs.

I look forward to visiting Rome in July!! I will report back on it in a few months.

Favorite !

Okay so I LOVE a lot of things.. and at least three of those things are furniture (design), textiles, and Missoni in general. I came across this while reading the Design section of The New York Times blog I follow http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/26/the-well-dressed-chair/?ref=design.

Do you love it? I love it!

Really I think I need this chair, my bedding is the exact print :)

Check out Artek http://www.artek.fi/index.html the Finnish company that designed the chair.

OH and I hope you dont mind my obsession with Italy at the moment.. most posts will probably have something to do with it as it was my most recent travel desination and I have plenty to share!!

M.

Renzo Piano, Genoa

As mentioned in a previous post I was inspired to visit Genoa by Ottagono Magazines featured 'Viaggio in Italia- Genoa' especially to see its Old Port (Porto Antico) and the success of its large scale redevelopment and restoration project.

Renzo Piano, a famous Italian Architect (He was one of the minds behind the Centre Pompidou in Paris) was involved in the Master Plan to reinvigorate the Port after WWII bomb damaged left it in a pretty dull state. Piano was successful in transforming the Old Port into a busy and thriving tourist attraction converting derelict warehouses into restaurants, shops and museums.

There is a recreation area that can be used for multi purposes, when I visited in April it was a skating rink! The public space is wide and spacious with large trees, benches, parks and look outs for the public to enjoy. Two main Piano structures are the Aquarium that resembles a container (like one on a cargo ship) and La Bolla (The Bubble) that is a massive glass sphere that houses a greenhouse with a large collection of tropical plants and animals.

It has proven to be packed with both locals and tourists and was very user friendly! I great place to wander on a sunny day in Genoa!

Ottagono

Ottagono is one of my favorite magazines and magazines are one of the most exciting things I look forward to buying when I travel. Living in a small town I dont have the plethora of international publications at my fingertips so when I am overseas its a treat to flip through the latest editions of my favorites.

When I was in Milan briefly in February it was edition 226 of Ottagono that featured Viaggio in Italia- Liguria. It featured the state of Liguria that is found in the north western region of Italy. Ottagono is a magazine of reference for anything design related and it also regularly features city planning. Naturally after reading the featured booklet on Liguria I was keen to visit and experience the architecture and newly planned and revitalized port of Genoa and surrounding area.

So I did! and I will post photos and my sightings in a future entry...

If you are at all interested in the world of design, from urban to architecture find this magazine in your nearest specialty newsagent, I would hope they stock it! Also lucky for us it features bilingual texts (Italian and English).