SCANDINAVIAN INSPIRATION

As someone of Swedish descent who loves good design, I am always excited when I spy something remarkable from Scandinavia that I can share with you all. Like this shop and this (bottom) photographer. Here are two more amazing finds from my Northern European brethren.

Last week Black*Eiffel told us about the amazing architectural walkways to be found in Norway. They kind of remind me of a high design version of this walkway.

Last week seesaw also pointed us towards the awesome, brightly colored identity for the Finnish lifestyle store Pino. Check out their profile on Behance for more eye candy.

WEEKEND UPDATE: CHICAGO

A long post for a long wonderful weekend in Chicago . . . visiting friends, celebrating the marriage of two of the best people ever, exploring Millennium Park in the sunshine . . . who knew the city was so, well, luminous?

Hope you all had a great weekend!

(As always, you can see more of my photos here.)

THE SOUNDS OF SPRING

Is anyone else ready for this cold weather to be over and spring to really start? I want spring flowers, green lawns, patio brunches, and sunshine. Is that too much to ask?

Until then, please enjoy this beautiful, serene video by street artist Michal Kohút, found via Wooster Collective.

COLOUR CLOCK

A couple weeks ago I discovered this amazing color clock screensaver designed by the incredibly creative and prolific Jack Hughes. I, like many design geeks, have long used FlipClock as a screensaver, but this beauty seamlessly scans through the entire color spectrum as the seconds tick away, creating a wonderfully (almost distractingly) pretty sight.

Download it yourself here.

(Found via the super cool brilliantly designed new-to-me blog Studio Sweet Studio)

TOP DOG

It wasn't always pretty, but in the end it was perfect. King Kemba (Junior point guard Kemba Walker) led the UCONN men's basketball team to the school's third national championship last night, ending his team's season undefeated in tournament play (early season Hawaii tournament, Big East tournament and the NCAA tournament). While I am disappointed that the women's basketball team couldn't join them in the winner's circle, I am proud that the magnificent Maya Moore won an unprecedented third Wade Trophy and her second Naismith trophy (among countless other awards) this year.

As a lifelong fan of UCONN Huskies basketball, I couldn't be more proud today (like I was then). Read more about the victory here, Coach Calhoun's legacy here, and Kemba's skills here.

(I apologize for the out of character subject of this post. March Madness only happens once a year, but when it does I go crazy!)

SOL LEWITT: WALLED IN

Have you heard about the Sol Lewitt wall drawing retrospective at MASS MoCA? It looks absolutely beautiful and is up for twenty-five years (until 2033)! Here are the details:

Sol LeWitt: A Wall Drawing Retrospective comprises 105 of LeWitt’s large-scale wall drawings, spanning the artist’s career from 1969 to 2007. These occupy nearly an acre of specially built interior walls that have been installed—per LeWitt’s own specifications—over three stories of a historic mill building situated at the heart of MASS MoCA’s campus. The 27,000-square-foot structure, known as Building #7, has been fully restored for the exhibition by Bruner/Cott & Associates architects, which has closely integrated the building into the museum’s main circulation plan through a series of elevated walkways, a dramatic new vertical lightwell, and new stairways.

LeWitt—who stressed the idea behind his work over its execution—is widely regarded as one of the leading exponents of Minimalism and Conceptual art, and is known primarily for his deceptively simple geometric structures and architecturally scaled wall drawings. His experiments with the latter commenced in 1968 and were considered radical, in part because this new form of drawing was purposely temporal and often executed not just by LeWitt but also by other artists and students whom he invited to assist him in the installation of his artworks.

Having gone to college very close to MASS MoCA, I can attest that the museum already has a fabulous collection and incredible buildings/grounds. But with this long-term exhibition in a newly-renovated building, I think I we now have even more incentive to make the trip up to the Berkshires!

Read more about the retrospective (and watch some great time lapse installation videos) here.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

My friend Sheryl pointed me towards something amazing yesterday: Air New Zealand's creative (and totally hilarious) safety videos. Wouldn't you be much happier listening to that boring stewardess speech over and over if Richard Simmons were actually delivering it (in sparkly spandex of course!)?

But it turns out Air New Zealand has not stopped there. It seems they have hired a suave charismatic spokesperson (or should I say spokespuppet?) too, named Rico. Here he is laying down a track with Snoop Dogg. Yes, that Snoop Dogg. Who is wearing an All Blacks jersey, so he must be a true Kiwi right?

See much more of Rico's funny escapades at the Air New Zealand YouTube channel here.

(And while these are not jokes, I thought they were an appropriately zany way to kick off April. Happy April Fool's Day!)