A couple weeks ago (wow time flies!) I went to the SIDIM to check out the latest design products in Montreal. There was a lot of interesting things to see (as always). Here’s what caught my eye this year :

CONE FROM PORCELAINE BOUSQUET
I just love the Cone collection that looks like sushi cones. They are so cute and eco friendly. The wood stands are made of ebony, teak or wenge. They’re perfect for dinner, cocktail parties, and of course chic restaurants.

OUTDOOR FURNITURE BY QUI EST PAUL?
I like that they make outdoor furniture fun, by using interesting shapes and colors. Some can also be lighted. It looks like they don’t have retailers in Canada yet (they are from France), but hopefully soon.

ACRYLIC AND WOOD STOOLS BY BLEU NATURE
Bleu Nature, another French company, found an interesting way to incorporate nature in a space by suspending various wood pieces in acrylic, giving the impression that you are looking at them through water. They also have other pieces such as table lamps with suspended river rocks.

ORIGINAL RADIATORS FROM JAGA
I was happily surprised to see the Heatwave at the show. It’s such a beautiful hot water radiator. Jaga was also introducing their new and colorful “Play” radiator. It’s a highly efficient and eco-friendly radiator that’s safe for kids, because the surface stays cool to the touch. Another really neat feature of this new product is that you can customize it. There are five MDF boards that can be detached and painted to match any room. Imagine the possibilities.

CONCRETE OUTDOOR FURNITURE BY M3 BETON

m3 béton is an concrete workshop from Montreal who makes everything out of concrete. I really like what they do. This year they were introducing outdoor furniture and fireplace surrounds. The neat thing about concrete furniture is that they can stay out all year. If you have a small condo with a terrace, you don’t have to find space inside during the winter to store it and it won’t fly away if it gets windy up there.

VIAGGI TUBS FROM Maax
Stunning! That’s all I can say. Real pieces of art. I’m not too keen on the surroundings but the tub is really cool.

E IUENIMAKAN… by DOMINIQUE MALATERRE OF TILT
Galerie Cantin was presenting art pieces during the show from various artists. For some reason I was attracted to the one with the deer. I just love this picture. Don’t know why. Maybe because the deer looks pissed at the photographer or whoever threw the oil at him… BP perhaps? (LOL)

Finally a doll house based on modern architecture! Clearview, a modern doll house, was created by designer Elaine Shaw who also believes that traditional doll houses are out of fashion and it’s time for them to reflect the lifestyle of today. I love the level of detail in her work. It’s the first of several to come in the near future.

photo : metro uk

Not that I’m a huge fan of McDonalds, but I admire the fact that it is a company that’s not afraid of changing, adapting, evolving and moving towards the future. Soon after the Supersize Me movie, it started to offer healthier alternatives and was the first to indicate the nutrition value of all their meals and some branches are now recycling as well. In Europe, interiors of the McDonald chains are moving to the modern side. Shh an architectural, design and branding company in the UK created three modern McDonalds restaurants in the UK : a flagship store on Oxford street, an outlet in the Chapelfield shopping center in Norwich and another one in West Thurrock.

Flagship Restaurant in Oxford
The flagship restaurant located on Oxford street includes a teenage ‘bar’ dining area, TV screens, internet and gaming points. It makes sense considering the fact that in an urban location, teenagers are more likely to go there. If only the one in the Byward Market (Ottawa) could look like this (*sigh*). There are beautiful glass stairs leading to the second floor. I love the way they integrated the colors of McDonalds (yellow and red) in a modern way. I imagine it’s a nice hang out spot for teenagers if they don’t over do it.

Norwich outlet
In Norwich, the design of the flagship restaurant was adapted for a mall. I think they did a really good job. Instead of the typical square counter they made it round and bright white so the red and yellow really stand out. I love the red tiled wall in behind the booth and the large white u-shaped counter. It looks like an ideal place for kids. The booths on the other side of the red glass panels are a bit off to me. I love their shape and the idea, but I don’t get the color (a bit old compared to the rest of the space). Perhaps it has to do with the mall rather than the McDonalds.

West Thurrock outlet
For the West Thurrock restaurant, a freestanding drive-though restaurant, they went on a slightly different direction using accents of wood and a bit of orange (mixing the yellow and red from the brand’s color… smart!). This space is a bit more serious. Apparently very popular with families, it includes an “optomusic pod”, an interactive kids’ game zone and internet stations. I love the pendant lights randomly placed above the seating area. Notice how the height of the booth increases at it gets closer to the area where people can order their food to give them more privacy (clever). The long red benches look like sofas, which make them inviting for groups. You can see why families would be inclined to come eat there. I love the lines they create in the space. Notice how even the shade of the chosen wood veneer match the McDonald colors: mixing the signature red and yellow to get that orange tint. The chairs use in this space evoke classic mid-century modern chairs such as the Ant Chair, Eames rocker.

I really hope fast food chains around here open up to modern design. Because what we get so far looks more like this :(

Modern design shouldn’t only be for expensive restaurants. Right?

source: designdeinteriores, shh

Suppose Design Office has created an original space for the Diesel Denim Gallery in Aoyama, Japan. It’s a place where where fashion, art, design and architecture interact with one another. The gallery supports emerging artists by providing free space for them to showcase their work.

Nature Factory is the title of the installation this year. It includes several white pipes imitating trees and growing branches, creating a stunning effect from inside and outside. It’s fascinating how a simple object like a plastic pipe can create such an innovative space and how plastic becomes “natural”. The lights placed above the pipes on the ceiling also create a very nice shadow effect, just like branches under the sun. The abundance of pipes on the ceiling also gives the effect of being under a vine.

There are currently only two locations for these avant-garde Diesel Denim Galleries : Tokyo and New York. Diesels stores are also rare in Canada, thereare currently only two Canadian stores : one in Montreal and the other one in Toronto and the only Canadian Flagship store is in Montreal. I think we could use a bit more in Canada.

source :archdaily
photos :archdaily & Grand Gallery Magazine

El Rancho Alberto Aguilera is a really neat restaurant in Madrid with multiple personalities. Designed by Miguel Garcia Caridad, this Argentinian grill is anything but traditional. It includes a bar, two dining areas, and a private room.

El City Bar
El City Bar, the bar, is a very bright and high energy space with bright white walls, large black and white images from the 60s and 70s. The curved ceiling, also a nod to the 60s, allows for a very nice effect with the light that curves from the ceiling onto the wall. Even the duct, in stainless steel, was considered in the design and the fire extinguisher looks like an accessory. I really like the black glass wall in the back too.

The bar features a matte glass decorated with a floral pattern. Behind the glass are color changing LEDs. As the color of the lights changes, a new atmosphere is created in the space. A portion of the floor located in front of the window, also features color-changing LEDs, which probably gets the attention of any passerby. The white light shelves behind the bar were custom designed and provide a very nice contrast to the black wall.

Salón Iroco
The design of the first dining room, Salon Iroco, has a calmer softer feel to it. There isn’t a lot of contrast in this monochromatic space but there is a lot of texture: The horizontal wood strips on the wall to the right, the wood floor, the fabric on the wall to the left and the vertical tubes in the back, and the tiled wall near the kitchen.

The stairs leading up to the bar are very interesting as well.They are covered with ceramic tiles in the shape of the name of various popular cities around the world. Two embedded lights in each riser emphasize this detail and create a nice effect.

Salón Bambú
Salón Bambú, the second dining room, is very similar to Salón Iroco in design except that the wall features bamboo behind a glass with a blue backdrop. The feel is a bit less serious and a bit more contemporary.

Salón Loft
Salón Loft is the private room. It’s like the love child between El City Bar and Salón Iroco: a mix of classic and trendy. It has a high contrast, the walls are either covered with black back-stitched leather, classic style ceramic mosaic mural, featuring the face of a classic statue, or covered with painted white bricks. The black crystal chandeliers are also a mix of modern and classic. I can see a lot of common elements with the bar and the first dining room.

There’s another El Rancho, El Rancho Vincente Caledrón, also with multiple personalities when it comes to design, but completely different than El Rancho Alberto Aguilera, as shown here.

reference : Hosteleria, 2 trimestre 2009
photo: El Rancho Alberto Aguilera

I’m happy to report that M2JL :: STUDIO is back in the latest issue of Je Décore magazine. Entitled “Salles de bain bien pensées” (which loosely translates to Well thought out bathrooms) the magazine focuses on bathrooms. For this project I was asked, along with two other designers, to create a new concept for an existing bathroom where we had to include three specific items in the room (a sink, a mirror and green tiles). We had a budget of only $750. Quite a challenge! Especially if you never get to see the actual place or make last minute changes to the final touches. But it turned out great as you can see here.

Generally there’s a contest for people to vote for their favorite transformation. It should be online soon. This issue is filed with great tips and ideas on how to transform your bathroom. Once again, I’m looking forward to get my copy!

While reading some of my favorite design blogs,Contemporist, I came across this really interesting design for a nightclub in LA called My House . The idea behind this design from Dodd Mitchell was essentially to recreate a house party atmosphere in a nightclub. This nightclub has all the basic rooms a house would have (living room, kitchen, patio, bathroom and bedroom) but in a much larger scale, as shown in the plan below.

One thing I really like about this club is that there is plenty of seating! There’s nothing that annoys me more than to go to a club where the only place to sit is in the VIP section. I think the design really works. It looks like a house and as comfortable as a house, but the dark color palette works well for a nightclub. I love the kitchen and the fireplace on the counter with the purple glass. It looks like a very fun place to entertain friends.

photos: Contemporist, My House Hollywood