Category: Photography

Vancouver-based photographer and artist Vishal Marapon creates bright, graphic compositions that border on hyperrealism and delight the eye.

Seeking out patterns – from zig zags to archways and cubes, satisfying color combinations – rich gradients and pastel tones – and the delicate interplay between light and shadow, Marapon has developed a clean, minimal visual vocabulary. With an illustrious client list including the likes of The New Yorker, Kinfolk and Inc Magazine, this photographer is to keep a close eye on – which you can do via his blog and Instagram.

From Venice to poolsides and beachfronts the world over comes Lido: A new swimwear brand keeping things classic with a six-piece first collection.

Named after the famed Venetian bathing island, the brand’s first collection consists of four bikinis and two one-piece swimsuits in black, navy, jade green and bright red. Designed and manufactured in Venice, the range aims to – in the words of the label -“re-contextualize the beach experience through a modern eye, with intelligent urban women in mind.” See the architectural, graphic and sculptural inspirations behind Lido’s striking aesthetic in its online journal, and shop the range here.

All images © courtesy of Lido

Holy Rosary Complex is a Catholic education centre based in South Louisiana and designed by the New Orleans office of Trahan Architects.

Consisting of an oratory, religious education building and an administrative centre, the project aimed to study how the interplay of materials, form, function and light could result in the creation of a holy space. The design of the campus centres around the delineation of secular and sacred spaces, with the secular elements forming a frame around the courtyard housing the oratory. “Neither opulent nor austere, Holy Rosary Chapel presents a thoughtful meditation on sacred spaces and the spatial embodiment of spiritual experience,” explain the architects.

Celebrated photographer Viviane Sassen’s latest work pays tribute to her muse and creative collaborator Roxane Danset, in celebration of their rich and long-standing friendship.

Created as a follow-up to “Roxane I” (2012), the series of works posits Danset’s nude body as a bare canvas, as a symbol for the projection of various archetypes onto the woman: Mother, provider, seducer, muse. “I feel that Roxane and I have grown in our mutual trust and understanding, we dare to take it a step further,” explained Sassen in a recent interview. “So the nudes in the new book were a logical next step in exposing ourselves even further to each other.” “Roxane II” (published by Oodee) launches in May and is available here for pre-order.

Berlin-based design studio llot llov developed a minimal range of sofas named “Circus” for the Kaiser Apartment lounge at The Circus Apartments, which could serve as a home cinema as well.

Each of the three sofas has a different seating height and is made in multiple shades of colour-block Kvadrat and Febrik textiles. llot llov’s design is both functional and emotional. Often playful and always visionary, they work conceptually to aesthetically improve our day-to-day world. Their main principles are content, efficiency, clarity and sustainability. They say that usefulness is a priority without foregoing complexity.

Born in the United Kingdom and based in Hong Kong, artist Simon Birch conceived the nonprofit 14th Factory Foundation, a monumental, multiple-media, socially engaged art and documentary experience.

Transforming a 150,000-square-foot warehouse in downtown Los Angeles into a new factory, the reconstructed location functions as an atelier where Birch and his 20 creative collaborators work and manufacture their art, creating an ever-changing exhibition of 14 interlinked spaces, featuring video, installation, sculpture, paintings and performance. Simon Birch’s installation titled “Barmecide Feast” shows an exact replica of the room in Stanley Kubrick`s legendary film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Further installations showcase 300 pitchforks hanging from the ceiling, and a room with pieces of a Ferrari that the team crashed and filmed themselves. By walking through The 14th Factory, the visitor plays a central figure in a collaboratively fabricated adventure, that challenges the current political climate by celebrating creative diversity and unity.

Located in Cholul right on the peninsula Yucatán in Mexico, architect’s office Taller Estilo Arquitectura has constructed a private home named “Casa Canto Cholu” amongst the 2,300 sqm plot surrounded by nature.

This minimalist residence creates a dynamic, spatial and formal coexistence between nature and architecture. Taller Estilo Arquitectura designed the house to be organized with a U-shaped floorplan, so the social area is structured in a linear way. The living room, dining room and service area have floor to ceiling glass walls that provide transparency and offer a connection towards the covered terrace and central courtyard. This natural area allows the bedrooms to be arranged with windows also opened towards the outside. The main materials used to build Casa Canto Cholu were cement, polished and shined, black and aquamarine pigmented cement, cedar wood, stone and glass, making the home look minimalist in its materiality. The relationship between the house’s structure and the pre-existing landscape is emphasized through the dynamic courtyards and corridors. Some trees are growing through the cement roofs to accentuate their belonging to the house, while also contrasting with the cold cement.