DEATH TO DULL ROOMS
It takes an artist of Mattia Bonetti’s caliber to design a pastel room that doesn’t scream “sweet.” But Bonetti’s genius lies in his ability to design objects and environments that defy convention while supplying comfort. “What I hate,” he says, “is the tyranny of the ordinary and the average. I detest Ikea.” The Paris-based designer is the subject of a
retrospective at Chelsea’s Paul Kasmin Gallery (through March 13, 2010), and of the monograph Mattia Bonetti, new from Skira/Rizzoli. rizzoliusa.com,
paulkasmingallery.com
Photograph by Reed Krakoff, from Mattia Bonetti, published by Skira/Rizzoli, copyright Mattia Bonetti, the Paul Kasmin Gallery, and Skira/Rizzoli; Rizzoliusa.com
STONE WORKER
Harvard-trained architect. New York real
estate developer. Passionate art collector.
Renaissance man William L. Ehrlich,
president of The Ehrlich Companies in
Manhattan, can now add “jewelry designer” to his long list of achievements. His well-drafted earrings, pins, necklaces,
and bracelets—evocative of Art Deco
architectural ornaments—are made of nickel alloy paved in precious or semi-precious stones, then plated with black Rhodium, for a gun-metal finish. rshapiroantiques.com
STONE WORKER
rshapiroantiques.com
HELLO AGAIN, GRACIE
Gracie—the venerable design firm known for its hand-painted wallpapers, Asian antiques, and cashew-lacquer furniture and
accessories—opens its new showroom on the 14th floor of the D&D Building at 979 Third Avenue this month (March 2010). This is where the trade goes for hand-painted Chinese patterns, custom murals, backed
silks, and metallics of the likes used in interiors around the world (including the White House) for more than 100 years.
graciestudio.com
SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL
Grayson Handy, the creative director of Prudence Designs and Events, has filled
countless vases in his career as one of New York’s top floral designers. Now he’s
filled a book: Flowers for the Home (Rizzoli) presents 100 ideas for botanical
arrangements for every day. rizzoliusa.com
Image of coconut from Flowers for the Home: Inspirations from the World Over by Prudence Designs, by Grayson Handy with Tracey Zabar; foreward by Paulette Cole, photographs copyright Ellen Silverman; published by Rizzoli; rizzoliusa.com
WHAT A DUMP
And we mean that in the best possible way: Rios Clementi Hale Studios, the Los Angeles design firm, earned distinction as a finalist in the most recent Cooper-Hewitt National Design Awards for its creative rethinking of the Fresh Kills Landfill on Staten Island. Their plan—designed with an intention to “make change itself the lesson of the place”—proposed to turn the site’s
wetlands, unfilled lowlands, and monumental man-made mounds into a 2,200-acre park and wildlife habitat, three times the size of
Central Park. Learn more about the firm’s contributions to the Fresh Kills Master Plan and its progress at rchstudios.com
and nycgovparks.org.
Image of Fresh Kills Landfill model courtesy of Rios Clementi Hale Studios
