Archive for category Books
Preston Bailey – Celebrations
My dear friend and event-planner-to-the-stars, Preston Bailey, last night threw a party to end all parties at The Armory on 27th and Lexington to launch his latest book, Celebrations, and it was quite the place to be seen. The invitation, featuring Preston in all his magnificent-ness, described the dress code simply as ‘Hot’ and the scene did not disappoint. Entering the Armory was a feast for the eyes and in Preston’s usual style, nothing was left untouched. With just 48 hours in which to dress a huge space, Preston and his team draped the walls, created breathtaking fake trees, a flower-covered entryway and, most impressively, built a ‘printing-press-runway’ where projected images from his book scrolled from the ceiling. It was absolutely breathtaking.
The food was spectacular, the dessert tables stacked high and wide and the drinks (named the Celebrations Mojito) flowed. The party moved to the next level when four models with strategically placed flowers (and not much else) started strutting the runway before Preston made a short speech and introduced the two star performers for the night - Gloria Gainer and Martha Washington. Their performances sky-rocketed the crowd and there was just no stopping the fabulousness. To see more photos from the party, click here or visit Preston’s blog.
Congratulations Preston! You’ve done it again.
Confession
I feel like a hypocrite. Like somebody who has sworn to one point of view, and now it’s changing midstream.
I have been given a Kindle and I am embarrassed to say that I have bought books online, and am planning to use it.
Yes I know that I’ve said that touching a computer is like wearing polyester. But the thought of traveling for many weeks through Africa and the Orient, lugging five big, thick books that will add to my overweight and sore lower back is more than an old dog can bare.
So, kicking, screaming, crying, growling, protesting and annoyed, I have taken my first step into computerville. And to all you other old codgers out there who have also sworn not to touch any form of a computer, I apologize.
Please forgive me.
BTW, The books that I’ve bought so far are:
The Murder of King Tut: The Plot to Kill the Child King – a Nonfiction Thriller by James Patterson & Martin Dugard
Master of Shadows: The Secret Diplomatic Career of the Painter Peter Paul Rubens by Mark Lamster
Redeeming Features by Nicholas Haslam
Living With Wine
Posted by Vicente in Books, In the news on November 13, 2009
I have had clients come to me and say that they’re doing a wine cellar, how should they do it. And it’s always the usual approach – having it be very utilitarian. This all changes with Samantha Nestor’s new book, Living With Wine, which really opens up the possibilities of what wine rooms can look like.
I’m very lucky to have one of my designs included with my restaurant, Alto, which has walls of wine rack from the back of the banquets to the ceiling. This design was inspired by Damien Hirst’s medicine cabinets and photographer Andrew French did a great job of capturing the space. It is so nice to see my work in the book’s large scale.
Highly recommended for all wine aficionados!
New Book – First Section Done!
Posted by Vicente in Books, Photography, Travels on November 6, 2009
I’ve handed in the first of three sections of my new book and it has been time-consuming, energy-draining and very exciting! Working with Christine Pittel, who worked with me on the first two books, I had to match the copy of the things that I talked about to images and the same thing with spaces – matching my photographs to the words.
This is something that starts to become very fulfilling as you see this original concept coming alive. People say why do people want to work on books, and yes, there’s the sense of putting your work out there and having it seen by the general public, but for me it’s the combination of my photography, with travel and a sense of teaching people how to maybe look at things in a different way, which really becomes so fulfilling when you put it together in a book that will be around for a long time (and in the library of Congress!).
There are so many design books out there – designers speaking about how great they are and showing their work. Some of them great, others less so, but I think that we owe the reader something more than just showing one’s work. If they spend their money to buy the book, I think that when they’re finished with looking at it and reading it, they should walk away being more enlightened, more aware, more informed and most importantly inspired.
So, one down, two more to go. I’ll keep you updated as we go along.
Style and Substance
I went to Bergdorf Goodman last night to attend the launch party of “Style And Substance – the Best of Elle Décor” by editor-in-chief Margaret Russell. Beside it being a design-studded event – and Margaret looking her movie-starrish self – the book is truly a compilation of so many different, wonderful design spaces that it is a must-buy for anybody who’s interested in design. The book is divided into sections like Living Rooms, Dining Rooms, Kitchens, etc, which is great for anybody who’s doing a room and need some design inspiration.
Bravo, Elle Décor, bravo!
SHOW by Ralph Pucci
Ralph Pucci is a dear friend and a long-standing client of this firm and he has just launched a beautiful book that features some of the most spectacular shows he’s hosted at his gallery over the past fifteen years.
Titled SHOW, the book melds art, furniture (you’ll spot some of my pieces in there), design and mannequins – which Ralph is probably most famous for – in the most unpredictable and imaginative ways.
Treat yourself and buy this book – it’s beautiful, and if you haven’t been to Ralph’s gallery in Manhattan, be sure to stop by on your next visit.
You won’t be disappointed in either.
New Book Update
My 1st Book - Learning to See
This past weekend I was working on the new book and trying to dissect the design process that my office goes through in creating a job from beginning to end and it’s hard because so much of what I do is instinctual…I don’t really think about it. So it takes a long time to analyze what I do and then work backworks in order to really find the rhyme and the reason and the why and the how that I have followed.
The 2nd Book - Crossing Boundaries
Even if it’s just instinctual, behind every instinct there is a thought pattern. So it teaches me something when I work on these books, because what I have to do is really verbalize what the thinking behind my actions are. So I have roughly finished one of the three sections of the book and am just going into half of the second one and it is getting me closer to completion.
You know, a pregnancy is nothing. The pain comes at the end. When writing a book it involves nine months of delivery pains! (But I’ve had kidney stones, so I know what that’s about.) I hope you all will like this baby when it is born. It will be published – like the last one – by Monacelli Press, so keep asking your bookstores when it will be coming out.
About Books
Before I left for Paris I received my new book on Vincente Minelli (Hollywood’s Dark Dreamer) – I’ve been waiting for this book to be published. He is to me one of the most artistic movie directors in all of Hollywood – movies like An American in Paris, Ziegfeld Follies, The Band Wagon – he made poetry on screen and I can’t wait to read the book and get some inside stories from when these movies were made.
The last one I just finished reading was The Lost City of Z and for me as a traveler, this was one great adventure. Reading about what this man went through in mapping out the Amazon right after the turn of the century was quite amazing. His commitment to mapping out a whole part of the world that was unknown was real blood and guts. I hear that they’re about to make the movie – I think Liam Neeson would make the perfect lead role.
What are you reading? Anything good that I need to know about?
New book – your input requested
This Thursday I’m meeting with Monacelli Press to start the process of compiling my third book. This is the first time in a while that I have a bit of free time on my hands and I’ve been thinking about the exact theme of this new book for a while.
Like my previous two books, I’m trying to give it a different slant and offer readers more than what they can see in a magazine. I want the reader to a) be inspired, b) learn something, c) be entertained and I want to feature my own photography.
One of the thoughts on the content is to have at least one job per chapter that goes from beginning to end, showcasing the requirements from client, the inspiration path and the progress up to completion.
If you all have any thoughts on what you’d love to see, please help me!
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