Commune

Samuel Mockbee dedicated his life, as a teacher and architect, to creating structures that elevated the living standards of the rural poor.

“It’s not about your greatness as an architect, but your compassion” -SM

This month Elle Décor did a great story on our very own Steven Johanknecht’s tudor cottage in Sliverlake…

Also on ElleDécor.com is our new chocolate collaboration with Valerie Confections:  Super Choc-O-Food. check it out here.

Congratulations to all the Oscar winners. 

Sincerely,

Busby

What you get when Graphic Designer Otl Aicher is head of your Olympic design committee: A series of promotional posters created for the games with artists ranging from color theorist Josef Albers to African American folk artist Jacob Lawrence and everyone in between.

Pierre Soulages

Piero Dorazio

Eduardo Chillida

Hans Hartung

Serge Poliakoff

Fritz Winter

Victor Vasarely

Horst Antes

Josef Albers

Max Bill

Tom Wesselmann

David Hockney

R.B. Kitaj

Paul Wunderlich

Allen Jones

Jacob Lawrence

Alan Davie

Friedensreich Hundertwasser

We’ve been working on a set of fire tools. We wanted to reduce them to their most basic form and create something that could work in any given environment. 

Here are a selection of some of the very tempting finishes that we considered. We ended up going with the bronze coat because it was more ubiquitous, less stylized, and would obviously hide the soot.

We worked hard on getting tong handles right…its harder than you might think.

And here is the final product…

We also made designed a screen to go along with it….

Check them both out at  www.communeshop.com

Robert Maillart (1842-1940) a Swiss civil engineer from the future and Max Bill (1908-1994) a Swiss typographer from the Bauhaus came together to make (what we think) is one of the most beautiful books around. Printed in 1934 and reprinted in 1956…We just got our copy.

photographed on our awesome table made by Sculptor Alma Allen

Carlos Raul Villanueva designed a small utopia of art and architecture for the students of La Ciudad Universitaria In Caracas, Venezuela. In a pretty forward thinking manner (or ancient) He approached design/art holistically: working artists and artisans directly into various functional roles within his design…Including acoustical paneling by Calder and stained glass windows by Leger. The lines between art, design, and sculpture are merged making one insanely inspiring school to attend.

A small selection of some great punk posters…In a way, they are examples of perfect graphic design: They have a point of view, hold information, look pretty, and were done in 15 minutes.

Around 1922 when Mussolini (full title: His Excellency Benito Mussolini, Head of Government, Duce of Fascism, and Founder of the Empire) had hit his stride in political power, he had personally taken over the ministries of the interior, foreign affairs, colonies, corporations, defense, and public works. In true Fascist form all public utilities, as well as art and architecture, were controlled and regulated by the state so that they all worked toward the advancement of their ideologies. Architecture became Mussolini’s preferred vehicle for launching Fascist propaganda. It was forcefully portrayed, in the solidity of its materials and the vastness of its measures, the sublimity of imperial power. Fascist ideology aside…it’s an an awesome example of design backed by a united philosophical consensus. 

All Images from the book “L’Architettura Delle Case Del Fascio”
Thank you Tony for the tip.

More inspiration from a recent trip to Turkey.

Some inspiration from a recent trip to Turkey.

A collection of unique signatures by Swedish furniture designers from 1650—1850 used to brand their wood furniture.

1938

1921

1926

1922

1927

1931

1922

1922

1944

1926

1943

1939

1935

1950

1942

1922

Steve Halterman takes us through the process of creating and installing his new stained glass piece for Ace Palm Springs.

Poster board inserts cut to the size of each window — and the drawing begins

Inserts with the completed design drawing are assembled on the windows to fine tune the design and ensure a perfect fit

Glass cutting begins

All pieces of the design are cut from the glass

Construction begins — lead and zinc strips are used to hold the glass in place

Glass filed down for perfect fit

Construction continues

Putty is pressed between the glass and track on lead-zinc straps to secure the glass

Putty Team

Whitening process to harden and remove excess putty then patina is applied to the straps

Whitening process

Patina applied

Panels loaded and transported to the Ace Hotel

Panels are cleaned and polished prior to installation

Cleaning glass

Panels are installed then a second layer of clear 1/8” glass is installed over the stained glass for protection and easy cleaning

5 panels

6th panel

7th panel

Installation complete

Bravo Steve!

Check out Steve Halterman’s stained glass lanterns for Commune at communeshop.com

Our second collaboration with Valerie Confections: Super Choc-o-Food. Each and every label was hand stamped….a true labor of love. Taste the finished product at communeshop.com