The Berlin Reunion

I know I am a few months late with this story but I just recently came across images of the Royale De Luxe street theatre company's performance titled "The Berlin Reunion". Royal de Luxe has created several open air theatrical events with gigantic and incredibly agile human and animal figures which have become the company’s trademark.

The Giant Saga, which continues to this day all over the world, began in 1993 with The Giant who fell from the sky. For three days the Giant, controlled by over 30 people, made his way through the streets of Le Havre. The Little Giantess enchanted London in 2006 in The Sultan’s Elephant and afterward received invitations from all over the world. In 2007 she could be seen with The Hidden Rhinoceros in Santiago, Chile and that same year the Little Giantess also appeared in Iceland.

Following the premiere of The Titanic Giantess and the Diver in June 2009, as story of the giant diver is search of his missing niece, the pair were reunited in Berlin this past October. The Giants Arrive – a Fairy Tale for Berlin, commemorated the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall by telling the story of the Giant and his niece the Little Giantess who are reunited after many years of separation at the Brandenburg Gate.

Here are some incredible photos from the event. I also included a youtube video so you can see the puppeteers at work, what an amazing feat to pull off.

The last photo is the pair of reunited giants spending the night at the Brandenburg Gate. I'm captivated by the human expressions on these giant puppets.


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Photo Credits: Hans Scherhaufer

Graphic Designer & Illustrator, Elena Zournatzi

It occurred to me recently that I have not shared many details with you about my trip to Greece this past August, that feels like so long ago. This frigid day feels like a perfect one to travel to warm, sunny Greece, if only in our minds.

One of the stand out moments of the trip was visiting the new Acropolis Museum which opened in July. It is almost more awe-inspiring then climbing to the top of the Acropolis. I can't even begin to imagine the overwhelming responsibility the Bernard Tschumi architects must have felt when they set out to design a museum that honors the Acropolis and sits just 300 meters from it (check out the reflection of the Parthenon in the glass windows of the top level).

The top floor of the museum, The Parthenon Gallery, offers a 360-degree panoramic view of the Acropolis and modern Athens. This floor, which is made up of the rectangular Parthenon Gallery arranged around an indoor court, has exactly the same dimensions as the cella of the Parthenon and orients these marbles exactly as they were placed at the Parthenon centuries ago.


It's incredible to be so close reliefs, statues, pottery, etc from the 5th century BC that you could reach out and touch it; but of course you can't actually touch it because there are museum guards stalking the place. But it is all there, just an arms length away, with no ropes or glass standing between you and all of that history. All of the articles inside the museum, including the pediments and frieze from the Parthenon, are the real deal. The government decided to remove the statues and marbles from the Acropolis and house them within the museum to prevent and further decay caused by the weather. The created replicas of the statues and placed these replicas on the Acropolis site.

I can go on all about how much I loved the museum, I was practically walking around with my jaw hanging open, but what I really wanted to share with you today was the work of Greek graphic designer Elena Zournatzi. What does she have to do with the new Acropolis Museum, you ask? Elena created many of the designs you see on products sold in the museum gift shop. I know you might be rolling you eyes when you hear museum gift shop but trust me the stuff is amazing.

I was really wowed by the items sold at the museum shop. It lacks the cheesy plastic magnets and pens that you would expect to see and instead contains some really beautiful pottery, mugs, dishes, scarves, and jewelry. I wish I was able to find a better photo of the dishes because they were my favorite items in the shop. I love how Elena was able to take such classic designs and create really modern tableware. I also loved her representation of the Caryatid's braid for the back of the t-shirts. I really wish I snagged one of those.

In addition to her work for the museum, Elena also created the windows for Hermes in Athens which contain her whimsical illustrations representing Greek folklore. She has also created these great wallpaper patterns inspired by regions and islands of Greece.

I'm always super interested to learn about designers living Greece because I hope to spend much more time there but I am really not familiar with the Greek design aesthetic. If you know of any Greek designers, interior, graphics, or otherwise, please pass their information along to me.

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Photo Credits: All illustrations courtesy of Elena Zournatzi's website, Photos of the Acropolis Museum courtesy of Me

Happy Post-Holiday Monday

I'm dragging my feet a bit this today, how are you doing? Even though there were two full post holiday recovery days I'm still not ready to be back at work in full swing.

Christmas went of without a hitch. We had a nice mixed group of friends and family over for a traditional Cuban dinner (well almost traditional, we served roast pork not the entire pig) on Christmas Eve. How did you celebrate your Christmas?

Last minute table setting thrown together with Mom's Christmas dishes, paper napkins from Ikea, a large piece of vintage fabric from my stash, and a simple silver ornament. I was surprised by how fun and festive it looked and I loved all of the patterns together.

Milo was tuckered out from all of the excitement and revelry. Fun was had by all.

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Merry Christmas to All

The tree is trimmed...

Presents have been made...

All of the gifts are wrapped...

Cookies are baked and soon the meal preparation will begin. Just one more run to grocery store to pick up those last few items and this house will be all ready for Christmas. Hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday. I'm taking the next few days but will be back to chat with you again soon.

Is Design Evolution one of your favorite daily reads? Take a moment and leave a vote for AT's 2009 Homies Award.

Rollin with the Homies

Holy Crap! Pardon my French but that was the first thing to come out of my mouth when I found out that one of my sweet blogging friends nominated this blog for Apartment Therapy's The Homies 2009 shelter blog awards. While I know I'm a tiny little fish in a very large pond it still made my day to know that someone took the time to nominate me. My list of favorites is quickly growing, you can find them here. And if you like to vote for Design Evolution in the Home Design category, you do that here.

P.S. Did you hear that Brittany Murphy died? How sad is that? Clueless is still one of my favorite movies so the title of this post is a little nod to our dearly departed Brittany. "...And my buns, they don't feel nothin' like steel."

DIY Christmas Doily Wreath

My home is starting to look more Christmasy and I'm getting that warm and fuzzy holiday feeling. Last night I finally made a successful batch of Fleur de Sel caramels (thank you amazing digital candy thermometer) and brainstormed a great gift for Nick so some of the holiday stress is starting to lift.

I kept the Christmas decorating in our home pretty simple this year but I was able to find the time to squeeze in one crafty project. The idea for this wreath comes from Martha Stewart, however, is it just me or are they step by step instructions on that website never 100% clear? Here are my quick and dirty instructions so that you will also be able to make this lovely wreath.

Materials:

one 16" and one 12" wire wreath form (I scaled down Martha's 30" version)

24 gauge floral wire

2 strands of battery operated LED twinkle lights - 40 bulbs in total

low temp hot glue gun

white ribbon

doilylike paper bouquet holders known as "Biedermeiermanschetten" found at germanplaza.com, you will need the following sizes:

6.4" will need 3 - 5

4.8" will need 11

3.2" will need 22 - 24

Instructions:

-Attach the two wire forms at 8 points along the frames with the floral wire

-You may want to spray paint the frame white so that it doesn't show though the final product but I was lazy and skipped this step.

-Wrap the frame with the two strands of lights. Attach the battery packs for the lights to the back of the frame with floral wire.

-Begin arranging the paper bouquet holders around the frame, starting with the larger sizes first. Insert a light bulb into the center of each bouquet holder.

-Once all of the bouquet holders are arranged, use small dots of hot glue to secure them to the frame and to the adjacent bouquet holders. 

-You may notice that once every bulb has a doily attached to it your wreath will look a bit lopsided and there are gaps that need to be filled. Use any remaining 3.2" bouquet holder to fill in the gaps.

-Attach a piece of white ribbon to the top of the frame so that you can hang your lovely wreath.

I attempted to take a picture of the wreath at night when it was lit up but I was unsuccessful. You'll just have to trust me that it is really cute. I love how the doilies are arranged a bit random and haphazard though I'm sure Martha's was a perfectly arranged circle.

I just spotted this simple wreath on Sweet Paul that you could create using a wreath form and old family photos. If you don't want to use your originals photographs you can make photo copies on heavy weight paper and glue them to the frame.

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Free Download - 2010 Planner

*Visit this post for the 2011 planner*

In case anyone noticed, yes I did let my 1 year "blog anniversary" come and go with out any pomp and circumstance. I was trying to hold off having a celebration until I had some news but it looks like big changes to Design Evolution won't be coming until the new year. Look out for a design overhaul, new topics, refined content, and more. Until then, I wanted to say thank you to the readers who have stuck with me for this first year of getting my footing and finding my place. As a token of my appreciation, I created a free 2010 planner download for you, my lovely readers.

Click here to Download your 2010 planner

The pages of the pdf are set up so that when you print it double-side and fold in half all of the months will be in the correct order. I recommend using 1 sheet of card stock for the cover so that it is nice and sturdy. Enjoy and feel free to print out a bunch to give as gifts to friends and coworkers.

Helpful Tip: If you are attempting to print this planner double-sided and the pages are printing so that one page is upside down in reference to the other check your printing properties and make sure it set to print Landscape and select "Flip on Short Edge". This option can either be found in the Layout or the Finishing Tab.

*For personal, non-commercial use only.

Related Post:

Free Download - Holiday Cards

Free Download - Fall Plaid Napkin Wraps

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2009 Gift Guide - The Host/Hostess

How was your weekend? Saturday was all about shopping and Sunday was a fun afternoon baking Christmas cookies with my mom, aunt, and cousin. I've been having trouble finding my Christmas mojo this year so Sunday evening mom, Nick and I watch Miracle on 34th Street. This is hands down my favorite holiday movie so it definitely help lifts my spirits a bit. Anyone else feeling a holiday funk this year?

I don't want to bring down the group, lets talk about something fun eh? I'm sure your schedule is quickly filling up with holiday parties hosted by your office, friends, and family. I usually bake or bring a small appetizer to the party but there are always few overly gracious hosts that want you to show up empty handed ready to party. I hate showing up anywhere empty handed so I put together of list of things that I think any host/hostess would appreciate but come nowhere near breaking the bank.

1. english breakfast 2. winter beverages 3. speed bike 4. hello vase

1. olivewood untensils 2. salt & pepper pots 3. sugar & cream 4. butter keeper

1. jute bags 2. glitzy rings 3. woven tray 4. teak rings

*Bonus - That butter keeper from Anthropologie is on sale for only $8! I had to get myself one.

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Happy Festival of Lights to All

Hanerot Halalu to all those who begin their Hanukkah celebration this evening. While I'm not Jewish, browsing through the menorah collection at Jonathan Adler does make me wish I had a reason to have eight candles burning bright.

They are undeniably hip and fun and would make a great gift. The utopia man & woman set is completely modular so the rest of the year you can break up the pieces and display them in different locations throughout your home.
Happy Hanukkah! (and now I have that Adam Sandler song stuck in my head)

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Valerie Pasquiou, Interior Designer & Stylist

Before I get into talking about the girl crush I have developed on Valerie Pasquiou, I'd like to take a moment to tell you how much I am enjoying Loft Life magazine. It's the first shelter magazine I've come across in awhile that I actually want to READ front to back. I know a magazine about loft life attracts a specific audience so if you are not generally interested in urban loft style living you may not think to pick it up. I'd like to encourage you to check it out anyway. The writing is fantastic and stories are really interesting, take this months look into Wilco's Chicago studio recording space. It's a much more than a "look at pictures of pretty and extremely expensive homes" magazine. The website is great too. They often expand upon stories in the magazine with more photos online and have some decent blog contributers.



Now for the real subject of today's post - Valerie Pasquiou. I was instantly drawn to the photos of her home (thank you tumblr) before I even knew who they belonged to. Once I read the interview with her I was instantly smitten. Valerie shares so many of the same theories what it takes to be an interior designer as I do. She talks about how important the chemistry behind a designer and their client is, how you must be extremely attentive and a good listener, and how overly polished homes lack character and personality.

My favorite part of the interview was where she discussed her distaste for homes with a "showroom look". Valerie believes the two most important factors in interior design are staying true to the personality of the client and a willingness to keep pieces they are attached to. You have to tell the story of the person who lives there and this is what will gives the space personality. I recommend that you check out the entire interview. It can be found the Loft Life website here.

Photo Credit: Tom Ackerman for Loft Life

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New Products at Ferm Living

I know all of you out there are completely smitten with the wallpapers and wall stickers that Ferm Living creates which is why I'm so excited to share the company's new line of products.

The totally redesigned website now features pillows, tableware, tea towels, mobiles and more. All of this in addition to new wallpaper and wall sticker designs. I picked out a few of my favorites to share but it's all great.


You can find a catalog with all of the new products, including the Ferm Living KIDS line, here.

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Toast - Fall '09 House and Home

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Favorite Post of the Week - December 3, 2009

How could not love a blog who's tagline is "If Decor is Your Porn, This is Your Blog." My favorite post for this week is from Decorno. It's a silly one as all of my favorite posts of the week have been so far. What can I say? I'm a silly girl and stuff like this makes me happy.

Care to share the blog posts that you couldn't get enough of this week?

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Favorite Post of the Week, Part Deux

Favorite Post of the Week

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Free Download - Holiday Cards

Now that Thanksgiving is over I can start focusing on Christmas, my brain can only deal with one holiday at a time. First item on the list is getting those holiday cards in the mail. Since I have a lot of friends that celebrate holidays other than Christmas I usually skip the Merry Christmas cards and stick to those that say Happy Holidays. If you do the same I created some sweet and simple holiday cards that you can print out to your hearts content.

Click this link to download the Holiday Cards

I'm having a lot of fun creating these free downloads so expect more to come in the near future. Though I think I need to work on the digital mock-ups of the downloads. They never look as nice as actual download does.

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Free Download - Fall Plaid Napkin Wraps

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