I am a firm believer that there are virtually no new advances in form, form-making and spatial readings since The Renaissance. The only new ideas come from how to clothe space in material and atmosphere. The major readings of new buildings can be traced back to the structures of recent and ancient history.

On the left is a very interesting book that I picked up years ago, is Possible Palladian Villas, by George Hersey and Richard Freedman, is an interesting documentation of a rigiorous formula for space-making, as dictated by the formal rules of existing Palladian geometries. On the right is an axon of House III, by Peter Eisenman. Eisenman is the master of formal operations and his work can be very strongly compared with Palladio’s. At the time, the idea of using the formal operations to generate space was at the forefront of modern architecture. It was not; however, a new idea that had never been explored.

Opening a bottle of wine is often either a chore or a challenge, requiring far more cunning than braun. But when you have a corkscrew as articulated as the Jasper Morrison’s Socrates Corkscrew by Alessi, you might as well be using a 50′ crane. I love the straight industrial lines and joints as a contrast to the more popular curved ergonomic shapes of today’s corkscrews and kitchen gadgets.

Now that it’s warm outside, companies release their Summer/Fall lines and Lakai released their new collection and one of the fun ones is the Belmont: Royal Family Edition. How can you go wrong with houndstooth?

The Ashford by éS is a great chiller. Though hard to find, it’s got a slim profile and the stamped éS logo on the perforated leather on the upper is a great little touch.

Oksana Badrak is an immensely talented illustrator and art director. Her work flows through and through with the ethereal and surreal quality that exists only in dreams. Take a moment to visit her site and her Feathered Friends” piece (right) at Thumbtack Press.

The Ancient Book of Myth and War by Scott Morse, Lou Ramano, Don Shank and Nate Wragg is a great showcase of their character illustrations. Each spread outlines one myth and one illustration. Shown is one of Scott Morse’s illustrations of the inciting of war. You can keep tabs on Scott at his blog.

The Lands of Lore Series from Habitat is another great series showcasing the bold 2D graphics for which they are so well known. I especially like the Danny Garcia mask and the Brian Wenning Sherwood Forrest graphics.

Definitely check out Andy Howell and his super heavy site. Howell was an original member of Underworld Element way way back (remember Skypager and Fine Artists Vol. 1?) and did the graphics work for Sophisto clothing as well. He is still going strong and released his first monograph, Art,Skateboarding and Life.

The Emerica Ridgemont is a nice little slip-on that’s been around for a few seasons. They usually do a few simple colorways and one or two freaky ones. I posted the FOS colorway before. These New Ridgemonts glow in the dark.

I love the subtractive faceted surface of the Salviati Battutto Vases. Combine that with the glow of a candle within and it assumes an almost reptilian skin. Simply beautiful.