Tag: reflects

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Downtown loft reflects owner’s passion for art and design | Home & Garden

The spacious downtown loft of stylist/salon owner Steve Lacy is a perfect reflection of his personal style and the things he loves. He moved in less than a year ago and has spent a great deal of time since making the space feel like home. Located in the Bankers Lofts building, its open layout and significant square footage, particularly for a one-bedroom, instantly drew him in.

Lacy had been living in another, smaller loft downtown and considering a move to Houston before finding the apartment. When he decided to stay in St. Louis, he started looking for a new permanent home online, but his search ended the moment he walked into the loft.

“I wasn’t even out the door and had the application filled out,” he laughs. “When I saw it, I knew it had my name written all over it. I never had enough space to display my art.”

The large living space allowed Lacy to create several seating areas for relaxing and entertaining, and even have a real dining “room” in addition to the kitchen island. This, he says, is a departure from many of the newer-built one-bedroom lofts, which tend to be much smaller.

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“You might barely get a couch and a chair and a couple barstools in there,” he says of other spaces he saw. “I have plenty of room to have my furniture displayed, plenty of room to move around. I like to entertain, too, so everyone can sit and chill.”

Enormous windows fill the far wall of the living room, overlooking Washington Avenue and flooding the space with natural light. High wood beamed ceilings with exposed ductwork and polished concrete floors are hallmarks of loft living.

Lacy has filled the space with a mix of contemporary furniture and accessories purchased at various favorite retailers including Restoration Hardware, Arhaus, Wayfair, Etsy and Amazon.

“I like a modern look with an eclectic feel,” he says. “The couch is sort of traditional, but then I like to pair something odd with it — whatever reflects me. I just keep moving it around until I like how it looks.”







At Home with Steve Lacy

 A vibrant piece of art infused on metal in a splatter-painted frame that Lacy acquired at a gallery in Houston hang in the entry foyer.




Self-described as “obsessed with coffee table books,” Lacy has a huge collection that is displayed on nearly every surface, mostly focused on topics of art and design.

A long wall stretching all the way from the end of the living room down the hallway to the bedroom area makes the perfect gallery for Lacy’s favorite framed prints, canvases and posters that he’s collected over the years — mostly by Black artists or reflecting Black culture. A favorite is an ornately framed black and white photograph by American photographer Gordon Parks depicting three women protesting segregation.

Lining either side of the hallway is Lacy’s collection of framed movie posters from some of his favorite films, as well framed Playbills from productions he attended of “Dreamgirls” and “The Color Purple.”

The bedroom suite is tucked away at the back of the loft, separated from the main living space, making it serene and quiet. With a walk-in closet and large bathroom, it provides a relaxing retreat. A tall, glass display case houses another of Lacy’s obsessions — cologne — with numerous collectible bottles of his favorite fragrances carefully arranged on its shelves.

In addition to its convenient location, the building offers a small fitness room and two shared rooftop deck areas with grills and seating for outdoor entertaining city-style. Now that he’s fully settled, Lacy couldn’t be happier with the move, and has enjoyed meeting some of his neighbors.

“I like the space and I was able to put together my own style and have enough room,” he says. “I’ve lived a lot of places downtown, and this finally feels comfortable.”







At Home with Steve Lacy

Steve Lacy poses for a portrait in his home in downtown St. Louis next to his window which looks out onto Washington Avenue on Monday, May 23, 2022. Photo by Zachary Clingenpeel, zclingenpeel@post-dispatch.com




Occupation • Salon owner and stylist at Christopher Stevens the Salon

Home • Bankers Lofts, Downtown St. Louis

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OPEN Architecture’s design for Shanfeng Academy reflects Suzhou’s garden heritage

Imagined as a new cultural hub within an upcoming district in the city of Suzhou, China, the recently revealed design of the Shanfeng Academy by Beijing and New York-based firm OPEN Architecture has been conceived as an intervention in educational architecture that builds a bridge between the region’s heritage as well as its aims for the future. The project’s role in this regard is to serve as the focal point of a campus for a new K-12 international school, catering to a cohort of nearly 2,000 students. In tandem with this fundamental purpose, the development is also expected to function as an interface between the institution and the larger urban realm around it by granting the public access to some of its facilities when the school is out of session.



The project has been imagined as an interface between a new international school and the larger urban realm around it | Shanfeng Academy | OPEN Architecture | STIRworld
The project has been imagined as an interface between a new international school and the larger urban realm around it Image: Courtesy of OPEN Architecture


As per the architects, this institutional design venture leans into Suzhou’s history as a city that was heavily associated with high culture and refinement. Throughout the ages, numerous reputed scholars, artists, and writers have been drawn to the serene natural beauty of its gardens and their adherence to Chinese ideals of balance and harmony. These principles, coupled with the prevalence of elements such as Gongshi, also known as scholar’s rocks, traditional paving arrangements, and the astute introduction of water features constitute the essence of traditional landscape design in Suzhou. Tying this aesthetic sensibility to the final structure was a prime concern throughout the design process, in order for the project to cement itself as a significant addition to the evolving metropolis of modern-day Suzhou.



OPEN Architecture resolved to split up the project’s massing into a set of five buildings broken up by gardens and covered walkways | Shanfeng Academy | OPEN Architecture | STIRworld
OPEN Architecture resolved to split up the project’s massing into a set of five buildings broken up by gardens and covered walkways Image: Courtesy of OPEN Architecture


Li Hu and Wenjing Huang, Co-Founders of OPEN Architecture share their thoughts on the design in an official statement saying, “Finding radical strategies to deal with complex challenges through a practical outlook, while creating architecture that is poetic in spirit and deeply connected to local cultural traditions, was at the heart of this project.” To this end, the new complex will contain a library, an art centre, a gymnasium, a swimming pool, a grand theatre with a capacity of 1000, a black box theatre, as well as a forum. In this respect, the project treads an intriguing line between public space and private institutions, by taking advantage of the amenities housed within it to connect with local communities. On surveying the extent of the venture and ascertaining the necessary level of density needed for the diverse functions it would need to perform, the Chinese architecture practice resolved to configure the layout as a set of five individual buildings broken up by courtyards and covered walkways that knit the development together into a cohesive whole.



  • As evidenced by the Autumn Garden, the system of landscaped spaces throughout the concept has been themed around the four seasons | Shanfeng Academy | OPEN Architecture | STIRworld
    As evidenced by the Autumn Garden, the system of landscaped spaces throughout the concept has been themed around the four seasons Image: Courtesy of OPEN Architecture






  • A system of covered walkways knits the complex together while providing shelter from the elements | Shanfeng Academy | OPEN Architecture | STIRworld
    A system of covered walkways knits the complex together while providing shelter from the elements Image: Courtesy of OPEN Architecture



Hence, this decision dealt away with the prospect of having to house all the project’s functions within a single massive building, while also allowing for a greater degree of segregation between the development’s varied range of users extending from kindergarteners to high school students. “By breaking down the mass and pulling them apart, voids are created in the form of four gardens and semi-outdoor spaces,” notes OPEN Architecture.



  • The Winter Garden - each garden space features plants that have selected to reflect transience in nature | Shanfeng Academy | OPEN Architecture | STIRworld
    The Winter Garden – each garden space features plants that have selected to reflect transience in nature Image: Courtesy of OPEN Architecture






  • The Summer Garden | Shanfeng Academy | OPEN Architecture | STIRworld
    The Summer Garden Image: Courtesy of OPEN Architecture



The gardens separating the built forms have been themed around each of the four seasons, with links in circulation conferred by covered walkways that shield users from the seasonal heavy rains of Suzhou. Each garden features plants that have been specially selected to represent transience in nature, in accordance with their respective theme while also referencing norms in the region’s traditional landscape architecture. “The gardens act as buffer zones between high-density masses, reflecting Suzhou’s own garden heritage,” explains the design team. Additionally, the development also contains an unnamed fifth garden along the rooftops of the walkways, which have been decorated with tall grasses and herbs. This zone is connected to the wing hosting the classrooms by means of a short bridge.



  • The development will contain a library, an art, centre, and a forum in addition to a host of other facilities | Shanfeng Academy | OPEN Architecture | STIRworld
    The development will contain a library, an art, centre, and a forum in addition to a host of other facilities Image: Courtesy of OPEN Architecture






  • Staircase leading to the Grand Theatre | Shanfeng Academy | OPEN Architecture | STIRworld
    Staircase leading to the Grand Theatre Image: Courtesy of OPEN Architecture



Aligning with OPEN Architecture’s propensity towards sculpted, monolithic structures that exude a sense of monumentality and subtle elegance, the conceptual massing on-site possesses all the qualities necessary for a landmark when viewed from afar. Board-formed white concrete will be the primary material medium used to realise these structures – its weight and muted texture contributing to the visually imposing appearance of the complex. However, inside the development, the complex play of levels and enclosure seen throughout serves to mediate the sense of scale, making the entire experience more intimate and relatable for users. This relatively unostentatious palette honours the white-wall-grey-roof structures in Suzhou’s traditional architecture, placing emphasis on the contrasts between geometric and curvilinear forms as well as the numerous voids and fenestrations that puncture their façade designs.



  • The Forum | Shanfeng Academy | OPEN Architecture | STIRworld
    The Forum Image: Courtesy of OPEN Architecture






  • The Grand Theatre and gymnasium | Shanfeng Academy | OPEN Architecture | STIRworld
    The Grand Theatre and gymnasium Image: Courtesy of OPEN Architecture



Natural light and ventilation have also been prioritised in the design, to minimise energy consumption and maintain thermal comfort indoors. While conceptualising the campus plan, the architects worked in close conjunction with the local design institute to ensure that the campus centre would be located on the main street itself. To cement its links to the streetscape outside, a café and a courtyard will be placed along the street on the ground floor near the pick up and drop off area, adding a commercial component to the program. With construction already underway, the design team reflects on their long term aspirations for the project, mentioning: “We hope that this campus centre can become a new type of cultural hub, combining the city’s rich cultural heritage with the contemporary dimension of this newly urbanised neighbourhood.”



  • The project is currently under construction, and the architects hope that it will become a new type of cultural hub within Suzhou in the years after its completion | Shanfeng Academy | OPEN Architecture | STIRworld
    The project is currently under construction, and the architects hope that it will become a new type of cultural hub within Suzhou in the years after its completion Image: Courtesy of OPEN Architecture






  • Board-formed white faced concrete is the primary material used for the building envelopes, paying tribute to Suzhou’s traditional architecture | Shanfeng Academy | OPEN Architecture | STIRworld
    Board-formed white faced concrete is the primary material used for the building envelopes, paying tribute to Suzhou’s traditional architecture Image: Courtesy of OPEN Architecture



Project Details

Name: Shanfeng Academy

Location: Suzhou, China

Building Area: 13,676 sqm

Design Timeline: 2020-2022 

Status: Under construction

Client: Mountain Education Group

Program: Library, Art Center, Gymnasium, Swimming Pool, Grand Theater, Black Box Theater, Forum, Gardens

Architects: OPEN

Principals in Charge: LI Hu, HUANG Wenjing

Project Team: SHI Bingjie, Daijiro Nakayama, JIA Ke, Ye Qing, FAN Jianglong (on site), Giovanni Zorzi, HUANG Zetian, WANG Fengya, SHOU Chengbin, Crystal Kwan, LU Di, TANG Ziqiao, JIA Han, CAI Zhuoqun, CHEN Ruipeng

 Local Design Institute: Tongji Architectural Design (Group) Co., Ltd.

 Landscape Design: OPEN + Z’scape

 Theatre & Acoustic Consultant: JH Theatre Architecture Design Consulting Company

Lighting Consultant: Gradient Lighting Design Inc.

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Sonoma County’s Knights Bridge Winery production facility reflects sustainability commitment

Design of a new manufacturing constructing on the grounds of the Knights Bridge Winery positioned at 17134 Spencer Lane near Calistoga began in January 2020 is the latest in a collection of enlargement jobs that in the beginning bundled a hospitality middle, wine caves and a barn.

The 14,000-sq.-foot Sonoma County facility opened Nov. 5, ready to make an approximated collective full of 10,000 situations of cabernet sauvignon, sauvignon blanc and chardonnay per 12 months.

Found on the west facet of the Knights Valley appellation, the vintner’s assets has a practically 100-acre winery nestled near the base of Mt. St. Helena, at an elevation from 300 to 900 ft.

This spot is identified for acquiring the warmest climate amongst Sonoma County 18 sub-appellations, and is also a single of the smallest, with only 2,000 acres planted in vines.

According Knights Bridge Vineyard web page, the present proprietors are: Essel Bailey, Menakka Bailey, Tom Costin, Cindy Costin, Jim Bailey and Kelley Bailey.

“As stewards of the land, the proprietors of Knights Bridge are dedicated to continuing their effectively-established sustainable agricultural tactics and functions to ensure there is no adverse impression on the special rural mother nature of its environment,” mentioned Debi Leal, president of the Knights Bridge Vineyard.

“Our hope is that our stewardship of the vineyards, the compact above-floor footprint of the fermentation barn, and superior drinking water-conserving and processing ideas can display that agriculture, the wine business and sustainable preservation of our normal methods can not only coexist but prosper to much better our communities.”

Job parts in the winery manufacturing setting up contain crush, fermentation and storage operations. The building is “stepped” into the hillside and situated at the entrance to the caves. This composition features a metal and glass wall going through north to look at Mt. St. Helena.

In addition, the in depth community of caves presents additional manufacturing space, barrel getting old and also a tour route by way of the mountain to a cave office environment and tasting constructing constructed all over a under grade courtyard backyard and light nicely.

Building resources were chosen for compatibility with native hues on internet site. The creating has strong and desirable siding and natural coloured concrete walls, as very well as steel and glass home windows and doors. It also has a corrugated steel roof in a shade the blends perfectly with the purely natural features that serve as a backdrop to the winery.

The business office and tasting creating have pure plaster walls and had been manufactured under grade with a deep soil indigenous grass and wildflower stepped planter roof overhead. Once again, metal and glass partitions frame a sunken courtyard with ample daylight. The landscape idea is minimalist and in trying to keep with the pristine Knights Valley’s oak woodlands and surrounding vineyards.

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New Pin-Up Art and Home Decor Brand Reflects the Beauty of Black Women

Pinup artwork, born in the period of madmen, has very long had a range challenge that has possibly misrepresented or completely disregarded Black gals.

For this motive, premiere pinup artist, Thee JP Smith, has launched Betty D’Minx, a Black-owned line of pinup artwork solutions that superbly mirror Black girls.

Betty D’Minx models are created and curated for partitions, tables, and bodies via eye-catching wall art and dialogue-starting up dinnerware with more products releases slated for early 2022.

The layouts signify the unrepresented as people look for reflections of by themselves in the points they really like. Persons can beautify their areas and sites in a fashion they appreciate with gorgeous reflections in a style where by Black/BIPOC ladies are rarely witnessed.

A decades-extended diversity issue lastly becoming resolved

Thee JP Smith suggests that his intention is to interject inspirational visions of melanated elegance into the vintage iconography of pinup artwork. This assortment has been 14 years in the making. Smith has quietly honed his capabilities and mastered his craft with the love of ebony beauties as his muse. When dismissed, now Smith persists with launching a pinup brand in collaboration with ladies for lovers of pinup artwork.

Smith has watched artists’ function be completely labeled ‘urban’ for many years, despite the furnished backstories, inspirations, and narratives because the subjects and muses were Black and Brown girls.

“Through the years and three providers, we’ve constructed this place to present like and uplift ladies who truly feel unseen, unheard, unloved, undesired, and undesirable. We see you, and we know you enjoy Pinup just as a lot, if not additional than we do. Black women of all ages are rarely seen as tender, loving, and tender in community. We’re more than powerful, sassy, or righteously offended women of all ages trudging through existence with our family members and the entire world on our shoulders,” says Erika Parker-Smith, Betty D’Minx’s Chief “Badass & Innovative Director.”

Far more than just for walls

Betty D’Minx is for those people who desire to see themselves or the females they adore mirrored in the Pinup Art they really like. Every single scene encapsulates tender, solitary moments conveying colorful narratives rarely illustrated with such present day type and grace. The patterns are produced and curated for walls, tables, and bodies via eye-catching wall artwork and discussion-starting up dinnerware with more item releases slated for early 2022.

For extra info, pay a visit to BettyDMinx.com

This story to start with appeared on Blacknews.com.

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In a lecture at the Nasher, photographer Renee Cox reflects on her trailblazing career

“Why are you waiting around for the environment to validate you?”

In her Oct. 28 lecture hosted by the Nasher Museum, artist Renee Cox reflected on the power this quotation experienced on her. Stuck in a depressive, mid-lifetime slump, she realized that her total lifetime experienced been invested wanting to you should others and waiting around to be praised. This revelation not only taught her how to regulate her negative feelings, but served as the inspiration for her assortment “The Discreet Allure of the Bougie.” 

“The Housewife Missy at Dwelling,” which is now on display screen at the Nasher Museum, serves as the introduction into the daring, assumed-provoking collection. In the photograph, Cox sits on an orange sofa, surrounded by decadent interior style, her Poodle and a white maid. This is the institution of Missy, the character followed in the course of the collection. Cox’s development arrived from her need to craft the antithesis of the stereotypical frustrated, emotionally struggling Black females normally depicted in the media. 

All through the series, we see Missy lounging poolside, cigarette in hand, blowing smoke out of her mouth with a feeling of melancholy. We see her among school buses, in the supermarket, and even traveling to other nations, with her looking as if her existence is crumbling all around her. Cox described that this portrayal of depression in gals is usually observed entirely with white people. Black women of all ages in crisis are frequently shown in a derogatory fashion, battling in crack houses and signing up for the most affordable of modern society. By this juxtaposition, she rejects this stereotype although also expressing her own feelings. 

Cox is no stranger to challenging racism and sexism. She started as a vogue photographer functioning in New York, a occupation that remaining her not happy soon after knowing how blissfully ignorant her peers have been about racial inequities. Leaving a earth the place persons would instead discuss about the divorce of Donald and Ivana Trump than the launch of Nelson Mandela, Cox enrolled in the College of Visual Arts to discover her desire in images. At this time, Cox was also using on motherhood and exploring a passion for Black background and culture. She resolved that the focus of her profession would be on switching the stereotypes of Black persons and producing “uplifting” art —“taking it to yet another dimension,” as the artist described it. 

In 1994, expecting with her 2nd youngster, her function was exhibited at the Whitney Museum of Artwork, producing it not only a major instant in her early job, but also the 1st time the museum highlighted a expecting artist. Although confronted with preexisting notions involving the harmony of household and career, Cox realized that she could locate fulfillment both of those with her particular and experienced daily life, relatively than obtaining to prioritize just one particular. That exact yr, one of her most famed pieces, “Yo Mama,” was unveiled. A celebration of Black motherhood, femininity, and toughness, this stays 1 of her most recognizable pieces. 

As her little ones grew, Cox recognized that there was a deficiency of Black illustration in the superhero style. She determined to make her own Black superhero, a heroine named Raje. Encouraged by Marvel Woman’s Black sister, Nubia, Cox poses as the superhero in the streets of New York, sitting down on major of the Statue of Liberty, and freeing the caricatures of Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben from their offensive caricatures in the most recognizable piece from the collection, “The Liberation of Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben.”

These days, immediately after an already satisfying images career centered about motherhood, race, and mental health and fitness, the artist is planning an exhibition in her current household of the Hamptons with the objective of introducing Black artwork to the location. Whilst the official lineup of artists has not yet been determined, her existing podcast “Ring the Alarm” functions numerous artists who will most probably be included in the exhibit, this kind of as Shinique Smith, Derrick Adams, Sanford Biggers, and more. 

At the end of her lecture, Cox reminded the viewers: “Don’t make monotonous shit, there’s currently adequate boring shit out there!” 

“The Housewife Missy at Home” is at the moment on display screen at the Nasher Museum as aspect of “In Relation to Electricity: Politically Engaged Works from the Assortment,” jogging via February 2022.