NOIR Abbesses: A Chic Coffee Hideaway in Montmartre, Paris

Located in Paris’s vibrant Montmartre neighborhood, NOIR Abbesses coffee shop redefines café aesthetics through thoughtful, sculptural design. Architect Jessica Mille transforms a modest space into a visually compelling environment where form, texture, and material seamlessly merge.

Immediately captivating visitors is the cafe’s distinctive centerpiece, a dramatic rounded counter crafted from layers of polished wood topped with thick, softly curved marble. Its organic form invites tactile appreciation, creating a sense of intimacy and warmth.

The interior continues the theme with a harmonious selection of seating, stacked shapes echoing the counter design, made from richly veined marble, warm wood, and plush, burnt-orange fabric cushions....

Elevated Mountain Living with a Minimalist Twist

High on the wooded slopes of Mount Saint-Bruno in Quebec, there is a house that feels more like a quiet promise than a structure. The Montpellier II residence, conceived by Montreal-based studio Vives St-Laurent, is a lesson in how architecture can withdraw from spectacle and, in doing so, become unforgettable.

Laurence Ouimet-Vives and Lysanne St-Laurent, the duo behind Vives St-Laurent, are known for their sensitive approach to materiality and their talent for composing spaces that feel deeply human. In this project, they set out to build a home that honors the natural drama of its setting without overwhelming it. The result...

A Contemporary Sanctuary in Paros: Traditional Cycladic Architecture Meets Modern Luxury

On the slopes of Paros, a residence rises in quiet harmony with the land, combining the timeless language of Cycladic architecture with a contemporary approach to interior design. This private home, with interiors by Babatchas Design Studio, distills the essential qualities of the Greek islands into a calm and welcoming retreat. Each element has been chosen with care to support a life attuned to nature, simplicity, and comfort.

From a distance, the home appears as a series of whitewashed volumes stepping down the hillside. These geometric forms echo generations of Cycladic buildings, shaped by necessity and climate. Flat roofs, thick masonry...

Brom Residence by Atelier Carle: A Sculptural Refuge in the Laurentians

Tucked into the lush, rolling landscape of Quebec’s Laurentian Mountains, Brom Residence stands as a striking expression of contemporary architecture in dialogue with nature. Designed by Montreal-based Atelier Carle, this home is a sculptural response to its forested surroundings, capturing the quiet strength and serenity of the site without diminishing its raw presence.

At first approach, the building presents a powerful silhouette. Two long, horizontal volumes in concrete and wood stretch confidently across a natural clearing, anchored by a monumental fireplace that rises as a vertical marker in the composition. The geometries feel both precise and relaxed, shaped by a sensitivity...

A Message Drifts

https://amygoodchild.substack.com/embed

This series continues my explorations of the ways meaning can emerge from randomness. Each image is created using algorithmic systems that create the elements. There is an alphabet of symbols, a message generator and several approaches to glitch aesthetics. The result could be meaningful, or could be nonsense.

This article unpacks the components of the system: how the symbols are placed and distorted, how the sentences are constructed, and how variation is managed across the 3001 outputs. It also explores the underlying questions of what happens when randomness is shaped into something that feels like a message and...

Lou Fayo Flower Paintings

London-based Lou Fayo doesn’t just paint flowers, he orchestrates them into something beyond the ordinary, beyond the expected. These aren’t delicate arrangements fading quietly into the background; they demand attention, commanding the space with a presence that is ethereal yet unapologetically bold.

This debut series of oil paintings, hyperreal yet dreamlike, feels as though nature itself has been sculpted into permanence. Peonies and tulips, exploding in meticulous detail, hover between life and artifice, their velvety petals and thick buds teetering on the edge of something almost too perfect to be real. Fayo’s brushwork is obsessive, his compositions arresting, a study in...

A Cut Above: Eredi Zucca’s Milan Flagship Redefines the Art of Grooming

In the heart of Milan’s Quadrilatero della Moda, where fashion heritage meets forward-thinking design, Eredi Zucca’s new flagship barber shop is a masterclass in timeless masculinity and immersive spatial storytelling. Designed by The Guild of Saint Luke, the space is a tactile homage to centuries-old grooming rituals, reimagined with a contemporary lens.

Established in 1652, Eredi Zucca has long been synonymous with refined self-care. This new location elevates that legacy, inviting patrons into a sanctuary where every detail, from the Corinthian columns carved into black-paneled walls to the green marble countertops—speaks to a commitment to craftsmanship and tradition.

Beyond linen curtains and...

Adam F — Colours Revisited. Что не так с переизданием лучшего драм-н-бейс альбома

https://vk.com/video_ext.php?oid=393892

Рубрика «Нежданная рецензия года». Вспомнил, что Adam F перезаписывал Colours — одну из лучших драм-н-бейс пластинок вообще — и, вроде бы, новая версия должна быть на полках. Точно. Слушаю. И первое чувство: студийные сессии, которыми Фентон дразнил читателей в фейсбуке, казались гораздо интересней. Второе ощущение: после ста тыщь миллиона раз прослушанного оригинала ухо цепляется за все новшества, признавая их неродными. Все же Colours ‘97 года звучат выверенней.

Westfriedhof Station by Ingo Maurer – A colorful cave of light

1 Ingo Maurer – Lighting concept for Westfriedhof Station, 2001, installation view, Munich, Germany, photo: Public Delivery

Think of a subway station and what comes to mind is a dark and busy place, likely dirty and filled with old metal and concrete. Fortunately, there are exceptions to this. One of them is the colorful 1 and bright Westfriedhof Subway station in Munich, Germany, that departs from the common conception of subway stations 2 and instead bathes the visitor with colorful beauty.

What sets Westfriedhof apart is its lighting concept, developed by renowned designer Ingo Maurer 3. Red, blue and yellow lights shine...

Award Plaques for CMU’s STUDIO for Creative Inquiry

We recently created a set of sculptural award plaques for a new fund at The Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry at Carnegie Mellon University. The Moore Family Fund for underwriting creativity, knowledge, experimentation, research and yumminess will fund antidisciplinary undergraduate research (learn more here). Dan Moore (a senior technical artist at NVIDIA) commissioned us to design a unique set of perpetual award plaques that will hold the names of recipients over the next 75 years.

Typical award plaques are simple rectangular slabs with a grid of metal nameplates, each engraved year after year. We wanted to break away from...