Purple Elephants, Ugly Tables and Three Hotels in the Desert

Cadillac Ciel Concept
Let's just go ahead and talk about the purple elephant in the room, shall we? I'm talking about none other than the Cadillac Ciel Concept model. Its's quite possibly in the top 5 of my favorite cars of all time, and I just discovered it last week! Although personal taste may drive some away from this vehicle, it is undeniably a beautiful and well-designed car. Why? It brings together two different styles of car design and somehow makes them work. Those two styles being curves vs edges. Typically, a car will either be dominated by edges and have a very "sharp" look to it, or it will be "soft", with pleasant curves. This concept has both. Look at the side shot. The beam of the car is barely defined because it's one big soft curve. But the front end looks like Michael Bay designed it to replace his collusion truck! Here's another thing. Most cars are "segmented", in that the body is its own area, connected to but sperate from the bonnet and boot. But notice on this car...it all looks like it's one unit! The interior gets me every time I look at it. The "switch" between exterior and interior is so seamless, I have a hard time even distinguishing where it is. Again, creating one singular uni. Notice the use of the line as a tool to separate the different materials and sections. It is incredibly simple. No detail or widget is there that does not need to be.


Flower Vase
I noticed this flower vase while at work the other day, and it caught my eye in several ways (literally). From the close up pictures, it's a looped glass vase, shaped by 'offly proportionate' circles that are further offset as you proceed vertically. What you get is a horizontal set of lines that separate the loops, but also a vertical set of lines that shift and sway to the shape of the vase. No matter what way the light hits it, there are always 4 or 5 lines running top to bottom, and they are always moving. The vase is inanimate, but has characteristics of being alive and flowing. It's simple, elegant, and in a way, you could say it resembles the shape of a woman.

Jumeirah Beach Hotel
Forgetting the Burj Al Arab and the Burj Khalifa hotels for just a moment, this one has to be one of the greatest hotels I've ever seen! It is located in Dubai, Saudi Arabia... and has it's own harbor... need I say more? Okay, I will! It completely defies what a hotel is supposed to look like. Square? No. Straight? No. What is it in the shape of? A FREAKING OCEAN WAVE. Google it and look at it straight from the side. Its a wave. SO CLEVER. I added the third picture to exploit the curve to the building, which adds an incredible dynamic of movement and flow. Notice how it is shaped thin, so that there are more rooms with an outside view. The curves on the ends are exact oposites and negatively mirror each other. The glass outer shell gives it a mirror-like refection.

That Poor Table...

Celebrated architect, Zaha Hadid has designed quite a few things, ranging from buildings to now, apparently tables. The only problem is... it's not very nice.

It's bright, it's shiny, it's primary red....and it's friggin' tilted.

I picture this table being housed in an apartment with gleaming white walls covered in Keith Hearing prints. It's simple. It's unexpected. But it misses the core...being a working table.