Face Time: men in design

barclay butera

darryl carter

nate berkus

miles redd

thomas o'brien

todd romano



Eric Cohler





John A. Thompson



GREEK is key

Our fascination with
 the Greek key motif has been a repetitive detail in many of the elements in design that  we find
essential in creating a warm and inviting space.
 The familiar pattern is an important classical motif of right angled and vertical lines that is a common design element in many of today's interiors.

In art and architecture, a meander or meandros[1] is a decorative border constructed from a continuous line, shaped into a repeated motif. Such a design is also called the Greek fret or Greek key design, although these are modern designations. On the one hand, the name "meander" recalls the twisting and turning path of the Maeander River in Asia Minor, and on the other hand, as Karl Kerenyi pointed out, "the meander is the figure of a labyrinth in linear form".[2] Among some Italians, these patterns are known as Greek Lines.




Meanders are common decorative elements in Greek art and Roman art. In ancient Greece they appear in many architectural friezes, and in bands on the pottery of ancient Greece from the Geometric Period onwards. The design is common to the present-day in classicizing architecture


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Greek key motif on Carnival glass

 

John Barman's interiors in the recent New York Spaces magazine

http://www.newyorkspacesmag.com/

the cut velevet on the sofa is from Clarence House

http://www.clarencehouse.com/

Available through the interior design trade only

The refined checkerboard of PLUSH BOXES introduces a strong graphic to the Pure collection, with a motif as classically appropriate as a Greek key design. A striae of linen, cotton and a touch of lustrous polyester forms the background grid for precise rectangles of plush velvet and alternating ridged squares, both woven with the viscose and silk warp.  The Greek key inspired textiles are from Mark Pollack's Autumn 2010 collection   http://www.pollackassociates.com/

(disambiguation)

The History of the Wunderkammer

Reflecting the Renaissance passion for exploration, German intellectuals and taste-makers paid cabinetmakers to custom-build Wunderkammer (rooms of marvels) and Kunstkammer (rooms of art), and similar structures were popular throughout Europe.

Travelers, scientists, and Renaissance men carefully collected objects representing the vast complexity of creation, showcasing their own encyclopedic knowledge of the world through their ownership of naturalia (natural oddities), artefacta (ancient objects), and scientifica (man-made instruments). Theowner of a Wunderkammer used his collection to assert dominance over the natural and human world, showcasing his intellect, experience and taste through the variety and complexity of his collection. Skeletons, insects, fossils, and bird’s nests were collected alongside works of art, scientific instruments, and ancient texts and artifacts. As the practice became popular, the emerging middle-class clamored for their own, smaller collections, and soon ready-made small cabinets of curiosities, often with secret compartments, pre-filled with curiosities, were available for purchase. Collections of this sort remained popular in the Baroque and Victorian periods.