High atop a building’s roof in Tel Aviv, ephemeral pavilions resemble a colony of high-tech shelters for ‘glamping’ enthusiasts. On the other side of the world, multi-hued, vertically suspended canvas panels, like Joseph’s coat of many colors, create a shelter that’s a contemporary riff on the Bedouin nomadic tent. Another structure is a serpentine nest of braided rope that looks like the …

Imagine exploring the emerald waters of the warm Arabian Gulf, where diverse coral reef ecosystems of purple sea anemones and beckoning sponges hide vibrant clownfish and steely moray eels. A sea turtle swims nonchalantly by your floor to ceiling glass walls – an underwater panorama viewed from your master bedroom and Jacuzzi bathtub! Welcome to The Floating Seahorse. 42 luxurious, floating …

More Than Just A Façade: Dip-Tech Integrates Bold Design With Functional Architecture In Moscow, a lush 3-D forest of dense green trees reaches the rooftop and encircles the AFIMall, a new retail and entertainment center. Folded faux marbleized pages jut out across the Paris Barclay Bank exterior like gigantic cutout origami fans. From airport and subway murals, hotel lobbies and …

Designer, Omer Arbel Combines Alchemy and Science To Produce Interdisciplinary Magic From different perspectives, one sees amorphous cumulus clouds or a colony of opaque jellyfish, each alive with their own bright light. At night, they resemble benign icebergs – no fear of colliding – because they are trapped in fabric and suspended from the ceiling on braided coaxial cable. This …

When Seth Rogen, Steven Spielberg or Channing Tatum are on location, what celebrity digs do they call home? When Calgary-based film production co-ordinator, Kim Goddard-Rains was asked to scout 25 luxury properties from which character, Hugh Glass, aka Leonardo DiCapprio, shooting The Revenant in Calgary, would select a celebrity home rental accommodation, she worked day and night from a long list of requirements. “It’s an …

Like a time traveler flying back and forth straddling ancient cultures German carpet designer, Jan Kath has captured the best of all worlds as a “couturier for floors.” Playing with long established hand-knotted techniques with reverence to bygone motifs, he skews rules of composition and color to create contemporary carpets that are so striking you might prefer to hang them …

A modern Alice need not fall through the rabbit hole in order to discover a Secret Location that embraces a delightfully playful “nothing is quite what it seems” lifestyle experience. That’s because founder and designer, Vancouver’s Carey Melnichuk has created the first Concept Store in Canada, melding fashion and food to entice all the senses (happily, with a less haphazzard …

“Men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses,” said Dorothy Parker, (aka Dorothy Rothschild), popular 1920’s screenwriter and satirist for Vogue, Vanity Fair and The New Yorker magazines. In my experience men make passes at all women regardless of what they’re wearing, but I digress. From Superman’s alter ego, Clark Kent and singer Nana Mouskouri’s trademark black frames to Elton John’s over-the-top collection …

The steam sauna, or shvitz (Yiddish meaning to sweat) in North America has always had a less than pristine reputation: big hairy men with small towels. Now we pay big bucks to sit in expensive spas in which crystals may give us a mystical experience. Perhaps more palatable is the homey image in Finland where Nordic families realized as early …