The Harmonious City.

Braga is the most harmonious city in Portugal. Whether architecture, interiors or urban interventions, the surroundings are considered and aesthetically respected. You walk along the streets and feel everything is in the right space, with perfect proportions and even the exact color. Contemporary interventions don't overwhelm the baroque architecture which is prominent in this northern city. Total delight.

As I am here spending time with my best friend, I could not ignore the opportunity to post about my favorite building.

Hope you like it, as much as I do. In case you live nearby, visit S. José de S. Lázaro and admire the careful and precise contemporary interventions they did in such astonishing building, which was once the Palace Senhora-A-Branca.

I love the way clouds reflected on the windows blend so well with the façade's color.

Detail on the west side.

I particular like the repetitive arched windows, though with different fronts.


On these two last pictures you can see how subtly the contemporary intervention embraces the ruins on the left.

In case you know who the architects were, please let me know.

Another article about Braga
In Portugal With Love - Braga

Influencers.

A must see video about influencers in the creative industries.

INFLUENCERS FULL VERSION from R+I creative on Vimeo.

Who influences you?

Rough Luxe Hotel #1

For some time I've been planning to post photographs about the Rough Luxe Hotel in London I've shot early September.
Here's a few of my favourite details on such decadent yet luxurious space in King's Cross.

Tables and chairs by Piet Hein Eek

Original stairs

Photograph with Philippe Starck

Photograph by Massimo Listri on the left and original door on the right (love the ways these two blend so well through colours and textures)

Original lock on a bathroom door

Magazines Library.

As funny as it might sound, it took me a while to display my favorite magazines. I tried several ways with different objects to help it out. Finally I decided to use one of my Louis Ghost Armchair by Philippe Starck as a starting point. Here it is and I like it.


I know, calling magazines display a library could be a bit off, but you know, they are such an amazing source of information and inspiration that I like to think them as important as a books (not to mention, of course, some of them are more expensive than actually books).

Have an inspiring weekend surrounded by amazing magazines.

Related articles
Reading Is A Very Personal Thing

Mercedes 280SL Automatic.

A Mercedes 280SL Automatic has been the classic of my dreams forever. It inspires confidence, power and love for life. No wonder fashion brands are using such icons to send the message to all cosmopolitan women in this world.

Do you have the car of your dreams?



Photos taken in London, 2006.


Love, Chloé - the making of the commercial where a Mercedes is an important feature.

Staircases.

"We don't think enough about staircases.
Nothing was more beautiful in old houses than the staircases.
Nothing is uglier, colder, more hostile, meaner, in today's apartment buildings.
We should learn to live more on staircases.
But how?"

Georges Perec in Species of Spaces and Other Pieces.





Photos taken in a Lisbon building.

Other posts about staircases
French Hall & Stairs
Stairs Somewhere In Chicago
I Love Cast Iron Stairs

"A Soul To The Things We Call Inanimate".

Probably I've said before everything (and everyone) is linked to a story in my own story or rather history. It's a character in the physical world. Has a personality. A life.

The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa

The Importance Of Being An Antique.

The Antiques world fascinates me since ever. As a young, very young girl, I used to go with an Aunt and Uncle to the most famous fair in Lisbon, Feira da Ladra. They used to sell antiques and vintage objects in this flea market. From 19th century broken jars to oil lamps from dictatorship times, they sold it all. I loved to be there. To learn the business and the variants that make an object desirable. All the buzz, national and international people with different ideas of aesthetic, it used to be one of my favorite summer holidays.

Many reasons to love and to bet on antiques, but there are two worth to enhance here: the amazing stories they carry with them and for being one of the safest investments ever - two interesting paradoxical reasons to make an easy deal, don't you think?


This week a great article about "the real dealers" in the Financial Times underlines the importance of being an antique and the new wave of "dealer-decorator".

Antiques from Hilary Batstone.

"A dozen years ago, antiques collectors were more likely to be connoisseurs for whom décor wasn't first priority, but the current generation of buyers with their sights on the very top end of the antique furniture market are a markedly different demographic (...) They want to weave their finds into their beautiful styled daily lives. Nowadays, those chasing the prime designs of the past are turning to the dealer-decorator - a talented hybrid; part-trader, part-interior designer, who not only supplies stellar pieces but also conjures them into fresh, modern homescapes" - How To Spend It by Financial Times.

Drawing room by Max Rollitt, London.

A George III sofa and bespoke burr table, London.

1865 Boneshaker bicycle.

Kitchen's furnished with 20th century metal industrial chairs.

Click here to read "the real dealers" story.
Images from How To Spend It.

Vidago Palace.

And because it's Friday we all look for beautiful p(a)laces to enjoy what life has best to offer. Being with family and friends in places, or rather palaces, like Vidago, in north of Portugal is what I've been dreaming about for a while.

Originally opened in 1910, the Belle Époque Palace's been reborn under the guidance of Álvaro Siza who preserved the architectural heritage of the building so predominant in this country. The rooms have been decorated by José Pedro Lopez Vieira and Diogo Rosa La with four dominant colours recalling the nature of the region.

Have a calm weekend.

This is indeed my favourite one. Not sure if it's the colour or the wallpaper that grabs my total attention.

I always loved white door and window frames in contrast with bold wall colours. This shade of gray is simply stunning to enhance the calm wallpaper on the far wall, isn't it?

A bathroom as charming as it could be. Love the small floor tiles.




I find so elegant when the floor (or wall) is partially covered with patterns like this one. In this specific case, it enhances much more the tiles making them more special and decorative.

All these beautiful rooms inside this stunning piece of Portuguese architecture. If you haven't visited my country, I'm sure you're going to love it.

Images from Vidago Palace's website.

Dear Mother Christmas By Hermès.

This year I wish to have an Hermès Christmas. I wish to be an Orange Mother Christmas. I wish a stylish Christmas for everyone.

Here's a few ideas from Hermès Paris.

Aren't their illustrations so stylish?

I can relate each of my family members and friends with one object/item. The following ones are my very favourites. Style your house.
Cups for the perfect afternoon tea by the country porch house.

Mugs for the hot hot hot chocolate on a raining Sunday afternoon by the Manhattan window loft.

Ashtrays, whether on the walls as an objet d'art or as an objet dans l'utilisation, we all must have an Hermès ashtray. It's part of culture.

Frames to remember and share proud and lovely moments.

Correspondence Box for those rare letters we love to receive from the post man. If not, maybe to put those ones we once received from beloved ones.

Illustrations from Hermès Website.
More articles by Hermès:
Once Upon A Time
A Story By Hermès