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Everyone loves the free samples, kitschy items, and affordable price points of SoCal grocer Trader Joe’s. The one thing that does spark ire about the chain is the small parking lots, which produce equal amounts of anxiety and horn abuse. But the website Strong Towns points out that TJ’s small footprints trickle down to cheaper prices for consumers. — Los Angeles Magazine
If you're not within walking distance of a TJ's (or, if you're just lazy) parking in one of the lots requires the steady nerves of a Zen master and the spatial dexterity of an architect. Whatever method you use to get there, just don't forget your bag, or all of your kitschy sustainability cred... View full entry
Nicholas Korody penned a double review; of 'The Geological Imagination' and 'The Underdome Guide to Energy Reform'. He finds "The two books also help illuminate some of the difficulties in perceiving climate change, while offering some potentials for movement" and goes on to reference... View full entry
The long-rumored Apple store at the gateway to the North Michigan Avenue shopping district won't be a 2.0 version of the famous glass cube that forms an iconic entry into the retailer's Fifth Avenue flagship in Manhattan. It will be more like a high-tech version of Frank Lloyd Wright's quintessentially Midwestern Prairie Style homes, with river views to boot. — The Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune obtained a draft report from Chicago's Department of Planning and Development that details plans for a new Apple store alongside the river and adjacent to the Michigan Avenue bridge. Moving away from the iconic minimalism of its flagship Manhattan store, the Foster +... View full entry
In suburbs, cities and rural areas, [big-box stores] can present a reuse and rehab conundrum, particularly as retailers become more sophisticated about controlling leases and redevelopment. [...]
With the big-box model, stores are rarely remodeled. [...]
A kind of “retail cannibalism” emerges, where companies compete for market share with ever-shinier facades that leave aging stores behind as the asphalt fades.
— minnpost.com
More on the fading development of big-box stores:A supermall grows in fracking countryFor in that death of malls, what dreams may come? Archinect Sessions #32, featuring special guest co-host, Nam Henderson!Dead Malls and Shopping DinosaursDead-malls and the return of Main Street View full entry
designjunction 2015 is happening soon on September 24-27! As part of the 2015 London Design Festival, designjunction will showcase nearly 200 cutting-edge international contemporary design brands inside The College and the Victoria House, located across each other along London's Southampton... View full entry
As part of the London Design Festival, the designjunction 2015 tradeshow brings together a stellar international group who are at the top of their game in contemporary interior design. Taking place at The College and the Victoria House along London's Southampton Row from September 24-27, visitors... View full entry
Now in its fifth edition, the designjunction tradeshow is back for 2015 on September 24-27, this time at The College and the Victoria House in London's Southampton Row. As part of the upcoming 2015 London Design Festival, designjunction will showcase the latest products and cutting-edge designs... View full entry
Apple design chief Jony Ive and retail head Angela Ahrendts are working together on a redesign of Apple's retail stores — a different approach that will make them better suited for selling the fashionable Apple Watch, according to a new report. [...]
And while Apple Stores are known for their carpet-less floors, Ive did tell Parker that he overheard someone say they wouldn't buy a watch from a store if they weren't standing on carpet.
— appleinsider.com
As the recipient of Design Miami/’s inaugural Design Visionary award this month, Marino has been celebrated for decades for forward-thinking designs that are the perfect blend of art, fashion and architectural design. “He is a true modernist character [...]” internationally renowned curator Jérôme Sans tells BLOUIN Lifestyle. Sans is curating “One Way: Peter Marino,” an exhibition at the Bass Museum of Art that explores the renowned American architect’s multifaceted relationship with art. — blouinartinfo.com
If the sinuous curves of the bone china teacups don’t betray their creator then the gently undulating Aqua Platter surely will.
Dame Zaha Hadid has launched her first “luxury homeware line” and the exclusive Harrods range, which includes a £9,999 serving platter, boasts the signature aesthetic of the acclaimed architect.
— independent.co.uk
Related:Zaha Hadid Granite & Marble Furniture Collection for CITCOIn at the deep end: Zaha Hadid takes the plunge into swimwearZaha Hadid Designs Superyachts For Blohm+Voss View full entry
The trademark effort was reportedly spurred by copycat competitors seeking to emulate the Steve Jobs-inspired minimalism (and massive business success) of Apple’s retail store. Alleged store copycat Microsoft, by the way, has its own trademark on its not-at-all-inspired-by-Apple retail stores... — qz.com
Microsoft's trademark layoutOf course, it isn’t just dueling technology giants trademarking their retail layouts. The term of art for this kind of intellectual property protection is “trade dress,” and it has long been a staple of the retail world. View full entry
Not long enough to be comfortably horizontal, the building was also too tall for its shallow depth and too wide to be reasonably vertical. Both horizontal (modern) and vertical (historic) orientations were on display in the surrounding Seton Hill neighborhood. This bastard was of neither parent. — Baltimore Business Journal
Architect and critic Klaus Philipsen takes the incursion of a faux historicist 7-11 into the westside of Baltimore's downtown to task. View full entry
Dubai is already home to the biggest shopping mall in the world, but that apparently isn't enough.
The emirate is planning an even bigger mall, one so massive it's already being described as a temperature-controlled city. It's going to be called Mall of the World, and will stretch for 48 million square feet.
The plan may seem curious to Americans watching their neighborhood shopping malls start to fade.
— cbsnews.com
Longtime partners Bohlin Cywinsky Jackson and Eckersley O'Callaghan have been brought in to revamp the 93-year-old former United States Mortgage and Trust Company building at the corner of East 74th Street and Madison Avenue, according to New York City building permits. — appleinsider.com
in Washington, D.C., the retail behemoth gave architects more creative license. The result is a move away from the blandness of Big Box in favor of place-based design. [...] I got a call from Gabe Massa of MMA Architects, who helped design this Walmart. I asked him how it was that this store managed to be so different and he laughed. “That’s a really loaded question,” he said. — fastcodesign.com
