scenes from vienna/the MAK

As I was looking for more Otto Wagner images from my time in Vienna (which I didn't find yet...) I ran into these images I shot really quick at the MAK museum. When I asked some friends what I should not miss in Vienna, every single one said the MAK. I would agree. The building and bookstore alone are really good. I didn't get to see the collection because they were redoing a bunch of it, but I just sat on that pink couch in the second image and enjoyed the space.

irving harper/finally a book!

I got a really lovely surprise in the mail before Christmas. A few of the new Irving Harper/Works in Paper book that is coming out soon. you can pre-order it here. I am so proud to have some my images from my shoots at Irving's included in the book. It is exciting that more people will get a chance to see Irving's amazing paper sculptures in more detail. So inspiring!! Michael Maharam and his crew have done such a wonderful job.
Looking at the new book today got me to thinking about all the images I have never shared and for some reason this one jumped out at me. Just a storage room in Irvings attic/studio, but man were there some gems in there! Lots of files of his furniture designs, and of course, a few paper sculptures/pieces, as you can see. I really love the wall with the crack marks. They reminded me of snail trails.

finn juhl/

Just a quiet image for this Friday. Shot in Finn Juhl's home office. Have a lovely weekend friends.

aalto/euro book preview

Hello friends! Hope you had a lovely day with friends and family yesterday. Today, as promised, I am sharing a couple of images from my new book that I have been working on - both from Alvar Aalto's home in Helsinki, Finland. I am going to keep my comments to a minimum (I have to save some things for the book!). What I will say is that this house was one of the most surprising for me for so many reasons. Two of my favorite days out of the whole entire magical trip!

bruno mathsson, sweden

A bit more from Bruno Mathsson HQ in Varmano, Sweden today.
The thing that I found the most fascinating during my visit were these two chairs. The first is what we know Mathsson for. The second is the first chair Mathsson ever made. But here is the thing I STILL marvel over. He made these two chairs only one year apart. Talk about a stylistic leap...
On another note, I have decided in honor of Thanksgiving I am going to give you all a little sneak preview from my new book. Not from my phone...the real deal. So tomorrow or Friday...
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! xx

bruno mathsson/sweden

My trip to Sweden a couple months ago was a very fruitful one, but my main reason for being there was to photograph Bruno Mathsson's home for my new book. During my lunch break I made a visit to the Bruno Mathsson International, where his offices were and where the company is still run from. There is a nice little archive...

alvar aalto studio/helsinki

I spent all day Sunday editing the images from Alvar Aalto's home in Helsinki and I ran across a few more from his studio that I had not shared yet. So here they are today! I don't have a lot of info on what you are looking at though. Sorry about that. Hopefully some of you will fill in the info? Thx!

alvar aalto/light

I got a little sidetracked today and forgot to post until just now! So this will be a quickie, because I am working on the next People Watching post and I am just having so much fun with this one! I'm excited for you all to see it!
But alas...I was running through the Aalto pics again and I had to chuckle a bit because I remember when I shot this first shot, I thought "ooh! it is Alvar Aalto's ghost watching me". This is of course in reference to the patch of light on the ceiling. It felt like it was hovering somehow. Then I looked behind me and saw it was just sunlight bouncing off the table. Sometimes I get a little kooky.

gae aulenti/today!

I have been pouring over the scouting images I shot last April of Gae Aulenti's apartment trying to get a strategy for the shoot today and tomorrow. There are so many layers! So much detail! I am excited and wonder how the heck I am going to adequately shoot it all in just 2 days! Here is just one of the scouting shots. I'll tweet more as I shoot, internet willing.
@lwillphoto if you want to follow along.

achille castiglione/sneak peek

I just arrived in Milan late last night (really late...) and of course could not fall asleep. I was completely gripped by the idea that I don't have a good exterior shot of Achille Castiglione's Studio for his chapter. So after four hours of sleep I had to check. So that means you get a Castiglione sneak peek today!
Who knows if it is fatigue or what...I ended up feeling pretty good about what the chapter will be, but I am going to go and shoot some more exteriors if I can figure out a time to squish it in. My time in Milan is shooting everyday all day until I fly away on Monday. I'm sure I can find an extra hour, though...
Anyhow, I really love Castiglione's studio. It is jam packed to the ceiling with archives and collections. You can tell the people that worked here loved what they did. In the second image all those brown folders on the shelf actually hold glass negatives! Wish I could have looked through every single one!

alvar aalto studio/helsinki

Two more from Alvar Aalto's studio today. I held them back because I started seeing a theme - ebony and ivory. And yes, I started humming the song Ebony and Ivory too. Ha! ; )
Tomorrow is a travel day. Heading to Copenhagen! Thursday and Friday I will be shooting Finn Juhl's home. I'll be tweeting again as I shoot (internet connection willing). @lwillphoto is my twitter handle. Isn't this fun!?!?!

alvar aalto studio/helsinki

Believe it or not this was my lunch break yesterday. I am in Helsinki shooting the Alvar Aalto house for my book and at lunch I ran over to check out Aalto's studio a couple blocks away. Needless to say an amazing space. The house is equally so. I tweeted as I shot yesterday and plan to do the same today if you want to follow along you can follow me @lwillphoto.

bruno mathsson office/sweden

A quick shot I took yesterday of the Bruno Mathsson office in Varnamo, Sweden. I was shooting his house there for the new book and at lunch I made a quickie trip to the Mathsson Design Office. The company is still run by the sons of Mathsson's original business partner - another family run, multi generational business! Much like Mathsson, who was the 6th generation in a family of cabinet mankers. You cannot tell here, but the IBM typewriter matched the color of the chair exactly! So good!

max lamb/nyt.people watching/outtakes

My all time favorite from the outtakes at Max Lamb's London home. There is something perfect here...
See more here.

max lamb/nyt.people watching/outtakes

A few more outtakes from Max Lamb's live work space in London. I told you there were a lot...
See the original NYT People Watching post here.

note from london/bethan laura wood

Spent a really lovely afternoon with designer Bethan Laura Wood today talking about laminate and light. I kinda love her! Just one quick image from her tiny studio! Check out her work here or at Nilufar.

note from london/hofmobiliendepot vienna

Just arrived in London yesterday and I admit it to you freely my friends! It is 3h30 in the afternoon and I am still in my PJs! Feels pretty good to languish around for a day.
But I had to tell you about the most amazing place that Maria Aubock sent me to in Vienna on Saturday. Wow did she have my number!! She sent me to the Hofmobiliendepot, which is basically a museum for Austrian furniture, but also looks at the era where the Habsburg monarchy moved their furniture around from castle to castle in long processions of carriages. So all of their residences were empty and furnished from a huge warehouse of furniture. Part of this museum is like a big furniture warehouse...it is amazing! I am not really one to read all those little placards at museums, but I read every one here and my eyes were wide with the slight craziness of this whole concept! Can you imagine how many carriages and horses and how much furniture there would be to furnish just one? The caravan would be a mile long!
The upper floors look rather in depth at the rish history of furniture design in Austria. Here are my favorite pics from the day. But honestly there are a lot more. I thought my iPhone was going to burst into flames it was so hot from taking pictures!

Love the mix of modern patterns with classic shapes here.

Couldn't ignore my cheeky little cherub, especially when surrounded by such serious faces. Of course what you cannot see is that he is actually pulling out his own heart, but I didn't want that part in the image. Not nice...


Shot in the stairwell, but just such good wallpaper!

One of my absolute favorite parts of the exhibit turned out to be about Lucie Rie again. I tweeted an interior of her Potters studio at the V&A awhile ago ( https://twitter.com/#!/lwillphoto/status/189459124235415552/photo/1 ). I was admiring this particular room and it turned out to be her home before she fled Vienna for London. Designed by then 25 year old Ernst Plischke. When she left for London, she deconstructed the room and took it with her and then customised it to fit her little London flat. She lived in this same space for the rest of her life. Love it!

note from milano/look up

Today was one of those days where life felt sublime. I shot Achille Castiglione's Studio for the new book. On the cab ride over this morning I was so excited I was spontaneously giggling in the back of the taxi. (The driver was not so amused.) I wish I could show you everything (I tweeted a couple, so sign up for that and see @lwillphoto ), but I definitely wanted to share these with you all. I spent a lot of time looking up because there were glorious things going on with the light on the ceiling. Isn't it just beautiful?!?! These reflections kept dancing around all day.

In the back room I couldn't help myself, I just had to lay down on the floor under the Taraxacum light. I had wanted to do this since I went on the studio tour during the Salone a couple of weeks ago. Of course the tour was packed so I resisted, knowing I would get my chance. I just layed there and looked around. It is amazing how you see things differently when you lay down on the floor in a room. I noticed all the beautiful old hardware underneath the desks and marveled at just how much they have stored to the ceiling. I also got a splinter in my jeans from the floor, but no one said there were no hazards to this kind of behaviour. Soooo worth it! 

Tomorrow I head for Vienna!

note from milano/salone del mobile 2012

At this point in my travels (it will be one month tomorrow), I am feeling like I have a mountain of editing to do. If not Everest, a modest Mt. Kilimanjaro. I finally edited through all my favorites from the Salone a couple of weeks ago. So here it goes...
The first three are from the Studio Nendo show I loved so much at Palazzo Visconti. As you can see it was soooo well done.
And the next couple were from up/market. That first of the door I was just in love with the door knob...how good is that? And the second is work by Simone Berti, and Italian artist and sculptor. And the last two by a couple of favorite designers of mine - Lindsey Adelman's candlesticks and chandelier at the Wallpaper show and Paul Loebach's vertical chandelier at the Carwan Gallery.

paul loebach/brooklyn

Spent another day shooting at Paul Loebach's studio yesterday for my new project. Always such a fun day discovering what he is thinking of and designing. This is a shot from last time I was there in late July. More on him soon!