Icon Trend: June 2013

Changeants II.

Marc du Plantier

Iridiscent colors for surfaces

Iridescent pedestal

Iridescent colors

Murano glass

Iridescent painting

A luminous and icy aesthetic emerges as an important Macro Trend for interiors. Metallics started as an accessory trend and now are making a broader visual statement in wall coverings, fabrics, furniture and artwork. We will see many applications and development in this direction.

Painted faux onyx using acrylic glazes

The Changeant Theme is pure, clean, and ethereal. Iridescent kaleidoscopic glow effects, transparencies, luminous plasmas, and diffractions of light into a dreamlike vista of color and spectacular visual effects. Many of the Changeant colors relate to how light affects White i.e. mother-of-pearl, iridescence and reflective surfaces. There is a delicacy present in the idea of invisibility, barely there tints, crystals, moiré patterns, and glacial effects. Changeants refer to a whole spectrum of special effect colors from opalescent finishes and moonstones to mercurial surfaces and liquid jewel shimmers. They display a high degree of the intense personalization because how I see the color is different to how you see the color and is dependant on angle & light etc.

Hand rubbed silver chairs - V&M

I’m particular inspired in the idea of reflections, and the dance between light and shadow, creating beautifully airy, quiet, clean spaces.

TEXTURES & SURFACE FINISHES | Ice cold, smooth glacier surfaces, and hard crystalline textures are key. Rippled, faceted, foiled. Pitted, moon-like surface effects are seen as well as rough, oyster shells in Mother of Pearl. Surfaces have the appearance of projecting an inner glow.

PATTERNS | Patterns are inspired by molecular structures. Watermark effects and moiré patterns.

SHAPES | Furniture pieces have smooth rounded edges, spherical and conical shapes, and clean lines whilst accessories take on raw mineral forms and cellular structures. Lighting is often faceted, inspired by origami.

Paolo Rizzatto - Hope suspension lamp

MATERIALS | Smooth, hard materials. Rippled and faceted glass in pale tints and opalescent shades. Ice-cold platinum reflects spectrums of color. Delicate textiles are made up of metallic foils and silver threads. Pitted and textured shell-like materials. Mother of Pearl, Amethyst and crystal.

Glazed Ceramic Peacock Feather Chinese Garden Seat - China1980s

David Hicks Excellence in Style

David Hicks Title from David Hicks on Vimeo.

Dream Architecture - 1930s Art Deco

Dolores del Rio House

The Gibbons House - a streamlined love nest in the Santa Monica Mountains that he designed, with architect Douglas Honnold, and completed in 1930 for himself and his new bride, Dolores Del Rio, the Mexican-born silent-film star and one of the town’s most exotic beauties. The pure and intricate Art Deco residence is influenced by Rudolf Schindler. Gibbons (March 23, 1893 – July 26, 1960) was an Irish American art director and production designer who was one of the most important and influential in the field in the history of American film. Gibbons' nephew is Billy F. Gibbons, guitarist/vocalist for the rock band ZZ Top.

Dolores del Rio House

Tucked into a cul-de-sac in a terraced canyon with sweeping views of the Pacific, it captures the essence of Hollywood glamour. Gibbons pioneered the Big White Set, in which gleaming white interiors, dominated film for the first time and in a sense, his house was the ultimate white set. One can imagine how his wife, sultry Del Rio, slowly descends the drop-dead brushed-steel staircase, dramatically backlit by a wall of glass.

Del Rio’s 2nd husband Cedric Gibbons, MGM’s Art Director

Cedric Gibbons with Dolores del Río

Dolores del Rio House

I love the timeless and modern interior, the high-contrast geometric solids and voids and elaborate stepped recesses. I love the lighting, the angles, the spareness of the house—the drama … Cedric Gibbons had visited the 1925 Exposition des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris, which was the peak of Art Deco in Europe. Gibbons brought these ideas back with him to the States where he incorporated them into many of the studio’s films from the late 1920s.