Gio Gio Design is now a shop on Etsy!

My Etsy shop is now open! Please check back often - giogiodesign.etsy.com - as I will be adding more cool stuff soon. I am offering my readers 15% off though the end of the year with coupon code FF201215.

Bertrand Goldberg's Hospital Designs

Prentice Women's Hospital in Chicago, a modernist concrete building designed by Bertrand Goldberg, is in danger of being demolished. I love these modernist buildings from the 70's - many architects do - but I think their charm is lost on the average person. You don't see such exuberant use of concrete today, and these buildings exhibit a celebration of the promise of the future that is typical of the era. Anyone interested in joining the fight to save Prentice Women's Hospital can visit the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

In a recent article by Michael Kimmelman of the New York Times, Kimmelman asked architect Jeanne Gang to come up with a proposal to save the building. Gang's proposal to build a new tower on top of the old building would be an exciting addition to Chicago's skyline - you can see a rendering of the design at Curbed Chicago.

Closer to my home on Long Island, I've always loved Stony Brook University Hospital's building on the campus of Stony Brook University - another of Bertrand Goldberg's buildings. (I am so far the only one who shares this view...) When viewed from Nicolls or Sheep Pasture Roads, it seems to loom above the landscape like a spaceship that has just landed. It has a crazy floor plan of interlocking circles and I've heard that the large floor-to-ceiling oval windows actually operate (scary!).

Who needs handles?

I eliminated the need for cabinet handles or pulls in my kitchen by designing cut-out openings that allow you to grasp the door or drawer and open it. The pattern of openings become a design element: creating interest, yet still sleek and unfussy.

Ok, I admit, I didn't come up with this idea all on my own! At my architecture firm, Bohl Architects, we've been integrating this design detail into our projects for many years. At left is the Baltimore Loft kitchen of principal architect Chip Bohl.

In this guest room, Chip designed a built-in armoir that takes this idea even further.

Resources - Etsy.com

If you are looking for something unique, Etsy is a great source for all sorts of home accessories and other stuff. This website features handmade and vintage items from individual sellers.

I bought these door knobs customized with my daughter's initials for her wardrobe on Etsy from SweetPeasKnobs.

When I was looking for a simple panel to cover the bottom half of a window in my walk-in closet, I checked out the fabrics offered by sellers listing curtains on Etsy. I found one I liked from Kirtam Designs and had a panel made with a pocket top for a tension rod in the size I needed.