High Art

The New York–based firm AvroKO, which has designed everything from lofts in Brooklyn to the Kid Robot store in Los Angeles, collaborated with Bombay Sapphire East to create this home bar item ($500). Inspired by a lazy Susan, the walnut Gin Wheel can house everything needed—bottles, bar tools, glassware, and more—to make a classic gin […]

In a city known for its Renaissance architecture, the Florence-based Archea Associati continuously breaks ground with its cutting-edge projects. The firm recently designed a 5,400-square-foot art gallery inside a historic building on the Arno River. A suspended staircase connects the two-story space, which highlights contemporary works throughout its galleries and interior courtyard. +39.055.681.2697, http://www.tornabuoniarte.it  

Alexandra Champalimaud has brought her refined modern style to Philadelphia with her redesign of the city’s classic Rittenhouse hotel. Shown here, the new Library Bar features a 20-seat bar built around back-lit onyx, as well as herringbone-patterned oak floors, golden leather bar stools, and a seating area with a limestone fireplace and a black glass […]

The Toby small teak lantern ($595) is one of more than two dozen items inspired by Ralph Lauren’s Montauk beach house in the new Point Dume collection. Other pieces in the coastally influenced line include rattan baskets, teak and leather serving boards, classic white dinnerware, and leather picture frames and desk accessories. 888.475.7674, http://www.ralphlaurenhome.com   

The second annual Art Basel Hong Kong, May 15 through 18, will display works from more than 2,000 artists in the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Whereas the Swiss Art Basel show has an international focus and the Miami show (see “City Style,” page 89) highlights American and Latin American art, half the exhibitors […]

It is with a bit of irony that the inaugural Welton London boutique has opened in Paris, in the city’s Saint-Germain area. The sleek shop from the interior designer John-Paul Welton offers perfume, scented candles, fragrance diffusers, and scents from Christian Lacroix, Courrèges, Karl Lagerfeld, and Kelly Hoppen. The space itself features chevron floors and […]

Bologneser ($7,500 each), a new polyhedron work from the Viennese designer Tino Valentinitsch, is made from antique parquet from a circa-1850 villa in Bologna, Italy. The approximately 19-inch-tall, limited-edition piece functions as a side table or stool and can be flipped or grouped as needed. Available in the United States through Stillfried Wien, 212.226.2921, http://www.stillfried.com […]

The design firm Yabu Pushelberg created the Peninsula New York’s new restaurant, Clement, to feel like a Manhattan home, with a “book room” that resembles a library, a “mirror room” with handmade mirrored artwork, and a “color room” with a 60-foot-long, hand-etched jungle decoration on its wall. Located on the upper mezzanine level of the […]

The furniture designer Thomas Pheasant, who has worked with brands such as Baker, has introduced an exclusive collection through his private label, Thomas Pheasant Studio. Each of the seven pieces, priced from $24,000 to $75,000, is stamped, numbered, and limited to an edition of 10. The furniture consists of case goods and tables, all made […]

The Italian brand Effeti’s Wood 100% kitchen is made from solid planks of mature chestnut timber. Just a few numbered, signed models can be made each year, as each piece is seasoned and weathered before undergoing multiple steps of production. Pricing varies (starting at around $125,000), as multiple configurations are possible. 212.502.8916, http://www.effetiusa.com  

The new Art of Bel Usage is a back­gammon set (shown, $28,000) made from precious wood and sterling silver—a nod to the chess set created by the company’s founder, Jean Puiforcat, in 1927. The functional art piece is one of three new releases that also include the Art of Fine Taste (comprising a water carafe, […]

Park City, Utah For skiers, few vacation-home developments can top the location of the new Stein Eriksen Residences at Deer Valley. Positioned mid-mountain at the intersection of the Last Chance and Silver Dollar ski trails, the community will comprise 16 homes and 38 condominiums, ranging in size from 2,100 to 5,770 square feet and from […]

Nick Candy, the CEO of the London-based interior design house Candy & Candy, has made a name for himself by creating innovative spaces that defy categorization. What may appear on the surface as a traditional English living room might actually be a high-tech haven with a concealed security system and plasma TV alongside laser-etched textiles […]

When a 200-acre parcel in North Yorkshire, ­England, came up for sale, a local couple in their early 40s jumped at the chance to own a piece of history. The couple, fashion entrepreneurs with a penchant for minimalism, recognized a unique opportunity to combine their contemporary tastes with structures that included a 400-year-old barn and […]

Shaping a raw, 20,000-square-foot space into a residence worthy of the Monets and Dalís that will decorate it is a tall order. When that space is perched 90 stories above Manhattan, it is a tall order in any sense of the term. “It was epic in almost every aspect of residential private urban living,” says […]

David Wiseman has transformed a four-story staircase in a Manhattan apartment into a work of art. Plaster linden branches bearing porcelain wisteria blossoms ascend with the stairs, and a thick trunk, fashioned from fiberglass to keep its weight light, appears to pierce a flight from below. The design appears natural and at the same time […]

Outside of the BVI’s residential communities, a number of stand-alone homes are available on Tortola and Virgin Gorda. Following are five listings (current as of press time) that highlight the best of BVI living. 1} Steele Point, Tortola Bedrooms:5 Bathrooms:5.5 Price: $15 million Featured in Architectural Digest, this home is located on the westernmost tip […]

With benefaction from the Related Group’s Jorge Pérez, who donated funds and artworks totaling $40 million, and the city of Miami, the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) is the city’s first architecturally driven art museum. Herzog & de Meuron designed the 200,000-square-foot, three-story art house, which opened in December, with interiors of warm woods and […]

Just blocks away from the Design District but separated by Interstate 195, the newly announced District 36 promises 60,000 square feet of retail space for eight to 10 showrooms on NE 36th Street at NE First Avenue. Another compelling aspect of the project is its promise of a pedestrian link between Midtown and the Design […]

Art Basel in Miami Beach launched in 2002 as an extension of the more conservative Art Basel that takes place each June in Switzerland. While technically a five-day gathering of more than 250 galleries from across the world, the Miami event has come to encompass an entire week of art- and design-fueled events and expositions. […]

1} Porsche Design Tower Miami  At this 60-story tower from Porsche Design Studio, individual car elevators will whisk residents’ vehicles directly into their homes in less than a minute, and some owners will even be able to view their cars like works of art from inside their apartments. The auto aficionados who buy any of […]

1} St. Regis  At the city’s northern tip, directly across from the Bal Harbour Shops, this 227-room hotel offers magnificent, 650-square-foot standard rooms—all with ocean views—that feel like suites thanks to foyers, enormous bathrooms, lounging and work areas, and generous balconies. Yabu Pushelberg designed the entire property, which opened in 2012 and includes two pools, […]