art travel tips and stories. Vacations ideas, cruises spa and resorts

Displayed on bubble-shaped stands, Galeria Melissa’s hip, gaudily-colored prime sellers—plastic shoes made in collaboration with design stars like Karim Rashid—look like art objects from outer space. The shop aims to be Sao Paulo’s “go to” place for cutting edge styles and ideas. Housed in a space created by Muti Randolph, the architect behind the electronic music temple D-Edge’s retro-futuristic beat box design, Galeria Melissa updates itself every three months by renewing the prints and graphics on its walls, a jungle of striking tints and bold shapes.

Paula Rego Museum, is located just outside the Portuguese capital by the beaches of Cascais. The museum includes paintings and drawings by Portugal’s most acclaimed living artist. The museum is named after Paula Rego, who was born in Lisbon but has been living between Cascais and London since the 1970s. In the British capital she married artist Victor Willing and was appointed the first associate artist of England’s National Gallery. She’s also considered one of the best living painters in Britain, and her works can be seen in several museums around the world, from the British Museum in London to the MoMA in New York.

In Lisbon, you can see a couple of her art examples at the Berardo Museum and at the Modern Art Centre of the Gulbenkian Foundation, as well as in the Chiado Museum’s current exhibition “Modern Art in Portugal – From Amadeo to Paula Rego.” In the past, there have been retrospective exhibitions of her work in Madrid’s Reina Sofia Museum, Porto’s Serralves Museum, and at the Tate Britain.

Nowadays there is a permanent home for much of her art, with the upcoming museum housed in a brand-new building designed by the renowned architect Eduardo Souto Moura. It features two conical towers that bring to mind the famous gigantic chimneys of Sintra’s National Palace, while inside it will show a total of 121 works by the artist. The 750 square meters of space will also include an area for temporary exhibitions, a cafeteria, a bookshop, and an auditorium.

I will lead on a journey through slow food and rapid development, just right in Phoenix, Arizona. Phoenix is a city of uniqueness of the horizon and desert light. This optimistic attitude, accompanied with the arid climate and low cost of living has brought many people to the Valley of the Sun.

The Phoenix metropolitan area is one of the fastest- growing areas in the United States. It’s a pity because the car is king there – driving is only way to move around in 9, 200 square miles region. In this world it’s hard to state the foot and the bicycle as much as the car.

Phoenix is a lesson in freeway nomenclature. The endless pavement and strip malls remind of a distant Los Angles. But there’s a beautiful iridescent horizon and a new light – rail system will soon take place and run.

But behind all these statements comes the good. There’s a quality cuisine, a thriving art scene and unique modern architecture. The creative landscape has three museum institutions. They have the Phoenix Art Museum, a wonderful new second edition, and the other museum SMoCA, which was transformed from a five-plex AMC theater to 20,000 square feet of gallery space. And you have the Nelson Fine Art Center that combines the hispanic character with rich collections of Arizona State University.

The city is a totally electric mix. There is Temple’s musical heritage with the Gin Blossoms. The arts are there. There’s also a place called Red Modern Furniture, which is a little tapas. The city also got Passage, a wonderful boutique that is just blowing everybody away. It’s the coolest fashion spot with a spectacular environment and stylish items. It’s amazing and it’s affordable, accessible and cool.

If you happen to be there on the summer hiking the loop trail around Piestawa Peak or the trail up Camelback Mountain. It’s a great way to see the prespective of the city. As well as biking on the canal system is another perfect way to glimpse a diversity of neighborhoods and history of the city. And at the end for gourmets audience – whenever you’re going to eat in Phoenix or just have a snack, a cocktail, it’s a fantastic experience.

 Zurich is a city with no shortage of timekeepers. Zurich is also a city of landscape design, the Helvetica typeface and the Swiss Army Knife. Clocks are everywhere, over train and tram stations and from the facades of office buildings and church steeples. Time may rule this modern capital but also symbolizes the dynamic between the city’s history and modernity.

Zurich is the world’s most livable city, owing to its small size and population of fewer than 400, 000. It’s a place where bankers dance during summer evenings and where wealth attracts contemporary art.

Zurich is very exciting, attracting more young people and more foreigners. You have more galleries per person than any  other city in the world, after New York. Zurich offers spectacular museums, restaurants, boutiques and nature in every doorstep, which is very important. That’s why an Italian wants to compare his muscles, he does it with the German and the French.

On the west side of Zurich (also known as Kries 4), the industry is there and so its art. Everything is there. There are new apartments, lofts and cinemas in old factories. Schiffbau is a lovely theater with a good restaurant called LaSalle. It’s an aesthetic glass box.

Swiss people, in general plan the future too much, so they are not really alive. They know exactly what they will do at 60. and this is not sexy and attractive for me. There you can have the sexiness. They just want to do the best. You will see this in the benches or the design of bins- it’s too much. It’s too material.

Melbourne is a city of layers with ever changing skies and facades. Today I will represent you the real Melbourne, which is like its inhabitants and is less public and reveals itself unwilling. In the last decade, Melbourne has radically changed the urban and cultural landscape. Architecture have become adventurous within cutting-edge buildings. The contemporary art scene is dynamic and breathtaking festivals fill the atmosphere of the city. In every corner, basement and attic initiative spirits are creating hole-in-the-wall bars, multimedia galleries, design studious and other experiences.

Nowadays in Melbourne opportunities abound. They got great design schools and really everything they have is as good as anywhere in the world. People there live on the coast looking out the horizon and they know what’s behind them. The other feature about Australian creativity and architectural culture is that they are well traveled. And they choose to come back!

Melbourne has many geographical features to explore. The Yarra River is one of them but the city boasts more about its parks and gardens. The Carlton Gardens are home to the World Heritage and behind them is the Melbourne Museum. On the south side of the Yarra is the Tan – a 2.3-mile running track. There you can pass quickly seeing some great buildings.

What I think makes Melbourne unique is the ever-changing light. The city gets four seasons in one day, which can be a bit miserable in winter. Apart from being cold, it often rains and the clouds are low and makes flat light. But in the summer the light is very harsh and direct providing great contrast like lazer.

Tourists have to walk to really see Melbourne. In that way you will get glimpses of notable architecture and some Gothic revival, urban art projects and pull up at cafes, bars and restaurants in the Centre.

Rogner Bad Blumau is a hotel of discovery. Green roofs, round shapes and colorful facades make up a wonderful work of art in the middle of nature. The hotel is build like a city with various district. The architect is the Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser whose vision is that life is harmony and in harmony with nature. So the Rogner Bad Blauman is one of these places. The hotel is located in Bad Blumau municipality of the district of Furstenfield in Styria, Austria.

From his early days Friedensreich was a painter, who later also became an ecologist and building designer. He collected many ideas while traveling all around the world. Later he used these experiences when he started to design buildings.

Two curative springs supply Rogner Bad Blumau with power, heat and energy. Floating in the warm water, daydreaming alone or as a couple under canopies, on the glass-covered roof or when reading in a room of silence. The Melchoir spring is the soft and mild one at the hotel. When it comes from earth, the highly mineralized  thermal water has a temperature of 47.2 degrees Celsius. The other one – Vulkania spring is made up of a unique composition of depth groundwater. The mineral content in this naturally strong sole spring exceeds the required guide value for curative waters many times.

The Vulkania curative spring is of volcanic origin and the highest mineralized curative water in the Styrian spa region. Collected in the Vulkania curative lake, the water is genuine and powerful with warmest bathing temperature out in the open. Bathing in this water feels like silk.

One of the greatest service is relaxing in the Dead Sea Salt Gretto. Teh walls, the ceiling and floor consists of 100% salt from Dead Sea. During your session in the Dead Sea Salt Gretto you will inhale ionized air rich in micro – elements like iodine, potassium, sodium, magnesium, iron and selenium.

Since it was founded, Rogner Bad Bluman has been awarded numerous prizes again and again. Out of and about at Rogner Bad Blumau guests can also enjoy a lot of sport activities like cycling, fishing, tennis, running, inline skating, beach ball, skater track and street ball.

Miami is a world of man -made islands and the original polo fields are new golf courses – Miami first make a loud at the beginning of the 20th century. Many times I wrote about Miami but this time I will mention some other interesting facts. I love Miami in part for all its flashy invention. In my opinion the big constructions are adding some serious substance to this subtropical city.

I suggest you this time exploring Miami on a two-day bike tour visiting city streets, galleries, delicious drives, one stop Haitian voodoo shops. You can covered 40 miles and 11 islands and used up an entire tube of sunblock.

One of my favorites building in Miami is Bacardi Building north to downtown Miami, at Biscyne and Northest 21st. This building is the greater example of how the International style meets the subtropics. I’m a modernist and I reckon we should protect the buildings of the past, but also the new architecture should reflect our own times and aspirations.

A fantastic way to experience Miami cultural diversity is through its culinary culture. Just north of downtown it’s Enriqueta, a delicious little Cuban spot with hundreds of fun and mostly family-run restaurants. There are incredible Cuban Nicaraguan, Peruvian, Brazilian and Argentine food. Miami has an extraordinary influence of cultures, but you have to get out of South Beach to feel it. The botanicas in Little Haiti are just an example for getting a sense of rich Haitian culture here.

For the first time, there is massive residential development in the downtown area that will transform what was once a dark working center into a great downtown. In addition to Museum Park (the new Miami Art Museum/Museum of Science complex) and the Performing Arts Center, over the next several years we will see a new Frank Gehry Soundspace for the New World Symphony and new Herzog & de Meuron and Enrique Norten buildings here in Miami Beach.

Cologne is a very modern city in Germany, where three sharp objects have a commanding influence on the skyline, from nearly every corner in the city. One of them is the ornate cathedral, which looms over low-rise buildings and fanning arteries. The ancient city of Cologne creates a vanish of brutal modernity, but while scratching Cologne’s surface reveals a vibrant center of art and design.

Cologne used to be, after New  York, the second most important art city in the world, but that was 15 years ago. Nowadays a lot of it has been taken over by London, Los Angeles and Berlin. Cologne is also described by its cathedral more or less. You can’t really not go there, but once you step into for a half an hour you will understand.It’s good to check out one of the Romanesque church, of which there are 12 in Cologne. From a historical point of view they are quite pure and more important from the cathedral.

But the most spectacular buildings at the moment are the Kolumba Diocesan Museum and Renzo Piano Peek & Cloppenburg department store (up in the picture), which is made of 6, 800 single glass slabs, all of different sizes. It’s a shopping area that is women part. Other interesting place for me is a shop called Sign of the Times specializes in’50s and ’60s furniture. The shop offers extremely fascinating items. There’s also a very special shop called o.k. Versand. There you can buy objects from China, India and Bulgaria.

In conclusion I would say that Cologne is very proud city with fantastic history of art and art collectors. But today many people are moving away, so Cologne must be very careful in the near future. Good luck..!

The Agora Theatre is a very cultural architecture with performances and new media works. Situated in Lelystad, which is the capital of the province of Fleveland in the Netherlands. Lelystad is established in 1967 and famous for its controversial and forward-thinking city planning and with its center, the Centrale Zone, also known as West 8.

A big part of Lelystad is water. Another major area is the internationally popular nature park Oostvaadersplassen. The city is also surrounded by a square of woodlands, parks and gardens. The location of the city makes weather and skies quite wonderful. The importance of the landscape is also emphasized by many pieces of art and architecture like Agora Theatre.

Agora Theatre is not only a theater. It’s a museum and art establishment expertise as well. The structure itself worth a visit. Even if no performances were taking place, art exhibitions or lectures taking places. Also the tranquil cafe open during the day and offers sweet varieties of coffees and beautiful views over the city.

The staircase is pink and reminds of future castle. But the most spectacular premises in the theater is the red concert hall with unusual wall surfaces. Such a splendid wall gives visitors something to look at, when the actors change their costumes during the performances. The theater change the vibe of the Lelystad, both day and night.

Pearl of the Orient, Paris of the East. For a century and a half  Shanghai was the wildest, wealthiest, flashiest city in Asia—the rival of any world capital. Western visitors were captivated by the crowded, chaotic, yet thoroughly cosmopolitan city. Foreign powers carved out concession zones featuring their own cafes, clubs, police forces, and legions of prostitutes.

Everything seemed so different. China crowded it was, and so hot. There were lots of people everywhere, sleeping on the streets. Apartments were so small and basic. Everything was so dark, so dank.

But today the city is unlike any in the world. Travelers from around the globe poured in, creating a uniquely international place, with newspapers and performances in spectacular art deco theaters in a dozen languages. Splendid colonial architecture rose along a riverfront called the Bund that contrasted delightfully with traditional tile-roofed Chinese dwellings, creating a unique fusion of East and West. Food, fashion, and music blended in a similar spirit.

It’s got a great vibe and great music. Ten years ago, Shanghai was a completely different place and none of what you see now existed. The city used to be the only spark of creativity, with a basement that had the only alternative art and music in the city. The place has changed.

There’s a lot of great places to explore in Shanghai like very cool art districts and a lot of great designer boutiques, pottery shops, and other creative shops. I also like the Shanghai Art Museum, which has this fantastic setting along the old racing track, the former British Jockey Club. Green tea is the way to go—and a lot of wine.

Brussels is a surreal linguistic city between the Dutch-speaking Flemish and the French-speaking Walloons, many transactions occur in neither language. But people just speak English. Its modest character made Brussels the perfect compromise for postwar rivals choosing a headquarters for the European Union and NATO, while all the diplomats and a swirl 
of immigrants from North and Central Africa give it 
an intense international, cosmopolitan flavor rare for such a small city. The picture displays the Atomiumis, built in 1956 for the World’s Fair, an homage to the future. It recently reopened after a complete renovation.

The Atomium’s interior, which includes these atomlike seating pods.

The Belgian Center for Comic Strip Art was designed by Art Nouveau master Victor Horta.

The Grand Place—Brussels’s major tourist destination—was burned down by the French in 1695, but was rebuilt within five years. Brussels has parks and forests, of course, but one place I especially like is both outside and inside. The Galeries Saint-Hubert were the first glass-covered shopping arcades in Europe. There are cafes in the galleries where you can sit outside and watch people go by, but you’re not in the rain. One modern and peaceful world …

ContaineR is a traveling film house dedicated to the cultural countdown to the winter Olympics in Vancouver 2010. The creators are a wonderful trio form of architect Robert Duke, designers Keith Doyle and Iain Sinclair, and artistic directors Nicole Mion and Evann Seibens. The containeR can fit up to 25 guests who look up to the screen in the vaulted space where they watch projected short films about movement, dance, and sports.

The structure speaks art as well. Graphic drawings of hands, eyes and cartoon cameras cover the steel walls of the originally cream and orange colored containers.  On a walk around the structure, viewers experience large-scale graffiti, and can watch a documentary of the construction on a video screen built into the container’s exterior.

The first public appearance of containR is at Moshe Safdie’s coliseum-esque Vancouver Central Library, and will continue its journey to and from different festivals over the next year, potentially taking on new capacities as a gallery, performance venue and retail space. Springboard is still in talks with the Vancouver Cultural Olympiad organization, hoping that other containRs can be built in public venues like Whistler, the Richmond Skating Oval, Cypress Mountain and downtown Vancouver.

Hopefully the structure will also continue to inspire and spark innovative uses of sustainable materials well beyond the city limits.

Singapore Arts Festival is the biggest cultural event on Singapore’s arts calendar with artists from dozens of countries. It features  hundreds of activities – a 4-week infusion of performances and events that inspires and captures the public imagination of the city. The festival first started in 1977 as a national arts festival celebrating the local arts activities of Singapore’s various communities. During the decades, the Festival has a crucial catalytic role in the development of the artistic and cultural life of Singapore.

The Festival also helped to transform the city’s cultural landscape, turning it into one of Asia’s major cultural capitals and gave new cultural platforms, events, and movements that help underpin the lively cultural scene in present Singapore.

Nowadays the Festival is described as a bold, progressive and innovative spirit, committed to commissioning new works by Singapore, Asian and international artists, exploring among others, contemporary issues related to history, memory, migration, and urban living and encouraging regional and international artistic exchanges and collaborations. The Festival also includes events of free outdoor performances island-wide, bringing the arts to the doorsteps of Singaporeans.

The Singapore Arts Festival continue to exist as the largest singular event on Singapore’s arts calendar, including artists from more than 20 countries, offering more than 400 activities and attracting up to 500,000 attendances and events that inspires and captures the public imagination of the city.

The Palast der Republik — the former of East German parliament building  has left a gaping hole on Schlossplatz, a square on eastern Berlin’s main thoroughfare, Unter den Linden. Just near by is the blue-and-white prefab building that’s taken up residence for a two-year stint. Since it opened in late October, the Temporäre Kunsthalle Berlin (or Temporary Art Hall Berlin) has a purpose of showcasing locally based artists. Currently included on the outside of the container-like structure is “Clouds” by Gerwald Rockenschaub, an Austrian artist. The outer facade of the Temporäre Kunsthalle Berlin Gallery has two abstract white clouds on a bright blue background and the cubic formations that refer to the design’s digital origin and remind us, in their universal legibility, of computer icons. Gerwald Rockenschaub project’s temporal nature and the principle of transience is the foundation for creating something new.

Het Veer is a school for children with learning and concentration difficulties. The school interior work was to convey and attract concentration, playfulness and movement. Their eight different white and red tube furniture pieces can be mixed and matched creating various formations. They play off the Buzz Wire science game that teaches about electric circuits and is based on concentration and hand coordination.

The school is located in Almere, a 25 kilometers east of Amsterdam and often referred to as the most modern city in Europe. Almost 1,500 students work in a sport-centric environment where they receive coaching for their specific sport and in academic topics. i29, also the creator of Het Veer was asked to envision  the public spaces — including the main hall, staff room, library and computer/media room — for the new Bos & Partners architects-designed building with its gray brick, glass walls and unusual floor plans. They featured big images of the school’s famous sports hero alumni and then custom-created multi-functional tables, benches and signage, plus a color scheme for the common areas.

Het Veer is very beautiful school and one of the easiest ways to make a boring space more vibrant is to use color.