A little more Italy

I've been on an Italian kick lately. I'm putting together a trip for myself and a couple of friends (are you reading this Saxon Henry and my beloved brother Steve?) for the fall. Houzz.com had me interview Milan-based architect Marco Dellatorre and seeing the modern face of Italy through his projects is making me ache for a return to the bel paese all the more.

Here's the piece I wrote for Houzz on Marco's loft in Milan. As much as I love southern Italy, Marco's loft makes me want to shift my attention north.

Houzz Tour: Warm and Seductive Loft in Milan

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New stuff from Swiss faucet manufacturer KWC

The Swiss manufacturer KWC just released the ONO Touch Light Pro faucet and it's pretty slick.

Most noticeable is the separation of the mixer from the fixture. It's a trend I'm seeing more and more in high end kitchen brands. The mixer can be placed just about anywhere with this faucet and that adds to the design possibilities exponentially.

Less noticeable is the microprocessor inside of that mixer. This is an all-in-one mixer, a single touch turns it off and on. There's nothing revolutionary about that. Where it gets interesting is that this one's programmable. You can program the temperature and pressure and you can call up that program every time you touch the mixer. Of course you can dispense with the programming all together and use the mixer as a manual control.

Faucet technology is evolving at a really fast pace and firms like KWC are on the leading edge of it.

The splendor of Ancient Rome in New York

On the morning of August 24th in the year 79, a sleeping giant awoke on the sunny shores of the Bay of Naples in what's now southern Italy.

Within 24 hours, Mount Vesuvius wiped out 700 years of human history and habitation. I have been all over the place but no places haunt me the way the surviving Roman ruins around the Bay of Naples do.

The Romans who lived in Pompeii were us and there's no escaping that. When you stand in their homes, in their shops or in their baths, Roman us-ness stares you in the face. Uncomfortably. The Romans were the ancient world's super power. They set the tone and led the world in innovation and culture. And they're not here anymore.

Their legacy is alive though. Every time you give somebody a birthday present, or celebrate Christmas in December, or root for a team in the Super Bowl you're living that Roman legacy. Being in a place like Pompeii drives that point home to an uncomfortable degree. Mercifully for us however, the Romans were a prolific lot and their artifacts are as numerous as they are widespread. As of the 4th of March, a new collection of those artifacts is in New York.

Discovery Communications' Discovery Times Square is an exhibit space the brings in immersive, large-scale, limited-run and educational experiences while exploring the world’s defining cultures, art, history and events.

Now through September 5th, 2011, Discover Times Square is exhibiting Pompeii The Exhibit: Life and Death in the Shadow of Vesuvius.

If you find yourself in or around New York at any point in the next six months, don't miss this. Discovery Times Square is at 226 West 44th Street. You can learn more about the exhibit and about the facility on their website.

It's the 2011 Mosaic Masterpieces tour

Two of my favorite people in fine art mosaic-dom are leading a tour of the great mosaics of Italy from October 3rd through October 10th, 2011.

These favorite people are 2011 Best 3-D Mosaic at Mosaic Art International Julie Richey (on the left) and the editor of Mosaic Art Now Nancie Mills-Pipgras (on the right). That these two are leading it ought to make anybody drop what they're doing and register immediately. These women know their stuff and they're animated and fun at the same time. Witty repartee and thorough explanations are guaranteed.

The tour begins in Rome, my favorite city on the planet. You'll be in Rome for three days and while you're there you'll get a backstage tour of the Vatican Museums micromosaic studio and see mosaics from the 4th Century in Santa Maria in Trestavere and from the 20th Century in the Museo Ara Pacis.

After three days in Rome you'll head to the Tuscan Coast and the small city of Porto Santo Stefano for lunch and then to Capalbio to see Niki de Saint Phalle’s Tarot Garden. After a leisurely stroll through the gardens it's back to Rome.

After Rome, the tour takes the train to Ravenna where Ravenna's annual Notte d'Oro will be taking place. Notte d'Oro is Ravenna's mosaic festival and in a city synonymous with the art form, it's a big deal. After three days in Ravenna (with an optional two-day class at the Mosaic Art School of Ravenna), folks on the tour have the option to head to Venice for three days or to fly home from Ravenna.

The tour costs $2850 USD (not including airfare) prior to April 1st, $2950 thereafter. There's a $400 payment due upon registration and the final payment is due August 1, 2011. You can read the entire itinerary on Julie's website and you have any questions, her contact information is there. The tour includes meals, transfers and hotel stays.

Whattya Say? Who wants to go to Italy?

A Duravit sneak peak

Next week, sink and sanitary ware manufacturer Duravit will debut the Cassia line of kitchen sinks in North America.

Cassia is a product of Phoenix Design and comes in three reversible sizes and five colors and it's made from a new ceramic, DuraCeram.

Aside form all of that, it has all the features I've been whining that sinks sold int he US never have. Note the drain switch, the overflow drain and the integrated drainboard. Keep 'em coming Duravit! You can find more information on the Cassia line and the rest of Duravit's products on their website.