parties

Will Anna Wintour wear a zany Schiaparelli chapeau and Prada cat-eyed shades? Will Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, one of the evening’s honorary chairs, spread his infectious laugh from one end of the red carpet to the other? Will attendees be forced to swap their bejeweled clutches for shiny new Kindles? Who will stumble in their Prada racecar shoes? Find out for yourself this evening as the Metropolitan Museum of Art webcasts the arrivals to the Costume Institute Benefit that celebrates “Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations.” The livestreaming fun begins here at 6:30 p.m., when Vogue-approved hosts Billy Norwich and Elettra Wiedemann will chat up gala co-chairs including Wintour, Carey Mulligan, and Miuccia Prada, along with whoever else swans past them in a sufficiently whimsical and/or impossible ensemble. Special pre-taped segments will offer a sneak peek at the exhibition, which opens to the public on Thursday, as well as the history of the gala benefit. Look hard and you might just spy Pentagram’s Abbott Miller, who designed the exquisite catalogue.

Launch a social media campaign that will build your brand and deliver results in our online Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting June 7. Speakers include Abigail Cusick (Bravo Digital), Gregory Galant (Sawhorse Media), Alex Leo (Thomson Reuters Digital), Jim Tobin (Ignite Social Media), and many more. Read the reviews.

The annual AIGA Awards are a little like the Oscars, but with better kerning, bolder eyeglasses, and much less Botox. At this year’s gala celebration, co-chaired by Pentagram’s DJ Stout and Su Mathews of Lippincott, guests were encouraged to wear hats shaped like buildings (make your own with this handy template). We dispatched graphic designer Prescott Perez-Fox to lash a cardboard Eiffel Tower to his head and scope out the scene.

From left, AIGA medalists Ralph Caplan, Robert Vogele, and Elaine Lustig Cohen with AIGA executive director Richard Grefé; reveling designers strike a pose in the urbane photo booth. (Photos: Angela Jimenez for AIGA; Denise Ginley and Steven Robinson)

Much like the return of migrating birds and an elevated pollen count, spring brings with it the design industry’s very own prom, the annual AIGA Awards. Last week’s event, entitled Bright Lights Big City and held in Manhattan at the Altman Building, didn’t make use of the pastel ubiquity of April, but instead opted for a deco-inspired architectural theme, where the entire event was set in black-and-white, referencing the Beaux Arts Ball of 1931 in which architects dressed in costumes of buildings they had designed. This year’s guests were invited to design and create hats in the shape of their favorite buildings, bringing some unexpected wit and levity set against the relative severity of black cocktail attire.

However, the focus of the evening isn’t fashion, it is to honor the newest recipients of the prestigious AIGA medal. This year’s honorees were not simply accomplished design professionals in their own right, but together represent four of the essential archetypes of design. Ralph Caplan represents The Observer, following his career as a design author and having gained the unique ability to find perspective and turn that into something informative and enticing. Elaine Lustig Cohen comes to us as The Artist, creating groundbreaking work in typography and illustration, and raising the status of the designer and of design as a whole. Armin Hoffmann is The Mentor, demonstrated by the generations of design students he taught directly, and the enduring popularity of the Swiss style so closely linked to him. Finally, Robert Vogele embodies The Entrepreneur, demonstrating that classic American story of a regular Joe who created a scrappy upstart that became a thriving business and influential design practice. To the younger designers in the audience, it was inspirational—our challenge is how to embrace these qualities in our careers and become the next archetypes of design.
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Dwell has landed in New York City, and to announce its newly expanded East Coast office, the magazine staff held a coming out party Tuesday night. A constant stream of dazzling architects, designers, retailers and media floated into the private Greenwich Village townhouse where the party was held to congratulate the newest executives publisher Brenda Saget Darling and executive editor Amanda Dameron.

The modern architecture glossy had been based in San Francisco, with editors flying back and forth from both coasts for the past 12 years. Although it has always had a strong presence in Manhattan, Dwell has now moved into its new offices in Midtown. According to Dwell President Michela O’Connor Abrams, a New York move has always been in the stars for the designer glossy. The plan was shelved, however, with the company being no exception to the economic downturn of the past four years. But now, Abrams declared, “We’re here, and we’re ready.”

Owner and founder Lara Deam (who looked stunning in her hard-to-miss Stella McCartney blouse and Marc Jacobs skirt) shared her excitement for this change with the same Dwell DNA, stating, “It was time to develop deep roots in this city and begin to grow real relationships.” The staff got a great start at the soiree, as they were in great company all throughout the night.

Guests including designer Thom Filicia, Don Weinreich, of architecture firm Ennead, the Rich Brilliant Willing trio, and Robert McGarry of GCAM toured the 8-story townhouse renovated by Eric Kohler.

While munching on hors d’oeurves and sipping on Ketel One vodka, champagne and wine, visitors gave their two cents about the magazine’s expansion. While McGarry called it a “good move,” Weinreich expressed “curiosity” about the publication’s goals.The guys at Rich, Brilliant, Willing were already excited for Dwell‘s upcoming events, as well as the glossy’s change in flavor.

More glamorous events are something New Yorkers can definitely look forward to, according to Dwell‘s newest digital accounts manager Ralston O’Neil. Congrats Dwell and welcome to the Big Apple!

More event pictures after the jump: Read more

Is it data or is it art? Find out tomorrow evening at the New York Public Library, where Manual Lima will discuss his gasp-inducing new book of information visualualizations, Visual Complexity: Mapping Patterns of Information (Princeton Architectural Press). The interaction designer and information architect will sign copies after the talk, but we’re planning to ask him to whip up a quickie chart of the library’s collections in lieu of a traditional autograph.

More line blurring is on tap for October 1, when the Society of Illustrators hosts “Illustrator as Designer,” a gallery talk with John Hendrix, Chris Silas Neal, and Jennifer Daniel. The three-ring circus of a presentation (and we mean that in a good way) will explore designed images, drawn text, and the creative process.

The American Federation of Arts will honor artist Marina Abramović and Earl A. Powell III, director of the National Gallery of Art, at its Gala and Cultural Leadership Awards on Wednesday, October 26. Approximately 200 artists, museum directors, art collectors, and philanthropists will dine, dance, and jostle for collectible raffle prizes: works by April Gornik and Richard Bell.

Is summer really half over? The Parrish Art Museum suggests as much tomorrow with its annual Midsummer Party. We hear that Chuck Close, Ross Bleckner, John Chamberlain, Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, and Donald Sultan have RSVPed “yes” to the bash, which begins with cocktails and a viewing of the museum’s Dorothea Rockburne retrospective (her “Narcissus” of 1985 is pictured at right). The artist will be on hand to accept compliments and mingle with the night’s honorees: the Parrish Founding Partners, a group of art patrons that have helped to make the musuem’s expansion a reality. The new Parrish, a 34,500-square-foot showplace designed by Herzog & de Meuron, is slated to open next year.

As if you needed another reason to stop by the Bard Graduate Center’s terrific Knoll Textiles exhibition, the Center’s gallery will celebrate the release of the exhibition catalogue with a special book signing on Wednesday, July 13. Amsterdam-based graphic designer Irma Boom—who we hope signs her name with tiny explosions where the o’s should be—will be signing books from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Bard Graduate Center Gallery in NYC.

In case you missed it last Thursday, Barack Obama returned to Chicago on one of the rare occasions that a sitting American President has spoken at an official award ceremony for the annual Pritzker Architecture Prize, which you’ll recall went to Portuguese architect Eduardo Souto de Moura this year. Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama’s appearances were brief, just long enough to stop by to make a statement, which you’ll find in full below. The Chicago Tribune picks up on the rest of the politically star-studded evening (at least locally star-studded, though Frank Gehry was also in attendance). Here’s the President’s speech, with the remainder after the jump:

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Please — please, everybody, have a seat.

Well, thank you, Tom, for that introduction. Thank you to the entire Pritzker family for your friendship and incredible generosity towards so many causes. I want to welcome as well the diplomatic corps that is here, as well as Secretary Arne Duncan.
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Remember back around this time in 2009 how bummed Frank Gehry seemed to be about turning 80? Granted, that’s right as the architecture industry was struggling through one of its worst periods in decades, and in turn wasn’t treating the starchitect too well at all either. Between canceled projects and mass layoffs, it likely would have been a rough patch for most anyone. But what a different a couple of years makes, huh? The good people at Curbed have info on and a handful of photos from Gehry’s 82nd birthday bash. Held at the top of the Manhattan building baring his name, the Nicolai Ouroussoff-melting New York by Gehry, the guests included Bono and Ali Hewson, director Mike Nichols, artist Chuck Close, fellow starchitect Robert A.M. Stern, and many others. And in at least half the photos, he’s even offering up a big smile. So bravo for happier days and here’s to many more.

(Photos: Getty Images)

Doug Aitken knows how to throw a party—although he prefers the term “cultural ambush.” The artist envisioned Saturday’s gala at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, which added approximately $3.2 million to the 31-year-old institution’s coffers. Dubbed “The Artist’s Museum Happening,” the bash included everything from a band of acoustic drummers and a ceiling-mounted light sculpture by architect Barbara Bestor to oven-roasted grapes and Jennifer Love Hewitt (who we like to imagine making small talk with some of the other approximately 900 guests, such as Frank Gehry and Chris Burden). MOCA director Jeffrey Deitch praised Aitken’s “extraordinary vision which brought together the worlds of art, design, Hollywood, and music in support of MOCA,” while Eli Broad, the museum’s founding chairman, was even more effusive. “The Artist’s Museum Happening has redefined museum galas,” he said.

Aitken took a cue from MOCA’s current exhibition featuring the work of 146 L.A. artists and went western for “WE,” an evening-long experiential artwork. Dramatic drumming welcomed guests into the gala’s tent, which featured interior walls covered in specially commissioned posters by artists such as John Baldessari, Catherine Opie, and Raymond Pettibon. Then came a series of linked performances by a string quartet, Devendra Banhart, Beck, and Caetano Veloso, with each singer featured in turn as accompanist and lead vocalist. After guests had polished off their mesquite-grilled, open-pasture-fed rib eye steaks and organic vegetables came more Aitken touches, including six rural farm auctioneers, the Los Angeles Gospel Choir, and a cattle whip performer (pictured above). Guests left with a copy of The Idea of the West, Aitken’s new artist’s book, and the taste of chunky almond-cornmeal butter cookies still fresh on their tongues.

New York Landmarks Conservancy honorees Graydon Carter, Phil Donahue, Marlo Thomas, Larry Silverstein, Bunny Williams, Jonathan M. Tisch, and Howard Dodson with gala co-chair Liz Smith (Photos: Ben Gebbe/Patrick McMullan)

Renowned interior designer Bunny Williams was among the honorees at this year’s New York Landmarks Conservancy Living Landmarks Celebration, held earlier this month at the Plaza Hotel. The annual celebration recognizes New Yorkers who have made outstanding contributions to the City. Joining Williams on the dais to accept their awards and offer heartfelt (and occasionally musical) tributes to New York and its landmarked buildings were Vanity Fair editor-in-chief and restauranteur Graydon Carter; real estate developer Larry Silverstein; actor, author, producer, and philanthropist Marlo Thomas and her talk show icon husband Phil Donahue; Loews Hotels Chairman and CEO Jonathan M. Tisch; and Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture Director Howard Dodson, who received the Lew Rudin Living Landmark Award for Public Service. Hosted by New York Landmarks Conservancy president Peg Breen and Conservancy board chair Stuart Siegel, the event drew approximately 400 guests and raised just over $800,000, a twenty percent increase from last year’s $640,000 tally. Meanwhile, Williams is not one to rest on her laurels. She’s been busy as a bee (her signature insect) creating buzz around her new book, A Scrapbook for Living (Stewart, Tabori & Chang), a room-by-room approach to creative and practical interiors. And, of course, she’s on Twitter.

Pratt Institute raised a record-breaking $522,000 last week at the school’s annual Legends scholarship benefit, held at 7 World Trade Center in Manhattan. More than 400 guests turned out to honor artist Ellsworth Kelly, fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger, and philanthropist Emily Fisher Landau (pictured at left), who were selected as “distinguished individuals whose accomplishments and values resonate with those of Pratt.” The healthy take from ticket sales got a surprise boost from on-the-spot pledges that brought the total amount raised to $560,000: Pratt Trustee James D. Kuhn donated $28,000 in honor of his wife and event co-chair Marjorie Kuhn while Larry Leeds, chairman of Buckingham Capital Management, donated an additional $10,000 in honor of Hilfiger. When it came time to hand out the awards, designed by Pratt industrial design undergrad Klara Varosy (who also got to present them to the honorees), Kelly looked back on his own student days at Pratt in the 1940s. “I want to thank Pratt for putting me on the road to becoming an artist,” he told the crowd, which included architect Robert Siegel, art director George Lois, artist Mickalene Thomas (Pratt alums all); Pratt Trustees and event co-chairs Kurt Andersen and Amy Cappellazzo; and artists Francesco Clemente, Glenn Ligon, and Edward Mapplethorpe. Later, Landau spoke of her legendary eye for artistic talent. “You could take me into any gallery with art around the room and I could tell you which was the best,” she said. “And that was usually the one the artist wasn’t selling.”