I’ve been going to a sporadic series of lectures at the Museum of Contemporary Art called “People Who Shape Our World,” featuring various muckety-mucks of the design and art communities. Recently it was Arik Levy, an Israeli-born designer who lives in Paris and has collaborated with firms like Ligne Roset, Baccarat Crystal, and Zanotta to market his furniture, tableware, jewelry, and lots of other stuff, some of which is ending up in pretty prestigious museum collections. Levy gave a charming, cerebral slide presentation that made me think about how people connect to what they fill their houses with. If you put a light bulb in a chair, does that make it a lamp? Hmmm...thinky. I really like this origami-inspired coffee table for Baleri Italia, and these tables for Zanotta. I’ve spotted his furniture at Orange Skin and Luminaire. You can also find his candleholders at the MCA gift shop.

—BRADLEY LINCOLN

Baleri Italia table image courtesy unicahome.com; image of wire tables courtesy Zanotta

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I’ve been going to a sporadic series of lectures at the Museum of Contemporary Art called “People Who Shape Our World,” featuring various muckety-mucks of the design and art communities. Recently it was Arik Levy, an Israeli-born designer who lives in Paris and has collaborated with firms like Ligne Roset, Baccarat Crystal, and Zanotta to market his furniture, tableware, jewelry, and lots of other stuff, some of which is ending up in pretty prestigious museum collections. Levy gave a charming, cerebral slide presentation that made me think about how people connect to what they fill their houses with. If you put a light bulb in a chair, does that make it a lamp? Hmmm...thinky. I really like this origami-inspired coffee table for Baleri Italia, and these tables for Zanotta. I’ve spotted his furniture at Orange Skin and Luminaire. You can also find his candleholders at the MCA gift shop.

—BRADLEY LINCOLN

Baleri Italia table image courtesy unicahome.com; image of wire tables courtesy Zanotta

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I’ve been going to a sporadic series of lectures at the Museum of Contemporary Art called “People Who Shape Our World,” featuring various muckety-mucks of the design and art communities. Recently it was Arik Levy, an Israeli-born designer who lives in Paris and has collaborated with firms like Ligne Roset, Baccarat Crystal, and Zanotta to market his furniture, tableware, jewelry, and lots of other stuff, some of which is ending up in pretty prestigious museum collections. Levy gave a charming, cerebral slide presentation that made me think about how people connect to what they fill their houses with. If you put a light bulb in a chair, does that make it a lamp? Hmmm...thinky. I really like this origami-inspired coffee table for Baleri Italia, and these tables for Zanotta. I’ve spotted his furniture at Orange Skin and Luminaire. You can also find his candleholders at the MCA gift shop.

—BRADLEY LINCOLN

Baleri Italia table image courtesy unicahome.com; image of wire tables courtesy Zanotta

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May 2008
Arik Levy

I’ve been going to a sporadic series of lectures at the Museum of Contemporary Art called “People Who Shape Our World,” featuring various muckety-mucks of the design and art communities. Recently it was Arik Levy, an Israeli-born designer who lives in Paris and has collaborated with firms like Ligne Roset, Baccarat Crystal, and Zanotta to market his furniture, tableware, jewelry, and lots of other stuff, some of which is ending up in pretty prestigious museum collections. Levy gave a charming, cerebral slide presentation that made me think about how people connect to what they fill their houses with. If you put a light bulb in a chair, does that make it a lamp? Hmmm...thinky. I really like this origami-inspired coffee table for Baleri Italia, and these tables for Zanotta. I’ve spotted his furniture at Orange Skin and Luminaire. You can also find his candleholders at the MCA gift shop.

—BRADLEY LINCOLN

Baleri Italia table image courtesy unicahome.com; image of wire tables courtesy Zanotta

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Waves of Fear

Right up there with Waikiki, Copacabana, and Venice, Bondi Beach is one of the most famous beaches in the world. Pronounced "BOND-Eye", this less-than-a-mile expanse in Sydney's eastern suburbs has a rich history as a hardbody hangout and a surfer's paradise. Though we are neither hardbodies nor surfers, for some reason we felt it necessary to check out Bondi...

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Unanswered Cries: Drew Peterson Ex-Wife Kathleen Savio's Death
By David Murray
FROM MAY 2008: Before she died in 2004, Kathleen Savio, the third wife of former Bolingbrook police sergeant Drew Peterson, repeatedly warned authorities she would be killed. Now her death has been reclassified a homicide. Why wasn't there a stronger response to her pleas for help? Read more
Earth-Friendly Baby Gear in Andersonville
By Rebecca Little

Kids Need Their Greens

Get ‘em started while they’re young and green your baby at the new Andersonville shop Green Genes (5111 N. Clark St.; 773-944-9250, green-genes.com), a baby store that compiles style and eco-friendliness with its selection of baby clothes, toys, diapers, bottles, and other items. The baby clothes, for example, are made of organic cotton, including a onesie emblazoned with “V is for Vegetables” from WonderToast Organics ($30) or canvas pants for toddlers ($23). You’ll also find PVC-free diaper bags from Kalencom, such as the olive green with an orange design ($85), and other practical items, such as SIGG water bottles, bamboo bowls, and Erbaviva baby soaps, lotions, and...

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Pretty Pottery

We’ve written about the history of Teco Art Pottery, which is now being reproduced in Carol Stream by Prairie Arts. Two new shades, aqua and orange, have been added to the palette of glaze colors. This “Kiss” vase is my favorite shape. And love the new modern shades.

—JAN PARR

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Sale of the Week—Breaking the Mold in Glen Ellyn
By Dennis Rodkin

List price: $600,000
Sale Price: $545,000
The Property: When a homeowner owes more than a house is worth, that’s called being “under water.” In the case of this house, the term took on a double meaning.

The sellers of this house had bought the place in July 2006 for $800,000. The next year they moved to New York before they were able to sell the home, says their agent, RE/Max’s Christopher Kouros. Eventually the sellers, whose names do not appear in public records, dropped their asking price to...

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Ann Sacks Rocks!

Just got a press kit from Ann Sacks featuring all of the incredible new designs the company introduced at the recent Kitchen/Bath show. The colorful Paccha line (see red and white tile above) is the real Moroccan deal, handmade in Marrakech. I’m not sure where I would put this bold flooring—perhaps in a powder room? Kitchen? Probably a small space to pack a punch. Also love the carved stone by Robert Kuo (see the Hua, or “bunches of flowers,” design above). It’s marble hand-chiseled with subtle Chinese motifs that feel both modern and ancient at the same time. Finally: the Perennial line of ceramic mosaics (see the royal blue and white photo above). What a cool alternative to wallpaper.

—GINA BAZER

Photos courtesy of Ann Sacks

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Midnight’s Children
By Rebecca Little
Do we know how to pick them or what? In our May issue, on stands now, senior editor Cassie Walker tipped readers off to a trio of young, ambitious playwrights, including Laura Jacqmin. Since then, the 25-year-old wunderkind has received the coveted Wasserstein Prize, which recognizes under-the-radar up-and-coming playwrights. See what all the fuss is about when...

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On The Market—A Tudor Manor in Highland Park
By Dennis Rodkin
List Price: $2.9 million
The Property: This grand old home 75 yards from the Lake Michigan blufftop in Highland Park evokes the early 20th-century age of big North Shore country houses. With its peacock fan of gable beams above a cozy inglenook entry, it would have been a happy place to arrive after a long...

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I Dream of Teepees
  

Two long months.  Two hundred–plus listings. (Shelia Starr from Baird & Warner deserves two million gold stars for patience alone!) A two-block radius to stay within the desired school district. Two exhausted kids. Two losing bids. Too many grim rentals to even consider. Then, one fine just-when-you’re-not-looking-day, the answer arrives by way of email. Leave it to Orange Skin, that bastion of hip furnishings. They call themselves a “complete resource for modern design,” but who knew they had entered the real estate game? My girls are so excited when they see the snaps of the modern wigwam designed by Jose A. Gandia for Gandia Blasco. Comes complete with a small interior mattress made of nautical plastic. We’ll add some Piramide portable lamps (see the lighting leading up to the teepee in the photo) and be done. What more could a girl ask for? I think we’ll take three. Hope Nettelhorst school will let us put up our teepees on the playground. You can’t get more chic—or in-district—right?

BARRI LEINER

Images courtesy of Orange Skin

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