Video Walking Tour of Paris Design District

Irwin Weiner ASID - Thanks a million to the folks at EditorTV for bringing us some of the best interior design "happenings" on video. In these two featured videos today, they've taken two of the most iconic names in textile design today - Crans Baldwin of Donghia and Ludovic Darricau of Elitis - and brought them to one another's showrooms (and also to Donghia's Rubelli showroom) to see the latest textile designs (along with the cool 3D wall murals from Elitis) and landmarks of the Paris design district. 

In this first video, we begin our walking tour and showroom field trips ...

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Academy Award Movie Designs - Paris Nouveau-Steampunk Style in "Hugo"

Irwin Weiner ASID - I grumble about having to go to the movies, but sometimes I'm absolutely delighted by the experience ... once I'm sitting down and feeling swept away by a good story. I love shopping for interiors with clients in Paris, and that's why I so loved watching the visual 3D treat that was Hugo, an Academy Award nominee this year for Best Picture and Art Direction, among other accolades.

The styling of this Martin Scorsese movie was amazing. The details of Paris interiors and public spaces like libraries, opera houses, movie theaters, and the train station were precise and mindblowing. There was a heavy steampunk feel to the movie, as we went behind the scenes of the train station and saw 3D steam coming from elaborate pipe systems and the intricate gears and fittings of the illuminated clock tower. 

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Paris Flea Market Great DIY Idea

Irwin Weiner ASID - Shopping around. That's how I love to get some great design ideas. While in the Paris flea market - I believe it was in the Marche Dauphine - I found this great item. Quick digression - Parisians refer to their world's-largest antique markets as Les Puces (meaning "The Fleas").

How cute is this little settee made from an old steamer trunk? It's a great do-it-yourself furniture project, don't you think? Even though the booth where this was being sold had a sign prohibiting photographs, I couldn't resist taking a clandestine snap and sharing it with you.

And on the subject of sharing, we invite you to go to Design2Share's feature on the Paris Flea Markets for more information and an overview video. 

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Paris Hotel - Is It Old or New?

Irwin Weiner ASID - I wanted to share a few photos that I snapped during a recent shopping trip to Paris with a client. I came across this building near the Arc de Triomphe, just off the Champs-Elysees. It's the new hotel Fouquet's Barrière, on the corner of rue Quentin Bauchard and Rue Vernet.

The building is - at first glance - a typical neoclassical French building that is now a hotel. I loved it because the renovation respected the old architecture, but updated it with a twist.

The building appears to take the same moldings and details of the original old building and recasts them in stainless steel and poured concrete, then punctures the exterior facade with some asymmetrically placed rectangular sheet glass windows.

But here's the Big Surprise: the building's facade is

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