Freeze Frame

A closer look at the hottest solutions from June

Staff -- Interior Design, 6/1/2003 12:00:00 AM

Swarovski Sparkles Anew

During the 2003 Salone Internazionale del Mobile, Swarovski transformed a derelict Milan stable into a moody stage set for phantasmagoric chandeliers. The seven talents invited to create an installation were asked to use products from the Austrian manufacturer's architectural and jewelry lines. Otherwise, the sky was the limit. "I took the components of a traditional chandelier and decomposed them," says Belgian architect Vincent Van Duysen, who strung 21,000 crystals on 30 LED strands to form Cascade. He spaced the light sources closer to the bottom of the piece, so brightness intensified where the fixture pooled on a table. Meanwhile, chandelier crystals were the building blocks of London-based Dutch industrial designer Tord Boontje's Blossom. This fall, he'll unveil a new edition, incorporating crystals in blue and jet black. "Flash of Brilliance," page 184.—J.R.

The View to the Top

"It's what the receptionist would see if she were looking up," explains Perkins & Will principal James Young, who designed a Minneapolis headquarters for advertising agency Fallon Worldwide. This vertiginous photograph was taken from the 28th floor, the midpoint of the glass-encased atrium stairwell that cuts through Fallon's top three levels. The topmost level, 29, is capped by a row of 12 new skylights that follow the center of the floor plate. Each 6-foot square aperture is surrounded by angled gypsum-board soffits that project 6 1/2 feet lower on one side; these protrusions, says Young, capture and deflect light, intensifying brightness. A double layer of insulated glass keeps out the Midwestern chill. "High Style," page 198. —M.G.