Doris Duke S Shangri La

This inspiring book accompanies the first traveling exhibition about Doris Duke’s estate Shangri La and its influential synthesis of modernist architecture and Islamic art and design. Situated on five acres of terraced gardens and pools overlooking the Pacific Ocean and Honolulu’s Diamond Head, Shangri La was the idyllic paradise of philanthropist Doris Duke, reflecting her personal passion for the art, architecture, and design of the Islamic world. The estate incorporates unique architectural features, such as carved marble doorways, jalis, and floral ceramic tiles, and the decor includes artifacts, such as silk textiles, jewel-toned chandeliers, and gilt and coffered ceilings, many collected during her travels. This volume presents an exclusive tour of Shangri La’s breathtaking interiors and landscape, including the splendid furnishings and art. Archival photographs of Duke and friends as well as correspondence and drawings provide a view into a lifestyle defined by the highest sense of aesthetics. Doris Duke’s Shangri La is sure to inspire both art and design lovers.

"Men who inherit great wealth are respected, but women who do the same are ridiculed. In The Silver Swan, Sallie Bingham rescues Doris Duke from this gendered prison and shows us just how brave, rebellious, and creative this unique woman really was, and how her generosity benefits us to this day.” —Gloria Steinem A bold portrait of Doris Duke, the defiant and notorious tobacco heiress who was perhaps the greatest modern woman philanthropist In The Silver Swan, Sallie Bingham chronicles one of the great underexplored lives of the twentieth century and the very archetype of the modern woman. “Don’t touch that girl, she’ll burn your fingers,” FBI director J. Edgar Hoover once said about Doris Duke, the inheritor of James Buchanan Duke’s billion-dollar tobacco fortune. During her lifetime, she would be blamed for scorching many, including her mother and various ex-lovers. She established her first foundation when she was twenty-one; cultivated friendships with the likes of Jackie Kennedy, Imelda Marcos, and Michael Jackson; flaunted interracial relationships; and adopted a thirty-two year-old woman she believed to be the reincarnation of her deceased daughter. This is also the story of the great houses she inhabited, including the classically proportioned limestone mansion on Fifth Avenue, the sprawling Duke Farms in New Jersey, the Gilded Age mansion Rough Point in Newport, Shangri La in Honolulu, and Falcon’s Lair overlooking Beverly Hills. Even though Duke was the subject of constant scrutiny, little beyond the tabloid accounts of her behavior has been publicly known. In 2012, when eight hundred linear feet of her personal papers were made available, Sallie Bingham set out to probe her identity. She found an alluring woman whose life was forged in the Jazz Age, who was not only an early war correspondent but also an environmentalist, a surfer, a collector of Islamic art, a savvy businesswoman who tripled her father’s fortune, and a major philanthropist with wide-ranging passions from dance to historic preservation to human rights. In The Silver Swan, Bingham is especially interested in dissecting the stereotypes that have defined Duke’s story while also confronting the disturbing questions that cleave to her legacy.

For those who love boldness in design, Los Angeles-based interior designer Martyn Lawrence Bullard demonstrates his mastery of dramatic environments for a clientele of celebrities. Drawn to glamour, Martyn Lawrence Bullard moved from London to Los Angeles to pursue acting but became a star decorator instead. His designs balance the contemporary with the traditional, the Occidental with the ethnic. His celebrity clients’ homes are inspiring in their chic yet sumptuous styles, including Sir Elton John’s disco-luxurious apartment with a python-skin bed, green lacquered walls, and mirrored cabinets;Grey’s Anatomystar Ellen Pompeo’s hip Mediterranean villa in the Hollywood Hills; Cher’s residences-a Moorish palazzo in Malibu and a Beverly Hills Indian fantasy; and Tamara Mellon’s New York City penthouse that dazzles with bold artwork and striking color. With a knack for beautiful and dramatic spaces that don’t sacrifice comfort, Lawrence Bullard-who stars in the upcoming Bravo television showMillion Dollar Decorators-reveals his know-how for creating a sensational home.

Wonderfully accessible ideas for maintaining a stylish home, drawing on the ways French mothers and grandmothers manage their households. French houses ooze with charm—and their inhabitants, despite busy schedules, regularly entertain at home. What are the secrets for leading such a chic lifestyle? In this insightful tome, lavishly illustrated with images of a country residence in a romantic French town, de Dampierre shares her knowledge of ways to achieve a warm and inviting home. Her continental traditions make beautifying your house a joy. Household chores—from stocking the pantry to washing and storing delicate linens to cleaning wooden and stone surfaces—are discussed. Tips for adorning your home range from lining dresser drawers with pretty papers and enhancing them with homemade scents to creating delicate floral arrangements of fresh-cut blooms for pleasant accents throughout your rooms. Basic instructions are also provided for designing a simple and attractive aromatic kitchen garden full of herbs, fruit, and vegetables, whether on a plot of land or in attractive containers; its produce then becomes the basis for preparing fresh, seasonal recipes to share with family and friends.

Ferozkoh: Tradition and Continuity in Afghan Art represents a partnership between the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha and the students and teachers of the Institute for Afghan Arts and Architecture in Kabul. The unifying theme of the exhibition is the preservation of the traditional arts of the Islamic world - in both themes and materials - in the modern world, and the role of education in its transmission and translation. Half of the objects featured in the exhibition are historical objectsmasterpieces from the Museum of Islamic Art's collection, from four great dynasties with connections to Afghanistan: the Ghaznavids, Timurids, Mughals and Safavids.The other half of the exhibition presents works created specifically for the exhibition by Turquoise Mountain students in response to, and in conversation with, the historical objects. Featuring exquisite photography and unique research, this catalogue is a visually stunning representation of the exhibition and a valuable record of an extraordinary endeavour.

Paying homage to the seminal mid-century modern architecture of Palm Springs, this luxurious book showcases historic jet-set homes designed by legendary talents such as Richard Neutra, Albert Frey, and Paul Williams, as well as private residences by today’s leading tastemakers. Since Gary Cooper built one of the first modernist houses in Palm Springs in the 1930s, this desert oasis has entranced Hollywood. A mecca for the international jet set that lured Frank Sinatra, Walter Annenberg, and others, Palm Springs came into its own architecturally as a haven for visionary modernists such as Richard Neutra, who were practicing the International Style in Los Angeles. The architectural legacy remains unsurpassed for its originality and influence, and recently many of the city’s modernist residential treasures have been restored. In original new photography, Palm Springs captures the allure of this famed modernist destination. The book profiles outstanding examples such as the Annenberg Estate, the Ford House, and the Kaufmann House, shown in their splendor, as well as today’s restorations by top interior designers such as Martyn Lawrence Bullard and fashion designer Trina Turk. A resource section provides modernist furnishing stores and other points of interest.

A passion for luxury and beauty propels the multifaceted work of acclaimed international architect and interior designer Robert Couturier. Robert Couturier’s aesthetic is a dialogue between Old World elegance and contemporary design. His masterful approach effortlessly brings eras together, for example a Louis XVI commode with a 1960s lamp. Couturier’s name has become synonymous with continental and international style, and he is known for composing adventurous rooms that have a witty flair. All his interiors extol the importance of how a home should stimulate the five senses, from the tactile feel of upholstery to the visual presentation of objects that leads a person through a space. The book opens with a tour of Couturier’s country retreat in bucolic Kent, Connecticut. Composed of neoclassical-style pavilions, early American guesthouses, and beautiful gardens, the house features imaginative rooms that are filled with his collections of European art, furniture, and decorative objects. A selection of the designer’s other projects—from smart contemporary apartments to romantic Mexican villas to a stately English manor—provides further inspiration.