Welcome to BoBo Feed


BoBo is a French expression, short for Bourgeois Bohème, and it pretty much describes who we are.

Bobo Feed will be sharing things that inspire us or please us-
from the worlds of architecture & design, fashion & styling, food and drink, travel, urban living, whatever...

We hope you enjoy.

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Sunday, January 30, 2011

The Interior Design Show, 2011

Trade Talks
We attended Trade Day at IDS11 on Friday past. (Minds out of the gutters right now, please- you know who you are!!) Trade Day is the day when only professionals get into the show, and there is always a raft of interesting guest speakers talking about their work. This year's lineup was: Thom Mayne, a founder of LA-based architectural company Morphosis; Michael Young, a British- bred Hong Kong- based industrial designer; and Jean-Marie Massaud, a free-thinking multidisciplinary French designer.
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Thom Mayne is a sort of "anti-stylist" whose buildings are shaped by the process of responding to context & program. A hallmark of many of the projects he shared with us is the creation of large amorphic voids of negative interior space, which end up essentially transforming themselves into positive objects. A concern he voiced is that the speed of evolution of ideas has far outstripped our speed of construction, rendering buildings virtually obsolete by the time they are completed. A take-home message for us was his assertion that Cartesian models of order have been exhausted and that the new system of order is biological. This is recognizable in his Pharé Tower in Paris, which is soon to begin construction.
 Image courtesy Morphopedia/ Morphosis Architects
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Michael Young struggled with jet lag to give a coherent talk, but managed to impart his need to be located right  at the source of production in order to thrive. In the same vein as Thom Mayne, he expressed frustration with the time lag between European "idea factories" and Asian production facilities; this is what drove him to decamp to Hong Kong a number of years ago, where he now seamlessly integrates his design process with the development of new manufacturing techniques. Mr. Young is a bit of a "rock star" designer, a man who has become his own brand and therefore brings a marketable caché to his clients. One of his successes is that he has served as a bridge for his Asian clients to access the corridors of coolness in the West. A hallmark project was his transformation of the Giant bicycle company from a solely sports-performance based brand to one that is now equally a lifestyle brand via his Citystorm urban bicycle line.
 Image courtesy designws.com
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 Image courtesy Fine And Rare Blog
Jean-Marie Massaud is a highly entertaining (if somewhat difficult to understand) Frenchman whose real talent seems to be his ability to formulate Big Ideas. Despite unfortunate technology glitches during his lecture his animation saved the day, and the few Big Idea projects we were able to see clearly were impressive in their originality. When hired to design something he knows little about, he heads right back to basics, virtually reinventing the wheel. Rather than assist in the plundering of pristine landscapes for new large scale resorts, he developed a concept for a high tech flying airship resort! And rather than plunk down a huge stadium surrounded by empty parking lots in a poorer area of Guadalajara Mexico, he created a "volcano" in a park that gives the neighbours desirable green space.
 Top image from Dezeen
Lower image courtesy via,fr
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Aside from their all being intricately involved in the lightning-speed world of new ideas, and playing in the huge sandbox that is China, the common element  amongst these three gentlemen struck us as being their outsider personalities. Each has forged an identity and  developed an impressive body of work by following his own non-conforming path. Of course this is not a surprise- this is usually the nature of innovators- but it does provide inspiration on a winter's day away from the office.


The Show
Between speakers we were able to take in the showroom floor. IDS, as opposed to its autumn counterpart IIDEX- Neocon Canada which historically has served the commercial design community, is decidedly residential in its focus. We were surrounded by sleek and sexy kitchen cabinets, outrageous appliances, bathtubs requiring structural floor support, and acres of fireplace concepts. Within this milieu, however, IDS always features up and coming designers in an area called Studio North, and within that a small area called Prototype. This, and another small section devoted to the work of design students, is where we find our interest. Below are some of the pieces that caught our eye.
And outside of all the home appliances, we were struck by a few other stand-out offerings like these beautiful tables and the colourful Guyanese chairs.

The After Party
After the show closed we attended a party in what is to us the city's best new furniture store- Avenue Road. A fabulous space- an old industrial structure given a restrained and tasteful make-over by Yabu Pushelberg- was filled with a superbly edited collection of furniture. Being a key sponsor of Mr. Massaud, Avenue Road prominently featured pieces from his new collection "Glass".
And our hearts raced when we spied these beautiful Brazilian pieces by iconic designer Sérgio Rodrigues.
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So, while not the best roster of speakers to have ever graced their stage, all in all IDS11was a wonderful day of inspiration and a welcome break from the late- January work week! The show is open to the public this weekend and closes this evening at 6:00PM.

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Woo Hoo!! We Made it to One Year!!

Bobo Feed has just had its first birthday and we're thrilled! It's amazing how quickly a year has passed. And we're kind of surprised by how easy it's been to stay continuously inspired for that next post and then the one after that, and the one after that. But then again, that's the very nature of Bobo Feed- always on to the next thing that catches our eyes or ears...and with a broad enough net that there are endless possibilities for things to talk about.
That broad net had actually caused us some concern at one point. We were feeling that the blog lacked focus. But after a little bit of tweaking last August to help us categorize our main areas of interest (Architecture and Design; Fashion and Styling; Food and Drink; Travel; and Urban Living), along with the evolution of a few common themes such as "Seen...",  "Sorry, We're Closed", and "Looking Up" we managed to relax into what we think is a faily consistent groove. We hope you agree. And as always, we encourage you to comment on each post directly below the post, and to contact us (bobofeed [at] gmail [dot] com) with any ideas or suggestions. You can also comment at our Facebook page.
Speaking of Facebook, we unfortunately took many of you on a little ride down  a dead-end street by asking you to "friend" Bobo Feed on Facebook. Unbeknownst to us at the time, however, Bobo Feed was really only ever supposed to have a Facebook PAGE, not an account that people "friended". Ah, the mis-steps of the novice!

Fear not, though! Bobo Feed DOES have a Facebook PAGE and we'd love it if you would head on over there and LIKE us if you haven't already! You can go there straight from here or you can click on the like button in the Facebook box on the right of this page. One benefit of liking the Facebook page is that we often link to other cool  Bobo- friendly things we've seen on Facebook or elsewhere on the web without doing a full blog post on the subject. So by "liking" Bobo Feed on facebook you get some bonus content!
In the coming days we will have lots of great new info to share! On Friday of this week we're off to IDS11, the annual Interior Design show, where we will be hearing three dynamic speakers and reviewing all the sexy new product offerings on display. In addition, we'll soon be kicking off a new guest posting feature that we hope will be a fairly regular one: "Postcard From..." We know so many people  (so many of you!) scattered across the globe that it just seemed like a no brainer to find out  about some of the cool things happening in those corners we're not so familiar with. Hopefully some will become regular correspondants.

We want to thank each and every one of you for your interest and support. We promise to try to keep it relevant, informative and fun. And we wish you all good fortune in 2011!!
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(Postcard image above courtesy Toronto Life)

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

It's that time of year...

Pitti Uomo recently wrapped in Firenze.
Now Paris.
From what we have read in the various fashion press and blogs,the general over view seems to be a collective "yawn".The jacket is tighter and shorter (been there done that) ,some pants are short and skinny and some are wide and baggy.
Color is big... as in neon(!)..but how wearable will this trend be?


The wide brimmed fedora is another questionable trend that all seem to believe will define this season!


  As is the thick soled shoe.
It will be the adventurous,confident and YOUNG who will be able to carry this off with panache.


 So what are we to get from these latest trends?
With the help of Tommy Ton,the genius behind one of our favorite blogs, Jak and Jil, we believe the real trends are "outside" the shows.
As some these shots show,these are the true style leaders.Below are some of our favs.

Color.
Well done AND wearable.





Pattern on pattern.
  Another great trend,when well done.
As seen here.



 Italian men and their scarves!!
It has been well documented here, how we envy their flair when it comes to this accessory.
No one does it better!


 Shoes!
 Glorious shoes!




Carrie Bradshaw
has nothing on these guys.



and  RedWings!
 seem to be the shoe that we will all be wearing next fall.
 

The buyers and the fashion press who cover the shows,these are the ones who know how to interpret the looks of the season.


Again some confidence and attitude is a definite advantage,
though youth...,from what we can see, isn't such an issue with these fashionable men.






 Below are a few more of our favorite shots taken from Tommy Ton's GQ StreetStyle





ahh to be in Firenze for Pitti Uomo....