"I broke my bed."

Oh, dear. You know how I've been raving in recent posts about the work and the home of architect Corvin Matei--and his photography? Last night at 10:36 pm I got a text from him: "I broke my bed." And enclosed is this beautiful detail of the structure failure. Oh, man. 

"I just touched the bed and it snapped," he wrote. Immediately I wondered if it was a West Elm bed; I've heard of this happening. Indeed, it is. And it's a king size, which is awfully cumbersome to deal with. 

"Maybe you can replace just that part?" I wrote. "What are you gonna do?"  

"So I chose The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri book to prop up the bed...tonight I will be resting on such chapters as 'hell,' 'paradise' and 'purgatory.' Sweet dreams!"

Also, I see The Complete Illustrated Guide to Joinery. Very funny, Corvin.

The Ghost Project - Jessica Fleischmann from Kartell LA on Vimeo.

OK, one more post about Jessica Fleischmann, because she was selected by Kartell to participate in The Ghost Project, where designers and like-minded folks talk about living with Kartell's famous Ghost Chair designed by Philippe Starck. Jessica, a graphic designer with the studio still room, takes photos through the joints, and makes a great observation about design, revolution, and Tahrir Square. Watch.

Corvin Matei, architect (and photographer)

Corvin Matei sent me a few photos of his living room, and I thought you wouldn't mind if I posted them (even though they're not from my visit to poke around). Corvin, an architect, is an all-around artist. His home is filled with his own drawings, carved tiles he made when he was, oh, four years old, an occasional architectural model, as seen on the bench above, collections of cameras and fans... See what I mean? Sheesh.  

He built the bookcases below. Bookcases! I'm obsessed with the problem-solution in NYC that is book storage. I love this simple, industrial solution. The unit is quite large but lacks density; the metal rods are thin and elegant. That yellow book on the end, Hand-Drawn Worlds, features renderings--no straight edge, no CAD--from some renowned architects, including Mr. Corvin Matei.

Photography here by Corvin Matei.

Corvin Matei, architect

This past weekend, I met my friend Corvin Matei, an architect, for dinner and a movie. We met two hours before the movie to give ourselves plenty of time; it had been, we figured, a year and a half since we last hung out? He lives on the Bowery, in this beautiful apartment he designed, not a fifteen-minute walk from my place. I have no idea why this happens in New York, why we don't see one another more often.

So we met downstairs at Peasant, and I finally explained to him that these photos I took for Homebodies, more than *two* *years* ago when I came over at 8 a.m. for the best light, don't do his place justice. I got a new camera, a Lumix he recommended, soon after I took these, and all my old photography looks terrible compared to the new stuff. "Corvin," I said, recalling the effort it took for us to meet up for this shoot, and how he cooked me a perfect omelette that morning as thanks, "we have to do another shoot! I really don't love the photos." 

A perfectionist, he completely understood. We're doing another shoot. However, now that I'm looking at these pictures, well--maybe they're not so bad! And his place is so fabulous, I can't not share. So until I get that second omelette...

Here are a few shots of the guest room, where he grows plants and herbs he cooks with. The framed work below is a drawing by Corvin. He's an old-school architect; dude can draw. And how great is that fire door, which he brought in after he opened up the room? (He did a bit of arranging once he bought the place, opening up that wall, moving this one.) 

What neighborhood would you call the Bowery at Spring Street? I tagged this post Soho, but that doesn't seem quite right...

Not surprisingly, we never made it to the movie Saturday night. It turns out that catching up on 18 months requires five hours of conversation, and a lot of wine.

My piece in today's Guardian Weekend mag...

Remember Homebodies subject Jessica Fleischmann, and her adorable bungalow in Echo Park? One day a location scout came knocking on that turquoise door, and soon her home was being used for Mark Ruffalo's character in The Kids Are All Right. They had to dig up her garden! If you're curious what it's like having a film crew take over your house, read about it in print this weekend in the Guardian's weekend magazine, or here online.

Kansas loft and gallery

Happy Saturday! I'm going through photos of homes I have yet to publish, and I realize I forgot about this beautiful gallery and loft I visited when I went to Kansas a few months ago. Until I finish going through the pics (I took too many, of course), here are few to give you an idea.

Kansas: high contrast, low stimulus, at least for this tourist coming from Greenwich Village. I do like it there, quite a lot... More soon.

Egypt, Red Hook

Where are we in the week--Thursday? It's taken me a few days to recover from my weekend, I guess. After a bit of running around in Brooklyn on Saturday night, I spent the night in Red Hook at the home of my friend Philip. Philip of Fortbodies, remember? I slept in the boys' room, since they weren't visiting. I'm a top-bunk kind of girl, I decided. I woke up to drawings of battleships over my head. Dinosaur posters. Lego warships. And Egypt, of course. As Philip says, "Viva la Lego Revolution!!"