HBL Loves: Japan's decorated gas tanks

Akaiwa, Okayama prefecture

WGSN-homebuildlife's Tokyo-based contributor Liza Mackenzie let us know about these decorated gas tanks, currently adorning the Japanese countryside.

HBL Contract: Capisco Puls by HÅG

WGSN-homebuildlife takes an in-depth look at the Capisco Puls chair, designed by Peter Opsvik for Scandinavian office seating brand HÅG. The newly launched model is a reinterpretation of the original Capisco chair, introduced in 1984, and features a number of additional design details alongside a minimized carbon footprint.

HBL Analysis: Berlin interiors

Michelburger Hotel, Berlin

Berlin is well known as one of Europe's thriving creative hotspots. One of the few remaining European cities with relatively cheap rent and living costs, it plays host to creatives from all over the world, who flock there to enjoy low-priced studio space, alternative thinking and unique design. Here are some of the interiors highlights from WGSN's recent trip to the city.

HBL Analysis: Leathertrends

Reep as seen in Elle Decoration South Africa, February 2011

Leather is a key material for interiors: natural, supple, comfortable, beautiful and eminently transformable. WGSN-homebuildlife's latest materials report outlines the twelve trends, both current and future, that will influence the leather furniture industry - and subscribers can read it right here.

HBL Tradeshows: Palm Springs Modernism Week 2011

Ace lobby by Commue at Palm Springs Modernism Week 2011

Palm Springs Modernism Week, held from February 17-27, began as a simple ide, to augment the two-day Modernism show with more reasons to celebrate Modernism. Now in its fifth year, it has expanded into a ten-day celebration of mid-century modern design, architecture and culture.

WGSN-homebuildlife's full coverage (available to subscribers here) includes trend analysis alongside individual reports from the week's shows.

HBL lighting inspiration: Ishq-e-Dilli

India’s vice-president, Shri M Hamid Ansari, has opened India’s first permanent son et lumière, the Ishq-e-Dilli - which means 'The Love of Delhi'. It has been installed at Purana Quila, a 16th century fort founded by Mughal Emperor Humayun in 1533.

The Projection Studio were consultants for the projection hardware and controls, and for the show material, working with creative director Himanshu Sabharwal of Two’s A Film Company in Delhi. Three Christie video projectors are housed in special hides and create an image fifty metres wide by twenty metres tall on the building.

Our latest lighting report, Iconic architecture: lighting inspiration, is available to WGSN-homebuildlife subscribers now.

Poured Bar by Studio Glithero

Poured Bar from Studio Glithero on Vimeo.

London designers Studio Glithero created this temporary bar for the Corinthia Hotel, used to host a series of parties during London Fashion Week. The bar top was made by pouring a viscous fluid over a six-metre surface and adding a wooden structure to the fluid before it set. Studio Glithero describe the tabletop as "tracing the path of the gesture with which it was made".

Their dedicated Vimeo feed also features a video depicting the making of a vase from their Blueware collection, currently on display at London's Design Museum as part of the Brit Insurance Designs of the Year 2011 exhibition (read our recent blog post on the category winners).

HBL Book of the Week: Store Front - the Disappearing Face of New York

Store Front: the Disappearing Face of New York

In addition to our regular Blog of the Week feature, we want to highlight further visual inspiration in the form of a Book of the Week as well. The chosen tomes could be ones that have inspired us personally, useful reference books on all aspects of design, or just great examples of the art of book design.

Our first choice is 'Store Front: the Disappearing Face of New York' by photographers James and Karla Murray (Gingko Press, 2009, ISBN: 978-1-58423-227-8), described as "a visual guide to New York City’s timeworn storefronts, a collection of powerful images that capture the neighborhood spirit, familiarity, comfort and warmth that these shops once embodied".

WGSN loves: the nostalgic value of the photographs, which both document the entrepreneurial spirit of New York's early immigrant population, and bring into focus the dwindling number of such shops in today's high street.

HBL Product Launch: Jamie Oliver and Homebase

Jamie Oliver and Homebase

Jamie Oliver teams up with Homebase to launch an exclusive range of grow your own fruit, vegetables and herbs and outdoor cooking equipment.

HBL Retail: New colours by Farrow & Ball

Charlotte's Locks No. 268 by Farrow & Ball

British paint brand Farrow & Ball have launched nine new colours for 2011, including a dusted lilac called Calluna No.270 which is inspired by Scottish heather, Mizzle No.266, a green-grey hue designed to resemble "a West Country evening mist", and a vivid orange called Charlotte's Locks No. 268.

HBL Blog of the Week: Sally J Shim

Sally J Shim

Sally J Shim designs paper and homewares for her Oregon-based design studio Shim & Sons, and launched this beautifully-designed blog at the beginning of March to "catalog all the things that inspire me - family, friends, good food, travel, design and creating". Posts can vary from photos of her children to craft projects and fashion, via an enduring fascination with paper and packaging design.

WGSN loves: the clean, fresh design of the home page and the clear categorisation of each post into sections like [make], [design] and [friends]. If you are interested in paper, packaging and branding, this blog is worth bookmarking - and because it's so new, you can follow progress from the very beginning.

http://www.sallyjshim.com/blog/

HBL Retail News: DesignMarketo at the Barbican

DesignMarketo at Barbican

To coincide with the Barbican’s new show, Pioneers of the Downtown Scene, New York 1970s, DesignMarketo has opened its first retail space in the London venue’s gallery shop.