All posts filed under: Tried & Enjoyed

Milan shopping_Antonio Marras

Published by Kate Stockman

As you all know I visit every year Milan Design Week to sense the new vibes, not only on design & art level but also the new shops, the international crowd, the food, the resto’s… Enfin a yearly energy boost. I also check out with friends, get together and by doing so you sometimes arrive in a hidden gem that’s worth talking about to you guys. Leen Hilde is a friend who lives in Milan for several years, has a Milan boyfriend and kids there, so we can say she’s a local. We wanted to see each other so we agreed to have coffee at NONOSTANTEMARRAS, the flagship & headquarters of artist & fashion designer Antonio Marras. Not your average shop, not a mainstream collection. But what a great garden (with flower shop and lunch terrace), and what a great poetic shop. Check it out for yourself. The images speak for themselves. When in Milan, Antonio Marras NONOSTANTEMARRAS shop is a must go. For Milan Design Week, the Nonostante Marras space hosted a light installation, the outcome …

Saving Banksy

Published by Kate Stockman

I can be short about this one: the Banksy exhibition ‘The Art of Banksy’ (last week still in Amsterdam, now in Antwerp) is a tourist trap. If you are really into Banksy, there are other options. Do not believe the hype that it’s a must-go exhibition, whatever the media or the so called experts try to make you believe. The entire setting is wrong. Brick or ‘arty-farty’ wallpaper to present ‘street-art-for-galleries’, cardboard & fake stencils plus to indispensable spray cans to ‘show’ how Banksy works, hardly any original street work and above all, a ‘street-art-for-the-masses vibe. We visited the expo (helàs!) in Amsterdam and could not get out fast enough. Compare it with eating a cheap pizza in a bad Italian restaurant and thinking that you visited Rome. Got the picture? Don’t get me wrong. I love Banksy and his work. We visited Dismaland (twice), Bristol, Calais & London, to see his work. Because let’s face it, the best place to see a Banksy is still in the street, were it belongs. It’s not easy to find some originals, …

The fabulous Fosbury & Sons workplaces

Published by Kate Stockman

We all know the feeling. A last minute meeting in another town and no place to go. Yes, there are the horrible hotel lobby’s near the highway with expensive parkings, uninspired ‘design’ and bad coffee, or you join the local hipsters in a crowded & noisy coffee bar. Or take the new co-working spots: Nice, sometimes, but closed at 6 pm, no parking and not open for the typical nomad who rarely stays at one place fix. When traveling you do find great places to meet, brainstorm & work. Together with others, in a contemporary setting, with good coffee, healthy food and free wifi. Sometimes you pay for your workstation/meeting room like at Citizen M Hotels (London), and sometimes you work for free plus a drink (like in the lobby of the hip & happening Ace Hotel (Shoreditch London). Why was it so hard to find something inspirational in my region? Till I got a phone call from my friend Maarten Van Gool, a colleague from my advertising past. He had big news: he started together with partner Stijn Geeraerts and  project developer Serge Handcart of …