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The Newsstand

By Tom Ran

Published: June 19, 2013 under Retail

The Newsstand in the Metropolitan station.

Photo: ALLDAYEVERYDAY

A newsstand that opened in the Metropolitan subway station recently caught our eye. Don’t expect to find any gum, aspirin, or Condé Nast publications here. Slotted into the shelves where you would normally see the latest issue of GQ and Vanity Fair are independent magazines and publications from around the world. Creative agency ALLDAYEVERYDAY teamed up with the 8-Ball Zine Fair to organize the stand by bringing together other independent publishers and shops like McNally Jackson, Karma, Dashwood, Ed Varie, and Desert Island. The Newsstand also stocks vinyl from Greenpoint shop Co-Op-87. Hours are from 9am-8pm on weekdays and 12pm-5pm on weekends. Bedford + Bowery reports that "The Newsstand will be open until at least July 20 but we’re looking into opportunities to keep it open longer.”

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Little Free Library NYC

By Tom Ran

Published: June 18, 2013 under New York

Little Free Library designed by Stereotank

Photo: Stereotank

The Little Free Library is a global initiative that has brought over 5,000 libraries worldwide. It finally made its way to NYC last month through the assistance of The Architectural League of New York and PEN World Voices Festival. The program is based on the simple idea of lending and returning books to small stations across the city. Ten architecture teams were chosen to design these depots that doubled as benches, kiosks, and bookshelves. They were then installed in public spaces around the downtown area. The libraries will be in operation throughout the summer and into September when they will be “evaluated to determine their longevity into the fall.” via designboom

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Casa del Popolo

By Tom Ran

Published: June 17, 2013 under Art

Nick Mead at Casa del Popolo

Photo: Casa del Popolo

Standing around the corner from Richard Meier’s glass towers on Perry Street is a pink building designed to resemble a Northern Italian palace. The building is called Palazzo Chupi and the owner is none other than artist Julian Schnabel. The brick building was formerly a horse stable that has been converted into Schnabel’s work studio. Five additional luxury living units were added to the building. It has been designed for private use for residential and work until now. Schnabel is opening up a gallery on the ground floor called Casa del Popolo. The inaugural exhibition will feature six new paintings by British artist Nick Mead and will open to the public tomorrow at 11am. via psfk.

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Richard Prince Library

By Tom Ran

Published: June 14, 2013 under Art

Richard Prince's personal library in Rensselaerville, NY.

Photo: Richard Prince

Richard Prince is an artist. He’s also a famous collector of art, furniture, cars, and most of all, print. The contents behind this building is mind blowing. This is Prince’s personal library, an early 19th century brick building in Rensselaerville, NY. The materials he’s acquired through the years, range from the greatest literary works to the trashiest pulp novels. A 2007 Vanity Fair article gives us some insight into this shrine.

“The psychic epicenter of Richard Prince’s rural empire would have to be his “Library”—this 1821 brick building, located on a street corner in the town nearest to Prince’s upstate compound, is filled with a collection of mind-boggling worth. In a way, its contents tell you most of what you need to know about Richard Prince.

The Library is a climate-controlled shrine to midcentury hipster culture; it’s like the most exquisite bookstore on the planet, except nothing is for sale. On the ground floor you’ll find mint-condition first issues of Mad magazine, Playboy, and Zap Comix, and acres of Beat-sploitation paperbacks. You might well drool over photo books like Young London: Permissive Paradise, the “Do-It-Yourself Beatnik Kit,” the poster for a (canceled) Los Angeles concert by the Velvet Underground, and row upon row of artist monographs by the likes of Larry Clark, Ed Ruscha, Martin Kippenberger, and Christopher Wool. And, of course, Andy Warhol, with whom Prince shares more than a birthday.

Upstairs, locked behind thick metal doors designed to withstand a 14-hour fire, is the heart of Prince’s collection, ceiling-high shelves filled with ultra-rare inscribed editions of works by 20th-century literary icons such as Dashiell Hammett, William S. Burroughs, and Jack Kerouac, among countless others. (Prince has 65 versions of Lolita, including Vladimir Nabokov’s hand-corrected desk copy.)"

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Randomness 06-13-13

By Tom Ran

Published: June 13, 2013 under Randomness

Inside Filson's new Seattle headquarters

Photo: Filson

It’s great to see an American brand like Filson grow. Yesterday they announced the expansion of their new headquarters in Seattle. They moved into a 57,400 square-foot warehouse space and converted it into a factory, showroom and corporate HQ.

Vogue recently paid a visit to Goods for the Study (a tools and supply store for the office) to chat with owner Sarah McNally about her one month old shop.

Phil Carter is exhibiting his Found Folk sculptures at Jerwood Space in London. The series is a collection of wooden figures made from driftwood found along his travels. Creative Review has more details on the sculptures.

In London this weekend? Magazine enthusiasts will have a field day at Monocle’s second annual Country Fayre. MagCulture will be in attendance offering the latest titles from many independent publishers. Also making an appearance will be Daunt Books, Drake’s London, Winkreative, and others.

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FallenTree

By Tom Ran

Published: June 12, 2013 under Industrial & Furniture Design

FallenTree by Benjamin Graindorge

Photo: Benjamin Graindorge

Perhaps French designer Benjamin Graindorge’s FallenTree didn’t intend his work to touch on themes like man and nature, life and death, and time and place, but it does. The smooth oak surface of the bench gives way to tangled branches that become the legs while the other side is juxtapose with a slab of glass. It’s an elegant balance that depicts nature being wielded by man. But perhaps we’re reading too much into this. Graindorge explains “The FallenTree bench is intended to reveal the wood’s DNA, to express its deepest nature by attempting to highlight the living fiber it is made of…” FallenTree is currently on view at Design Miami in Basel. via Colossal

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FEATURES

Back Track

By Tom Ran
A sampling of Jordan Viray’s vintage backpack collection that has grown to over 80 packs in the past two and a half years.

Photo: Daniel Bernauer

When Jansport introduced their heritage line in 2010, it was a signal to the industry that heritage had made its way to the outdoors market. The backpacks that were once…

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Greenpoint and the Brothers from hOmE

By Craig Cavallo
The designers of Alameda, Evan and Oliver Haslegrave of hOmE.

Photo: Daniel Bernauer

At the beginning of The Big Lebowski, Sam Elliot’s gravelly voiceover brings the audience into the scene. “Sometimes there a man,” he says, “well, he’s the man for his time…

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What’s In Store? - Daiki Suzuki

By Andrew Craig
Daiki Suzuki of Engineered Garments

Photo: Rose Callahan

Despite being a native of Japan, Daiki Suzuki is the designer behind some the best Americana-inspired clothes out there today. After some years in America as a buyer, Suzuki founded…

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