I'll be back....

My passage to India begins tomorrow....I'll be gone for 2 weeks and probably won't be posting during that time...but I hope to update you with lots of photos and travel recommendations when I return.

Andre Fu for Tai Ping

I was very excited when I heard that luxury carpet maker Tai Ping had teamed up with local HK designer, Andre Fu (designer of much lauded The Upper House) to create an extensive new hand-made rug collection.

Fu’s carpets for Tai Ping display a sensitivity that remains true to his trademark design language. He describes the sumptuous new collection as ‘A re-invention of the long-established artisanship of Tai Ping’s heritage — a modern collection that is calming and sophisticated, yet highly emotional and sensuous.” Fu took inspirations from an in-depth visit he took to Tai Ping’s mill – an experience that journeyed Fu to understand Tai Ping Carpets’ intricate craftsmanship and established history. Fu amalgamates such an array of complex techniques with his design sensitivity to create his collection of surprising textures. Rooted in this deep appreciation for Tai Ping artisanship, heritage and fashion, and imbued with subtle references to traditional tweed, the resulting Andre Fu Collection bridges modern Asian luxury in a sophisticated line of “textiles for the floor.”

Using only the most luxurious fibres — wool, silk, cashmere — with accent threads such as cotton, lurex and flax, the collection combines pile heights, and yarn thicknesses with highly complex hand-tufting techniques to create a collection that is the rug equivalent to haute couture: lush, timeless, and evocative.

The seven designs developed by Fu for Tai Ping come in twenty-eight colour variations executed in soft hues and subtle colour tones that evoke the sensitivities of modern China. To complement the collection’s tweeds, dense silk pile rugs were conceived with original brush-stroke motifs inspired by Chinese calligraphy. This sensuous and poetic second line in the collection is even more velvety soft and composed of wool, cashmere, and delicate silk in subtle graduated tones of dusty plum, green teas, mustard yellow, mauve grey and mineral blue.

I don't know about you, but I think I'm in love...

Weft IV

Flagstone

Douce

Aerial

Luster

Cheviot

Intersection

Cheviot

Gabrielle

Aerial III

Aerial III

Cheviot

Gabrielle

All photos care of Tai Ping carpets

The House Hotel

Another cool looking hotel in Turkey that has recently opened is The House Hotel in the Nişantaşi district of Istanbul. Designed by more Turkish talent - Seyhan Özdemir and Sefer Çaglar of Autoban. You may already be familiar with their furniture and lighting collection available through De La Espada, however the dynamic duo has been very busy designing some very stylish interiors, including the 208 restaurant on Hollywood Road in Hong Kong.

I think this might also be on my accommodation wish list when I finally get to Istanbul...what do you think?

Edition Hotels - Istanbul

One of the cool new hotels I mentioned in my previous post is the newly opened Edition Hotel in Istanbul, designed by Gabbellini Sheppard & Associates (with the spa designed by Hirsch Bedner & Associates). The second project in the brand new Marriott/Schraeger portfolio (see my previous post on the Waikiki Edition), the Istanbul Edition is contemporary luxe hotel design at its best.

The lobby and public spaces are a breathtaking symphony of natural materials: different textured and organically veined stones perfectly offset the diamond-matched timber veneers.

"Espa”, the in-house spa is just stunning. It looks incredibly calming, and I love the combination of marble and bronze – a material I feel is very under used in interiors. The combination of geometric forms and timber inlays also helps to remind you where you are.

But, its the Guestrooms I’ve fallen for. Big time. I think I will definitely have to stay here if and when I get to Istanbul. Cocooned in either light or walnut timbers they look very restful.

With a few more hotels set to open in the near future (including Bangkok, a little closer to me) it seems Edition could be on a bit of a roll. I just hope they keep me in mind if they ever want to open a hotel in Hong Kong ;)