I am now in the ancient town of Galle, south Sri Lanka, staying in, what might be, the most beautiful room on earth - The Cinnamon suite of The Sun House Hotel.

This colonial villa was built in 1867 by a Scottish spice merchant and served as private residence for numerous families until the current owner turned it into a small hotel with a unique country house atmospere. In my room, from a 19th century mahogany desk, I have an astonishing view over the djungle and the ocean.

Sri Lanka is today a very interesting country to rediscover. The country has for years been quite closed to foreigners because of the civil war. The southern parts of Sri Lanka where also very affected by the tsunami in 2004. But now the country is opening up again, and it would not surprise me if Sri Lanka, within a couple of years, has become a destination to count into the most popular  package holidays.  Meanwhile, I am grateful to travel in a area with genuin culture, not too exploited to tourism.

 

 

 

Second day in Dubai, sun is still shining. The town is now preparing for the annul art fair; Art Dubai. The fair is on between the 17th and 20th of March and welcomes over 70 galleries from 30 countries and an extensive programme of collateral events including the Global Art Forum, the Abraaj Capital Art Prize and other special projects.

 

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Art Dubai has become the essential gathering place for collectors, artists and art professionals from across the Middle East, South Asia and beyond

I am in Dubai today. Just passed the tallest building in the world; the Burj Khalifai. It is amazing that this global icon finally is finished...

 

Over the ensuing years to its completion, the building passed many important milestones on its goal to become the tallest man-made structure the world has ever seen. In just 1,325 days since excavation work started in January, 2004, Burj Khalifa became the tallest free-standing structure in the world. 

Over 45,000 m3 of concrete, weighing more than 110,000 tonnes were used to construct the concrete and steel foundation, which features 192 piles buried more than 50 m deep. Burj Khalifa's construction will have used 330,000 m3  of concrete and 39,000 tonnes of steel rebar, and construction will have taken 22 million man-hours.

 

The coming weekend is chance for all vintage design lovers to meet with 50 European dealers and
their items. Everything is for sale at the Indoor DesignMarkt in Gent, Belgium.

Organizer and inspirer of this creative concept is Frederic Rozier, a renowned design collector with an international array as director  of Gallery Design7 & expert for Bernaerts Auctionhouse in Antwerp. He has been collecting modern design (Joe Colombo is the favourite) since the early nineties. I had a quick chat with Frederic yesterday and asked him a few questions about the event:

What is DesignMarkt?
- DesignMarkt is an innovative concept for Belgium in vintage design.
The formula includes three design markets annually, located in Ghent and Knokke.
Each market has its own specific design and image interpretation.
They are named IndoorDesignMarkt, DesignMarktGent and DesignMarktKnokke.

Who are exhibiting at DesignMarkt?
- 50 vintage design dealers from all over Europe; City Furniture, Furniture Love, Mid-Century Online, to mention a few...

What can visitors expect to find at DesignMarkt?
- There will be an international array of vintage design objects presented. From utensils to exclusive rarity. The dealers from all over Europe will display a fine selection of their inventory. On top of that a number of specials for a unique and surprising experience will be provided:
Lounge and relax area decorated by Dark Supersize bar.
Specialist food & beverage islands.
Expertise corner with free-expertise of your vintage items.
So let your item from the 20th century be identified for free.
Interview corner arranged by VITRA where contemporary designers will express their own distinct vision on vintage design with great enthusiasm.

Do you have a certain "themes" for the exhibitions?
- For the IndoorDesignMarkt concepts i try to find exclusive locations where the enviroment and displayed items harmonise well.
For the DesignMarktGent we thematise. Next one will be 'Made In Belgium' with an exhibition of Maarten van Severen prototypes and machinerie used to fabricate the early models. DesignMarktKnokke is with view on the beach and sea.

Is theIndoor DesignMarkt a public event?
- It is an open event. We have to ask an entrance, but each ticket also entitled to two extras: free access to Design Museum Gent and free estimate and determination of your vintage item.

Adress: Voorhavenkaai, Gent. Parking is free.

The London gallery Rocket with owner Jonathan Stephensen, presents an exhibition on three Danish mid-century legends; Hans Wegner, Herbert Krenchel and Ib Geertsen. Opening on Friday, March 5th.

Pieces on display are Geertstens abstract paintings, Krenchels Krenit-bowls from the 1950's and daybeds and tables by Wegner.

 

The exhibition is on until March 24th.

Back in my hotel after another day in Gothenburg. I spent the whole day in the company of the very pleasant Ted Hesselbom - director of Röhsska Museet. He is an eclectic collector of art and design, and we had interesting discussions regarding modernity.

In the afternoon I visited one of the Deconet dealers, Bebop Antik for the first time. Nice shop! I especially liked this Poul Hundevad tea trolley, available at a bargain price...

Tea trolley by Poul Hundevad in rosewood.

 

Today I am in Gothenburg, Sweden, to record some new tv-programs for "Antikdeckarna". I had a wonderful dinner tonight with amongst others Ted Hesselbom, director of Röhsska Museet - Museum for Design & Decorative arts, and earlier today I attended a fashion show opening at the same museum.

Röhsska Museet holds a collection of amazing 50.000 items from 1851 (the year of the The Great Exhibition at the Chrystal Palace in London) until today, and is the Scandinavian "child" of the British Victoria & Albert Museum.  The museum was built in a national romantic style between 1910 and 1914 by the architect Carl Westman. The permanent exhibition which shows the history of modernism and modern design is well worth a visit.

Tomorrow, February 18th, is the official opening of the annual antique fair "Antikmässan", in Stockholm. 250 exhibitors present antiques, vintage and modern design, fine arts and collectibles and everything is for sale.

Photo: Antikmässan

Each year the fair has a theme that is consistent throughout the exhibitons, general areas, open lectures etc. This year’s theme is Loving unions – between object from different eras, between high and low and between people. 

I will of course be there to visit the Deconet-dealers, FA:s Antik, Mobili and Modernity, who are exhibiting at the fair.

Although we have a temperature of 15 degrees below the freezing point, the city of Stockholm is cooking these days.

The annual Stockholm Furniture  Fair is now open and 650 exhibitors makes this fair the world's largest meeting place for Nordic contemporary design. Not to forget all parallell arrangements around the city. Jasper Morrison at Hallwylska, Greta Magnusson Grossman at the Architect Museum, Carl Malmsten x Monocle and The Northern Light Fair, which takes place alongside the Furniture Fair.

It is a busy week, enjoy as much as you can!

Today I am checking out the new David Design exhibition at Brunogallerian and my friend Marcia Harvey Isaksson's new storage series "Stallarholmen"

 

"Rowdy" by David Design

 

 

"Stallarholmen", design Marcia Harvey Isaksson

Greta Magnusson Grossman was a Swedish born designer and architect. She decorated the homes and showrooms of many Californians during the 1940's and 1950's. The unique approach to Swedish modernism that she brought with her when she moved from Stockholm in the late 1930's proved to be incredibly popular on the American west coast, cropping up in almost every issue of John Entenza's influential magazine Arts & Architecture. The designer herself, however, lived a quiet professional life, working prolifically without ever becoming a commanding personality within the industry.

"Grasshopper", produced by Bergboms, Sweden

Arkitekturmuseet of Stockholm now presents the first major retrospective exhibition on Greta Magnusson Grossman. The exhibition includes architectural commissions in Sweden as well as Northern and Southern California and designs for the many companies she worked with including Barker Brothers, Ralph O. Smith and Glenn of California. The exhibition also includes exemplary pieces of furniture and lighting, prototypes and textiles, original drawings and photographs, film clips as well as a 1:1 reconstruction of an interior.

Greta Magnusson Grossman, Photographer unknown

The Greta Magnusson Grossman Exhibition opens 10 February, on until 16 May 2010.