Vladimir Kagan's Blog

London - A short visit

A Nostalgic Visit To London

Copyright Vladimir Kagan, November 17, 2015

 

How does one describe a week in London, overshadowed by the recent tragedies in Paris?

Friday the 13^th took on new meaning. The shock waves arrived at a quiet dinner in an unprepossessing Indian restaurant.  The appalling news came via America. Billy, Jessica’s husbands called to ask “have you heard?” Once we turned on the ‘Telli’, the information flow went viral. CNN is macabre news reporting machine thriving on calamity. Their talking heads keep repeating their doomsday harangue none-stop.  My mother used to call it “oral diarrhea.” Thank you CNN – I am brainwashed.

 

But the subject of this Blog is Good Old London

My sister Tanya had lived there for twenty-six years. It was Erica’s and my second home for years. We both have mutual friends. This was a good opportunity to make a nostalgic visit before the Thanksgiving to Christmas holiday madness, when all our families take off in different directions.

 

Just like old times - brother and sister having a fun chat

 

First impression: Nothing has changed.  London is still a fuddy-duddy town. The plumbing is predictably archaic. After theater restaurants close their kitchens a mere thirty minutes after the last curtain fall.  Traffic comes at you from the wrong direction. Colossal traffic jams are endemic with Über cruisers cluttering the streets. When Obama comes to New York, a few lanes of Park Avenue are temporarily closed; when Mr. Mondi, India’s Prime Minister, comes to London the entire town grinds to a halt. 

That being said, the people are unchanged - lovable and friendly. An English Pub lunch is still the best bargain in town and a pint of bitters goes hand in glove with a ‘Steak and Kidney Pie’.

 

Jessica photographing our delicious pub lunch complete with pork-backs and other munchies. A half pint of bitters never tasted better with a steaming steak pie

Joe, Tanya's savvy driver

Joe has been Tanya’s driver for years. He knows the town like the palm of his hand. He wove us through back alleys and muses, barely wide enough for one car at a time and managed to thread us though London’s endemic bottlenecks.

 

London weather is always predictable, if the sky is sunny in the morning, rains showers are sure to follows. The weatherman can never go wrong forecasting “showers with intervals of sunshine.”  With Daylight Savings time, darkness descends early.  To compensate for this, the town is brightly lit with dazzling Christmas lights. You’d think the holiday was next week not next month.  Harrods is a gingerbread house lit by garlands of twinkling lights, not just for Christmas, but also year-round. It screams, “Buy – buy – buy.”

 

Christmas lighting to cheer up the early evening

 

My old friend, David Suratgar, as chipper as ever

The Westbury Hotel in Mayfair was perfectly located for the ladies to go shopping and me to visit the galleries around the corner. Gracious top-hatted doormen who can conjure up a taxi in minutes guard the Hotel entrance.

 

The hotel is home to a superb little Japanese restaurant, Tsukiji Sushi, which can hold its own against any fancy eatery in town. I made the mistake of dropping in at lunchtime with a visiting friend from Belgium, only to be turned away by a supercilious maitre D’ asking if I had a reservation – “DON’T YOU KNOW IT’S LUNCH TIME? WE ARE FULLY BOOKED!” who would have guessed!

However, everything in life has a purpose and we ventured into a most discreet restaurant decorated with wine bottles in glass coolers reaching from floor to the ceiling. The décor was subtle with the rich wood paneling finished in a deep shade of rosewood. Polite waiters and waitresses escorted you to your choice of tables. There were plenty of tables to choose from, as the only visible patrons were two tables with elegant Chinese patrons. We needed no reservation. It was so expensive that no self-respecting English man could afford it. The food was superb. Every dish was brought to the table with a prepared script recited by the wait-staff. It was worth the price of admission. The restaurant: Alyn Williams of Bond Street.

 

This gastronomic painting was my Foie Gras - the modest chocolate fondant took 20 minutes to prepare

 

Our hotel had recently embarked on a modernization program– a big mistake. The original rooms had an old world charm, a little shabby gentility but lots of closets, old fashioned bathrooms, ample lighting with crystal lamps and silk shades, drapes reminiscent of a Fortuny print. By contrast, the remodeled rooms were ‘moderne’ decorated with mirrors and inadequate lighting, bathrooms were fitted with the latest ‘English‘ toilets, (they were antediluvian) bathtubs with glass shower doors that only partially enclosed the tub so they permitted water to soak the towels, clothing and flood the floor (there were no hooks to hang anything). The Brits are talented designers when working in the genre of Christopher Wren, but fail miserably when it come to modern.

Finally –Architecture: London has radically changed, not for the better.  Monstrous shards of glimmering glass reach into the overcast skies. It is a litmus paper for the experimental flim-flam by the world’s leading architects. Norman Foster’s ‘Gherkin’ is no longer the tallest oddity on the horizon, but still looks like a pickle. Much of the architecture borders on weird – modern is not an English idiom.

   
 
   

Imaginative or just weird architecture along the Thames

 

Having moaned so seriously about my beloved England, there continues to be one praiseworthy constant, the LONDON TAXI!  They are the best in the world – both vehicles and drivers! It takes three years of studious studying to pass the test; the drivers are responsible for their car’s appearance so they are meticulously clean. The cars can turn on a dime, the passenger cab is commodious with jump seats to accommodate the four passenger legal limit but there is room for more.  The luggage space is generous and accommodates my walker, my wheel chair and four pieces of luggage.  Handicap access is thoughtful with handgrips at every possible location.  Finally, the passenger entrance provides a retractable platform for wheelchair access. There is one caveat: THEY ARE STAGGERINGLY EXPENSIVE!!!

 

Highlights of the week: 

• We were invited to Christies Auction House to watch a sale of ‘Chinese Jades and Bronzes’ selling at extravagant prices, all to Chinese bidders on the phone.  

All the audience was Chinese except for a handful of visitors

 

• A visit to the new Carpenters Workshop Gallery on Albemarle Street featured one of my Serpentine sofas. In the spring they will be launching my limited edition bronze furniture (See a preview of the designs in my new book VLADIMIR KAGAN on page 240 - 241)

My Serpentine Sofa is in good company with a Wendell Castle chair  and lighting by Nacho Carbonell

 

• While Jessica and my sister went shopping and did their cultural thing by visiting the  Ai Weiwei one-man exhibition at the Royal Academy, I perused showrooms and vintage galleries that featured my designs.  It was fun walking in unannounced and discussing the authenticity of my designs.

 

 • There were endless teas and dinners with old friend. One noteworthy discovery was a small Italian restaurant run by a bevy of adorable Italian daughters called ‘Pizzicotta’ in Kensington on High Street.

 

• A delightful lunch with Zaha Hadid in her new Gallery at 101 Goswell Rd, her private museum until she can move it into the abandoned London Design Museum she had purchased a few years ago. The Gallery is a collection of her far-reaching diverse work.  There were exquisite models of her newest buildings, (Buck Roger’s dream cities from the 50s come to life), her unique sculptured furniture, cars, boats, shoes, handbag – Zaha leaves nothing untouched. Each item bears her unique signature style. Zaha is a genius.  

A jovial lunch with Zaha and a selfie by Jessica

test-driving one of Zaha's sofas or is it a love-seat?

 

Zaha's Louis Vuitton handbag

   

A concept car and the staircase in Zaha's gallery

 

A display of Zaha's high-rise building concepts

   

This a "molten glass table" carved in clear acrylic

 

A concept model for an architectural sculpture

Me telling Zaha that she should make her seating more comfortable - ha ha!

 

 

• A visit to Wallpaper Magazine, who likes my work and me. Their creative director Sarah Douglas is as pretty as she is bright. Look for future collaborations. 

 

• Commuting toward the eastern reaches of London is quickest done by boat.  A half hour high-speed ferry up (or is it down) the Thames to the Isle of Dogs. 

     

I love bridges - especially their underbelly 

We were invited for an English tea by our friends Michael and Jenny Barracloughs. Though Michael is a medical doctor, he has a dual degree in architecture and has spent most of his life dedicated to turning the Isle of Dogs from a wasteland into an attractive habitable place. There are low-rise residential buildings occupied by young families and often their parents who were the original occupants of the island.

Michael has made certain that not all the island be built on and managed to preserve 60 acres of land for a park not devoted to Cricket Pitches, but to a working farm for city kids to feel and enjoy the county. Some 50 years ago, when Michael and Jenny built their cantilevered house over the Thames opposite Greenwich, they were the only occupants on the island.

 

The view from Jenny and Michael's house: Greenwich and the Cutty Sark

Michael and Jessica standing in front of a World War II Ack-ack gun that helped save most of London from the German bombings.

Jenny and me clowning around at tea - I'm trying on one of her exotic necklaces as a head decoration

 

• No trip to London is complete without Jessica perusing the Portobello Market. She chose a rainy Saturday to discover hidden treasures. Rain obviously doesn’t deter the English – the market was filled to the hilt.

 

 

   

Farewell at the Westbury -Tanya and 'Issy' her friend - Joe our driver, and the friendly top-hatted doorman

 

 The week evaporated into a kaleidoscope of events.  Now back in New York I’m trying to decipher them for your entertainment.

 

 

 

Halloween in Nantucket

Halloween

It aint what it used to be

Copyright Vladimir Kagan, November 1^st  2015

 Welcome to my Halloween party!

 

Halloween used to be a gentle holiday for children. Dress-up funny; wear a mask, a jester’s hat. ‘Trick or Treat’ was a sweet opportunity for the little ones to collect candy. No one ever put you to the test of “trick”.

It had its origin in Celtic folklore and morphed into the Christian world as a festival of fall. It was a celebration.

 

Not anymore.

 

It has become a vehicle for protest, free speech, and political correctness. The Gay community has embraced it, as it’s own holiday to express their affection for each other. Fine. But their parades, originally colorful and creative have deteriorated into tasteless nudity.

 

The New York Times did a front-page article entitled:

 

Halloween Costume Correctness on Campus:

Feel Free to Be You, but Not Me

 

"SEATTLE — Pocahontas, Caitlyn Jenner and Pancho Villa are no-nos. Also off-limits are geisha girls and samurai warriors — even, some say, if the wearer is Japanese. Among acceptable options, innocuous ones lead the pack: a Crayola crayon, a cup of Starbucks coffee or the striped-cap-wearing protagonist of the “Where’s Waldo?” books.

As colleges debate the lines between cultural sensitivity and free speech, they are issuing recommendations for Halloween costumes on campus, aimed at fending off even a hint of offense in students’ choice of attire. Using the fairly new yardstick of cultural appropriation — which means pretending for fun or profit to be a member of an ethnic, racial or gender group to which you do not belong — schools, student groups and fraternity associations are sending a message that can be summed up in five words: It is dangerous to pretend.”

 

 

With all this turmoil, the debates about cultural appropriation – where is there to escape to? - My safe-haven away from all the mayhem is Nantucket! 

 

 

A sweet costume parade meanders up the cobbled Main Street, children and parents dressed in every fantasy costume imaginable. A dog dressed as a lion, another as a tramp, tiny toddlers barely able to walk rejoice in the handout of the candy: all are happy, cheerful. It is over within the hour. Daylight savings still was hanging around (today it would already be dark).

 

My youngest granddaughter, Ondine the "angel"

     

 
   

Ondine with her mother, Wendy and me

        

I go home with my friend Betsey, to put the final touches on our costume party: “Funny Hats or Masks” Our friends trickle in and we enjoy a congenial evening in front of the fireplace, a pre-curser of winter holidays still to come.

My Halloween Party

   

The mystery guest: Is this a man or a woman? Hint: It is carrying a pocket-book

 

My friends Chris, Tessa, Suzy (she fooled us all), Greta

   

The most creative masks: Audrey Sterk and Floyd Kellogg

 

  

The witches gather in my living room

   

In 2013, I had written an earlier lament about Halloween.

 If you’ve missed it, below a reprint.

 

HALLOWEEN BLOG 2013           

 

I am not a Scrooge, but I have never liked Halloween... In many ways its has always had a cruel twist... trick or treat in New York meant more trick than treat... razor blades in apples, beating up with chalk bags; intimidation... the treat on the street often meant money. I have always shunned the event until one year I spent Halloween in Nantucket. There it was truly an event for the children with an adorable parade up Main Street, parents and kids dressed in fun costumes, shopkeepers providing candies and cider... Trick or Treat became a treat. It softened my heart and I have ever since wanted to celebrate this Holiday on the island... and last week I did!

 

In my bombastic way, I decided to throw a party for my adult friends and their progenies... (Grandfathering had never been my favorite sport, though when the "bratlings" reached adulthood, they became quite compatible human beings.)  With the encouragement of my young friends, I brazenly set out to do a party. This had always been my wife, Erica's, domain. In those early days these parties were restricted to six to ten year olds... to my horror, the kids cut loose with no holds barred. I tried to shrink from these affairs, disappearing into furthest corners of my apartment.

 

Now, I was about to follow in her footsteps, treading where I had never dared go. A costume party! Marissa, my delightful right hand assistant baked ham, turkey, pigs in a blanket, hot dogs and lots of candy; my friend Tessa created spider's webs all over the house, Betsey put the finishing touches on the food decorations and kind Angelica stood by in the kitchen to make sure there were no food fights. I cut out paper shopping bags for spooky lantern and remembered the black lighting from Erica's days. To accommodate kids, I set the party for 6:30 (I am never ready by 6:30 and this was no exception) 'cept guests didn't care... they arrived with kids in tow straight from the Main Street Parade. Musicians dutifully brought their instruments including Lucy with her bass fiddle, everyone took my invitation seriously and came in costumes... The rest is a picture story. It was a party for the books.  Encouraged by its success, it was only a dress rehearsal for next year's jamboree! 

 

 

 

 

 

The Indomitable Wendell Castle

 Copyright Vladimir Kagan October 24, 2015

 

If there is one person who’s work I have admired all of my life, who’s work stands out as art transmuted magically into furniture, who has been true to his muse and at age 83 still creates monumental works, it’s Wendell Castle.

 

A reunion of old friends: Nancy Jurs, Wendell's wife, Vladi and Wendell Castle at the opening reception for Wendell's Retrospective show at the Museum of Art and Design (MAD Museum)

Wendell Castle is not a furniture maker; he is a sculptor creating vessels for sitting. He is not motivated by a need for comfort. It is what separates his art from us mortals who make furniture. We are driven by rules: seat height, seat depth, lumbar support, and feasibility – strictures that do not bind Wendell. 

 

Wendell is currently being honored with a major retrospective of his work at the Museum of Art & Design (MAD) in New York City. It is befitting that some fifty years earlier Wendell had his first show at this same museum, formerly The America Craft Museum. What goes around – comes around.

 

Wendell Castle grew up on a farm in Emporia, Kansas. We don’t quite know what motivated him to venture from the bucolic life of raising cows to a love affair with wood and sculpture. But the world he inhabits today is a more beautiful place for it.

 

 

A sculpture  by Wendell Castle created out of discarded gunstocks

A scribe chair, vaguely resembling a piece of furniture, is another early work created with gunstock elements

This is the Wendell Castle we all recognize, an organic stool on four legs. Ironically Wendell carved this stool upside down, starting with the legs, he  had no idea of it eventually becoming a seat!

In 1958, Wendell Castle received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in industrial design, and in 1961, a Master of Fine Arts, both from the University of Kansas. From 1962-1969, he taught at Rochester Institute of Technology, School for American Craftsmen, in Rochester, NY, and is now an Artist in Residence. In 1980, he opened the Wendell Castle School in Scottsville, NY, not far from Rochester, where he became a shining star. His classes nurtured generations of creative woodworkers that have spread his gospel worldwide, but there is only one Wendell Castle.

     

 

By the mid-sixties, Wendell's signature handwriting was well established. He glued-up huge slabs of wood and called them Stack Laminations, which he deftly attacked with his chainsaw to create the furniture illustrated above.

 

Eager to try his hand at new technology, In the 70's Wendell developed a collection of fiberglass furniture named the Molar Group. This sensuous chair was the masterpiece of the collection.

The Museum's caption about his fiberglass work

In a beautiful documentary film, Wendell demonstrates that he is still the master of using his tools including rasps, chisels and chainsaws.

 

 

An artist with a huge vision, in the 21^st Century Wendell discarded his traditional tools of creativity. Gone are his ubiquitous chain saw, chisels, rasps and spoke-shavers. They have been replaced with the industry’s latest technology: precision scanners, sophisticated 3D printers and C&C carving machines, tools more apt to be found in a Ferrari model shop than in a sculptor’s atelier. Wendell transformed his studio into a high-tech laboratory. With this new technology Wendell’s work has exploded to new flights of imagination.

 

  

Today, Wendell carves precise miniature models he then scans into his computers for his machines to replicate into larger-than-life sculpture-furniture

 

One of the exhibits graphically illustrates the stack build-up of his furniture. Wendell is a VERY precise worker!

     

The NEW Wendell Castle designs are carved on his high-tech C&C carving machine. This technology has liberated Wendell from the workbench to explore the stratosphere.

 

The MAD’s comprehensive show illustrates the transition from his early sculpture using discarded gunstocks to create his skeletal shapes vaguely resembling furniture. By the early sixties, Wendell experimented with stack-laminated wood and using his primary tool, a chainsaw, deftly wielded it to create bold, arboreal shapes that morphed into chairs, tables, desks and sofas.  In the seventies, Wendell explored fiberglass to create sinuous tactile curves of color that became chairs and stools.

 

Wendell is never a man to stand still and the second floor of this retrospective is devoted almost entirely to his monumental creations on the C&C carving machine.

 

This show has just opened. If you are planning a visit to New York, Wendell Castle’s retrospective is a must.

 

 

 

 

 .

The Joy of working with your hands

 

The Zen of Model Boat Building

 

Copyright Vladimir Kagan October 15, 2015

 

Zen 

noun: Zen; noun: Zen Buddhism

a Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism emphasizing the value of meditation and intuition.

 

Several weeks ago I ranted about my niggling personal faults: “I am compulsive - impulsive – slap-dash and never measure!” There is one cure for that: Build a model boat! It teaches patience and precision, resulting in the deep satisfaction of working with your hands. It liberates you from the computer. It is reasonably quick and does not exhaust your attention span. And most satisfying: it gives you bragging rights of having done it yourself and yet one more model to put on your bookshelf or mantle.

 

My latest accomplishment - a scale model of a Gloucester Dory, in the library of my Nantucket home

A closeup photos of the intricacies of the Gloucester Dory model.  

 

 

Nantucket is blessed with a number of dedicated craft centers: NISDA, (Nantucket Island School Design and Art) an unofficial offshoot of RISD (Rhode Island School of Design) and AAN (Artist Association of Nantucket) founded by artists for artist – have wonderful teaching programs. And there is also the 1800 House, a beautifully restored historic building dedicated to teaching historic crafts. It is one of the NHA’s (the Nantucket Historic Association) notable properties and an example of alternate uses of historic structures

 

The 1800 House is where my wife, Erica Wilson, taught adorable children’s classes, a tradition now carried on by my daughter Vanessa. It is also where my friend, Mark Sutherland teaches a class in model boat building.

 Mark is one of the finest model makers in the country. He has made a career out of his childhood love and builds exquisite models for museums and private collections. It is fortunate that Mark owns a family house on Nantucket and spends part of his summers with us. It allows him to teach this program. This was my second class with Mark.

(At the end of this article, please see a few photos of Mark's work) 

This years’ project was a model of a Gloucester Dory. Some fifty years ago I owned one of these beautiful boats. It was unfortunately smashed into smithereens during one of Nantucket’s hurricanes. I had saved the sternpost all these years until finally this spring I cleaned out my garage and asked, “Why am I saving this?” and dumped it into the landfill! (One of my listed faults: impulsive knee-jerk reaction.)  Here was my opportunity to create a memorial for this handsome boat.

 

My original Gloucester Dory  photo taken in the 70's with Erica and my three children - note: we had a center well for a small outboard motor

 

 

The most famous Dory: A Winslow Homer's painting of a fisherman returning home with his catch

 

The beginning

On the first day, Mark provided us with a perfect model of a Dory. We took one look at it and questioned “Was that what he intended us to produce in four half days???” He assured us it would be done!

The bits and pieces that made up Mark's boat building  kit. 

We were handed a ‘kit’ consisting of a bundle of white pine wood cut to different sizes and shapes.  A handful of stainless steel stickpins, a bag of clothespins, an Exacto knife, a sand paper block, pencil, cardboard, scissors, a pair of fine nosed pliers and a variety of fast drying glues. These were all the tools we were to work with. The only machine available was a table mounted belt sander. We were ready to start. 

The delicate task of assembling the first planks

The model boat building process is exactly the same as building a full size version. You start from the bottom with the floorboards and add the stern and bow posts. Quickly, we understood why we were given a sand paper block, you must whittle and sand each component to fit perfectly as they will become inaccessible once assembled. This is painstaking, laborious work and the first test in patience! Each lap strait panel needed to be bent to fit the curve of the boat. Pins and clothespins substituted for the heavy clamping used on the full-size boat.

Each day moved us closer to fulfilling our goal. The pleasure was seeing this boat take shape from the ground up. The most challenging and rewarding task was carving the oars. They are so pretty and delicate.

 

 

 

The first lesson in diligence is patience!

Mark Sutherland demonstrating how to set the steel pins.

My favorite bi-product: carving the oars

Satisfaction at last: My finished model on the left - Mark's on the right.

Mission accomplished: Four days later -  the proud participants in the class showing off their models

 

Each year Mark offers a different class of a boat for us to recreate. My first model was a half-hull of an Indian, a venerable day racing boat designed by John Alden in 1927. It is still one of the most competitive classes racing in Nantucket each summer. I have owned my Indian for over forty years.

The half-model of my Indian hanging over the entrance door to the kitchen

 

Mark Sutherland's models - to contact Mark, use the Link below 

Mark Sutherland <[email protected]>

 

 

A half model of the whale ship Essex is next year's project: I am already itching to get started!

 

 

 

 

Zaha Hadid - the Doyen of Modern Architecture

 

 

The Indomitable Zaha Hadid 

Copyright Vladimir Kagan, October 6, 2015

 

There is no glass ceiling that can hold back Zaha Hadid – she has catapulted through shatterproof glass and is today, the best modern architect in the World. Zaha is a force to be reckoned with, the most creative architect in the 21^st Century. She has out-curved Frank Gehry and Santiago Calvatava, the acknowledged masters of the genre. Zaha is the only woman to win the Pritzker award – the World Series of architecture. Awards have been piling up ever since.

 

She is not a computer doodler. Zaha draws. She visualized her creative concepts in sketches with bold curvilinear strokes. She is my friend and hero; she inspires my work and she tells me that I have inspired hers.

 

Zaha paints her concepts. Only after she is happy with the design does she interpreter them on the computer.

Top: Zaha's rendering for the Vitra fire station ca. 1991 Bottom: her concept for the KMR Art and Media Center in Dusseldorf Germany

 

She is worshiped for her lyrical curved stadiums, undulating museums and amorphous concert halls. She prefers horizontal to vertical architecture. Her sprawling lines are inspired by the topography of the rolling landscape. As a proponent of linear design, designing a high-rise building imposes limitations to her creativity. The Zaha Hadid most of you recognize today was not always curvilinear – before anyone heard of Zaha, her work was angular with sharp shards of concrete soaring skyward.

  

I met Zaha in the early 1990s when she was commissioned to design the fire station for the Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhine, Germany. Vitra is an innovative Swiss company dedicated to classic modern furniture and accessories. The new building was radical and its interior disorienting. The good German bürger-firemen assigned to the building refused to work in it. Rolf Fehlbaum, Vitra’s owner got the message and immediately put it to a better use. He turned it into an adjunct of his fledgling Vitra Museum. This was Zaha’s first building and kick-started her career on the road to fame.

 

 

The Vitra Fire Station 1993, with its stark angular deconstructionist esthetic

Cincinnati's Contemporary Art Center 2003. A masterpiece of compact use of space, delineated with strong horizontal blocks of concrete interspersed with glass

In both these examples of her early work, Hadid's work is strongly angular

The Phaeno Science Center in Wolfsburg, Germany, was completed in 2005. It looks to me like a giant battleship at anchor.

By 2005, Zaha softened her lines with introductions of curves. the BMW Plant in Leipzig, Germany

Abandoning angles and radical slashing lines, Zaha created a soft amorphous shells for the Nordpark Rail Station in Innsbruck, Austria 2007

 

Interpreting a gentle wave breaking on shore, this is Zaha's famous Aquatic Centre in London 2011

The swimming pools and high-diving platform in the Aquatic Centre

By 2013 Zaha became totally lyrical. This undulating curved roof seems impossible to create in concrete and glass. The Heydar Allyev Center in Baku, Azerbaijan 

Pure sculpture dominates the interior of the center

 

 

Zaha was in New York last weekend for the New Yorker Festival, an annual event sponsored by the New Yorker Magazine.  As usual, she took the architectural community by storm. The waiting line of people at the School Of Visual Art’s Theater on West 23^rd Street stretched for one block around Eighth Avenue. John Seabrook, The New Yorker’s writer on design did a lively interview with Zaha, accentuating the depth of her commitments to complexity and precession. She explained how, with the use of fiber concrete she has been able to create seamless surfaces using vacuum bagging. 

To design the Aquatic Centre for the London Summer Olympics, Zaha looked at the harbor and envisioned connecting water back into the city. Her vision was to create liquid space.

Her sprawling public spaces are inspired by flow and movement. She told us that one of her most complex project was the theatre, library and museum in Azerbaijan, integrating three separate functioning entities into one flowing movement. 

One of Zaha's latest endeavor is the building of the parliament and central bank in Baghdad, her native home. 

Zaha is finally adding her imprimatur to the New York skyline with an eleven story residential building on 520 West 28^th Street, at the High Line in this rapidly gentrified Chelsea neighborhood. The building is a futuristic fantasy of 39 apartments with prices ranging from $4.5 million to $50 million!

 

520 West 28th Street

 The facade undulates and there are definite Hadid touches but the limitations of a high-rise structure are apparent in this New York Condo.it lacks the grandeur of her free-flowing spirit

 

Zaha’s designs are super expensive to build. Are they cost effective? Was the Parthenon or Versailles? Zaha’s work is linear sculpture in motion that liberates design from the pull of gravity. It is a joy that in today’s budget conscious bean-counter society, there are visionaries willing to build a 21^st Century Taj Mahal.

   

I Love this ski-jump tower in Austria 

...and this amazing bridge (don't know whee it is)

 

 Zaha's fertile mind does not limit her to concrete and glass, she has brought her creative esthetic to shoes, jewelry and furniture.

The sky is the limit for Zaha.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Caleb & Vladi's Cooking Show

Patty Cake, Patty Cake, Baker’s Man

Bake me a cake as quick as you can!

Copyright Vladimir Kagan, September 27, 2015

 

"Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man", "Pat-a-cake", "patty-cake" or "pattyc", "Pat-a-cake", "patty-cake" or "pattycake" is one of the oldest and most widely known surviving English nursery rhymes."

   

What are the two of the most important gifts that the Jewish people have bestowed upon their Christian neighbors (other than the Bible and the Ten Commandments???)

 

Answer: Bagels and Chopped liver

  

This is an ecumenical Blog with my friend Caleb Cressman (not Jewish) teaching Vladimir Kagan (Jewish) how to make New York Style Bagels and in the same  show, Vladimir reciprocates with a lesson in making chopped liver into a sexy cognac laced paté.

 

 

Some of you will recognize Caleb as the accordion player in the Coq Au Vin Band.

 

 

Caleb’s Bagel recipe

Ingredients:

1 kg flour. I use King Arthur all purpose.

50 grams of sugar

25 grams of salt

11 grams of yeast

Mix these together

Add a little less than three cups of water.

 

Preparation:

Mix

knead for five or ten minutes

Let rise for an hour

Separate into 110 gram balls.

Now shape the dough balls into bagels by getting a hole in them and flattening slightly. Be creative.

Let sit for ten minutes.

Now throw a few at a time into the big pot of boiling water you put on at the beginning of this process. But first add a few table spoons of sugar to the water. This give the bagels a nice sparkly sheen. Flip the bagels after about 45 seconds to boil the other side. Scoop out of the water and let dry a bit on a counter. Paint side with an egg wash made from one egg white mixed with a teaspoon of water. Sprinkle on your toppings of choice and bake in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.

 

    

 Kneading the dough and shaping the bagel's hole. This looks easy, but it "aint" (See my results below)

My friend Betsey's and my attempt at making bagels on our own. We labelled them "Really Ugly Bagels by Vladi) and hope to market them. P.S. they really tasted delicious!

Vladi’s chopped liver recipe Chicken Liver Paté (borrowed from Jacques Pepin's cookbook. "Everyday cooking with Jacques Pepin)   Ingredients: 1 Pound of chicken livers 2/3 Cup thinly sliced onions 1 Clove of garlic, peeled and crushed 2 bay leaves crushed 1/4 Teaspoon thyme leaves 1 Cup chicken broth 2 Teaspoons of salt 1-1/2 Cups (3 sticks) butter, softened Freshly ground pepper 2 Teaspoons Cognac or more! 1 envelope unflavored gelatin for aspic   Preparation: Place the livers, onion, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, broth and 1 teaspoon salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover and cook at a bare simmer for 7 or 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and let the mixture sit for about 5 minutes. Take out the solids with a slotted spoon and place them in the bowl of a food processor with metal blade. Be certain to fish out the bay leaves as they do not chop up smoothly  (Reserve and strain the liquid to make the aspic) Start processing the liver, adding the butter piece by piece. Finally, add the second teaspoon salt, the pepper, and a generous splash of Cognac process for 2 minutes so that the mixture is very creamy and completely smooth. Pour into a mold and refrigerate to set and serve.  To preserve freshness and give a professional look to my paté,  I make an aspic. (this is the fun part of the process as it makes me look so professional.) Aspic: Boil up the remaining broth and residue from the liver. Add the bag of unflavored gelatin and stir frequently to dissolve the gelatin. Next, beat a raw egg into a froth and stir it into the boiling liquid to clarify it. Once the broth is clear, strain it through a sieve lined with a layer of paper towels. Allow to cool but not harden, then pour it slowly over the cooled paté. Make certain not to melt the underlying paté with the liquid aspic.   There's nothing like a little handwork mushing the ingredients into the pot   Stirring the ingredients over a simmering stove Testing livers to be certain that they are still pink inside adding just a dash of salt into the Cuisinart pouring the smooth pate into ceramic bowls   If the Pope  had visited NANTUCKET, he would surely have enjoyed our joint effort!   ****   This memorable event was recorded for posterity on video by my friend, Joanna Hay, who some of you will recognize as the nibbled-fingered violinist in the Coq Au Vin Band. These photos are out-take from her documentary film. I know it will make Caleb and me stars on the cooking network!    Joanna Hay is a documentary filmmaker and a superb violinist             Epilog: Kneading Bagel Dough is infinitely more work than chopping liver in the Cuisinart!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vintage vs. Classic: That is the Question!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vintage vs. Classic

Copyright Vladimir Kagan, September 13, 2015

 

I have recently been asked to define the difference between Kagan Vintage and Kagan Classic furniture. I thought that the answer was worthy of a Blog.

In doing my research for this article. The issue of fakes, wannabes and misrepresented furniture begged to be explored. The comparison is amusing and revealing.

 To get you started on Vintage vs. Classic 101, here is the Wikipedia description:

 

 “Antique furniture is furniture that is at least 100 years old - plain and simple. This is the definition that is most widely accepted by experts including those on PBS's Antiques Roadshow. The definition has its origins in the Tariff Act of 1930, enacted by the U.S. Customs Office.

 

Vintage furniture is furniture that is between 30 to 100 years old. Anything more recent would qualify as simply used furniture.”

 

Vintage furniture has inherent value as long as it is untouched. Once you tamper with the original piece of furniture its intrinsic value is diminished. Unfortunately most vintage seating deteriorates over the years and requires new springing, webbing, horsehair stuffing and foam topping in addition to new fabric covering. Restoration of antique or vintage furniture decreases its value. Quality auction houses will have a provenance in their catalog to the effect: “this item has been repaired/restored on the right corner etc.” thus reducing anticipated value.

 

When to buy a VINTAGE KAGAN:

 

• IF you’re buying primarily to have a collection of Vintage furniture and you do not intend to restore it.

• IF it has a good provenance and you “must have” the piece.

• IF the design is unique and is no longer in our production.

• IF you happen to find a bargain in a thrift shop or on Ebay and are certain of its authenticity.

 

RECOMMENDED TO BUY: This is a perfectly beautiful example of one of my architecturally inspired desks ca. 1970. It appears to be in excellent condition. Made in Rosewood, it is reasonably priced at $18,000  Dealer: Adam Edelberger

RECOMMENDED TO BUY: An original Kagan desk chair from the 50s. The base  is a sculptured work of art. It looks to be in excellent condition, in black leather. (I can't tell if it has been reupholstered)

$7,800 Dealer: Oliver

 

WARNINGS:

I have evaluated many, many Internet offerings and found dozens to be fake, mislabeled or outright forgeries. 

Some of what is offered as “Kagan Vintage” furniture was produced under license agreements in the late 90s and more recently. These designs do not qualify as Vintage Kagan! The furniture is not made to the  quality standards of Kagan Classic furniture. (In the trade this simplified manufacturing process is known as value engineering.) 

BEWARE - This is AN AUTHORIZED LICENSED DESIGN: manufactured by Directional - these sofas date from the 90s and do not qualify as Vintage because of their age. 

$8,250 

BEWARE - NOT A KAGAN DESIGN, it is offered as  "designed by Vladimir Kagan for Preview"

$9000 

 

   

BEWARE - A WANNABE: This knock-off table was "designed" by Adrien Pearsall and is often offered as a Vladimir Kagan design.

 

THE ORIGINAL: Vladimir Kagan 412 Coffee Table designed in 1950. This photo is a currently manufactured Classic Design available through authorized Kagan showrooms

BEWARE - FAKE: This chair is often offered as a "Vladimir Kagan sculptural Lounge Chair" It is NOT a Kagan design

$9,500 

THE ORIGINAL: 175E Contour Side Chair designed ca 1950 available through The Vladimir Kagan Design Group Inc. and authorized Kagan showrooms

BEWARE - FAKE: This table is labeled as a Vladimir Kagan Design. It is NOT>.

 $6,975 

 

 

THE ORIGINAL, 201 Extension Dining Table was designed ca 1956. The photo is of the current Classic production and is available through my company and authorized showrooms around the country

 

BEWARE - a WANNABE: This cabinet is offered as "extraordinary Italian in the style of Vladimir Kagan" $,800 

 

THE ORIGINAL ca 1950s custom-built ten-drawer file cabinet for an executive's office

 

 

BEWARE - MISLABELED: Skyscraper Floor Lamp by Vladimir Kagan IT IS NOT MY DESIGN

 

 

ORIGINAL: The Stalagmite floor lamp - also available as a ceiling light: Stalactite

 - both variations are available in my Classic Collection.

 

 

 

 

BEWARE - KNOCK-OFF: Labeled "four Lotus Chairs by Vladimir Kagan"

 

 

ORIGINAL: The Lotus chair ca. 1970  Back in production by popular demand.

 

NOTE: IF you are uncertain of your potential purchase, Vladimir Kagan offers a Provenance Service that will help authenticate an original Kagan. There is a five hundred dollar fee per item, but it is worthwhile to prove your purchase to be genuine. For more information, contact [email protected]

 

NOTE: A fine quality piece of KAGAN VINTAGE is often more expensive than a new KAGAN CLASSIC piece custom-made to your specifications.

 

 

When to buy KAGAN CLASSIC furniture:

 

• WHEN you buy a Kagan Classic Design through a Kagan authorized representative, you are guaranteed the furniture’s authenticity with an attached plaque, which includes a registered number recorded in the Vladimir Kagan Archives. For information for an authorized dealer in your neighborhood contact [email protected]

 

• KAGAN CLASSIC furniture is made to the exacting specification of my original Kagan designs and is manufactured under the supervision of the Vladimir Kagan Design Group Inc. No piece of furniture leaves the factory without personal inspection. When you buy a new piece of Kagan Classic, you are assured of an original Kagan Design that will give you years of pleasure and will assuredly appreciate in value over the years.

 

The Shortie Sofa is under eight foot long and fits into any apartment sized living room. Easy to Deliver. However, a custom made sofa can be eighteen feet long to fit into your client's space. Our craftsmen will travel anywhere to install your custom made sofa.

 

• KAGAN CLASSIC furniture offers customization of a design that include detailed specifications and, when appropriate, can provide a full-size template for your designer or architect to place into your home.

 

• PERSONALIZED EXCLUSIVE DESIGNS: Vladimir Kagan offers a consulting service to create one-of-a-kind Kagan original furniture. I will work with you, your designer and/or architect to create unique solutions for your home or place of business. For information please contact  [email protected]

 

 

A few examples of “by appointment” designs I created for individual clients

           

Two custom designed back-to-back sofas and a pair of  1947 barrel chairs redesigned on swivel brass bases so that they can face either side of the room

(for Interior Designer: Amy Lau)

 

 

 

 

A "Floating Island" Sofa to view the client's art collection

 

 

A custom built corner Sofa for extra seating in the living room

(for Architect: Edda Elias)

 

You have just graduated from VINTAGE vs CLASSIC. Go out and enjoy your shopping!

Measure Three Times - Cut Once!

Copyright Vladimir Kagan, August 29, 2015

 

Measure Three Times - Cut Once! This was my father’s admonition seventy-odd years ago. It was a lesson that I never learned!

 

It is the story of my life. I am compulsive and have always cut three times and didn’t bother to measure! - It is how I became a furniture designer instead of a cabinetmaker!

Furniture design is a haphazard endeavor that relies on visual recognition, the ability to draw well and pray that sometime in the future proper measurements are put to each design. Cabinet making, on the other hand is a precision endeavor that takes careful planning, skilled use of tools and most importantly, accurate measurements. If you can’t do that, you can’t cut the mustard and had better think of becoming a designer. And so my dear readers, that is how I ended up being a designer. 

Every once in a while, I derive great pleasure of following my Precision Muse and attempt to do something challenging and meticulous. - It is a rare moment of pleasure.

Building the half model of my sailboat was one of those rare moments. I am joining a class this fall at Nantucket’s 1800 House, to build a scale model of a wooden Dory. I can’t wait.

 

Last week, I inadvertently drifted into one of those challenging moments when I was helping a friend hand-bind a dozen books. I have never done bookbinding, but the prospect had always appealed to me. She had seen the work of a mutual friend of ours: a beautiful small sketchbook of pen drawings of New York City.  In her enthusiasm she volunteered to duplicate them for grandchildren and posterity; a task much, much larger than it seemed at the time. 

Our friend is a robust 90 years old, full of spirit and jour de vivre. Little did my friend realize what she was getting herself into: scanning 44 drawings, cleaning each in Photoshop, printing over 500 pages onto quality rag paper. This was only the beginning. Prepping jackets and covering them with handmade paper, collating loose pages and a myriad of other steps needed to be accomplished. In desperation, my hapless friend had sought out a friend of hers, an artist and experienced bookbinder to help her – much work got done but it just never got finished. A year later a new volunteer was needed: I jumped into the breach. 

My designing juices were fired up with the challenge. I conceptualized that a drilling jig and press was needed to hold the pages and the cover. I launched into the project head-on. But Oooops, “Father were are you?” - “Measure three times and cut once!” A lesson still not learned. I measured only after having drilled three holes haphazardly; built jigs the wrong way, until finally, three days later, I got it synchronized. We had produced twelve beautifully bound books - a very satisfactory result.

 
  

First mistake: I drilled three holes without careful measuring

   
The key to success: a jig to hold the book

The book-press: clamping pages and cover firmly together

A happy me with my improvised book-press

   

The beautiful sketches by my friend Sheila 

Collating roughly five hundred pages ready for binding

Mission accomplished one year later!

Lesson learned: the road to the finished product has not changed for seventy years: I’m still compulsive, impatient, helter-skelter and slap-dash, but I rejoice in the end product.

 

 

 

The True Vladimir Kagan Revealed

Copyright Vladimir Kagan, August 21, 2015

 

 

 

Your favorite Blogger at home -  photo courtesy of The New York Social Diary

 

Many of you have followed my career as a furniture designer; a few of you may have seen my homes through publications or an actual visit. Here’s an opportunity to take a virtual-reality trip through my New York apartment. My reputation has placed me amongst the celebrated minimalist of the fifties. How wrong they are. My designs may be:

Sexy curves!

A generous use of colors!

Clean architectural details

Minimalist: heck no! My motto “More is More”!!!!

 

The NY Social Diary, an Internet magazine, did an in-depth exposé of my lifestyle, revealing the secret life of a “closet maximalist”.

 

Here is the link that invites you to be a voyeur into my N.Y. apartment.

http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/the-way-they-live/2015/vladimir-kagan

 

I hope that you will enjoy this little romp through my New York home.

 

Foot Notes:

 • The perfectly minimalist white rooms belong to my daughter Vanessa and her family.

 • The storage boxes in the bedroom were temporary while the closet was being repainted… (What I am really trying to say is that I am not as messy as it appears!)

 

 

 

Day dreams vs reality

Perceptions

Copyright Vladimir Kagan, August 5, 2015

 

The Rorschach test (/ˈrɔrʃɑːk/ or /ˈrɔərʃɑːk/,‪[3]‬ German pronunciation: [ˈʀoːɐ̯ʃax]; also known as the Rorschach inkblot test, the Rorschach technique, or simply the inkblot test) is a psychological test in which subjects' perceptions of inkblots are recorded and then analyzed using psychological interpretation. The test is named after its creator, Swiss psychologist Hermann Rorschach. Some psychologists use this test to examine a person's personality characteristics and emotional functioning. In the 1960s, the Rorschach was the most widely used projective test.‪[5]‬ and was ranked eighth among psychological tests used in outpatient mental health facilities.‪[6]‬ Currently it is the second most widely used test by members of the Society for Personality Assessment.

 

 

Life is nothing but a Rorschach Test. It is all about perception and miss-percetions. It is how we interprete things.

Perhaps the earliest miss-Perception was seeing “The Man in the Moon”

Of course, religion is a longtime player in the field; mono-theism vs. polytheism. How do the concepts really differ? Both teach respect and fear – both bring rewards (sometimes) and totally ignore you at others times.

Staring at clouds on a lazy day at the beach triggers many interpretations. The fun part of this activity are the ever changing images, a custom-built Rorschach every minute.

Driving along on any of our Nantucket roads, I see beautiful women from the back, sometimes pony tails swaying like a pendulum as they jog along. I see slender trim girls and ladies riding their bikes. The imagination carries you to the front to complete the vision, but often driving won’t permit that second glance. Not infrequently, what I envisioned as a prety girl turns out to be a man. Imagination is deceptive.

The other night I went to a beautful ballet performance. One of the highlights was Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake almost entirely danced on toes, to the delight of the audience. Realistically, dancing on toes is a grotesque and unnatural movement only facilited by specially designed “toe shoes”. (choreographers of modern dance have virtually eliminated this practice.) Dancing on toes is akin to Chinese bound feet. The elegantly embroidered tiny silk slippers were considered beautiful and walking on them an act of daintiness and upper-class idolitry. Both skills are precieved pinacles of grace. I adore toe dancing but shudder at the sight of the ocasional older Chinese lady mincing along the street, the result of her years of bound feet. Is one more beautiful than the other? Preception!

“To tell the truth” as a preamble to a sentence implies what’s to follow is a lie. Of course, that is not the case, but there is one more Rorschach.

“Whatever” as a closing phrase. Is it a discussion ender, or is it a lazy incomplete thought? A Rorschach of two minds.

I often preface every question with “so” - “So what are we going to do?” - ”So where are we going?” - “So what does that mean?” Another Freudian question for a Rorschach analysis.

Abstract art is another great deceptor - your interpretation is as good as the next person’s, but neither of you probably sees what the artist had in his mind.

When Chinese super hero artist Ai Weiwei takes a priceless Ming vase and shatters it into a thousand pieces in front of a camera it is called “Art”. When a disgruntled Florida artist takes one of Ai Weiwei’s crudely decorated “priceless” Ming vases and shattered it at last year’s Weiwei’s exhibit at the Perez Art Museum in Miami, the poor slob is arrested. Figure that out, Dr. Rorschach!

I sometimes gape off into space, not focused on anything. The perception of what I am visualizing is not what is actually out there. It isn’t what it ought to be! Just ruminating!

So why am I writing this Blog? Because these thoughts come into my head at night when I can’t sleep. Some people read a book; I entertain myself with random thoughts. What you see is not always what is out there. What you think may not match-up with reality. There is no absolute truth. Truth and lies fall into a grey area. It is one person’s perception over another’s.

Food for thought!