360 DEGREES Weblog

Like frogs sitting on lily pads, so goes the experience when visiting the “Blue Frog Lounge” in Mumbai, India. Architectural firm Serie, have created an entertainment space that is both attractive and stand-offish at the same time, mirroring its patrons casual chic attitudes. For unobstructed people and performer watching, staggered heights and angled booths atop a glowing blue lake of light, give the impression of floating in a warm lake under the spring moonlight, waiting for the mating ritual to begin. Notable features include dimpled walls for acoustic enhancement and several recording studios, just in case you’re not convinced they are serious about music. A combination music venue / restaurant / lounge.

Thanks Yankodesign

The Kiddo Kidkeeper from Smart Target is like a 21st century version of those ‘kid leashes’ you see some parents using with their toddler. Except it doesn’t look as stupid. The system consists of a transmitter which you attach to the kid and a receiver which is carried by an adult. The transmitter continually emits a signal which is picked up by the receiver and is used to determine how far away the kid has wandered. When they go farther than a preset distance a warning sound and visual alarm on the receiver will go off allowing the adult to retrieve the child.

In terms of range settings the Kiddo receiver actually only has 2 options. The short range setting will alert the adult if the child has gone more than 4 meters (about 13 feet) away while the long range setting will sound the alert when a distance of 8 meters (or 26 feet) has been reached. The transmitter is also waterproof which means it’s pool and beach-friendly and can even be used at airports and on airplanes without disturbing the avionics.

If you are not already a Jawbones fan, their latest line of limited edition Bluetooth headsets ought to convert you soon enough. With Gold standing for sweet talk, Black for dirty talk and White for trash talk, the Love to Talk limited edition headsets are sure to become the ultimate style symbol for the fashion year. Thanks for making the headphone sexy again Yves Behar.

Lexus has raised in-car entertainment standards to a new level with the introduction of an advanced ICE package for the RX-range SUVs. The new premium ICE comprises two eight-inch widescreen WVGA monitors, firmly mounted on the back of the front seats. These slim tablets come equipped with an integrated slot-loading DVD, RCA inputs, USB ports and SD card slots. Moreover, these units are resistant to screen jitter when traveling over jagged surfaces and their larger screen size enriches you with a wider viewing angle. If you think that’s all, you are mistaken. The screens can operate both independently or simultaneously. You also get two pairs of infrared headphones. Reception has been improved on the new system and there is an auto power-off function. Each tablet touts a manual control panel or you could also use a remote control unit. The premium ICE package, available to order now, is being offered as standard on SE-L versions of the RX 350 and RX 400h. Only available in UK for now, the ICE system sets you back hefty $4,300.

It’s official, according to the latest Global Luxury Brands Survey the “most coveted luxury brand” in the world is Gucci — 1 in 5 global customers said that if money was not an issue they would choose Gucci over every other luxury brand. The survey was done this past November and this marks Gucci’s third year holding on to the top spot in what is a more challenging and competitive luxury market than ever before.

It’s not worth a great deal that this survey ranked Gucci as #1 globally, not regionally. Other brands ranked better in specific places, like Chanel was #1 in China and Christian Dior did the best in Russia.

Designed by Philip Starck, the Ero |S| Swivel chair is modern functional simplicity at its finest. I’m not quite sure what the naked models do for the advertising (other than make you feel like you need to clean the chair before you sit in it) but despite them I think these egg-shaped chairs look cool and relatively comfortable. They come in this pedestal version that swivels, in a version with legs, and one that has wheels. Plus there are lots of color options (both transparent and opaque). Polycarbonate and chrome, $485-$700.

The opening of a museum is just about as much fun as … what? The closing of a museum? We can quit this sort of kidding now that we’ve seen the star-studded opening gala of Lacma — the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Tom Cruise, Christina Aguilera, Katie Homes and Tony Bennett were just a few of the luminaries enjoying the lavish Wolfgang Puck-catered, Lionel Ritchie-entertained dinner as a prelude to the opening of the new Broad Contemporary Art Museum building of Lacma.

Urban Light, a fantastic forest of vintage lampposts by Chris Burden, lit up the entry to the cocktail reception where life-size ice-sculpture waiters served champagne. Event virtuoso Ben Bourgeois of J. Ben Bourgeois Productions called the party itself a contemporary art installation and he knows what that means. Just to create the “wrapper” for the dinner party, he brought in a 22,000-square-foot steel frame and covered the interior walls, tables, chairs and 12 massive light cubes with white Ultrasuede. All of the surfaces served as screens for the evening’s entertainment.

The 72,000-square-foot Broad Contemporary Art Museum building was designed by Renzo Piano whose work includes Paris’s Pompidou Centre and the New York Times headquarters. The initial 160-piece exhibition includes works by Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons.

Thanks Coolhunter

Negro de Anglona is a stylish restaurant in Madrid created in a converted 17th century Spanish palace, Palacio de Anglona, by architecture and interior design virtuoso, Luis Galliusi. Known for his ability to combine unexpected elements and to create elegant spaces, Galliusi has designed houses, stores, hotels, restaurants, offices and clinics in Madrid, Paris, Cairo, Mexico, Morocco, Indonesia and Miami. His client list includes Manolo Blahnik, Chanel and Phillippe Starck. In the seven rooms of Negro de Anglona, Galliusi has shown his usual flair. He has combined a strong, black-and-white color palette ˜ including enormous black-and-white, back-lit images of castles ˜ with ornate floor-to-ceiling drapery and other, strong decorative elements. The task of overseeing the predominantly Mediterranean menu has been trusted to the 24-year-old chef, Aitor García Cerro.

Audiophiles have had a tough time of it in recent years. Ever since the digital music revolution made it possible for music lovers to archive entire collections on a hard drive, high fidelity and the golden age of home audio equipment have all but disappeared. Fortunately for the stalwarts, a few companies still value the home stereo system as an important element in modern living.

The British manufacturer of high performance speakers, KEF, recently teamed up with the Italian manufacturer, Giorgetti, to prototype a beautiful hybrid stereo-cum-shelving unit, queerly dubbed Stringless Pleasure. Designed by the architect Chi-wing Lo for the Creation 9707 project (a campaign to promote Hong Kong design), the unit is fabricated from antique wood and accentuated by precious stone dials, a slot load CD drive, and a concealed iPod dock.