Ultra Swank - Retro Adventures

Design • advertising • interior • architecture

At the top of the World
Written by Christopher in Architecture

At the top of the World

This house, located in Santiago, Chile was designed by native architect Mathias Klotz Germain and was built for a family with eleven (yes eleven!) daughters. The first floor houses entertainment and social areas, the second floor all of the bedrooms and the top floor includes the kitchen, viewing area and the master bedroom. The base of the construction is made up with concrete and steel...

Mid-Century Houses in Southern California

I have been passionate about the mid-century homes that was built in southern California by great visionaries such as Joseph Eichler and John Lautner ever since I first saw one. The Eichler mid-century-modern houses are especially sought after today and the prices to own one of these babies, are getting higher and higher by the day. Perhaps common people (aka squares) have finally realized how amazingly simple and...

Mies van Der Rohe likes Barcelona

Famous architect Mies van Der Rohe was not only a architect – but also a designer. He designed among others the Barcelona and Brno series furniture. Today we are looking at some of his designs from the wonderful Barcelona series. Designed in 1929 for the German pavilion at the Barcelona exposition in Barcelona, Spain. I was fortunate to visit it when I was in Barcelona...

Arne Jacobsen for your Office
Written by Christopher in Interior

Arne Jacobsen for your Office

Spring is officially here in Scandinavia, a good time to enjoy something new (or old). Warm colors, international design and clean lines are all trademarks of Danish designer and architect Arne Jacobsen. If you are in the process or remodeling or thinking about it here are some personal favorites of mine available to buy from Hivemodern.com....

Attention all Customers – The Art of Lettering

I am not only interested in vintage design, architecture, lounge music and stewardesses but also graphic design and typography seeing I majored in it in college and nowadays what I make a living from. One thing that caught my attention lately are those old handwritten posters and placates that were found in major stores and outlets. Handwritten of course, they were in their own way...

Video
Written by Christopher in Advertising

Fly the Friendly Skies

Remember what is was like before Southwest Airlines? Well, I don’t. But it looks all good to me. Here are two early 1970s ads from the Dallas based airline Southwest Airlines and Miami based National Airlines. Both rather sexist, created to attract the attention of male passengers using tightly fitted outfits on the stewardesses along with broadcast and print campaigns suggesting that you could “fly”...

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