Design's love affair with bold colour inches one step further with the application of graphic art into everything from tables to chairs, bookshelves and even yachts. Cappellini gave Adam Goodrum's 'Stitch' chair the colour treatment with blocks or red, blue, white and black applied to the segments of the aluminium folding chair. Designer Enzo Berti recasts the humble bookshelf as a canvas for graphic prints with his Bar Code Street shelves. London based artist Anna James, who transforms pieces of 20th century furniture into contemporary art works, applied a clean graphic to her Genoa table. And of course who can forget Jeff Koon's 'art' yacht, released last year, which is still wowing onlookers on the Mediterranean. - Laura Demasi

In the digital age of music, Turntablism has long remained a bastion of the analogue, a smoky backroom where arguments over white labels, pick-ups and the merits of the 'S'-shaped tone arm are the order of the day.  Only recently has the turntable been dragged into the digital spectrum, beginning with the CD models ten years ago and being followed now by the emergence of hard-drive based decks.  

The recent Picasso & His Collection exhibition at the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA ) of Brisbane, Australia, managed to take the digital deck another step further. A significant part of Pablo Picasso's genius was the posthumous influence he had on modern Europe following his death in 1973, something GoMA's curators were excited to capture in their Contemporary Media Lounge, the centrepiece being the introduction of a touch screen turntable.

Co-ordinated by GoMA's Multimedia Designer, Aidan Robertson and calling on the skills of both the gallery's exhibitions team and post production company Cutting Edge's Interactive Designer, Dan Treichel, the brilliance of the turntables lies in the linking of a platter taken from a Numark HDX deck with an intuitive touchscreen. As the platter spins, the user is able to manipulate a range of adjustable filters onscreen to build, rearrange and reinvent the MP3 songs on the drive. While relatively easy to pick up and play, the turntables also possess a steady learning curve, letting the more committed and ambitious users create works of intimidating aural dexterity.   

Thus Robertson, Treichel and their collaborators managed to weave together the practicality of both old and new, keeping the tactile response of the high-torque HDX platter but matching it to the easy access of media and filters provided by a touchscreen. By doing so, they created a compelling experience and in the process made the touchscreen-turntables an unexpected star of the exhibition. By Matt Shea

If the first and second generations of social networking portals were about opening up the world, the third generation is about closing it again. Invitation only sites are popping up everywhere, creating exclusive, gated virtual communities that shut out the “masses.”

A Small World helped kick off the ‘invitation-only’� trend by restricting new membership to those invited by current members. But sometimes an invitation just isn’t enough. Gaining entry into this new generation of private online world can involve an intimidating process of review, such as career-orientated sites bluechipexpert.com and doostang.com, where aspiring members must submit their resumes to be considered for acceptance. Other sites are blatantly and proudly parochial, such as aprivateclub.com, which is only for New Yorkers in-the-know.

If you were lucky enough to score an invitation to the Cannes Film Festival, you would also have gained access to the festival’s ‘private’ online portal, cannes2008.ning.com, created for attendees only.

In Asia, well heeled society-types and business movers and shakers can network at dianefay.com, a members only online club where one has to be invited to gain entry. In Europe decayenne.com offers a similar exclusive club concept for invited members only. 

Wall Street types can commiserate the global financial meltdown with eachother in the privacy of cyberspace at bankersavenue.com, a members-only portal for bankers who must be invited to join.

Global expats can catch up on local knowledge and network at internations.org. The members-only site is for diplomats, members of IGOs and NGOs, foreign correspondents and other expatriates employed by multinational companies and their family members.

If you don't bat for the 'straight' team you can connect with other successful 'power' gays at cosmocircle.net .

If bizarre beliefs are more your thing then you can try getting into the spacecollective.org invite-only community, where "forward thinking terrestrials exchange ideas and information about the state of the species, their planet and the universe." Sounds like a blast. Where do we sign up?

American Express should jump into the fray here and create a network for people who use their ‘black’� card.  Are businesses missing out by not creating exclusive environments for their high end customers?- Laura Demasi

Do you know of any other ‘private�’ networking portals like these? send us a tip

pics via cobrasnake

Not so long ago, you didn't even know the sex of your baby until the day of birth. Today, we'll know just about everything there is to know -- especially now that expectant mommies and daddies can gaze upon their progeny with the help of Echographic images 4-D. Apparently, these are the best medical images available. Echographic imagery is not new, but it has not been widely used for this purpose. For the old-fashioned among us, who feel that emailing even ultrasound images of your baby to everyone is intrusive and somewhat disturbing, this is bad idea. And one might wonder if we shouldn't be concerned about interfering with the baby's scarce months of peace and quiet before he/she must face our noisy, over-lit world. Add to this our impulsive need to share every single moment of our rather uninteresting lives with the rest of the universe, this could become rather tiresome. However, once the Genie is out of the lamp, there's no stuffing him back. So, expect to see images and video of unborn babies all over your desktop soon. By Tuija Seipell.

From Berlin Germany, Metrofarm Studio has produced a number of stunning, custom built DJ Desks. Having released a concrete DJ table a couple of years back, the new desks, in folded stainless steel and wood painted black and neon orange demand attention.  But they're not just for finely tuned vinyl slingers looking for the perfect ergonomic ratios to heighten their musical flow. They're for anybody with a musical mind and an eye for detail, looking to add spark to a lounge room, club or gallery.  It's art for the DJ's sake. By Nick Christie

We don't go to the movies to admire the theatre, but would it kill theatre owners to build even one with an edge? Time and time again, we are disappointed in the new, mega multiplexes that are boring beyond belief in their sameness and recycled ideas. So, we must admit that there is not much to celebrate but are seeing little glimmers of hope and ingenuity once in a while.



One example is the AMC Pacific Place Cinema in Hong Kong refurbished by Hong Kong-based James Law. The entrance areas to the six auditoriums seating 600 in 1.2-meter wide leather seats plus the a VIP theatre for 39 offer some unusual eye candy, but we are still wanting more. If you know of a truly cool movie theatre, please let us know via the contact page on the bottom of the site. By Tuija Seipell.

The little brand blurb that accompanies this new range of luxury motorcycle helmets from Ateliers Ruby is “good looks - for everyday heroes and heroines”. Which is just too cute. So is the story behind them.

Parisian designer Jerome Coste drew on Steve McQueen iconography, old-school racing cars and quite possibly the six separate head traumas he’s survived when he set about developing the Pavillion range of motorcycle accessories for Ruby. He also sold his own motorbike to finance the production of the full carbon fiber shells, the kind used in Formula One racing. The 'inside garnish' (to quote Coste) is a soft lining of decadent burgundy nappa lambskin, chosen for its comfort and anti-bacterial properties. Henceforth providing a 'reassuring cocoon'.



Clearly a design pedant, Coste has given his helmets a unique signature quirk - a small crest that runs along the top, as inspired by the armoury worn by medieval knights.

The Pavillion range is available in three colours Shibuya (peppermint, named after the Tokyo Shopping District), Concorde (black) and St Honore (white) and are accompanied by an equally sweet range of twill silk scarves in various retro racing car shades.

Again to quote from the branding blurb: ‘Lady Ruby, your guardian angel wishes you a bon voyage”. Bless. By Sarah Wilson

If you are lucky enough to have a home theatre, most of us would be happy with a projector, surround sound and perhaps a comfy sofa or two. Not so for these homeowners.

Pentagram Architects partner James Biber has designed this home theatre in Montauk New York, taking inspiration from Radio City Music Hall and 2001: A Space Odyssey. The theatre has a series of round arches, which house 600 five-watt dimmer-controlled light bulbs that provide a soft ambient light for when you need to find that elusive remote control. And as in the Music Hall, the lights are positioned to glow away from the viewers — because we all hate to have lights in our eyes when watching the big screen.

Biber has designed the theatre to function like a TV room, in that it is comfortable and intimate enough for a romantic night in with a bottle of red and a Hugh Grant movie, but can also easily accommodate up to ten people to watch the big game, or perhaps a slumber party with the girls.

All of the surfaces in the room are covered in orange felt to help with the acoustics, and seating on the floor has been taken care of by Edelman Leather who custom made the beanbags.

This house, which also boasts a large private outdoor space looking onto the Atlantic Ocean, recently won an American Architecture Award for distinguished buildings and a Citation for Design in the AIA New York State Design Awards. By Brendan McKnight

See also - A Home with the coolest outdoor home theatre

Recent collaboration between the industrious designer Michael Young  and his wife, Icelandic graphic artist Katrin Olina Petursdottir, resulted in SKIN. It is an exquisite Florentine cosmetic surgery clinic commissioned by Dr. Jorgos Foukis, guru to the rich and (determined-to-remain) beautiful.


SKIN is befittingly located in central Florence in Borgo San Jacopo, an area known already in 1050 for a hospital for the pilgrims on their way to Rome. SKIN’s 250-square-metre space includes state-of-the-art operating theaters, meeting rooms, massage rooms, offices and a reception.



In SKIN, the Hong-Kong-based Young and Olina have managed to fuse sterile medical with sexy boudoir. The overall feeling of lightness and illumination is achieved by applying a translucent laminate glazing DuPont on not only walls, windows and mirrors but on floors as well, allowing Olina’s beautiful, light-pastel imagery to glow through. By Tuija Seipell

Back in May this year, we told you about a little shop in New York called Pong (pictured below). A tiny table tennis parlour that you could hire out and film your slide into sporting greatness.  What we also mentioned was after three months, Pong would be gone in favour of something else. 

And the time has come for it to be replaced, by a Drive-in theatre. What was formally a sporting arena, is a cinema fitted with a 1965 Ford Falcon convertible and widescreen. Starting with films from 1960 and progressing chronologically each night, DRV-IN speeds through four decades of cinematic achievement.

With seating for six and a full concession stand, where else in Manhattan are you going to relive all those crappy B-Movie moments you saw when you were a kid? By Matt Hussey

Here at TCH, we love riding bikes through the city. There's something immensely pleasing about sailing past scores of traffic with little more than a push of a pedal.  And at the same time, you're burning the calories, and doing your bit to stay green. But there's one thing we hate about this simple mode of transport.  People like nothing more than stealing them, damaging them, or driving buses into them. While your safe at work crunching the numbers, who's looking after your ride home?

Cue the bike dispensing machine. Brought to you courtesy of bikedispenser.com, a small firm from Amsterdam, the idea is to help facilitate bike rentals in urban areas. Cyclists pay a small fee to hire a bike, and then they can take it where they please. Once they've finished, they can return it either to that machine, or another one across town. And because they've been fitted with RFID tags, they won't all have been nicked before you can get one.
 
Now, if only they can do something about those van driver - By Matt Hussey

Underwater scooters? Sounds a bit like James Bond-meets-Finding Nemo. But despite its name, this Scuba Doo is no cartoon. The brainchild of Aussie scuba-diving specialists ScubaDoo International, the funky ScubaDoo will revolutionise scuba diving as it slips coolly beneath the waves from a launching pad, allowing the rider to cruise the reef at a speed of 2.5 knots without tanks, weights or mask, and with head and shoulders dry and safe in a clear, fitted dome. The secret to the ScubaDoo's easy mobility is an external compressor, attached to the scooter by a cable which floats above the scooter on the ocean surface. At A$22,700 (US$17,000 approx) it' not a cheap thrill, but expect diving centres and hire operators to charge approx. $130 for a 15-minute scoot through the depths. -  Lisa Evans

Whilst the surf may be up Down Under at present, it's also letting rip in Munich. Just outside the “Haus der Kunst” museum, sits a canal who's wildly gushing rapids have created the cities underground surfing spot de jour.

The rapids supply local surfing buffs with ample waves, keeping their surfing skills sharp throughout the winter. It seems its one man at a time at this surfing hole, so future enthusiasts need to join the queue. Unlike the Aussies, these German surfers need not worry about sharks. By Billy T (photographed exclusively for TCH by our German spotter, Gunnar)

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In case you hadn't noticed, over the last 5 years 'Cool' has become a very ubiquitous, easy-to-own commodity. Let's face it, everyone is 'cool' these days. It's also the most overused word in the western world, a sure sign of its bastardization. Cool is easy to market, sell and to certain degrees achieve, with the right look, stance, sound, you are ready-made cool - just check out how many Sienna Millers there are walking down the street or how many Beyoncès there are in the charts and you get the point. This is not a good thing. It's making us all the same - so when will we get tired of looking at each other? Whereas pop culture used to be about celebrating differences, now they are hard to spot. Cool and Consumerism go hand in hand - people believe that to be 'cool' they have to buy a massive amount - you have to have the 'right' bag, shades, jeans, t shirts, cap, accessories, ipod, car - it's never-ending, not to mention expensive.
 
What is infinitely harder to own is creativity. The truly creative people of the art, fashion, design and music scenes - these are our new heroes. Creativity is looked up to nowadays. Creativity is Cool (ha ha). But in order for these people to flex their genius, they need something magic, something you can't bottle, manufacture, package or sell, no matter how much those celebrity magazines would love to sell it to the masses. What we're talking about is inspiration. Once inspired, these people are producing work that really astounds us, that takes us someplace else, that moves us, that thrills us, that in turn inspires us do something great.

Getting inspired in today's culture is no easy task. It's hard to be fresh when fresh has become a commodity, when happiness has become fashionshaped, and fashion has shifted from niche pursuit to easy-access shorthand for cool. Like pulling up your hoodie to get an instant toughness boost or feeling 10% smarter because you've got new shoes on. The old signifiers of youth style and culture - music, and particularly, fashion? have become easy-access.
 
 In short, everyone has become fashion-able. Not fashionable, you note, just able to grab hold of this week's trends with a lunchtime purchase of some cheap white pumps or a faux cameo necklace. Super-hip stylist Christiane Joy claims to have almost dropped out of the global in-on-Monday, out-by-Wednesday fashion roundabout, preferring jeans, a shirt and less obvious signals to her style: a pair of sneakers customized by a hip friend, or pumps in just the right shade of blue. Perhaps that's the answer - subtle as the new black. It's an argument that old-school music purists have had with the Limewire generation since the first Napster file-swap happened. Forget the days when it took commitment to get music (ever thought about how hard it was for Mick Jagger to get those Muddy Waters records?).
 
The sheer volume of music that's available to all of us might irritate the purists but it hasn't dampened music's ability to inspire us, nor has it turned down the creativity of acts making music now. As Stewart Copeland (of The Police) points out, "the quantity of music available has gone up, but the quality is still there".  The early noughties have been characterized by a stampede of bands (just think about The Flaming Lips, The Gossip, even bloody Justin Timberlake now he's hooked up with the on-form-again Timbaland) that have blended the boundaries between genres and stamped right over the old ways of expressing ideas, transmogrifying ideas and creation into files we pop onto our iPods.
 
It's crystal clear: the most interesting movements express an individual's own world and morphs their universe into a fabulous new song or into dresses with great big spheres instead of sleeves (thanks again, Gareth Pugh) or, well, whatever. The crusade against the forces of conformity and control is taking place in homegrown mixtapes over mix CDs in the supermarket, fanzines over mega-magazines, high ideas over the high street. And the ideas will keep coming, they have to.

Recognizing true creativity when you see it, nourishing it and encouraging it to grow, is the only way to beat the frightening forces of things like the pop idol machine, high street fashion factories and lookalike magazines and models. Do your own thing, keep reaching up for those high ideas and never look over your shoulder; because that's what being fierce and being creative, is truly all about. By Emma Warren and Elizabeth McGrath

The days of the designer super gym have arrived. Leading the pack is London's GYMBOX; a new �5m mega gym located in the old Lumiere Cinema space at the St Martin's Lane hotel. Providing a unique experience is paramount in the new generation of fitness centre and Gymbox succeeds in breaking the old mould, with live nightly DJs and quirky classes such as 'Gladiator Games' - where participants engage in exercises from the eponymous early 90s TV show - and the 'Stiletto Workout, performed in heels.



The St Martins Gymbox is actually the second venue for the fitness center brand, with the first opening in Holborn in 2004. Getting fit has never been so hip.



Is there a super deluxe new gym, sports or fitness centre in your city that we should know about? Let us know as we would like to feature it in a special feature for our print magazine. By Bill T

There's little left in life that hasn't had a style-makeover - even the most banal everyday, domestic items - with everything from can openers to wooden spoons designed with aesthetics in mind.  And now the last bastion of artless functionality, the humble band aid, has succumbed to the trend.

Superficial cuts and grazes are cause for glamor with Kiss Lips, Skulls & Cowboys, without doubt the coolest band aids you’ve ever seen. Camp as a pink tiara at Mardi Gras, the bright, glossy lip-shaped bandages come in a cute tin which includes a little novelty toy. Who said fun (oh, and bumps and bruises) were just for kids. They cost $16 and come with 15 per tin.

If your boo-boo needs more than a band aid, then you can't go past these stylish bandages in assorted colors. Complete with logo and clips, the bandage can compliment any outfit and steers away from the dramatic off white traditional bandage of the past.  by Lisa Evans

The promise of an international DJ is no longer enough to lure people to a gathering. Elaborately themed pubic parties such as the Pillow Fight Club and Water Gun Assassinations have become a surprise phenomenon around the world. The latest is Bubble Battles.. Last month (July) six massive bubble battles took place across the continent of Canada. Gorgeous young things soaked to their bones in hot water bubbles, need we say more? It takes the job of party promoter to a whole new level (now, where do we buy bubble bath in bulk?) by Bill T

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The plush amenities of a celebrity rehabilitation centres can be yours, without the lawyer fees of a public DUI. Though its not the "rehab" you may be thinking, Yi Spa in Berlin will have your mind and body rejuvenated in no time, leaving your stress addictions behind.

The site opens with a cryptic passage from writer Khalil Gibran, "I had a second birth when my soul and my body loved one another and were married." Though we're not entirely sure how this relates to facial exfoliation and full-body massages, the feel-good vibe is there, and we'll follow it.

Yi-Spa continues down its unconventional path with eye-opening architecture and interior design. Instead of puritanical white, designers infused bright color (hot pink no less) into the spa's interior - a refreshing change from the stark, minimalist-inspired interiors that characterize most spas. Hard wood floors and white walls contrast with hot pink screens and curtains and dome shaped lighting.

For the high-strung Berliner in your life, you can purchase a "Feel-Good-Schien" loosely translated as a "license to feel good," or as we say in Australia, a gift certificate. By L.Harper

Just like Mobile Movies, another innovative outdoor cinema community is screening films on rooftops in New York.  Rooftop Films originally started showcasing short films on a rooftop in Brooklyn. Now in its 10th year, they screen over 275 movies at more than a dozen locations, including the roof of the Old American Can Factory in Gowanus (Brooklyn) and the roof of Downtown Community TV in TriBeCa (Manhattan). Screenings take place Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays all summer long through September 23. Tickets are $8. by Bill T

The only thing worse than being trapped in a sleeping bag, is needing to go to the toilet in one. Well cast those fears aside as the new Selk'bag is here. This sleeping bag is more like a body bag ( not the corpse ones ). It's padded and shaped to the human form and allows free movement both in and out of sleep, where traditional sleeping bags don't. The various ties and adjustment belts allow for a very snug fir which keeps the warmth in and gives you further control when moving about. Selk'bag is padded with a number of layered inserts which provide maximum comfort when lying on even the hardest surfaces. Best of all , even the ugliest camper can look positively cute once wrapped in the Selk'bag. Snug, Smart, freeing! Now selling online by Bill T