Design Calendar: April 12–May 3, 2012
Orchids are abloom in the Bronx, while California has ranch homes on its mind. Our nationwide events roundup has something for you
Get inspired by the works of some of country's finest artisans at the Smithsonian Craft Show in D.C. or the stylings of top decorators at a West Coast show house. Or head to Santa Barbara, California, to celebrate Cliff May's innovative ranch homes. Read on for details about these events and more things to do and see this spring.
EXHIBIT — April 12–June 17, 2012
Carefree California: Cliff May and the Romance of the Ranch
Art, Design & Architecture Museum, University of California, Santa Barbara, California
Celebrate the rise of the modern ranch house and casual California living in the latest Cliff May exhibition. Through a collection of drawings, models, magazine ads, sales pamphlets and film clips, the exhibit brings to life May’s transformation of Spanish colonial adobes into open-plan, glass-walled ranches that integrate house with garden. The exhibit also focuses on wartime industry and the growth of California, and features work by other contemporary architects from the same time period.
This exhibit is part of Pacific Standard Time, a collaboration of cultural institutions.
Cost: Free
Hours: Tuesday–Sunday, noon–5 p.m.
Carefree California: Cliff May and the Romance of the Ranch
Art, Design & Architecture Museum, University of California, Santa Barbara, California
Celebrate the rise of the modern ranch house and casual California living in the latest Cliff May exhibition. Through a collection of drawings, models, magazine ads, sales pamphlets and film clips, the exhibit brings to life May’s transformation of Spanish colonial adobes into open-plan, glass-walled ranches that integrate house with garden. The exhibit also focuses on wartime industry and the growth of California, and features work by other contemporary architects from the same time period.
This exhibit is part of Pacific Standard Time, a collaboration of cultural institutions.
Cost: Free
Hours: Tuesday–Sunday, noon–5 p.m.
SHOW — April 19–22, 2012
Smithsonian Craft Show
National Building Museum, 401 F St. NW, Washington, D.C.
Whether you're looking for a unique decor piece or simply appreciate the innovation and technical mastery of craft artists, check out this year's Smithsonian Craft Show. Widely regarded as the country’s most prestigious juried show and sale of fine American crafts, the show will feature the works of 121 distinguished artists working in 12 different media, including furniture, ceramics, decorative fiber and wearable art.
Cost: $15; $20 for two-day pass; $6 Thursday after 6 p.m. Purchase tickets online
Hours: Thursday, Friday, 10:30 a.m.–8:30 p.m.; Saturday, 10:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m.; Sunday, 11:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Smithsonian Craft Show
National Building Museum, 401 F St. NW, Washington, D.C.
Whether you're looking for a unique decor piece or simply appreciate the innovation and technical mastery of craft artists, check out this year's Smithsonian Craft Show. Widely regarded as the country’s most prestigious juried show and sale of fine American crafts, the show will feature the works of 121 distinguished artists working in 12 different media, including furniture, ceramics, decorative fiber and wearable art.
Cost: $15; $20 for two-day pass; $6 Thursday after 6 p.m. Purchase tickets online
Hours: Thursday, Friday, 10:30 a.m.–8:30 p.m.; Saturday, 10:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m.; Sunday, 11:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
HOME TOURS — April 27–29, 2012
Dwell Home Tours
San Francisco Bay Area
Peek inside five modern homes in Marin as part of the second annual home tours presented by Dwell and Marin Magazine. An evening reception at Sausalito's Cavallo Point will kick off the weekend of tours. The featured homes include work by Butler Armsden Architects (photo), Marmol Radziner, Holder Design Associates, Laurie Friedman, Daniel Hunter and Ken Linsteadt.
Cost: $75 single day; $150 weekend pass, which includes an invitation to the "Meet the Architects Night." Purchase tickets online.
Hours: 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
Dwell Home Tours
San Francisco Bay Area
Peek inside five modern homes in Marin as part of the second annual home tours presented by Dwell and Marin Magazine. An evening reception at Sausalito's Cavallo Point will kick off the weekend of tours. The featured homes include work by Butler Armsden Architects (photo), Marmol Radziner, Holder Design Associates, Laurie Friedman, Daniel Hunter and Ken Linsteadt.
Cost: $75 single day; $150 weekend pass, which includes an invitation to the "Meet the Architects Night." Purchase tickets online.
Hours: 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
SHOWCASE — April 28–May 28, 2012
San Francisco Decorator Showcase
2020 Jackson St., San Francisco
Roam the floors of a classic revival 1902 estate and see how more than two dozen West Coast designers put their creative touch on every corner of the 11,500-square-foot home. The mansion, in the Pacific Heights neighborhood, features mahogany paneling, herringbone wood floors, box-beamed ceilings and a double-curved grand staircase. This year's selected designers are Tineke Triggs, Geoffrey De Sousa, Matthew MacCaul Turner, Heather Hilliard and others.
Cost: $30; seniors 60 and older, $25
Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday, 10 a.m.–3 p.m.; Thursday, Friday, 10 a.m.–7 p.m.; Sunday, Memorial Day, 11 a.m.–4 p.m. Closed Mondays.
Showcase house illustration by Clay Seibert.
More design events: March 29–April 19, 2012, April 5–26, 2012
What's on your calendar? Let us know in the Comments.
San Francisco Decorator Showcase
2020 Jackson St., San Francisco
Roam the floors of a classic revival 1902 estate and see how more than two dozen West Coast designers put their creative touch on every corner of the 11,500-square-foot home. The mansion, in the Pacific Heights neighborhood, features mahogany paneling, herringbone wood floors, box-beamed ceilings and a double-curved grand staircase. This year's selected designers are Tineke Triggs, Geoffrey De Sousa, Matthew MacCaul Turner, Heather Hilliard and others.
Cost: $30; seniors 60 and older, $25
Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday, 10 a.m.–3 p.m.; Thursday, Friday, 10 a.m.–7 p.m.; Sunday, Memorial Day, 11 a.m.–4 p.m. Closed Mondays.
Showcase house illustration by Clay Seibert.
More design events: March 29–April 19, 2012, April 5–26, 2012
What's on your calendar? Let us know in the Comments.
The Orchid Show: Patrick Blanc's Vertical Gardens
New York Botanical Garden, 2900 Southern Blvd., Bronx, New York
If you're in New York or planning to be there by April 22, escape to a one-day tropical retreat at the Botanical Garden's Orchid Show. French botanist and artist Patrick Blanc has outfitted the garden with gravity-defying floral arrangements of orchids, ferns, exotic plants and epiphytes. The display takes you through 8-foot-tall "green walls" and decorated 13-foot cubes bursting with color and fragrance.
Cost: Adults, $20; students and seniors, $18; children 2–12, $8; members and children under 2, free
Hours: Tuesday–Sunday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.