On y va - Let's go to Zurich!

Some weeks ago I was fortunate enough to spend a long weekend in Zurich, Switzerland. I've never been there before, but since a friend of mine moved there over a year ago it was time for a visit. And I have to say it was worth it. Zurich is a very nice city, although I maybe overestimated its size. It felt quite small and traditional. And expensive as well. Since it is one of the centres of money in Europe I should have expected that. So it is no surprise that Zurich's old centre is full of big brand shops such as Tom Ford, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, etc. But what was more interesting were a couple of tiny local stores that were very individual and cool. Not shouting out big brand names I loved one of them most. On y va is located at Zähringerplatz right in the centre. Not only theyr clothes, bags and shoes were great, but what I loved almost more was their interior design. I guess that was expectable for an interior designer ;) But enough words now, here are the pics. And don't forget to stop by whenever you're in Zurich.

On y va, Zähringerplatz 15, 8001 Zurich, Switzerland
On y va

Arsenal, what I had to deal with

Coming back to the apartment itself I have to say it was in quite a used state. But after beeing home for a family of 5 for about 25 years that didn't surprise me. Lacking rooms it was even necessary to build a loft in the living room, which was home for one of the daughters for several years. 

But walking into the apartment for the first time my mind already blocked out all the old furniture an dirty walls and started to feel that these rooms could be something amazing. It is not often that you have rooms with a height of 5 meters and huge vaulted ceilings. But just look at the photos to get a feeling for what was the state I had to deal with.

Arsenal, a brief introduction

A project that started already some months ago is the redesign of an apartment of an american photographer who is a close friend of mine. Now that her children are all grown up and have moved out she felt like starting a new chapter of living there.

The apartment is located in Vienna's Arsenal, which is a former military complex built between 1848 and 1856. The particular building was used as officer's quarters, and now is used as apartments while other parts of the complex now host a military history museum, the rehearsal stage of the Burgtheater and a lot of more apartments. Just arriving at the complex and entering the building is already amazing. As soon as you step inside the building it is totally calm, although you are right next to a huge train station. The courtyard is incredibly peaceful and full of trees and flowers and the staircases and hallways are, due to their former use, totally oversized. But see for yourself.
 

Work in Progress

Since I'm working on some really interesting projects at the moment I thought I should share them here with you. I know that I've been lazy about updating my blog regularly and it would be too easy to blame it on a lot of work. I will try to take some minutes every couple of days to keep you updated about what keeps me busy and I hope you'll like what you see.

Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.

Today was a good morning. When I left the house I checked my mailbox and found my copy of Fifth Avenue, 5 a.m. which is all about the creation of Breakfast at Tiffany's. It is practically a must for everybody who loved the movie, the novel, Audrey Hepburn, Givenchy's little black dress and more.

The advance reviews were great and praise Sam Wasson's book as "A brilliant chronicle of the creation of Breakfast at Tiffany's", "... juicy incide story while giving Hepburn her due as a true modern original" or "Wasson has assembled a sparkling time capsule of old Hollywood magic and mythmaking. So finally the date of publication has come and I received my preordered copy. I can't wait to start reading.

Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M. by Sam Wasson
available on Amazon now