Carpet tile generally registers pretty low on design wish lists, somewhere after linoleum flooring and fake wood paneling, if at all. Flor has changed all that for us here at EOA.

If our Alexander Girard post left you wanting more, there’s the perfect event for you in Brooklyn next week.

"The show highlights the rich optical and visual layers and patternin

Even though our ne

Happy New Year! We’re back at our desks staring out the window at the beautiful green of the High Line. . . and tourists, lots of ‘em.

We hope it snows soon here in NYC, just not too much.

Our Met gift store in Terminal C of Newark Liberty International Airport is now open.

Last week an EOA colleague and I had the pleasure of attending a conversation between Grace Bonney of DesignSponge and Read more... ]]> Mon, 12 Dec 2011 12:50:50 -0600 http://www.eoarch.com/blog/wish-list-penguin-classics-by-coralie-bickford-smith.html http://www.eoarch.com/blog/on-view-in-our-neighborhood-matthew-brannon.html

Early Retirement, 2011, Image via Casey Kaplan

Matthew Brann

Mark Bittman, our favorite former "Minimalist", posted an article on his blog toda

Ordis 2007 from Strandbeest on Read more... ]]> Thu, 17 Nov 2011 15:27:48 -0600 http://www.eoarch.com/blog/just-beautiful-theo-jensens-strandbeests.html http://www.eoarch.com/blog/video-the-food-chain-project.html

shelter | Robin Osler | Grow Studio from DocuCinema

As an office, we are driven by materials choices that speak to us on an intellectual and emotional level.

Here at the EOA office, we're up to our eyeballs in wood samples of every shape and color. Lately, we prefer reclaimed versions from old barns and cabins out west. While beautiful materials are the tools of our trade, we of course prefer to see wood in its natural state, growing tall and strong in the forest. That's especially true for white birch. Forests can be dark, dense places but the white bark, graceful trunks, and small, perfectly leaf-shaped foliage of birches provide a sense of lightness. The leaves, which flutter in the wind and turn yellow/orange in the fall, are small enough to filter lots of light through to the forest floor where ferns and grasses thrive. White birch forests are prevalent in Northern Michigan, where Robin grew up, and Maine, her favorite place to escape the city. This might explain why she decided to recreate a white birch forest on her kitchen wall in the form of an adhesive mural. Hey, if you can’t get to the forest, why not bring the forest to you?

Speaking of that wall mural, we realize that the birch tree motif, which has been a major trend in shelter design over the last few years, may have almost reached a point of oversaturation. That said, we believe it to be an eternal classic that's having its moment in the sun and haven't quite tired of it. What do you think - has the birch theme gone the way of swallows and deer antlers and crossed into cliché territory? (First world problems, I know!)

Birch mural in Robin's kitchen

Birches in Russia in Autumn. Image via pixadaus

With the right vision, an inexpensive object can look right at home in a high end apartment.

One of the above designs is from 2009 and one is from 1964. Unless you’re some kind of textile historian or Marimekko expert, I don’t think you can tell which is which.

Now that cooler days are upon us we’re finding ourselves nostalgic for outdoor swimming, something we didn’t get to do nearly enough of this summer.  Next year, we’re going to fall into some money and build ourselves one of these. 

A strude is a colorful patterned hood traditionally worn by Danish women on the island of Fanø off the West Coast of Denmark, to protect the face and neck against the elements.

Helmut Newton for American Vogue

Before she founded EOA, Robin modeled for over a decade, starting off as Oscar de la Renta’s house model, then off to Europe where she posed for photographers Helmut Newton, Olivieri Toscani, Michel Comte and Norman Parkinson. While working with the likes of Armani, Ferré, Moschino, Mugler, and Versace,  Robin learned to appreciate the architectural structure of garments. This background has helped Robin build a roster of fashion-related clients, designing the offices of New York Models and DNA Model Management and the homes of Karolina Kurkova and Isabella Rossellini. Click through for more photos from her modeling days.