bringing the hotel to the home
by J. Claiborne Bowdon
Alice Cottrell’s Glam Fam Abode
Alice Cottrell’s twenty years of experience in designing hotel interiors would serve her well when she took on the task of designing a ten thousand plus square foot home on Belclaire Avenue in Highland Park. Not simply because of the amount of space to be carefully curated, or even how to give the space a luxurious but welcoming charac-
ter, but largely because of her intimate knowledge of the demands of a heavily trafficked space where you have to know when and where catastrophe can be averted. After all, the home plays host to a large family with several young children. “Everything is really really durable. All of these are commercial-grade fabrics and everything is (chosen)
// pond north 1965
to hold up against the six children and two dogs.” The finished product is certainly not something you’d mistake for a project with these very specific limitations.
The story the home has to tell and the glamorous feel begin at the entryway, and, as with everything, it is informed by the needs of the family. Alice noted “The main wallpaper … is something really unusual the gray with the vertical stripe what that is is a Knoll wallpaper that’s felt and the pattern is embroidered into it.” It adds an envel-
oping feel with a lively, but not overwhelming pattern, and, of course, it’s crafted to resist wear and tear. Alice chose it for all these reasons, but also to help give the space an intimacy that flat color would not communicate. It smoothes and softens the hard edges through its texture.
To play off the pattern of the walls Alice added a vintage Art Deco-style mirror with a curving silhouette, and to add a note of true vintage style Alice placed a 1970’s modern Italian chandelier above with futuristic tubes of glass and
Unite land, sun and skies to bring the perfect view of life
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silvery-capped globe bulbs. “There are some nice vintage touches here and there where possible because I don’t like for everything to look like it’s brand new and shiny from the showroom.” It gives everything a richer patina, and, of course, both of these delicate finds are placed well out of the reach of small children. Everything has such a natural relationship with each other that it’s hard to believe the home is complete rebuild from the slab up. Not least of which is the art collection.
The couple did have two large black and white photographs acquired at Art Basel, and Alice, along with her partner Gary Hatch, complemented their placement in the main staircase by creating a custom Glo-Ball chandelier with a pattern of different lengths and circular shapes to mirror them. “It was like bringing a car into the house when we went to hang it…(the couple) had a few of their
// painting classes in the shop 1956
own pieces, but we really filled it in. What I normally do is to bring pieces over to the house, maybe just bring a dozen pieces over, and we really just hold them up or hang things and let (the family) live with it for the weekend and just give them a feel for it in their space. It’s just so hard when a piece is hanging in a gallery to know how you can live with it.” The other photographs in the entryway were
an easy choice to live with for the couple because they reflected the beginning of their life together.
“They had gotten married in Pebble Beach in California, and Conduit (Gallery) had an artist that is a photographer and a lot of his work was done in the Pebble Beach area, so they were really drawn to that…that was something that
was really special to them and that’s how we really started to get things rolling.” All of these works blend graciously into the palette of the home that the wife chose “She really liked white and gray, and that’s why the background has a lot of white and gray. The paint color is a custom light gray … We wanted to keep the background really neutral and really pump it up with the colors of the artwork and accessories.” The furniture also abides by this palette and beyond the necessity of upholstering them in just the right tones they are custom for a very important reason.
“The husband is six foot seven, so he had to go and sit on
absolutely every piece of furniture. That was really really important for me to have everything super comfortable for all of my clients. If it’s not comfortable I’m not going to even recommend it, but, you know, the husband mentioned to me that this is the first furniture he’s ever been comfortable in in his whole life and that just meant the world to me.” In addition to the furniture the kitchen was given special consideration. “The (husband) had gone to chef’s school in the past, it’s not his career, but he’s a really big cook and foodie and I had suggested for him to do a Bulthaup kitchen. The kitchen cabinetry and the barall of that is custom for the home. It’s so great with kids.
The wood has a chiseled finish to it so it’s really durable. The countertops are white quartz so they’re very easy to wipe down. The Bulthaup is so durable that literally kids can stand inside the drawer and jump and it just never breaks down.”
As with the vintage pieces in the entryway Alice found a way to add a decadent touch to the dining area just off the kitchen that would be out of the way. The oversized dome light fixtures over the large dining table help bring the ceiling down and create a sheltered space within the
larger space of the open floorplan kitchen, but they also hold a surprise. Alice was quick to tell their story. “Those are Skygarden fixtures by Marcel Wanders. They have a really beautiful plaster bas-relief pattern inside… It’s so interesting to look up inside them.” Wanders held onto his fondness for the antique decorative plaster ceiling in his former home, and used it as inspiration to create a secret decorative interior while keeping the exterior pristinely modern. They’re multifaceted pieces for a multifaceted space where the family has their meals and the children do their homework.
Alice is always careful to think about how the things she chooses will add to the lives of the people that live with them beyond their aesthetic value. “Since I did hotels for twenty years and I’ve been doing residential for about eighteen years it’s just so much more interesting to work on residential because it’s just so personal and it’s about the people and not just doing something generic. For me, I get to know people and I’m invited over for Thanksgiving and you become part of the family. I grow into all of these things with families and I do (their other homes). That’s
what makes it really fun for me. Having that history with someone it gets easier every time because we already know each other.”
design: alice cottrell + gary hatch
photographer: stephen karlisch
stylist: russell brightwell
floral: jimmie henslee
// alicecottrellinteriordesign
Panoramic Paradoxes
seeing and understanding the work of Neill Wright
by J. Claiborne Bowdon
//
There’s more than meets the eye in Neill Wright’s work, and that, coupled with his stunning command of color and pattern, is why he is considered one of South Africa’s most exciting new artists. Wright is a painter, printmaker, and sculptor, and his work is quickly recognized by its dazzling layers of colors that take the forms of jungles of flat graphic leaf and floral shapes. In Wright’s own words about his work he characterizes it by saying that “I intended to create a collision of worlds
on the canvas, the first being digital, transient manipulated and geographically impossible which collapses space and distance, hinting at volatility and chaos. The second world is beautiful energetic and marked by abstraction, a place in which to get lost.”
In some works you can make out the horizon, perhaps even mountains in the distance, but the fore and middle grounds are so dense and lush with obscuring
// artist neill wright
// sarah sze (american, born 1969) iove song details © sarah sze // something more 2024, acrylic on canvas 47d x 2 in
colors it’s difficult to say where they stand in relationship to each other. This disorienting play on our depth perception made even more difficult to keep track of by the deft changes of color as leaves overlap onto others and others are transparent to show everything beneath is meant to delight the eye, certainly, but it’s employed with the intention to call attention to how we can be blinded to what’s right in front of us by pretty distractions. A work like “Fences Up” becomes more sinister with this goal in
mind. Interspersed, and not quite fully articulated, across the canvas you’ll find fern fronds in an almost gleaming red hue. Through the lens of the artist’s purpose to bring to mind what is covered up, and the aggressive, unwelcoming title, these ferns are perhaps meant to stand in as blood splatters that have been given a more palatable appearance.
His sculptural works take the forms of apples always
// take it in 2024, acrylic on obeche wood 9 x 9.5 x 9.5 in
fences up 2022, acrylic on canvas
72 x 60 in
with a bite taken out of them. Their surfaces are glossy and colorful with Wright’s familiar floral motifs, and the bites are matte beige with hints of brown suggesting some time has passed. Does the bite just reveal the actual banal-looking but nourishing flesh below the surface, or is it the artists’ pound he keeps for his trouble?
In either case these works speak more directly to the artist’s subversive employment of his craft and the intention behind it. The apple’s role in the story of Adam and Eve in imparting knowledge to humanity is likely no coincidence here.
// no surprises please, 2024 acrylic on canvas
34 x 2 in
mind, 2021 acrylic on canvas, 48 x 36 inches
Obviously Wright does not dismiss the value of something beautiful, and the rich cultural tradition of South Africa informs the beauty of his work. F. Scott Fitzgerald famously observed that “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.” Wright respects the viewer enough to trust that they can
appreciate his work on a surface and sub-textual level. Their ideas are as layered as the many shapes and colors on the canvas. The shapes being flat outlines point to their ability to obscure, and in seeing that we can simultaneously enjoy something while heeding its warning.
// morning light 2024, acrylic on obeche wood 9 x 9.5 x9.5 in
Engage Educate Experience Enjoy
The Dallas Architecture Forum is for everyone who wants to experience inspired design. The Forum presents an award-winning Lecture Series that brings outstanding architects,interior designers, landscape architects and urban planners from around the world, as well as Symposia, Receptions at architecturally significant residences, and Panel Discussions on issues impacting North Texas.
Dallas is truly rich in modern architecture, as I peruse the past 59 editions of our digital magazine, the front covers tell a story of the iconic homes, museums and spaces that have been created by some of the most sought after architects and designers.
Our inaugural edition discussed the concept of “Pura Vida” which simply translated, ‘means simple life’ or
‘pure life”. This concept has weaved its way into most of our stories and at the core of modern is this philosophy.
One of our earliest features was Omniplan’s case study of the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum which began with a question: “how can a building educate and change the world?” The hompage of the museum itself seems to answer it: “It’s about humanity. Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow”.
// dallas holocaust and human rights museum
omniplan architects
// photo: jason o’rear
station
- photo: charles davis smith | faia
“As the landscape of the city evolves, our department must also evolve to reflect those changes”, it’s a simple statement of approach, delivered at the opening of firehouse 37 and continues across the city, with 33, 27 and 32. The Singing Hills Recreation Center by Perkins+Will and spearheaded by Ron Stemarski and Trinty Dallas’ Highland Park Campus renovation by DSGN Associates.
Significant modern homes cover the landscape of Dallas and we covered these stunning structures by Bernbaum Magadini, A Gruppo Architects, Domiteaux Garza Architecture, Nimmo Architecture, Far+Dang, Welch Architecture, Bentley Tibbs Architecture and the interiors by Alice Cotrell Interior Design, David Cadwallader, Robyn Mentor Design Associates and Joshua Rice Design
photo: dave shafer pho
Mood-boosting, room-brightening, and emotion-soothing, the qualities of light refined in the expert hands of Scott Oldner and landscaping by Harold Leidner and David Hocker.
We have a thriving Art Scene with galleries providing exceptional shows monthly, we are richer for their commit-
ment to contemporary artists from throughout the United States and abroad. Many of the galleries are located in the Dallas Design District, Kirk Hopper Fine Art, Holly Johnson, Cris Worley Fine Art, Galleri Urbane as well as photo-based PDNB Gallery, Talley Dunn Gallery near Knox and Valley House Gallery in North Dallas.
// singing hills recreation center // perkins+will
Annually, NorthPark Center brings Canstruction withteams from A/E/C firms and challenges each to create a structure out of canned food. The designs typically dictate which kinds of canned food, the colors of the labels naturally being vitally important to creating the look, are used, but their ultimate purpose is the same.
Dallas photographer Charles Davis Smith celebrates the architectural experience. “I try to walk a viewer through a space from start to end. The architect wants really fantastic photos, but that’s not just it. One photo has to lead you into the next, so when you put them all together, it needs to tell a story and tell the full story. Storytelling without words, that’s what photography is.”
// robyn menter design associates | photo: dave shafer photography
When it comes to educaing the public, the Dallas Architecture Forum has offfered us speakers locally, nationally and internationally that infom us on modern architecture. AD EX, the Architecture and Design Exchange provides, exhibtions, tours and programming to inform us on architecture and Preservation Dallas is dedicated to the pres-
ervation and revitalization of our city’s historic buildings, neighborhoods and places.
If you want a modern break from the city, Sunrise Point at Cedars Creek created by architect Mark Domiteaux of Domiteaux-Garza.
// sunrise point - mark domiteaux of domiteaux-garza
ARCHITECTURE
Ron Stemarski Perkins&Will
ARCHITECTURE:
Bruce Bernbaum + Patricia Magadini Bernbaum/Magadini Architects listen to
cravings modern
// midcentury twin palms house tssue box cover available at destination psp original design
// contemporary blown crystal glass lamp, pebbles by boris klimek for bomma available: smink
// tenet desk designed by massimo scolari in dove grey or slate-grey maple wood available. scottcooner
your modern calendar
Modern events and activities make for
fun around the Metroplex.
WALKING TOURS
Discover the Arts District + Fair Park Tram Tour
Ad Ex
FAIR PARK ARCHITECTURAL TRAM TOUR
Ad Ex
PATRICK MARTINES + WHO’S AFRAID OF CARTOONY CONFIGURATION?
Dallas Contemporary HUGH HAYDEN + SAMARA GOLDEN
Nasher Sculpture Center
FRIDA: BEYOND THE MYTH
THE IMPRESSIONIST REVOLUTION FROM MONET TO MATISSE WHEN YOU SEE ME: VISIBILITY IN CONTEMPORARY ART/HISTORY
Dallas Museum Of Art
JAPAN, FORM & FUNCTION EXHIBITION
Crow Museum Of Asian Art
DRAWN TO NATURE
The Amon Carter Museum of American Art
RUPTURE & CONNECTION
Green family Art Foundation
THE WILSON HOUSE
Preservation Dallas
modern art galleries
TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY
Erin Cluley Gallery + Cluley Projects
RADIATE + HORIZONS
Ferrari Gallery
AL SATTERWHITE
PDNB Gallery
LISS LAFLEUR + PAHO MANN
Galleri Urbane
BOTANICAL
Valley House Gallery
MARRYAM MOMA
Pencil on Paper
MIKEY HERNANDEZ
Janette Kennedy Gallery
MATTHEW BOURBON + LEE BAXTER DAVIS
Kirk Hopper Fine Art
DAVID AYLSWORTH + JACKIE TILESTON
Holly Johnson Gallery
LARGER-THAN-LIFE
Cerulean Gllery
INTERFERENCE
Laura Rathe Fine Art
