DESIGN MATT TYRNAUER

THIS MONTH: The big book on Skidmore's modern masterworks

Established & Sons aims to revive British furniture ... Vintage Gehry at a winery in Spain

Plus the Jelly Kelly of watches.

SKIDMORE, OWINGS & MERRILL: The Experiment Since 1936

Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings were affable clubmen who founded an architecture firm in 1936. They couldn't design for anything, but they were brilliant businessmen—half the battle in big-time architecture. They hired great talent— especially Gordon Bunshaft, who led the firm of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill to the top in the mid-20th century. Bunshaft—known as Bunny behind his back—was one of the most unpleasant men ever to achieve greatness in architecture, but he was so talented that everyone got out of his way. Along with partners Bruce Graham, Walter Netsch, and, later, David Childs, Bunshaft made a huge impact on cities everywhere. The greatest works of S.O.M. were virtually all his: Lever House, the Pepsi-Cola headquarters. One Chase Manhattan Plaza, 9 West 57th Street, all in Manhattan, and, to the north, the Connecticut General Life Insurance Company complex, near Hartford, and the Beinecke Library at Yale. In Chicago, Graham built the John Hancock Center and the Sears Tower. This month, a big book called Skidmore, Owings & Merrill: The Experiment Since 1936 (Electa) covers the entire history of the architectural firm, which today churns out office complexes around the globe (part of Ground Zero will be of its design) but rarely does honor to the men who made the company great.

TOYWATCH

ToyWatch, an Italian venture that aims to fuse high style with low prices, is introducing a line of very handsome, waterproof timepieces designed by Marco Mavilla. Featuring stainless-steel bezels, acrylic bands and casings, and dials that come in 33

different colors and materials such as motherof-pearl and crystal, they could end up being the Jelly Kelly of watches. Some even have extra-large faces for that absurdly jumbo Euro look—at a fraction of the cost. Prices start at $150.

TOY WATCH U SA .COM

FURNITURE

ESTABLISHED & SONS

Last year at the Milan Furniture Fair, a British design company, Established & Sons—led by Alasdhair Willis, the founding publisher of Wallpaper magazine and the husband of Stella McCartney—launched its first product line. The Milan debut is telling. The Italians have long owned the high-design market— and that is just what Willis wants to change.

The mission: revive the great craftsmanship of the English furniture industry, relying on the new generation of British design stars. Jasper Morrison, Michael Young, and architect Zaha Hadid have already signed on. ESTABLISHEDANDSONS.COM.

FRANK GEHRY

HOTEL MARQUES DE RISCAL

Ever dream of being able to spend the night inside the Guggenheim Bilbao or L.A.'s Walt Disney Concert Hall? Go to Spain, where Frank Gehry has struck again with a contorted-titanium building, this one in the town of Elciego, just 75 miles from Bilbao. The 43-suite Hotel Marques de Riscal is part of a 24-acre winery with the same name. This time the titanium ribbons are in silver, gold, and pink.

There is also a spa. Will people say this building looks like grapevines or flowing wine? Gehry, as is his custom, won't say if it was all a happy accident or part of a plan.

OPENING: SEPTEMBER 2006