Someone – I don’t remember who – said that architecture is light.
St. Moritz Church in Augsburg, Germany, has been through many lifetimes. Built a millenium ago (1019), it has been ravaged by fire and wartime bombing, not to mention ill-conceived alterations. But it has endured – no, it has prevailed – and so could not be more deserving of the latest attention lavished on it.
The Catholic cathedral has been reimagined by British architect, John Pawson, into a sublime, minimalist, light-infused space. The divine made real.
When it comes to travel, as that is what I am mostly about, my joy is journeying to see life changing objects, buildings, images. They give me such a lightness of being, such hope, to know that man can indeed produce beauty for its own sake.
John Derian is a treasure. It's not that there aren't many with talent and vision because there are, the world over. But Derian has other attributes that make him so beloved. His eye is unerring, his sense of scale is perfect, he layers cultures and eras seamlessly in a room. And he is accessible in brick and mortar. His two shops on East Second Street have been haunts for years. One carries the decoupage he designs and constructs locally (and that make the best gifts ever) along with the coveted ceramics of Astier de Villatte. The second Dry Goods store next door showcases quirky antiques, an assortment of vintage furniture, stacks of heavy french linen, Moroccan rugs and soft cotton Indian clothing. Both are small, but intriguing and interesting enough to seduce you on a journey of the senses.
And now, Derian has opened on Christopher Street in a double-windowed storefront of a two-story 18th century house. It's like walking in to another world. Traditional Astier, and the later Derian/Astier collaborative pieces, line the walls from roof to floor of the front room. The back room, wallpapered in his new cabbage rose design and lit by beautiful Balthus-designed standing lamps with parchment shades, offers a living room in which to settle in, thumb through books and albums, and rest the soul.
So, go to shop, or simply go to travel in spirit to another place and time.
https://www.johnderian.com/pages/our-locations"
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