About Arren Williams
If Arren Williams were to walk through one of those new scanners at the airport, security personnel might be surprised to see chairs, tables and lamps floating around in his head. As one of Canada’s top stylists, editors and trend reporters, he is always on the hunt for the next great find that could take a room from blah to spectacular.
Looking Down in Chicago
design diary: geometric floor tiles canada
(Jun.01.11)
I was just in Chicago for Target’s big announcement that their stores are coming to Canada (105 initial stores across 10 provinces in 2013, with more locations to be announced this September) and had a brilliant time wandering round the city and getting inspired.
Chicago is such a beautiful place with incredible architecture (the architectural tour is a must-do for any design geek) not to mention fantastic food (I finally had a Sprinkles cupcake!). But anyway, back to the world of design and one of my favourite places to check out in Chicago — swanky department store Barneys, but probably not for what you think...
You see, Barneys' Chicago location has THE MOST BEAUTIFUL FLOORS I’ve ever seen! The store was designed by Jeffrey Hutchison, in association with architectural firm Gensler, and has different flooring on every level.
That snapshot above shows the geometric stone star pattern throughout the main floor, while in the basement there’s a fantastic Art Deco-inspired stone design in grey-grained marble. Upstairs things stay interesting with end-grain wood flooring in the men’s department (kind of like a handsome version of a butcher block), while on the women’s floor there’s a graphic triangle design in limestone.
Yes, I was weird enough to take pictures of all the flooring, but that’s just how I roll!
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