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A Brazilian architect, scenographer and film director, Isay Weinfeld chose to work with smaller scales than the usual curricula of monumental architecture shared by stereotypical Brazilian names, such as Oscar Niemeyer, Vilanova Artigas and Paulo Mendes da Rocha.

Weinfeld’s work is intimate, contemporary, and beautifully minimalist. Known especially for his retail & commercial buildings in São Paulo, I believe he’s at his best when working with residential architecture.

Casa Branca (“white house”) is a private house in São Paulo that at times has the feel of a contemporary art gallery, but without becoming sterile. There is character in its elegant simplicity.

Weinfeld often writes about what is the meaning of luxury, of living well, and always reports back to the answer of simplicity, of needing and having and using less — a definite fit for minimalism.

Photography by Cristiano Mascaro.

Pull out your Catholic school uniform correctness of blue boy blazers and over the knee-high, pleated charcoal wool skirts. Prep school status has been glamorized by Vera Wang. Funny that I remember, there was a question mark over my stiff school uniform growing up. As a keeper of tradition, the restricted dress code could not help me shine with cool confidence.

Vera Wang’s Pre-Fall 2011 collection projected a British shoolgirl theme with a sort of country, baroque dressiness. Ms. Wang’s prep school girl had an youthful edge and tough image: mini pleated skirts with over the knee leggings; abbreviated cardigans with a touch of leather and fur; an abundance of charcoal hues.

A pared-back, dark, boyish take on the über polished and put together A+ girl—arguably my uniform of choice.

1. The saying “It’s not a bargain if you don’t need it” still applies here.

2. So does “You don’t need it if you don’t need it”.

3. Do we really need another round blue icon in our Dock? Especially one that entices you to buy more stuff?

4. Now that Tweetie 2 (Twitter for Mac) is available, can we go back to fretting over things that matter? Like over-the-air sync in Things? (kidding)

5. It will be hugely successful. It will especially open up a whole new audience to small developers and great apps that otherwise would have struggled to even get a mention. And, like most things Apple, it is the future whether we like it or not.

The idiots are taking over… A blog:

Helping a friend.

Thermal Cup is a design by the fantastic Copenhagen-based design studio Tools Design for Eva Solo. I really loved this cup since the first moment I saw it because each design solution is perfect for a good reason.

How could you minimize the design of a cup? Take off the handle, create a double walled porcelain for a best insulation, and give it a soft, curved shape for a good ergonomics in your hand.

It even has a silicone rubber base to protect surfaces and to avoid on your serving tray.

Just great!

If minimalism is about exercising restraint, then Raf Simons is one of the best in the business. Just like his recent mens wear line, his minimalist approach to color in the Jil Sander Spring 2011 RTW line is phenomenal.

There are so many things to love about this line, but of note I adore the way crisp tailoring is contrasted with the baggy, ‘oversized’ look that Raf is known for in his Raf by Raf Simons line of clothing for men. The way stripes have been employed also give Daniel Buren a run for his money.

In a recent interview in Man About Town, Raf Simons states:

I know that Jil worked around very little, but it was shocking to go through the archives and see how much her designs had aged. It was no longer modern. I felt the brand needed to be a little more conceptual — to break out. It needed to break its own rules in order to stand any chance in the long run — with or without me.

GORUCK gear: Minimal, simple and tough enough for Special Forces (the founder is a former Special Forces operator).

These packs (AKA rucks) are very minimal. They have only a few pockets and some MOLLE webbing for attachments. Simple gear is trustworthy and easy to use, especially in combat when you have to rely on your training and operate almost on instinct. GORUCK packs are so tough that Jason, one of the founders, together with some tough athletes run with the packs full of bricks in the GORUCK Challenge and the Tough Madder to show that those backpacks can handle anything.

I hope to complete the challenge successfully.

All the packs come with a hydration bladder compartment that doubles as a laptop carrier, you can safely carry your laptop to combat.

I have an Echo and a GR1 and they deliver. I am wearing my GR1 on the challenge. The Echo is my go-to pack for pretty much anything (except rock or alpine climbing) and I recently used it on a very demanding Physical Penetration Test (a security test designed to penetrate the premises of a company and to gain access to their servers) and the pack performed 100%.

These packs are great for the minimalist. They force you to pack only what you need and they do a great job in keeping your things organized. Highly recommended.