Brazilian artist Athos Bulcão’s tiled murals

[photo by Anderson Schneider for The New York Times]

Reading about a stunning modernist home in Brasilia that the New York Times featured, I came across a reference to Brazilian artist Athos Bulcão, whose mural enlivens the entryway (see above). Although his name was not familiar, a little Googling made me realize that his work certainly was: the artist/designer collaborated with Oscar Niemeyer on various buildings in Brasilia, envisioning abstract murals and surface embellishments for facades. Although Bulcão died in 2008, his foundation’s website (alas, only in Portuguese) offers some visual fodder. As does an insightful article by Glen Cummings in the always informative Design Observer here, which illuminates the scope of his oeuvre.

Oh–and take a look at these amazing photo roundups on ArchPorn and Flickr.

Mod mosaic facade: chic or eek?

This building on Houston Street has always intrigued me. I used to think it was kind of naff, but now I’m cottoning to its neo-geo 60s-esque tiled charm and applaud the use of glass mosaics for an exterior application–something I see all the time in Miami but not so often in NYC.

As seen in: Christian Louboutin, Sao Paolo

This is very cool: New York firm 212box just designed a Sao Paolo, Brazil, flagship for stiletto maker Christian Louboutin in the city’s ritzy Iguatemi shopping center. The facade is covered in a mosaic of 9,000 sandblasted-wood tiles, each 2 inches square, that have been laser-engraved with letters and symbols from 28 different alphabets. (The hand-drawn quality is courtesy of 212box principal Eric Clough’s 12-year-old nephew–obviously a budding designer in his own right!–who sketched the letters and made up 400 imaginary symbols of his own.)

The store opens next Wednesday, but you can get a sneak peek–if not a new pair of heels–below [photos by Raphael Briest]:

The boutique, as seen from within the shopping center

Each sandblasted-wood tile is 2 inches square.

The tiles are laser-cut with letters and symbols from various alphabets

A rendering of the store facade