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Summary: Vicente Wolf raises the bar for all future design books
Review: Long an admirer of Vicente Wolf's work, his new book has given me a very personal understanding of what I have so enjoyed looking at all these years. On a journey that begins in Vicente's childhood years in Cuba and ends in the light drenched, white walled, loft space that is his home, we learn how he sees space, form, color and light. We learn why he sees things as he does and how his work is always touched by his own internal struggle between being a Cuban exile and a design professional. My struggle is only that I am torn as I go through the book trying to decide which is more extraordinary; the clean simplistic beauty of his projects or the amazing clarity and depth of his photographs. I hope that all who wish to see and understand the work of such a talented designer and artist will add this book to thier libray.
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Summary: A treat
Review: Magazine images of Wolf's designs have stopped me in my tracks for years, so buying his book was a no-brainer. And it was definitely a worthwhile investment. Wolf's conversational prose and beautiful photographs certainly help readers "see" the thinking behind his rooms. But the book is really an invitation to develop your own eyes and ideas, and then feel at home with them -- literally. Plenty of helpful suggestions and tips are offered, but no rules or forumlas. "Learning to See" is unconventional design wisdom for the 21st century. Read it -- and keep.
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Summary: Timeless, liberating ideas on design
Review: Magazine images of Wolf's designs have stopped me in my tracks for years, so buying his book was a no-brainer. And it was definitely a worthwhile investment. Wolf's conversational prose and beautiful photographs certainly help readers "see" the thinking behind his rooms. But the book is really an invitation to develop your own eyes and ideas, and then feel at home with them -- literally. Plenty of helpful suggestions and tips are offered, but no rules or forumlas. "Learning to See" is unconventional design wisdom for the 21st century. Read it -- and keep.
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Summary: Blah
Review: Maybe it's because we travel a lot and live with treasures from around the world, but I found the interiors in this book most disappointing. Very bland, very beige, and very lacking in personal touches. One gets the feeling that these are store windows or show houses but not homes that real, interesting, well-travelled people might actually live in. These are rooms in which people start wth nothing and then try to make it look good. iI love design, but this was disappointing in every way.
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Summary: Bland and boring
Review: The rooms in this book are bland and boring. Very unfriendly. Very much done "for effect" and not for living. Design for design's sake is not necessarily good design as this book proves. Brrrrrrrrr! This book gave me the chills. I'm sorry I bought it. I just cannot identify with any of these rooms.
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Summary: Not very useful
Review: This book doesn't have all that many photos, and the photos it does have do not show American homes or rooms with which people who have families and children can identify. It looks as if al these rooms are for single people who don't have a life. Very designy, very studied. interesting but impractical. I like a pared-down design aesthetic very much and live that way, but the way this person illustrates that clean approach left me a bit cold. In terms of family life, I suppose I lean more toward the clean IKEA look which emphasizes livability and comfort versus the rooms I saw in this book which look more as if they were done for show.
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Summary: top of the list for new design books
Review: This book doesn't live up to its promise. I was so pleased to order it and receive it, and then I was so disappointed with what I got. Lord save us from self-conscious design like this. It also seems that Mr. Wolf only wants you to learn to see BEIGE. Blah.
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Summary: top of the list for new design books
Review: This book isn't just another decorating book; it has a strong point of view-that of a design expert, Mr. Wolf-and that's why I like it so much. True, his interior design work tends to be more contemporary than traditional and his color palette is definitely subtle, but the book is packed with helpful tips and information for everyone who is interested in design and in putting together a home that is both chic and inviting. Unless you are looking for layers of chintz and lots of ruffles, you, too, can be inspired by Wolf's eclectic take on decorating and his deft mix of antiques and modern pieces. Plus, this book is a must-read for all who think they might like to become an interior designer, as Mr. Wolf describes his own career path-arriving in the States from Cuba as a teenager and making his way into the design world with a few quirky twists and turns.
Vicente Wolf's text is engaging, his photos are terrific, and his rooms are compelling. I loved the book so much, I bought several to give as presents.
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Summary: No stale minimalism here...
Review: This is my favorite design book at the moment. Mr. Wolf's rooms combine antiques with more contemporary pieces in a light, refreshing fashion that, as he stresses in the text, will not lock you in to a defined style. His examples of flexible design show you how to add, subtract, or highlight pieces to reinforce a particular mood. These are not rooms meant to be designed once and remain stagnant, they embrace change. There is a lot of effort placed on highlighting the furniture (yes, lots of white and ecru) and creating interest through contrasts in texture and finish, not through pattern or color. Admittedly, it took me several times through the book to fully appreciate it. As other reviewers have said, if you are into chintz, florals, matched sets of furniture and red, forget it. If you have kids running around in the living room with chocolate all over their hands, you might cringe at all the light colors, but you may still appreciate his design ideas. I did not find the rooms too minimal or cold, as other reviewers did, but as I said, if you are into English Country, you will be bored. If you aim for an elegant, refined, refreshing and light mood in your home, consider this book.
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Summary: Amazing Talent!
Review: Vicente Wolf is an amazing photographer as well as designer. Even the graphic design and quality of the book is first class. While some people may not respond to his predominate tone-on-tone and neutral designs and think them "cold", I really think he has achieved a wonderful blend of understated contemporary casual with a hint of his ethnic heritages. His use of form and unity in some of the arrangements is extraordinary (pg. 104). I found his designs to be an adventure in surprise and very appealing. I admire his courage to share his personal loft apartment, very tastefully decorated, with interesting accessories and lots of creative ideas.Yes, some of the rooms were "show rooms" and chairs and objects were placed in odd places so that the photographs would also have an "artistic" flair, but that didn't bother me. Actually I found it intriguing to see how he not only designed the room, but he took extra time, creativity and effort to "design" the composition of the photograph. As a California artist and professional interior arranger myself, I enjoyed the whole process of mixing the two artistic talents together. Now it makes me want to take up photography!. Looking at the compositional style of the photos, the angles used, the close up shots -- it all is an excursion in artistic excellence. I especially like the photograph on page 131 for it's compositional design. Whether non-artists can appreciate it as much or not, hopefully this review will serve to encourage them to look for the artistic elements in the photography, as well as the room decor itself. I also like the way Mr. Wolf really guides the viewer's eye to the exact point in each room where he wishes you to look first. This is what a good artist does as well. All of the supporting furnishings seem to fade from view while the most important pieces reach out and beckon a closer look. I have some display issues with Mr. Wolf in some of the pictures, where I think he could have used better skill (balance, scale, proportion), but there's no denying that this man has extraordinary talent and creativity. Many, many refreshing ideas. But if you're in to anything ultra feminine and such, this is not the book for you. The emphasis here is strictly contemporary or traditional, understated elegant. Beautiful artistic book.
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