Rendez vous de mois AUGUST: Bryan Thomas

The newest issue of DNA Magazine #104 is out and it's got hot and hairy Bryan Thomas on the cover! Bryan was also honored as "Sexiest Men Alive" of 2008.

Têtu : La Piscine

"La Piscine" by Randall Mesdon in Têtu (Juillet-Août 2008) features models Cameron Dunce, Drew, Eric and Carlos Freire taking dips and skinny-dips in a shimmering pool. Chlorine was never so lucky:

A Capa : FETISH

Magazine A Capa has released images from its fetish spread shot by Paulo Cabral with go-go boy Gustavo Lira.

Preferences:Justin Monroe

AFGH holiday house, Switzerland

Andreas Fuhrimann and Gabrielle Hächler are amongst the most experienced contemporary exponents of building concrete houses. In their capable hands, the material is transformed from lumpen structural sludge into a soft, almost velvety surface that flows throughout a building, creating razor sharp edges, enticing corners and a feeling of warmth and domesticity.












Their latest residential project, a holiday house in the tiny Swiss village of Vnà in Lower Engadine, had to slip into an unspoilt, if fast-disappearing, rural setting - all 'haystacks and donkeys', according to the architects. Faced with the challenge of making their modern aesthetic work in this ancient settlement, AFGH chose to focus on the massing of the new structure, referencing the hefty buttressed walls of the surrounding stone farmhouses.

Substituting concrete for stone was the first step, with monumental faceted walls and deep-set windows evoking the local vernacular and creating a façade that shifts as light and shadow plays across the angular forms. The heavy wooden front door with its pattern of perforated holes is also a nod to local agricultural style. The new house is the same size and basic shape as its near neighbours, yet the larger window openings, pared down detailing and dynamic angles give the three-storey dwelling a clearly modern feel.

The concrete finish continues inside, with plywood cladding used in the living room and bedroom walls and ceilings to evoke a certain mountain cabin cosiness. The interior surfaces twist and turn to create a series of flowing spaces, with three bedrooms on the first floor leading up to a large living area on the upper floor. A large built-in corner sofa and shelving are arranged around a monumental concrete fireplace, while the owners' extensive collection of modern art and sculpture is scattered around the space, making the house a home, a gallery, and a place from which to admire the spectacular surroundings.

Kilgour/Aston Martin collaboration

To coincide with Kilgour's debut show yesterday in Paris, the covers were off the new Aston Martin V8 Vantage N400, created in collaboration with the fashion brand.

Unveiled as a special edition of the manufacturer's award-winning V8 Vantage, the N400 was built to commemorate the car's race-going sibling's prowess around the fearsome Nurburgring in Germany, the gold-standard of race circuits (and the source of that 'N', with 400 indicating the available horsepower).

The N400 is a fitting blend of racing engineering and bespoke luxury design. Alongside the pared-down, minimalist bodywork, in a nod to fashion, the exterior features a specially developed sartorial satin finish in a colour Kilgour call 'Morning Frost'.

Inside the car, the seats, dash board, instrument panel and centre console are all finished in dark navy blue Alcantara, partly perforated to reveal Kilgour's signature polka dots, in the same shade as the exterior.