Here’s some of the confidential skinny on the upcoming Louvre Abu Dhabi museum on Saadiyat Island. The Art Newspaper claims that it has “seen the contract signed recently between the governments of Abu Dhabi and France for the creation of a Louvre Abu Dhabi.”

According to the contract a relatively small number of works will be lent, with a “reasonable number” coming from the Louvre’s collections. At the launch of the new museum in 2012, it will be 300 works; four years later, 250 works, seven years later, 200. After ten years, the loans will cease. All works loaned to the museum will be indemnified from seizure within the UAE.

Abu Dhabi is dishing out a cool $1.6bn (Dhs5.88 bn) over 30 years to the agence France-Muséum, that will administer this capital sum for the benefit of a consortium of participating French museums, which includes the Louvre with a share of 40 per cent. The income is to benefit “new scholarly projects” in these museums “without any reduction to their current financing”.

Over 3,000 square metres of display space will be ready to show “comparisons between works of various periods and geographical origin, with an emphasis on the dialogue between civilisations” and arranged thematically: landscape, funerary art, the portrait etc. A “smaller proportion of this space” will be devoted to contemporary art, “to resonate with older works and demonstrate the continuity between different periods and the way in which our view of older art is conditioned by contemporary perception”.

And get this– No similar operation may be set up using the name of the Louvre with any of the other emirates of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iran or Iraq.

The agence France-Muséum will be the operative partner with Abu Dhabi and will supervise all aspects of the building of the museum and training of the museum’s curators. It will suggest an acquisitions policy and draw up an ethical charter, with all works having to demonstrate an unimpeachable provenance.

Abu Dhabi contracts to provide  $62m (Dhs227m) for the acquisition of the collection, but Sheikh Sultan Al Nahyan, chairman of the emirate’s tourism authority, under whose aegis the museum is being developed, has told The Art Newspaper that, “if we want, we can spend more than this.” The annual budget for exhibitions will be $20.2m (Dhs74.13m).

In addition to the $620m (Dhs2.27bn), the Louvre gets for the use of its name, it will receive $39m (Dhs143.13) to develop part of its Pavillon de Flore, a wing of the Paris museum which houses paintings, while the agence France-Muséum will be paid $256m (Dhs9.5bn) for its services over and above $1.56bn (Dhs5.73bn) for the whole project.

As told to The Art Newspaper

Pasadena-based multi-disciplinary studio Bluelounge, known for such creative solutions as The SpaceStation, Cool Feet and the CableBox, has won the Bronze International Design Excellence Award (IDEA) from the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) and Businessweek, for The Sanctuary.  The IDEA competition is a celebration of the most innovative and exciting product and product concept designs of the year and one of the world’s most prestigious international design competitions.

With The Sanctuary, gadget-buffs can now charge their cell phone, iPod®, PDA and headset simultaneously in one compact location. Containing or cutting out clutter is the ultimate challenge of urban lifestyle and The Sanctuary makes it easier and more stylish at the same time. It contains a universal cell-phone charger compatible with over 1500 electronic devices from over 35 brands and hundreds more via an industry standard USB port.

Architect Kyu Sung Woo has been named the winner of the 2008 Ho-Am Prize in the Arts. The Ho-Am Prize in the Arts recognises Koreans who have made outstanding contributions to the promotion of culture and the arts through their creative efforts and accomplishments. He is the first architect to receive this prestigious award, which is often considered to be the Korean equivalent to the Nobel Prize.

Kyu Sung Woo

Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art (Photo credit and copyright: Timothy Hursley- The Arkansas Office)

Kyu Sung Woo is the most prominent Korean American architect practicing in both Korea and the United States. His architecture and urban design work represent a style informed by nature. Eschewing ornamentation and exaggeration in favour of harmony, Woo combines the minimalist ideals of the West with the quiet spaces of the East. His utilisation of light, space, and movement combine to create a unique and Zen-like experience.

Above and below: Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art (Photo credit and copyright: Timothy Hursley- The Arkansas Office)

Kyu Sung Woo Architects, based in Cambridge, MA, boasts a wide range of completed projects in the United States including the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, the Graduate Student Housing at 10 Akron Street at Harvard University, the Heller School at Brandeis University and the Arts of Korea Gallery at the New York Metropolitan Museum.

Representative works in Korea include the new 1.4 million square foot Asian Culture Complex (Gwangju, Under Construction), Stone Cloud (Seoul, 1997), and the Whanki Museum (Seoul,1993).  Kyu Sung has also participated in a number of exhibitions including the 8th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale.

The Heller School at Brandeis University (Waltham, MA) (Photo Credit: Anton Grassl/Copyright Esto)

Above and below: Puzzle Loft in New York (Photo credit and copyright: Paul Warchol)

The Ho-Am Prize is an annual award bestowed upon five ethnic Koreans living at home or abroad in the categories of science, engineering, medicine, the arts and community service. The award was first established in 1990, in honour of Byung-Chul Lee, founder of Samsung Corporation, and his lifelong commitment to the promotion of public benefit programs. Past winners of the Ho-Am Prize in the Arts include educational pioneer Won-Yong Kim, video artist Nam-June Paik, painter Lee Ulfan, dancer Sue Jin Kang, the Bucheon Philharmonic, playwright Oh Tae-Sok and most recently in 2007, novelist Yi Chong-jun. Ho-Am Prize winners receive a gold medal, a laureate diploma, and 200 million Korean won (about $200,000 US Dollars).

London-based interior designer Martin Brudnizki has been causing quite a stir in the design circles with his sophisticated and modern style. His latest project is popular chef Jamie Oliver’s new restaurant called Jamie’s Italian– a new chain of Oliver’s neighbourhood restaurants, the first of which has opened in Oxford, where Brudnizki effortlessly blends Tuscan-inspired rustic charm with London’s cosmopolitan style. The jewel-toned walls adorned with worn out and antique frames sit in complete contrast with the fuchsia coloured glossy chairs, giving the space a very urban edge.

And with Oliver at the helm, rest assured that the food will be as sumptuous as the décor.

Jamie’s Italian in Oxford

Martin Brudnizki

One of the most iconic designs of the last century, the Stool 60 by Finnish design legend Alvar Aalto turns 75 this year and remains as popular as it was then. It is also one of the most sought after furniture pieces by design enthusiasts because of its simple, minimalist design that fits in with any interior style. Even Ikea have their own version of the Stool 60 that has made its way in to our homes.

The Japan Design Foundation (JDF) will hold the International Design Competition 2008 under its basic principle of “Design for Every Being,” with its sights set on presenting visions for near-future lifestyles.

For the International Design Competition 2008, JDF has selected the theme “Earth Life” focusing on environmental awareness in our daily lives.

Open to participants internationally
Registration deadline: August 4, 2008
Entries deadline: September 5, 2008
For more information click here

Koelnmesse has commissioned the Rat für Formgebung also known as German Design Council to act as overseers and organisers of the young designers’ exhibition and prize at the International Furniture Fair, imm cologne 09, which is named [d3] contest since last year and was formerly known as Inspired by Cologne. Entries are sought from design students and young designers from around the world. Products from the interiors sector, including furniture, home accessories, lighting, flooring, wallpaper and textiles, will be accepted for inclusion in the nomination process.

Entry deadline is September 15, 2008.

Find the detailed application form here

Not much of a suspense anymore, here’s what was found inside the giant hourglass at Moscow’s Red Square– the new BMW 7series!  Read more about the car here

Coco Chanel once said, “Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.” So Chanel’s creative head Karl Lagerfeld is taking it rather seriously. The latest is Lagerfeld has just inked a deal with Dubai Infinity Holdings to create “limited edition” homes (we are assuming the interiors only) on Isla Moda island, part of Nakheel’s The World Islands project in Dubai.

Lagerfeld will design 80 homes, of which 10 per cent will be “bespoke”, on the island that is being billed as the epicenter of high-end luxury fashion labels and is expected for completion in 2011.

No the suspense is not over yet! This is just the second teaser. The giant exhibit we told you about turned out to be a giant hourglass at Moscow’s Red Square, perhaps the world’s largest. The hourglass is the official countdown to something bigger in the works by BMW.