ELLE DECOR May 2015

LAST YEAR, I ASKED PETER MARINO WHAT WAS THE MOST EXCITING THING ABOUT CREATING ARCHITECTURE TODAY. His response was a single word: materials. He went on to explain that the many new materials available to architects and designers were so exciting and inspiring that they could shape the way a building or an interior was conceived, allowing for forms and finishes that had never before been possible. And this world-renowned talent, who creates luxury flagships for such brands as Chanel, Bulgari, and Fendi, is totally clued in to the new and fantastic. In fact, he has a department within his office devoted to searching out new substances and contending with the possibilities they unleash. The list is impressive and daunting: resins, plastics, ceramics, laminates; glass that is clearer than ever…

THE BEST OF EVERYTHING Husband-and-wife interior design team Jason and Katie Maine, right—whose Beverly Hills project appears on page 196—reveal their go-to sources for furniture and fabrics in Los Angeles. • Jean de Merry, furniture and decorative items: "Not only does Jean de Merry have beautiful pieces of their own, but we also love using them for custom commissions. Their mastery of fine materials like mica, parchment, and shagreen is by far the best in Los Angeles." 8417 Melrose Place; 323-655-9193; jeandemerry.com. • Blackman Cruz, antiques and furniture: "Just walking into Blackman Cruz's space is so inspiring. Their shop is the gold standard for how a space should be curated." 836 Highland Avenue; 323-466-8600; blackmancruz.com. • Claremont Furnishing Fabrics: "It really doesn't get better than the color palette at Claremont.…

GOOD WHEELS SAN FRANCISCO PHILANTHROPIST PAM BAER BELIEVES IN HELPING OTHERS, AND SHE'S TAKING HER PHILOSOPHY ON THE ROAD. FOR GOODNESS SAKE, HER ORGANIZATION, DOUBLES AS AN E-COMMERCE SITE AND A POP-UP BOUTIQUE IN THE FORM OF A TRAILER, ABOVE, WHICH MAKES APPEARANCES AT LOCAL BENEFITS. A PERCENTAGE OF PROCEEDS FROM HER CAREFULLY CHOSEN RANGE OF DECORATIVE OBJECTS, JEWELRY, HANDBAGS, AND MEN'S AND WOMEN'S ACCESSORIES—SOME ARE ONE-OF-A-KIND ITEMS—GOES TO MANY BAY AREA ORGANIZATIONS, INCLUDING SAN FRANCISCO GENERAL HOSPITAL AND GLIDE SOCIAL SERVICES (forgoodsake.org). EASTERN ACCENTS West first met East in the 16th century, as trade routes between China and Europe were established. Thus began our enduring romance with "exotic" Asian dress and decor. "China: Through the Looking Glass," a new exhibition at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, art-directed by…

SEATING ARRANGEMENT Jonah Meyer offers a fresh take on the classic American farmhouse chair with a new collection of handmade seating for his Sawkille Co., based in New York's Hudson Valley. The collection includes, from top, the Penn, $1,100; the Fiddleback, $1,500; the Senate, $1,800; and the Nomad, with an Italian leather seat, $1,500; all in oxidized walnut. Black walnut and bleached maple versions are also available. 845-876-2228; sawkille.com 1 / SLEEPING BEAUTY The Hale bed by Room & Board updates the canopy with a tapered frame of walnut in an oiled finish. The queen size, shown, measures 64" w. x 84" d. x 80" h. and costs $1,999. Other sizes and cherry and maple woods are also available. 800-301-9720; roomandboard.com 2 / RED ALERT Inspired…

Opera is an art of total immersion and sensory overload, in which music, singers, sets, and costumes come together to create a world more beautiful and more thrilling than the one we inhabit every day. So it's no wonder opera houses themselves tend to be over-the-top and fantastical, apt settings for the vivid romances, tragedies, and heightened emotions on the stage. In his new book Opera (Damiani), photographer David Leventi documents more than 40 lavish houses on four continents, most from a vantage point usually known only to the stars—center stage. These grand spaces clearly merit a standing ovation.…

ROYAL STANDARD For his reimagining of the Water Theatre Grove at Versailles, landscape designer Louis Benech immersed himself in André Le Nôtre's masterful 1671 design, left. The four-acre confection of cascades, water jets, and arrow-straight allées had morphed radically over the years as successive rulers adjusted it, and a series of storms all but wiped it out. Benech has reworked the site as a contemporary expression of the garden's fabled drama, with pools and oak-shaded paths that echo the rhythms of Le Nôtre's scheme. Sculptor Jean-Michel Othoniel's glass fountains, above, riff on the illustrations in a 1701 dance manual commissioned by the Sun King himself (chateauversailles.fr). FAIR TRADE IN ITS FIRST TWO YEARS, COLLECTIVE DESIGN IMMEDIATELY ESTABLISHED ITSELF AS A FRESH ALTERNATIVE AMONG MANHATTAN'S MANY ANTIQUES AND DESIGN FAIRS, WITH…