Design Calendar: April 12–May 3, 2012

Get inspired by the works of some of country’s finest artisans at the Smithsonian Craft Show at D.C. or the stylings of high decorators at a West Coast show house. Or head to Santa Barbara, California, to celebrate Cliff May’s innovative ranch houses. Read on for information about these events and much more things to do and watch that this spring.

talismanphoto.com

EXHIBIT — April 12–22, 2012
The Orchid Show: Patrick Blanc’s Vertical Gardens
New York Botanical Garden, 2900 Southern Blvd., Bronx, New York

If you’re in New York or planning to be present by April 22, escape to a one-way tropical escape at the Botanical Garden’s Orchid Show. French botanist and artist Patrick Blanc has equipped the garden with gravity-defying floral arrangements of orchids, ferns, exotic plants and epiphytes. The display takes you via 8-foot-tall “green walls” and adorned 13-foot cubes exploding with colour and odor.

Price: Adults, $20; seniors and students, $18; kids 2–12, $8; members and kids under 2, free
Hours: Tuesday–Sunday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

EXHIBIT — April 12–June 17, 2012
Carefree California: Cliff May and the Romance of the Ranch
Art, Design & Architecture Museum, University of California, Santa Barbara, California

Celebrate the rise of the modern ranch house and casual California residing in the Most Current Cliff May exhibition. Through a collection of drawings, models, magazine advertisements, sales pamphlets and movie clips, the display brings to life May’s transformation of Spanish colonial adobes to open-plan, glass-walled ranches that incorporate house with backyard. The display also focuses on wartime business and the development of California, also features work by other modern architects from the same period of time.

This display is part of Pacific Standard Time, a cooperation of ethnic associations.

Price: Free
Hours: Tuesday–Sunday, noon–5 p.m.

deboramuhl.com

SHOW — April 19–22, 2012
Smithsonian Craft Show
National Building Museum, 401 F St. NW, Washington, D.C.

Whether you’re searching for a unique decor piece or simply love the innovation and technical command of art artists, take a look at this season’s Smithsonian Craft Show. Widely considered the country’s most prestigious juried show and sale of fine American crafts, the show will feature the functions of 121 distinguished artists operating in 12 different media, including furniture, ceramics, decorative fiber and wearable art.

Price: $15; $20 for two-day pass; $6 Thursday after 6 p.m. Purchase tickets on line
Hours: Thursday, Friday, 10:30 a.m.–8:30 p.m.; Saturday, 10:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m.; Sunday, 11:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

Butler Armsden Architects

HOME TOURS — April 2729, 2012
Dwell Home Tours
San Francisco Bay Area

Peek within five modern houses in Marin as a portion of the second Yearly home tours introduced by Dwell and Marin Magazine. An evening reception at Sausalito’s Cavallo Point will kick off the weekend of tours. The featured houses include work by Butler Armsden Architects (photo), Marmol Radziner, Holder Design Associates, Laurie Friedman, Daniel Hunter and Ken Linsteadt.

Price: $75 single day; $150 weekend pass, which includes an invitation to the “Meet the Architects Night.” Buy tickets online.
Hours: 10 a.m.–4 p.m.

clayseibert.com

SHOWCASE — April 28–May 28, 2012
San Francisco Decorator Showcase
2020 Jackson St., San Francisco

Roam the flooring of a traditional revival 1902 estate and see how more than two dozen West Coast designers put their creative touch on every corner of the 11,500-square-foot home. The mansion, at the Pacific Heights area, features mahogany paneling, herringbone wood flooring, box-beamed ceilings plus a double-curved grand staircase. This year’s selected designers are Tineke Triggs, Geoffrey De Sousa, Matthew MacCaul Turner, Heather Hilliard and many others.

Price: $30; seniors 60 and older, $25
Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday, 10 a.m.–3 p.m.; Thursday, Friday, 10 a.m.–seven p.m.; Sunday, Memorial Day, 11 a.m.–4 p.m. Closed Mondays.

Showcase house example by Clay Seibert.

More design occasions: March 29–April 19, 2012, April 5–26, 2012

What is on your calendar? Let us know in the Comments.

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