As its name suggests, ‘Benchmarks: Seven Women in Design’ is a unique exhibition which explores a ‘benchmark’ phenomenon of women making their mark in the world of graphic design.

The exhibition is being shown at the Center Gallery at Fordham University Lincoln Centre in New York until August 15 2011.

This refreshingly progressive exposition includes the work of Louise Fili, Paula Scher, Eileen Boxer, Lucille Tenazas, Gail Anderson, Carin Goldberg and Elaine Lustig Cohen, and explores the graphic designers’ illustrious and prominent careers.

This unique portrayal of women in what has traditionally been considered a male-led industry began as a senior project in Abby Goldstein’s graphic design class, has been curated by Goldstein alongside Lindsay Reichart, an art history major.

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The Chateau Cheval Blanc in Saint-Emilion, France, is legendary for two reasons – for the globally recognised and celebrated wine it produces year round and for its stunning architectural design.

Designed by the Pritzker Prize winning architect, Christian de Portzamparc, the elegant structure, which sweeps across the vineyard, houses the wine production facilities like it was as natural as the vines themselves.

The Chateau Cheval Blanc, which is French for “Castle White Horse”, dates back to the 1830s and is situated in the ancient and picturesque town of Saint-Emilion, a UNESCO world heritage site.

Working within these parameters, Portzamparc, and the winery’s owners, Baron Albert Frere and Bernard Arnault, wanted to create a sculpture that blended into the landscape. The designer describes his building as a “winery under the hill”, as it is a structure that is roofed by landscaping which descends into the estate.

Maintaining the high-quality wine the Chateau Cheval Blanc has become world-renowned for, functionality, as well as blending into the landscape, was at the heart of the new wineries design.

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The name ‘Sunken Gardens and Carnivores’ is bound to spark interest and intrigue and no doubt that was the intention of the Swedish photographer Helene Schmitz latest exhibition. ‘Sunken Garden and Carnivores’ is being shown at the Centre d’ Art et de Nature, Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire until 3 November 2011.

The artist’s inspiration for her extraordinary exhibition came from a journey she to South America in 2010 in the footsteps of Daniel Rolander, a neglected and forgotten Linnaean apostle.

Schmitz’s interest was ignited when she visited a butterfly farm in the middle of a jungle which was run by a Dutchman. The owner’s attempts to uncontrollably restrain an insatiable nature, to fame a section of a jungle in order to breed butterflied, fascinated her.

The Sunken Gardens and Carnivores displays a series of photographs which question the “underside” of nature whereby man, with his desire for domination and control, does not find comforting. In her striking and vibrant photographs, Helene Schmitz breaks the notion that it is man who dominates the world and instead it is nature that ‘dominates, encloses and devours.’

Part of the exhibition shows Schmitz’s photographic appraisal of the botanical gardens of Sweden for the last two years. The images, mostly portraits of carnivorous plants, again explore the relationship of tension between nature and cultures.

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With a cartoonish, youthful and playful aesthetic, big buttoned Boop furniture has really made its mark on modern home furnishing and interior design. Designed by Note Design Studio, the Boop collection combines a simple and minimalist style with bold, solid colours, rounded silhouettes and big buttons that oozes an ambience of comfort and fun.

The collection includes a swivel chair, armchair and settee and is not only the perfect décor for the light summer months but could also be a fantastic way to brighten up those long and dark winter evenings.

Note Design Studio is a Swedish design company who first designed the Boop furniture as part of the company’s Margin Notes collection. The Boop family was developed further by Note Design Studio which dressed the furniture in monochrome suits and synchronised the colour of the upholstery so that it would brighten even the dingiest of living rooms.

The Boop collection is the latest of a string of ‘fun and playful’ furniture to arriving on the design scene.

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