Core77

The afternoon of Day 1 at Gravity Free was filled with inspirational presentations from architect Michelle Kaufman, milliner Rod Kennnan and the guru himself, Stefan Sagmeister.

Focusing on a design-build strategy, Michelle Kaufman presented her modular pre-fab green homes. The factory-made homes are designed for clean living and built in a factory using the most efficient and environmentally friendly materials possible. Details like tiles made of recycled Chardonnay bottles (yes -- now you can drink and save the world!) and energy monitoring systems made her homes not only beautiful in form, but also function.

Rod Kennan, a New York-based milliner, followed by taking us through a tour of his hat-making techniques and inspiration. Kennan makes fancy head-gear for everyone from Puff Daddy to Brad Pitt. There's no "special" treatment involved, just excellent craftsmanship and attention to detail. As he stated, "I don't ask Brad Pitt for movie tickets and he doesn't ask me for hats."

Highlight of the evening was, as usual, Sir Sagmeister himself. Breaking the ice with a story about a boner and Coney Island (?!), Sag led us through his latest body of work, Things I Have Learned in My Life. From the billboards of Paris to an installation of overripe bananas, Sagmeister's work continues to provoke and inspire. We've got a loose transcript of his round table talk coming up, so check back in a few.

Quite a day! Especially when it ends with a reception in a submarine. That's right. Day 1 at Gravity Free ended 30 feet below ground in the first German sub ever seized by Americans. Not a bad place to have a martini.....