Welcome, and can't wait to see your ideas.
Cheers

My Uncle had one of these. It was Pink and Grey, and your right, it was awesome.

That is absolutely incredible modeling. Thanks for posting.

And we are off.....
I was just thinking that there are probably many forum members who have never actually used a rotary phone
Or sat transfixed by this...

But because this is a thread on fine design, here are some vintage sweethearts. Bowden Spacelander Bicycle – Designed by Ben Bowden – 1946; Manufactured 1960

The Kit Kat Clock (Eyes and Tail move) 1932 by the California Clock Company

Please feel free to contribute

A carousel.

Simon. You always seem to be able to find the most interesting online documents

This caught my attention:
A practical, but at the same time whimsical little light you could really have some fun with.
And it took me to http://northernlighting.no/our-products/ a Norwegian Lighting company.
More whimsy:
But then the Pièce de résistance.
Does that not just make your day

More research into Digital Prototyping lead me to the website of Scott Eaton.
I was intrigued by this little guy, his ipod docking station.

His education which includes a Masters from MIT Media Lab, and also traditional studies at the Florence Academy of Art, have certainly combined to bring about some interesting career choices, including work with Steven Spielberg, and on the Harry Potter films.
What may be of real interest to some on this Forum, are his Tutorials. http://www.scott-eaton.com/tutorials
Much on sculpting (digitally) the human form, mostly in ZBrush.
And should you really wish to up the anti, he is offering an online course in figure sculpture starting in April. http://www.scott-eaton.com/digital-figure-sculpture

And this is where it leads.

It is not hard to see the major progress that, in particular, the introduction of new materials and technology, has allowed the field of design, in all it's aspects, to make.
Then:

Now:

But some of the most innovative have adopted a new future.
My interest was piqued after seeing the lamp Marcus designed and then followed through by having 3D printed. http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?p=384833#p384833

I stumbled upon the company "Freedom of Creation". I can't help but think that the developing technologies around 3D printing are going to have as big an impact on the design of products and the way they are manufactured and marketed as those PDA's we all rely on have had on our lives.
From Cad...
To Product...

And here is something they are working on at the moment. 3 Dimensional Fabric.
If you are a talented modeler, or a creative designer, I can't help feel your future is bright.

Thanks for the link to the Eugène Viollet Le Duc book Simon.
I am aware that he was criticized for "altering" the restorations he worked on, so it would be interesting to see his point of view.
Watch out, if you keep up this reading pattern you will be reading Leon Battista Alberti before you know it>
Cheers

Twan
Very nice work. I want one.
Could you give me an idea of what the floor is intended to be?

Heiru and Simon
I find it refreshing, Starks musings. And totally opposite of some of the "Architect Speak", where questionable concepts are clouded in large words and coined phrases to basically make me feel dumb, and therefore give consent. (This is not intended to single out Architects, as this exists in the design field and many others including product design, interior design, landscape design.....)
I read a little article recently meant to spoof this way of speaking.

A Discourse on Emerging Tectonic Visualization and the Effects of Materiality on Praxis
Or an essay on the ridiculous way architects talk.
By Witold Rybczynski

But so much of design is subjective.
My Mother loved Pink.
The bathroom was awash with Pink fluff. To her this was comfortable elegance, and probably was a real luxury for a lower middle class woman.
And think of the era (maybe it did not infect Europe) of Avacado appliances and Orange shag rugs that you could lose a pizza in.
Like so many things in Society we endorsed, and bought right in.
And now it is rising up again as Retro (ORIGIN from Latin retro ‘backward.’)

So it is nice to have a Stark who is contemplating the fine details.
And it is nice to have the ability to say we don't agree with his interpretation.

As for "mauvais goût" (which I believe can be roughly translated as "Bad taste"
Perhaps it is there for contrast.

Tricia
I had a look at your model, and I am not having difficulty moving the symbols and doors etc by isolating the layers and groups and using the move tool. I think the reason your electrical symbols are disappearing is due to "Z" fighting. That is when you move them down to exactly the same level as the white floor the floor dominates, and thus your symbols disappear.
Try just placing your symbols a mm or two above the floor and see if that works.
I know there are a lot of people on the forum using Layout to do working drawings, and I'm wondering if this may not be the answer.
Another question.
Did you draw the electrical symbols, or are the a plugin.
The reason I ask is because it as if the lights symbols are intended to be at this level, as if they were in the ceiling above, and if it is a plug in there may be a way to set this height.

Another Stark quote:
Because there is different types of design. The one, we can call it the cynical design, that means the design invented by Raymond Loewy in the '50s, who said, what is ugly is a bad sale, la laideur se vend mal, which is terrible. It means the design must be just the weapon for marketing, for producer to make product more sexy, like that, they sell more: it's shit, it's obsolete, it's ridiculous. I call that the cynical design.

After, there is the narcissistic design: it's a fantastic designer who designs only for other fantastic designers. After, there is people like me, who try to deserve to exist, and who are so ashamed to make this useless job, who try to do it in another way, and they try, I try, to not make the object for the object but for the result, for the profit for the human being, the person who will use it. If we take the toothbrush -- I don't think about the toothbrush. I think, "What will be the effect of the brush in the mouth?" And to understand what will be the effect of the toothbrush in the mouth, I must imagine: Who owns this mouth? What is the life of the owner of this mouth? In what society [does] this guy live? What civilization creates this society? What animal species creates this civilization? When I arrive -- and I take one minute, I am not so intelligent -- when I arrive at the level of animal species, that becomes real interesting.

Tricia is this an imported dxf/dwg (and if so from what program), or is it drawn totally in SketchUp?

Thanks Simon
For those not familiar with Philippe Stark. his work is well worth seeing. A renaissance Man.http://www.starck.com

Hmmm
Googled this
Quite intertesting and new to me. Would love to know more.

Sorry, but I'm unfamiliar with this technique.
Can you post an example?

This is in the "Would never get past our building inspector" department

http://www.faraone.it/3a.php[attachment=3:1q9s7dz7]<!-- ia3 -->Screen shot 2012-02-21 at 6.55.39 AM.png[attachment=0]Screen shot 2012-02-21 at 6.55.52 AM.png<!-- ia3 -->[/attachment:1q9s7dz7][/attachment][attachment=2:1q9s7dz7]<!-- ia2 -->Screen shot 2012-02-21 at 6.56.49 AM.png<!-- ia2 -->[/attachment:1q9s7dz7][attachment=1:1q9s7dz7]<!-- ia1 -->Screen shot 2012-02-21 at 6.57.03 AM.png<!-- ia1 -->[/attachment:1q9s7dz7]

On the glass theme.
http://www.casali.info/en-US/