Canadian Rapper Drake, had the designer and architect Ferris Rafauli build an exclusive mansion in his hometown of Toronto. Ferris Rafauli and the Japanese designer Takashi Murakami together designed an extravagant Bösendorfer Concert Grand 280VC. Drake’s new music video “Drake - Toosie Slide” was filmed on his luxury property and reached over 12 million viewers within 3 days.
The Architectural Digest team met designer Ferris Rafauli on a tour of Drake's Manor House to read in the online edition
The breath taking property required a special grand piano and an exceptional design. The leitmotif are skulls that have been worked out to different degrees. They get more and more sketchily to the end on the right and left side . An elaborate screen printing process made it possible to display this design on the inside of the grand pianos lid. The motif continues on the front, tapered piano leg. The semitones (the sharps and flats) take up again the colours of the design and repeat over the octaves.
Takashi Murakami’s signature is also shown in the colours of the design and, together with a motif detail, is located under the Bösendorfer signature inside the fallboard and on the side of the piano. The design is limited to three 280VC grand pianos worldwide which are signed by Takashi Murakami inside the fallboard.
Drake’s 280VC is equipped with Disklavier Enspire technology. This allows him to play pieces of music from the extensive Bösendorfer Library, but also to record, edit and let play back his own piano playing.
Bösendorfer is very proud to have been a part of this special and unique collaboration between Ferris Rafauli @ferrisrafauli and Takashi Murakami @takashipom to built this special grand piano for Drake @champagnepapi.
Drake’s new music video “Drake - Toosie Slide” was filmed on his luxury property and reached over 12 million viewers within 3 days.
Ferris Rafauli is an iconic designer and artist who conceives, designs and builds ultra-luxury homes and lifestyle creations for an elite clientele worldwide.
Takashi Murakami, Japanese painter and sculptor, builds a bridge between art and commerce. He is often compared to artists like Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst or Jeff Koons, who are in the tradition of Pop Art. Murakami combines classic Japanese art with the country's contemporary pop culture. His aesthetics, which he called "super flat", made him one of the most innovative artists of the present day. With his very graphic works, which are characterized by bright colors, he explores the connections between traditional print graphics and the comics of Japanese post-war society. Although the works seem playful at first glance, Murakami's art with its hidden, subversive undertones acts as a social criticism. Born on February 1, 1962 in the Japanese capital Tokyo, where he continues to live and work, Murakami also demonstrated business acumen with the founding of the Kaikai Kiki Co. agency. The company serves the production and distribution of its art objects and also represents younger artists. Murakami also worked with the Louis Vuitton fashion label, pioneering the marketing of art.
Source: www.artnet.de