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6 Charles David shoe As fashion victims placed their names on waiting lists all over the country for Prada's $500 appliqued Mary Janes this fall, a tasteful sling-back sat readily available in stores for just a fraction of the cost. Women's footwear remains mired in satiric '70s references, but this shoe, from a relatively unglamorous manufacturer, bucked the trend by relying on sleek, modern lines and a truly urbane sense of romance. The lesson? People should be ironic, not their footwear.
7 Neurosciences Institute More monastic than scientific, the Neurosciences Institute, designed by Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, commands a site in La Jolla, California, less than a mile from--and in the shadow of--the Salk Institute, which is the masterwork of Louis Kahn. But while Salk is monumental, the Neurosciences Institute is introspective, receding, barely visible from the street. It's an essay in detailing, with every surface, texture and light condition thought through. And like the nervous system, it's all about pathways, links, journeys and, most of all, experience.
8 Jos van der Meulen's paper bags The trouble with using recycled products in design is that it is almost impossible to make something useful and stylish--one or the other, perhaps, but not both. But Dutch designer Van der Meulen has solved the conundrum with elan to spare. His paper bags are made of unused billboard posters sewn together. Colorful, cheerful (all those zippy advertising graphics) and surprisingly sturdy, they can be laundry baskets, wastepaper baskets or witty desk accessories.
9 Red Kamel package Roll over, Joe Camel! While smoking may never regain the cachet that Lauren Bacall once gave to it, carrying the right cigarette packet could become the new style statement. Simple, minimal and retro, with a hint of Russian Constructivism about it, the Red Kamel box is aimed squarely at the hipper-than-thou twenty- something crowd. The brand is actually an old one that was phased out 60 years ago because of poor sales, but, hey, if the Gucci loafer can come back, what can't? Nostalgic typefaces and graphic forms may not be new in package design, but this iteration is classy enough to catch the eye of even the most aesthetically jaded smokers, and R.J. Reynolds no doubt hopes, some nonsmokers too. Is this part of the vanguard of Soviet chic?
10 McDonald's Arch Deluxe logo Brilliant in its simplicity, this elegant twist on--and of--the ubiquitous Golden Arches does exactly what it is supposed to do: belie the inexpensiveness of its product. So refined, the logo at first glance looks as though it could grace the door of a fine restaurant trafficking in nouvelle risottos and salmon carpaccio and all the right Merlots. But, then, that's the whole point. America's most over-hyped hamburger isn't the sophisticated grownup treat that aggressive marketers would have us believe; its logo, however, certainly is.