Truedesign#3

TRUEDESIGN#3

COLLABORATIONS Bethan Gray’s take on the Rado True Thinline DESIGN CONQUERORS Five designers who changed the world CERAMIC 10,000 years of cutting edge materials GARDEN DESIGN The timely new trend VISIONARIES The future is here

BY VISIONARYVISIONARY DESIGNDESIGN

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 2 IS A GATEWAY TO THE FUTURE

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 3 GOOD DESIGN HAS ONE EYE ON THE FUTURE

Matthias Breschan, CEO FOREWORD

Welcome to Rado True Design #3. As a major player on the international design scene, Rado is leading the way in design and materials innovation to create watches that look good for a lifetime.

In the world of design, we know how important it is to be aware of what’s happening in other industries. Some of our research into design and materials technology has opened our eyes to pioneering new trends and their designers. In this edition of Rado True Design, you can read about some of these new trends and trailblazers as we take you on a journey into the future.

To look forward, you sometimes have to take a step back. In True Design #3 we look back at the work of some great designers who are still inﬂ uencing today’s designs. We focus on landscape architecture, natural elements and partnerships with organisations such as Grandi Giardini Italiani that are inspiring Rado’s pioneering design. We take a look at where previous winners of our Rado Star Prize competitions are today and also focus on some of our major international design fair collaborations.

As the Master of Materials, Rado is particularly interested in the latest material innovations – many of which the brand has pioneered. In this edition we look at how ancient and ultra-modern materials can work in perfect harmony and at how Rado believes ultra-lightness is the way forward.

I hope you enjoy this glimpse of the future.

Above: Matthias Breschan, CEO Photo: Bertrand Vandeloise

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 4 MASTER OF MATERIALS RADO.COM

RADO TRUE OPEN HEART PLASMA HIGH-TECH CERAMIC. METALLIC LOOK. MODERN ALCHEMY.

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 5 TRUEDESIGN#3 CONTENTS

08 News: Natural inspiration is 32 Captain Cook: 62 Grandi Giardini Italiani: everywhere Three generations of design Rado’s natural partner

10 Bethan Gray and Flora 36 1965 revisited Miranda create new Rado watches

38 The timeless school of graphic nostalgia

64 Moscow’s new landmark

16 Love is in the air 66 Inﬂ uencers from the past: Garden types

20 Tennis: Talent and timekeeping 76 Architects on dry land

82 Historical twists by Big-Game 44 Revolutionary uses of ceramic 86 Design trends in Madrid, New 48 Ceramos and HyperChrome York and Shanghai Ultra Light up the material game

88 Giulio Cappellini on the next 52 The bronze age is here generation

54 Colour it in 90 The future is here

26 Five design conquerors that 58 Li Edelkoort on natural 92 Rado Star Prize – a stairway changed the world inspiration in a non-fashion era to design heaven

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 6 CONTRIBUTORS

Alessandra Cianchetta is a London-based archi- Anders Modig writes about watches, architecture, tect and city planner who is the director of AWP, au- art and travel for Vanity Fair On Time, South China thor of architecture books, and a lecturer at universi- Morning Post and Hodinkee. He is also a creative di- ties around the world. rector for projects ranging from coff ee table books to photo shoots and events. Victoria Gomelsky is editor in chief of JCK, a 147-year-old jewellery trade publication based in New Nick Rice, based in Barcelona, is an accomplished York City. Her freelance work has appeared in the writer, editor and fi lmmaker, who reports on political New York Times and WSJ Magazine. aff airs, business, travel, arts and culture, music and lifestyle for publications and organisations around the Josh Sims is a UK-based freelance writer and editor world. contributing to publications such as The Times, Robb Report, the FT and The Week. He is the author of Yannick Nardin is based in Geneva. The former dig- several books on style - the latest, 'Blue-Blooded', is ital manager at the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie, published by Gestalten. her journalistic work has appeared in Watches the Guide, the HH Journal, Watchonista and WtheJournal.

Cover Photographers: Julian Abrams, While every effort has been made to TRUEDESIGN#3 Rado True Thinline Gieves Anderson, Caitlin Atkinson, ensure the accuracy of the informa- COLLABORATIONS Bethan Gray’s take on the Rado True Thinline Credit: Lidewij Edelkoort, Trend Iwan Baan, Marco Bertani, Åke E:son tion in this publication, the publisher DESIGN CONQUERORS Five designers who changed the world CERAMIC 10,000 years of cutting edge materials GARDEN DESIGN The timely new trend Union, Photo: Martyn Thompson Lindman, Dario Fusaro, René Gaens, assumes no responsibility for errors VISIONARIES The future is here Bethan Gray Photo: Julian Abrams Steve Hall, Dean Kaufman, Mathijs or omissions or any consequences of courtesy of Bethan Gray. Labadie, Winky Lewis, Vincent Ment- reliance on this publication. The opin- zel, Fredrik Nilsen, Elsa Okazaki, Lee ions expressed in this publication do MOOSE hunting trophy for Thompson, Martyn Thompson, Julian not necessarily represent the views of MOUSTACHE Salinas, SDLVO, Dmitri Tereschenko, the editor, the publisher or the publi- Stefano Trovati, Bertrand Vandeloise, cation. Publisher: Rado Watch Co. Ltd. Ruud Van Der Peijl. www.rado.com Printed in Switzerland © Rado 2018 Distributor: Editor-in-chief: Rado Watch Co. Ltd. Trademarks are the property of their Anders Modig GmbH Bielstrasse 45, 2543 Lengnau respective owners. BY Switzerland Writers: 78.1483.0002 Alessandra Cianchetta, Victoria Distribution: Gomelsky, Anders Modig, Yannick Rado boutiques, Rado subsidiaries Nardin, Nick Rice, Josh Sims. and at Rado events.

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 7 NEWS As the Master of Materials, Rado continues to lead the way in pioneering design and innovation. Taking inspiration from sources as diverse as ZEITGEIST gardens to contemporary design, Rado will keep pushing the boundaries of what is possible.

By Josh Sims

Open bar Pushing a bolder aesthetic, the new Rado DiaMaster introduces a multi-layered dial with the elements of time displayed in decentralised, intersecting circles. Perhaps more striking still, however, is the use of a bar running horizontally across the dial to bridge the opening in the 1upper layer. It’s the kind of abstract, expressive detail rarely found in modern watchmaking. Rado HyperChrome Bronze, Photographer: Martyn Thompson Union Credit: Lidewij Edelkoort, Trend

Opposites attract For a coloured timepiece that retains an inherent classicism, natural tones such as brown work well, 2 especially when combined with a material that gradually develops a rich, deep, matt patina over time. This is why Rado has explored a blend of bronze, for pushers and side inserts, and ceramic for the case, which deﬁ nitely won’t develop a patina, for its new HyperChrome Automatic Chronograph Bronze. It’s the ying and yang of passing time and

Rado DiaMaster, Photographer: Gieves Anderson. Credit: Lidewij Edelkoort, Trend Union: Photographer: Gieves Anderson. Credit: Lidewij Edelkoort, Trend Rado DiaMaster, permanence.

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 8 Golden means Might this be a meeting of the two great materials of high-end contemporary furniture? If wood has the character but lacks the lines 3 for modernism, and metal has the graphic edge but lacks warmth, enter the trend for the best of both worlds: furniture’s use of bronze tone metallics, with shades of copper, brass and rose gold on the side. The use of these metals might be far from new - after all, they pre-date stainless steel by millennia. A return of the Bronze Age to the domestic sphere can

be seen in the materials’ use in combination with House. Photo: Penda Austria Yin & Yang Diagram 1 by Fernando Neyra wood, and in giving new life to design classics. Up your garden game A dominant 21st century trend in home design has been the blurring of indoor and outdoor space: living area segues seamlessly into the garden. But now, architecture studio Penda has devised a way of bring- 4 ing the realms into closer co-existence; with a design, set to be built this summer, that sees a house’s surrounding garden plot continue up an outer stairway and over the tiered roof, so that ‘nature space’ is not lost to the building’s footprint. The design is targeted at tack- ling inner-city build-up, in which a garden is typically a luxury, but also with a view to encouraging grow-your-own self-suﬃ ciency. OFIS Tubular Chair by Lucas Muñoz. OFIS Tubular © Lucas Muñoz

City square Rado’s history in watchmaking is again underscored by the release of a limited-edition archive piece, the Tradition 1965 Automatic. With a rectangular 5 case akin to a city block, ‘tuning fork’ hands and indexes inspired by the skyscraper forms of the Man- hattan skyline, the Tradition 1965’s retro-futuristic aesthetic is countered by the use of a decidedly modern case material, PVD-coated Grade 5 titanium. To signify that it is an automatic movement, the dial is equipped with the anchor logo, which pivots with the

orientation of the watch. 1965, Rado Tradition Photographer: Gieves Anderson Union Credit: Lidewij Edelkoort, Trend

On the grid It’s been called the single most important document in New York City’s development. Why? Because it was the Commissioners’ Plan of 1811 that put into place the rectangular grid plan of streets that would become arguably Manhattan’s most striking characteristic. 6 Only the occasional feature: a reservoir, some public spaces, a market; was allowed to disrupt what was otherwise a rigid arrangement known, appropriately, as the ‘gridiron’. Indeed, what was in fact a very old idea, the same approach was applied to ancient Egypt and Indus Valley settlements 4,000 years ago, and later by the Ro- mans, would come to be the dominant philosophy of city planning across America, albeit with diﬀ erent sizes of grid. The very idea of a grid - uniform, simple, unpre-

tentious - was said to embody the everyday life of a nation of equals. © NYC & Company Julienne Schaer

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 9 TRUE TO THE IDEA We take a closer look at the two latest Rado design collaborations, where Rado invites designers to create their idea of what a modern timepiece should be. Fashion designer Flora Miranda

A NEW TAKE – Rado Star Prize winner in Austria 2017 – oﬀ ers an exercise in complex simplicity, while British furniture designer Bethan Gray celebrates craft and light play in a decidedly bold and feminine timepiece that will save her from her smartphone.

By Anders Modig

Bethan Gray will then be exactly reproduced on “You can always push designs fur- single-piece dials through a galvanisa- ther with craft made by hand,” says tion process,” Gray explains. Bethan Gray. The love of craft was the main reason she left Habitat to After making “lots of simple mockups set up her own eponymous studio 10 and models” in her London studio, years ago – she wanted to realise her she and her team arrived at a straight intricate designs without compromis- leather strap whose thickness is a ing on natural materials. Since then, continuation of the case height. The Gray has won multiple awards for her 20 studs are made of brushed stain- often Middle East-inspired marquetry less steel with a gold coloured fi nish, furniture, including the Elle Decora- which can also be seen on the bezel tion Award for Best British Designer. and on the logo. The latter is, inter- Whether tables, chairs or cabinets, estingly, not on the dial but applied they all feature a material awareness on the inside of the sapphire crystal and level of craftsmanship rarely seen through a metallisation process. in the 21st century. “For me the biggest thing with this watch is the strap. The textured leath- Her watch, the Rado True Thinline er where you can feel the grain gives Studs Limited Edition is a decidedly a contrast to the smoothness of the feminine, yet bold and assertive time- ceramic case – the element of touch piece with straight edges and a large is very important! It was also a given dial. The vivid sundial marquetry dial that it should not taper in order to is made of 12 segments of brushed signal more confi dence. metal cut with extreme accuracy. We experimented with shiny studs for an even stronger contrast, but arrived This is a miniaturisation of her maple at the matt brushed fi nish where you veneer tables made by skilled crafts- see the lines, as this gives more of a men sharing her relentless quest for handmade feeling.” perfection. What is your relationship Above: Bethan Gray “The team at Rado found a way of with watches? Photo: Julian Abrams recreating my idea by making a mas- “I haven’t worn a watch for a long Opposite: Rado True Thinline Studs Limited Edition ter dial with 12 segments. This look time. In the past I generally wore

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 10 TRUEDESIGN #3 / 11 men’s watches, but I stopped when I How did you experience the got a smartphone. Now I am really experimental willingness of Ra- looking forward to wearing a watch do’s design and product team? Above: Rado True Thinline Studs Limited Edition again, to be able to ﬁ nd out what time “Brilliant. They were really willing

Below: Dhow Cabinet with brass inlay on directional it is without getting distracted by my to test diﬀ erent solutions to make my veneer. Photo: Julian Abrams courtesy of Bethan Gray phone.” ideas possible, developing new methods in their manufacturing process. In the end it was great teamwork. As a designer I also appreciate working together when it comes to making important decisions along the way.”

Will this experience be applied in your future work? “Well, I’d love to work more on this scale. It is interesting to work on a watch, which gives such a visual im- pression of one’s identity – it is a very diﬀ erent and exciting journey to design something that you are wearing every day wherever you go, compared to furniture that has its place some- where in your home.”

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 12 Stud Mirror with leather rim and brass studs Photo: Julian Abrams courtesy of Bethan Gray

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 13 Below: Flora Miranda Photo: Kollektiv Fischka

Right: Flora Miranda's "Feminize Dress" from the collection "Press Reset" The dress is crafted by hand from silicon and silk Photo: Elsa Okazaki

Flora Miranda Complex three-dimensional move- of the watch. This was, however, too “As a fashion designer I work very ment is nothing new to the Austrian large and complex to realise – unlike sculpturally, but movement is always who graduated from the Royal Acad- her unique made-to-order dresses a part of it. This is why I fi nd kinet- emy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. In 2017 (Miranda has also just launched a ic sculptures exciting; they create she won the Rado Star Prize in Vi- prêt-à-porter line available online), the complexity through movement,” says enna with a time-challenging dress watch must be producible in a limited Flora Miranda, who has designed made of cut-up holographic bands. edition of 1,001 pieces. the Rado True Thinline Radar Lim- Exhibited inside a glass box, together ited Edition – a watch without hands with a mechanism generating move- “In the end, experimenting together symbolising the movement of gears in ment, she called it an “exploration of with the production team at Rado we a machine. Her starting point was to the speed of disintegration, telepor- came up with a graphical solution of create a three-dimensional object in tation and quantum physics.” Her the same idea which uses two poly- motion. Inside a static case setting the work impressed Rado so much that carbonate discs fi lling the space of boundaries, the material itself should the brand invited Miranda to be the the case. The two discs, powered by display time, thus removing the need fi rst Rado Star Prize winner to design an automatic movement, are layered for the hour and minute hands. a watch. on top of each other, and they show the time by having a three-dimen- “In everything, I do enjoy complex- Rado sional pattern each, one with a de- ity. But inside the complexity you The Rado True Thinline Radar fi ned hour zone and the other with a need to create a focus, a central point. Limited Edition has been a creative minute zone. However, since they are This point is kind of the framework collaboration that has gone through transparent and constantly move at that holds everything together and many changes. The fi rst idea was diff erent speeds, they are constantly creates a simple message so that peo- based on a stiff yet fl exible fabric that changing – but the ‘focus in the com- ple know what they are looking at,” would have the element of time being plexity’ is there, so that you can read Miranda says. pushed upwards by the internal gears the time.”

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 14 Flora Miranda’s "Pixel Glove" from the collection "_Sidereal_Ethereal_Immatereal_" Photo: Flora Miranda

At the time of writing the product You can read this information on the on this scale. The pattern I created is department at Rado is resolving the watch; it doesn’t create time, but it gives not even possible to draw by hand, I last remaining manufacturing de- you an orientation and measurement.” had to design on the computer. The tails. How will the discs move when fi rst material tests I made on a much stacked upon each other? What can It sounds like you are very much bigger scale, which was fi ve times be done to make sure that they are into the making and production? as large as the watch. As a design- not too heavy and to prevent the discs “Yes, I am very much into machines er you have the experience to know from getting stuck? “I look forward to – the fashion industry is based on which proportions look good, but this feeling it and experiencing the watch machines. I have a big goal: to at small scale was a new and exciting in reality. It is important that it will some point construct my own ma- territory.” look like a luxury product; that must chines. I believe that by creating your be there, and I am sure it will be,” own machines and your own tools, But the watch still relates very says Miranda. including code and software, you can much to your other work? really create unique pieces using unique “Absolutely. As a fashion designer I What relation do you have to methods, and thus have a unique sta- am obsessed with the physical move- watches? tus as a designer. ment of the material, how it shifts “I see watches like jewellery. They are with the body. A watch is a machine, really less of a functional object than What was the biggest challenge which is simply moving as a body decorative, but of course, they have a of designing a watch? does.” function. Watches have gears inside, “The big challenge was that it is so which produce information. small! It is diffi cult to make a prototype

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 15 LOVE TESTIMONIES Precious witnesses to time, watches are often chosen to mark major life events, including weddings.

By Yannick Nardin MILESTONES

First communion, coming of age or ﬁ t equally to men and women of al- milestone birthdays are some of the most any age, and there are a variety special occasions watches are cho- of types and price ranges to suit any sen as gifts for those close to us. Both personality and budget. Designed to jewellery and an everyday tool, they last throughout the years, they also represent symbolic precious gifts. More than just a ﬁ nancial invest- ment, they symbolise a special moment, conveying strong emotional value and travel with their owner through life. Sometimes they even become family heirlooms.

Watches oﬀ ered as symbols of cele- brations share several features. First, it must equate to the person in terms of values, now and in the future. Next, the quality and the calibre, mechanical or quartz, must appeal to the recipient. This kind of timepiece should also show craftsmanship – be it through its mechanism or how it has been designed – and the tastes of the person when it comes to design. Last but not least, the materials used are usually precious, making the gift truly special.

What about gifts exchanged by lovers? The custom of the ﬁ ancé pro- posing to his future wife with a ring was established in the 15th century. Generally it is set with a diamond, as the hardness of the gem symbolises the strength of the couple.

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 16 Opposite: Rado HyperChrome Captain Cook Photo: Winky Lewis Credit: Lidewij Edelkoort, Trend Union

Above: Rado HyperChrome Captain Cook & Rado HyperChrome Captain Cook Diamonds Photo: Winky Lewis Credit: Lidewij Edelkoort, Trend Union

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 17 On the masculine side of the engage- wedding or for later, as a symbol of their A durable watch ment, grooms receive cuff links, but vows. “Couples buying pair watches for If the diamond, king of longevity, also wristwatches. “Off ering a watch their wedding are still very rare here in needed a queen, high-tech ceram- to the groom is still a very popular cus- Switzerland, but this kind of gift makes ic could play that part. This material tom,” explains a high-end watch retail- perfect sense,” explains another retail- developed by Rado is highly scratch- er situated on Parisian shopping street er on Geneva’s famous Rue du Rhône. resistant. It is 10 times harder than 18 Rue Saint Honoré. This tradition has Edgy, vintage, classic or sporty, more carat gold and one of the lightest ma- been growing ever since the end of masculine or feminine, the variety in de- terials used in high-end watchmaking. the 19th century after the invention of signs and materials off ers many pairing It off ers an array of colours – pure wristwatches. Literal “timekeepers,” opportunities, allowing spouses to cre- white, cool grey, gleaming metallic watches also evoke a never-ending love. ate a look as unique as their relation- plasma or chocolate brown – together ship. with diff erent fi nishes – polished or A more whimsical argument is that matt – while perfectly withstanding the timepiece will remind the fi ancé everyday use. Rado also combines to be on time to his own wedding. high-tech ceramic with diamonds, cre- Above: Rado True Automatic Diamonds ating precious feminine models. Today, some couples also choose to pair Photo: Winky Lewis watches, either to wear them at their Credit: Lidewij Edelkoort, Trend Union

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 18 Rado True Diamonds & Rado HyperChrome Automatic Chronograph Photo: Winky Lewis Credit: Lidewij Edelkoort, Trend Union

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 19 THE RED ZONE Rado has been involved in tennis for decades – and always with a worldwide scope. The brand’s latest Rado HyperChrome Match Point

WILDCARD Automatic Chronograph Limited Edition, which introduces a new shot clock feature, proves Rado’s association with the sport goes deeper than image.

By Nick Rice

Maker of tennis-inspired timepieces, emerging design talent, the Rado Below: Rado HyperChrome Diamonds & Rado HyperChrome Match Point Automatic Oﬃ cial Timekeeper of numerous YoungStar Programme supports the Chronograph Limited Edition international tournaments on clay, next generation of tennis talent that Photo: Marco Bertani grass and hard courts, Rado also sup- will be gracing the world’s courts for

Opposite: Rado HyperChrome Diamonds ports emerging young talents around years to come. Photo: Marco Bertani the world. Similar to its work with Mastering new methods and materials is one of Rado’s fortes and the latest demonstration of this is seen in the Rado HyperChrome Match Point Automatic Chronograph Lim- ited Edition. The latest iteration of the Match Point watch features the addition of a shot clock timing function. A red scale is located between 3 and 5 o’clock demarcating the ﬁ nal 10 seconds of the maximum 25 that a player has between ﬁ nishing one point and serving for the next.

The 2017 introduction of a shot clock on tournaments’ scoreboards has caused some debate in tennis. While the intention is to speed up matches, the opposing argument is that epic battles lasting up to six hours adds a unique quality to the sport.

The current rules for ATP events stipulate that, if the server takes longer than 25 seconds, the umpire can take away the ﬁ rst serve. If the receiver takes longer than 25 seconds to be ready to play, the umpire can give the point to the server. Problems can arise though, when the rule is

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 20 Above: Sam Amoia. Photo: Frederic Pinet

Opposite: Rado True Blaze. Photo: Lisa Klappe

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 21 what the fans want. If the fans want short points and players playing without thinking, maybe it is good.”

The HyperChrome Match Point, limited to 999 pieces, is powered by a high-end Swiss-made automatic chronograph movement; and the HyperChrome plasma high-tech ceramic monobloc case with polished steel side inserts means it is incredibly light, and would hardly be felt on the wrist. The ceramic monobloc is ﬁ red in a plasma oven, where gases acti- vated at 20,000°C alter its molecular structure, giving it a distinctive and unmistakable metallic shine.

The matt and polished plasma make a striking contrast with the blue and silver dial, which has sporty red accents for the seconds hand and shot clock zone. Again, Rado has its ﬁ n- applied arbitrarily by umpires, as ger on the pulse as the colour blue is happened in two prominent matches currently a strong theme in the watch last year. Both players had disputes industry, as are textured dials, which with the umpire after being penalised provide a striking contrast with the on the rule. While commentators smoothness of the ceramic. argue that enforcing it inconsistently Above: Rado HyperChrome Match Point Automatic Chronograph Limited Edition is worse than not enforcing it at all, Creating a shot clock feature on a Photo: Marco Bertani some players maintain it’s too short bold technical watch is a master an amount of time to recover and stroke by Rado and it resonates with Opposite: Rado HyperChrome Diamonds & Rado DiaMaster Power Reserve prepare. A certain world number one the brand’s philosophy – “if we can Photo: Marco Bertani has said publicly that, “It depends on imagine it, we can make it.”

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 22 TRUEDESIGN #3 / 23 CONQUERORS DESIGN

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 24 Aqua Tower in Chicago by Studio Gang. Image by Steve Hall © Hedrich Blessing, Courtesy Studio Gang.

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 25 FIVE DESIGN HEROES Architect and urbanist Alessandra Cianchetta runs a groundbreaking practice, which has, among

HEROES many other projects, produced the master plan for La Défense in Paris and a new museum on the outskirts of the city. She is also a brilliant writer, which is why we have asked her for a personal account of ﬁ ve architects and designers who have, and are, truly changing the world.

By Alessandra Cianchetta

“Architecture is how people SANAA, an offi ce with multiple com- meet in space.” – Kazuyo Sejima missions worldwide. SANAA’s spaces Sleek, bold, uncompromising, sharp, are dreamy, delicate and evanescent quietly forceful and utterly driven but a world away from minimalistic architect Kazuyo Sejima, born in froideur. They are fi lled with a rar- 1956, uses a wide range of polished, efi ed and perfectly composed sense refl ective materials in quest of light- of happiness. They bring a sense of ness, fl uidity, whiteness and transpar- calm, a profound connection with ency. Her spaces are made of shiny nature and a central idea: people surfaces in opalescent grids, polished meeting happily in space. In an in- steels, glass, marbles and metals. She terview with Caroline Roux for The masters diff ractions, transparencies, Gentlewoman, Sejima says: “I have

Below: New Museum in New York, Kazuyo Sejima + overlaps and shimmers like a fash- a dream that architecture can bring Ryue Nishizawa / SANAA ion designer; indeed she has had a something to contemporary society. Photo: Dean Kaufman long-time, fertile collaboration with Architecture is how people meet in

Opposite: Wire Chair, Eames Plastic Armchair and Comme des Garçons. With her business space.” Her aesthetic is of a sophis- Eames Plastic Side Chair by Vitra ©Vitra partner, Ryue Nishizawa, she founded ticated kind of simplicity, developed through experimental small-scale residential projects such as the House in a Plum Grove and on a larger scale through a series of important museums such as the 21st Century Mu- seum of Modern Art in Kanazawa, the New Museum in NYC and the Louvre-Lens. Born and trained in Japan, a male-dominated culture, she is the ﬁ rst woman to ever be appoint- ed the artistic director of the Venice Architecture Biennale, in 2010. She named it, rather straightforward- ly, “People meet architecture.” The same year, she became the second woman – after Zaha Hadid – to receive the Pritzker Prize, architecture’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize.

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 26 Charles and Ray Eames: The der Rohe's “beinahe nichts” or other ed: their life, their experiments, a sunny side of the Cold War algid sorts of contemporary modern joyful and creative process based on Charles and Ray Eames made fi lms, houses, but rather a global work of indefatigable testing and reiteration, art, buildings, multimedia installations, art. A showcase of Ray and Charles’ embracing trial and error. The fi lm toys and their legendary chairs bend- curiosity and creativity, its lightweight recalls Bardi’s sketches for her Casa ing plywood, wire mesh, fi breglass, structure is closely connected to the de Vidro with lines depicting archi- plastic or aluminium in an endless and surrounding landscape, dissolving tecture and others delineating fl ow- tireless process of experimentation. into it. In their 1955 fi lm about the ers, plants, and animals. The Eameses She was a painter. He was an archi- house, Bernstein’s notes play and the operated at the height of the Cold tect. They started working togeth- camera insists on close-ups of colour- War, but they were “the sunny side er in 1941, and together they built a ful fl owers, trees, leaves, shadows and of it,” as the Observer architecture home, the Case Study House #8, set refl ections inside-out. The steel and critic Rowan Moore puts it in his re- on a verdant and balmy slope in Pacifi c glass fade away leaving room to fabrics view of the Eames Exhibition at the Palisades, among eucalyptus trees and and feathers, carpets and masks, their Barbican. They were the very image of glorious views of the ocean. Complet- celebrated chairs, memorabilia, can- Californian cheerfulness. Sometimes ed in 1949, the house would become dles, tiny pieces of Japanese papers. perfection was less than ideal, but not an icon for the modern movement. All these were powerful sources of enough to taint the joyful confi dence It was far removed from Mies van inspiration. Everything was connect- permeating all their life and work.

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 27 Álvaro Siza Vieira: Piccoli paradisi impossibili I fi rst met Portuguese Pritzker laureate Álvaro Siza Vieira in his U-shaped offi ce overlooking the river in Oporto in 2000 when I was writing a book on the private houses he had built over a span of fi fty years. I remember a meandering conversation about the importance of slowness in architecture. “A good architect has the ability to create ‘little impossible par- adises,’ capturing a perfect transient moment, always considering emotion, despite the many imperfections or fragilities of a given site, context or project,” he said as the rising sun let plenty of natural light into the grey building. More recently, as a guest Portugal’s Carnation Revolution in of a dear friend, I spent a rainy New 1974 when his small-scale projects Year in the small yet perfect house such as suburban houses echoing Siza designed for himself in his semi- Adolf Loos, a housing estate in Oporto nal social housing complex Quinta da or his swimming pools and restaurant Malagueira in Evora. Its intimate pa- by the ocean near Oporto met with tio, a recurring theme in Siza’s hous- critical acclaim: They revealed anoth- es, was framed by white walls and er kind of modern architecture deeply cobbled in stone, severe yet soothing. rooted in its regional, local context. The climbing plants on its pergola Over the decades Siza, today 85 played with refl ections of the fl ames years old, has built extensively both in in the fi replace. Walls, cobbled stones, Portugal and abroad, never oblivious fi relight, nature: the very image of to regional contexts and always aware that little impossible paradise. Álva- that the very aim of modern architec- ro Siza became relevant on the in- ture is, in the fi rst place, to produce Above: School of Archtiecture in Oporto Architect: ternational architectural scene after positive social results. Álvaro Siza Vieira. Photo: Åke E:son Lindman

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 28 Right: Spittelau Viaducts Housing Project in Vienna by Zaha Hadid Architects Photo: Åke E:son Lindman

“Without that element of uncertainty, that sensation of travelling into the unknown, there would be no progress.” – Zaha Hadid My fi rst encounter with the dazzling Zaha Hadid (1950-2016) dates back to 2005. We met at a party held at the Ragged School in Union Street, East London to celebrate an architectural competition, and she had just won the first prize to design the new headquarters of the Architecture Foundation in Bankside. A year ear- faith in oneself and how pleased she ic locations in a relatively short space lier, in 2004, she had been the fi rst was to at last be built in London – the of time – Zaragoza, Rome, Abu Dha- woman to be awarded the Pritzker aura of stardom did not hinder a great bi, Guangzhou, Beijing, Michigan, Prize. The celebration was momen- warmth and a sharp sense of humour. Baku, Vienna, Seoul, Antwerp and tous; she was one of the world’s most She had an outstanding persona many other places. She did, eventual- successful and celebrated architects, already as a student at the Architec- ly, build in London too – the Olympic yet had been given scarce commis- tural Association and, aged 32, she Aquatics Centre in 2012. Hadid was sions in Britain, where she was based. won a high-profi le competition in born and raised in Baghdad before There was resistance. That compe- Hong Kong: The Peak. The compe- moving to Beirut and London. In- tition had been my fi rst big thing. tition drawings – echoing Suprema- terviewed by Alan Yentob for a BBC It would change my life, in many tist structures – had a rare boldness. documentary “Who dares wins”, she ways, some unrelated to architecture. Like most of her fi rst projects, The tells how her extremely liberal and Wrapped in an avant-garde cape, she Peak remained unbuilt. She was cosmopolitan upbringing would be distilled the powerful aura only ex- famously dubbed a “paper architect” key to what she would achieve later. ceptional individuals have. Hadid was whose fl uid, continuous spaces were “They (her parents) would let me ex- a “presence“. We talked. She waxed judged unbuildable fantasies and dis- periment and see how far I would go. lyrical about the challenges and odds missed as “artworks.” A decade later Your success will not be determined of architectural competitions, the ne- she was the fi rst female recipient of by your gender or your ethnicity, but cessity of persistence, of keeping and the RIBA gold medal. Her offi ce grew only by the scope of your dreams and trying, and to have an unshakeable and delivered many buildings in exot- your hard work.”

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 29 Jeanne Gang: Building in the solipsistic acclaim of their proj- relationships ects. If relationships are key, a “strong “I use ecology as a model,” Jeanne architecture” is very much needed. “I Gang tells me, “ecology meant as the realise that architecture is a powerful study of the relationships between the component to make the urban design diff erent parts of a system, the living come alive.” Gang’s architecture is in- things and their environment.” She deed very powerful. Her Aqua Tower affi rms that what architects design are (2010), a mixed-use 82-story curva- nothing but relationships – between ceous building, has reshaped the skyline individuals, communities, networks. of downtown Chicago. Its curved over- Design is always a pivotal driver to hanging concrete balconies, dubbed promote serendipitous conversations “social connectors,” make wise use of between diff erent groups – otherwise climate and winds and promote social disconnected – to increase opportuni- interactions, building up relationships ties for positive social interactions and among neighbours. Interestingly or ultimately deliver better projects. The irritatingly, the building was described 54-year-old Gang has an impressive as “one of the tallest buildings in the track record of projects across scales world designed by a woman” in Gang’s from large urban plans to cultural Encyclopaedia Britannica profi le, but buildings and skyscrapers. At the city “high-rises are always about statistics,” scale, her Philadelphia Civic Commons she cheerfully tells me. Gang trained case study is a recent example: “Discov- as an architect at Harvard University ering the human assets and (trying) to where she now teaches in design stu- match them with the physical assets in dios and was recently named a Profes- a city” is paramount. She stresses how sor In Practice. She worked with Rem crucial it is in all projects to engage in Koolhaas/OMA before setting up her a dialogue and “organise information practice in Chicago. Today she has of- and outputs from the people involved fi ces in New York and San Francisco as in a given project, communities and well, and employs around 50 women Above and opposite: Studio Gang designed Writers stakeholders.” Unquestionably, such a and 50 men – quite a leap from two de- Theatre in Glencoe outside Chicago. Image by Steve Hall © Hedrich Blessing, modus operandi is unusual; architects cades ago when she was, as she puts it Courtesy Studio Gang usually share a propensity to engage “a lady with a laptop.”

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 30 TRUEDESIGN #3 / 31 DIVING FORWARD Vintage expert and watch auction consultant Geoﬀ roy Ader takes a closer look at the designs of the Rado Captain Cook – a classic diving watch that ended up setting a modern course. EVOLUTION By Anders Modig

Mark I as most bezels are cut at a 45° angle. WaterWater-resistant watches have been Bezel teeth often correlate with the araroundoun since the 1920s. But real minutes, but in this case there are 10 divindivingg watches that can be used as a teeth for every fi ve minutes. tool – watches that are pressure, and watewater-resistantr to at least a depth of Perhaps these unique attributes were 100 mmetres – only came on the scene the result of the fact that this was the in ththee early 1950s. In 1962 Rado pre- fi rst decade when higher educational sentesentedd its fi rst diving watch, which institutions started to off er specialised functfunctionedi well beyond the limit. It courses for watch design. Last but not took the name Rado Captain Cook. least, the Rado red anchor shows that ““ThisThis was the golden age of advertise- this is an automatic watch. In 2017, mment,ent, and names that people would this model was re-introduced as the remerememberm fl ourished. Captain Cook HyperChrome Captain Cook. Of says itit all: exotic oceans, adventure and course this version is more technical- other ingredients that can be woven ly advanced in several ways: an ETA into a story,” says vintage watch auction movement with up to 80 hours of eexpertxper Geoff roy Ader. “To have a power reserve, a sunbrushed dial and a rotatingrotati bezel to measure dive time is ceramic bezel – but it stays true to the also a requirement when it comes to quirky angles, the original case size, divingdiving watches. At this time the tech- sword- and arrow-shaped hands and a nologynolog existed for rubber straps, but stitched leather strap. severalsevera brands still equipped their watcheswatch with leather straps.” Mark II Captain Cook Mark II came out TheThe bbezel on the Rado Captain Cook later in the year 1962. But despite the MarkMark I makes 120 distinct clicks per short time lapse, this was truly the next fullfull rrevolution and is made of alu- generation of diving watch – it could miniumminiu and Bakelite. And it wouldn’t go down to 22 bar (220m). With this be a Rado without some interest- watch and the concurrent DiaStar, ing design details: The 37-millime- Rado entered another design era – one tre-wide bezel leans inward towards of the most experimental watch design the rounded boxed-cut glass, and the periods since Art Deco. The straight, grip-friendly teeth of the bezel are horizontal cut-off s mix the round with Above: Rado Captain Cook Mark I (1962) straight and vertically cut, where- the square, and there are no visible

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 32 lugs. These are often referred to as shows Rado’s pioneering ability as hooded lugs. Vertically taller than a design brand,” explains Geoﬀ roy the Mark I, the tonneau-shaped case Ader. This is an even better tool. measures 37 millimetres from side to Instead of a rotating bezel for the dive side. time (or air reserve indicator, if you like), a second screwed-down crown The model name on the lower controls the concave internal half of the black dial appears in rotating bezel, which according to a new font – a sans serif, similar to the brochure from half a century Helvetica, but somewhat widened – ago “cannot jam or get put out of and the A in Captain Cook is seem- adjustment”. ingly custom made to resemble the A from the Rado logo. These are some Practicality is the essence of a diving of the design codes that would be- watch. It must be easy to read, and come commonplace a few years later. these baton hands and clear index Above left: Pioneering print advertising in Japan markers – especially the 20 minutes featured Rado’s design-led imagery

“The Mark II is amazingly typi- in red to measure dive time – show Above right: A Rado Captain Cook MKII campaign cal for the late 1960s, which again that this watch means business. in Japan played on its diving credentials

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 33 The hierarchy of the hands also in- a sword, thus linking Mark II with the dicates that this really is a watch to sword-handed Mark I. be used for diving. “Clearly the minute hand is the essential one – which A metal rice grain bracelet holds the makes perfect sense, since your 12.8-millimetre-thick piece in place. life depends on it. Also, the hands Ader notes, “This kind of brace- clearly complement each other. Just let is typical for the 1960s, but this look at how the luminous plot of the design is speciﬁ c to Rado, mixing second hand slides just above the the grains with squares.” Surprising- shorter hour hand,” Ader says. An- ly, it is attached with a quick release; Above: Futuristic themes are common in Rado’s other interesting detail of the minute thus no tools are needed to swap out 1960s advertising hand is that the Super-LumiNova® the NATO bracelet that was also Opposite: Rado Tradition Captain Cook MKIII on the minute hand has the shape of included in the package.

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 34 Mark III hardened it up to 1,000 Vickers – only watch company using the pro- The year 2018 sees the birth of so it is five times harder than steel; cess. Another unique feature of the the Mark III, a similar silhouette almost as hard as high-tech ceramic,” Mark III is the inner convex rotat- with horizontal cut-oﬀ s and a ton- says Hakim El Kadiri, VP of Prod- ing bezel – whose shape is closely neau case. The case has, however, uct Management at Rado. El Kadiri mimicked by the sapphire crystal. a more contemporary width – 46.8 reveals the principle, “In an oven “You see everything like in a thin millimetres. Yes, it is a large watch, firing at high-temperature, a gas glass box,” El Kadiri explains. but the hooded lugs provide a com- is introduced, which infiltrates the The big red indexes of the MKII fortable and ergonomic ﬁ t even for pores of the titanium, hardening are swapped for a high-visibility, smaller wrists, and the convex parts it from the inside out. So, it is not disruptive yellow on the MKIII. above and below the dial shrink the a new layer, like a PVD treatment Yellow signals an alert warn- visual impact. which is only about two or three ing – diving is a serious business microns thick on top of a material – but El Kadiri says it is a happy “Instead of steel we used titanium. – this is a truly transformed mate- coincidence that we are seeing a lot But as this lightweight material is rial, over 30 microns deep.” As far of yellow highlights on the 2018- highly prone to scratches, we have as can be ascertained, Rado is the 2019 catwalks.

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 35 TIMES SQUARE The mid 1960s Rado Manhattan was inspired by the towering cityscapes of New York. What was the impact back then, and how does today’s ANGULAR Tradition 1965 Automatic update this pioneer?

By Anders Modig

Big, chunky, rectangular and Today’s Tradition 1965 Automatic “Manhattan and the Tradition 1965 water-resistant like a diver’s watch: is water-resistant to 5 bar and bal- distinctly show that Rado is one of the when the Rado Manhattan arrived on ances staying true to the original brands that takes watch design and the scene in 1965, many took notice design with contemporary technology heritage seriously,” concludes Ader. of this disruptive piece inspired by and materials. To start, the chunky, New York City. As with many other square applied indexes, reminiscent Rado watches, it was the start of more of extra-large skyscrapers reaching to come. “Manhattan really looks like above the skyline, are very similar a typical 1970s watch, the kind of to the original, albeit with a shiny design that so many brands made just rhodium-coloured treatment. The before the quartz crisis hit the Swiss hands are wide, extremely clear watch industry. Manhattan was clear- and legible with a middle groove, ly in the avant-garde of what was giving them the nickname “tuning fork to come in the 1970s,” says vintage hands”. The width has been updated watch expert Geoﬀ roy Ader about the to span a full 44 millimetres, and this pioneering shape. is also the measurement from lug to lug. The blue, vertically brushed dial is Given how early Rado was, the any- completed with a contrasting red spin- thing-but-square communication ning Rado anchor – the symbol used from 1965 seems almost clairvoyant, as on all of Rado’s automatic watches. it was marketed with the slogan “years ahead”. The catalogue from 1965 reads: The contemporary case is made of “Superbly styled square watch that is PVD-coated grade 5 titanium, which exceptionally water-resistant.” It was, is light and durable. The engraved and to this day still is, quite a feat to case back and the crown are also in produce a square watch water-resistant this high-grade titanium. to 22 bar, as it is much easier to construct a tight case when you can screw The XL size comes in a limited edi- down a round case back to make it tion of 1,965 pieces, as does the shut. medium-size stainless steel version with a sunbrushed silver dial. The “But you cannot call Manhattan a medium case measures 35 millimetres, Above: Rado Manhattan (1965) diver’s watch, since it doesn’t have the and this has also been produced in Opposite: Rado Tradition Automatic 1965 XL diver’s watch indications or function,” another 65 pieces encrusted with 302 Photo: Gieves Anderson Ader says. diamonds on the dial and the case. Credit: Lidewij Edelkoort, Trend Union

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 36 TRUEDESIGN #3 / 37 PIONEERING TYPE What can be deciphered from vintage advertising? Demian Conrad, instructor of

VINTAGE editorial communication at Geneva University of Art and Design, shares professional insights around the communication used by Rado in the decades during which it became a global brand.

By Anders Modig

The aim was clear in 1957, the oﬃ - lope in graphic design both in terms cial year “Rado” appeared on the of aesthetics and typography, the lat- dials of this Lengnau watchmaker; ter a cultured craft related to watch- the company wanted to sell its prod- making in terms of precision and ucts around the world. With roots attention to detail. Demian Conrad, going back to 1917 it already had an who besides teaching also runs the international clientele, predominant- Lausanne-based graphic design studio ly in the Americas. But now, having Automatico studio, shares his impres- established its brand identity, the sions from these crucial two decades world needed to know - enter advertis- of brand history. ing and communication. The vintage ads and catalogues that supported 1957 – 40 Years of Existence the brand in this successful task show “To me this is really signalling that that Rado was not only a pioneer in the American lifestyle is coming to materials, but also pushing the enve- Europe.

Right: One of the ﬁ rst brochures with the brand name Rado

Opposite: The late 1950s combined global, design driven and sporty elements

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 38 The elegant lady with beautiful hair has a slight air of the provocative advertising used in America to promote the emancipation and empowerment of women. This modern woman clearly symbolises that women deserve more status – and rather masculine watches that are much more than jewellery. At the time, using colour was quite a statement – and an expensive statement at that. This four-colour brochure with black-and-white product photos that have been hand-painted for that inimitable Technicolor® feel was highly costly. The kind of paintbrush background by the lady Rado 1958 (circa) – Been Around was a stylish statement that was widely the World used then, including by Warhol. It was “Here I see a strong connection with also innovative to emphasise that the a 1960s American news broadcast- watch was an everyday item by cou- ing aesthetic, especially in the three- pling it with the word ‘unbreakable.’ A dimensional lettering, and a global word which, despite its exaggeration, approach which signals a kind of me- was widely used in marketing. The dia entertainment. Furthermore the coat of arms in the top right corner O reminds me a bit of the Olivetti O, is the odd one out here – maybe it is one of the famous branding eﬀ orts at there to convey the idea of heritage, the time. since this was created for the 40th an- niversary of the company. To centralise the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe on the image is Emancipation can also be read into somewhat surprising – but maybe it is the high level of technical product in- just a side eﬀ ect of the obvious: want- formation and the telephone, which ing to show that Rado was a pioneer symbolises professionalism. This lady in being a global brand that extends is much more than a housewife, and not only to the USA, but also from she wants the watch to show it.” Central Europe to the Far East.”

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 39 compelling as the colours: ‘scratch proof ’, ‘100% waterproof ’, ‘unbreakable’, ‘eternal’, produced in Helvet- ica. Today the world might suﬀ er Helvetica fatigue, but to use this type back in 1965 only eight years after its conception was rather groundbreaking. Yes, the typesetting may be far from today’s standards, but to be such an early adopter of Helvetica means that Rado was well aware of contemporary developments. This was a special moment in time when radical Swiss designers were dominating the global graphic design scene with a sci- entiﬁ c approach to typography. About a decade later it had become totally main- stream to use Helvetica in all forms of communication.”

1960 (circa) – Rado 56 H 1973 (circa) – Still Got the Blues “This is an archetypally beautiful “Of course, the big thing here is the watch, extremely essential in its round, blue. Blue is the colour of the sky, open less-is-more design. At the time, space, it is a strong and dreamy colour. the high-tech engineering country Above all, blue is also on the oppos- Switzerland of course wanted to ing side to yellow on the colour wheel, feel connected with the Space Race, and is thus the best way to enhance which was in its infancy. Today space gold. This is a classical technique that is used to sell everything from cookies has been used ever since painters of to cars. But back then space was still Christian themes started using blue to fresh, and to connect a high-precision emphasise the halo. chronometer watch with space – the dream technology at the time – makes By using the mid 1920s Bauhaus font perfect sense. But somehow this kind Futura, Rado shows its fi nger is on the of watch archetype signals more an pulse of the times, as geometric fonts offi cial watch of China rather than the had a strong renaissance in the 1970s. Space Age. I am puzzled as to why this A lot of time has also been spent on campaign idea was not used for one of the spacing between the words – it al- Rado’s more futuristic DiaStar designs most comes across as algorithmic. It is that already existed at the time.” interesting to see that the round and square combination of the watches is 1965 – Red Alert used in the graphical framework.” “In the mid-1960s, the graphical- ly strong combination of red and In a day and age where vintage has black was widely used. In this fold- returned as a prominent inspiration er the two-colour print is empha- not only in the watch world, it makes sised as a strong colour combination perfect sense to go back to the ar- where the red also signals the Swiss chives. With today’s technology archa- fl ag. Despite the apparent simplicity, ic communication can be reformulat- Above: 1960 advertisement for Rado 56 H the diff erent lifestyle and images of the ed and refreshed – and who doesn’t

Opposite: Period advertisements from the mid 1960s watches come across very clearly – espe- like a touch of nostalgia every now and early 1970s cially thanks to the words being as equally and again?

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 40 TRUEDESIGN #3 / 41 TRUEDESIGN #3 / 42 Photo: René Gaens

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 43 MATERIAL WHIRL The University of Maryland’s Isabel K. Lloyd on the cutting-edge ceramics research dedicated to solving human problems big and small CERAMIC

By Anders Modig

Ceramics expert Isabel K. Lloyd is to ceramic innovation, she is now at proud to be part of a technical pro- the centre of a whirl of activity at the fession with an impressive history. University of Maryland investigating “People have been making clay-based how ceramics can make engineering materials for at least tens of thousands more effi cient. of years, if not longer,” says the as- sociate professor and undergraduate “One cool thing we’re doing here is program director in the University of a new approach to preserve silver Maryland’s Department of Materials objects,” Lloyd says, citing a ceram- Science and Engineering. ics research project by University of Maryland PhD candidate Amy Having said that, traditional ceram- Marquardt. “Silver tarnishes and you ics used by primitive communities to have to polish it and when you polish fashion objects such as bricks, tiles it, you lose details. Amy has developed and clay pots do diff er from most of a technique where instead of polish- today’s ceramics. But even the high- ing it every 10 years, you only have to tech ceramic compound zirconium do it once every 150 years.” oxide often used by Rado, a white crystalline material that contains one On a YouTube video explaining her part zirconium to two parts oxygen, research, which earned the top prize shares some basic qualities with clay in the 2014 U21 Three Minute The- pots. All ceramics are inorganic, non- sis (3MT) competition, Marquardt metallic solids with strong molecular says that to preserve cultural artefacts, bonds. As a result, they boast superior most museums currently use a plas- hardness – high-tech ceramic is three tic coating that lasts about 10 years. to four times as hard as stainless steel Eventually, the plastic must be taken – and extremely high melting points off , the object polished, and the coat- (2,000°C and above). ing reapplied.

Lloyd has been enthralled with the “That creates a nearly constant cycle properties, uses and potential of of damage and recoating,” Marquardt the material ever since she earned says. “My research is looking to break Above: Professor Isabel K. Lloyd her Bachelor’s degree in ceramics that cycle by creating a new coating

Opposite: Prize-winning PhD Candidate from Penn State University in 1975. enabled by nanotechnology. This Amy Marquardt Having devoted much of her career transparent ceramic coating is applied

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 44 one atomic layer at a time. It allows Modern-day advanced research into me to create fi lms that are nearly ceramics applications doesn’t end invisible.” there. In addition to exploring how ceramics can be used by contemporary Such cutting-edge research is merely watchmaking, medical and dental in- the tip of the proverbial iceberg of the dustries, where their biocompatibility ceramic innovation taking place at the lends them a competitive edge, PhD University of Maryland. candidates and professors on campus are also experimenting with how to in- “We have a number of people here corporate ceramics into fi bre optics used working on ceramic materials to use in in security systems, communications fi eld cells and batteries that you might networks (including phones and the in- use in an application where they run ternet), sensors, and imaging devices for at higher temperatures,” Lloyd says, tight places, including the human body. drawing a distinction between batteries featuring ceramic elements and While many of these applications traditional lead acid batteries as well sound impossibly technical, far as lithium batteries, which can catch removed from most people’s daily fi re if overheated. “If you take an ion- lives, the beauty of ceramics is that ically conducting ceramic, you can use they are equally integral to the most it as the electrolyte of the battery in basic rituals of a person’s day. a fuel cell, so you can make batteries that don’t catch fi re and have higher “Every time you open your refrigera- densities when you store things. On tor door, you’re in day-to-day contact this campus, that’s probably one of with ceramics,” Lloyd says. “The gas- the biggest things going on with ce- ket that seals your refrigerator door is ramics.” a gasket fi lled with ceramics.”

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 45 In fact, most people are blissfully una- this material, many of us don’t even ware of the degree to which ceramics notice we’re using. To use ceramics in are incorporated into the objects they watchmaking makes the product very hold near and dear – including snow- durable – it is also used for antilock boards and skis, golf clubs and tennis brakes in cars among other applica- racquets (“because of the fact that tions,” Lloyd says. they’re so stiff ,” Lloyd explains), not to mention timepieces. The qualities described above only scratch the surface of ceramic’s po- At Rado, high-tech ceramic is cel- tential, hinting at the reasons why the ebrated for a host of qualities some- material is so attractive to scientists times overlooked by scientists. Hypoal- and consumers alike. “The thing I lergenic, light and scratch-resistant really like about ceramics is they have (due to its hardness), it is ideal for ob- so many diff erent electrical, optical, jects designed for personal wear. The and magnetic properties that you can material adapts to a person’s skin tem- do amazing things with them,” Lloyd perature almost instantaneously, and says. “I’ve heard sushi chefs prefer [ce- feels smooth to the touch. When wear- ramic knives] because there’s no metal ing a ceramic wristwatch by Rado, it’s taste to them, and because they stay easy to forget where the body ends and very sharp.” the timepiece begins. “I have a zirconium oxide knife in my “Rado was one of the fi rst watch drawer,” she adds. “I’ll use it if I want brands to explore the use of high- to chop very fi ne slices of tomatoes.” tech ceramic and has continued to To use a high-tech material for cutting

Above: Plasma high-tech ceramic watch research and develop its use for new vegetables may sound unremarkable – links cool down after being treated in a high-tempera- designs, using new colours and mak- but it proves the versatility of a mate- ture oven ing the most of its unique properties. rial that can be used for anything from

Opposite: High-tech ceramic watch cases before they Such lengthy research into ceramic watches and space missions to state-of- are sintered in the oven shows an impressive dedication to the-art ﬁ bre optics communications.

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 46 TRUEDESIGN #3 / 47 CASE CLOSED The research and development department at Rado never sleeps. This year they are unveiling two new materials that bring hitherto unseen properties - and design possibilities - to the

INNOVATION watch world.

By Anders Modig

The Rado DiaMaster Ceramos off ers the best of both worlds: the sheen of metal and the hardness of high-tech ceramic. What sounds like an anomaly is now possible thanks to a eureka moment at the research and development department 10 years ago, when Rado’s team of scientists and engineers realised they could actually combine the two, thus increasing hardness. Rado has perfected the balance of approx- imately 90% high-tech ceramic and 10% metal alloy to create its unique Ceramos™. The material is inject- ed at high pressure into a precision mould before sintering at 1,400°C, which gives a fi nal hardness of 1,700 Vickers for the steel-coloured version and 1,300 Vickers for the rose gold colour, comparing favourably with the 1,200 Vickers of regular high-tech ceramic. The diff erences come from the diff erent raw materials used to achieve the colours – for the steel colour it is titanium carbide, whereas the rose gold utilises titanium nitride. Unlike normal steel and rose gold, the colour of the 8.3-millimetre thin monobloc case with a titanium caseback will never change and won’t fade over time. Because of the extreme durability of the material we decided to go for a very simple, classic shape for the case. This is also the reason we removed the sec- Rado DiaMaster Ceramos onds hand of this automatic model.

TRUETRURUER EDESIGNDESIDESDDEEESESIIGNGN #3# 3 / 488 Rado DiaMaster Ceramos Photo: Gieves Anderson Credit: Lidewij Edelkoort, Trend Union

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 49 Lighten up that you almost forget that you have Rado’s lifelong mission is not only something on your wrist. about creating new materials, but also about incremental improvements. The mere 56 grams come not only This is exactly the progression for the from the extremely light ceramic – HyperChrome Ultra Light, which about half the weight of the standard ﬁ rst came out in 2016. The case and high-tech ceramic used by Rado – case back are now even lighter, thanks but also from using black anodised to an improved material consisting of aluminium bridges and mainplate for silicon nitride (Si3N4) and titanium the automatic movement. However, nitride (TiN), with the hues of brown this limited edition watch with hard- and bronze currently possible. Both ened titanium side inserts is not merely materials are mixed together to achieve an exercise in materials – this is also a the bronze-coloured version, and the design statement, with sunray high-tech brown, earthy tone is realised by mixing ceramic dials inspired by 20th-century Above and opposite: silicon nitride and a brown pigment. pocket watches and a sporty vintage HyperChrome Ultra Light Photo: Martyn Thompson The raison d’être of the HyperChrome NATO strap or, on the bronze-coloured Credit: Lidewij Edelkoort, Trend Union Ultra Light is to create a watch so light version, a brown aged leather strap.

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 50 TRUEDESIGN #3 / 51 BRONZE ‘METALLIST’ For a brand devoted to pioneering innovation,

PATINA Rado did something surprising earlier this year: It looked back to the past - the ancient past - for material inspiration. Rado’s embrace of the ancient alloy represents an intriguing departure for the high-tech watchmaker.

By Victoria Gomelsky

With the March debut of the combined most commonly with tin HyperChrome Automatic Chrono- and other metals (such as aluminium, graph Bronze, Rado enters unfamil- manganese, nickel or zinc). Used to iar territory by combining bronze fashion everything from art to weap- and high-tech ceramic for the ﬁ rst onry, the material develops a unique time. “At Rado, we are known for our patina over time. That may explain use of pioneering high-tech materials why bronze has been so popular of so it was a little unusual to be dealing late in Switzerland, where a slew of with an ancient material,” said CEO watchmakers are using it to imbue

Below and opposite: Rado HyperChrome Automatic Matthias Breschan. their collections with the appearance Chronograph Bronze of something carefully aged. First manipulated by humankind Opposite: Photo: Martyn Thompson around 3500 BC, bronze is an alloy The design choice to include bronze Credit: Lidewij Edelkoort, Trend Union thatthat primarily consists of copper in combination with highigh-techh

TRUET DESIGNDESID GNGN# #3# 3 //52 5252 ceramic brings something unique time. Bringing two seemingly op- While the technique Rado eventual- to this trend, and conveys the Swiss posite materials together in this one ly perfected to temporarily halt the watch industry’s embrace of both HyperChrome is really a feat of en- ageing process remains a care- tradition and experimentation. gineering.” fully guarded secret, the Hyper- “What we’ve created is a watch of Chrome Automatic Chronograph great contrasts that is nevertheless a “Working this alloy into the pieces for Bronze - limited to just 999 piec- watch of great harmony,” Breschan the ﬁ nished watch was no problem es - will, rest assured, transform said. “Bronze is ancient, relatively for our highly skilled team. Our only gradually through oxidation, from heavy, relatively soft and its colour challenge was ﬁ nding a way to pause its initial pale gold colour into a changes over time to make each piece the natural patination process of the deeper, darker hue that quietly unique. High-tech ceramic is mod- bronze so it remains unchanged un- marks the passage of time, and is ern, light, and extremely hard and til the watch is with its new owner,” unique to each watch and wearer. its colour and shine don’t fade with Breschan said. Talk about a timekeeper!

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 53 COLOUR IT IN The eﬀ ect and aﬀ ect of colours have fascinated architects, designers, psychologists, philosophers and artists for centuries. And why are we so drawn towards white? CHROMATIC By Alessandra Cianchetta

“Colours, like music, are about Le Corbusier’s 1930s palette (KT feelings, passions and inspirations. 32) is the lighter and more delicate We love colours but we are afraid of of the two, a later one, developed colours, 80 percent of the paint sold in the 1950s (KT 43) being more in the world today is white because vivid and saturated. Le Corbusi- most people are afraid to make co- er assigned particular functions to lour decisions”, says colour specialist each colour, using one to height- and former CEO of NCS Colour en spatial perceptions emphasising Karl Johan Bertilsson in his talk weight or depth, and another to al- “Colour and Trends 2018”. ter the perception of volumes, unify environments or create pleasant and This dilemma is anything but new. warm atmospheres. “Some conditions “Choosing colours should not be of the environment accompany the a gamble, it should be a conscious use of colour. To exist genuinely, some decision. Colours have a meaning and tones call for full light (red); half-light a function,” Verner Panton said in kills them. Others withstand twilight his 1991 book “Notes on Colour”. 70 better than that; they vibrate intensely years earlier, in his 1920s writings for in it (some blues). To fi x rules would the avant-garde publication “L’Esprit be perilous; however, the classifi cation Nouveau” and the colour collections into two large categories of warm developed with paint manufacturer tones (tone and value) heads either to- Berger. ward the light side (warmth, gaiety, joy, intensity), or towards the shadow side Legendary architect Le Corbusi- (freshness, serenity, melancholy, sad- er set connections between types ness),” as described in Arthur Rüeggs of pigments – natural or otherwise “Polychromie Architecturale” and Le – and colours. He explores the spa- Corbusier’s “Color Keyboards” from tial-physiological eff ects of colours 1931 and 1959 respectively. and the emotional eff ects associated with them. “Blue creates space,” he Colour is the subtler of the elements a

Opposite: From the exhibition The Music of Colour, writes “ultramarine blue is an optical designer can use to alter the character Sam Gilliam 1967-1973 at Basel Kunstmuseum lightener that widens dark spaces and of an environment, making an Crystal, 1973, Acrylic on canvas, 236 x 75 x 19 cm, makes them seem brighter. The atmo- impact and producing an inﬂ uence Photo: Fredrik Nilsen, Courtesy of the artist and David Kordansky Gallery, sphere in a room painted with these on human behaviour, decision- Los Angeles ©2018, ProLitteris, Zurich colours would be light and elusive.” making and physical and emotional

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 54 TRUEDESIGN #3 / 55 forecasting. The ﬁ rst colour forecast was released in the U.S. in 1917 in anticipation of what buyers would be likely to buy.

Interestingly, colour perception var- ies with cultures. However, across most cultures, white is broadly per- ceived as a neutral, soothing colour. health. Colour is paramount in Austrian philosopher Wittgenstein buildings, cities, interiors, products hits the nail on the head in his book and garments. Impalpable pigments “Remarks on Colour”, written in concoct palpable atmospheres. the last 18 months of his life: “Isn’t it white that which does away with The psychological and physiologi- darkness?” cal eff ects of colours have been the subject of abundant scientifi c liter- The white bias dates back to the ature and a profusion of empirical 1506 discovery of the Laocoon studies. When related to spatial en- group in Rome, as Karl Johan vironments most studies look at of- Bertilsson recalls. As this became one fi ces and factories; colours strongly of the world’s most famous statues, aff ect workers’ performance, pro- Greek and Roman antiquity were duction and added value. Others envisioned as colourless marble until look at museums, hospitals or clin- the 19th century. ics, restaurants and shopping malls. Quite crucially, colours determine However, later archaeological discov- buyers’ decision-making processes as eries would prove this perception in- the majority of people use the visual accurate. Antiquity was not a world of Above: From the exhibition The Music of Colour, Sam Gilliam 1967-1973 at Basel Kunstmuseum Rondo, dimension when they decide what to serene white any longer but high in co- 1971, Acrylic on canvas, oakbeams. purchase. Colour alone drives that lour, like the statues of the gods in the 261 x 366 x 198 cm decision to a great extent. Within supposed Fritz Lang fi lm in Jean-Luc Photo: Lee Thompson, Courtesy of the artist, Kunstmuseum Basel and David Kordansky Gallery, such a context, colour forecasting de- Godard’s “Contempt”. But the associ- ©2018, ProLitteris, Zurich veloped as a specifi c sector of trend ation still has enduring perceptive con-

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 56 sequences. Frequently connected with the "Journal of Environmental Psy- democracy, wealth, cleanliness and chology". Red was found to produce superior ethics, the “whole moral, eth- strong arousal but an equally strong ical, functional and technical superior- distraction, diminishing concen- ity of architecture is seen to hang on tration. Blue, grey, and beige were the whiteness of its surfaces,” writes ar- found to minimise attention or in- chitectural theorist Mark Wigley in his duce sleep. In other studies blue was book “White Walls, Designer Dresses” found to mitigate suicidal instincts; Wigley’s reinterpretation of mod- hence its use in train stations was ernist architecture argues that the praised. Other studies brought oppo- white wall, its most representative el- site conclusions. ement, is comparable to a garment. He goes on and develops a fascinat- Green is reputed most times to have ing theory of architectural surfac- a calming, relaxing eﬀ ect. The impli- es and their close relationship to the cation in the design of public spac- “psychosexual economy of fashion” es – particularly in learning spaces, and colour at large. working spaces or healing spaces and in the choices of materials and rel- Colours, including white, which can ative colour palettes – is enormous. From the exhibition The Music of Colour, Sam Gilliam 1967-1973 at Basel Kunstmuseum, Green also be linked with poor performanc- But, as Wittgenstein poetically noted, April, 1969 es, dysphoria and depression, have colour does not stand on its own. “A Photo: Julian Salinas Courtesy of David Kordansky Gallery, positive and negative eﬀ ects, as point- colour shines in its surroundings. Just Los Angeles, CA, ed out in several studies published in as eyes only smile in a face.” © 2018, ProLitteris, Zurich

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 57 BACK TO THE ROOTS Trend forecaster Lidewij Edelkoort on archaic inspiration, new materials and

COLUMN a future that could learn a lot from the forest.

By Lidewij Edelkoort

We live in a non-fashion moment – everything is just t-shirts, sweatshirts and jeans; clothes mirroring a non-interest in fashion. And since more and more luxury brands are appointing street wear designers as heads of design, several brands are too busy to make time for conceptual meetings; some brands let computers design the next collection with algorithms based on best sellers this season, it is only going to go more into this non-fashion direction.

This is one of the reasons why it is much more interesting to look back further in time, to return to the beginning of time to fi nd new ideas. How man used nature and resources is very instructive; how people discovered the use of bark and leaves; the use of earth; the use of natural materials. The whole idea that you could employ all these fi nds in nature to create what we now call culture – I fi nd that hugely inspiring.

Can it be done again? Increasingly biology is a new, infl uential source of research. For years diff erent domains have studied animals, and I am sure the next step is to look more closely at plants. I believe that the tech giants are now studying nature to fi nd new ways of communication and that universities are looking more and more at the internet of forests – because a forest is very intelligent in the way it is interconnected and in the way it sends messages. Plants also seem to have that ability to keep secrets and also diff use them. Thus, it is very interesting to return to the roots.

The increased interest in nature we also see in the advent of biomaterials. Mushrooms and kelp are two recent fi bres which keep evolving, and cotton should be replaced by old materials like nettle and hemp. Nettle used to be on all the farms prior to cotton. You can eat it, it is great against rheumatism, and it is beautiful as a yarn. It looks a bit like linen, but not as aggressive as linen, you know linen is always fi ghting back, but nettle is almost like a wool. I have seen some super amazing denim made of nettle fi bres. This material dyes very well and to grow doesn’t use any drop of water – no water at all! We also have bio-engineered spider silk – the fi bre, the yarn, the fi rst dress has been made.

However it is still but a promise when these bio-yarns will take over from synthetic yarns. Before we are there it will take some time. I think it will take ten

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 58 years, maybe more – trends are always slow. Because what you hear about “in” and “out” and very fast trends is not true. What is going on now is not fashion trend; it is a slow societal reversal. This disruption is giving a lot of opportunity to very creative people – and also for creative consumers who are able to reconsider life in a new way.

– As told to Anders Modig Lidewij Edelkoort, founder of Trend Union, is a trend forecaster based in Paris and New York.

Former director of Design Academy Eindhoven, she recently designed a new Master of Fine Lidewij Edelkoort, founder of Trend Union Arts in Textiles as the dean of Hybrid Design Studies at Parsons School of Design. Photo: Ruud Van Der Peijl

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 59 REVOLUTION GREEN

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 60 Giardini La Mortella Photo: Dmitri Tereshchenko. © Archive Grandi Giardini Italiani

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 61 A GRAND PARTNERSHIP Rado teams up with Grandi Giardini Italiani – an organisation of some of the most magniﬁ cent gardens in Italy – which results in new watches VERDANT and a wider audience to the ever more important green spaces that provide a bit of time out from our hectic lives.

By Josh Sims

“We are delighted to celebrate our partnership with Grandi Giardini Italiani. This partnership plays to the shared passion of both organisations for design and the natural world,” says Rado CEO Matthias Breschan about the alliance which was inaugu- rated in Florence in May 2018.

“It’s an inventive partnership for a watch company,” says Judith Wade. “It’s not motorsports or yachts for a change. It’s an unusual non- commercial collaboration, which gives new energy.” Wade is the founder, just over 20 years ago, of Grandi Giardini Italiani, an organisation of some of Italy’s most spectacular and historically important gardens. The range is vast: from the Renaissance to those created just a decade ago - each sharing the distinctive characteristics of Italian gardens that have tran- scended the centuries: proportion, colour and tasteful combinations.

“Once gardens were for the elite, for aristocracy, for the beautiful few,” Wade says. “Now they’re for every- one. In part that’s because we have a generation that understands the need to look after nature now. But it’s also because we seek them out as places of wellness.” That has, of course, in turn shaped gardens - aesthetically, func- tionally. Wade cites one garden ‘Arte

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 62 Sella’, in Trento, in which a sculpture, We go to connect in some way - with one of the many found throughout scents, with colour, with the wind.” the gardens, each made from wood grown within it, is suspended from a “Our shared passion and love of tree over a pond and ‘writes’ on the pushing the boundaries is showcased water. It’s a quiet, contemplative piece perfectly by the new True Thinline - and a long way from the festivities Nature collection, which was inspired that dominated Italian gardens histor- by our partnership,” says Breschan ically. about the collection that so far includes three special edition watches, each in- “In the Renaissance they couldn’t care spired by colours of nature. For water, less about nature - the garden was an a blue mother-of-pearl dial, earth, in Left: Rado True Thinline Photo: Martyn Thompson expression of man’s dominance over metallised brown, and now leaves, in Credit: Lidewij Edelkoort, Trend Union nature,” explains Wade. “Pirro Ligorio, a verdant green with a leaf detail to Above: Rado Grandi Giardini Italiani event at Villa one of the greats of Renaissance the underside of the dial. “These re- Gamberaia gardens, wasn’t a garden designer - ally are portable souvenirs of our gar- Credit: SGP Italia he was a party planner. Gardens were dens,” says Wade, “and a reﬂ ection of Photo: Stefano Trovati just theatrical scenery. But now we how interest in gardens has become an Above right: Judith Wade go to gardens to have an experience. important trend.” Photo: Dario Fusaro

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 63 BUILDING BRIDGES What is the role of a contemporary park? Zaryadye Park in Moscow is about 24/7 accessibility, dissolution of borders, dialogue

PARKLAND with the surroundings and facilitating personal experiences.

By Anders Modig

The spectacular V-shaped cantile- 86 0,000 perennials and 150,000 vered bridge extends 70 metres over annuals opened in September 2017. the Moskva River, making it a vantage point where you have unprecedented Previously, these grounds were views of Red Square, the Kremlin and the foundation of the 3,000-room St. Basil’s Cathedral. From Zaryadye colossus, Hotel Rossiya, Europe’s larg- Park, Moscow’s fi rst new park in 70 est hotel. Despite previous plans to years, these views are fi ltered by ter- keep the prime location commercial, races built to recreate the four Russian the city of Moscow decided to trans- regional landscapes: tundra, steppe, form it for the greater good and called Below and opposite: Boomerang shaped bridge in Zayadye Park in Moscow. forest and wetlands. Its 14 hectares, for a design competition. The winning Photo: Iwan Baan, Courtesy of Diller Scofi dio + Renfro planted with 760 trees, 7,000 shrubs, proposal was made by an international group led by New York design studio Diller Scofi dio + Renfro (DS+R), supported by Hargreaves Associates and Citymakers. “The park gives new frames to the historical monuments; it adds a 21st century layer to the city,” said Charles Renfro, the R in DS+R, who have carried out projects like the High Line in New York, The Broad museum in Los Angeles and the forthcom- ing concert hall in London.

The almost 1,000 diﬀ erent plant species are planted on ﬁ ve south-facing natural hills, which also serve as the roof of subterranean pavilions with restaurants and exhibition spaces. Renfro calls these intertwined hard- and softscapes, where city and nature melt together, where you can stand in a birch forest on the roof of a building, Wild Urbanism.

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 64 “The diff erent grounds will create tree walkway. Here you are inside and which is even easier in a park with soft, varied habitats – above all for birds outside – both in the park, while being fl eeting edges between the plants and and insects – and with time they will removed from it. From this overlook of the hardscapes. probably also attract smaller mam- the park, which is open in all seasons mals,” says Mary Margaret Jones, 24/7, it is obvious that this is a place “We call it agritecture. We love the leading landscape architect for Har- without hierarchies, as visitors are not idea that concrete and plants are to- greaves Associates. asked to follow any defi ned path. gether in a casual discourse instead of keeping each other apart,” says The V-shaped bridge, nicknamed the The intention is for each and every Renfro. Boomerang, is a concrete construction person who comes to Zaryadye to enclosed in metal and features a larch create their own personal experience,

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 65 TYPOLOGY

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 66 GREEN CONCEPTS Josh Sims takes a closer look at the principles of gardens around the world that have stood the test of time.

By Josh Sims

THE PERSIAN GARDEN

At once one of the oldest garden forms, dating to several millennia BC, and yet the most modern in its thinking, as a place for relaxation, socialising or spiritual repose the Persian garden was conceived as being your own patch of paradise. Typically walled in - Christian Garden of Eden mythology takes its use of the word from the Iranian ‘pari-daiza’, meaning ‘enclosed space’ - the Persian garden could be either ornate, casual or some of both. But it was always practical, especially in the heat: shade was plen- tiful - hence so were trees and pavilions; water features cooled the air, even the plants were chosen as much for their textures’ inter- play with sunlight as their colour or form. Indeed, it was a space that was meant to be used, not just admired: it was with Persian gardens - often connecting to the home via a courtyard - that the idea of blurring indoor and outdoor spaces was ﬁ rst conceived.

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 67 Photo: Åke E:son Lindman

THE JAPANESE GARDEN

As much an exercise in philosophy as green-fi ngeredness, Japanese gardens might be called an expression of (relative) minimalism, typically lacking ornamentation and favouring the old and worn over the new and shiny. It’s in a simple, serene Japanese garden, perhaps, that you fi nd a sense of both your own mortality, but also its part in the eternity of time. They’re certainly old themselves, the tradition beginning around 600 AD. Then, as now, they’re replete with symbolism, often Buddhist, Shinto or Zen in origin. Some of the most common symbols used are white pebbles, which evoke purity, or are placed to signify islands or mountains, sand, raked to suggest water, and Lotus fl owers, which echo human potential.

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 68 TRUEDESIGN #3 / 69 THE JARDIN À LA FRANCAISE

A development of the French and Italian gardens of the Renaissance, the French garden ramped up the former’s distinctive qualities: planting beds laid out in elaborate geometric forms, symmetrical lay out, tree-lined paths, topiary, diﬀ erent levels, statuary, grottoes and mazes, and the animation of water through the use of cascades and fountains. In short, this 17th century garden style expressed man’s dominance over nature, rather than a communing with it. The masterpiece of the idea was André Le Nôtre’s 38 years of garden design at the Palace of Versailles - all 15,000 hectares of it.

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 70 The French-inspired garden at Drottningholm Palace outside Stockholm Photo: Åke E:son Lindman

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 71 THE ENGLISH COUNTRY GARDEN

Arguably the dominant garden style of the late 17th and 18th centuries, the English landscape garden – pioneered by designers such as William Kent, Charles Bridgeman, and their protégé ‘Capability’ Brown – the English garden took an idealised view of nature, one often inspired by the work of landscape painters including Poussin and Lorrain. It typically included a sweeping vista – extensive lawns, tree groves, an artiﬁ cial lake – punctuated by picturesque classical references such as faux temples, Gothic ruins and Palladian architectural follies. These mirrored the style of the country house around which the garden was set, but also expressed the owner’s learning and good taste.

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 72 The English-inspired garden at Drottningholm Palace outside Stockholm. Photo: Åke E:son Lindman.

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 73 THE WILD GARDEN

Contrary to the popular conception of the garden as a manicured space, wildlife gardening (or the ‘nature-scaped’ garden) is the holistic practice of considered planting, management and the provision of water sources and nooks and crannies in order to attract animal life, from insects to birds and small mammals. The practice has come to be regarded as essential - especially for urban settings - in countering the erosion of species that might have been considered commonplace not long ago. And, contrary to misconception, doesn’t result in a garden just looking unkempt. Indeed, the greater a range of interests, colours, and heights of vegetation, of dry and damp spots, dark and sunny ones, the more species will thrive in a wild garden.

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 74 On Northerly Island on Chicago's lakefront Studio Gang transforms a man-made peninsula into a living ecosystem. Photo: Steve Hall © Hedrich Blessing, Courtesy Studio Gang.

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 75 THE BIGGER PICTURE Landscape architecture is the art of enhancing the dialogue between the built and the surrounding land. But no matter how meticulously you plan your work, there is EXTERIORS always an element of surprise.

By Josh Sims

“What’s my job?” asks Teresa Moller. continent. But in the end these two “The job is really to bring peo- elements - building and surroundings ple closer to nature and the experi- - should be one. It shouldn’t be the ence of nature on a day-to-day basis, building and then the garden.” especially as “urban” people become more and more divorced from it - because Indeed, while landscape architecture even brief contact with nature is a re- does not entail the same legally reg- minder of who we really are. This job ulated practice as architecture, it can isn’t about imposing what isn’t there, re- be just as involved. “It’s a form of en- member, but about bringing back what gineering,” Moller suggests. Aesthet- was there once.” ics aside, air circulation and water usage are considerations, for exam- Moller is based in Chile and is one of ple; budget too. For the Las Condes South America’s leading landscape Medical Centre in Santiago, Moller architects - or landscape designer, used a geometric planting scheme for or garden designer, depending on trees and a minimal variety of plants what title is taken for this still niche less because it looked good, more but ever more important discipline. because it aﬀ orded easier and thus She’s worked with the space around cheaper maintenance. schools, hospitals and art galleries, designed for parks and private resi- The passage of the sun is anoth- dences, sometimes when the build- er consideration: what light and ing in question has already been shade does it provide? How about at constructed and a mature vista brings diﬀ erent times of the year? How will its own demands. wind shape the space? What’s the soil condition like? How much does it “But the architectural profession rain in the region? has become more humble and increasingly asks us to work with “It’s not like architecture in that you them from the beginning of the pro- can 3D model everything in advance,” ject,” she laughs. “That’s as it should Moller stresses. “You can control a be, even though there are still archi- tree to some extent, but in the end it tects who want nothing in the way of will do what it will. You can think of Opposite: Mohawk West Gardens by California-based landscape designers Terremoto their building. They just want it to everything at the design stage and Photo: Caitlin Atkinson, courtesy of Terremoto be visible from the other side of the there’s still a surprise at the end.”

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 76 TRUEDESIGN #3 / 77 “These are gardens as a way of testing materials, or juxtaposing horticultural worlds that don’t normally go together,” he says. One project, for example, has used the formal gestures of a Japanese garden applied to an “entirely un-Jap- anese” desert setting; another sets scruﬀ y, scrubby native plants along- side highly polished, more structural ones; the garden as a whole might, quite deliberately, pose a contrast to the building.

“We prefer collaborating with the architect. There’s often a lot of bureaucracy but through dialogue good things happen - you get taken down roads you wouldn’t have otherwise gone down,” explains Godshall. Of course, from the user’s point of “And of course it’s important to be view, the point of interaction with the incredibly sensitive to the building, outside space comes largely through we’re working on an early modernist the way it looks. This, however, doesn’t Rudolf Schindler apartment com- mean it’s without big ideas. David plex, which is a registered landmark, Godshall, of San Francisco and Los and trying to do something very new Angeles-based landscape designers in that context gets complicated very Terremoto, speaks of the need to be quickly. “a real plant nerd with a thirst for bot- any”. This is necessary to be able to Though we sometimes do design in Above: Project by trees associates: Fall foliage backdrop with sculpture by achieve, for example, a sense of lush- a way that makes the garden seem Gary Jo Gardenhire. © trees associates ness without extensive water use – es- irrelevant to the building, and that pecially in drought-hit California. But can be wilder than most architects Opposite: Project by trees associates: Tudor House, Gloucestershire, England. above and beyond this, he describes are often comfortable with. But the ©trees associates his work as being conceptual. cool ones love it ...”

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 78 Besides, stresses the UK-based is completed, maintaining the pos- your client, but also with a regard for Tim Rees, garden spaces “typically itivity promoted by outdoor space - how humans interact with gardens,” attempt to impose some degree of “the green architecture,” as he calls explains the co-founder of Trees control over nature for the benefi t it - requires constant, on-going work. Associates. “That’s why, for exam- of the people in them, and are ulti- ple, community gardens can be so mately about sparking some positive The director of the prestigious powerful in bringing people together, feeling”. He notes how city authori- garden design course at London’s because gardens need maintenance. ties are becoming increasingly aware Inchbald School, is also one of the What’s most exciting about [land- of the importance of public spaces, few in his fi eld to have a plant named scape design] is the dynamic aspect given too a revival of the Victorian after him. “I look at a garden with of the plants. Any garden is rooted in ideal that connected greenery with a sense of space, which needs an in- time. It will change right before your good health. But while a building is tuitive and emotion-based reaction, eyes. And it will wither unless you typically fi nished when construction and with a sense of empathy for work on it too.”

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 79 VISIONARIES

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 81 A NEW ROLE What is it like working in a forward-thinking design studio? True Design’s editor-in-chief Anders Modig talks to Augustin Scott de Martinville, Elric Petit and Grégoire Jeanmonod,

SCALING UP the founders of Big-Game, about how the role of the designer is evolving.

By Anders Modig

From a humble shared offi ce in a You sometimes take a historical former window factory in Lausanne, idea and give it a twist, which Switzerland, Big-Game designs fur- makes it avant-garde – is the niture, door handles, cutlery, knives, world ready for that? pens, in-fl ight accessories, connect- “Yes, we try to reference basic ed objects – and watches. Last year standards that a lot of people know, they were invited to collaborate on a and sometimes we mix diff erent ref- timepiece for the True Designer col- erences. Take for instance the Bold lection by Rado, in which they de- chair, which is an homage to mod- signed the True Phospho, recipient ernism and the tubular chair by Mies of the Good Design Australia Award and his contemporaries. But our in May 2018 and Red Dot Design chair is a little bit funny because it is Award in April 2018. covered by soft foam.”

The cramped oﬃ ce is just big enough Isn’t it really diﬃ cult to be for eight desks occupied by laptops, global with humour? sample chairs and shelves full of oth- “We would never take a risk with hu- er prototypes in various stages of pro- mour. Remember that Bold is a rela- duction/completion – a surprisingly tively limited series for certain people modest space given that this team of interested in seeing these kinds of designers works for global clients in- twists – and how far you can go really cluding brands like Nespresso, Alessi, depends on the end user. It would be Habitat and Karimoku. way too niche for a client like Ikea.”

“To work in diff erent fi elds with dif- So, tell me about Ypperlig, the ferent types of objects makes the job Ikea project that came about in never boring. And as each fi eld has its 2018? own rules, we often come with a fresh “Ikea is really famous for its shelves, eye where we can use our experience but we wanted to make a self-sup- from another project – for instance ported construction that doesn’t re- the watch experience increased our quire a cross-section and becomes

Above: Left to right: Elric Petit (B), precision,” says the French-Swiss- very strong when you assemble it. It Grégoire Jeanmonod (CH) Belgian trio who met at the design looks like a simple wood shelf, but & Augustin Scott de Martinville (F) university ECAL in Lausanne. They the grey pieces are folded steel. At Photo: Cédric Widmer always work together and thus insist Big-Game we really like to simplify. Opposite: CARGO box for ALESSI on being quoted as one. We love the simplicity of a one-line

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 82 drawing – when you see the object, how far they are willing to go. Then solution or a material; you also have you should directly understand what we can get to work based on an under- to convince the other two. So, when it is.” standing between the parties. But once you arrive at the client, you have we have met – always with all three of already convinced two people – the How would you describe the us – we can then do the rest of the idea is truly developed and checked. dialogue with the client, the communication online. For instance relationship of designer and we just got off a call with our partner But why are you still always client – especially when it in Hong Kong who is preparing work looking for clients? Why not comes to daring ideas? for a company in Calgary, Canada.” simply go ahead and produce “The dialogue is really important. your pieces yourselves? A good object is really made by two How do clients react to very new “Then we would lose the ability to diff erent parties: the client and the combinations or new things? work in many diff erent fi elds. It is designer. That is why we really like “We rarely push the limits for the very addictive to always get to work to work with clients that really know sake of pushing the limits – if we do with a new country, make a new sto- what they are doing. The fi rst thing something, it is because it makes an ry, be part of a new team. It is im- we normally do is to visit the man- improvement or it will make your life portant for us to be specialised in not ufacturing facility to understand the easier because you can behave diff er- being specialised. It is also very im- history of the brand, how they have ently. This approach makes it easier, portant for us to work with big brands arrived at their objects. After that we because there is a motivation behind – you learn so much from working challenge them with a lot of diff erent the design. One of the positive eff ects with companies like Karimoku, Ja- propositions – that is always a good of three people working together is pan’s biggest manufacturer of wood start for a discussion to understand that it’s never just one guy liking a furniture.”

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 83 What about the sustainability awakening in this period? “Good design is sustainable because a good object performs better than a weaker design, so you will keep it longer. It is not going to break as much. We designed what Swiss Air Lines refers to as the Bento Box, which is used when serving meals on mid-haul fl ights. This box reduces waste and creates a better experience for the passengers. Right now the Eu- ropean Commission is talking about banning straws and disposable cutlery for instance – which is an opportunity to design new non-disposable stuff that matches the new criteria. So, increased sustainability goals are good The three of you founded the Are these old giants open news for us designers.” company in 2004, and now you to new ideas? have four more staff . How has “They have to be! Take Girofl ex as an What is the diff erence the role of designer developed example. They are one of Switzerland’s between designing a watch and in these years? biggest brands for offi ce furniture. To furniture? “When we started, the designer was thrive they must invest in design and “It is obviously the scale and the pre- often called upon at the end of a proj- come up with something new, fresh, cision, which is crazy when it comes ect for a bit of design to make the and exciting. Since the beginning of to watches. The Rado True Phospho product look good. Now, we have a 2018 we became art directors with a project was the fi rst time we were more central role. With this huge en- fi ve-year mission for Girofl ex, a very looking at measurements of 0.01 trepreneurial and crowdfunding trend exciting and big thing for us.” millimetres. We were really into preci- a lot of companies understand that sion before, but now even more – our they need designers earlier in the pro- What else has evolved in the eyes have changed. In the end the cess. The company focuses on what the design profession in the last 15 challenge with a watch and a chair project is, the concept, and thus the de- years? is the same – it is about being consis- signer plays a key role from the begin- “The technology. You can do so much tent. You work separately on all the ning and is the person making the idea more with software, and we are 3D details like the hands, the logo place- come together. This makes the work printing everything we send out. It is ment, the pattern – but in the end they way more exciting than before. Being fast and not expensive, and it’s much must all function together to create a in the centre of things we also connect more effi cient to hold something 3D in homogeneous object.” people with each other. Then there is your hand compared to looking at it on still the saving of old brands through a piece of paper. The technology also The design and works of Big-Game will be developing and redesigning the core of makes it a lot easier for a small compa- on display at the design museum Mudac in their idea. ny to have global clients.” Lausanne July–September 2019.

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 84 BIG-GAME ON ITS MOST IMPORTANT PROJECTS

Animals, the ﬁ rst product, 2004 “A build-it-yourself hunting trophy made of plywood. It gave the name to our studio.”

Bold Chair, the ﬁ rst chair 2009 “It is obviously a reference to tubular chairs by Mies van der Rohe and others – but made in foam. One is in MoMA’s perma- nent collection.”

Provins, ﬁ rst product to be made in more than a million copies, 2010 “Wine bottle for Provins, the biggest pro- ducer of wine in Switzerland.”

Cargo Universal box for Alessi, the ﬁ rst project for a big name of design, 2014 “Great to work for one of the brands we dreamed of working for.”

Rado True Phospho – the ﬁ rst watch for the Swiss watch industry, 2017 “This was the ﬁ rst time we had to make decisions about 0.01-millimetre measurements.”

Big-Game on the Rado True Phospho We asked for a lot of different things Rado had never done before, and in the end they did everything we wanted. The holes on the dial make it lighter – a strategy often used in sportswear – while also being a nod to skeletonisation. To work in ceramic made this really interesting; to us ceramic is really the perfect material for a watch.

Opposite: MOOSE hunting trophy for MOUSTACHE

Left: Rado True Phospho Photo: Lisa Klappe Credit: Lidewij Edelkoort, Trend Union

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 85 AN INTERNATIONAL DIALOGUE New York, Madrid, Shanghai: three cities on diﬀ erent continents, all hosting major design events. Their directors share regional particularities and 2018 global trends in design.

RADO X DESIGN By Yannick Nardin

This year, Rado has once more Do you feel design benefi ts collaborated with design events from globalisation or gets around the world. Some are new to standardised? the scene, like the Madrid Design Fes- “I think globalisation is a real plus for tival; others have been established for design. The exposure to design from a couple of years, such as NYCxDE- diff erent countries and cultures can SIGN or Design Shanghai. Under the be inspirational to designers. I don’t shared designation of “design events,” think designers seek to copy what an- these encourage local creativity as well other country/designer has done, but as international dialogue with a simi- rather use it to grow their foundation lar willingness to stimulate local talents and of understanding diff erent de- and the public’s involvement. signs. I also believe it creates more of a dialogue between people, that ulti- Edward A. Hogikyan, mately enhances the overall conver- Chief Marketing Offi cer of sation around design. A Swiss brand the New York City Economic like Rado is a great example of this. Development Corporation, With the Rado Star Prize, there isn’t speaking about NYCxDESIGN one project or installation for all of Which trends did you notice this the competitions worldwide, but rath- year? er each city or country has a unique “Sustainability continues to dominate challenge. The exhibitions around the much of the innovation we are seeing. competitions in each market are also The materials used for fabrication of unique, and reinforce the unique story everything, from apparel and furniture coming from that country.” to lighting and construction, have put a spotlight on the myriad ways to min- Zhuo Tan, Event Director of imise the environmental impact of so Design Shanghai many products currently being used This event is expanding, with and discarded. This was evident not Design Beijing being held in only in student exhibitions this year, September. Do these events fi ll but also from big global brands that a gap? recognise the need and desire for these “Yes, I think so. China is a huge types of products by the public. This market from a geographical point trend appears to be global, and not of view. We have established Design just a local phenomenon.” Shanghai as the leading design event in

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 86 Asia over the past fi ve years. Every year, guage that can generate methodolo- cases the output of Spanish designers visitors are coming from around 30 gies, change mentalities, positively alter working and living in Madrid, in an at- countries in Asia. But we know that a our environment and - above all - re- tempt to highlight the constant creative lot of designers from the northern part design the world. The festival featured development of the city.” of China didn’t come to the show. It exhibitions, workshops, master classes, also made sense to build such an event installations in the urban space, music, Rado’s participation in these three in Beijing, since the city has the highest a programme for professionals and events is only part of the brand’s concentration of architecture and inte- proposals from the city’s business com- worldwide involvement in the design rior design companies in China. munity. With this cross-disciplinary community. To constantly renew its programme, it is a meeting point off er- inspiration and to support tomorrow's Today, in China, what is the ing new perspectives to design lovers, design, Rado collaborates with nu- public’s attitude toward design? encouraging the public to get involved, merous established designers as well “I think the Chinese public is becoming while off ering professionals a place to as supporting emerging talent through more and more design-savvy, thanks to meet. It also highlights the value of the the Rado Star Prize. This, along- media exposure and high-end events legacy of companies and institutions side partnerships with other design like Design Shanghai. The public un- committed to supporting design.” events, shows the depth of the brand’s derstands what design is about, starts commitment to improving the world to appreciate it more and becomes What position is the Madrid through design. more willing to pay for it. Style wise, I Design Festival meant to fi ll on think the contemporary look is becom- the international design scene? ing increasingly popular.” “The festival will set out an overall view of design, ranging from prod- Opposite top: Edward A. Hogikyan, CMO of the Álvaro Matías, Director of uct and industrial design to graph- New York City Economic Development Corporation Madrid Design Festival 2018 was ics, architecture, interior design and the inaugural year for this event. communications, hybridising them all Middle: Zhuo Tan, Event Director of Design Shanghai How was it tailored, especially into a contemporary and innovative Bottom: Álvaro Matías, Director of Madrid Design for this city and public? format. Madrid Design Festival exhib- Festival 2018

“Madrid Design Festival is a project its proposals from leading designers, Above: Part of the Rado exhibition at held throughout the city, sharing a lan- supports emerging ones and show- NYCxDesign 2018

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 87 CONSCIOUS DESIGN IS A DUTY Through Cappellini, a trend-setting design company, founder Giulio Cappellini has been fostering talented designers for almost three THE MENTOR decades now, with an untouched, refreshing and creative spirit. True Design talked to him about ecology, new trends and the duties of designers.

By Yannick Nardin

In the now famous story, in 1992 As a designer, how would you Cappellini introduced the S Chair by explore the topic of ecology? Tom Dixon, then still an unknown. “I think it is the duty of a designer This act ushered in a new era of to create useful and beautiful objects author design, creative and media- and at the same time be aware of savvy, as well as marking the climate change and create sustain- beginning of limited design series. able products which do not damage Himself a recognised designer, Giulio our planet and let people live and Cappellini is also the Art Director of dream in a healthy way.” the Istituto Marangoni Milano and lectures at the Milan Architecture How do new generations and University. their way of life inspire you? “I travel a lot for work, and I try to This year, you chaired the third observe the way of living of new edition of the Rado Star Prize generations all over the world very Italy with the theme “Natural carefully. You can draw inspiration Freedom.” The winning project everywhere and from everything. by Jayi Wang materialises the When I design a new project, I quality of air. How connected do especially think about a product that you feel to ecological concerns? respects diff erent cultures and lo- “I think that the quality of the air cal traditions. Today’s young people and the environment in which we live pay attention and are well informed; deeply infl uences our way of living they want to express their freedom of and our approach to life. Many peo- choice, which is less contaminated by ple across the world live in big urban the ephemeral trends of the past.” areas and cities where the air is very polluted and unbreathable. This is Do you identify emerging one of the biggest problems of today's needs? society and tomorrow's, and we must “Nowadays there are for sure new be aware of it. Technological progress needs regarding life and communica- cannot destroy the environment, and tion. Technology has made big prog- that is why we decided to award Jayi ress and radically changed our way Wang’s project – which illustrates this of living from travelling to commu- problem very well – the Rado Star nicating, and this change has aff ected Prize.” all ages and walks of life.”

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 88 How do you feel they may and working realities. A product is inﬂ uence design? interesting if it is able to fulfil these “The current way of living deeply needs. The era of beautiful but not influences design. Today we have useful objects has definitively faded. to create contemporary, hybrid Nowadays we have to design con- and nomadic objects, which can be sciously without neglecting creativ- Above: Giulio Cappellini adapted to different kinds of living ity.” Photo: Antonio Facco

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 89 VISIONARIES CHANGING THE WORLD A plethora of exceptional talent enters the design world every year. But, some are more conceptual than others – True Design takes a VISIONARIES look at three designers who are changing design as we know it.

By Anders Modig

Imagine being seated in a chair with in London in 2010. Ever since, he has 60 springy, white tile-looking plastic explored what digital creative design squares. These squares happen to be can be, especially as a direct response interactive sensors – the coil-sprung to human interactions. squares sense your body’s position and weight. Thus for every movement you Endless Form, exhibited by Gallery make, a screen in front of you instant- All at Design Miami/Basel in June ly recreates the chair design corre- 2018, is part of a greater movement sponding to the position of your body. of user-centric design, where increas- When you have eventually found the ingly complex tailor-made forms can perfect position, you can save the de- be created very quickly with industri- sign – and let a machine make a chair al methods. Artifi cial intelligence per- that is unique for your body. forming together with humans gives infi nite possibilities – and it (at least The Endless Form Chair is the for now) still takes two to tango, ac- brainchild of Chinese designer cording to a statement from Zhang: Zhang Zhoujie who graduated from “Human emotions, instincts and Below: The Emotion Whisperer England’s top design school – Central needs are complementary to artifi cial ©www.simondogger.nl Saint Martins Art & Design College – intelligence,” he said.

Feel the smile Ironically Dutch designer Simon Dogger is often referred to as a vi- sionary designer – even though he lost his vision six years ago. From his seeing years he remembers and pro- fusely misses what he is no longer able to experience in conversations, body language and emotions. But instead of falling into a dark hole, the prod- igy set to work, resulting in the Emo- tion Whisperer (EMW), an invention which makes it possible for the visu- ally impaired to identify and literally feel the emotions of people they are

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 90 talking to. The Emotion Whisperer the Fashion Institute of Technology actually consists of three intercon- in New York, has created a series of nected products: the glasses, the EMW textiles from a readily available rap- stone and the app. The glasses have an id-growing biopolymer – which is sci- integrated camera, which live-streams ence talk for kelp. The group aims to video to the app programmed with produce footwear and apparel and has face and emotion recognition software already made prototypes of seamless that recognises six base emotions in sweaters as well as running shoes, all diff erent intensity levels. One is hap- based on kelp, one of the fastest-grow- piness, and when it detects a smile ing materials in the world. This sea- from your conversation partner it sets weed also recovers nutrients from run- off a vibration in the stone. So, even if off , thus the large water demands and you have a visual impairment which toxicity of conventional dye processes doesn’t allow you to see it, you can lit- may also be avoided. erally feel the smile. After their lifespan, kelp products can Algae fever be composted, thus producing zero Zero waste - but 100 percent design. waste. Given that the clothing indus- The ultimate design goal may be pos- try is the second-largest polluter in sible with the advent of algae fi bres. the world, this is excellent news. As is AlgiKnit - a sustainable biomaterials the design awareness – gone are the Above: ©Endless Form/ Zhang Zhoujie research group made up of Aleksan- days when eco-friendly designs had to Digital Lab/ Courtesy of Gallery ALL dra Gosiewski, Aaron Nesser, Tes- signal a brown recyclable paper bag. Right: AlgiKnit. Image courtesy of Fashion sa Callaghan and Asta Skocir from The future is here. Institute of Technology

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 91 TEN YEARS OF FUTURE STARS

FUTURE Groundbreaking fashion, do-it-yourself dolls or eye-opening livestock documentation – the range of design projects that have received the Rado Star Prize is as vast as the design profession itself. But what are the winners doing today?

By Anders Modig

To make a better future you must sixth edition, with more than 12,000 foster the next generation. Well copies sold – extraordinary numbers aware of this, Rado has been nur- for a self-published niche title. turing young designers for a decade now. It all started in 2008, when the “The Rado Prize and the oth- design-focused watch brand teamed er awards I received at the same up with the Dutch Design Awards time made me believe that you can to hand out the ﬁ rst Rado Star Prize work with really nerdy projects and – or Rado Young Designer Prize as still make a career of it,” says the it was called in the early days. And designer born in 1980. from the very beginning it turns out the award can presage a future career.

2008, Christien Meindertsma, Netherlands

Then: Awarded for the self-published book PIG 05049 Now: Designs books, furniture and fabrics

Way before nose-to-tail eating made a comeback in haute cuisine, pretty Above: Christien Meindertsma much every part of a pig was already Photo: Vincent Mentzel being used by eﬃ cient industries. Right: Flax Chair This widespread application of ani- Photo: Mathijs Labadie mal products where you least expect Opposite top: The Rado Star it fascinated Christien Meindertsma, Prize-winning Stackable Vase (2011) designer of PIG 05049, a book that ©Pong Product www.pongproduct.com followed the fate of one pig as it ended up in anything from a tenderloin Opposite bottom: Leo Yiu Chun to ingredients used in photo paper. Pong at work in the Hong Kong studio ©Pong Product The book, which laid the foundation Photo: Louise Loong for her career, is an unlikely hit in its

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 92 The book documented a process. 2011, Leo Yiu Chun Pong, inspire and last,” he says about their Today she aims to design products Hong Kong rich back catalogue. in the same way. “But whereas the Then: Awarded for Stackable Vase meat industry is something that I fi nd Now: Runs the eponymous design “To get the Rado Star Prize, an inter- negative, I now focus on positive ma- studio Pong Products national recognition, was very big en- terial research, resulting in books, couragement for me to move forward textiles and furniture, for instance the “At Pong, we believe that even the and ultimately set up my own design Flax chair.” most common object has a soul,” studio,” he says. says Leo Yiu Chun Pong of the Hong For maximum freedom Meindertsma Kong-based design agency Pong has chosen to work alone and teams Products, where the two co-founders up with collaborators for various collaborate with fi ve freelancers. projects. “Then I am free to spend a lot of time researching without In his 17 years as a designer, he has asking permission, and all the com- created 170 products, won seven munication and contacts are straight awards and fi led two patents. One of through me – there is no confusion the latest products is a clever pot with in between.” a spout for easy pouring.

Meindertsma’s work is part of “With a focus on smart product de- prominent collections such as the sign, we are passionate about creat- Victoria and Albert Museum in ing products which are interesting, London and MoMA in New York, functional and beautiful. We hope and she has also given a TED our products are modern in design Talk. but timeless in functionality, able to

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 93 2014, Mickael Dejean, Paris want to participate in the history of Then: Awarded for the Agrafe table design,” says Dejean. Now: Furniture designer under the brand Mickael Dejean He strives for “intelligent assembly” of material in his minimal products, At the time of the award Mickael where every visible part is also func- Dejean was still on the common route tional. The Agrafe table series is still

Above left: Mickael Dejean for many a designer: gathering valu- a main part of his output, with two Photo © SDLVO able experience by working for an new editions on show in September established designer. In his case it was at the ‘Maison et Objet’ trade fair Above right: Collection AGRAFE presented during exhibition of for the multidisciplinary Paris-based in Paris. The designs were ﬁ nalised DAYTIME at Hôtel Du Duc in Paris Arik Levy, but since 2014 Dejean has in early 2018, but the production (2018) been dedicated to developing his own will not commence until 2019 – lead Photo: Mickael Dejean brand. times are long in the design world. Opposite top: “Additionally I am working on the Design by Monica Monsanto for Idaho Russet “I was so proud to get an internation- Acrobate clothes rack, the Allumette al award at the same time that I re- shelf and the Cratere ashtray. I’m Opposite left: Monica Monsanto ally started my career under my own also attracted to the fashion universe

Opposite right: The Rado Star name. The Rado Star Prize is a great as a new perspective to complement Prize-winning Mbari Dolls opportunity for young designers who my design approach.”

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 94 2014, Monica Monsanto, “I was straight out of university, al clients. I am also working for Idea- Johannesburg and the international exposure of Nav Patents, Designs and Prototyping Then: Awarded for Mbari Dolls the award made it possible for me in South Africa, another company that Now: Product designer at Idaho to compete for work on a national makes ideas come to life,” she says. Russet and IdeaNav level,” she says. In the future Monsanto plans to be “Mbari” means family in Swahili, However, the design industry in based overseas to expand her career and South African Monica Monsanto southern Africa is not as prolifi c, com- as a designer, which would not only is slowly but surely joining the glob- pared to the rest of the world. “That’s benefi t herself, but also her clients. al design family. Her Mbari moulds, why I stretch out globally. I am the ex- that help children to make dolls in clusive service provider for the Dubai- “I want to work and learn from only various materials, bear the Swahili based Idaho Russet, which off ers design the best and eventually pass those word and give Monsanto the valida- and prototyping services, where I assist skills on to younger designers starting tion needed for a young designer. in further developing with internation- out.”

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 95 MASTER OF MATERIALS RADO.COM

RADO HYPERCHROME MATCH POINT LIMITED EDITION PLASMA HIGH-TECH CERAMIC. METALLIC LOOK. MODERN ALCHEMY.

TRUEDESIGN #3 / 96