DESIGN JOURNEY
SERPENTINE GALLERIES PATH TO CHINA
ROCCO YIM MUSEUM DISCOVERY
AIRBNB HOSPITALITY GAME-CHANGER
DESIGNER TRAVELS CREATIVE WAYFINDING
TRENDING FURNITURE ANDRÉ FU’S LV SCENOGRAPHY + LIGHT+BUILDING FRANKFURT REPORT
IMPRESSIONS
2 Photo. Michael Wolf, Hong Kong 2008, Photo. Michael Wolf, Hong Kong 2008, Architecture of Density #120/Blue Lotus Gallery
Architecture of Density: German-born photographer Michael Wolf’s large-scale views of Hong Kong’s small-sized spaces
3 CONTENTS MAY 2018
ARCHITECTURE DESIGN
60 29 SERPENTINE GALLERIES | HOUSE OF ART FOCUS | FURNITURE A famous London institution extends its reach to China Plush textures and inviting colours are the leading By Danielle de Wolfe trends in furniture design By Dennis Lee 68 AIRPORTS | TERMINALLY COOL 42 Design takes an increasingly important role in the world DIRECTIONS | LET THERE BE LIGHT of aviation hubs Perspective uncovers the latest trends from Frankfurt’s By Helen Dalley Light+Building trade fair, and chats with renowned designer Arik Levy By Dennis Lee
PEOPLE 76 YACHTS | PUSHING THE BOAT OUT 52 As materials and techniques advance, marine interior ROCCO YIM | STATEMENT OF INTENT design is taken to a new level The architect behind the Hong Kong Palace Museum By Maeve Hosea talks about his singular vision for cultural spaces By Elizabeth Kerr 85 AIRBNB | INDIVIDUALITY RE-LEASED 92 The peer-to-peer rental platform has now become a TRAVEL | WANDERING STARS driving force in the design world Six designers tell us about the inspiration they derive By Leanne Mirandilla from travel By Michele Koh Morollo 100 DESTINATION | THE ART OF THE 108 NEIGHBOURHOOD Q&A | BREWING A SOLUTION In New York City, Manhattanites define themselves by Designer duo Vicky Chan and Chris Cho on their where they live and, increasingly, by the local architecture pitch-perfect collaboration for the new concept space By Sophie Kalkreuth The Artist House in Hong Kong By Hannah Grogan
4 60
Serpentine Sackler Gallery
85 Photo. Serpentine: Luke Hayes
An Airbnb listing in Barcelona
5 CONTENTS | MAY 2018
REGULARS
02 IMPRESSIONS | ARCHITECTURE OF DENSITY Photographer Michael Wolf looks at Hong Kong’s small- sized spaces in a panoramic format
10 SPACE | TACTILE CLASSICISM Bill Bensley’s upmarket Bangkok hotel design is a tranquil place to stay – and a design-lovers’ dream
10 110 The Siam hotel in Bangkok OPINION | A MATTER OF JUDGMENT Central’s former police station, magistracy and prison complex is set to reopen as a public space and arts venue. DIGEST Can we trust the powers-that-be to do justice to its heritage? By John Batten 12 BULLETIN | Career moves, people news and other 112 industry happenings EDITOR’S SELECTION | SHINING STAR The sculptured Harlow chandelier, by Gabriel Scott 14 AGENDA | Exhibitions, events, auctions, books
18 PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENTS | Construction, sketches, blueprints, progress 26 DESIGNINSPIRE 22 TALKING POINT | BEHIND THE SCENES Louis Vuitton unveils the latest contemporary travel collection created by the world’s leading designers – and a space designed by André Fu By Hannah Grogan
25 PORTFOLIO | SENSE AND SENSIBILITY French designer Rodolphe Parente lends his skills to a furniture and lighting collection for Pouenat By Dennis Lee
6
CONTENTS | MAY 2018
EDITORIAL PUBLISHER PERSPECTIVE LIMITED Editor Peter Jeffery Unit B, 1/F, Cheung Wah Industrial Leona Liu ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Building, 10-12 Shipyard Lane, Managing Editor – Tony Chow Quarry Bay, Hong Kong Features & Digital Tel: +852 2525 0287 Dennis Lee FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION Fax: +852 2526 3860 Digital Editor Finance & Administration Director perspectiveglobal.com Hannah Grogan Loesa Lee ISSN 1606-2558 Contributing Editor Finance & Administration Executive Nick Goodyer Catherine Chan PRINTING Ocean Design & Printing Co Ltd CONTRIBUTORS ADVERTISING SALES Flat A, 5/F, Shell Industrial Building, Danielle de Wolfe Associate Publisher 12 Lee Chung Street, Elizabeth Kerr Tony Chow Chai Wan, Hong Kong Helen Dalley Advertising Director John Batten Karin Leung Leanne Mirandilla Advertising Manager Maeve Hosea Colin Shum RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS Michele Koh Morollo Advertising Manager Published monthly by Perspective Limited. Although every reasonable care has been taken to ensure the Sophie Kalkreuth Arthur Au Yeung accuracy and objectivity of the information contained Advertising Manager in this publication, neither the publishers, editors DESIGN & PRODUCTION Icy Cheung and their employees and agents can be held liable for any errors, inaccuracies and/or omissions, howsoever Senior Graphic Designer caused. We shall not be liable for any actions taken Angeli Tam MARKETING & SUBSCRIPTION based on the views expressed, or information provided Senior Graphic Designer Marketing Director within this publication. You should always seek your Shadow Ng Rosa Chow own professional advice from the appropriate advisor, professional or institution. Copyright 2018. Photographer Marketing Manager Those submitting manuscripts, photographs, artwork or Dicky Liu Quincy Luk other materials to Perspective Limited for consideration Marketing Executive should not send originals unless specifically requested to do so in writing by Perspective. Unsolicited manuscripts, MANAGEMENT Aka Chan photographs, and other graphics must include a self- Directors Marketing Executive addressed envelope with prepaid postage if material is Peter Jeffery Chloe Yiu to be returned. Perspective is not responsible for Cordelia Chan unsolicited submissions. Reproduction in whole or in part without written Business Director ENQUIRIES permission is strictly prohibited. For permission, please Graham Cheung Editorial write to the Publisher c/o the above editorial address. Email: [email protected] Advertising Email: [email protected] Subscription Email: [email protected] Marketing & Event Email: [email protected]
GET YOUR COMPLIMENTARY COPY NOW! ON THE COVER The Cocoon pod by Campana Brothers for Objets Nomades, Louis Vuitton's contemporary furniture collection, exhibited in Hong Kong, perspectiveglobal.com/subscription curated by André Fu * T&C apply (see page 22)
8 EDITOR’S LETTER
The André Fu-designed Ribbon Dance chair was exclusively unveiled at Louis Vuitton’s Objets Nomades exhibition in Hong Kong ahead of Milan Design Week
Milan in April is a magic place. Where else can you run over the entire city. It featured a public exhibition into Olivier Rousteing, creative director of French fashion celebrating Milanese architecture from the 1930s in the house Balmain, and then Marcel Wanders, the Dutch city’s busiest Monte Napoleone District; talks hosted by designer who created the Knotted Chair? Milan Design young design students in Isola; celebrity-frequented Week is that sort of event. parties in the Brera Design District; and an open-house Known for its fashion influence, the city has visit to architect Osvaldo Borsani’s modernist villa on the established itself as a wider design capital with design outskirts of the city. These were just a few of the events. week, encompassing the acclaimed Salone del Mobile. What happened in the Italian city is one of the most The international furniture fair dates to 1961 and is now encouraging things that I have witnessed – design for a must-attend on the global design calendar. Originally, everyone rather than designers alone. Italian furniture brands showcased their house While this issue was conceived in high Italian spirits, collections, but the fair has evolved into the world’s we also look at Beijing, where Sichuan-based architect design party where global creatives from the fields of Liu Jiakun has designed the Serpentine Galleries’ first architecture, interior design and product design gather overseas pavilion, located next to the Forbidden City. to exhibit and exchange ideas. André Fu arrived from Liu borrowed inspiration from traditional Chinese Hong Kong to officially unveil his Ribbon Dance chair, archery for the London art institution’s pop-up in China, designed for Louis Vuitton’s Objets Nomade collection. conveying the power and tension of architecture in balance. In early April he created a space – or an “abstract It will open to the public in Beijing this month. scenography”, according to the designer himself – in This issue is also dedicated to travel, because we at Hong Kong’s Central to showcase the brand’s furniture Perspective, as well as the six designers profiled, believe collection that is created by a group of some of the fresh perspectives are important to inspire and to be world’s most sought-after designers, including Milan- inspired. As French novelist Marcel Proust wrote, “The based Patricia Urquiola. real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new Spanning more than seven days, the design week took landscapes, but in having new eyes.”
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9 SPACE
10 Tactile classicism
The Siam hotel by Bill Bensley is a design-lovers’ dream
When The Siam hotel opened on the banks of the With just 39 guest rooms and four traditional Chao Phraya River, Bangkok five years ago, it teak villas, The Siam is dominated by its public marked a point in the evolution of East-meets-West spaces, where the incorporation of carefully selected Thai hospitality design. Under the guidance of pop-culture accents, such as the vintage film creative director Krissada Sukosol Clapp and the projector in the state-of-the-art media room are Sukosol Group, Bill Bensley brought his renowned given room to stand out. Lush gardens, pools and design sensibilities to the project, originally courtyards are enveloped in a graceful symmetry intended to be an estate where Clapp could house that brings the outside inside, and are balanced – his considerable collection of European and Asian and counterbalanced – with curvilinear Thai antiques and works of art. Now among the world’s geometries, foliage and detailed tiling. No surface is most luxurious hotels, The Siam’s singular free of texture. interiors and their inherently connected While each guest suite has its own design, the architecture and landscaping are being celebrated design elements that connect them are most obvious in honour of the hotel’s fifth anniversary. The in the form of the subdued colour scheme: cream or book The Siam: Our World collects 750 white furnishings boast classical art deco motifs, photographs shot over two years by London-based with accessories in grey and neutral tones. Also of photographer Michael Paul in a single volume that note are the recessed wall panels hosting works of illustrates the property’s design fusion and its art, timber, inlaid flooring, and art deco accents interpretation of innovative interiors. (particularly in the form of the bathrooms’ A journey through The Siam begins with a elongated mirrors). Brick patterning, mosaic tiling main residence that recalls Paris’s Musée d’Orsay, and brass accessories and fixtures all serve to add signalling its marriage of Western art deco with retro glamour to the rooms. In keeping with both Rama V-era Thai elements, both dating to the art deco and Thai aesthetics, materials such as wood turn of the 20th century, for a complementary – from dark teak to subtle ash – leather, stone and contrast of old-world luxury and ancient Thai woven fabrics are used liberally, lending the suites a heritage; an unexpected juxtaposition of welcoming tactility. eclecticism and timelessness. thesiamhotel.com
11 DIGESTAGENDA
Exhibitions
1. Infrastructure Imagination: Hong Kong City Future 1972 to 1988 This exhibition showcases significant infrastructure projects, in terms of scale and complexity, completed in Hong Kong between 1972 and 1988. Divided into four sections – Mass Transit Railway; Highways & Tunnels; Electricity Networks; and Water Works – it consists of large- format photographs, scaled drawings, video footage and archival records, providing an opportunity for the public to reflect upon the city’s urban change and renewal. Until May 16 City Gallery, Central, Hong Kong infrastructureimagination.splashthat.com
2. Affordable Art Fair Hong Kong With a focus on the fun side of viewing and buying art, the 6th Hong LE FRENCH MAY Kong edition of Affordable Art Fair showcases more than 115 galleries – The 26th edition of Le French May is based on the theme ‘Tributes’, including 35 from Hong Kong and 40 with programmes exploring modern interpretations of timeless from other parts of Asia – with fresh masterpieces. Exhibitions include School of Nice – From Pop Art to and affordable art, showcasing a Happenings; Marc Chagall, Light and Colour in Southern France; diverse range of works and emerging Consciousness, a monumental sculpture created by French sculptor artists, and providing a taste of arts Nathalie Decoster; and Patrick Willocq’s Songs of The Walés. scenes across Asia. The festival begins with contemporary dance The Painting On The May 18-20 Wall; other performances include the opera Carmen by Georges Bizet; Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition The Butterfly Lovers (a piano performance with live sand painting); the Centre, Wanchai, Hong Kong Asian debut of Les Forains, described as an urban ballet; the Edith Piaf affordableartfair.com/fairs/hong-kong tribute La Vie en Rose; the first edition of music festival Make Music, Hong Kong!; and the food and wine festival Le French Gourmay. 3. Gert and Uwe Tobias exhibition May 1-June 30 This show presents a new series of Various venues in Hong Kong and Macau large-scale handmade woodcuts on
frenchmay.com canvas, mixed-media works on paper, Photos. Le French May: MAMAC/Muriel Anssens – ADAGP, Paris. Infrastructure Imagination: Heather Coulson. Affordable Art Fair: Mária Švarbová @ Momentum Fine
14 1. 2. 3.
4. 5. 6.
and ceramic vases by Romanian twin body as primal shapes. exhibitions, including the Hong brothers Gert and Uwe Tobias, who Until May 31 Kong one titled ‘Vertical Fabric: employ a diverse range of traditional Pace Gallery, Central, Hong Kong Density in Landscape’. and contemporary artistic practices in pacegallery.com May 26-November 25 their woodcuts, collages, ceramic Various locations in Venice sculptures and installations. EUROPE labiennale.org Until May 12 Ben Brown Fine Arts, Central, Hong Kong 5. International Architecture 6. Timo Sarpaneva exhibition benbrownfinearts.com Exhibition, Venice This retrospective exhibition looks La Biennale di Venezia presents the at renowned Finnish designer Timo 4. Loie Hollowell: Switchback 16th International Architecture Sarpaneva (1926-2006) who helped New York-based artist Loie Exhibition, FREESPACE, with the establish the international reputation Hollowell’s first exhibition in Asia aim of promoting the ‘desire’ of of Finnish design in the 1950s and focuses on her investigation of bodily architecture, dealing with questions 1960s and was best known for his landscapes and sacred iconography of space – its quality and its openness work with glass. It includes a wide through allusions to the human form or otherwise – and focusing on selection of his utility objects, and women’s bodies in particular. structures that exemplify the including works never shown before. Comprising nine new paintings and essential qualities of architecture. Until September 23 nine new works on paper, Hollowell’s The event also includes 63 National Design Museum, Helsinki, Finland
Photos. Loie Hollowell: Loie Hollowell/Photography by Kerry Ryan McFate, courtesy Pace Photos. Loie Hollowell: Hollowell/Photography by Kerry Ryan McFate, courtesy Pace Gallery. Timo Sarpaneva: Paavo Lehtonen pieces render the intimate parts of the Participations with their own designmuseum.fi
15 Events
1. 3. 6.
1. Interior Lifestyle Tokyo ASIA/AUSTRALIA THE AMERICAS Interior Lifestyle Tokyo showcases new concepts for the Japanese 4. DesignBUILD 9. HD Expo, hospitality design high-end interiors market, May 2-4 May 2-4 drawing from the success of Messe Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas Frankfurt’s largest international Centre hdexpo.com consumer goods fair Ambiente designbuildexpo.com.au and international household and 10. LFI Light Fair International commercial textile fair 5. Indo Build Tech May 8-10 Heimtextil. The fair is divided May 2-6 McCormick Place, Chicago into themed zones such as Accent, Indonesia Convention Exhibition, lightfair.com Home, Kitchen Life, Nordic Jakarta, Indonesia Lifestyle, Japan Style and the indobuildtech.com 11. Coverings 2018, tile and trendsetting Movement, stone fair showcasing innovative products 6. LED Expo Thailand May 8-11 from around the world. May 10-12 Georgia World Congress Center, May 30-Jun 1 Impact Exhibition Center, Bangkok, Atlanta Tokyo Big Sight Thailand coverings.com interiorlifestyle-tokyo. ledexpothailand.com jp.messefrankfurt.com 12. Glass South America EUROPE May 9-11 CHINA Sao Paulo Expo, Sao Paulo, Brazil 7. Küchenwohntrends kitchen fair glassexpo.com.br 2. Wood South China Living room, dining & kitchens May 15-17 May 6-7 13. ICFF International Poly World Trade Center Expo, Zenith hall, Kohlebunker and Contemporary Furniture Fair Guangzhou Kesselhaus, Munich, Germany May 20-23 muyezhan.com kuechenwohntrends.de Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, New York 3. ISH China & CIHE, 8. Designmonat Graz 2018 icff.com Heating, ventilation & a/c Urban design May 22-24 May 5-June 3 14. Canadian Furniture Show New China International Various locations in Graz, Austria May 25-27 Exhibition Center, Beijing designmonat.at/en International Centre, Toronto ishc-cihe.hk.messefrankfurt.com canadianfurnitureshow.com
16 Auctions & Books
Jackson Pollack and Jean-Michel Qianlong doucai and famille rose Be Seated Basquiat pieces anbaxian vase Awarded the 2018 John Sotheby’s will auction Flesh And Christie’s presents a rare Qianlong Brinckerhoff Jackson Book Prize, Spirit by Jean-Michel Basquiat at its doucai enamelled and famille rose Be Seated details author Laurie New York Contemporary Art tianqiuping vase from the Philbrook Olin’s long interest in park and Evening Auction on May 16. The Museum of Art, Tulsa, Oklahoma. civic public seating with examples 1983 work, made up of multi-canvas The vase, measuring 54cm in height, of his experience as a landscape panels measuring a combined 145 by is decorated with eight anbaxian architect. He explores the theory, 145 inches, is one of the largest ever Daoist emblems and is testament to craft and role of seating in a made by the artist and the biggest to the technical advances and superior number of prominent civic places, appear at auction. The painting is rich virtuosity of imperial porcelain as well as examples that his firm with subjects of the artist’s production during the Qianlong and others have designed. The revolutionary practice, with symbols period. The striking shape of this vase book is accompanied by drawings found throughout his oeuvre. is extremely difficult to fire due to its and watercolours by Olin that Jackson Pollock’s Number 32 massive size and robust form. It is create a dialogue between (above) is another contemporary decorated in the intricate famille rose writing and image. masterpiece to go under the hammer pattern applied using the doucai appliedresearchanddesign.com at the same auction. The 1949 technique. It will be offered in Hong painting, boasting a fully painted Kong on May 30. surface with intricate layers of christies.com dripped and poured oil, enamel and aluminium paint, is one of a small number the artist made that more fully explore the subtleties of the drip technique and highlight his elaborate gestural movements. sothebys.com Photos. Jackson Pollock: Sotheby’s. Vase: Christie’s Images Ltd
17 DIGESTDEVELOPMENTS
AEDAS’ PLANS FOR CHENGDU
[China] Aedas’ mixed-use development in Chengdu, offering panoramic views of Xinglong Lake. The Vanke Tianfu Cloud City, occupies four land plots, all 54,000sqm (581,300sqf) central green axis connects of which will be connected through a central green different sections and buildings in a park-like setting. axis. The project will include Grade-A office, eco- The development resides within Tianfu – a new office towers, exhibition venues, hotels, a clubhouse development zone designated for technological and and marketplace. The development has plenty of green science-related industries in Chengdu. The project is space incorporated throughout the project, with slated to be completed in 2019. terraced facades and expansive green-filled balconies aedas.com
Kengo Kuma wins Sydney bid
[Australia] Globally acclaimed architect Kengo Kuma, in partnership with Australia-based firm Koichi Takada Architects, has been named as the winner in a competition to design the Crown Group’s new tower for Sydney’s Waterloo development. “The entire facade becomes a vertical urban forest by having vegetation on each eave,” commented Kuma. “The upper volume of the tower seamlessly transforms into the lower part of the stepped terraces in order to create an intimacy between the building scale and the pedestrian scale on the street level.” The tower will form part of a five-building development. The 19-storey building will feature an infinity-edge rooftop pool, gym and community room and green exterior designed to represent a stacked forest. kkaa.co.jp
18 SHL Architects brings life to abandoned brewery
[Latvia] Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects (SHL) has won the competition to design the redevelopment of the historic Kimmel Quarter in Riga. The Danish architectural firm will see the transformation of the former brewery into a vibrant new commercial hub. Presently, the site is mostly occupied by abandoned buildings that the firm said will remain as untouched as possible, allowing the area to retain its authentic character. “The resulting architecture is distinctly modern, but in a rewarding dialogue with the old restored buildings,” said Rasmus Kierkegaard, Associate Partner at SHL. “We have designed a new Kimmel Quarter in which history and the future are bound by timeless architecture.” The design concept centres around a main 30,000sqm (322,900sqf) office building and hotel that will open onto courtyards and terraces, creating a central plaza. shl.dk
SOM skyscraper for Hangzhou
[China] Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) has released its designs for the Hangzhou Wangchao Center, a new mixed-use tower in Hangzhou. The 288m, 54-storey tower is slated for completion in 2021, ahead of the Asian Games in 2022 which will be hosted in the city. The new tower sits directly adjacent to one of the city’s new subway stations and other transport connections. “The distinctive silhouette derives its form from an integrated design process that solves programmatic, structural and environmental criteria,” said the firm’s design partner, Gary Haney.
Photo. SOM | Brick Visual som.com
Swire reveals Wong Chuk Hang development
[Hong Kong] Swire Properties has unveiled its development in Wong Chuk Hang, South Island Place. The 28-storey office building, close to the new Wong Chuk Hang MTR station, offers approximately 35,500sqm (382,500sqf) of space and a podium garden on the third floor, as well as a rooftop garden. “South Island Place is our first Grade-A office development in the up-and-coming Wong Chuk Hang district,” commented Don Taylor, director of the office portfolio at Swire Properties. “Besides best-in-class building design and management, this new tower offers one of largest floor plates and highest efficiencies among the Grade-A office buildings in the Southern District.’ swireproperties.com
19 New life for historic Nanjing site
[China] Benoy, together with developer MCC Real Estate Group, has been appointed to redevelop a mixed-use destination on the banks of the Yangtze River in Nanjing. The project, titled Nanjing MCC World, will see the regeneration of an old ice-storage warehouse built in 1915 into a new commercial and retail hub for the district. While the structure will retain much of its original form and historical buildings, there will be new builds on Terminal goes up at Guwahati the site. “As designers, how we respect the hundred-year- old heritage of the site while introducing innovative retail, International culture and hospitality offers has been an exciting opportunity,” said Qin Pang, director at Benoy. [India] Construction has begun on a new integrated Construction will begin later this year. terminal building at Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi benoy.com International Airport in India’s northeastern city of Guwahati, in Assam. Design Forum International, one of 15 firms consulting on the project, said the new terminal will act as an “ode to the ancient yet reinvigorated spirit of Assam, the Seven Sisters, and our own Incredible India”. Glass has been used around the facade, with terracotta tiles appearing throughout, referencing the architecture of forts and citadels of the area. The design for the terminal includes an indoor forest, featuring a 30m-high rainforest area travellers pass through before reaching the luggage carousels. The project is set to be complete by 2021. designforuminternational.com
New landmark for Jakarta skyline
[Indonesia] Woods Bagot is celebrating the completion of a new architectural statement piece for Jakarta’s skyline, Telkom Landmark Tower. Located in Jakarta’s central business district, the tower will be the new headquarters for Indonesia’s largest telecommunications company. Woods Bagot designed three buildings for the project; a six-storey podium, a 20-storey office building (Tower 1), and a 48-storey office building (Tower 2). The firm also refurbished and integrated an existing 16-storey building into the overall development. Tower 2 is the focal point of the development – the structure includes a podium that links the three buildings, with shared amenities including a rooftop mosque, hospitality services, retail space and an auditorium.
woodsbagot.com Photos. Nanjing MCC World: Benoy Architects. Telkom Landmark Tower: William Sutanto
20 Rosewood Luang Prabang opens
[Laos] Luxury resort brand Rosewood Hotel & Resorts has opened a luxury escape set on a hillside in a tropical forest in north-central Laos. It is the first tented-villa concept for the brand and its second resort in Southeast Asia. Featuring 23 guest rooms, villas, suites and tented accommodations situated around the site’s natural waterfall, the resort is a 10-minute drive from the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Luang Prabangand was designed by Bangkok-based studio BENSLEY. Designer Bill Bensley modelled the project and property after a Laotian hill station from the end of the 19th century. Nods to the French colonial period can be seen Mexico a first for Aman throughout the guestrooms and hotel interiors. rosewoodhotels.com [Mexico] Luxury hotel group Aman has announced the brand’s first property in Mexico. Scheduled to open in 2020, the 20-pavilion Amanvari will comprise both a hotel and private residences along 3km stretch of beach in Los Cabos. Architectural firm Heah & Co has been commissioned for the design, and has just released the first concepts. The property will also feature 24 Aman Residences up for sale. Set at the edge of the dunes, with panoramic views across the Sea of Cortez and adjacent golf course, the residences will have up to seven bedrooms, and are fully customisable. aman.com/resorts/amanvari
[India] Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) has won the bid to design the ZHA wins new Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA). With the city’s new Mumbai current airport fast approaching capacity, NMIA is a much-needed addition to the city’s infrastructure. The new airport will have the airport bid capacity to handle more than 60 million passengers a year. The project has been placed on a fast-track programme of completion, with the foundation stone already laid in February this year. ZHA will be responsible for the overall long-term design and execution of NMIA’s Terminal 1, Air Traffic Control Tower and associated landside access. zaha-hadid.com
21 TALKING POINT
Behind the scenes
BY HANNAH GROGAN
Louis Vuitton’s contemporary travel-inspired furniture collection, created by some of the world’s leading designers, has a new addition by André Fu
22 André Fu (ABOVE), designer of the two-seater Ribbon Dance (LEFT), the latest addition to The Objets Nomades, and his initial concept sketch (BELOW). OPPOSITE: Fu also designed the pop-up exhibition in Hong Kong
Fashion powerhouse Louis Vuitton presented its Objets Ghesquière. Fu’s piece for the exhibition was the two- Nomades collection in Hong Kong last month at seater Ribbon Dance couch, which was showcased atop a Central’s Pedder Building. The exhibition was curated revolving platform, giving viewers a 360-degree view of and its setting conceived by Hong Kong architect André the design. Fu, and gave design aficionados in Asia the chance to look The collection was created by the brand in 2012 and at the existing collection as well as an exclusive peek at one has since seen collaboration between Louis Vuitton and of his new pieces ahead of its official unveiling at April’s the world’s most distinguished design talents. These Milan Design Week. include: atelier oï, Maarten Baas, Barber and Osgerby, Fu’s concept for exhibiting the various pieces was a Fernando & Humberto Campana, Damien Langlois- surreal take on a luxuriously appointed mansion, and Meurinne, India Mahdavi, Nendo, Gwenaël Nicolas, featured the designer’s distinctive style throughout, in a Raw Edges, Patricia Urquiola, Marcel Wanders and palette of warm greys and sands with accents of caramel, Tokujin Yoshioka. mustard and saffron. Furniture, sculptures and other objects At its core, Objet Nomades is a modern collection were positioned throughout the space in unusual ways. inspired by travel and a sense of adventure from a bygone “It’s a challenging and interesting process because it’s era. The limited editions and prototypes that make up the between the everyday, which is what the objects are collection pay homage to the brand’s historic pieces, such designed for, and the surreal world we’re trying to as the iconic Bed Trunk and Wardrobe Trunk. Many of betray,” he explains. Fu also brought touches of Hong the items in the collection were crafted using the brand’s Kong to the scene, with elements such as a moon gate signature leather accents, with subtle nods to its iconic and geometric patterns he remembered in the city’s monogram-pattern flower. Each designer has added their 1960s architecture. own interpretation of a sense of travel to their pieces, Fu worked with LV four years ago and was once again complementing LV’s signature craftsmanship, fine invited to participate by its creative director Nicolas materials and attention to detail.
23 TALKING POINT
Tabouret folding leather stools by atelier oï, inspired by The Cocoon by Fernando and Humberto Campana. This 19th-century explorers and the objects they took with them swinging pod is crafted with vacuum-moulded fibreglass; the piece is then covered with calfskin on the exterior and with quilted leather on the inside
Diamond Screen by Marcel Wanders. Used as both a semi-transparent partition or as a wall feature, the screen references the shape of the classic monogram pattern, as well as the cane work once used on Louis Vuitton travel trunks
24 DIGEST | PORTFOLIO
Designer Rodolphe Parente’s collection for French metalwork specialist Pouenat uses contrasting materials, including brass, glass and stone in the Sunset suspension lamp, the Catwalk coffee table, the Glory console and the Hunk armchair
Sense and sensibility BY DENNIS LEE Designer Rodolphe Parente lends his skills to an exclusive furniture and lighting collection for French maison Pouenat
For its capsule collection, Pouenat enlisted the expertise of lights, as well as a sofa, armchair, mirror, side table and interior architect Rodolphe Parente, known for his skilful coffee table that are the pinnacle of contemporary French blending of textures and sensibilities. The range employs design; they also display the exceptional skills of the combinations of materials such as chiselled brass, textured country’s craftsmen. Among the highlights are the pendant- glass and travertine for unusual geometrical and sculptural like rotatable Sunset ceiling light; the Catwalk coffee table shapes accented with etchings. Each piece is crafted using an formed by a rotating wheel on top of a burnished stone elementary or deconstructed method to which surface block; the sculpture-shaped Twink side table, the Glory treatments are applied to make the material more expressive. console and the Hunk armchair made with a double skin Debuted at the PAD Paris 2018 fair in April, the that emphasises the beautiful contrast of materials.
Photo. Francis Amiand 15-piece collection includes a series of wall and ceiling pouenat.com
25 PARTNERSHIP | DESIGNINSPIRE
Public installation The Curious Horns featured a dozen oversized hanging horns with different interactive elements suspended from the ceiling of Pacific Place, creating an interaction between the space and the viewers
PROFILE You have previous experience overseas and in Hong Kong. Chung and Cheng founded HIR Studio to allow their What inspired you to set up your own design studio? design philosophy to see the light of day – to create Working in different places has broadened our vision of visionary designs that embody their core values. The architecture. It’s fascinating to see the most diverse ideas duo’s projects vary in scale, from interior designs for come together under a shared belief. Our city deserves more residences, offices like this, so this is for ourselves, as well as our culture. and commercials to public installations, From where do you get your inspiration? small architectural We’re inspired by the past and present. The traditional projects and works crafts, materials and arts of a city are sources for of art. contemporary interpretation, and we often explore how spaces get activated and communicate with people in real time. We research by sketching, conversing and writing, followed by numerous design options that may cross- breed and grow. We also collaborate with some workshops in town, where we can make real mock-ups with drills and saws, and test the materials in the early conceptual stages. Dual ambition Does training in architecture help your creative process? Howard Chung and Irene Cheng of Training includes studying and working. Irene studied at Hong Kong design studio HIR aspire the Bartlett, where the definition of architecture is broad. to evoke an interactive dialogue Making a building may not even be the end product of a project – it’s more about the design process and providing between people and place diversified solutions to the questions. We still do that at HIR, reminding ourselves that any construction is only a
26 means to creating an atmosphere and experience, but not necessarily the only focus. After graduation, we worked at Foster + Partners, Adjaye Associates and Aedas, where we explored new solutions and pushed boundaries – in concepts, constructability and building details. We still design with loads of options at different stages, and critique The interactive installation The Adaptive Flock, inspired by the barter-community concept, was exhibited at each one of them with the most objective and open mind. DesignInspire in 2017
How does technology play a part in your design? HIR believes that design should represent the ethos of its You participated in Hong Kong Trade Development time. We are inclusive about using any technology that Council (HKTDC)’s DesignInspire and Happy may enrich the user’s experience, whether it’s a smart- Innovations exhibitions with the installation The home system, or sensors for digital interactions. We also Adaptive Flock last year. How was the experience make use of the latest technology to test and visualise our and reception? design options before they get realised. What technology Working with HKTDC was a fabulous experience. cannot replace yet are the primitive and tangible touches The public interacted with our work as we planned, that everyone loves. and asked us lots of questions regarding the concepts. We were also privileged to have a chance to present the As members of the creative and design force in Hong Kong, idea to the Chief Executive Carrie Lam. Let’s see if our how would you rate the standard of Hong Kong design? proposal to build interactive bartering facilities in open How can local designers gain more exposure overseas? parks will be given a green light in the near future. There are so many talented designers in Hong Kong. But design is not always prioritised in many renovation How does DesignInspire play a part in raising projects or new-builds in town. This is evident in many awareness about Hong Kong design? private residential developments, public facilities and even It helped the public learn more about public museums. It’s absolutely good to let local designers gain installations and designers’ social contributions to the more exposure overseas, as it will help us to build up a city. It’s only when the general public knows more much stronger identity. This may be done by holding about good local design that we can raise the bar for overseas exhibitions and by gaining exposure in our built environments. We look forward to more publications as well as online. collaboration with the HKTDC.
The current public installation Pixel | Hyper-reality at K11 mall, composed of a pixelated meandering screen, showcases a series of retro game consoles from the 70s to 00s Perspective readers - special offer. Quote promotional code PSP100.
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www.irocodesign.com/contract [email protected] FOCUS | FURNITURE
MODERN LUXE BY DENNIS LEE
The latest furniture trends usher in sumptuous textures and warm, inviting colours Photo. House Doctor
29 FOCUS | FURNITURE
hile Scandinavian minimalism with a cool colour palette has beenW the prevailing trend in interior design for some time, it has recently been tempered by the addition of inviting warm and earthy colour schemes. Mood-setting shades such as dusty pinks, emerald greens, neutral blues and mustard yellows – plus a blend of rustic, terracotta and brown – bring a friendlier feel to the living room. Velvet is staging a comeback this year. When looking for a splash of retro glamour, a statement furniture piece in the sumptuous material creates a luxurious look that lends a warm feel to interiors without having to rethink the entire room. This year’s furniture trend hints at more comfort in couches, with plenty of curved and plump shapes. Texture also plays a key role with an abundance of materials such as rattan and woven wicker furniture for a natural, handmade feel. Furniture legs in metal, combined with and brass and gold tones in fabrics, complement velvet perfectly, while fringe trims add an extra plush element. Photo. Knoll
30 MINIMUM MAXIMUM Light shades, natural colours and materials – as well as stripped-down designs – make furniture more tactile
MOEBE SHELVING SYSTEM
Copenhagen-based Moebe Studio has created this flexible shelving system to save the need for tools in the assembly process. The wooden shelves are held together with rounded-steel uprights (in three heights) by a set of wedges, giving users full freedom to create their own system.
HÜBSCH DRESSER
This Hübsch ash-green dresser in pine wood adds elegance to any interior with its simple Scandinavian lines, yet provides ample storage space, making it an ideal centrepiece in a living room or hallway.
BOCONCEPT OSAKA SOFA
The Osaka sofa in forest green Napoli fabric is ideal for a compact space, and sports a light look and slim proportions. Its clean design is inspired by Nordic aesthetics, while the rounded armrests and brushed-brass legs bring a touch of 1960s design.
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1. FOGIA FURNITURE COLLECTION 3. FRANCFRANC NIEUW DINING TABLE AND BENCH Swedish furniture manufacturer Fogia partners with architects and interior designers to create items that last. A ecologically friendly choice for any home, the NIEUW Forming part of its new collection are the minimalistic oak-leg dining table and bench are coated with a layer of Gito table and Hawu shelf by Swiss duo Diiis durable and sustainable linoleum, containing natural Designstudio; the Bollo Spisolini chair by Andreas linseed oil that has antibacterial and deodorising Engesvik; the Big Sur table by Kristoffer Sundin and properties. Available in khaki or navy. Simon Klenell; the Mame lounge chair by Luca Nichetto; the Tabula table by Note Design Studio; and the Poppy pouffe by Nina Jobs.
2. IKEA DELAKTIG SOFA/BED 4. ALIAS BOOKCHAIR BOOKCASE
British designer Tom Dixon has come up with a new Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto draws his inspiration interpretation of the sofa bed with the Delaktig. The from the relationship between architectural space and the modular bed features a variety of add-ons, or ‘hacks’, such human form with this hybrid bookcase for Alias. as task lamps, coffee tables, side tables and magazine racks. Designed with both storage and seating in mind, the piece The piece is highly adaptable and can take the form of a features a chair that fits like a jigsaw piece in a cut-out chaise longue, a three-seater sofa or a twin bed. section of the shelving.
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5. AYTM ANGUI COLLECTION 7. CASSINA BEUGEL STOEL Cassina has created an updated version of the Beugel The new Angui range from AYTM includes benches, bar Stoel, first designed by Dutch architect Gerrit Rietveld in chairs, coffee tables, shelves and mirrors, all featuring 1927. The modern interpretation retains the fundamental on-trend velvet, tubular frames and tone-on-tone schemes. elements of the piece: two identical looped steel frames The geometric and sculptural shapes of each piece create a coupled to support the seat in fibreboard or wood. Using sophisticated mood while emphasising individual style. 3D technology, the seat/backrest comfortably follows the natural shape of the body, while the tubular metal frame measures just 15mm in diameter, making for a lighter, ergonomic form.
6. HYAKUNEN-MONOGATARI 8. FINLAYSON BEDDING PAPER CUSHION Finnish textile manufacturer Finlayson has been making Add a touch of Zen to the home with this lightweight, interior and bedding textiles for almost 200 years. Its multi-functional paper cushion made with vulcanised collection of home textiles and accessories covers the paper fibre. The seat is laminated with hard fibreboard, kitchen, bathroom and living room, and includes a full making it resistant to impact and wear while maintaining range of bedding linens such as duvet covers, sheets and strength and resilience. bed covers.
33 FOCUS | FURNITURE THE HEIGHT OF LUXURY Transform interiors with these sophisticated pieces that feature saturated shades, mixed materials and modular functionalities
1. MAISON DADA PARIS MING TABLES
Renowned designer Arik Levy’s Paris Ming tables are a fusion of Chinese and Western cultures, referencing the signature elements of Ming 1 furniture through clean and graceful lines supported by a light open structure, while giving them a contemporary Western touch. Available in 2 circular and rectangular forms, the tables’ oversized coloured glass tops are reminiscent of the simple and elegant beauty of traditional Chinese lacquer work.
2. ADELE-C INCANTO BOOKCASE/CUPBOARD
Designed by Italian architect Marco Ferreri, the Incanto is a corner bookcase/cupboard that opens out on a central pivot, like a fan. It comes in marine plywood with natural birch veneer on the exterior and cobalt blue inside. The blue is revealed only 3 when the cabinet is fully opened to 180 degrees.
3. FORMITALIA GLAMOUR COLLECTION
Designed by Dainellistudio and debuted at Milan Design Week in April, Formitalia’s Glamour range sports clean lines with satin-finished metals, natural stone, hides and refined fabrics, all of which showcase fine Italian craftsmanship. The collection includes a sofa and armchair upholstered with leather, a footstool with a metal framework and a small table with a base made either in marble or onyx.
34 4 4. RHMB FURNITURE
British cabinet maker Robert Brain founded RHMB to craft modern furniture with a distinctive character, using timber sourced from fallen trees harvested in southern England (the firm recently acquired a large beech from London’s Kensington Gardens). The brand’s collection includes a sideboard, coffee table and side table, each bringing the grain a new lease of life.
5 5. KNOLL GRASSHOPPER TABLE
Designed by Piero Lissoni for Knoll, the Grasshopper collection of dining tables includes rectangular and circular forms – an exercise in pure geometry. The table top is available in Rosso Rubino marble, glass and wood, while the base structure is composed of slender cast-steel elements in chromed, burnished or painted finishes.
6. SAVOIR BEDS
British bed maker Savoir has crafted tailor-made beds for London’s Savoy Hotel since 1905. They can be customised to fit clients, based on the firm’s four key bed models with bespoke headboards. Each mattress is made using natural materials and signed by the craftsman who 6 made it. The MOON 01 bed, its latest collaboration with Korean designer Teo Yang, is inspired by East Asian folklore and features a hand-upholstered headboard of three circles in glazed metallic linen, reminiscent of a trio of glowing moons.
7. PENTATONIC AND SNARKITECTURE FRACTURED FURNITURE
Fractured is the collaborated result between Berlin-based Pentatonic and New York studio Snarkitecture. The 7 sustainably produced modular furniture – benches, a table and a coffee table – is made from recycled waste, including plastic, cans, computer parts and coffee cups. Each item’s top is divided by a jagged edge into two parts, which can be pushed together to form one piece.
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1 1. LEITMOTIV CHAIR LUXURIOUS
Known for its compact, timeless furniture and lighting designs, Dutch brand Leitmotiv’s Chair Luxurious adds an on-trend note of plush comfort to the dining table with sumptuous velvet and a variety of accents such as mustard yellow, blue and emerald green.
2. MOROSO GENTRY EXTRA LIGHT SOFA
2 Moroso marks 20 years of collaboration with Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola with a lighter, resized version of its best-selling Gentry sofa. Featuring independent seat- and back-cushions for extended comfort and matt-black tubular steel front-back to-leg base, the Gentry Extra Light leather three-seater takes a fresh look at the concept of an elegant, compact sofa that is ideal for both home and communal spaces.
3. DIPHANO SUNSET COLLECTION
This upholstered Sunset range from Belgian outdoor furniture maker Diphano presents three geometrical shapes for different combinations. Its movable backrests offer extra flexibility while guaranteeing stability thanks to its anti-slip surface and hook-and-loop fasteners. The seating and backrests come in two waterproof textures.
3 4. CANE-LINE PEACOCK CHAIRS
Designed by Foersom and Hiort-Lorenzen, the Peacock all-weather chair collection transforms outdoor living spaces. Available in dining and lounge chairs, it is crafted in a cone-like shell and a Sunbrella Natte cushion with a mix of two colours in Cane-line weave that is both temperature- and UV-resistant.
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FOCUS | FURNITURE
MIX AND MATCH See for yourself at these outlets
FURNITURE Formitalia Maison Dada formitalia.it maisondada.com Adele-C adele-c.it Francfranc Moebe 3974 0622 moebe.dk Alias francfranc.com.hk alias.design Moroso Hübsch moroso.it AYTM hubsch-interior.com aytm.dk Pentatonic and Snarkitecture Hyakunen-Monogatari pentatonic.com BoConcept nico.or.jp snarkitecture.com 2668 0027 boconcept.com/en-hk IKEA RHMB 3125 0888 rhmb.co.uk Cane-line, Diphano ikea.com Everything Under the Sun BEDDING 2554 9088 Knoll everythingunderthesun.com.hk Dream Interiors (HK) Ltd Finlayson cane-line.com, diphano.com 2881 9122 2109 0679 knoll-int.com finlaysonshop.com Cassina 25259874 Leitmotiv Savoir cassina.com Pioneer Lifestyle Limited Noblesse Lifestyle Group 2455 3208 2836 6630 Fogia presenttime.com noblesse-lifestyle.com
fogia.se savoirbeds.hk Photo. Hübsch
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DIRECTIONS | LIGHT+BUILDING
Let there be light
BY DENNIS LEE
ight+Building, the world’s leading trade fair for lighting and building technology, is held every two years in Frankfurt, Germany. This year’s edition, in LMarch, did not disappoint, showcasing the latest in intelligent solutions and design trends in the fields of lighting, electrical engineering, security, and home and building automation. Some 220,000 trade visitors from 177 countries attended the event. Perspective was there to unveil
the latest products and trends. Photo. Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH/Petra Welzel
42 GLOWING TRENDS Whether it’s architectural or decorative, Light+Building puts the spotlight on lighting
1. LIGHTING THAT MOVES For commercial spaces with high ceilings, where The Fast Track by Flos offers flexibility for places that need to change light settings frequently. Available through Zodiac requirements change, a flexible lighting system is often Lighting in Hong Kong the best solution. The Flos Fast Track is a movable architectural light system mounted on a linear track through which projectors of various sizes and outputs are limitless orientation and dimming options through a moved and guided with an intelligent system of sensors, smartphone or tablet. This system is especially suitable for motors and variable power supply. With its own smart- professional applications such as retail, hospitality, control system, Fast Track allows for the remote control of galleries and museums. each individual projector and can be programmed in near- flos.com
MINIATURISATION AND 2. INTEGRATION With technical advancements in LED technology, lighting is getting smaller. “The trend is going to integrate more technology and design into the products while making them smaller and taking up less space,” says Jan Ameloot, managing director in charge of corporate strategy at Belgian company Delta Light. The brand’s Splitline Magnetic range offers plug and play compatibility, and models including spotlights, track lights and pendants; the trim-less version of the minimalistic Tagline has a width of just 7mm. Flos’s Running Magnet 2.0 track light strip also has a slim profile of 15mm, achieved through the miniaturisation of electronics and optical components. The Tracking Magnet offers a complete collection of lighting tools compatible with all major control systems TOP Delta Light’s Splitline profile is compatible with its track light families. BOTTOM Flos’s Running Magnet 2.0 track with and its own Flos Smart Control system. flexible magnetic fastening can be recessed into walls deltalight.com
43 DIRECTIONS | LIGHT+BUILDING
3. BEND IT LIKE LETTERS Plenty of curved lighting designs have appeared in recent months, but Artemide has gone so far as to create an innovative modular system of straight and bent components that can produce straight lines, curves and even letters. Designed by BIG, the aptly named Alphabet of Light translates a system of letters, numbers and symbols into light by combining linear and curved elements, without any discontinuity. The components can also be combined to create complex linear or curved architectural light structures. The system is compatible with the DALI system or controlled with its own app. LG presented Luflex at Light+Building – flexible OLED light panels that use curved transparent connection technology, which can be used for retail shelving systems as well as in items of furniture. Its CSO Lights that incorporate Crystal Sound OLED (CSO) technology that transforms lights into speakers, with TOP Alphabet of Light is a linear and circular modular system that can form architectural suspended lighting structures or panels that vibrate to produce sound. individual alphabets BOTTOM LG’s bendable Luflex OLED light panels offer artemide.com limitless inspiration for decorative lighting lgoledlight.com
4. AUTOMATED CONTROL Luminaires that provide accurate colour rendering, projector series delivers a wide range of symmetric beam consistency, high efficacy and automated connectivity are distribution and high aesthetic performance when instrumental for professional lighting schemes and illuminating critical architectural features and surfaces. design. Xicato develops light sources and electronics that xicato.com enable architects, designers and building managers to weef.de create intelligent spaces. Its XIM LED modules integrate light source, dimming driver, beacons and wired and Bluetooth wireless control that fit even the smallest light fixtures, while the GalaXi Bluetooth lighting control system offers fully automated lighting control with individual controllable inputs and beacons for location-based services that are ideal for galleries and retail settings. Exterior lighting manufacturer WE-EF provides professional luminaire solutions for urban spaces and architectural projects with its modular LED lens technologies and Innovative ABOVE Xicato provides accurate colour rendering with its multi-functional LED modules. LEFT WE-EF’s new FLC200 is
Optical Systems. The FLC200 LED a high-performance outdoor projector. Both from Zodiac Photos. LG & Li-Fi: Dennis Lee
44 The Guise wall and pendant collection by Vibia, available at Zodiac Lighting, emanates a virtual, magical light for theatrical effect
5. INVISIBLE LIGHT SOURCE One way to subtly present mood lighting is through a hidden Available as suspended and floor lamps, the Diphy source and Vibia excels at this. With the award-winning collection by Linea Light Group also comes with a slim Guise collection of dimmable wall and pendant lamps, white-painted aluminium bar that houses the LED source designer Stefan Diez explores the relationship between light – a clear light that fills the silk-screen diffuser and and transparency whereby light emanates from glass while distributes it onto the floor below. The transparency the source remains hidden. The wall-sconce version features contrasts with the brightness of the source, enhanced by a glass disk that creates a perimeter glow, while the laser micro-incision patterns. pendant lamps, both vertical and horizontal, radiate an vibia.com intense glow from the delicately engraved glass surface. linealight.com
6. LI-FI NETWORK Li-Fi (light fidelity) is set to be the next big thing in optical data transmission. While Wi-Fi uses radio waves for data transfer, Li-Fi is a visible-light communication system that transmits information through illumination using a transceiver-fitted LED. The technology aims to achieve higher data-transfer speeds than conventional systems, with enhanced security and less signal interference, though it is intended as a complement to Wi-Fi, not a replacement. While still at an early stage, it Li-Fi transmits data through a visible light source will be suitable for a wide range of applications.
45 DIRECTIONS | LIGHT+BUILDING HIGH-LIGHTS Cutting-edge lighting designs that make a bold statement in any interior scheme
VANORY ESTELLE Vanory creates a moving atmosphere in space through three-dimensional light effects with the Estelle pendant mood light. Embedded in a protective glass body, it combines smart lighting technology with tactile fabric. Curved arcs are formed from individual light points that provide a sense of depth while fine controls can be employed to create the perfect mood. vanory.com
ZERO HOOP Designed by Front Design, the Hoop pendant has a globe- shaped diffuser that appears to rest at the bottom of a thin metal structure. The electrical parts are integrated in the construction and remain hidden. It has a built-in LED module, compatible with DALI systems. zerolighting.com
B.LUX BRIM German designer Sebastian Herkner collaborates with B.lux to create the Brim range, which consists of two floor lamps, a table lamp and a wall lamp. Each gives off an indirect light that is cast onto a concave, circular ceramic reflector. Its appeal lies in the way the light is controlled – TRILUX BICULT LED LAMP by moving the reflector closer to or away from the rod Bicult LED is a new concept in that hides the LED source. office lighting as it is the first grupoblux.com desktop luminaire to combine a direct and an indirect light output. While the glare-free indirect up-light illuminates the office, the direct component provides light at the desk, offering flexibility for networked open- space offices or work-at-home offices, and allowing users to set their individual lighting preferences. trilux.com
46 DELTA LIGHT PUNK The edgy Punk, originally a spotlight component of the XY180, an architectural lighting fixture designed by OMA for Delta Light, is now available in the form of pendants, wall, ceiling and track lights. Characterised by its spikes, it is inspired by designs of the mid 1970s.
CARPETLIGHT Carpetlight’s range represents a new category that covers all the requirements of professional and commercial lighting. The firm’s products are less than 10mm thick and have a surface weight of 1.000gram/sqm. Light intensity and colour temperature are adjustable and compatible with DMX, KNX and DALI protocols. Its lightweight design allows hanging or wall mounting. carpetlight.com
ILLUMINATING EXPERIENCE Luminale, a biennale for light art and urban design, was held concurrently with Light+Building. This year, the event attracted 240,000 visitors to Frankfurt and Offenbach and featured 149 projects and light installations. Demonstrations and discussions in five categories – art, community, study, solutions and better cities – were also on the programme. Particularly popular was the Light Walk in Frankfurt city centre, where landmarks such as the Römer town hall, the Alte Oper concert hall, the European Central Bank, St. Catherine’s Church and the Eiserner Steg iron bridge were illuminated for the occasion. Photo. Luminale: Dennis Lee
47 DIRECTIONS | LIGHT+BUILDING
LIGHT SCULPTOR Perspective caught up with Arik Levy, one of the world ’s most versatile designers, while attending the fair. The portfolio of the Tel Aviv-born, Paris-based multi-disciplinary artist/industrial designer includes furniture, lighting and kitchen design for brands such as Delta Light and Lasvit. He recently collaborated with Vibia for three new collections: North, Structural and the prototype Sticks
Please tell us about the new Sticks collection. This is a first for flexibility in a system that connects wall- to-wall, floor-to-wall and wall-to-ceiling lights that offer direct, indirect and sidelight options. You can adjust the light environment according to the time of day and season. It’s a fixture you’ll never get tired of. I want to create a language of ABC where users, architects and interior designers can write the poem they want. When they set up a space with the Wireflow pendants, it becomes their work. Like the Sticks, they can do it straight or cross it. I’ve walked through the whole fair and saw how great it is when you come up with a strong concept and not just the form. It’s a concept that has endlessness possibilities and is definitely unique in the market.
What are the trends in lighting design? I don’t look at trends. Trends are created after my work. Trends are something that’s five years old for me. It’s not something new. When I show something new, for the next three or four years there are copies of Sticks and Wireflow. Let’s call it inspiration. It’s fine – it’s part of life. All the companies are looking for continuity, and most of the solutions are either linear or horizontal, and either look like [something from] the ’60s to the ’90s. I think we have managed to achieve something that does not connect to the past but projects to the future.
How do you create products that resonate with the users and speak for themselves? People understand the products through their use; we create a large variety of samples to show how products can be used: give people ideas and they will take it from there and create their own products. It’s important to be able to transfer that creativity to somebody else. When architects create a space, they will call in an interior designer to slowly build it up. If it’s a modular system, you can only build what Levy has designed the North and the soon-to-be- the modules tell you to. If you build up with flexible tubes available Sticks collections that create different – what we have – you can build a lot different things. ambiances for interiors
48 EDITOR’S PICKS Lighting fixtures that set a perfect design ambiance
HIND RABII
Belgian decorative lighting brand Hind Rabii is known for experimenting and mixing different materials in its lighting designs. The Meridiana pendant light features a white fibreglass shade hidden behind a marble or wood diffusor plate, creating a gentle, not blinding light. The Fico, by Chiaramonte Marin Designstudio, has a ceramic lampshade available in three shapes with hand-sewn leather belts that highlight the craftsmanship involved in working the materials. hindrabii.net
William Brand and his favourite Flintstone light
BIRD TABLE LAMP BRAND VON EGMOND CHANDELIERS
This award-winning desk lamp designed by Bernhard Founded by Dutch architects and designers William Osann rests on just one point. No mechanical attachment Brand and Annet von Egmond, Brand von Egmond is a is required because the projecting arm housing the light specialist in creating large custom-made and extravagant source is balanced by a weight. When placed on a table chandeliers with a passionate fusion of sculpture and edge, it swings but does not fall. architecture. Its clients range from royal families to b-osann.com Hollywood stars and from hotels to global companies. Its new collection of decorative chandeliers, including the lavishly elegant Ersa, Kelp, Louise and Fractal, is inspired by its custom-made chandeliers. “I’m afraid to look at a magazine. I don’t want to be influenced by other designers. I don’t want to follow the flow. I want to set a trend. The biggest difference between Dutch and Italian design is the storytelling. It’s not just aesthetics. There’s extra value and a special meaning behind the design. It’s a little poem,” says Brand, speaking of his favourite piece, the Flintstone floor lamp. The unique pattern of the stone on the base lends every lamp a different look.
Photos. Arik Levy and William Brand: Dennis Lee brandvanegmond.com
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51 ROCCO YIM
STATEMENT OF INTENT
BY ELIZABETH KERR Architect Rocco Yim is on a mission to change the way the public interacts with cultural institutions. He speaks to Perspective about the new Hong Kong Palace Museum and the initial controversy associated with the project Photo. Dicky Liu Photo. Dicky Liu
52 Hong Kong Palace Museum was inspired by traditional courtyards and the gold, bronze, jade and ceramics it will display
think of architecture as the art of problem-solving. There are always problems that need addressing, not just in Hong Kong, and not just in habitation,” says Rocco Yim after considering what it is that drew him to “architectureI nearly four decades ago. Yim is a fixture on Hong Kong’s architectural scene and, as co-founder and executive director at Rocco Design Architects, has been leaving his mark on the city since 1982, with landmarks such as the East Kowloon Cultural Centre, HKSAR Government Headquarters, ifc mall, Hong Kong Station and the neighbouring Four Seasons Hotel, and iSQUARE. Not one to shy away from a challenge, Yim’s next project is the Hong Kong Palace Museum in the West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD), a vision that needs to be realised under a cloud of increasing bureaucratic rigidity.
53 The HKSAR Government Headquarters has provided a popular harbourfront space
It’s a hazy afternoon and Yim is sitting in the “Architecture has to do something apart from looking boardroom of his North Point office, more softly spoken good, and how it does it is key to its success: whether a than usual due to a lingering winter cold. He’s slight, building helps bring people together, or helps to generate an thoughtful and his distinctive quasi-pageboy haircut is environment where people talk to each other, or creates an greying ever so slightly. His position as one of Hong Kong’s environment where you have incentive to communicate,” most prominent architects has afforded him the luxury of he says. “It also has to produce spaces for interaction with speaking his mind and, as he contemplates the challenges its surroundings, and help you appreciate those and pleasures of designing his fourth museum (after the surroundings. Sometimes architecture has the power to Yunnan Provincial Museum in Kunming, Guangzhou’s enhance what is beyond it, and not just what is within. Guangdong Museum and the Art Museum in Shapu, I think those are the things that make good architecture. Shenzhen), he’s not shy about expressing his opinions It’s a feeling that appeals to the heart as well as the eye. about the SAR’s architectural weaknesses, starting with The problem today, after 40 years, is that the incentive or a perception perpetuated by the media of glamorous, job- the driving force for good architecture to happen is building statement towers. still lacking. The driving force is more pretty faces and
54 The East Kowloon Cultural Centre will connect with transportation nodes to form an 'art link' to the surrounding districts
impressive facades. That might be what the media is discretionary power has vanished. Illegal structures have crazy about – visual impact, visual gratification – but that become such an issue the Buildings Department has is not all.” eliminated any possibility of a little wiggle. And that has had Aside from a misguided message of what architecture is a massive impact.” Here he points to Hotel Icon’s atrium all about, there’s the perceived land crunch, resulting in spaces and soaring ceilings. “We couldn’t do that today.” developers unwilling to take creative risks; a public sector All this is slightly ironic when one considers Yim was that’s unable to innovate because architects are recruited appointed to design the Hong Kong Palace Museum based on fees rather than merit; and a rigid bureaucracy that’s despite that fee structure, and the fact the studio was given less flexible than it was 30 years ago. All three factors are a remarkable amount of creative freedom. “That was a stifling Hong Kong’s architectural growth. “Land was scarce direct appointment based on the merit of our past work. and conditions were restrictive, but there was enough And it meant we could afford to put in more people and flexibility for us to manoeuvre and create solutions resources, and explore more solutions,” he recalls, admitting that worked,” says Yim. “But over the last five years that room the controversy was initially distracting: “We just ploughed has diminished. The code hasn’t changed but the ahead and managed.”
55 ABOVE Art Museum in Shapu, Shenzhen, an ‘unfolding box’ with a plaza that links to the Shapu Art District
BELOW The Guangdong Museum evokes the idea of a lacquered box containing a collection of treasures Photo. Guangdong Museum: Almond Chu
56 “THERE SHOULD BE A SPATIAL QUALITY FROM THE OUTSIDE TO INSIDE THAT STIRS YOUR MIND, THAT STIRS YOUR CURIOSITY, THAT ENTICES YOU TO EXPLORE”
Museums, like any speciality building, have specific Chinese visual and spatial aesthetics,” and the concept of needs and demands, particularly with regards to “linked courtyards translated into a vertical series of materials, light conditions, and security. But more crucial atriums that draw the visitor upwards”. As Yim sees it, to museum design is tone. “There should be a spatial the museum, one of the few major cultural projects built quality from the outside to inside that stirs your mind, since the early 1990s, also needed to be able to distil the that stirs your curiosity, that entices you to explore. essence of Hong Kong at first glance. Museums need to draw you in,” Yim reasons. “The major “This has to be a Hong Kong building – and a difference [with other buildings] is how you create, contemporary Hong Kong building. We don’t re-create through the architecture, a cultural ambience that the past,” he explains. The project commenced with a prepares your mindset for appreciation of the artefacts. team tasked with brainstorming ideas that Yim would That’s the challenge.” ultimately approve or discard, finally zeroing in on a Controversy or otherwise, it is Yim’s job to deliver the vertical design that was reflective of both Hong Kong Hong Kong Palace Museum (scheduled to open in 2022) and the contents of the facility. “The architecture sends to the WKCD as an element of the overall 40ha concept the message, so when you approach [a museum] you know that will also include performing-arts venues, green what to expect. You don’t go into a science museum when spaces and an art park. As the WKCD describes it, the the architecture tells you it’s a modern art museum. museum’s relatively small footprint will feature There should be certain associations… this architecture 7,600sqm (82,000sqf) of gallery space, a 400-seat has to have certain imagery that would call to mind in lecture theatre and museum cafe and shop. The design is the average person an association with traditional “based around a contemporary interpretation of classic Chinese visual culture.”
57 The inspiration for the Yunnan Provincial Museum in Kunming was the surrounding landscape and famed 'stone forests'
58 “YIM CITES THE CENTRE POMPIDOU IN PARIS AS ONE OF HIS FAVOURITE MUSEUMS PRECISELY ‘BECAUSE OF THE WAY IT RESPONDS TO THE CITY’ ”
In the way in which the Guangdong Museum evokes the idea of a mysterious box of treasures, Yim aimed for a similar evocation of the Palace Museum’s gold, bronze and jade artefacts, paintings and ceramics. The final design is compact and modern, and aims to integrate with the city around it, unlike Beijing where that city’s Palace Museum is an exhibit in its own right. The Hong Kong Palace Museum’s five gallery storeys are stacked and rotated around three interconnected central atria, and each will have its own orientation and views of the harbour, enveloped by a textured fabric exterior. The museum should blend seamlessly with the district’s master plan, making the most of the large lawn and plaza that flank the steps leading down to that waterfront promenade and beyond, essentially stitching the city together as an exemplar of the marriage between a structure and the public realm. Yim cites the Centre Pompidou in Paris as one of his favourite museums in the world precisely “because of the way it responds to the city”. He explains: “Most museums really stand alone, and I think it really speaks to the environment. You can’t prevent people moving in next door to you; this is Hong Kong. But you can lay down guidelines of where the interface should be, where level changes should occur, to make sure it’s a seamlessly integrated whole. rocco.hk Hong Kong Palace Museum and its three stacked courtyards
59 SERPENTINE GALLERIES PAVILLION
The Serpentine Sackler Gallery, with its distinctive extension designed by Zaha Hadid, lies close to the original Serpentine Gallery in Kensington Gardens, London
60 HOUSE
ARTBY DANIELLE DE WOLFE
Long-time champions of international contemporary art and architecture, London’s Serpentine Galleries are extending their reach to China Photo. Luke Hayes
61 prominent feature in London’s art-centric landscape, the Serpentine Galleries have become a staple attraction for design enthusiasts the Aworld over, exhibiting the work of more than 2,263 artists since opening their doors. The focus is on championing the contemporary, showcasing culturally diverse work from the rising stars of tomorrow. Starting life as a tea pavilion before being protected as a Grade II-listed structure, the Serpentine Gallery building in Kensington Gardens was opened to the public on May 1, 1970. A site abuzz with creativity, the space has since been joined by The Serpentine Sackler Gallery – designed by Pritzker Architecture Prize laureate Zaha Hadid – and the pioneering Serpentine Gallery Pavilion commission.
Zaha Hadid’s designs for the Serpentine Sackler Gallery
The concept of an annual pavilion taking up residence on the Serpentine Gallery’s lawn was conceived by then director Julia Peyton-Jones. This ground- breaking venture saw the gallery become a site internationally recognised for its stylised architecture, in turn attracting some of the world’s leading creative minds. Inaugurated in 2000 with Hadid’s distinctive triangulated design, the gallery’s pavilion began a tradition of brave and experimental construction. Spanning 600sqm (6,500sqf), Hadid’s design fundamentally reinvented the concept of a marquee structure, transforming a traditionally simplistic space into a bold and immersive design concept. Nearly two decades on, the constraints of the London-based pavilion series remain remarkably modest but the constructions delight the public over a three-month summer period. The design can take no longer than six months to construct from the date of commission and must be a
temporary structure with the potential for longevity. Photo: Layout plan: 2013 Luke Hayes
62 ABOVE AND BELOW Zaha Hadid’s 2013 addition to the Serpentine Sackler Gallery extended an 1805 gunpowder store Photos. Luke Hayes
63 Frida Escobedo is the youngest architect to create the Serpentine Pavilion
“LIGHT AND SHADOW ARE SUCH A CRUCIAL CONSIDERATION IN MEXICAN ARCHITECTURE”
Frida Escobedo is the architect set to undertake the 2018 pavilion commission in London’s Kensington Gardens. Hailing from Mexico City, she is the youngest creative to have accepted this prestigious challenge, an endeavour she does not enter into lightly. “The Pavilion has been one of those projects that architects look forward to each year for as long as I’ve been practising – since I was still a student, in fact,” remarks Escobedo. “Fortunately, this is a project that has always been undertaken by architects who possess a remarkable sense of identity. My studio operates in a very different
context from the previous architects; we’re working from Photo. Frida Escobedo: Ana Hop
64 Taking the form of an enclosed courtyard, Escobedo’s Pavilion comprises two rectangular volumes positioned at an angle
experiences and conditions that are, at the end of the day, leverage its form and texture to achieve a result that was rooted in our locale.” both light enough to permit a sense of the surrounding Featuring bold planes and dynamic geometry, this area, and dense enough to achieve the desired atmosphere years’ offering (June 15 to October 7) will play host to the for the interior,” she notes. summer’s experimental Park Nights series, Friday evening Placing heavy emphasis on the Prime Meridian Line late and live performances, as well as the Radical Kitchen located at London’s Royal Observatory, the angled walls talks and picnics programme. Intertwining the vibrant and dark concrete floors are offset by the light-reflecting characteristics of domestic Mexican architecture with qualities of water. “Light and shadow are such a crucial British history and raw materials, Escobedo draws consideration in Mexican architecture,” states Escobedo, influence from a background rooted in urban design. “I’m especially interested in taking materials that are “When we decided to use a typical roof as the basic unit normally understood as commonplace, or even banal, and
Photo. Taller de Arquitectura, renderings by Atmósfera for the Pavilion walls, it became a question of how to trying to elevate them into something more.”
65 ABOVE AND BELOW The inaugural Beijing pavilion is close to the Forbidden City; Liu’s design, while contemporary, is respectful of its historic neighbours Photos. Jiakun Architects
66 Sichuan-based architect Liu Jiakun
Traditionally a pavilion commission has been a way to The seminal project presented an opportunity for Liu to showcase the work of an individual or design team yet to experiment with innovative design elements. Drawing complete a building in England, but 2018 sees the project inspiration from the traditional notion of junzi (a term used take an intercontinental leap with a collaboration to signify gentlemanliness and the pursuit of an exemplary between Serpentine Galleries and WF CENTRAL, a moral standard), the dynamic structure reflects the flexing mixed retail development in Beijing’s Wangfujing district. bow of an archer, as noted in the Analects of Confucius. The inaugural Bejing pavilion will welcome members of Combining sleek curves with rigid lines, the pavilion the public from this month. Set on the sprawling outdoor elucidates a constant yet profound physical battle. lawns of The Green at WF CENTRAL, the site lies close “In this project, we use a bow structure – this is a to China’s Forbidden City. This proximity is a factor to brand-new kind of structure used to express the theme of which Chinese architectural practice Jiakun Architects ‘force’. Force is shapeless but exists everywhere. It shapes has given careful consideration throughout the design the world. How do you treat force? Fight against it? process, ensuring history and tradition meld seamlessly Comply with it? Take advantage of it?” asks Liu. with contemporary elements at every stage. “Professionals working in architecture may focus on this “When I need to design near a symbolic Chinese new structure and raise some discussions, critique it or location like Wangfujing in Beijing, I hope [to look [note its] inspirations. As for the general public? Some beyond] superficial Chinese symbols, instead people may see an open public space, others may just say demonstrating a more internal oriental consciousness,” this is a giant shed – some people [have] already said so.” explains lead architect Liu Jiakun. “Of course, in addition Be it a source of inspiration or simply a ‘giant shed’, to some abstract and professional parts, there is also Beijing’s latest architectural addition will be a bold sight straightforward expression. For instance, the co-existence to behold. As for whether this international summer and contrast of new steel arched structures and ancient pavilion is set to become an annual commission? Only jinzhuan [imperial yellow tiling], which was used as time will tell. flooring within the Imperial Palace in ancient China.” serpentinegalleries.org
67 AIRPORTS
Denver International Airport TERMINALLY COOL BY HELEN DALLEY
As cities compete to offer the best facilities to air travellers, architects are creating inspirational projects that give airport users reasons to linger a little longer
68 URBAN OASIS: SINGAPORE systems, as well as a heritage zone with a nine-panel facade CHANGI AIRPORT depicting the changing architectural styles of the city state’s shops and houses from the 1800s to the 1950s. Winner of the 2018 Skytrax World’s Best Airport award The Jewel Changi Airport extension, a spheroid- for the sixth consecutive year – based on the impressions of shaped dome designed by Safdie Architects and set to nearly 14 million flyers from more than 100 countries – open next year, will further boost Singapore’s stopover Changi Airport is one of Southeast Asia’s largest transit appeal with attractions including a canopy bridge hubs and arguably its best equipped, with everything from suspended 23m above the ground and the world’s tallest free 24-hour movie theatres to a 15m wild corkscrew slide. indoor waterfall, the 40m tall Rain Vortex, which will Opened last October, Terminal 4 was designed by transform into a light and sound show at night. There’s architecture company Benoy and offers automated check-in even a five-storey indoor garden, Forest Valley.
Photos. Jewel Changi Airport that relies on face-scanning technology and smart security changiairport.com
69 PEOPLE MOVER: HONG KONG the ground floor, departures on the first – makes Hong INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT Kong International a cinch to negotiate. Foster + Partners was commissioned to oversee the build, which Norman While some might miss the old Kai Tak site, where planes Foster has described as a celebration of the modern age of flew perilously yet exhilaratingly close to the travel. Featuring a terminal roof inspired by ocean waves, neighbourhood’s tightly packed skyscrapers, Chek Lap it is one of the largest and lightest indoor roofs in the Kok – a piece of reclaimed land in the South China Sea world at a length of almost 1km. With passenger numbers off Lantau Island – is comfortingly efficient. The Airport expected to rise to 100 million annually by 2030, a third Express railway swiftly transports passengers to Central in runway will be completed by 2024. 24 minutes, while the deceptively easy design – arrivals on hongkongairport.com
70 SUSTAINABLY BUILT: OSLO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Opened in April 2017, Oslo International is the first airport building globally to receive an Excellent BREEAM rating for its sound attitude towards sustainability. It also scooped Best Airport Terminal Design at the Future Travel Experience Global conference in the United States. Bjørn Olav Susæg of Nordic, the Oslo-based firm that designed the terminal, says the goal was to cut energy consumption in half; the terminal’s walls and windows aim to make maximum use of daylight, while natural materials, such as locally sourced stone and wood from sustainably managed forests, are used generously throughout the building. In addition to being a highly energy-efficient material, wood gives the terminal a distinctive Nordic identity, says Susæg. In terms of waste, the terminal project has achieved a sorting grade of 91 per cent, with just 9 per cent of discarded construction materials classified as general waste. Despite the airport’s increase in size, the maximum walking time to gates has remained the same. avinor.no
71 CONCRETE STYLE: PARIS CHARLES DE GAULLE AIRPORT
This year is an important landmark for Paris-CDG, as it gears up to underline its status as a hub for the best Paris has to offer, with a specially commissioned art piece by Nathalie Decoster, a new 80-room hotel by Yotelair, a multilingual library and a 3D Timescope machine through which passengers can admire Parisian landmarks in times past. Three new restaurants helmed by Michelin- starred chefs are also set to debut. The airport opened in 1974 and was designed by French architect Paul Andreu – considered one of the world’s foremost airport design experts – who believes the best airports are not just a building but a landscape. Andreu’s Terminal 1 was built in a shape reminiscent of an octopus, the focus of which is a circular building that has seven satellite buildings. A modernisation programme of CDG is currently under way, including an 80,000sqm (860,000sqf) building connecting the South and West terminals that’s set to open by 2020. parisaeroport.fr
72 DESERT ART: HAMAD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, DOHA
Positioned at the edge of the Arabian Gulf, Hamad International Airport’s waterside setting is referred to in the wave-like passenger roof terminal, while the Emiri Terminal riffs on the location with its sail-like curvature and the mosque resembles a drop of water. It was designed by HOK, which says its aim was to emphasise Qatari hospitality and the airport’s setting by celebrating form, surface and light. A deliberate lack of ornamentation means passengers are better able to understand the spatial function within the terminal, it adds. Hamad International is one of only six airports globally to receive five-star status by Skytrax. The Qatar Airways Al Mourjan business lounge, which features a five-tier crystal chandelier over a water feature, is pure extravagance, as is the ostentatious gold-plated coffee kiosk Qataf. Like the best modern airports, there’s plenty of art to admire. In collaboration with Qatar Museums, it has exhibited pieces by Keith Haring, Bill Viola, Tom Otterness and Marc Quinn, with the latest addition being a 10m sculpture by US pop artist Kaws. dohahamadairport.com
73 MINI CITY: ZURICH convention centre and office space – Microsoft INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT Switzerland is relocating its headquarters here. Other facilities at the space include ArtHub, a space for private Much of the land close to Zurich airport is classed as collections, galleries and pop-up installations, and conservation area, so passengers with an extended MindHub, a multifunctional space for meetings. layover keen to escape the busy airport environment can zurich-airport.com consider hiring a bicycle or skates (Nordic walking poles are also available) and taking to one of the quiet, flat trails where the only people encountered are most likely plane-spotters. The C500 Landside Centre and C500 Airside Centre were added by Grimshaw Architects as part of a major upgrade, with the former acting as the airport’s principal hub and featuring a glazed curtain wall at its west facade to capitalise on the views of the surrounding countryside. Zurich airport is also the site of Switzerland’s largest construction project: the 180,000sqm (2 million sqf) Circle complex designed by Riken Yamamoto & Field Shop, set to open in 2019. From the outside it looks like another airport building, yet internally it will aim to replicate the vibe of a small city, with two Hyatt hotels, a
74 NATIVE INFLUENCE: VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
With one of the largest collection of Pacific Northwest native American art in the world, Vancouver International reflects British Columbia’s diverse landscape and people with sculptures, totem poles, transformation masks and weavings inspired by First Nations people, including the Inuit, Coast Salish and Nuu-chah-nulth. Highlights include British Columbian artist Bill Reid’s bronze sculpture, The Spirit of Haida Gwaii – The Jade Canoe, which is populated by passengers from Haida Gwaii’s mythology including bears, beavers and a dogfish. The Great Wave by Lutz Haufschild, meanwhile, depicts the power of the ocean along BC’s coastline by means of a dynamic glass wall with large waves rolling towards the viewer. The airport was designed by Vancouver-based Stantec Architecture and incorporates blues and greens to reflect the land, sea and sky and create “an unmistakable sense of place,” the firm says. Architectural highlights include the Graham Clark Atrium, which features a 10m-tall totem pole and a series of curved acrylic panels depicting the Northern Lights. yvr.ca
IMAGINATION CONNECTED: DENVER or sunglasses building by locals, thanks to a sharp dip in INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT the centre of its long horizontal plane. As a growing airport – DEN handled 58.3 million While many US airports are criticised for their passengers in 2016 but was built for just US$50 million – unimaginative design, Denver bucks the trend with an a US$1.8-billion renovation, the Great Hall project, is iconic white-tented terminal rooftop intended to mimic currently in the works, which will upgrade the Jeppesen the mountains framed behind. Designed by Fentress Terminal by creating new shopping and dining options Bradburn Architects, the Jeppesen Terminal’s peak roof, and a new check-in area. pays homage to the region’s snow-capped peaks and its An independent testing by internet speed company Ookla Native American past, and has become a symbol of the found that the airport’s Wi-Fi is the fastest in the world – city. The adjacent Westin, added in 2015 by Gensler along more than three times faster than cellular service. with a transit centre, is referred to as either the moustache flydenver.com
75 YACHTS
Unique Circle Yachts by Zaha Hadid Architects for Bloom+Voss Yachts PUSHING THE BOAT OUT
BY MAEVE HOSEA Propelled by demanding style expectations and new technologies, today’s yacht designers are breaking the mould
76 he modern luxury-yacht interior designer has a range of materials and techniques available to them that would have been unimaginable just a couple of decades ago. But with design constraints and considerations that include an Texpectation of the highest levels of comfort, working within a well-defined and often tight space, and the need for safety and regulatory compliance, they continue to deliver elegant and distinctive schemes both above and below deck. Photo. Visualisation by Moka Studio
77 Inside Baltic's 54m sailing superyacht Pink Gin VI, the classic and polished interiors by London-based Design Unlimited
HOME FROM HOME
There are the have nots and the have yachts, so they say. the yacht for how she will be used,” says Nicola Brook, Much like one’s own home, yachts are a canvas on which to head of decoration at Design Unlimited. “We often start communicate an owner’s sense of style and taste. They are with a blank canvas. Listening to our clients, we can also a place for experimentation, escapism and glamour. understand how they want to live on board, how many The recently launched Pink Gin VI is a 54m carbon- guests they want to entertain and the key factors they wish fibre sloop, with interiors by London-based marine to include in the design of their yacht.” specialist Design Unlimited. Surface finishes and textures These are spaces that allow occupants to find their sea play an important role throughout while materials are legs – and true comfort in their own space. “Yacht used in unusual ways to create a tactile look and an elegant owners wish to feel the same level of comfort and quality feel of domesticity. An eclectic mixture of stained oak when on their yacht as they do at home,” says Stacey joinery, bespoke metallic finishes and sumptuous velvets Sibley, creative director of Alexander James studio, and leathers create a warm, inclusive ambience. which partners with Sunseeker to style and dress its “Any space on a yacht is valuable real estate so we ensure yachts. “We look to use varied colour themes, drawing that all space has a purpose, is well-proportioned and on richer, more vibrant colours to add more personality
we pay close attention to the flow of movement through and distinction.” Photo. Marco Moog
78 The made-to-measure Sanlorenzo 52 Steel
79 ??????????????
62m superyacht Sea Owl is a vessel created for family-oriented owners. British studio Winch Design decorated the guest hall with a playful scheme
NEW ESCAPISM
Above the waterline, boats continue to be influenced by the projects to date, has a fluid yet distinctive design, both inside changing needs and desires of clientele. Kate Maclaren, and out. The yacht’s fantasy-inspired interior is aimed at senior interiors manager for yachts at Winch Design, encouraging the owner’s grandchildren to explore notes a significant increase in the number of clients imaginary worlds. with young families. “Boats now need to be child-friendly, Meticulous craftsmanship goes hand-in-hand with accommodate teaching staff or additional relaxation areas – playfulness. There are Alice in Wonderland murals; including spas for parents and cinema or entertainment frescoes inspired by the voyages of Charles Darwin; rooms for the children,” she explains. “This, in turn, has pirate-themed cabins; whimsical carved owls and also led to lighter, brighter decor – more suited to the squirrels perched on banisters; a mahogany magic tree sunny sea environments and more contemporary in style.” that ascends four decks; and a jewel-strewn Jacuzzi Sea Owl, one of the most imaginative Winch Design overlooked by a grinning toothy shark.
80 STYLE CUSTOMISATION
While private yachts are nothing if not a sign of a prosperous lifestyle, there’s still a need to communicate the owner’s distinctive – perhaps impeccable – taste, achieved through the designer’s attention to detail and style. One of the trends that has emerged over the last decade is the demand for customisation. “Some of the yards that performed best during the difficult financial times where those offering the most custom design to their clients,” says Jean-Baptiste Souppez, senior lecturer in yacht design and composite engineering at Southampton Solent University in the United Kingdom. “This has also been boosted by modern technologies, such as virtual reality: very early on in the design process, the owner can be ‘walked through’ his future yacht to refine the interior design and ensure maximum satisfaction.” Interior designer Martin Kemp has projects which include private jets, superyachts and high-end residential developments in Manhattan and Mumbai. He places a keen focus on a high level of personalisation in the interior of 45m yacht Logica. Kemp’s design for the owner’s cabin, for example, includes working the initials of his wife discreetly into several items of joinery and upholstery throughout the room. It’s a small but significant touch that adds a layer of beauty and interest to the space.
Pink Gin VI's bespoke nautical motif wallpaper
London-based Martin Kemp Design customised an understated style for the owner’s cabin on the Italian luxury yacht Logica
81 FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION
Traditionally employing wood, yacht interiors have now are put to work by yacht designers, it is also important to evolved with new technologies in the working of wood and advance them in a more expressive way with the use of luxury glass; developments in vacuum moulding and laser cutting; materials, craftsmanship and wit. “The hunt for new materials and with new materials such as carbon fibre. preoccupies us,” says Dickie Bannenberg of Bannenberg & In such a competitive luxury market, there’s a clearly a need Rowell Design. “Part of the studio is stacked with acrylics and for forward-thinking. Azimut Yachts’ research and composites, straw marquetry and nibbled stone; we’re keen on development centre, for example, employs 20 engineers to work carbon fibre; even keener on its cousin Texalium.” exclusively on product- and construction-process innovation. The interior design challenges of sophisticated vessels “The three projects currently underway are addressed at typically include maximising usable space and storage, avoiding reducing structural weight, increasing hydrodynamic sharp edges and minimising particularly heavy or delicate efficiency, reducing vibrations as well as the development of finishes, while meeting cosmopolitan design tastes. Designers new antifouling coatings that limit environmental impact and look to distinguish themselves in style and originality and hull friction,” says the company’s chief executive Marco Valle. create unique atmospheres on board. “There’s an envelope to “Carbon fibre is already used extensively, applied to entire work within, from an interior point of view, and an exterior to superstructures to provide more space on board while create,” adds Bannenberg. “They’ve got to combine, be maintaining the yacht’s dynamic stability.” functional, reflect the client’s lifestyle, conform to a pile of While the modernist principles of ‘form follows function’ regulations and work – out on the ocean.”
ABOVE From concept to realisation: luxury yacht architect Stefano Righini borrowed from home design for the streamlined Azimut 60 Flybridge 82
AIRBNB
Airbnb’s headquarters in San Francisco INDIVIDUALITY RE-LEASED BY LEANNE MIRANDILLA
Airbnb is trailblazing the way in the sharing economy. Much of the success of this peer-to-peer rental platform is due to the appeal of the properties’ idiosyncrasies, posing a challenge to the traditional hospitality industry
85 lick. A private island paradise in Belize, with five San Francisco residents Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia, sumptuous bedrooms and full staff. Water sports who decided to open a bed and breakfast of sorts using an and excursions to the nearby waterfalls and ruins air mattress in their living room. Care on the itinerary of things to do. Click. The former They came up with the idea to make a few extra Los Angeles estate of Elvis Presley, complete with pool, bucks to cope with escalating rents in the city, but it spa and a stunning view of the hills. Click again. A custom- swiftly grew into a website that business travellers could made caravan in Tokyo, tucked onto a wooden deck use to search for short-term lodgings when hotels were teeming with cafes, galleries and food trucks. fully booked. Now, the website comprises more than 4 You might expect to find such listings from an million listings across 191 countries. And while it’s still upscale travel operator. In fact, they’re all properties possible to book a simple sofa bed in someone’s home, available through online booking service Airbnb.com. guests can also expect to book beautiful rooms and This home-booking destination has come a long way entire houses whose quality interiors are on par with from its humble roots – the venture began in 2008 with five-star hotels.
Dairsie Castle in Scotland dates from the 12th century; it once hosted a parliament and sheltered fleeing kings. It has now been restored as a six-bedroom rental popular on Airbnb
86 An Airbnb listing in Melbourne, Australia. The platform is turning individuals into interior designers as home owners upgrade their residences with their own distinctive styles
Wood on show at a house in the Austrian Alps – available on Airbnb
87 Camping-themed workrooms inside Airbnb’s workplace in San Francisco, designed by WRNS and IDF Studio
88 “SOME OF TODAY’S TRAVELLERS SEEK A MORE AUTHENTIC AND RESIDENTIAL ENVIRONMENT”
Airbnb’s listings even inspired the company’s year, in collaboration with architecture firm WRNS intriguing offices, 999 Brannan, which opened last Studio. Airbnb’s focus on ingenious design in its offices September and is the newest addition to Airbnb’s prompts a question: has the business positioned itself as a headquarters in San Francisco. More than 1,000 staff purveyor of design? members work at the 14,000sqm (150,000sqf) space, The sheer diversity in Airbnb’s listings makes it where each of the four floors is themed on a city – difficult to pinpoint specific trends in properties on offer, Buenos Aires, Kyoto, Jaipur, Amsterdam – to evoke but there’s no denying that the website has seen a marked Airbnb’s global community of travellers. Each meeting uptick in interest from the design-minded. Architect room within these floors, in turn, is inspired by a Linda Taalman, one of the founders of American different listing, including a cosy, pine-clad cabin in the architecture firm Taalman Koch Architecture, opted to woods near Moscow. The space was spearheaded by put her award-winning, solar energy powered Off-grid Airbnb’s Environments team, which launched earlier this itHouse on Airbnb for rental.
Photo. Mark Mahaney Another travel-inspired meeting room inside the rental platform’s office
89 ABOVE AND BELOW The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Schwartz House in Wisconsin is available to rent
Brothers Gary and Michael Ditmer acquired the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Schwartz House in Wisconsin with the specific purpose of allowing the public to stay there. “I’ve had an interest in Frank Lloyd Wright for most of my life,” says Ditmer. “There are numerous Frank Lloyd Wright-designed houses that are now museums where people can see and experience Wright’s work, but my frustration was always wanting to spend more time experiencing the houses themselves. We decided we would provide the opportunity for people to actually live, if only
for a few days, in a Wright-designed masterpiece.” Photos. Andrew Pielage
90 Luxury hotel operators have joined Airbnb to boost their businesses: Phuket project Villa Paradiso is listed on the site
Even property portfolios are turning to Airbnb to it making a grab for a slice of the hotel industry pie. promote their properties. Asian luxury villa collection Rather, Airbnb appeals to travellers in search of an The Luxury Signature, which offers getaway havens in accommodation experience unlike that to be found at a Indonesia and Thailand, lists several of its properties on luxury hotel. “Some of today’s travellers seek a more Airbnb. “As a private luxury villa rental service, we believe authentic and residential environment,” says Teo Su Seam, Airbnb is more appropriate as it promotes more of a home partner at Singapore-based hotel and residence interior stay, unlike websites such as Agoda,” explains managing design firm LTW Designworks. “I think Airbnb offers director Sylvain Roullier. “Each of our villas is unique in guests a more independent experience. It also appeals terms of architecture and interior design, and we receive more to those on extended travel who prioritise home plenty of feedback about the stunning design and views.” comforts such as a relaxing lounge to read in or a spacious Homemakers with a penchant for interior design can kitchen to prepare a meal.” It’s a matter of diversity versus be easily found while browsing the site, too. Mar branding, she continues. Cardobes, who owns a 150sqm (1,600sqf), three-bedroom As each Airbnb listing is owned by an individual, apartment in the heart of Barcelona, made sure to its design will be down to their idiosyncratic tastes, preserve the original architectural elements such as while hotels offer a more consistent experience that keep 19th-century tiles and plaster ceilings of the modernist fans of the brand coming back. It’s a matter of preferring structure when she remodelled it. “I’m very into interior to book a different sort of room on every trip – a design, so I designed it myself,” she says. “When I bought Brooklyn brownstone loft, followed by a glass it, nobody had lived there in 20 years, so it was in bad treehouse – or returning to your favourite Four condition.” Having originally bought the apartment to Seasons suite. The key to Airbnb, therefore, is in live in herself, she decided to rent it out for extra income personal, diverse experiences and the feeling of being after starting a family and moving out of the city. at home, versus the sumptuous hotel room where Airbnb is no longer the cheap, crash-on-a-couch everything is taken care of for you. Quite the alternative to expensive, overbooked hotels. But neither is complement, really.
91 DESIGNER TRAVELS
WANDERING STARS BY MICHELE KOH MOROLLO
“Travel and change of place impart new vigour to the mind,” wrote the Roman philosopher Seneca. And while there’s no substitute for training and practice, there’s no doubt that architects and designers benefit greatly from widening their experience and fuelling their creativity through travel. Here, six movers and shakers from the design world talk about their adventures around the globe
92 93 NELSON CHOW
NC Design & Architecture principal Nelson Chow believes that as a designer, it’s important to see how different cultures approach design differently. At the 7132 Hotel thermal baths in Vals, Switzerland, designed by Peter Zumthor, Chow admired how the Swiss architect integrated the architecture with the landscape. He enjoyed winter swimming there at midnight. He had mastered a “chaotic but fun” trip to Salone del Mobile with his team and Uber-ed around to beaches, museums and galleries in Los Angeles. “The more places we visit, the more knowledge we will have when it comes to providing design solutions. There is never a single answer to a question, and travel certainly helps broaden how we approach problems,” Chow says.
94 EVE MERCIER
Eve Mercier, founder of Hong Kong’s Insight School of Interior Design, travels half a dozen times a year, combining work with pleasure. She’s drawn to places with unspoiled landscapes, such as Australia’s Margaret River and the Swiss Alps. “One of my most memorable trips was skating on a remote ice-dam lake in Switzerland before eating a cheese fondue heated up by our guide on a camping stove in the middle of the lake,” she recalls. “We could hear the glaciers melting all around us: it was terrifying, and strikingly beautiful at the same time.” On a recent trip to Japan she stayed at Amanemu in the Ise-Shima National Park and at the Ritz Carlton in Kyoto, noting that the interiors and service were impeccable. “I found the modern twist on Japanese architecture in those two hotels particularly impressive,” she says.
95 ELAINE LU
Together with her husband Vincent Lim, Elaine Lu founded award-winning inter-disciplinary, Hong Kong- based architectural design practice Lim + Lu. Born in China, and raised in Atlanta, Lu studied and worked in New York before moving to Hong Kong and is no stranger to overseas adventures. “Travelling always gives me fresh perspectives,” she says. “Our design inspiration comes from everyday objects and situations that we observe wherever we go.” She travels at least once a month to either China, Europe or the United States to speak at various industry events, while she also heads overseas two or three times a year for pleasure. “The two most memorable trips I’ve done were a 10-day safari in Tanzania, and a week-long drive through Iceland. I love the Venice Biennale and evenings at Piazza San Marco, while I also love French destinations for the art, design, culture and amazing food,” she says.
96 KENNETH COBONPUE
Internationally acclaimed Cebuano furniture designer Kenneth Cobonpue says he tries to travel as often as his schedule permits. “Travelling allows me to be in an unfamiliar place, which gets me excited and eager to learn about the country’s people and culture. It also makes me more attuned with nature,” he says. “This openness has led me to be more sensitive about how beautiful the world really is, and how furniture influences and affects our daily lives and moods.” He enjoys Cuba for its vibrant energy and authenticity, Turkey for its history, and says he’s also had memorable times in Kathmandu and Marrakech. “Being immersed in exotic cultures is such a source of inspiration. These travels were highly remarkable because I found a common thread of beauty, warmth and timelessness in things made by hand. I explored markets, artisanal shops and the local cuisine, and extended these experiences to my new collections.”
97 SACHA LAKIC
Luxembourg-based, Serbian designer Sacha Lakic has created numerous products for brands such as Venturi, Voxan and Roche Bobois. His favourite destinations are Italy and the US. “I go to Italy many times a year, and am still impressed by the quality of the food and wine. I also love the US, especially South Beach in Miami, where the sky can change from blue to dark grey within a few minutes,” he says. His most memorable travel experience was a road trip through the Pyrenees with his 9-year-old son on a motorcycle he had designed for Bimota, while two of his favourite hotels are Eremito in Umbria, Italy, and the Royal Mansour in Marrakech. “Eremito is a magnificent spot built on the plans of a monastery from the 14th century. There’s no Internet or telephone network, so you are cut off from the world for a few days,” he says. “At the Royal Mansour, everything is incredibly elegant while still respecting Moroccan culture and traditions. Travel allows me to replenish my creativity, and refocus on the essentials. On top of that, it’s a great way to alleviate stress. This is why I must travel often!”
98 YOUNJIN JEONG
“I usually travel for pleasure once a year – without a plan. Rather than create an itinerary or schedule, I simply make decisions spontaneously. This helps me break away from the routines of daily life, which helps stimulate creativity,” says Younjin Jeong, co-founder and creative director of Seoul- based design and modular architecture studio Urbantainer. When travelling, she takes all her photos in black and white – a technique much suited to her winter trips to South Korea’s Seoraksan mountains, where she enjoys driving through the snow. She’s also a fan of Beijing. “Chinese people have so much self-confidence. What fascinates me is how China is rapidly growing in every aspect, not only economically, but culturally too.” Her favourite hotel is Shanghai’s PuLi Hotel & Spa. “I love this hotel because they have such a strong brand identity – you can feel their style everywhere, even in the attitude of their staff. PuLi will be opening a branch in Beijing soon, and I can’t wait to see what it’ll be like.”
99 DESTINATION
THE ART OF
THE NEIGHBOURHOOD
BY SOPHIE KALKREUTH
Comprising five boroughs, New York City is home to some of the world's most iconic architecture and architects, as well as low-lying landmarks and independent designers
100
New York’s many and varied districts each offer a different take on art and design as new buildings arise and fresh life is breathed into the old
n a recent evening in Manhattan, two of New York’s most celebrated architectural designers, Daniel Libeskind and Robert AM Stern, debated the role of Oarchitecture in today’s art institutions. The debate was a lively one, perhaps predictably so, as classicists and deconstructivists don’t often agree. Should museums be conceived as containers for art, or as architectural statements in their own right? “Too many of the museums we have are not about the art but about the architects who designed them,” said Robert Stern, flashing Libeskind – known for striking angular buildings such as the Jewish Museum in Berlin – an ironic smile. Libeskind appeared unfazed. “Look at the Guggenheim,” he countered. “It’s an amazing structure and an amazing art experience… but it’s not a white or black box, it’s a Frank Lloyd Wright.” Stern, who prefers the regal halls of the Metropolitan Museum of Art – the city’s largest and most visited museum – moved on to his next pet hate: galleries that resemble shopping malls. “The atrium at MoMA is a nightmare,” he said. “It’s like a 24/7 cocktail party with that escalator going back and forth.” It’s true that MoMA’s arrival experience pales in comparison to the Grand Staircase at the Met: John Updike famously wrote that the Yoshio Taniguchi-designed atrium has “the enchantment of a bank after hours”. But the great thing about New York is its capacity to accommodate various building typologies. The city is defined by variation of scale and a refreshing lack of uniformity – from gothic revival to art deco, from international style to metamodernism,
Photo. Matthew Williams and as neighbourhoods reinvent themselves seemingly overnight, the urban design experiment continues.
101 The Whitney Museum has moved to a new building by Renzo Piano
ART MUSEUMS
FROM THE MET TO MOMA, NEW YORK HOUSES THE WORLD'S FINEST ART AND ARTISTS
The Museum of Modern Art – MoMA – is arguably the mash (plus Jean Nouvel’s tapering luxury tower, 53W53, most important global institution for contemporary art is nearing completion next door). This year, programme and, despite a few claustrophobic corners, it remains a highlights include a Brancusi exhibition and a Bruce must-see both for expertly curated exhibitions and a Nauman retrospective, the first in 25 years, which traces permanent collection that includes Van Goghs, Picassos the artist’s command of drawing, printmaking, and Chagalls. Philip Johnson’s original sculpture garden photography, neon, performance and video, as well as continues to offer a welcome reprieve from the midtown sculpture and architecturally scaled environments.
102 The New Museum on Bowery is by Tokyo-based architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of SANAA
Recently relocated to a beautiful new building by early photography by Harold Edgerton and an Renzo Piano, The Whitney Museum focuses on 20th- extensive Andy Warhol retrospective. and 21st-century American art. Piano is a master of public The New Museum, Lower East Side, showcases space and his design includes a large area in front – a experimental works by emerging artists and is also worth “piazza” he calls it – for people to meet, congregate, chat, a trip, even if only to glimpse the stunning SANAA- and even loiter. The exhibition floors are logically designed building, which rises from the gritty Bowery in a organised around a core of exposed concrete, and in silvery stack of rectangular volumes draped in corrugated- addition to the art on view, they offer remarkable aluminium panels. Architecture tours are held every views of the city from four large terraces. “I drew a second Sunday of the month and an extension of the building that flirts with the High Line and talks to the museum, slated to break ground in 2019, will be designed city,” Piano has said. Notable shows in 2018 include by the New York branch of OMA.
103 Vessel, by British designer Thomas Heatherwick, is set to become one of the city’s most distinctive landmarks
The multi-use The Shed features a movable steel exoskeleton
104 ARCHITECTURE AND AGRITECTURE
WALK THE WEST SIDE FOR LANDMARK BUILDINGS AND LANDSCAPED GREEN SPACES
Although temperatures in New York range from glacial to for Instagram – is poised to rival the Parisian landmark scorching, walking remains the best way to experience the in social media shares. city’s design novelties, and these days the West Side is the More akin to the Eiffel Tower in terms of its elegant tableau for much of Manhattan’s architectural engineering – and more functional in its programming – experimentation. The High Line, an elevated linear park The Shed is another highly anticipated building currently which opened in 2012 on an abandoned railway line, offers under construction where the Hudson Yards meets the a great perspective on the evolving neighbourhood. From High Line. The six-storey box, designed by Diller Scofidio buildings by Neil Danari and Thomas Juul-Hansen that + Renfro, features an enormous movable steel exoskeleton bend over and under the High Line, to Zaha Hadid’s newly of thin criss-crossed columns and will serve as a flexible completed condo at W28th street that is all steel bands and venue for performances, installations and collaborations. rounded glass corners, there’s clearly a lot to see; not the Hans Ulrich Obrist was recently appointed as The Shed’s least of which is the park itself, which was designed by senior programme adviser and the 2019 season is set to James Corner Field Operations with Diller Scofidio + include a Gerhard Richter exhibition, new compositions by Renfro and fitted with beautiful landscaping and a planting Steve Reich and an original production by Chen Shi-Zheng. scheme that creates year-round blooms. The High Line undoubtedly succeeded in spurring The third and final phase of the High Line now development and raising property values, but its greater loops around the Hudson Yards, an ambitious achievement has been repurposing redundant redevelopment project and the site of the city’s newest infrastructure to create much needed public space. And architectural spectacle: Vessel by Thomas Heatherwick the project has inspired others. The Lowline, slated to Studio. Located in a public plaza, the structure open in 2021 is an underground park being built in an resembles, depending on your viewpoint, a copper- abandoned tram station beneath Delancey Street. The coloured MC Esher painting or an elaborate stairway to project is a collaboration between Korea-based company nowhere. Vessel is set to open later this year and Sunportal, (which developed remote skylights that collect comprises an urn-shaped lattice of 154 staircases and distribute light underground), and local designer (almost 2,500 steps) and 80 landings, reaching a height James Ramsay. “The Lowline stands at the intersection of of 46m. Hudson Yards developer Stephen Ross says he a great many things,” says Ramsay. “It’s not just design, it’s wants the structure to become New York’s Eiffel Tower: not just urbanism, it’s not just strictly technology either, it Vessel’s pear-shaped silhouette – perfectly proportioned also incorporates an element of urban archaeology.”
105 1 Hotel Central Park
106 SLEEP IN THE CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS
WHETHER ECO, TECHNO OR RETRO, THE TREND IS LOCAL WITH HOTELS IN THE 'HOOD
As New Yorkers increasingly criss-cross the city and the outer boroughs to seek out the best restaurants, shopping and nightlife, hotels have also opened in new locations and many offer fresh design concepts. At the 1 Hotel Central Park, which opened in 2016, SH Group in creative partnership with NYC-based hospitality specialists AvroKO created an airy, eco-friendly vibe in a neighbourhood still largely dominated by pre-war primness. Simplicity, transparency and a celebration of natural materials guided the design, which features main entrance doors made from 16,000 fallen branches and cosy interiors are filled with terrariums, plants and The new Public hotel by American hotelier Ian Schrager sustainable furniture from local studios. The flooring, for example, was all specified from a company based in Hudson, New York, that reclaims all their wood locally then planes and finishes it. “The goal of 1 Hotel was to achieve sustainable concepts that do not compromise on luxury. We searched long and hard to find artisans and suppliers that were creating products that were highly crafted and conceptually appropriate,” explains Adam Farmerie, principal of AvroKO. A few blocks from Grand Central Terminal, The Marmara Park Avenue has also brought creative flair to a convenient but otherwise unremarkable neighbourhood. The hotel’s milky-toned lobby, courtesy of Joe Ginsberg, includes a 14m-long fireplace, a ceiling crafted from reclaimed wood, and a whimsical Turkish brand The Marmara's outpost on Park Avenue hand-carved sculpture of floating birds. Ian Schrager, the man behind the legendary Studio 54, opened a hotel named Public last June. Sitting inside a Herzog & de Meuron building in the Lower East Side, it courts young tech-savvy travellers with affordable rooms, trendy restaurants and well-designed common areas that double as co-working spaces. And for a touch of Old New York, the recently restored Beekman Hotel near City Hall offers 285 rooms and two turret suites located in a 19th-century tower. The hotel’s highlight is a stunning nine-level atrium framed by Victorian railings and topped by a pyramidal skylight. In the hip Bowery neighbourhood, The Bowery hotel is frequented by movie and rock stars thanks to its funky design. Hardwood floors, high-ceiling windows, Oushak rugs and rich furnishing create a relaxed
Photo. Public: Nicholas Koenig High-design hotel The Bowery ambiance with old-time New York charm.
107 Q&A
LEFT TO RIGHT Designers Chris Cho and Vicky Chan. The Aqua-Farm, which grows herbs, spices and edible flowers Brewing a solution
BY HANNAH GROGAN
Architect duo Vicky Chan (founder, Avoid Obvious Architects) and Chris Cho (of TheeAe) proved a perfect match when collaborating on The Artist House, a newly opened concept space in Causeway Bay
What is The Artist House? How did your design collaboration come about? Vicky: The company began by selling Belgian craft beer. Chris: Vicky and The Artist had a long relationship After three years of growth, the owners wanted their own already. For some reason, in Hong Kong it’s very difficult concept store. We combined all their ideas into The Artist for small companies involved in design-related and design- House. It’s not just a regular bar or regular restaurant. focused interiors. The client appreciates what’s good and There’s a lot of innovative things in here, including the what’s high quality. Aqua-Farm (a hydroponic facility to grow herbs and spices). Tell us about the interior design of the space. How did you get involved with the company and project? Vicky: The design concept of The Artist House is based Vicky: We started this project a year ago. Chris got on a Belgian farm from the 14th century and, trying to involved four to five months ago, when we were trying to find a way to marry Hong Kong’s culture with a foreign
nail down the final concept. culture, we took a Belgian barn as the motif. Photos. Portrait: Hannah Grogan. Aqua-Farm and Artist House: Kyra Campbell
108 The designers used the motif of a traditional barn to represent Belgian culture in the space
How does the process of collaboration work for the two he was able to do a lot of engineering work. He did a lot of you? of mechanical calculations himself to prove that we could Chris: I got involved at a later stage but before do it sustainably: by placing it in a smart location we can construction started, I added more technical aspects and still get the same amount of required air circulation. We resolved the issues related to the plumbing, mechanicals did all that and saved half of the money that we would and how to save costs. have spent on the air conditioner. By doing that we were Vicky: I don’t see us being one very technical and one very able to salvage enough resources for the real design, not conceptual. I actually see our positions switched just the technical backdrop. throughout the process. Our client is kind of small, so during construction many designs also changed. We made What were the challenges of designing the Aqua-Farm? a lot of decisions on site. My firm and his firm are Vicky: The design was pretty straightforward. You just relatively small. Our client is also a start-up. We were able had to give them enough space to fit the equipment inside. to work well together – we are similar in size and similar There was a lot of input from Chris’s end. Getting the in our ability to adapt and change. right amount of electricity, airflow, humidity control and all of that. It’s the hidden feature that you don’t see but a What did you know about the Aqua-Farm? lot of work that goes into it to make it up and running. Vicky: Originally, we didn’t know it had to be in such a Chris: The Artist really enjoys being sustainable in terms controlled environment. At first, in the design, we were of products and construction – so we found different thinking of growing some things on the columns [in the reclaimed material and wood to use, which has its own bar area]. We had some wild ideas in the beginning when difficulties. In the end we both made it something greater we brainstormed. And once we brought in some technical than we ever expected. advisers, the whole idea just shifted along. Everyone told aoarchitect.us us we needed X amount of air conditioners and theeae.com equipment. Chris is a genius. Although he’s an architect, mrtheartist.com/en/the-artist-house
109 OPINION
Located at the eastern end of Hollywood Road in Central, Hong Kong’s former Central Police Station compound shows an interesting contrast between the heritage buildings and the new Herzog & de Meuron-designed galleries
110 A matter of judgment
BY JOHN BATTEN Central’s former police station, magistracy and prison complex is set to reopen as a public space and arts venue. Will the historical significance and integrity of the site be preserved?
The renovation of the Central Police Station heritage inmates, execution victims, detainees during the complex is nearly complete and the site officially opens at Japanese occupation and, later, the deportees who the end of the month. I have visited the meticulously were processed at the site’s immigration centre. Their renovated heritage buildings and new Herzog & de stories are important, as are those of such well-known Meuron-designed Tai Kwun Contemporary art galleries. historical figures as the Vietnamese revolutionary Ho Many of the buildings, especially the prison cell blocks, Chi-minh, a former inmate. were previously in woeful physical condition. If anything, From the outset, The Hong Kong Jockey Club, the renovation may be too perfect, the patina of the years tasked to undertake the renovation, publicly stated cleaned away, each building appearing homogenous in that the site will neither be another 1881 Heritage in look and colour. But, over time, the buildings will settle Tsim Sha Tsui, nor a shopping centre-in-disguise, as into a new identity. During the first weeks of the complex PMQ has unfortunately become. I strongly believe being open to the public, the physical buildings will be that the site should not highlight the site’s ghoulish admired and checked, but it is the site’s identity that I will history, with ‘ghost tours’ evoking the hanging of attempt to gauge, to ‘feel’. death-row inmates or torture victims during the The entire site is named and branded as Tai Kwun (or Japanese occupation. There should be no tacky selfie- ‘Big Station’), the traditional name for the former police spots; the buildings themselves will provide ample headquarters fronting Hollywood Road. However, this photo opportunities. Fundamentally, there should be name does not fully embrace the three pillars of the justice enough space (spatially, and in the mind) for visitors system that the site accommodated. As well as being the to enjoy the presented historical and art displays and location of Hong Kong’s colonial police headquarters and then sit (without needing to buy a coffee!) under the local police station for Central District, the site housed shade to enjoy and reflect on the site’s magnificent Victoria Prison, and law courts within the beautiful presence of history. Tai Kwun is no Disneyland, and Magistracy building on Arbuthnot Road. Hong Kong people should appreciate that it is a The integrity of the site will be judged on the degree it poignant heritage site containing an integrated has preserved that sense of judicial and law-enforcement collection of some of the most important and history, and the ability to neatly include new activities and remarkable colonial buildings in Asia. It represents, restaurant outlets. Getting that balance right will be the no less, the city’s indomitable spirit and stands as a true measure of the site’s success as a renovated and beacon in China for Hong Kong’s rule of law, freedom ‘revitalised’ (to use the government’s favourite phrase) of expression and justice. heritage site. That, however, is no easy matter. How is the integrity of the site maintained, and not compromised (or dumbed-down) by the volume of visitors and needs of JOHN BATTEN commercial activities? How is a correct ambience and John Batten is a member of atmosphere achieved? Who is to judge what is correct, and The Hong Kong Jockey does that ambience change over time? Importantly, the Club-appointed Art site must evoke and embrace both the legal system that the Working Group, a volunteer buildings stands testimony to and those, now not present, advisory group for Tai Kwun.
Photo: Dicky Liu who were subject to it – the remand prisoners, convicted
111 EDITOR’S SELECTION
Shining star
BY LEONA LIU
Harlow by Gabriel Scott
Designed by Montreal-based brothers- in-law Gabriel Kakon and Scott Richler, Harlow Dried Flowers is a beautifully sculptured chandelier that borrows much from the duo’s background in jewellery making. Constructed around a prong setting, the fixture features an asymmetrical starburst of mould-blown glass crystals. The alabaster white glass diffuses light softly and creates a warm atmosphere in strong contrast with the chic metal frame. gabriel-scott.com
112 2018