Azman Architects Established in 1993 by Ferhan Azman, this is an understated but uniquely successful practice whose roll call of big name clients speaks for itself. Having built a solid reputation through awardwinning private home projects and Alexander McQueen’s flagship London store, Azman Architects, has won commissions with the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Barbican Gallery to stage exhibitions including a retrospective for Vivienne Westwood. The bulk of Azman’s work is, however, residential. She insists that she doesn’t have a signature style, working instead with the client’s brief to create spaces that are inherently comfortable and reassuring. What you get, in fact, is an architect whose solidity of concept and execution, with exceptional attention to detail and primary concept, guarantees that the decorative element will follow seamlessly and effortlessly. Her designs are purposeful (she would never incorporate an element of design for its own sake) and coherent, as well as innovative. Azman doesn’t follow trends and wouldn’t do pastiche even if it is to replicate one of her own.
Azman Architects 18 Charlotte Road London EC2A 3PB T: +44(0)20 7739 8191 E: office@azmanarchitects.com w: http://www.azmanarchitects.com/
She has a preference for, and tends to be briefed to work on contemporary design projects (Doric columns are just not her thing, she says) and individual homes that have a timeless cachet.
traditional (local stone) materials is incredibly attractive here, as is the full length skylight which, combined with the floor to ceiling windows, makes this a “house of light” extraordinaire.
One of her flagship projects is Concrete House, a new build created on what was once a 3000 ft2 vegetable patch. An intricate cubist structure made of concrete, limestone, glass and timber, all interlocking purposefully to create different planes, this is a surprisingly modernist home in architecturally traditional Islington.
Azman’s best known commercial project, the McQueen store, was a follow-up commission after she designed McQueen’s and Isabella Blow’s homes. The store offers flexible space, conceived to showcase different seasons’ collections, with the ability to re-set it at will. It is a chameleon of a space, mirroring something McQueen once told her: “I don’t have a style; rather, I cut and create collections based on a theme.”
Another is the refurbishment of the old Irish Consulate Building in Cap d’Antibes. Azman has used the steeply sloping plot to create a natural progression of terraces leading to a swimming pool, while remodeling the internal space in an open plan style. The exterior aspect of the villa is characterized by the distinctive steel doors leading to a terrace, and the (omitted white) aluminium panels that are functional (folding shutters) as well as highly decorative. Tasman House is another new build in her native Bursa, Turkey. The inspired use of contemporary (fiber cement and timber composite panels) and
In line with her recurrent theme of purposefulness, Azman creates bespoke furniture, more often than not to fit the overall design of her buildings. These are highly sophisticated and contemporary pieces, hand-built in timber, plastic metal and glass.
Concrete House, London BBeyond: Fabulous Interiors And Architecture designs
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