PREVIEW Frame Magazine #118 - Sep/Oct 2017

THE GREAT INDOORS

Nº118 SEP — OCT 2017

HELLA JONGERIUS confronts the colour industry The CHINESE CINEMA revolution Alternatives to UBER’s flying cars

HOMEGROWN HOTELS

EU €19.95 IT €14.95 CHF 30 UK £14 US $19.95 CA $29.50 AU $28.99 JP ¥3,570 KR WON 40,000

BP

Taking local to the extreme

Ph: Scheltens & Abbenes – mutina.it

A new perspective on tiles

Numi Collection design by Konstantin Grcic

FRAME 118

Contents

9

36

78 Charlie Schuck

25 OBJECTS

No-sweat assembly, updated upholstery, empowered wallpaper

51 THE CHALLENGE Five creatives test drive mobility concepts

63 PORTRAITS HELLA JONGERIUS Protesting colour monotony

70

STEFAN DIEZ Out of somewhere

73

DELORDINAIRE Multicultural collaboration

Peter Rigaud

64

78 OLAF HOLZAPFEL In-between-ness 85

ONE PLUS PARTNERSHIP Watch and learn

97 SPACES

154 HANS BOODT Action Man-nequins

112

Michelle Young

I njecting colour into hospitals, extracting it from offices

10

FRAME 118

Adrià Goula

161 FRAME LAB Hospitality

184

164 NOMA cooks across continents 170 TRUNK HOTEL has a social conscience 174 JACKALOPE tells tales to wine tasters 180 THE WAREHOUSE HOTEL is seriously Singaporean 184 TUNATECA BALFEGÓ turns the catch into a lure

202 Courtesy of Kaldewei

192 WINDOW FRANCE

The psychology of poses Daici Ano, courtesy of Torafu Architects

170

195 REPORTS Sanitaryware downsizes, hybridizes, minimalizes 208 IN NUMBERS Lim + Lu’s Reform rugs in facts and figures

1817-2017.

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To find out more go to www.duravit.com.

12

COLOPHON

Frame is published six times a year by Frame Publishers Laan der Hesperiden 68 NL-1076 DX Amsterdam frameweb.com

EDITORIAL

For editorial inquiries, please e-mail frame@frameweb.com or call +31 20 4233 717 (ext 923).

Editor in chief Robert Thiemann – RT Managing editor Tracey Ingram – TI Editor Floor Kuitert – FK Research editor Anouk Haegens – AH Editorial intern Chahinez Bensari – CB Copy editors InOtherWords (D’Laine Camp, Donna de Vries-Hermansader) Design director Barbara Iwanicka Graphic designers Zoe Bar-Pereg Cathelijn Kruunenberg Translation InOtherWords (Donna de VriesHermansader, Jesse van der Hoeven) Contributors to this issue Yen Ping Chua – YPC Will Georgi – WG Daniel Golling – DG Rafael Gómez-Moriana – RGM Vicky Hampton – VH Jeroen Junte – JJ Sophie Lovell – SL Cameron Allan McKean – CAM Enya Moore – EM Shonquis Moreno – SM Dimity Noble – DN Cathelijne Nuijsink – CN Maria Elena Oberti – MEO Alexandra Onderwater – AO Jonathan Openshaw – JO Jill Diane Pope – JDP Jane Szita – JS Crystal Wilde – CW Cover Concept and photography Rein Janssen Lithography Edward de Nijs Printing Grafisch Bedrijf Tuijtel Hardinxveld-Giessendam

PUBLISHING Directors Robert Thiemann David de Swaan

Head of partnerships and events Marlies Bolhoven marlies@frameweb.com T +31 20 4233 717 ext 911 Web editor Terri Chen terri@frameweb.com T +31 20 4233 717 ext 962 Distribution and logistics Nick van Oppenraaij nick@frameweb.com T +31 20 4233 717 ext 954

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‘In creating the cover of Frame, I chose to work with watermelons. The fruit’s contrasting colours and multiple textures – smooth rind, brightly coloured flesh and tiny seeds – made it the perfect material for the creation of an interesting, slightly alienating image’ REIN JANSSEN, COVER PHOTOGRAPHER

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ISSN FRAME: 1388-4239 © 2017 Frame Publishers and authors

To reflect this issue’s focus on hospitality venues that source everything locally – from interior design to culinary ingredients – Rein Janssen used watermelons to depict the union of an environment and its furnishings.

An icon celebrating its 25th anniversary Campus by HOPE Stockholm

Original design by Johannes Foersom & Peter Hiort-Lorenzen LAMMHULTS.SE

16

EDITORIAL

And the Winner Is . . .

craftsmanship to their projects.

Our awards will include socially significant interiors, as well as people with a special talent or with relevant value for the interior industry. They point the way to spatial excellence.

What else makes the Frame Awards a cut above the rest?

A jury that numbers not only designers but other industry A BRIGHTLY coloured folder has stakeholders as well: clients, claimed a corner of my desk for makers, cultural institutions, the past few days. It looks like a educators. The evaluation flyer for an ice cream van – the of the entries is yet another kind that crawls through the distinctive feature. In February streets and chimes its arrival as 2018, all nominees will have it stops at your door. Spoofed the opportunity to present by the graphics, I discover that their work, in person, to the the contents of the folder have jury in Amsterdam, giving the nothing to do with ice cream. assessment process added depth It’s all about awards. The Davey precisely the same rationale that and substance. What’s more, the Awards. New to me, but now I the Davey Awards puts forward greater public will have a chance know they honour ‘the best in in its advertisement. But we have to appraise the nominations web, design, video, advertising, even more reasons. and to cast their votes for their mobile & social content from

To start at the beginning, favourites online. The eversmall agencies’. Quite a mouthful it’s no secret that we believe increasing scope of these awards and, on second thought, a meaningful, well-made spaces is enormous. rather pocket-sized niche. The make people happier and,

Our mission includes folder aims its message at small ultimately, healthier. After all, elevating the profession of companies only, because ‘big we spend most of our lives interior design to a higher level. agencies with big-name clients indoors, living, working, learning, I believe the Frame Awards will enter heaps of big-budget work’ shopping and relaxing. Frame’s make a substantial contribution to traditional award shows. Can’t mission is to empower spatial to the achievement of that argue with that. The founder of excellence, and that’s why our goal. So designers and makers, a creative firm, most likely the magazine has published the please send us your best solo winner of a Davey Award, gives crème de la crème of international or collaborative work. Clients, the reason for his participation: interior design for 20 years we want to see the best designs ‘It’s amazing when our efforts are now. In 2007, together with you’ve commissioned. The recognized and most importantly two cultural institutions, we deadline is 1 November 2017. lead to our client’s brand recogintroduced The Great Indoors Regardless of the size of the nition and success.’ So be it.

Awards, for the same reason that budget, the size of the studio, the

I’ve kept the folder in plain underpins so many other prizes: clout of the brand or company in sight for several days, because good work deserves recognition. question: you have my personal it inspires me. Not to enter the

It’s time for the next step: guarantee that what matters most Davey Awards, but to call your Frame-branded awards that run is quality. attention to the Frame Awards. the full gamut of interior design.

I’ll see you in Amsterdam Not another award? is a comment This means honouring not only in February.

I’ve heard repeatedly in recent spatial designs but also the way in which designers apply light, months. The answer is yes, and ROBERT THIEMANN the Frame Awards are based on colour, technology, material and Editor in chief

Lars Gitz Architects

HeartOak. The essence of nature.

Unique wooden floors since 1898.

dinesen.com

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CONTRIBUTORS

‘It was fascinating to hear about the – crazy! – food served at the new Noma locations. In Mexico, meals involved hedgehog and ant eggs, while in Australia an abalone dish referenced classic Aussie Parmigiana recipes’ VICKY HAMPTON

British-born Amsterdammer VICKY HAMPTON is a writer, a cook and an avid foodie who has lived and worked in the Netherlands since 2006. She focuses on reviewing and recommending Amsterdam restaurants, while doing additional culinary and travel writing. Hampton has written for publications such as The Guardian, The New York Times and the Michelin Guide. You’ll find her website at amsterdamfoodie.nl. On page 164 of this issue, she covers two of Danish restaurant Noma’s pop-up locations.

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A native of Salzburg, photographer PETER RIGAUD studied at Lette-Verein in Berlin. His aim is to communicate emotion and atmosphere as faithfully as possible in his portraits, while shedding light on the different facets of his models’ personalities. Rigaud has worked with publications such as Vogue Paris, Vogue Germany, National Geographic and W magazine. His contribution to Frame 118 – page 78 – involved artist Olaf Holzapfel.

SOPHIE LOVELL writes, edits and works as a creative consultant in the fields of architecture, design and publishing. A regular contributor to Wallpaper*, she has served as the magazine’s German editor since 2000. Lovell has written and edited a number of books, including This Gun Is for Hire: from personal to corporate design projects and Furnish: Furniture and Interior design for the 21st Century. She interviewed multidisciplinary artist Olaf Holzapfel for this issue’s ‘One Artist, One Material’ feature, found on page 78.

Photographer and visual artist FAN WU grew up as a ‘third culture kid’. Having worked in Hong Kong (her current base), Stockholm and New York, she has a distinctive perspective on social disorientation and the loneliness of modern life. Wu's work explores emotions and the human condition, as well as androgyny and how it’s expressed in love. Wu photographed the duo behind One Plus Partnership for this issue’s Portraits section; see page 85.

styling Studiopepe / photography Andrea Ferrari / ad Designwork

Lariana 2015 / bathtub, design Patricia Urquiola Fez 1999 / taps, design Benedini Associati Gemma 2016 / extras, design Sebastian Herkner New Agape showroom at Concept Gallery Pedro de Medinalaan 53, 1086 XP - Amsterdam T +31 20 49 630 46 www.conceptgallery.nl

www.agapedesign.it

Presents

The official DUTCH DESIGN WEEK STORE Discover a curated selection of products by EMERGING DESIGNERS, as well as our latest BOOKS and MAGAZINES. Created in collaboration with interior-design students from the Royal Academy of Art The Hague (KABK).

In collaboration with

FRAMEWEB.COM

21–29 OCTOBER 2017 Klokgebouw 50, Eindhoven, the Netherlands

Kjartan Már Magnússon, courtesy of Ragna Ragnarsdottir

WALLPAPER moves from backdrop to forefront. DESIGN PARADE opens up the production process. ASSEMBLY goes tool-free. CHAIRS dress up in alternative ways.

Discover new directions in the world of products.

28

OBJECTS

Slotted transparent panels slide together smoothly to form Tinge, a series of prototypal side tables made out of leftovers from the plastics industry. Conceived by Mo Man Tai owner ULRIKE JURKLIES, the collection is to be developed and extended in collaboration with Belgian plastics-processing company Zweko Optics. momantai-design.nl

SIMPLIFIED ASSEMBLY

29

Giovanni Righetti and Francesco Terzago

CLAUDIO LARCHER’s Puzzle mirror for Italian brand Clique lives up to its name. The base, made from granite that was cut into geometric shapes using advanced robotic technology, can be assembled by – and to the taste of – its owner, much like a game of Tetris. clique-editions.com

36

OBJECTS

Charlie Schuck

With ‘a natural tendency to traverse conventional standards’, BOWER – a furniture studio based in New York City – finds various functional applications for everyday products.

A good example is the Ring chair, which combines powder-coated steel and copper with upholstery reminiscent of cut-pile carpeting. bowernyc.com

UPHOLSTERY INNOVATIONS

In both name and construction method, Layer’s Tent chair for Moroso takes a cue from the traditional tent. Designer BENJAMIN HUBERT’s digital 3D-knitting technique eliminates seams and enables the integration of cushions. Stretched around a steel frame, the recycled nylon fabric adapts to the user’s body. layerdesign.com

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THE

Courtesy of Takt Project

FUTURE MOBILITY In the lead-up to each issue, Frame challenges emerging designers to answer a topical question with a future-forward concept. As Google, Tesla, Ford and Apple test self-driving vehicles, SpaceX founder Elon Musk envisions underground highways and Uber dreams up a network of flying cars, we commissioned five makers to conceptualize and explain their ideas on the vehicle of the future.

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FUTURE MOBILITY

Nº 1

Round Trip

Proposing ALUMINIUM FOAM for use in cars, JinSik Kim confronts sustainability issues in the automobile industry.

You've focused on a particular material to achieve that goal . . . I propose using aluminium foam [Kim’s term is ‘foaming aluminium’] for both structure and surface. This will make the vehicle significantly lighter and more compact – and that’s good. However, developing a vehicle that is made predominately of empty space and aluminium will require

car manufacturers and creatives to invent a new design language.

Anders Jungermark

You want to eliminate the waste involved in car production? JINSIK KIM: Absolutely.

There are currently far too many components used in building a vehicle. Car brands need to work out how to produce a more efficient vehicle with fewer parts, and designers need to collaborate with materials engineers to explore new production methods.

What does the material look and feel like? It depends on where you’re at in the production process. At first, the foam will expand inside a mould, much like dough rises in an oven.

Once the foam sets, it will be similar to bone.

It’s a fascinating material, because it’s light, strong and sound-absorbing.

Was your choice of aluminium foam driven by functional or aesthetic concerns? Both.

As I’ve said, the idea is to use aluminium foam for the vehicle’s frame and surface, which significantly reduces the number of materials needed for production. Further-

His background in design research and his professional experience in luxury design make JINSIK KIM an interesting contributor to ‘The Challenge’.

THE CHALLENGE

more, as I foresee people using their cars primarily for short journeys, the interior will be very simple – resembling that of today’s public transport – with a minimum of materials. Aluminium foam is also suitable for car interiors, by the way.

Will people be able to customize the interiors? Yes. Aluminium foam will be available in various textures and colours. Customers will be able to enjoy all the luxury and choice they now have with leather, wood and carbon fibre, but in a more sustainable form.

A material this light could prompt your concept to take off in a new direction. A very lightweight car might be able to fly as

The aluminium foam can function as a car’s frame and surface, thus reducing the number of materials needed for car production.

well, but that’s a long-term application. More important is that a compact car uses far less fuel than a larger car, making my concept highly efficient in terms of energy consumption.

Finally, you’ve thought of a happy ending for every car made from aluminium foam. Yes. One of aluminium’s biggest advantages is its complete recyclability. Instead of relegating old cars to the scrapyard, automotive manufacturers can recycle the vehicles and turn the material into new cars. – WG studiojinsik.com

53

Reminiscent of porous bone, JinSik Kim’s material is light, strong and sound-absorbing.

56

FUTURE MOBILITY

Nยบ 3

Foot Forward Approaching the body as a mode of transport, Vera de Pont contemplates SMART SHOES for pedestrians.

THE CHALLENGE

A special coating on Vera de Pont’s multimaterial shoes will allow wearers to hover over a magnetic super highway that collects energy from pedestrian movement to power the city.

You’ve designed a shoe, not a vehicle?

VERA DE PONT: Yes. I want to propose a vision of cities that are created for people, where residents no longer rely on cars but on individualized public transport in a world full of green. In this vision, the human body plays a central role in transport and in the generation of energy.

What makes the shoe special? High-resolution microstructures provide extra support and create highly defined shock absorbers while remaining lightweight thanks to the efficient use of material. Even more important is the magnetized coating that enables the walker to float around the city on magnetic super highways.

Sounds exciting . . . Walkers will be kings of the road and have their own lanes. The focus is very much on the quality of shoes, which are the most important aspect of pedestrian transport.

How does it work? The opposite magnetic poles of the shoe and the roadway create a magnetized cushion that allows the walker to hover above the surface. It will look as if you are on an invisible skateboard. Because no friction is involved, the speed is the same as you traverse the entire super highway.

How will conventional shoes change? The shoe will become a smart entity, printed on demand using a mix of materials. Its form will be based entirely on the wearer’s personal body data.

Why is it important for the shoe to be printed on demand? The idea is to reduce waste as much as possible. I believe that all fashion items should be on demand and make use of additive manufacturing. A high level of personalization also represents immense value for the user.

How does data ‘form’ the shoe? The form is based on pressure points that affect the feet while running or walking, and on an analysis of 4D body movement. This data is translated into a high-definition multi-material shoe.

Multi-material printing is functional, but that doesn't mean that it can't look really cool.

What will the highways look like? They won’t be as big as our current motorways.

I’m thinking smaller sections, like the moving walkways at Schiphol Airport. Body movement on these lanes will be uploaded into an energy network that could be used to power our cities What material would make these shoes possible? It would need to be something suitable for printing complex structures, both hard and soft. In the future I’d like to use bioplastics, but what I have in mind isn’t available yet, so I used plastics for all the tests I’ve done. – WG veradepont.com

The way VERA DE PONT rethinks the fashion industry sparked Frame’s curiosity about her take on the world of transport and secured her berth in ‘The Challenge’.

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www.ton.eu

alba collection designed by Alexander Gufler IT/AT

Markus Burke

HELLA JONGERIUS colours the world. STEFAN DIEZ needs coffee and pretzels. ONE PLUS PARTNERSHIP charts cinema territory. DELORDINAIRE designs with distance. Meet the people; get their perspectives.

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PORTRAITS

WHAT I’VE LEARNED

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‘Our world suffers from colour anorexia’ Cultural entrepreneur HELLA JONGERIUS has learned to embrace the industry to bring more colour into the world.

Words

JEROEN JUNTE

Portraits

DANIEL HOFER

HELLA 66

PORTRAITS

HELLA JONGERIUS: ‘I have a great need to lose myself in something. Over the last ten years I’ve focused completely on colour. The more I read and research, the less I know about the subject. I feel like a beginner again, and it feels good. In that sense, colour is a metaphor for life itself. I’ve also started painting recently. Not with the pretence of a visual artist, but as a way to experience how colours blend and what the properties of certain pigments are. Once I’ve become fascinated by a subject, I want to understand it to its core.

I become incredibly persistent. That’s why I only work with a few companies – ones that offer me freedom. Innovation is only possible if there is room for serendipity – coincidence can push you onto a certain path. I didn’t name my studio Jongeriuslab on a whim.’

‘My first job was as an occupational therapist.

The only resemblance to designing is that you work with your hands. It was mostly a way to escape my upbringing, which had limited room for self-discovery. It felt like an enormous relief when I decided to attend the Design Academy instead. I’d finally found my place. The freedom and non-conformism of the art world drew me in. But I instinctively knew that the Design Academy wasn’t the right place for me, either. There was too much freedom. I’m more practical. Even back then, I was fascinated by mechanical processes. To not just make one of something, but a whole series of those things at the same time. I wasn’t surrounded by much in the way of art and culture as a child. My mother was a patternmaker, so we did have various sewing machines at home. I even had a small one of my own, but I hated it. I thought, I’m not going to sew while the men design real industrial products. But at Design Academy Eindhoven, a world of yarn development, weaving and knitting for the industry opened up. That’s how I discovered I had a talent for textiles, even though I only started with that years later. And when you follow your talent, you’re in a flow.’

‘Design Academy Eindhoven, which wasn’t even its name at the time, was more vocational then than it is now. I received a traditional education in industrial design.

I learned all kinds of manufacturing techniques, such as making ceramic and injection moulds, and weaving textiles. These days, you’re mostly taught how to have an academic attitude. You have to be able to think in concepts and be critical. Personal development is very important of course, but the skills are lagging behind. Students know very well what they want nowadays. They just can’t do it. But for now, almost all products are made by the industry. So if we don’t want our world to be shaped by marketers, we have to sit at that table. Otherwise there won’t be any space for research, for experiment, for quality.

That’s why knowledge of industrial processes is essential. I firmly believe that the economic system has to change – and will change. For that reason, economics should be a mandatory course at design schools.’

‘Economics should be a mandatory course at design schools’

‘Immediately after my graduation, or during really, I was picked up by Droog Design in 1992. That was the turning point in my career.

My work coincided with a movement, which enhanced its cultural importance.

I was also influenced by Droog Design’s way of thinking. I met influential contemporaries like Jurgen Bey and Piet Hein Eek through the brand. And don’t forget the publicity. But in the end, working under the Droog flag became too constricting. By then I had my own fascinations about the mix of industry and craftsmanship, whereas Droog moved towards design art, where huge amounts are paid for often senseless statements. That’s not my cup of tea. The brand’s logical successor was Super Normal, led by Jasper Morrison.

Not that I feel much kinship for that, but it is fresh. And at the least it offers an alternative to an out-of-hand production system that continues to pump out new products, each demanding more attention than the next.’

‘I’m a real cultural entrepreneur. Because of that, working for a company or a large design studio isn’t an option. That’s something I gained from my upbringing. My three brothers are also entrepreneurs, just like my father. To successfully lead an independent studio, you have to be entrepreneurial. You need to be able to assess the risks and also have the courage to take them, free up money for experiments and invest time in research.

Apart from these business aspects you have to organize and build a network. Direct your staff and be able to bind them to you. And maybe the most important thing of all: have the focus to get where you want to go. All things I’m good at and enjoy doing. I don’t like all of it, though. In particular, having too many employees can be a burden. I know brilliant designers from my time at Droog who never became successful, because they don’t have entrepreneurial skills. It’s such a shame.’

‘After running a studio for ten years, it became apparent that I’d created a building that didn’t fit me. Too many employees, too many clients, too much white noise. I could have gone on successfully for years, but that would have just been more of the same. Something wasn’t right, I felt it intuitively. And my intuition is spot on, always. I trust it blindly. »

WHAT I’VE LEARNED

‘Students know very well what they want nowadays,’ says Jongerius. ‘They just can’t do it.’

67

Setting the Scene

Tracking five key projects, ONE PLUS PARTNERSHIP records its dramatic shaping of China’s cinema boom.

Words

JANE SZITA

Portraits

FAN WU

MILESTONES

85

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PORTRAITS

TODAY, THEY’RE KNOWN for an outstanding run of high-impact, multi-award-winning cinemas in China – over 50 to date and counting – but when Virginia Lung and Ajax Law founded One Plus Partnership (OPP) in 2004, their experience was limited, says Lung, to ‘safer residential projects.

We kept asking ourselves, where are all the great projects that inspired us as students? We didn’t see any options for dream projects, so we decided we had to create them.’ One radical design later (for

the duo’s own tiny apartment) was all it took for the fledgling office to capture media attention and, with it, OPP’s first clients. ‘Hong Kong companies tend to hire either foreign or established design offices,’ says Law. In China, however, the real-estate and cinema industries were in search of a competitive design edge. ‘They were more willing to take a chance on us,’ he says. The stage was set for an adventurous and increasingly complex exploration of the cinema as design experience.

Ajax Law, Virginia Lung

2007

MELLON TOWN BAMBOO LOBBY In its first years, One Plus Partnership received mainly residential commissions.

One example, for the lobby of Mellon Town in Shenzhen, called for ‘a Chinese motif that could be modernized’, says Lung. ‘In the past, the concept of a lobby didn’t exist in China, but courtyards in the home served a similar function.’ The domestic courtyard, which reminded them of the Chinese garden, suggested ‘bamboo as a theme’.

Their interpretation of the theme was abstract and contemporary rather than literal.

‘It’s traditional yet not traditional,’ says Law. ‘We didn’t use real bamboo, but we appropriated its colour – a vibrant spring green – and its cylindrical forms. Random patterns on the floor look like shadows cast by growing bamboo. The boxes in the design are based on Chinese mailboxes, which are standardized on the mainland.’

The project proved to be a turning point for the office, ‘as it was our first to win a US award’, says Lung. ‘Because it was featured widely in the media, it was key in attracting global attention to our work. Design-wise, I think its strength lies in its colour and in its resemblance to a rendering. It seems unreal, even though it’s quite practical.’

In 2007 OPP consisted of Lung, Law and an occasional assistant or two, and by now a working method had been established.

‘We basically do everything together. We ask each other questions all the time.’ The approach to clients was crystallizing, too.

‘Our work isn’t easy to read; we need to present lots of models to make our case.’

One of the many residential projects realized in OPP’s early years, Mellon Town Bamboo Lobby attracted an international audience to the studio’s work.

“ Everybody

who’s involved with this . . .

I love you!

I love you!

I love you!

Cuba Gooding Jr. at the 1997 Oscars

What will you say when you win?

Awards HONOURING THE WORLD’ S BEST INTERIORS

S PATIAL AWARDS Top interiors in the sectors of

E XEC UTI O NAL AWARDS Best spatial uses of

SO C IE TAL AWARDS Interiors that most urgently address

Retail Hospitality Work Institutional Shows

Colour Light Digital technology Material Craftsmanship

Sustainability Innovation Social design

Submit your best work before 1 November 2017 FR AME AWAR D S.COM

BetteLux Oval Couture Steel can wear anything

Design: Tesseraux+Partner www.bette.de

Courtesy of Fran Silvestre Arquitectos

AIRBNB pops out of its pigeonhole. Stand-out pavilions stand up for sustainability at ASTANA EXPO. CLIVE WILKINSON and others breathe life into a hospital. Step inside the great indoors.

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SHOW

ALEX DA CORTE mashes lush contemporary colours with cryptic consumerism metaphors

121 SPACES

Sophie Thun

122

VIENNA – Slow Graffiti is populated with a rooster, a single galosh, one generic metal folding chair, an upturned umbrella, a table fan, pink Styrofoam packing peanuts spilling from their bag, a large lemon and a stuffed dog, among other eminently ordinary objects.

Items are set at lonely distances from one another in a high-ceilinged, 604-m2 room that bristles with slender columns whose smooth surfaces complement walls carpeted in lavender velvet, giving an impression of lush flawlessness. Floor areas are a jigsaw puzzle of shallow shag carpet in fields of pastels that border deep, rusty hues: powder-blue beside burgundy, lemon-yellow and violet, diluted brick-red and an umbrous orange.

The oxidized candy land is on show at Secession in Vienna, which presents contemporary art forms in solo and themed exhibitions. Slow Graffiti is the vision of 37-year-old American artist Alex Da Corte, who lives and works in Philadelphia, where he paints and constructs videos, sculptures and scenographic installations that are moody with texture and colour and freighted with the cultural and psychological associations of consumer objects, which he manipulates and decontextualizes.

Tube lighting ranged vertically along the columns calls forth a vague image of a metropolitan skyline – Da Corte means to architect the ‘skeleton of a neon city’ – but

visitors are also unmistakably indoors beneath a broad factory-paned skylight. The scenographic quality of the space is reinforced by an area with cinema-like seating, where an original short film – a shot-for-shot remake of Jørgen Leth’s The Perfect Human (1967), starring the artist masked as Boris Karloff’s Frankenstein monster – loops every 20 minutes.

Prefacing the press release for Slow Graffiti are lyrics (‘Let me interpret history in every line and scar’) from the 1998 Belle & Sebastian song by the same name, as well as a 1963 quote attributed to Karloff: ‘The monster turned out to be the best friend I ever had.

He changed the whole course of my life.’ But there is no sense of a monster in this room, no wrinkles and little history. The connection to the Vienna Secession – an important turn-of-the-19th-century movement that sought to produce art and design eschewing contemporary conservatism and historicism – is unclear. But perhaps that connection lies precisely in the installation’s fertile air of disconnection. What remains is form and feeling, and a tension drawn taut between duplicity and daydream. – SM Slow Graffiti is on show at Secession in Vienna until 3 September 2017 alexdacorte.com

Da Corte means to architect the ‘skeleton of a neon city’

SPACES

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AdriĂ Goula, courtesy of El Equipo Creativo

Hospitality

When it comes to hotels and restaurants, globalization’s glory days are over. Guests are steering away from the universal and towards local experiences with an unmistakable sense of place. Food, products, services, materials: everything that can be local is local. Step into the world of HOME-GROWN HOSPITALITY.

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HOSPITALITY

NOMA ON TOUR Tulum, MX — Sydney, AU

Issamel Moreno

Designed by La Metropolitana, dining chairs at Noma Mexico are made with material from the nearby Yucatán Peninsula.

FRAME LAB

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Despite its Scandinavian roots, Noma proves TIME AND PLACE TRUMP ALL with pop-ups on two contrasting continents.

Words

Jason Loucas

VICKY HAMPTON

Custom tableware at Noma Australia is the work of local artist Paul Davis.

184

HOSPITALITY

Barcelona, ES

Photos Adrià Goula

DIVING DEEP

El Equipo Creativo based the design of Tunateca Balfegó Espai Gastronòmic on the visual attributes and habitat of bluefin tuna.

A Catalan tuna restaurant confirms that LOCAL HAS NEVER BEEN SO GLOBAL. Words

RAFAEL GÓMEZ-MORIANA

FRAME LAB

185

www.grespania.com

Office building, Spain / Facade: Coverlam Basic / Pirineos

by Ceramic slab of large dimensions and reduced thickness.

High mechanical stregth and inmune to heat, ice and chemical agents.

Ideal for coating interiors, exteriors, facades, floors and furniture.

MINIMAL THICKNESS

3,5mm / 5,6mm / 10,5mm / 12mm

LARGE FORMAT

1620x3240mm / 1200x3600mm / 1000x3000mm 1200x2600mm / 1000x1000mm / 500x1000mm

Courtesy of Well

Sanitaryware BETTE brings tactility to the bathroom.

KALDEWEI gets flexible. ALAPE thinks small.

LAUFEN goes graphic. MUTINA mixes it up.

Discover what’s driving the business of design.

196

REPORTS

All in One

The smaller, the smarter: DIMINISHING BATHROOM SIZES inspire alternative designs.

Words

CHAHINEZ BENSARI Last year, over half the world’s population lived in urban areas according to a UN report. Accompanying the shift towards the city are increasingly smaller apartments and countless design innovations that respond to the challenges posed by a lack of space. From the rise of micro-housing projects to field trips by Ikea designers – who sought inspiration for small-scale living in Utah, at the Mars Desert Research Station’s spacecraftlike environment – one thing is certain: compact living is happening.

In busy metropolises, space is a rare resource that should be exploited wisely, both indoors and out. Living rooms, kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms need the benefit of good design, particularly in the case of bathrooms that are little more than cubbyholes. As flats get smaller, the bathroom is often the first area to suffer the consequences.

Shrinking apartments frequently come with downsized bathrooms that require cleverly designed sanitary fixtures and furnishings: customizable multipurpose products that make the most of the space available while striking a balance between aesthetics and functionality. Bathroom furniture is becoming more and more flexible: examples are wall-mounted and height-adjustable options, smart storage compartments in lieu of clunky drawers, and sustainable materials and appliances once reserved for larger spaces yet now suitable for bathrooms of all shapes and sizes.

Equipped with all the amenities found in a larger home, TheSize’s Tiny House, designed by Jeffrey Bruce Baker for KBIS 2017, shows how sustainable lightweight materials like Neolith’s sintered stone can be integrated into spaces big and small.

“

What makes a tiny place workable is vigilant interior design. Each piece in a microunit must be the correct size DAILY HERALD

SANITARYWARE

Part of the Luv series created by Cecilie Manz for Duravit is a small ‘handrinse’ basin with a tap platform that doubles as a shelf, offering users functional quality in a minimalist design.

The units that make up Alape’s Folio Small collection – think modest dimensions and concealed storage space – can be incorporated into even the smallest bathroom.

Enabling a smart use of space, Geberit’s Acanto line includes room dividers that double as storage: the built-in cabinets can be pulled out and concealed when not in use.

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206

REPORTS

Trending Tones Three ways to give COLOUR to tiles Words

FLOOR KUITERT

➀ Go Natural

Urban and natural influences merge to inform collections that are organic in appearance and endlessly applicable.

One example is Grespania’s Katmandu series of porcelain tiles, which the makers call an ‘industrially produced take on cottos’. Thanks to earthy tones and rustic surfaces, each tile seems to have been shaped by the elements.

➁ Add Dimensions

Dynamic and rhythmic surfaces featuring relief and mosaic-like patterns include Rombini, a chromatic collection of ceramic tiles – Carré, Losange and Triangle – designed by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Mutina. Triangle’s corrugated surface invites an intriguing play of light and shadow.

Courtesy of Koninklijke Mosa bv

➂ Make It Move

The surfaces of certain tiles show that colour is the product of reflection. Mosa’s tiles, which are composed of a multitude of different pigments, vary in colour throughout the day as the intensity of ambient light shifts from bright to dim.

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208

IN NUMBERS

3

5

materials are used for Reform I (pictured): wool, flax, spun silk, dull silk and fine Lurex.

Reform II is 100 % wool

modules comprise the carpet system

13

circles appear among the three modules

240 hours of hand-tufting goes into the creation of each rug

mm is the diameter of each circle

7

techniques are involved in Reform’s production: carving, bevelling, embossing, high-level cutting, low-level cutting, high-level looping and low-level looping

Mix and Mat

LIM + LU’s jigsaw-like Reform rugs for Tai Ping adapt to any space.

Words

limandlu.com

600

TRACEY INGRAM