Interior Design September 2025

SEPTEMBER 2025

at work, at play

Barcelona Barcelona Wall Scape, Wall Scape, Photograph Photograph

by Kendall

by Kendall McCaugherty McCaugherty

Designed those who Designed forfor those who against the grain gogo against the grain If creativity is in your nature, our new family of Wood Textures If creativity is in your nature, our new family of Wood Textures is your acoustic solution.

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Photographed on location at ©2025 KOHLER CO.

Designed by

In-store interior design & 3D modeling services.(1) Quick Ship program available.(2)

Dream. Large 3-seat sofas, cocktail table, end table, and rug, designed by David Rockwell.

Photos by Flavien Carlod and Baptiste Le Quiniou, for advertising purposes only. Architect: Pepe Giner. (1)Conditions apply, contact store for details. (2)Quick Ship Program available on select products in stock, subject to availability. Images are for reference only and models, sizes, colors, and finishes may vary. Please contact your local store for more information.

French Ar t de Vivre

editor in chief chief content officer

Cindy Allen, hon. IIDA MANAGING DIRECTOR

DESIGN DIRECTOR

Helene E. Oberman

Karla Lima

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

CREATIVE SERVICES

Annie Block

Marino Zullich

SENIOR EDITOR

PRINT OPERATIONS MANAGER

Georgina McWhirter MARKET DIRECTOR

Rebecca Thienes ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Wilson Barlow ASSISTANT EDITOR

Lisa Di Venuta ASSISTANT TO THE EDITOR IN CHIEF

Nicole Vega

Olivia Padilla SENIOR PREPRESS AND IMAGING SPECIALIST

Igor Tsiperson

digital DIGITAL CONTENT MANAGER

Carlene Olsen WEB PRODUCER

Michelle Yee

EDITOR AT LARGE

Elena Kornbluth CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Stanley Abercrombie Raul Barreneche Mairi Beautyman Edie Cohen Rebecca Dalzell Jesse Dorris Laura Fisher Kaiser Craig Kellogg Jane Margolies Murray Moss Jen Renzi Peter Webster Larry Weinberg

interiordesign.net @interiordesignmag @intdesmag @Interior Design Magazine

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

Benny Chan/Fotoworks Jimmy Cohrssen Art Gray Eric Laignel Michelle Litvin Garrett Rowland

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Erica Holborn CHIEF MARKETING & REVENUE OFFICER

Bobby Bonett CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

Michael Shavalier

Acoustic solutions that perform beautifully.

Inspiring spaces. Superior sound.

Sustainable design. zintraacoustic.com

SANDOW was founded by visionary entrepreneur Adam I. Sandow in 2003, with the goal of reinventing the traditional publishing model. Today, SANDOW powers the design, materials, and luxury industries through innovative content, tools, and integrated solutions. Its diverse portfolio of assets includes Luxe Interiors + Design, Interior Design, Metropolis, and DesignTV by SANDOW; ThinkLab, a research and strategy firm; and content services brands, including The Agency by SANDOW, a full-scale digital marketing agency; The Studio by SANDOW, a video production studio; and SURROUND, a podcast network and production studio.

SANDOW is a key supporter and strategic partner to NYCxDESIGN, a not-for-profit organization committed to empowering and promoting the city’s diverse creative community. In 2019, Adam Sandow launched Material Bank, the world’s largest marketplace for searching, sampling, and specifying architecture, design, and construction materials.

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A MORE SUSTAINABLE INTERIOR DESIGN As part of the SANDOW carbon impact initiative, all publications, including INTERIOR DESIGN and METROPOLIS, are printed using soy-based inks, which are biobased and derived from renewable sources. This continues Sandow Design Group’s ongoing efforts to address the environmental impact of its operations and media plat­forms. We have a partnership with Keilhauer to offset all estimated carbon emissions for the printing and distribution of every print copy of INTERIOR DESIGN in 2025 with verified carbon credits, including the one you hold in your hands.

stack This magazine is recyclable. Please recycle when you’re done with it. We’re all in this together.

Create a space that inspires.

Thousands of works and custom capabilities for hospitality projects of all sizes, handcrafted by Four Hands Art Studio.

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CONTENTS SEPTEMBER 2025

VOLUME 96 NUMBER 8

ON THE COVER At the Lego Group Boston Hub by BDG Architecture + Design, above a pantry’s custom sofa, Bond side table by Aust & Amelung for COR, and Zandur cork-rubber flooring, custom ceiling fixtures emulate, in large scale, the tubes on the bottom of Lego bricks that click into the round studs on the top of them. Photography: Eric Laignel.

features 114 ANCIENT AND MODERN

by Peter Webster

Leeton Pointon Architects and Allison Pye Interiors give a contemporary country house an archaic aura on the Mornington Peninsula in Australia.

122 BRICK BY BRICK

by Rebecca Dalzell

At the Lego Group Boston Hub, BDG Architecture + Design built spaces that allow for work and play— as well as collaboration, innovation, and ROI. 132 PLOT TWIST

by Elizabeth Fazzare

A heritage Italian clothing brand expands into the Far East with Casa Curiel Chongqing, a fashionable ode to all things Milanese

by Liang Architecture Studio.

140 CHIMNEY SUITE

by Michael Snyder

At Loop Homes Burjassot, a student residence hall in Spain by Martín Lejarraga Architecture Office, towering smokestack forms nod to the site’s industrial roots.

150 ARTISTRY’S ALL AROUND

by Annie Block and Helene Oberman

From FiDi to Flushing, Westchester County to Princeton, New Jersey, the annual NYCxDesign Awards showcase the best projects in the Greater New York area.

166 EXQUISITE INSIDE AND OUT

by Jane Margolies

HANMO (HANGZHOU) PHOTOGRAPHY CO.

09.25

ACOS and Studio Widoki add tasteful office headquarters to the Omni Kaiser Patisserie production plant in northern Poland.

132

JeLa Chair + RT25 Table Designed by jehs+laub

09.25

CONTENTS SEPTEMBER 2025

VOLUME 96 NUMBER 8

special power players section 80 MATTERS OF DESIGN C-Suite Confidential

by Jen Renzi

Designers and execs share an insider’s view of how people-first workplaces are driving RTO. 90 SHOPTALK edited by Georgina McWhirter 95 CROSSLINES New Keys

by Peter Webster

When partnering with outside firms, Brad Wilson of Ace Group International and Atelier Ace looks for architects and designers with no hotel experience.

103 CREATIVE VOICES Stronger Together

by Ian Phillips

Using minimal materials but maximum innovation, Patrick Jouin and Dassault Systèmes forge a 3Dprinted chair unlike any other.

walk-through 47 ARCHITECTURAL CONFECTION

by Petra Loho

departments 25 HEADLINERS 31 DESIGNWIRE

by Annie Block 36 SNAPS 38 PINUPS

by Rebecca Thienes 42 BOOKS

by Wilson Barlow 53 MARKET edited by Rebecca Thienes text by Lisa Di Venuta, Georgina McWhirter, and Rebecca Thienes 109 CENTERFOLD

Brazil and France, scent and sound, drums and bark—all were in harmony in a monumental netting sculpture by Ernesto Neto at the Grand Palais in Paris.

174 CONTACTS 183 INTERVENTION

by Wilson Barlow 47

MARCO CAPPELLETTI

A Crochet of Influences

by Athena Waligore

chilewichAD.com Wall textiles: OVERSHOT, Thyme

Weaving together style, strength, and sustainability.

Design solutions made in the USA with recycled and regenerative materials.

WALL TEXTILES | FLOORING | RUGS UPHOLSTERY | WINDOW COVERINGS

INTRODUCING “CLARITY” PART OF THE SEA CHANGE COLLECTION A NEW PERFORMANCE WOVEN UPHOLSTERY DESIGNED BY PATTY MADDEN. VIEW CLARITY & ORDER SAMPLES AT CFSTINSON.COM 800.841.6279 AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY FROM CF STINSON Furniture in photo is not sold by or affiliated with Patty Madden or CF Stinson.

Clarity is not designed for outdoor use.

e d i t o r ’s welcome

Summer’s still going strong around our patch, so I’m trying to do what everyone else is busy doing right now: Squeeze every single sunshine drop out of it! Yet, and probably just like any other victim of the “lifestyle,” I can’t help wondering about—and inexorably obsessing over—the upcoming work. Nothing special, I’m talking about the obvious punch lists items: gaming the biz, identifying opportunities, scoping problems, divining market malarkey. All the usual suspects. But hey: This is our back-to-the-gilded-and-glittering-salt-mines issue, and one of our fundamental jobs is to get you hip on what the trade has in store, so I have to put in my dues. Particularly now, because September—and pretty much the balance of the year—promises some real hoopla and high-wire acts. So, enjoy your super-groovy outdoor furniture for as long as you can (approval stamps all around), because fall is upon us. Do

back to work we go! dive into this issue ASAP, though, because we made it more than worth its lavish paper stock…and your valuable time. In these pages, you’ll find everything needed to be off the blocks to a smashing autumn start.

We worked on a brand-new thingy, our first-ever exclusive C-suite report: extensive coverage studded with examples of synergistic designer-and-client testimonials—a bear to do, but an astonishingly helpful bit of trade journalism just for you. We also pulled out all the stops in the features, starting with an unusual chance to go back to the beginning of time— to the genesis of our creativity—at the color-drenched Lego Group Boston Hub, where work and play go hand in hand. I mean, who can forget building with your own little set of Lego bricks?! Speaking of young’uns, an industrial-inspired, 221-room student residence hall in Spain includes a wowza double-height lobby/hangout zone, cool mezzanine commons, a basement gym, and a rooftop pool (it's like an urban beach!) that might make you want to go back to school again (not!). And a roundup of winners from our annual NYCxDesign Awards is just so fabulous—and enviable—it’ll motivate you to head back to work and make your own city a better place (and maybe win a design award, too)!

So, what are you waiting for? Take the last dip in the pool and get to doing what you do best: design! xoxo

Follow me on

Instagram

thecindygram

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System 1224 With Iconic Panels

B+N. Stay With Us. From boutique to bold, Iconic Panels and System 1224 deliver impact-proof performance paired with flexible design for modern hospitality interiors.

Designed in California. Made in the USA. Shown here, Louise Iconic in Matte Black,

©B+N Industries, Inc.

and System 1224 in Matte Black and Walnut.

STAY, BUILD, WORK, SHOP, LIVE, THRIVE, AND BANK WITH US.

www.BNind.com 800.350.4127

Cloudform

Lighting and acoustic tiles, perfectly aligned in one customizable system.

LIGHTART.COM

headliners

“We believe every design process is a story about forms, spaces, people, interactions, and aspirations”

ACOS “Exquisite Inside and Out,” page 166

TOMO YARMUSH

founder, lead designer: Anna Stojc ě v-Młyn ́ska. founder, lead designer: Stanisław Młyn ́ski. firm site: Gdan ́sk, Poland. firm size: Five architects and designers. current projects: A health clinic in Słupsk and a residence, both in Poland; Mevær Camp in Fleinvær, Norway. honors: Association of Interior Architects Interior of the Year Awards. office: The Młyn ́skis launched ACOS in 2020. vehicle: They’re preparing for a month-long camper-van road trip around the Baltic Sea, visiting five countries along its coast. acos.design

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h e a d l i n e rs

Liang Architecture Studio “Plot Twist,” page 132

BDG Architecture + Design “Brick by Brick,” page 122 creative director: Mitch James. director, esg practice lead: Lydia Randall. firm sites: London; New York. firm size: 20 architects and designers. current projects: LEGO Group London Hub; a tech office in Bordeaux, France; WPP in São Paulo. honors: British Council for Offices Award; Mix Interior Design Award. green thumb: James has a passion for plants. green thinking: Randall recently completed a postgraduate degree in sustainability at the University of Cambridge. bdg-a-d.com

founder, design director: Liang Xu. firm site: Hangzhou, China. firm size: 20 architects and

designers.

current projects: Curiel boutique

in Qingdao, China; Tomacado restaurant in Singapore; Flower Chef café in Hong Kong. honors: Singapore Interior Design Award; LOOP Design Award citation.

grounded: Xu founded his firm in 2013. up in the air: A travel lover, he just returned from London and is about to jet off to New York. liangarch.com

Allison Pye Interiors “Ancient and Modern,” page 114 principal: Allison Pye. firm site: Melbourne, Australia. firm size: Three designers. current projects: Residences in Byron Bay, Merricks, and Armadale, all in Australia. honors: Australian Interior Design Residential Decoration Award shortlist; Design Institute of Australia Awards commendation. founder: Pye launched her firm in 2001. collaborator: Micheal Leeton’s sister introduced Pye to her architect brother, and they’ve since worked on numerous projects together over the past 15 years. @allisonpyeinteriors

Martín Lejarraga Architecture Office “Chimney Suite,” page 140 principal, founding partner:

Martín Lejarraga.

Studio Widoki “Exquisite Inside and Out,” page 166 founder, lead designer:

Mateusz Domaszk. firm site: Gdan ́sk, Poland. firm size: Three architects and designers. current projects: A health clinic, a brewery, and a gallery, all in Słupsk, Poland. starting out: Early in his career in Poland, Domaszk helped design the Łódz railway tunnel stops and the Tczew Bridge reconstruction. established: The portfolio of his Studio Widoki, Polish for views or possibilities and founded in 2021, spans residential, commer­ cial, and hospitality projects. widokistudio.com

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Leeton Pointon Architects “Ancient and Modern,” page 114 principal: Michael Leeton. firm site: Melbourne, Australia. firm size: Three architects and designers. current projects: Urban residences and coastal beach houses in Australia. honors: Victorian Architecture Awards, Residential Commendation; IDEA Interior Design Excellence Award, all shortlisted. other half: The Pointon in the firm’s name is Leeton’s wife, architect Kate Pointon. single state: He likes projects on which the distinction between architecture and design dissolves. leetonpointon.com

and designers.

current projects: Phase three of the Loop Inn Hostel in Santiago

and Loop Homes developments in Cádiz and Murcia, all in Spain. honors: Alfonso X Award; Architecture Awards of the Region of Murcia.

draughtsman: Lejarraga, a graduate of Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid, founded his firm in 1991. showman: A keen collector, he is also curator of La Naval Art Gallery, a tiny display facility with an outsize cultural impact in Cartagena. lejarraga.com

TOP, FROM LEFT: PHIL HUTCHINSON (2); TOP RIGHT, BOTTOM CENTER: LISA COHEN/LIVING INSIDE (2) ;

firm site: Cartagena, Spain. firm size: Eight architects

f ur n it u re

lig h t in g

o utdo o r

134 Ma d is o n Av e Ne w Yo r k d d cny c . c o m

a c c e sso r ie s

systems

kitchens

DESIGNED FOR MODERN LIFE DWR.COM

THE NEST TRIPLE PENDANT Handmade In Colorado

boydlighting.com

design wıre

edited by Annie Block

fall blooms

Alex Proba splashed onto the scene with vibrant, effervescent compositions she hand-painted on the bottoms of or around swimming pools, both private and public (we featured her 8,000-square-foot deck mural at the Manhattan Park Pool Club in 2020). Over the years, Studio Proba has completed indoor murals for Cucina Alba and Hotel June; rug, wallpaper, and tile collections; and Tomorrow Land, the 2021 Miami Design District’s Design Commission. It’s the latter that caught the eye of Linspace, an agency working with Grand Joy City Mall to bring site-specific art to the public gardens and interior courtyards of the recently completed, 3 million-square-foot shopping center in Shenzhen, China. The result is Unbounded Sanctuary, Proba’s indoor and outdoor installation of seven large-scale pieces in fiberglass and foam that evoke the spontaneous joy of nature, the celebratory color palette in honor of the mall’s grand opening. “They’re meant to feel like a living, growing landscape that’s both surreal and comforting, where each is a character in a shared story,” says Proba, who designed the sculptures in Portland, Oregon, where she’s based, and then oversaw their fabrication in China remotely via daily videos from the production team. Proba is currently overseeing her first permanent installation: a quartet of sculptures commissioned by Bosa Properties for Canada’s Surrey City Centre unveiling this autumn.

COURTESY OF GRAND JOY CITY MALL SHENZHEN

From top: The 20-foot-tall indoor Where Wildflowers Meet and the 10-foot outdoor Where Wildflowers Dream are five of seven sculptures in Unbounded Sanctuary, a temporary installation by Studio Proba, which was commissioned by agency Linspace and Grand Joy City Mall in Shenzhen, China. They’re made of sculpted fiberglass and hand-shaped foam around a steel core, up through mid-October, and then planned to be relocated elsewhere in China.

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out of this world

d e s i g n w ire Alcami Architecture outfitted the 1,300-square-foot office of Saber Astronautics in Adelaide, South Australia, in a minimalist, perspective-altering concept that features GreenRate Level A–certified carpet tile by Signature Floor Coverings arranged in groups of four for a 3-foot-square checkered pattern resembling a chessboard, mirrored baseboards, walls and ceiling clad in custom translucent acrylic panels with internal strip lights attached to MDF joinery, and an existing column projected with Migrazioni (Migrations), a 1972 collage by Superstudio, whose work was one of this project’s inspirations.

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Some things really are black and white. Like the new office for Saber Astronautics in Adelaide, South Australia.

Executives at the space mission–technologies and satellite-operations company turned to Sydney’s Alcami Architecture to transform 1,300 square feet in a heritage-listed building into a high-profile headquarters adjacent to their missioncontrol center that contains production and meeting rooms plus a multifunctional corridor. Founder and director Victor Alcami and his team responded with what they call “the grid,” a functional, striking embodiment of the Saber brand that’s immersive, futuristic, and representative of space exploration—but all with a light touch. References range from the work of 1960’s Italian design firm Superstudio to Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, and additions include installing checkered carpet tile surrounded by infinity-inducing mirrored baseboards—“They give the walls a sense of ‘levitation,’ like zero gravity in space,” Alcami notes—and internally lit acrylic-sheet paneling framed by matte-black MDF, both interventions evoking a chessboard, nodding to strategy and control from above. But all of it is entirely reversible: Alcami didn’t remove any walls, preserved existing elements, and retained all steel frames, ensuring minimal waste and sustainable reuse of space. Far out!

JACK FENBY

d e s i g n w ire

d e s i g n w ire

Fiber art, particularly by nonagenarian women, continues to have a moment. An exhibition of works by 93-year-old Olga de Amaral runs until mid-October at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami. Across the country, “Lee ShinJa: Drawing With Thread” just bowed at Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive in California, the first North American retrospective of the South Korean artist, who turns 95 this month. “If I were to name what inspires me,” ShinJa said in interview last year, “it would be fiber itself.” But there have been other influences, notably, the sunrises she would see on morning walks as a young girl with her dad in Uljin, where she was born (she lives in Seoul now), and a scarcity of materials that resulted from the Korean War. The former often informed the color palette of ShinJa’s tapestries, many of them large-scale, such as the more than 6-foot-tall Spirit of Mountain, which BAMPFA recently acquired and is among the 38 fiber works she produced between 1958 and 2007 on view. The latter made her a pioneer of the reuse of the found and discarded, incorporating such unconventional art materials at the time as old grain sacks, mosquito netting, and yarn from secondhand sweaters. Accompanying her fiber pieces are rarely shown woven maquettes and preparatory sketches, providing a unique glimpse into the development of ShinJa’s groundbreaking practice.

From top: Among the 38 Lee ShinJa tapestries on view in “Drawing With Thread” through February 1 at Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive in California is Spirit of Mountain, 1996, in wool thread and metal; Spirit of Mountain, 1999, wool and synthetic thread; and Sun and Moon I, 1973, in cotton and linen thread. An installation view.

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FROM TOP: COURTESY OF LEE SHINJA AND TINA KIM GALLERY (3); HYUNJUNG RHEE/COURTESY OF BAMPFA AND TINA KIM GALLERY

dream weaver

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the great escape

s n a ps

3

1

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1. Morrison Gallery with Norman Mooney’s Windseed sculpture.

2. Dinner inside Morrison backdropped by Joel Longenecker paintings.

3. James Barron Art gallery with Todi Column

by Beverly Pepper.

4. Chilewich Overshot place mat in Thyme at the Morrison dinner.

5. The Round House by Pop Architecture.

6. Dan Mazzarini of BHDM Design.

7. Tuuci’s David Schutte.

8. John McPhee.

9. Greg Dufner and Daniel Wilmer Heighes of Dufner Heighes.

10. Margaret McMahon of Wimberly Interiors.

11. Gray Davis of Meyer Davis and Ghislaine Viñas.

12. Shamir Shah, Cindy Allen, and Malcolm Hill.

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13

14

15

16

13. Hill’s acrylic Promesa at his and Shah’s home.

14. Salvador Dali’s May West Lip couch and

15. George M. Beylerian’s mini-chair collection

Leda table in front of a Charles Shaw painting at Morrison.

16. Gensler’s Corey Chapman at Michael Trapp’s

at his home.

garden in West Cornwall, Connecticut.

TIMEFROZEN PHOTOGRAPHY

Design in the country? You bet! Interior Design editorin-chief Cindy Allen and 11 Chilewich CEO John McPhee hosted a swanky summer soirée in the charming town of Kent, Connecticut, with an intimate group of design heavyweights. . .and pals.

On the agenda were inspiring visits to the design-filled homes of George M. Beylerian, Interior Design Hall of Fame member and founder and CEO of Material ConneXion and Culture & Commerce, and designer-artist partners Shamir Shah and Malcolm Hill, plus an insider’s peek of a modern house-in-the-round, a nature lover’s garden excursion, and a duo of private art-gallery tours (high in the hills and down in town). Enjoying yummy farm-to-table meals, shopping for treasures, and connecting in a more personal way, along with a dreamy overnight at the Kent Collection Inns (owned by McPhee) made for an unforgettable time. A special thanks to partners Chilewich, Bernhardt Design, Dornbracht, Loll Designs, and Tucci.

Ref. 1371173, Oak Castell limed

BEAUTIFUL INTERIORS START WITH THE FLOOR

Sustainable Design from the Ground Up. Carbon-neutral flooring production.

99% of our waste is recycled.

EMAS III certified and EcoVadis Gold-rated – top 5% globally.

Global brand with European heritage. parador-interiors.com

p i n ups

p i n ups

by Rebecca Thienes

sunnyside up Out-of-this-world furnishings call to mind the wonders of the solar system

PIM TOP

Daylight dancing on flower petals provided poetic fodder for Studio Thier & van Daalen’s Bloom: blown-glass rondels crafted in Leerdam, Netherlands, and transformed into dimmable LED wall lights via an anodized-aluminum mount—the orange-pink version reminiscent of the blazing sun. thiervandaalen.com

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A LEAP ACROSS 30 YEARS OF DESIGN FROG PIERO LISSONI

Illustration: Leonie Bos

#FROG30TH

AREA MANAGER NORTH AMERICA SHAWN KELLY T. +1 917 291 0235 SHAWN.KELLY@LIVINGDIVANI.IT

p i n ups celestial Planetary orbital planes inspired the hand-sculpted and sanded resin Orbit 1 table (shown in Fog) and Orbit 2 chair (in Pink Quartz), part of a furniture collection that San Francisco artist and TF Design founder Tina Frey previewed at Copenhagen’s 3daysofdesign in June and officially launches in December. tf.design

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The Biodegradable Vinyl

Vinyl That Knows When to Say Goodbye.

Meet Hyphyn™, the breakthrough in sustainable performance vinyl - engineered to biodegrade over 90% within 24 months in landfill conditions. Because great design shouldn’t last forever. hyphyn.com

b o o k s edited by Wilson Barlow Shiro Kuramata: Essays & Writings

By Deyan Sudjic New York and London: Phaidon, $150 406 pages, 600 color and b&w illustrations Few Japanese designers represent the spirit of the country’s post-World War II boom and cultural reimagining better than Shiro Kuramata. From humble beginnings as a cabinetmaker, he made his mark on the country’s emerging consumer culture first with furniture pieces for the famed Tokyo department store Matsuya, and later as a frequent collaborator of Issey Miyake, defining the look of the brand’s clothing boutiques worldwide. At the peak of his creativity, as a founding member of the Memphis Group in the early 1980’s, Kuramata was a pioneer in the use of industrial materials, pushing the boundaries of what furniture could be.

Organized thematically, Essays & Writings honors the legacy of Kuramata, who died in 1991 at 56, by layering his more memorable objects—the Revolving Cabinet (1970) for Cappellini, its 20 drawers rotating around a metal stand; the Miss Blanche Chair (1988) for Ishimaru, inspired by the Tennessee Williams heroine and part of the Museum of Modern Art’s permanent collection; his 1976 Glass Chair gracing the book’s cover—with essays that detail how such forces as his war-torn childhood in­fluenced his career. The community that or­bited him—Arata Isozaki and Ettore Sottsass among them—is present throughout via essays and images, joined by neverbefore-published archival photography, sketches, and personal reflections. Kuramata’s commercial building pro­jects appear as well, including Tokyo’s Carioca Building from 1971, the color of its lacqueredsteel facade a wink to the clip-on red gas tank on the 1952 Honda Club moped. Nodding to his focus on materiality, the monograph comes in a special acrylic slipcase.

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It is our responsibility as a manufacturer to build products in a manner that preserves our planet and its people for generations to come. We manufacture contract furniture in Indiana, with metal components being entirely welded and finished by Versteel using American steel.

Troupe Media Wall Versteel.com

TIDES

COLLECTION

Introducing Ebb and Flow, inspired by the ever-changing rhythm of the ocean.

J J F LOO R I N G . CO M

walk through

architectural confection firm: modusarchitects site: heinfels, austria From the mezzanine at Loacker Galaxy, the two-level retail flagship of the century-old Italian pastry company, views to the lab can be seen through a custom light fixture, its painted-steel strips layered like the brand’s signature wafer.

MARCO CAPPELLETTI

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Clockwise from top left: Alpine history–inspired wall graphics, custom laminate-topped tables, and ceramic floor tile appoint the lab. Beneath a dropped coffered fir ceiling, the café centers on a custom stainless-steel counter in the shape of a Loacker wafer. Oak paneling surrounds leather-upholstered Corolla seating by Cristina Celestino. Visitors make their own wafers in the lab or observe from the mezzanine above. Vertical pick-and-mix candy bins are built into a wall in the shop.

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MARCO CAPPELLETTI

Loacker is a third-generation family business that began in 1925 as a modest pastry shop in Bolzano, amid Italy’s Tyrolean Alps. Over the decades, the confectionery brand has become famous worldwide for its signature wafers—thin, crispy, and flavored with cream, especially hazelnut. As the centennial approached, company executives sought a newfound identity for the Loacker flagship in Heinfels, Austria, one that reflects its expanding global reach and is fresh, contemporary, and as textured and layered as the biscuits. To realize this vision, they turned to Harvard GSD–trained architects Sandy Attia and Matteo Scagnol, the husband-and-wife founders of Italian firm MoDusArchitects, and the result is Loacker Galaxy, an 8,500-square-foot, two-level wafer-inspired wonderland housing a shop, café, and lab.

The concept deftly balances heritage and innovation through a curated material palette. Warm fir and oak nod to the company’s Alpine roots, sleek stainlesssteel elements evoke precision manufacturing and a forward-thinking ethos, and tile and laminate are in the same vivid crimson as the Loacker logo. “There were three driving ideas behind the project,” Attia recalls. “We wanted to work with stainless steel, explore the grid and repetition, and give the product an architectural form.”

MARCO CAPPELLETTI

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To unify the once-fragmented entry, café, and shop, the architects introduced a coffered fir ceiling that weaves visual continuity throughout while offering a tactile homage to Loacker’s creations. The geometry carries through seamlessly: A wafer-shape steel counter anchors the café below, and an enormous circular light fixture energizes the upstairs lab, where visitors can make their own wafer or observe from a mezzanine above.

Realizing the vision, however, required persuading a board rooted in traditional outlet-style retail. “Before, visitors saw the space before the product,” Scagnol says of the original layout.

“We thought: You should feel surrounded by the product.” Central to that shift is a bold reinterpretation of display strategy. Nearly a dozen 12-foot-tall totems—three-dimensional grids mounted on pivoting columns elevated off the floor—replace conventional shelving, helping to make shopping more brand immersive.

That sensibility continues in the furnishings.

Custom, thick oak–topped café tables convey permanence; chocolate-toned leather chairs introduce soft curves. “Just the right candyesque feel,” Attia notes, referring to the chair’s wavy trim and possibly the licorice-red booth in the café’s arched niche. The experience flows outdoors, where MoDus, the firm name derived from modus agendi, Latin for a manner of doing things, built a larch pavilion that is joined by a hazelnut garden and a playground. Talk about sweet success: Crowds reach 3,500 people daily. —Petra Loho

FROM FRONT BARTH INNENAUSBAU: CUSTOM LIGHT FIXTURE (LAB). GAMMA3: ADHESIVE GRAPHICS. BILLIANI: CHAIRS (CAFÉ). HOLZBAU LUSSER: FACADE (PAVILION). THROUGHOUT GRUPPO BARDELLI: FLOOR TILE. NIEDERBACHER: CATERING EQUIPMENT. STUDIO AMORT: LIGHTING CONSULTANT. HOLZNER & BERTAGNOLLI ENGINEERING: STRUCTURAL ENGINEER. THERMOSTUDIO: MEP. BARTH; WIESER TISCHLEREI: MILLWORK, METALWORK. BAUUNTERNEHMUNG DI WALTER FREY: GENERAL CONTRACTOR.

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MARCO CAPPELLETTI

From top: Hovering above existing stone flooring, custom stainless totems that pivot display merchandise. Loacker cookie shapes—circles, squares, rectangles, arches—are brought to life in the lab. A pavilion of CNC-cut larch stands between the parking area and the café entry.

Meet Lumo, Billo, and Clova. Three exclusive SitOnIt Seating collections from world-renowned CLAUDIO BELLINI Studio, where form softens, function sharpens and every detail embodies what’s new and next.

Discover more.

CRAFTSMANSHIP YOU CAN FEEL. George H. Mitchell Elementary School | Bridgewater, MA | Architect: RDA | Product: Aluratone rulonco.com

Rulon International | Custom Wood Ceilings and Walls | rulonco.com | Photo: © Anthony Crisafulli Photography

market edited by Rebecca Thienes text by Lisa Di Venuta, Georgina McWhirter, and Rebecca Thienes

BEATHA

orior The family-run furniture maker operating out of Newry, in Northern Ireland, introduces the Beatha drinks cabinet, its thick walls and eased edges gently echoing a thatched-roof cottage.

When the half-moon doors—elegantly swathed in hair-on hide—are closed, two slivers of the solid-walnut frame behind remain visible up top, playfully resembling protruding ears. Clasp the hand-formed cast-bronze handles to reveal storage space for barkeep tools: a walnut drawer and bottle racks, stainless-steel mixing trays (one pull-out, one portable), and a work surface available in multiple marble types. Founded in 1979 by Brian and Rosie McGuigan and now helmed by son Ciaran McGuigan, Orior opened a New York showroom in 2022 on SoHo’s Mercer Street, where the jaunty cabinet is currently on view. oriorfurniture.com

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Nao Tamura for Ambientec

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Nicole Cornell and Will Kavesh of Token

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product Vosco. standout In the hands of the New York designer, short-length irregular walnut, maple, or oak deemed too imperfect for furniture-making becomes a sweet portable LED light with five brightness levels. ambientec.co.jp/en 54

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product Isa. standout Abstract Expressionism and Gee’s Bend quilts from the rural Black Belt region of Alabama inspired the duo’s NYCxDesign Award–winning cabinet of dyeinfused wood, handmade in Red Hook, Brooklyn. tokennyc.com

Kouros Maghsoudi of Kouros Maghsoudi

Danny Kaplan of Danny Kaplan Studio

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4

product Hug. standout A plush and playful leather-upholstered armchair by the self-taught American-born Persian designer smartly comes with removeable legs for easy shipping. kourosmaghsoudi.com

product Collage Edition 3. standout The acclaimed ceramicist embraces a softer side with a collection of hand-knotted merino wool and silk rugs, based on abstract hand-renderings, that were initially envisioned for his New York showroom. dannykaplanstudio.com

PORTRAIT 4: SEAN DAVIDSON

marketscape

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Katie Deedy of Grow House Grow

PRODUCT AND PORTRAIT 6: CAROLYNE LOREÉ TESTON

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product Ceres. standout The artist and company founder’s Cuban-American heritage informed the rich colorways of her handmade 8-inch cement tiles, named for the Roman goddess of agriculture and depicting sprouting seeds. growhousegrow.com

Ford Bostwick of Ford Bostwick

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Kate Casey of Peg Woodworking

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product Mira. standout Reading like a Josef Albers color study, this surfacemount fixture from the architectural designer’s debut lighting collection is fabricated from two folded steel sheets painted mauve and pink. fordbostwick.com

Jill Malek of Jill Malek

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product Judith. standout Incorporating a striking door of handwoven cotton cord, the Brooklyn, New York–based woodworker and studio founder’s console hides interior shelves that form the perfect spot to stash unopened mail. pegwoodworking.com

8

product Royale. standout The designer’s Ruisseau collection includes delicately embossed leather tiles as well as these acoustic-felt wall tiles that are hand-screen-printed in Brooklyn by a third-generation family-run studio. jillmalek.com SEPT.25

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m a r k e t furniture

“I wanted to add a new material into the Haller system: something that would functionally complement and visually contrast the chrome” Introduced at the inaugural edition of Shelter—the trending new trade show held during NYCxDesign—Woven Structures by Henry Julier explores Danish paper cord within the modular logic of USM’s Haller collection. “Since the chrome tubing creates a rigid frame, my big idea was to try and weave cord directly into the system,” Julier explains. Looking to historical precedent for inspiration, the industrial designer uncovered various takes on the concept by Marcel Breuer, Carl Auböck, and Chris Liljenberg Halstrøm. Armed with such research, Julier set about making the first prototype himself to understand the logistics of intertwining the materials. (Spoiler: Chrome is slippery!) Eventually, the collection came together as split-level, nesting, and side tables, low and high trays, and a bench, chair, and stool. Select pieces incorporate USM panels for a pop of color, and the chair and stool also come in children's sizes. The result is an engaging marriage of opposites: handcrafted, soft, and warm with industrially precise, cool, and hard. usm.com

usm HENRY JULIER

FROM TOP: CHRIS MOTTALINI (2); MARCO GALLOWAY

WOVEN STRUCTURES

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HÅG Capisco HÅG Capisco Puls

Saddle up. Designed for movement—and made with at least 50% recycled content.

Twist, perch, or lean in—this icon’s got your back (and front, and sides). hag.flokk.com

Sit differently. Move freely.

m a r k e t fabric

MYLLA, MYR

“We worked on many physical prototypes, testing how the placement of stitches affected the ‘random’ surface pattern”

This spring, New Yorkers encountered an unusual sight on city streets: ginormous colorful pillows propped on sidewalks and against bollards and buildings, bringing a rare softness to the concrete jungle. The cushions were part of a guerilla campaign that showcased the NYCxDesign Award– winning Kvadrat Febrik fabrics Myr and Mylla: double-jacquard upholstery textiles by Stockholm’s Note Design Studio, knit from polyester yarn derived from plastic bottles.

Nubby and organically irregular, the surface of Myr evokes the topography of mangrove wetlands or the pitted surface of coral. Mylla is altogether smoother, but both SKUs feature a core of high-bulk filling yarn punctuated with nondirectional stitches.

(Myr simply has wider spacing between the stitches, allowing the filling yarn to bulk up and create a voluminous, almost quilted braille-like texture.) From a distance, the fabrics’ saturated yet murky colorways appear solid, but up close the two-tone mélange becomes clear. It’s all imperfectly perfect. kvadrat.dk/en 58

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JANNICK PIHL RASMUSSEN

kvadrat

Introducing Diffrient Lounge Designed by Niels Diffrient, delivering Dynamic Comfort through a powered recline, adjustable headrest, and integrated surface—each element of the Diffrient Lounge works harmoniously to respond to your movements, providing continuous support for work, rest, and everything in between.

Humanscale Designs for Work, Life, and Planet

m a r k e t lighting

“Cushiony mouth-blown glass strains against and surges through a softly rounded metal cage, evoking human breath”

LINDSEY ADELMAN OVERGLOW

Lindsey Adelman started off as a catalog writer for the Smithsonian, but after a chance encounter with an artisan who was carving foam French fries for an exhibition at the museum, she pivoted, studying industrial design at RISD and founding her namesake studio in 2006. Now, the New Yorker employs her storytelling chops to proffer hypnotic and narrative-driven luminaires. Overglow draws from 16th-century caged-glass lampioni: Venetian lamps once carried to light paths along the canals. The designs are made by mouth-blowing glass into sand-cast brass cages. Choose between four iterations—three pendants and a sconce—and two expressions: Puff and Extra Puff, which has a belt around its midsection. Specify the glass in opal, dew, fog, or plum colorway and the armature and customlength stem in mottled-brass, oil-rubbed bronze, or tarnished-nickel finish. Another iteration with patterned glass is expected to debut this fall. Stay tuned! lindseyadelman.com 60

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JOE KRAMM

lindsey adelman studio

Presents

ORIGEN COLLECTION

m a r k e t kitchen&bath

VAIA FEATHER TARA RAINBOW TARA WOOD

“We invite designers to consider that anything is possible”

VAIA MUSSEL SHELL

CYO LEATHER

Aptly named, Dornbracht Atelier more closely resembles the salon of an 18th-century Parisian couturier than the workshop of a fittings manufacturer. Showcased at Milan Design Week, where the family-run German brand celebrated its 75th anniversary, the atelier offers endless possibilities for designers to craft scintillating one-off faucets.

Everything is bespoke and limited only by imagination, with the company’s signature products, like Vaia, Tara, and CYO, customizable with treatments such as hand-stitched leather from heritage belt maker Ludwig Schröder or a mosaic of eggshells sourced from local bakeries. One might opt for the Rainbow finish, with an iridescent PVD coating that conjures shimmering moiré under ballroom chandeliers, or Black Velvet, wrapping handles and spout in the matte fabric. Other neat examples are Vaia Checkerboard, inlaid with mussel shells and mother-of-pearl in a riff on baroque parquetry, and Vaia Feather, a collab with Nature Squared in which guinea fowl plumes are individually attached to the fittings and encased in resin. dornbracht.com

dornbracht VAIA CHECKERBOARD

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Winner 2025

Khronos by Rafa Ortega Kriskadecor’s new acoustic applications

kriskadecor.com

Khronos gives new functionality to the aluminum chains by integrating recycled materials with acoustic properties

ege carpets

A collaboration between two Nordic powerhouses—Ege and Snøhetta—birthed a flatweave collection that upends homogenized serial production and standard pattern repeats. Unveiled at Copenhagen’s 3DaysofDesign, Matter reimagines floor as terrain, weaving compositions that echo the nuance of organic surfaces. The generative design process described as “semi-controllable” translates randomness into weft and warp, fabricated of recycled yarns on Ege’s most advanced flatweave looms. Algorithms switch up to manipulate individual threads. “From code to pixel, pixel to thread, and thread to carpet, we investigated how micro-scale design can shape macro-scale spaces,” explains Snøhetta product designer Francesca Giulia Poli. “The result is a surface that feels uniform yet everchanging as you move through a space.” Available in two palettes, each with 18 base colors filtered through muted gray-beige or saturated blue-green undertones, the patterns diffuse softly like fog, at once logical yet unpredictable. egecarpets.com

m a r k e t flooring

“Randomized algorithms generate a woven composition that is always shifting: subtle, nonlinear, and alive”

OIOIOI

MATTER

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Plumeya Lounge

encoreseating.com

Interior Design Hall of Famer and multidisciplinary creative David Rockwell has collaborated with London-based The Rug Company since 2010. “Throughout, we’ve explored an obsession with nature’s contrasts,” Rockwell says of the partnership. His new collection, Flow as Form, continues in that vein, taking water as the wellspring of inspiration and showcasing its many natural forms.

There’s wool-and-silk Falls in moody Graphite, where sinuous lines flow like currents; Fjord, a wool number inspired by frozen water, in Flint and Frost; and Splash in blue-hued Sea or rosy Salmon, its painterly strokes mimicking turbulent waters. In-stock and made-to-order rectangular sizes plus puddle-shaped, runner, and round versions provide the ground for the collection’s quiet drama.

market flooring

therugcompany.com

the rug company

SPLASH

FALLS

“We looked at all the forms that water can take—from placid and solid to rippling and rushing” 66

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PRESENTING CASINO ROYALE BY DONGHIA X ARTISTIC TILE A COLL ABOR ATION WHERE LEGENDARY DESIGN MEETS STONE MASTERY Explore at Artistic Tile Showrooms, Slab Galleries, and Authorized Dealers Nationwide www.artistictile.com | (844) 302-9366

m a r k e t showroom

“We reimagined the space to seamlessly blend the building’s historic elegance with the LawsonFenning collection”

lawson-fenning

ALVA

FAIRVIEW

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CLOCKWISE FROM BOTTOM LEFT: YOSHI MAKINO (3)

The quintessentially L.A. furniture brand has gone bicoastal, setting up shop on the fifth floor of a prewar castiron loft building in the NoHo neighborhood of New York.

Residentially minded and color-drenched in rich terra-cotta paint, the space’s heady yet grounding vibe was masterminded by Manhattan-based interior designer Josh Greene, who also conceived a 12-piece collection. “Josh was the perfect partner: He’s a Southern California native with a New York voice,” says Lawson-Fenning cofounder Grant Fenning.

“The collaboration helped us reimagine our brand for a different audience.” Greene’s Agapanthus collection, named after the flowers that lined the garden of his childhood home in the San Gabriel foothills, includes various case goods and low tables in materials such as leathered Rojo Alicante marble and pigmented oak, plus Fairview, a series of nostalgic tufted seating with matching upholstered bases that recall his grandmother’s sofa. lawsonfenning.com

FOR MOMENTS THAT LINGER. T I M E S L O W S H E R E . T H E B R E E Z E M O V E S , T H E L I G H T S H I F T S , A N D Y O U ’ R E E X A C T LY W H E R E Y O U ’ R E M E A N T T O B E .

T H O U G H T F U L LY C R A F T E D T O I N V I T E S T I L L N E S S , O U R D E S I G N S T U R N E V E R Y D AY PA U S E S I N T O L A S T I N G M O M E N T S .

OCE AN MA S TER MA X BOLERO PAR A SOL SOLA SINGLE SUN LOUNGE

TUUCI.COM

“Our goal has always been to create entire environments, not just objects, and the showroom is our way of inviting people into our world”

CHELSIE AND JACOB STARLEY

DARNING

astraeus clarke

SHOWROOM IMAGES: CHELSIE STARLEY

The New York showroom of Jacob and Chelsie Starley’s design studio, Astraeus Clarke, is darkly divine—which is fitting, considering the brand’s name alludes to the Greek god of stars and twilight. Founded just three years ago making lighting fixtures in Brooklyn, AC has gone from strength to strength; later this year, furniture and objects will round out the catalog. “Each phase of our work—whether lighting or interiors—flows naturally from the last,” notes Chelsie Starley. “The showroom is the next step.” The first collection taking pride of place in the new Chinatown showroom is Darning: tubular-steel sconces and pendants laser-cut with linear perforations that are then threaded with cord in a motif reminiscent of denim topstitching. Animal-hide parchment diffusers add to the rugged western charm (the Starleys’ home state is Utah, where they once salvaged and flipped condemned properties). As for the homey mahogany-and-maroon showroom, it’s laden with personal history, from the mirrored ceiling strewn with hand-cut stars referencing the couple’s surname to a curtain based on the pattern of a family quilt. astraeusclarke.com

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Celebrating 75 Years of Craftsmanship.

We design with purpose to honor our legacy and explore what’s next. kimballinternational.com

LÈA

m a r k e t showroom MONK

molteni&c The third-generation Italian design group founded by Angelo and Giuseppina Molteni just marked 90 years in business, a milestone it celebrates with a new Milan address in a historic palazzo. The grand late19th-century residence underwent renovations in the 1920’s, so art nouveau flourishes pair with the tony neoclassical architecture. Conceived by group creative director Vincent Van Duysen as the home of an astute collector, the seven-story space takes visitors on a journey through 32,000 square feet of design morsels. There’s glossy lacquered Lèa coffee tables from the 1990’s by Christophe Delcourt; a 2025 reissue of Monk, a chair of solid wood and leather designed in 1973 by Afra and Tobia Scarpa; and artwork curated by architect and designer Elisa Ossino. The top two floors function primarily as a gallery and currently play host to an exhibition of Santi Caleca photographs that capture works by Frank Gehry, Aldo Rossi, Ettore Sottsass, and Johanna Grawunder. molteni.it 72

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“It is a palazzo, but also a domestic universe, a private place recreated inside a monumental building”

BELT by ilmiodesign

330 West 38th St. Suite 710 New York, NY 10018 USA info@estiluzusa.com / T +1 (646) 454 1285 / www.estiluzusa.com

“The London showroom is a manifesto space: a statement of intent that expresses a new way of living—sensitive, inclusive, and deeply connected to beauty as a form of culture”

m a r k e t showroom

visionnaire Founded in 2004, Visionnaire’s roots actually date back to 1959, when Carlo, Pompeo, and Vittorio Cavalli established IPE, producing automotive upholstery in Bologna, Italy. Two years later, the company’s first furnishing, Mercury, was unveiled at the inaugural Salone del Mobile. The armchair, based on a sketch by sculptor Rito Valla, was made of expanded polyurethane, a material rarely used in furniture at the time. Today, you can see (and sit on) Mercury at the company’s new Italian-luxe showroom in London’s Knightsbridge design district, a space that joins existing locations in Milan, Dubai, Miami, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, and Shanghai.

Two of the five floors are open at present, with more to come, all anchored by a sculptural staircase, curved armchairs by Alessandro La Spada, and organically shaped wool-silk rugs. Other hits from the brand are also on view, such as Studiopepe’s Shibari chair based on Japanese rope binding. molteni.it

MERCURY

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Luxury doesn’t have to be delicate.

See what Protea™ makes possible. kwalu.com

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A LT U R A F U R N I T U R E . C O M

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power players In 2020, we rolled out a new question on our annual Giants of Design survey asking firms to cite their most vexing client-related challenges. The same answer dominates every year, with a majority of top-200 firms reporting their number-one such struggle is getting clients to understand the value that designers bring to a project. Against this backdrop, those clients who do “get it,” so to speak—who create innovative spatial experiences through a deep understanding of design and thoughtful collaboration with their practitioners—stand out. By fighting

the client champions furthering design innovation

internally to preserve the design intent, educating coworkers and superiors about the discipline’s power, and entering into truly co-creative partnerships with their practitioner, these client champions—let’s call them power players—not only help manifest better projects but are also instrumental in propelling the industry forward.

We celebrate these C-suite advocates throughout this issue, our first-ever devoted to this important role in the space-making ecosystem. Of course, we always try to include the client’s voice in our design features, interviewing them (on or off the record) to enrich our reporting. We’ve also spotlit top developer-clients in the PowerGrid series from previous years. Here, though, we give C-suite champions a broader platform, not only quoting them in design stories about their spaces and in our monthly ShopTalk column but also conducting in-depth interviews with two such supporters: Anne Asenio of Dassualt Systèmes, who discusses the company’s collaboration with Interior Design Hall of Fame member Patrick Jouin, and Brad Wilson of Ace Hotels, who shares how his team partners with—and oftentimes embeds itself within—the outside design or architecture firm throughout a project’s duration. We even share insights gleaned from a designer-client tête-à-tête on the changing face of workplace design.

Wish you were a fly on that wall? Luckily, all you have to do is turn to page 80 to get the scoop.

C. SEULEUSIAN

See page 103 for the 3D-printed Ta.Tamu chair, designer Patrick Jouin’s collabortion with software company Dassault Systèmes.

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m at t e r s ofdesign power players

c-suite confidential Designers and their executive-level collaborators share an insider’s view of how people-first workplaces are driving RTO

amenities that tenants can book and access as needed, providing flexibility without requiring extensive investment on the part of individual companies.

Even with the most advanced tech setup, however, the remote experience can’t quite rival the energy and synergy of in-the-flesh interactions. “Zoom meetings are very transactional,” said Amy Binder, CEO of strategy firm RF Binder. Brent Capron,

purpose, companies have become reliant on amenities, “spaces we think of as addons, but where most people actually do the majority of their work,” explained Brad Zizmor, Architecture Plus Information cofounder and an Interior Design Hall of Fame member. Practitioners and clients are mindful of past missteps, having created amenities that didn’t always capture what the workforce wanted and

Clockwise from above: The lobby lounge of DZ Bank, by TPG Archi­ tecture, located on the 49th floor of New York’s One Vanderbilt.

Reception at the Frisco, Texas, corporate center of Teachers In­ surance and Annuity Association of America, by Corgan. One of more than 170 artworks that feature throughout TIAA.

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For a recent Interior Design roundtable event focused on the evolving workplace, editor in chief Cindy Allen, the evening’s host and moderator, asked practitioners to invite along a favorite C-suite power player. The guest list was a diverse group of designers, architects, building developers, landlords, and client-side execs representing industries from finance to fashion. During the conversation, attendees addressed the challenges and opportunities they face in shaping offices to accom­ modate today’s work styles, which have been recalibrated by post-pandemic dynamics and the shifting relationship between employers and employees. The discussion pinged from how to navigate decision-making bottlenecks to what enticements have proven most effective to lure WFH staffers back to the office.

There was also much talk (and venting!) about the persistent bugaboo of designing

for hybrid work, which has become a permanent fixture of the modern workplace— even for companies with a five-day in-office policy.

Conference spaces in particular have become a locus of creative problem-solving, with designers optimizing details such as conferencetable shape (for improved sight lines and acoustics) and surface material (to mitigate on-screen reflectivity) to ensure virtual and IRL participants can collaborate seamlessly and equitably.

Of course, accommodating a range of mixed-presence meeting modalities—workshops, presentations, etc.— demands environments and tech setups that are highly modular and adaptable. An alternative to conceiving one multitasking, does-it-all boardroom is to devise an array of smaller, specialized spaces catering to specific activities. Landlords and building managers are particularly well positioned to offer such a suite of hybrid

Corgan associate principal, piggybacked on that comment, contrasting “the controlled environment of videoconferencing with the rich conversations, unplanned interactions, and spontaneous insights that occur faceto-face.” Alas, in-person connections can only happen if you can actually get people back into the office, which clients say they are still struggling with. They strive to envision a workplace experience that “earns the commute,” as one put it: that merits the very real financial and logistical hurdles involved in getting there, from jostling with the rush-hour public transit crowds to paying for childcare.

Approaching amenities with intention So, what makes the office worth the trek? With focused tasks often easier to accomplish at home, the big payoff for employees is camaraderie and community. To fa­ cilitate this more social

needed. Offerings such as nap and game rooms tend to be underutilized or feel out of touch, while subpar acoustics and too-soft-towork-in lounge chairs compromise usability. “Figuring out which types of spaces were most used involved some trial and error,” said fellow Hall of Famer and retired TPG Architecture managing executive Mavis Wiggins. Turns out, it’s the ones that are thoughtfully integrated into the office’s functionality without feeling forced, and that put a primacy on ergonomics, comfort, and flexibility.

Companies are keen to lease space in properties that boast building-wide amenities. “Clients are making the trade-off of taking slightly less square footage but in a nicer or upgraded address—with great amenities, good views, or a ‘wow’ moment—and shifting to a more agile design with shared offices or other space-saving elements

ERIC LAIGNEL

“Brain power needs stimulation; it needs to be challenged by the environment”—Tom Krizmanic, Gensler

COURTESY OF CORGAN

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From top: The Skidmore, Owings & Merrill–designed fitness amenity at 9 West 57th Street, New York. A terrace at the law office of Millbank, also in New York, by LSM.

m at t e r s ofdesign power players

“There’s growing interest on the part of potential tenants to lease in amenity-rich campuses” —Ece Calguner Erzan, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

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Dynamic spaces to support reciprocal learning Cross-generational learning and informal skill-sharing by osmosis were other casualties of a protracted pandemic work-from-home period, and companies are still course-correcting.

“We’ve demonstrated that for the most part, work can get done wherever—at the office, at home, in a third place—but the office is where passive and direct learning happens,” said designer Suzanne Carlson.

Many have observed gen­ erational differences in how people have weathered remote and hybrid policies.

“When we reopened our office post pandemic, it was the youngest people who came back first,” one client recalled. “They were really craving the in-person expe­ rience—and the guidance that comes along with it.”

No wonder, then, that one of the most motivating RTO drivers is mentorship—a relationship that’s becoming more of a two-way street.

“With the flattening of organizations, mentorship looks different than it used to,” Capron affirmed. Interior Design Hall of Famer and Rapt CEO/CCO David Gallulo divulged that he goes into the office “to be challenged”

by his coworkers, and adds that “learning goes both ways,” with younger employees bringing fresh ideas and tech savvy to the table and seasoned professionals sharing strategic insights. Such reciprocity can strengthen teams and foster innovation, but to do so, office environments must nurture both passive and active knowledge transfer. The concept of “workplace learning” offers a new model for thinking of the office as

a sort of education environment that can be designed to support active interactions—especially in light of knowledge gaps exacerbated by demographic shifts and hybrid work.

The modern workplace is about more than output.

“Productivity has been redefined,” noted Binder. “It’s not just about checking items off your to-do list; it’s about creativity and strategic work.” Employees now come to the office to cogni-

tively refresh, brainstorm with colleagues, leverage the energy of in-person interactions, and engage in face-to-face connections that build team cohesion.

This shift in design focus from cultivating individual productivity to nurturing a collective experience has transformed the very role of the workplace: an institution we increasingly rely on for human connection in an age of digital displacement.

—Jen Renzi

FROM TOP: LUCAS BLAIR SIMPSON/COURTESY OF SOM; ERIC LAIGNEL

that suit a hybrid workforce,” said HLW associate principal Currie Gardner.

These days, with empowered staffers more in tune with what posture and environment they work best in, “We’re trying to cater to so many people’s needs,” LSM director Nathan Strieter commented. “Amenities can make up for that,” he added, by providing a range of space types for workers to choose from.

An amenity-rich campus can also help solve the hybridworkforce issue of fluctuating attendance, relieving the burden of overcapacity when needed. “There’s a real challenge with not knowing who’s coming into the office every day,” Gensler principal Tom Krizmanic stated. Savvy landlords are taking note and offering more robust, hospitality-like environments as well as embracing what Vornado Realty Trust’s executive VP Josh Glick described as “an expanded customer service role” visà-vis the tenant relationship.

Even so, amenities are a programming element for which property owners crave more ROI metrics. “We’re still wondering what the right allocation of common space is,” said Adam Lavinsky, senior asset manager of MEAG New York. “That’s where the next conversation is.”

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project: the cove site: san francisco firm: architecture plus information

amenities define where— and how—work gets done

Clockwise from top left: Architecture Plus Information cofounder Brad Zizmor. Cushman & Wakefield executive managing director J.D. Lumpkin. The work lounge, a reservable space with meeting-room names inspired by the buried ships in historic Yerba Buena Cove. The communal fitness area in the wellness suite. The Cliff Room, an elevated game room akin to a private club. A private shower suite. Reception in the welcome lounge. Hosted dining in the Twin Peaks conference area.

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BOTTOM: GARRETT ROWLAND (3)

BRAD ZIZMOR, A+I

The Cove’s primary selling point is not its hidden podcast room, multiposture work lounges, private fitness suites, or Wolfgang Puck–operated eateries. It’s the vibe. Cushman & Wakefield executive managing director J.D. Lumpkin, who served as client rep on the project, knew design would be the differentiator for the 29,000-square-foot staffed amenity zone, accessible to all tenants of the J.D. LUMPKIN, CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD 525 Market Street office building in San Francisco’s Financial District neighborhood. “Most developers think of an amenity as a line item, whereas I looked at it as a moment and a feeling,” Lumpkin recalls.

The thesis behind the “on-site off-site” space, which serves as workplace extension, clubby gathering hub, wellness destination, and bookable event venue, was that, “If we enrich the workday experience of every employee, then everybody wins: Employees will be happier and more productive, companies will want to stay in the building, it will help them achieve their return-to-office objectives, and leasing will go up,” Lumpkin explains.

Brad Zizmor, cofounder of Architecture Plus Information, which oversaw design of everything from the interiors and the staff uniforms to the logo and sales brochure, agrees: “It’s an inspirational space to have your best day at work.” Zizmor praises his client for being a true partner: “J.D. dug in with all four limbs. He believes people respond to environments that have a perspective and a personality, teeth and history and quirkiness—and that these things really matter and are good business.”

m at t e r s ofdesign power players

“Our client J.D. recognized that amenities are not just for the specialty meetings; they’re for the everyday” —Brad Zizmor

GARRETT ROWLAND

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m at t e r s ofdesign power players From top: A hidden speakeasy dubbed the Oak Room, modeled on a ’70’s-era San Francisco fern bar. Green-dyed wood-veneer millwork in the Twin Peaks lounge. Entry to the wellness studio, complete with communal and private fitness spaces.

“You have to have someone who’s passionate about the project, takes real ownership and accountability for the decisions, and drives everyone” —J.D. Lumpkin 86

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GARRETT ROWLAND

Both parties describe their teams’ close collaboration as key to the building’s success, with Lumpkin providing deep knowledge of San Francisco’s history and what would read as authentic to the local audience, and A+I contributing its holistic approach—and knowing when to push the client just out of his comfort zone, for instance, seizing the opportunity to amp up the color quotient (see the blueon-blue game room, the green wood–paneled Twin Peaks conference area, etc.). “At every turn, we took the appropriate amount of risk, and those ended up being the design hallmarks, the ‘wow’ moments,” Lumpkin says. Zizmor credits his client with weighing in on “literally everything,” from the commissioned artwork to the two-tone seating upholstery. “I sat through hundreds of hours of design meetings, and that isn’t even technically my job,” Lumpkin admits. “That pays off when I tour people through the space: I remember all the little decisions and exactly why we did them.” —Jen Renzi

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“The future of workplace design isn’t about technology for technology’s sake—it’s about fulfilling people’s needs to collaborate, create, and thrive”—Bob Cicero

a smart approach to hybrid

TOM KRIZMANIC, GENSLER

BOB CICERO, CISCO

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In a post-pandemic effort to consolidate—and apply more consistent design standards to—its global workplace footprint, Cisco hatched a quartet of guiding principles: Facilities should foster staff wellness, optimize sustainability (to meet net-zero ambitions), support mixed-presence scenarios, and be informed by metrics like space and energy utilization. In office locations including New York, that approach has been highly effective. “By starting with the employee experience, using real data on how work actually happens, and running every decision through our four design pillars, we created spaces that attract, engage, and inspire,” says Bob Cicero, leader of the company’s Future Proof Workplaces Practice.

The agile workspace, a collaboration with Gensler, boasts state-of-the-art smart systems, low-voltage powerover-ethernet infrastructure, and platforms to support all types of hybrid meetings. “The goal was to create an environment where collaboration feels seamless,” Gensler principal Tom Krizmanic says. To that end, “we designed the space around the optimum delivery of the technology: camera angles, sight lines, and microphone/ speaker relationships.” More than 70 percent of the 59,000-square-foot space is devoted to video-enabled collab zones, from huddle rooms to corridor breakout areas. “That’s a high ratio, but it could become the norm in organizations with mobile, creative, and hybrid working policies,” Krizmanic adds. By pairing advanced tech with access to in-office and building-wide amenities, he continues, “Employees can choose the setting that works best for them, ensuring the workplace supports connection and flexibility.” And so it does. —Jen Renzi

Clockwise from top: The waiting area in reception. Storyboard corridor, one of 90 video-enabled collaboration zones.

A conference room dubbed Brooklyn Bridge, with tabletop shaped to support hybrid meetings. The Grand Central lounge.

Bob Cicero, leader of Cisco’s Future Proof Workplaces Practice. Gensler principal Tom Krizmanic.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: ROBERT DEITCHLER/COURTESY OF GENSLER (4)

project: cisco talent and collaboration center site: new york firm: gensler

Practitioners and their C-suite clients dish about a recent project—and the value design brings to the table

s h o p talk power players corgan + aiport dimensions

“Great design doesn’t just shape how an airport lounge looks but also how it makes you feel. In The Club SFO, design brought clarity to complexity, translating bold concepts into grounded solutions that delight travelers while staying true to the local identity. Connecting story, setting, and function elevated the experience far beyond expectations.”

—Laura Banse, Airport Dimensions

“Today’s travelers have evolved, and offering restorative spaces with a strong sense of place is essential. For The Club SFO by Airport Dimensions, we drew inspiration from California’s redwood forests to create a peaceful, modern retreat. Translating regional identity into spatial design in this way feels both elevated and immersive.”

—Ginger Gee DiFurio, Corgan

“Stepping into Rosewood Amsterdam feels like discovering a hidden gem—a place where Dutch heritage meets modern luxury. Each space reflects the city’s soul: rich in history, effortlessly elegant, alive with charm. Every detail makes guests feel at home, immersed in a journey that flows from the 17th century to today. More than 1,000 works of art— from Dutch masters to contemporary talents—spark discovery and conversation, positioning the hotel as a living gallery.”

—Piet Boon, Studio Piet Boon

“Our mission was to craft an experience where Amsterdam’s history and culture intertwine with Rosewood’s distinctive lifestyle. By honoring the architectural legacy of the former Palace of Justice—the last new hotel development permitted within a monumental building in Amsterdam—and creating thoughtfully designed spaces, we not only restored a cherished landmark for locals but also invite guests to immerse themselves in the heart of this vibrant city. It’s a celebration of heritage, innovation, and meaningful connections.”

—Thomas Harlander, Rosewood Amsterdam

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BOTTOM RIGHT: ILSOO VAN DIJK

studio piet boon + rosewood amsterdam

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cetraruddy + housing works “The Lirio in New York is a powerful reminder of what we can accomplish when we come together to build a more inclusive city. A safe, beautiful, and supportive home is what all New Yorkers need to thrive. This development is rooted in resilience, and the CetraRuddy team has been a great partner in bringing it to life.

With its advanced Passive House approach and inspiring, healthy units, the project offers a powerful case study in investing in supporting the environmental, physical, and mental well-being of those in need.”

—Andrew Coamey, Housing Works

s h o p talk power players

“The Lirio provides affordable apartments for families and housing for formerly homeless individuals, including long-term survivors of HIV/AIDS. A deep understanding of residents’ perspectives and needs is especially important for designers of such housing communities, and we’re fortunate to be collaborating with experienced and thoughtful client teams at Housing Works and Hudson Companies.

Their insights have been critical at every step of decision-making, from incorporating programming that emphasizes health and well-being to working with our designers on material selections that create comfortable, inviting homes imbued with a sense of belonging.”

—Ximena Rodriguez, CetraRuddy

spacesmith + foundrae “Design was never just about finishes; it was a strategic tool for storytelling. Collaborating with Spacesmith helped translate our ethos into four distinct FoundRae boutiques across the U.S., each rooted in its local context while staying true to our jewelry brand. The firm brought deep expertise and genuine respect for my vision, pushing it further in ways I hadn’t imagined. The thoughtfulness of the design shapes the customer’s experience from the moment they walk in. It was a true creative partnership—one that made the outcome greater than any one perspective alone.”

—Beth Hutchens, FoundRae

“Together with Beth, we designed a series of her FoundRae boutiques that feel like sanctuaries: layered and full of quiet moments of discovery. The goal was to create places where clients feel invited to design jewelry that means something to them—pieces they’ll treasure and eventually pass down.”

“Working closely with Jack and his team at Clearview Hospitality, we reimagined Sofitel Philadelphia’s lobby and public spaces, marrying French modernism with the building’s brutalist bones. Drawing inspiration from the city’s French Quarter, we created spaces that feel like a bustling morning stroll through Paris.

Rhythmic wayfinding leads guests to the lounge, full of jeweltoned furnishings and hidden animal prints—a menagerie that channels a well-traveled collector.”

“The collaboration with //3877 showcased how design can directly impact both user satisfaction and business outcomes, particularly in a high-demand neighborhood like Rittenhouse Square. The result enhanced operational efficiency, the guest experience, and customer satisfaction, ultimately translating to higher foot traffic and repeat visits—in short, contributing to measurable ROI.”

—David Tracz, //3877

—Jack Shay, Clearview Capital

—Ámbar Margarida, Spacesmith

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new keys When partnering with outside firms, Brad Wilson of Ace Group International and Atelier Ace looks for architects and designers with no hotel experience

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: DANIEL DORSA; FLACK STUDIO; ANSON SMART

Ace Group International managing partner Brad Wilson might have a degree from Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration, but his three decade–plus career in hospitality has been defined by more than a deep understanding of the business-and-numbers side of the industry.

Since 1997, when Starwood CEO Barry Sternlicht hired him to help launch W Hotels, Wilson has built a reputation for blending sharp analytic expertise with a visionary grasp of design’s com­ manding role in the modern hotel experience—an ethos he continues to develop as head of Atelier Ace, the brand’s 50-person in-house creative agency, which regularly partners with outside firms. Unusually, he prefers collaborating with designers that have no prior hotel experience— a habit established early, when he worked with Rockwell Group on the W New York and Yabu Pushelberg on the W Times Square, the first hospitality commissions for both studios. We spoke with Wilson about that philosophy and how it plays out in Ace’s three newest properties in Sydney, Toronto, and Athens.

Clockwise from top left: The managing partner of Ace Group International and Atelier Ace, in the Ace Hotel Brooklyn, a 2021 new-build with architecture by Stonehill Taylor and interiors by Roman and Williams. A watercolor rendering by designer David Flack of a guest room at the Ace Hotel Sydney, a 1916 building made over in 2022 by architect Bates Smart with interiors by Flack Studio. The street front of the hotel’s retail store.

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Along with Ian Schrager’s hotels, the W New York pioneered high-end hospitality design in the city when it opened in 1998. What was that like?

Brad Wilson: We were creating the W brand at the same time we were creating an amazing hotel. Barry focused on engaging interesting new designers and moving them into the hospitality realm, in this case David Rockwell. It was David’s first hotel, and I worked with him on the program, using his vision for it—spalike, tied to nature, organic—to create the overall lifestyle that would be W Hotels. I had the same opportunity with George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg on the W Times Square—taking a fresh look at hospitality design and aiming to make something new and different but also elegant and sophisticated.

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Why have you continued working with hospitality newcomers at Ace? BW: The Ace DNA weaves through all our properties, but we want to make each hotel unique, very site specific, with a strong individual

FROM TOP: DEPASQUALE + MAFFINI; BILL GEORGOUSSIS; PINELOPI GERASIMOU

Clockwise from top left: The lobby of the Ace Hotel & Swim Club Athens, opened in 2024, with architectural renovations and interiors

by French firm Ciguë. Behind the custom Dionysos marble reception desk by Ilias Lefas, a beaded textile by graphics studio Ogust and artist Alexandros Ntouras, emblazoned with a Greek greeting. The Premises of Summer, an acrylic mural by Claire Manent, on the renovated building, a brutalist-style hotel from the 1970’s. In Sebastian restaurant, Ida Linea Hilderbrand’s Bauhaus-inspired FF chairs joining built-in banquettes.

A custom, hand-embroidered bedcover by Greek-Egyptian designer Salma Barakat, enhancing a guest room. From left, Ciguë partner Alphonse Sarthout, art consultant Matthieu Prat of Diplomates Studio, and Atelier Ace director of interiors Jonny Ribeiro, at the hotel.

personality—a one-off experience in one particular location.

We’ve found that partnering with upcoming designers allows us to achieve that more than going to firms who’ve already done a hundred hotels, because a lot of times what you get is their hotel.

DEPASQUALE + MAFFINI

How does a collaboration between Atelier Ace and an outside firm work?

BW: Before we hire a designer for a project, our team— headed by director of interiors Jonny Ribeiro and director of architecture Steven Dremov— does deep research into the culture and history of the city, and also of the building if it’s a renovation, which a lot of our properties are. From that, we develop a visual narrative for the project—where we’re going with it—and then we look for designers that are a good fit for what we’re trying to create. At the Ace Hotel Sydney, for example, the building we renovated was the site of the

city’s first brick kiln, so we were interested in using masonry surfaces and textures.

We also developed a huge appreciation for Australian modernism, which is very organic. We found a Melbournebased designer, David Flack, who’d played with those elements on residential projects.

Our palette tends to be tight while David’s approach is very colorful, so we learned a lot from him about expressing Australia through color—even using purple, which I never thought we’d do!

The polychrome ceramicbrick reception desk is extraordinary.

BW: It came out of the original narrative—that this was a kiln site—and how to express it in a modern way. We often solve things by making them art projects—in this case, an installation of graffitilike painted bricks. It’s an example of taking the localized narrative, bringing in art and

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design elements, and partnering with them to make a space that defines the hotel.

The natural-wood and earth-tone palette at Ace Hotel Toronto, a new-build in collaboration with small, local firm Shim-Sutcliffe Architects, seems more typical of the brand.

BW: We did the interiors ourselves. Brigitte Shim and her husband Howard Sutcliffe had mostly done residential work, no hotels, but their houses are exciting—powerfully rooted in

Canadian design and aesthetics. They’re teachers and experimenters on the cusp of architecture there, and we saw a chance to create a new building that adds cultural value to the city. We focused on empowering them to make great architecture and took the lead on the interiors, so they knit seamlessly with the building and emphasize its architectural presence. I think we were able to make a cathedral to hospitality where the spaces and structure determine the finishes and furnishings.

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The three-level lobby with its concrete arches recalls grand old hotels with giant public spaces but on a warmer, more human scale.

BW: We used organic and craft materials to help create

that sense. You can sit in the lobby and feel you’re in a very intimate space, but if you turn your gaze upward, you realize there are three open floors above you spanned by massive concrete structural elements.

It’s truly unique.

At your most recently opened location, the Ace Hotel & Swim Club Athens, the pool becomes the property’s social and cultural hub, no?

BW: We brought that idea to Athens from our swim club in Palm Springs, which has always been one of our most celebrated hotels. We acquired a ’70’s modernist hotel with two swimming pools and an interesting grid of balconies, almost brutalist in feel, which we loved.

ANSON SMART

Clockwise from top left: In Sydney, a second-floor event space enlivened by com­missioned art­ work from Julia Gutman (left) and Joanna Lamb (rear). Custom wool blankets and vibrant carpeting offsetting a guest room’s custom oak millwork. Original brick and custom ruched leather–upholstered banquettes distinguishing the sunken lobby lounge. Forming the reception desk, a James Lemon installation of polychrome ceramic bricks, backdropped by a Jason Phu wall hanging. Flack in the lobby bar.

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You worked with a French studio, Ciguë, which is also quite experimental, on the architecture and the interiors.

BW: Yes, the firm is really into the concept of architectural design as an installation process, which attracted us. It looks on its work as radical collage, layering spaces with materials and furnishings that feel real and authentic, that have craft and art—all things that give an environment depth and make people feel comfortable in it. There was also a collage of other firms involved: Back to the Future,

c r o s s lines power players

a local source of vintage furniture from all over Greece; art consultants Matthieu Prat of Diplomates Studio, who focused on the public spaces, and Aliki Lampropoulous of Mare Studio, who oversaw guest rooms; and Ogust, an Athens graphics studio, which did the signage and wayfinding. We wanted to evoke the Athens Riviera of the ’70’s, not Miami Beach—no billowing white curtains!—so we played a lot with color. Many of our choices, like the yellow of the sun umbrellas, are nostalgic for that era, so they’re not hues you’ve seen over and over, which is always our goal.

—Peter Webster

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: GLOBE; WILLIAM JESS LAIRD; GRAYDON HERRIOTT; WILLIAM JESS LAIRD (2)

Clockwise from top left: Brigitte Shim and husband Howard Sutcliffe of Shim-Sutcliffe Architects, the firm behind the ground-up, 123-room Ace Hotel Toronto, which opened in 2022, with interiors by Atelier Ace. The entrance of the 14-story building.

A guest room with a deep window bench, turning the space into a meditative “urban cabin.” In the rooftop bar Evangeline, a castconcrete bas relief by Montrealbased artist David Umemoto.

The lobby bar, suspended from massive trapezoidal arches by thin steel rods.

c r e at i v e voices power players

stronger together Using minimal materials but maximum innovation, Patrick Jouin and Dassault Systèmes forge a 3D-printed chair unlike any other

FROM TOP: COURTESY OF DASSAULT SYSTÈMES; ADRIEN DIRAND; C. SEULEUSIAN

Patrick Jouin, a Paris-based designer and an Interior Design Hall of Fame member, has been at the forefront of working with 3D printing for the past two decades. He produced his first object using the technology in 2004—the Solid chair that resembles a tangle of cords. Another is the One Shot, a 2006 stool that is collapsible and has no screws, springs, or visible joints, just 35 integrated hinges.

Now, Jouin has taken things further by enlisting the help of mathematics to devise a folding polyamide chair, its design based on bone-density algorithms and calculated to use the minimum amount of material. Named Ta.Tamu, Japanese for the art of folding, it weighs just over 6 pounds and takes one day to print.

It’s the result of a nearly five-year collaboration with Anne Asensio, vice president of design and innovation at French software company Dassault Systèmes, who Jouin met shortly after starting his studio in 1998, when she was working at Renault. “I asked him then, ‘How could we improve the car experience?’ That’s a magical question for a designer, to break out of a standard commission.” For Ta.Tamu, Jouin used Dassault’s computer-aided three-dimensional interactive application (CATIA) to come up with a complex design he could previously only have imagined. “It’s like designing a forest,” he says. “You can’t draw every leaf on every tree.” For Asensio, it’s the beginning of something new. “Ta.Tamu is not just another chair, it’s a concept,” she asserts. “We hope it sets an example for other creatives to follow.” Here, we learn more about the fruitful partnership between designer and manufacturer.

Clockwise from center: The founder of Patrick Jouin ID. Anne Asensio, vice president of design and innovation at Dassault Systèmes. Unveiled last June, the 3D-printed, foldable, one-piece Ta.Tamu chair, the result of a collaboration between Jouin and Dassault.

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c r e at i v e voices power players vision of what he wants to produce. The journey of seeing the object as a whole— in its use and over time—is something we share in common. And few designers have that.

Why your interest with 3D printing?

Patrick Jouin: It allows me to make objects I could only imagine before. For example, a ball inside a ball inside a ball. No one on Earth was capable of making it. You always needed a little hole to pass a

tool through. But with 3D printing, I can.

How does CATIA work?

AA: It offers a language for designers, artists, and scientists to try to emulate nature.

Nature always seeks what’s most accurate, most viable.

CATIA integrates algorithms from the natural world, which can be based on any physical law—gravity, fractal systems, atomic density. It lets us approximate how nature would behave in arranging elements and shapes.

Have other designers worked with the software?

AA: Frank Gehry used CATIA to create buildings that defy Newtonian geometry. We’ve also worked with Morphosis, Kengo Kuma, and Arthur Mamou-Mani, the latter on imagining the brick of the 21st century made from polylactic acid.

How is Ta.Tamu different from other objects you’ve produced with 3D printing?

PJ: The others were created in a completely intuitive way.

One of my projects—the Monolithique bench, which weighs 8 pounds but could support a person’s weight— was made without any precise calculations. Maybe I used too much material, or not enough. I didn’t know.

Anne saw it and said, ‘We’re going to recalculate it using topological optimization,’ meaning it’ll have just the right amount of material in just the right place. That was the start of our collaboration—using science in the design process.

CLOCKWISE FROM BOTTOM LEFT: COURTESY OF PATRICK JOUIN ID (4); C. SEULEUSIAN

Why have you chosen to work with Patrick?

Anne Asensio: When he and I worked on the Renault project, we were envisioning design exactly as we do today— as a lived-in art, an experience. That overlaps with what we do with Patrick today. We aim to seize all the possibilities of industry, technology, and innovation to imagine how to live better.

With Patrick, we never stop, whatever the subject. He looks to the heart of a project, has an all-encompassing

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Clockwise from opposite far left: Jouin’s pencil sketches drawn over 3D models of Ta.Tamu. A full-scale research prototype. A close-up of one of the chair’s hinges. Asensio and Jouin easily lifting Ta.Tamu, its supple polyamide construction weighing just 6.6 pounds. Progressing from being completed folded to unfolded. Getting unfolded after printing. Initial tests to use a flexible mesh stretched over the structure for the seat and backrest, but ultimately Ta.Tamu was made from a single material.

C. SEULEUSIAN

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Clockwise from top left: Jouin with his 3D-printed Monolithique bench, which he created in 2017 with Jacques Marescaux, M.D. His folding One Shot stool, 2006, its compactness allowing for 15 to be printed at once. His Solid chair, 2004, his first full-scale object made with 3D printing.

c r e at i v e voices power players

What were other parameters?

PJ: I wanted to make a com­ fortable chair, with a curve in the backrest. It also needed to fit inside the 3D-printing ma­ chine, which is why I chose to make it foldable. And I wanted to use as little material as pos­ sible. I came up with an initial prototype, which was purely my design. Then, the DS team, the machine, and mathemati­ cal calculations took over to

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nibble away the unnecessary material and present a num­ ber of iterations. In the end, we picked the one we found the most interesting.

How did aesthetics come into play?

PJ: We made Ta.Tamu without knowing exactly what the re­ sult would be. What I wanted was function, not style. There is no ornament. Yet, when you look at it, it’s incredibly com­ plex. You might say it’s ultradesigned, but it’s not ‘designed’ in the conventional sense.

Why was using minimal material so important?

PJ: Plastic is the result of a process for producing

petroleum that has stretched over millions of years. It’s precious. I don’t have the right to use more than necessary.

AA: If a form is not purely useful, it’s waste, it’s consum­ erism. It has no right to exist.

Aluminum is a big topic be­ cause it’s infinitely recyclable.

We didn’t have the means to build an aluminum-printing machine capable of producing the chair, but it’s already being used in the aerospace industry.

Some 10 billion people can’t live well if we keep producing objects the way we do today.

—Ian Phillips THOMAS DUVAL

Why did you choose to work with an algorithm based on bone density?

AA: That came from Patrick’s initial intuition of seeking lightness while also main­ taining rigidity.

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a crochet of influences Brazil and France, scent and sound, drums and bark— all were in harmony in a monumental netting sculpture

by Ernesto Neto at the Grand Palais in Paris CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: PAULO SHCHETTINO/COURTESY OF MAAT, ERNESTO NETO, TANYA BONAKDAR GALLERY NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES, AND FORTES D’ALOIA & GABRIEL GALERIA, SÃO PAULO/RIO DE JANEIRO (5); COURTESY OF ERNESTO NETO

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c enter fold

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“I tried to create a continuity between our bodies, the body of the earth, and the collective body”

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SIXTY ONE instruments

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LINEAR FEET OF COTTON CHINTZ

crocheters and on-site installers directed by Ernesto Neto

FEET LONG

1. A digital concept drawing shows Brazilian artist Ernesto Neto’s Nosso Barco Tambor Terra (Our Boat Drum Earth), a suspended crochet sculpture evoking accord that was displayed at the Grand Palais in Paris last summer. 2. In Neto’s Rio de Janeiro studio, an assistant cut brightly colored cotton chintz into long, thin strips. 3. The strips were formed into balls of multicolor “yarn.” 4. The team hand-crocheted the yarn using their fingers instead of needles, a process Neto developed and calls atelienave, into one of his signature large-scale netting structures. 5. To illustrate the in­ stallation’s intention to unite cultural differences under one banner, instruments and spices from around the world were incorporated into the resulting canopy. 6. For a textural floor covering to accompany the canopy, another assistant outlined and cut cotton, dyed it with black tea, and later covered it with loose bark.

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c e n t e r fold 1. Neto’s Nosso Barco Tambor Terra (Our Boat Drum Earth) was tethered to the iron framework capping the nave of the Grand Palais by crochet ropes that could be adjusted with wooden pulleys.

2. Inspired by the universal language of music and Neto’s love of percussion, drums from countries such as Brazil, Japan, Senegal, and Qatar were strewn on the ground and hung inside crocheted pouches and could be played by visitors. 3. Fragrant spices, grains, soil, and herbs were placed in cotton mesh bags and hung from the canopy as counter­ weights and sand-filled bags set in the base of the canopy “trunks” served as anchors. 4. Exhibited from June 5 through July 25, the 114-foot-tall installation was part of the reopening celebration of the 1900 Grand Palais, which underwent a four-year restoration by Chatillon Architectes that included work on its glass roof, the largest in Europe. —Athena Waligore

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DIDIER PLOWY/COURTESY OF GRAND PALAIS, ERNESTO NETO, TANYA BONAKDAR GALLERY NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES, AND FORTES D’ALOIA & GABRIEL GALERIA, SÃO PAULO/RIO DE JANEIRO

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boilin boiling chilled Water at its best. www.us.zipwater.com

sparkling

JESPER HAYNES

sept 25

lean into the curve

headline goes here Deck for well story

goes here deck for well story goes here

text: jesse dorris photography: douglas friedman

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ancient and modern

Leeton Pointon Architects and Allison Pye Interiors give a contemporary country house an archaic aura on the Mornington Peninsula in Australia text: peter webster photography: lisa cohen/living inside

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It may be newly built, but a 9,700-square-foot country house atop a summit in rolling pastureland on Australia’s Mornington Peninsula evokes the been-there-forever presence of a historic Italian hill town, one that appears to be an organic part of the landscape. Like those age-old settlements, the sprawling residence—a collaboration between Leeton Pointon Architects and Allison Pye Interiors—comprises a cluster of distinct arch­ itectural forms arranged around a central open space, in this case a courtyard paved in travertine. A limited structural-materials palette— recycled bricks and concrete, either sprayed or board-formed, both already looking slightly weathered—unifies the varied volumes into a harmonious, villagelike ensemble that crowns the 110-acre property and enjoys distant views of frequently choppy Western Port Bay. A weekend retreat for a couple and their three adult children, the single-story house needed to be big and flexible enough to host largescale social and corporate events yet feel intimate when only two people were in residence. “We spent a lot of time with the client walking around the site when it was just a paddock, working out exactly where the house should be located,” says architect Michael Leeton, principal of Leeton Pointon, referring to designer Allison Pye, whose eponymous firm joined the project from the start. “It’s very exposed and windy, plus the view is to the south,” he continues. “So it was all about connecting to the landscape while providing protection from the elements and also getting northern light into the interior.”

Curving brick walls thread through the floor plan, creating cocooning interior spaces and a series of sheltered outdoor areas, including the central courtyard and a sun-baked swimming-pool terrace. A massive, almost geologic architectural element of sprayed concrete over steel framing runs like a spine through the center of the house. With its biomorphic shape and minimally smoothed finish, the structure has the mythological heft of a sleeping dragon guarding its hoard—its tail at

Previous spread: On Australia’s Mornington Peninsula, the sculptural concrete forms of a country house by Leeton Pointon Architects and Allison Pye Interiors evoke ancient Etruscan and Cycladic settlements.

Top: The ensemble in­ cludes a lightweight con­ crete dome known as a Binishell, after Italian architect Dante Bini.

Bottom, from left: An imposing enfilade links the study, covered porch topped by a glazed oculus, kitchen, and living room. A massive sprayed-concrete volume, pierced by a tunnellike passage, separates the kitchen from the living room.

Opposite: Housed in the dome, the living room features an expansive custom sofa joined by Inoda + Sveje’s Sendai lounge chairs and Elisa Ossino’s Nota wall lamps.

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“It was all about connecting to the landscape, providing protection from the elements, and getting northern light into the interior”

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the front door, its snout pushing through the southern facade. In fact, this sculptural form encloses a mudroom, butler’s pantry, and wine cellar, and also contains a pair of tunnellike portals leading, respectively, to the dining gallery—a long, fully glazed space that can seat more than 40 people at an expandable line of tables—and to the circular living room.

The latter is housed in a thin-shell concrete dome, recalling a hill town’s inevitable duomo and, more distantly, the Pantheon and other classical cupolas. The soaring volume, flanked by arched window walls overlooking the courtyard to the north and the farmland to the south, is both exhilaratingly expansive and meditatively calm. “It’s a Binishell,” Leeton notes, referencing the construction method pioneered by Italian architect Dante Bini, in which a lightweight dome is quickly erected by spraying concrete onto inflatable formwork—essentially, a giant balloon.

Pye has furnished the slightly sunken space with striking simplicity— little more than a pair of leather-upholstered lounge chairs and a vast custom sofa that follows the curve of the wall, transitioning into concrete benching that supports a freestanding fireplace at one end and forms steps leading up to the courtyard at the other. “Our work needs to be very quiet when the architecture’s so extraordinary,” the designer, who frequently partners with Leeton, observes. “It’s all about responding to those forms and getting the balance right.” Since domes can create acoustical problems, that response includes noise-dampening materials and finishes such as thick wool carpeting and sound-absorbent plaster—not to mention the pillowy sofa. Even the artwork—a suspended, floor-to-ceiling fiber sculpture by Louise Weaver and a foam-backed acrylic-on-linen painting commissioned from Lara Merrett—helps keep the liveliest gathering easy on the ear.

The same restrained approach informs the selection of furnishings and materials throughout the seven-bedroom house, with contrasting textures and subtle plays of light reinforcing moments of intimacy and containment within the spatial rhythm of expansion and contraction. The spine’s sprayedconcrete surface was minimally troweled to achieve a stippled effect that suggests the timeworn patina of archaic monuments. This is juxtaposed with the smoothness of the surrounding ceiling—the underside of the concrete-slab roof—and the polished plaster walls. Another texture emerges in the curved brick walls, especially prominent in the main bedroom and in the arcs that define two nearly touching volumes for the other bedrooms, as well as the recreational space that adjoins them. Flooring likewise helps merge or separate areas: oak planking in the large multizone kitchen and adjacent spine; thick wool carpeting in the enclosed

Top: Mario Bellini’s Cab chairs pull up to a custom oak table in the dining gallery, while travertine paving extends into the central courtyard. Center: A butler’s pantry within the concrete volume adjoins the kitchen’s custom oak-and-marble islands. Bottom: The sofa is flanked by Louise Weaver’s Capsize fiber sculpture and backdropped by Lara Merrett’s commissioned Waterlyness acrylic on linen— both works also helping tame acoustics.

Opposite top, from left: Between curved bedroom volumes, a glazed reading nook overlooks a firepit surrounded by Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec’s Palissade chairs. An oculus illuminates the main dressing room. Opposite bottom, from left: A pair of BassamFellows Tractor stools and a Davide Groppi Moon pendant fixture outfit the open kitchen. Integral to the project from its inception, the extensive landscaping is

by Paul Bangay Garden Design.

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living room and bedrooms; and travertine paving in the dining gallery and neighboring courtyard, which unites them into a grand public space.

A series of oculi not only draws natural light deep into the center of the house but also sets a more relaxed diurnal tempo for its occupants. “Big circles of sunlight move around the floor during the day,” Leeton observes.

“It’s a lovely way to measure the passing of time, particularly when you’re on holiday.” Even the powder room gets its own circular skylight, casting an animating beam into the sequestered space. With a custom sink and floor clad in oxblood-veined Tiberio marble, and plaster walls tinted to match, it’s the most overtly colorful room on the property. But while the clean lines and crisp fittings may be unmistakably modern, that James Turrell-esque glimpse of the heavens brings an aura of ancient rituals with it.

PROJECT TEAM KATE POINTON; KIM JANG YUN; STACY AMBELAS: LEETON POINTON ARCHITECTS. SOPHIE LINDBLOM-TAYLOR; DONNA ZIMBARDI; CHRISTINE JOUBERT: ALLISON PYE INTERIORS. SARAH RITSON: ART CONSULTANT. PAUL BANGAY GARDEN DESIGN: LANDSCAPE CONSULTANT. CAMM UPHOLSTERY; ALEXANDER J COOK; DISTINCT JOINERY; MOTTO FURNITURE & CABINETRY: CUSTOM FURNITURE WORKSHOPS. STONE ELEGANCE: STONEWORK. FELICETTI: STRUCTURAL ENGINEER. LBA CONSTRUCTION GROUP: GENERAL CONTRACTOR. PRODUCT SOURCES FROM FRONT CASSINA: SIDE CHAIRS (STUDY, KITCHEN, GALLERY). BARBERA DESIGN: TABLE (PORCH). RIVA 1920: WOOD STOOLS. PAOLA LENTI: ARMCHAIR (PORCH), CERAMIC SIDE TABLES (LIVING ROOM, POOL), LOUNGE CHAIRS (COURTYARD, POOL). DAVIDE GROPPI: PENDANT FIXTURE (KITCHEN). KNOLL: DINING TABLE. BASSAMFELLOWS: STOOLS. MINOTTI: ARMCHAIRS, LARGE COFFEE TABLE (LIVING ROOM). FOCUS: FIREPLACE. MOROSO: OTTOMAN. SP01 DESIGN: SIDE TABLES. GLAS ITALIA: GLASS TABLE (GALLERY). E15: TRAY (GALLERY), STOOL (DRESSING ROOM).

VOLKER HAUG STUDIO: SCONCES (NOOK). ARTEMIDE: WALL LAMP. RESIDENT: SIDE TABLE. HAY: LOUNGE CHAIRS (FIREPIT). THE DHARMA DOOR: BASKET (DRESSING ROOM). DEDON: SUNBEDS (POOL). KETTAL: SOFA. STUDIO HENRY WILSON: DOOR HANDLE (CELLAR). BOCCI: PENDANT FIXTURE (POWDER ROOM). VIABIZZUNO: TABLE LAMPS (BEDROOM). PROSTORIA: NIGHTSTAND. THROUGHOUT DULUX: PAINT.

Top: Francesco Rota’s Otto lounge chair, Edward Barber & Jay Osgerby’s Tibbo sunbeds, and Vincent van Duysen’s Giro sofa gather on the sheltered pool terrace.

Bottom, from left: The cellar door is solid oak with a cast-brass handle.

Polished plaster walls in the powder room were color-matched to the Tiberio marble cladding the custom vanity and floor.

Opposite: In the main bedroom, the custom headboard echoes the curve of the wall, on which hangs a plush synthetic-fur sculpture by Kathy Temin.

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brick by brick

headline goes here

At the Lego Group Boston Hub, BDG Architecture + Design built spaces that allow for work and play—as well as collaboration, innovation, and ROI text: rebecca dalzell

photography: eric laignel

Deck for well story

goes here deck for well story goes here

text: jesse dorris photography: douglas friedman

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Previous spread: At the Lego Group Boston Hub, the Danish toy company’s six-level, 157,000-square-foot U.S. headquarters by BDG Architecture + Design, each floor has a color identity, which, in a collaboration area on six, is carried out in acoustic-felt Buzzijet pendant fixtures, Proto sofas by Nick Ross, and letters framed in clear acrylic filled with Lego bricks.

Left: Lego form the logo behind the reception desk. Right: Tubular PET acoustic felt wallcovering wraps the stairway; BDG worked with the structural engineer to design a stepped cut for circular stair openings, reducing the amount of material removed from the slab.

Opposite top: A Lego mural of the Boston skyline animates the 7th-floor collab area outfitted with Bob sofas by Thomas Bernstrand and Stefan Borselius and Ola Giertz’s LIV stools. Opposite bottom: The custom desk and ceiling treatment in reception both reference Lego, while ducks made from the bricks nod to the Make Way for Ducklings children’s book and Nancy Schön sculpture in Boston Public Garden.

Ask an architect how they got started, and there’s a good chance they’ll mention a childhood obsession with Lego bricks. “Our entire team loves them,” affirms Lydia Randall, director and ESG lead at BDG Architecture + Design, recalling building toy bridges with them. That history came in handy as she, creative director Mitch James, and their BDG associates conceived the Lego Group Boston Hub, otherwise known as the Danish company’s U.S. headquarters. Everyone intuitively understood how two Lego connect, she says, and that simple concept informed the design of the 157,000-squarefoot workplace.

Lego grip together when round studs on the top of one piece click into the tubes on the bottom of another. “They interlock to give you a unique clutch power that holds your creation together but can be disassembled to make something new,” says Skip Kodak, a Lego Group senior vice president and lead executive for the Boston Hub. “It’s a key part of our brand. That versatility and ability to iterate had to come through here.”

BDG has worked with the toy company for many years, formulating sales offices and production facilities around the world. But the Boston project is a much larger scale, a global hub for 800 employees spread across six floors. For 50 years, the Lego Group’s U.S. base was in Enfield, Connecticut; it moved to Boston to expand its capabilities and attract top talent. An 124

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“The number of finishes in this project is massive—much more than we usually use”

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Top: Knolling artwork with vertical lines of Lego hangs in an open office area.

Bottom: LED pendants and acoustic ceiling baffles curve above the town hall.

Opposite top, from left: Cork-rubber floors much of the office, including this pantry on 10 with a custom sofa and a Bond side table by Aust & Amelung. The stair color changes depending on the floor, this stretch going from nine to 10. Opposite bottom: In reception, color blocks made of Lego transition to self-adhesive vinyl stripes on the ceiling. RBW’s Print pendant, an Ionna Vautrin Pion table, and chairs by Form Us With Love furnish a huddle nook on 10.

inspiring workplace that forged a sense of community was crucial to this strategy. The Lego Group asked BDG to create an office that felt both playful and sophisticated, incorporating its identity in fresh and subtle ways. (Lego, by the way, is an abbreviation for leg godt, Danish for play well.)

The program includes a barista bar, more than 90 casual and formal meeting areas, and unique spaces like a novelty showroom and a creative play lab, where the innovation team explores ideas for new Lego sets. BDG conceived a floor plan that, Randall says, “creates attractive destinations and dynamic journeys up and down the building.” The team placed collaborative and social zones on the interior of each floor and open workstations along the perimeter, democratizing the views, which encompass Back Bay, Fenway Park, the Charles River, and the Emerald Necklace parks.

Circles representing the stud and tube of a Lego brick appear throughout in various scales, from penny tiles to meeting rooms. The scheme centers on a colorful spiral stair wrapped in tubular acoustic felt; a semicircular huddle space marks each landing. “We planned little moments of discovery and different types of areas for people to work in,” James adds. Employees may use curtained circular rooms for focused work or informal meetings, or hunker down in cozy nooks hidden under the stairs. They can also noodle around in a play space with buckets of botanical-themed Lego and green base plates along the walls, or idly stack pieces applied to the side of columns. For the Lego Group, the toy’s ubiquity is strategic. “Play helps people unlock potential,” Kodak explains, “because as they physically do something, it enables their brain to move as well, as opposed to being stuck.” Thus, there’s a bin of Lego in every meeting room.

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Left: Ceiling fixtures, acoustic rafts, and air-conditioning channels form concentric circles in meeting rooms enclosed by demountable glass partitions. Right: Floor colors are visible from outside the office, which occupies a 20-story new-build by Elkus Manfredi Architects.

Opposite top: Lukas Peet’s Column pendants, Santi Moix’s Flora Bloom rug, and a Lego raven mark the 10th-floor stair landing. Opposite bottom: Custom lacqueredmillwork islands with colored Formica doors anchor each pantry; this one on the green 8th floor also has upholstered Hula stools by Benjamin Hubert.

It wasn’t easy to bring such playfulness into a professional setting.

“A challenge with Lego is making it feel fun and creative without it looking like kindergarten,” James continues. “It requires a controlled use of color while adding different types of materiality, texture, and pattern.” BDG ensured that workspaces feel calm and neutral and reserved louder tones for common areas.

The team dialed back on the primary shades used in the brand’s logo and incorporated a wider palette that also informs wayfinding. Each floor has a color identity balanced with complementary hues. The reception level is green, a nod to the Emerald Necklace, while the barista bar is swathed in trademark Lego yellow. Passersby can see the stack of colors from the street.

And it goes beyond simply splashing bright paint on the walls. Color is brought in through a variety of materials, like ceramic tile, acoustic felt, and Formica. “The number of finishes in this project is massive—much more than we usually use,” James notes. For instance, in the pantry on the orange floor, the color appears on the lacquered island, pendant fixtures, and banquette upholstery; for the backsplash, glossy white tiles have circular reliefs that subtly reinforce the stud and tube motif. “There are repeated themes, so even if the color changes, there’s a sense of familiarity on every floor,” Randall says.

Lego infuse the decor in surprising ways. In the elevator lobbies, painted high-density foam forms inspired by them serve as lift signs, and integrated circular niches contain Lego Minifigures chosen by employees. Pendants in the barista bar look like glass orbs but are in fact made entirely of Lego;

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Top: Niels Diffrient Liberty task chairs and height-adjustable Q40 desks stand on ReForm Maze carpet tile in an open office area on eight. Bottom: Pantry backsplashes are fitted with glossy ceramic tiles by Kho Liang Ie, this one on six also furnished with Vimini chairs

by Patricia Urquiola.

Opposite top, from left: Custom barista-area pendants made of Lego. Lego Minifigures in an elevator lobby. Moveable Lego on a column. Opposite center, from left: A mosaic mural made from Lego in a 9th-floor collab area. A reception desk detail. Another Lego Minifigure. Opposite bottom, from left: Elevator signs in painted high-density foam.

A Lego Botanical set in a play space. Johan Ansander’s Max chairs on the 7th-floor stair landing.

BDG produced them in collaboration with the company’s model shop. The bricks also compose color blocks along the wall in reception, continuing in vinyl streaks across the ceiling—and a single, nearly 13-foot-long one in white solid-surfacing forms the desk. “Lego bricks are considered part of the architecture, they’re baked into the design,” James says. But that doesn’t make them any less fun: A line of plastic yellow ducks near the desk honors a classic children’s book set in Boston.

Employees are loving all of it. “The space has a spirit and an energy that makes them excited to show up,” Kodak says. Hybrid workers are spending more days in the office, and colleagues feel connected. And BDG keeps building this vibe: The firm is currently working on the Lego Group London Hub. PROJECT TEAM TOBY NEILSON; TANIA BAGULEY; YATIN PATEL; JOYCE PUN; SHUCHEN WANG: BDG ARCHITECTURE + DESIGN. MOBILE OFFICE ARCHITECTS: ARCHITECT OF RECORD. THE FURNITURE PRACTICE: FURNI­T URE CONSULTANT. ACRYLICIZE: BRANDING, SIGNAGE. LUX COLLABORATIVE: LIGHTING DESIGN. MC NAMARA SALVIA: STRUCTURAL ENGINEER. SYSKA HENNESSY GROUP: MEP. MARK RICHEY WOODWORKING: MILL­ WORK. STRUCTURETONE: GENERAL CONTRACTOR. OPTIMIST ADVISORY; REDGATE: PROJECT MANAGERS. PRODUCT SOURCES FROM FRONT +HALLE: SOFAS, TABLES (6 COLLAB, 9 COLLAB), CHAIRS (NOOK). BUZZISPACE: PENDANT FIXTURES (6 COLLAB, PANTRIES). BLÅ STATION: SOFAS, TABLES (7 COLLAB), CHAIRS (7 LANDING).

TURF DESIGN: CEILING BAFFLES (TOWN HALL), WALLCOVERING (NOOK). COR: SIDE TABLE (PANTRY).

CREATACOR: CEILING VINYL (RECEPTION). FEELUX LIGHTING: NEON STRIPS. SANCAL: TABLE (NOOK).

RBW: PENDANT FIXTURE. OBJECT CARPET: RUG. KVADRAT: CURTAIN FABRIC. ARCH STREET: PARTI­ TIONS (MEETING ROOMS). BENTLEY MILLS: BLUE CARPET. NANIMARQUINA: RUG (10 LANDING). A-N-D LIGHT: PENDANT FIXTURES (LANDINGS). ARCHITECTURAL FLOORING RESOURCE: FLOORING (GREEN PANTRY). ANDREU WORLD: STOOLS. LUMENWERX: CURVILINEAR PENDANT FIXTURE (PANTRIES).

TEGAN LIGHTING: CURVILINEAR COVE. EUREKA: PENDANT FIXTURES (OFFICE AREA). HUMANSCALE: TASK CHAIRS. HOLMRIS B8: DESKS. MOSA: BACKSPLASH TILE (ORANGE PANTRY). KETTAL: CHAIRS. THROUGHOUT ZANDUR: CORK-RUBBER FLOORING. EGE: CARPET TILE. FORMICA: CABINETRY. BEN­JA­ MIN MOORE & CO.; SHERWIN-WILLIAMS COMPANY: PAINT.

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text: elizabeth fazzare photography: hanmo (hangzhou) photography co.

plot twist

A heritage Italian clothing brand expands into the Far East with Casa Curiel Chongqing, a fashionable ode to all things Milanese by Liang Architecture Studio

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Previous spread: For Casa Curiel in Chongqing, the southwest China flagship for the legacy Italian women’s fashion brand, Liang Architecture Studio centered the two-story boutique around a monumental limestone staircase with the look of swirling fabric.

Top, from left: Theatrical arched niches are inspired by the Teatro alla Scala opera house in Milan, where the century-old Curiel has its roots. The dome capping the staircase features a decorative plaster rosette and illuminated concentric detailing that’s been hand lacquered. Bottom: The anodizedaluminum facade was parametrically designed to appear like a curtain parting over the entry and windows.

Opposite: Custom travertine vitrines surround the stair, its marble balustrades subtly illuminated by integral LED strips.

To bring the spirit of Curiel, a century-old Milanese women’s fashion brand, to southwest China, Liang Architecture Studio founder and design director Liang Xu pulled inspiration from one of the Italian city’s most beloved cultural buildings. “We extracted elements of Teatro alla Scala to tell the story of the brand through opera,” explains Xu of his concept for the recently completed, 9,700-square-foot Casa Curiel in Chongqing, which was soon followed by Casa Curiel Beijing, as the legacy label establishes a strategic foothold in China’s luxury retail sector. While “the three-act structure of an opera helped lay out our spatial circulation,” Xu continues, the physical parts of a theater stage provided a tool kit of shapes for the interior architecture. Moving through the two-story Chongqing shop feels like an event itself.

The theatrical experience begins upon encountering the facade, a parabolic form of red anodized aluminum that appears like a curtain parting over the entrance and large windows. Once inside, the upscale garments are “the protagonists of the La Scala stage,” Xu adds, displayed on mannequins nestled in built-in apses with limestone wainscoting.

Across the two levels, custom clothing racks—including limestonepaneled versions on the ground floor and handsome brass-paneled ones in the upstairs VIP lounge—and red-travertine vitrines also offer these luxurious wares, including collections of evening dresses fit for a night out at the opera. (Curiel identifies itself as the “Italian pioneer of the little black dress”.) A monumental central stair whisks visitors up to the second level, where the most climactic experiences occur— personalized shopping in the VIP rooms, each space decorated with bespoke furnishings, or a meal in the Curiel Salon restaurant.

Xu’s architectural inspiration alludes to the history of the Curiel fashion house itself, founded in 1908 by Ortensia Curiel and associated with the arts staged at La Scala since 1945, when the brand’s second-generation heir, Gigliola Curiel, created singers’ costumes for premieres. The swirling movement of these artists in silk informed the boutique’s statement 134

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staircase, a freestanding limestone spiral with marble steps, its ridged exterior accepting diffused light from the illuminated rotunda it sits within.

Above the upper landing, a dome features a decorative plaster rosette and hand-painted lacquer detailing, a new technical exploration for Xu’s studio that pays “homage to the spirit of Italian craftsmanship,” he describes.

Milanese craft also influenced the project’s material palette. Downstairs, limestone clads archways and builds pilasters and decorative lintels over clothing rack niches. Upstairs, the portals that welcome visitors into the VIP area and Curiel Salon are built with more red travertine and Doric-style bluestone columns. Marble and oak parquet flooring tap into this historic tradition, too. Through their saturated hues, these natural materials create moments of visual focus within the largely neutral environment and mark transitions into the more exclusive spaces. Only the VIP area features a non-neutral wall color: a sunsetlike mural that brings warmth and a pleasantly soft contrast to the dresses that hang in front of it.

“The interior is decorated with light colors, intended to draw attention to the detail of the clothing,” Xu explains. However, his design is “not only the fusion of architecture and fashion but also the interspersing of East and West,” he adds. With the flagship sited on Minzu Road, Chongqing’s main shopping street, Xu and his team incorporated a reference to the city’s

Left: The curvature and ribbed exterior of the stair were inspired by flowing silk. Right: Diffused lighting casts shadows reminiscent of Chinese bamboo weave in the elliptical dome over the VIP lounge, its custom furnishings standing on oak parquet.

Opposite top, from left: Classical architecture–inspired limestone-lined archways. Sightlines through the stair to the domed ceiling with a custom medallion. A custom clothing rack of patinated brass panels in the VIP lounge. Opposite bottom: Travertine slabs and Doric-style bluestone columns with blackened-elm pilasters form a monumental portal to Curiel Salon, the restaurant on the second floor.

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“Milanese craft influenced the project’s material palette

Left, from top: A tied-back velvet curtain reveals an intimate res­ taurant dining area, with seating upholstered in chenille or linen fringe and a table topped in marble, all custom. Fringe also surrounds the custom pendant fixture appointing a recess, fin­ ished in Venetian plaster. Right: Keeping with the project’s theat­ ricality, some Curiel Salon tables are oriented toward a stage.

Opposite: Linen upholstery reappears on the custom sofa in the VIP lounge, where a photograph of Raffaella Curiel, the third-generation owner of the brand, hangs above a custom antique-looking fireplace mantel.

weaving heritage inside it, as well. Diffused lighting casts shadows reminiscent of bamboo weave onto the domed painted ceiling over one room in the VIP lounge, bringing this very ancient Chinese tradition into a 21st-century form. This playful mix of old and new extends to the room’s furnishings, which include contemporary pieces—a tightly tailored sofa upholstered in fine linen, a low sculptural wooden table—paired with a yesteryear Tuscany– inspired fireplace mantel. A portrait of Raffaella Curiel, the current and third-generation successor of Curiel, is displayed over the latter.

While Xu conceived of movement throughout Casa Curiel as a tripart opera itself—with the first-floor overture, staircase crescendo, and second-story climax—he also formulated a real theater within this conceit. In Curiel Salon, pink marble–topped oak tables are arranged around a stage, swagged in red velvet curtains and ripe to host performances. Apses are filled with intimate chenille-upholstered booths, romantically lit by fringed pendant fixtures.

The same frill covers the backs of some armchairs. Photographs of historic Curiel fashions and designers line the walls, surrounding the room in the brand’s own archive.

“We wanted to create a scene with Milanese architectural culture to draw people into Curiel’s history,” Xu says. However, he has also created a space where the brand can begin to build its future—through new customers in a new market. Perhaps it might first be played out on the Curiel Salon stage.

PROJECT TEAM ZHOU ZESI; YU JIANZHI; ZE MAN; HU XINPING; LU XIN; CHEN WEIXIN; ZHANG XUAN; XU LIANG: LIANG ARCHITECTURE STUDIO. CAPITAL CLASSICS: CUSTOM FURNITURE WORKSHOP. SHANGHAI FUJI CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING CO.: GENERAL CONTRACTOR. PRODUCT SOURCES THROUGHOUT CENTURY WIND: CURTAIN VELVET. COZAN; NEKO: LIGHTING. YAMAUCHI: PAINT.

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chimney suite At Loop Homes Burjassot, a student residence hall in Spain by Martín Lejarraga Architecture Office, towering smokestack forms nod to the site’s industrial roots text: michael snyder photography: david frutos

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Previous spread: Sheltering outdoor furniture by Spanish designers Joan Gaspar and Josep Lluscà, corrugated-steel sheets clad the walls and ceiling of a terrace on the ground floor–mezzanine at Loop Homes Burjassot, a 221-room student residence hall in Spain by Martín Lejarraga Architecture Office.

Opposite top: A steel spiral stair enlivens the double-height lobby, where Note’s La Isla round sofa and Studio Inclass’s Lan side tables stand on ceramic floor tile. Opposite bottom: A steel pergola provides shade for a concrete ping-pong table on the adjacent sidewalk.

Top: On the end facades, smokestack forms sheathed in lacquered-steel panels house building systems, shifting them off the floor plates. Bottom: Rafa García’s Rew high-back sofas are installed back-to-back in the mezzanine commons.

Before Martín Lejarraga Architecture Office started work on Loop Homes Burjassot, a dignified block of student housing named for the Spanish town it serves, the plot where the resident hall now stands had been abandoned for a decade. An agricultural suburb of Valencia for most of its history, Burjassot had experienced radical urban change starting in the 1940’s, when a cement company established a factory complex there. In the late ’90’s, the company moved away and donated its facilities and land to the city; around the same time, a new university campus reinvigorated the otherwise-sleepy town.

Rezoned in the early 2000’s, the former factory site sprouted mid-rise apartment blocks and, on one lot, the beginnings of an office building, but the economic crisis of 2008 stopped construction in its tracks. The residential developments staggered forward—“There have been thousands of housing projects across Spain that have gone through that process,” notes architect Martín Lejarraga, principal of his eponymous firm—but the projected offices never progressed beyond the foundations, leaving nothing more than a three-story-deep concrete scar in the ground. Then, in 2022, the Madrid-based student-housing developer, RYA Residencias, acquired the plot as a raw footing for something new.

By the time RYA brought Lejarraga on board, the architect, who is based in the coastal city of Cartagena, had been rehabilitating preexisting structures for over three decades. “Cartagena has a very interesting built heritage, so our experience here has pushed us to reform and transform lots of structures,” he explains. “Before ‘reuse’ and ‘rehabilitation’ became fashionable, it seemed interesting to me to give buildings new life.” He first worked with RYA in 2012 on a proposal for campus accommodations. (Spanish universities seldom run their own residence halls; most are built and operated by for-profit developers like RYA.) The door to a long-term collaboration opened when the company decided to transition from managing to developing student housing, creating the Loop Homes brand of dormitories, which was inaugurated in 2019 with the transformation of two 19th-century palaces in Granada.

Before taking on the Burjassot project, “We carefully analyzed all the elements that had been built—retaining walls, foundations, slabs, pillars,” Lejarraga reports. “Since it was all belowground it hadn’t suffered any deterioration.” Working within the same volume projected for the original SEPT.25

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“Inexpensive, durable materials play an important role in suppressing costs and extending the building’s lifespan”

office, Lejarraga designed a 13-level slab building around the existing structural elements, “growing the columns from the bottom up.” From there, the planning of a 120,000-square-foot, 221-room residence hall turned on the dictates of real-estate economics.

“Like any developer, RYA was looking to get as much as possible out of the building, which meant looking for a balance between the private rooms and common areas,” the architect continues. “We pushed the rooms to their limit—they’re a bit monastic, though they meet every need—and so we tried to make the common areas ample, generous.” The residence, in other words, replicates the European model of urbanism wherein occupants sacrifice the private realm in favor of accessible, high-quality public space.

Spanning the top seven floors, student accommodations vary in typology—from individual and double rooms to shared, acces­ sible, and suite-style units—but all of them compress a kitchenette, closet, and work area into built-ins along what Lejarraga terms “an active wall.” The rooftop swimming pool serves as an urban beach, as attractive as any high-end hotel’s, while on the doubleheight ground floor, common areas draw light and ventilation through tall banks of windows shaded by a graceful pergola connecting to the sidewalk and city outside.

Inexpensive, durable materials also played an important role in suppressing costs and extending the building’s lifespan. Cor­ rugated steel the color of fired brick—which, Lejarraga observes, “has an industrial connotation connected to the memory of Below: Studio Faro Lab’s Scuba pendant fixtures overlook the dining hall’s eclectic collection of outdoor tables and chairs, also by Gaspar and Lluscà as well as Fabrizio Batoni.

Opposite top, from left: A custom calisthenics park defines a small outdoor exercise area at one end of the building. In a single room, the porthole above the bed admits daylight into the bathroom. Opposite bottom, from left: A wavy, perforated-steel ceiling helps the under-8-foot corridor feel less oppressively low. Each room includes a wall of compact built-in closets and other amenities.

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Opposite top: In a double, bathroom wall tile celebrates the region’s ceramics industry while connecting to the building’s exterior color. Opposite bottom: The small rooms are offset by generously proportioned public spaces, like this enclosed terrace off the lobby.

Top: The gym occupies preexisting basement space, part of the foundations of an office building that was never completed, on which the residence hall now stands. Bottom: Surrounded by José A. Gandía-Blasco Canales and Pablo Gironés’s 365 collection of chairs, chaise lounges, ottomans, and tables, the rooftop swimming pool is a veritable urban beach.

Burjassot”—appears as cladding inside and out, most notably on the ground-floor exterior and rising the full height of the blind lateral facades. Lacquered-steel paneling in the same color sheaths paired chimneylike volumes that run up both end walls—a gesture toward an adjacent smokestack that also shifts the vertical circulation of plumbing, electrical, and extraction lines off the tight floor plates. Valencia’s strong tradition of commercial ceramics provided a sustainable, low-cost solution for floors and walls in much of the interior. “In terms of service systems,” Lejarraga adds, “we decided to leave them exposed to remove an additional, unnecessary layer of finishes and expense such that the building, overall, would be more direct, raw. You can see its guts.”

Where budget-cutting exercises like these frequently lead to facilities that are blandly institutional and often inhospitable, here the use of industrial materials lends a strong sense of place and tactile warmth to both interior and exterior spaces.

Thoughtful interventions throughout— undulant, perforated sheet-metal ceilings that visually lift the otherwise low overhead in the hallways; a dramatic, steel-clad spiral staircase in the reception hall— demonstrate an unusual degree of consideration for the lived experience of the building. Such measures, as Lejarraga points out, cost nothing while “offering an element of attention.” Construction may be expensive, but care is not.

PROJECT TEAM JOSE BOTÍ; FÁTIMA SAAVEDRA; PEDRO JOSÉ SÁNCHEZ; GUILLERMO NARANJO; INMA CARRERA: MARTÍN LEJARRAGA ARCHITECTURE OFFICE. PM ARQUITECTURA Y GESTIÓN: CONSTRUCTION COST CONSULTANT. FLORENTINO REGALADO: STRUCTURAL ENGINEER. VALNU ENGINEERING SERVICES: LIGHTING CONSULTANT; MEP. PRODUCT SOURCES FROM FRONT RESOL: TABLES (TERRACE), CHAIRS (TERRACE, DINING HALL). OFITA: MODULAR SOFA, OTTOMAN (LOBBY). SANCAL: ROUND SOFA (LOBBY, COMMONS), HIGH-BACK SOFAS, OTTOMANS (COMMONS). FARO BARCELONA: PENDANT FIXTURES (LOBBY, DINING HALL). INCLASS: SIDE TABLES (LOBBY), TABLES (DINING HALL), DESK CHAIRS (DOUBLE ROOM). LEROY MERLIN: PING-PONG TABLE (PERGOLA). KENGURU PRO: CALISTHENICS PARK (WORKOUT AREA). ESCOFET: BENCHES (WORKOUT AREA), CUBES (POOL TERRACE).

GANDIA BLASCO: CHAISE LOUNGES, CHAIRS, TABLES (POOL TERRACE). BODYTONE: EXERCISE EQUIPMENT (GYM). THROUGHOUT EUROPERFIL: STEEL PANELING. SAINT-GOBAIN WEBER: PLASTER. TITAN: PAINT.

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e t c.

blue and white photography: juanca lagares

Top: Ceiling ductwork is left exposed in the ground-floor commons at Loop Homes Huelva, a student resi­den­ tial hall servicing the Andalusian city’s young university in Spain. Center: Four accommodation wings extend like the teeth of a comb from the building’s spine, bringing light and ventilation to the 440 rooms. Bottom: A single room’s built-in desk and storage is painted to match the lacquered-steel panels cladding the building’s blind end walls—also the color of Real Club Recreativo, Huelva’s soccer team.

Opposite top: With its plaster finish and grid of windows, the building evokes the whitewashed walls and simple geometric forms of Andalucía’s vernacular architecture. Opposite bottom: Custom bleacher seating and Isaac Piñeiro’s Chat ottomans join beanbags and a ping-pong table in the game room.

While the Burjassot housing was an entirely private initiative, another RYA-Lejarraga project—the recently built Loop Homes dormi­ tory for the University of Huelva in southern Spain—resulted from winning a competition.

Founded in 1993, the university occupies a former infantry barracks at the edge of the historic Andalusian port town, just 25 miles from the Portuguese border. Until last year, it was also the only institution of higher learning in the region without a residence hall—hence the call for proposals to develop and manage one.

In response to height restrictions imposed by the municipality and the university—and aiming to maximize room count—Lejarraga configured the six-story, 113,000-squarefoot building in the shape of a comb: a slab spine from which four residential blocks project like teeth, with interstitial gardens between them providing light, ventilation, and, he notes, “a strong proportion between solid and void.” Zoning requirements left open spaces at the site perimeter for a swimming pool and outdoor exercise facilities while, inside, common spaces are split horizontally across the ground floor, with the base of each residential block dedicated to a different use: dining, coworking, lounge, and gym.

The building’s long facades, punctured with orderly processions of windows, are rendered in the same blazing white plaster that coats houses and churches throughout Andalucía, while the blind end walls of the serrated blocks are clad in pale-blue sheet steel—a color that references the local soccer club and so, as Lejarraga observes, “is very much of the city.”

PRODUCT SOURCES FROM FRONT RESOL: MODULAR SOFA (COMMONS). SANCAL: ROUND SOFAS (COMMONS), OTTOMANS (COMMONS, GAME ROOM).

FARO BARCELONA: TRACK LIGHTING, SCONCES (COMMONS, GAME ROOM). INCLASS: DESK CHAIR (SINGLE ROOM). DECA­ THLON: PING-PONG TABLE (GAME ROOM). EUROPERFIL: STEEL PANELING (EXTERIOR). SAINT-GOBAIN WEBER: PLASTER. THROUGHOUT TITAN: PAINT.

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PROJECT TEAM LEOŠ HORÁK; JAKUB HEMZAL; GABRIELA KRÁLOVÁ; DAVID ZALABÁK; ALENA SEDLÁKOVÁ; PETRA COUFAL SKALICKÁ; EVA MAŠKOVÁ; JAN DLUHOŠ; ONDR̆EJ C̆ERNÝ; PETRA MĔRKOVÁ; OLEKSANDR NEBOZHENKO; VOJTĔCH ŠTAMBERG; KRISTÝNA ZÁMOSTNÁ: AULÍK FIŠER ARCHITEKTI. ZDENĔK SENDLER; MATOUŠ HYDROPONIE: LANDSCAPE CONSULTANTS. NOVECON; PBW GROUP: INTERIOR OUTFITTERS. RUBY PROJECT MANAGEMENT: CONSTRUCTION MANAGER. FERI; METROSTAV; ZAKLÁDÁNÍ STAVEB: GENERAL CONTRACTORS. PRODUCT SOURCES FROM FRONT DUPONT; EXX: DESK SOLID SURFACING (RECEPTION). LASVIT: CEILING INSTALLATION. STUDIO PERSPEKTIV: FURNITURE (SHOPPING MALL). THROUGHOUT SPIRAL: GLASS FACADES. ALLEGRO; BARRISOL; KOVPROF: CEILINGS. LLENTAB: SKYLIGHTS. EXX; HORMEN; LUMIDEE: LIGHTING. JEŽ: STONE CLADDING, PAVEMENT. BOCA: CARPET. HUNTER DOUGLAS; PURSTYL: WINDOW SHADES.

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artistry’s all around From FiDi to Flushing, Westchester County to Princeton, New Jersey, the annual NYCxDesign Awards showcase the best projects in the Greater New York area text: helene oberman and annie block

COMMERCIAL LOBBY/AMENITY SPACE Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, 9 West 57th Street, Midtown; photography: Lucas Blair Simpson/courtesy of SOM.

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1. TECH OFFICE Gensler, IBM Flagship at One Madison

Avenue, Flatiron District; photography: Alexander Severin.

2. MULTIUNIT HOUSING Brent Buck Architects, Frame 122,

Clinton Hill; photography: Christopher Sturman.

3. HEALTH + WELLNESS Perkins&Will and Slam

Collaborative, Ambulatory Orthopedics Campus, University of Rochester Medical Center, NY; photography: Halkin Mason Photography.

4. HIGHER EDUCATION Verona Carpenter Architects, Prospect House, Princeton University, NJ; photography: Eric Laignel.

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1. SMALL CORPORATE OFFICE M Moser Associates, TIAA headquarters, Midtown; photography: Aaron Thompson.

2. FACADE Marvel, 29 Jay Street, DUMBO; photography: David Sundberg/Esto.

3. CASUAL DINING Design Next Agency and QWA Studio, the Duo Coffee and Bar, Flushing; photography: Kaylee Wong.

4. LARGE CORPORATE OFFICE Architecture Plus Information, Macquarie Group Americas headquarters, Midtown; photography: Eric Laignel.

5. CIVIC/INSTITUTIONAL Andrea Steele Architecture, L10 Arts and Cultural Center, Downtown Brooklyn; photography: Alan Karchmer.

6. FINE DINING Rockwell Group, La Tête d’Or, Flatiron District; photography: Jason Varney/courtesy of Rockwell Group.

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INSTALLATION Gluckman Tang Architects, Infinite Harmony: Year of the Snake, the Oculus, Financial District; photography: Jesper Haynes.

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1. KITCHEN + BATH Shapeless Studio, Cobble Hill; photography: Hagan Hinshaw.

2. SUBURBAN LIVING Crina Architecture, Pound Ridge, NY; photography: Isabel Parra.

3. MEDIUM CORPORATE OFFICE Gensler, confidential investment firm, Midtown;

photography: Eric Laignel.

4. HOTEL Rockwell Group, W New York, Union Square; photography: Michael Kleinberg.

5. SMALL URBAN LIVING Elmo Studios, West Village; photography: Erik Undehn.

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1. RETAIL RDK Architect and Shed Design London,

Commodity Fragrances flagship, SoHo; photography: Matthew Gordon.

2. URBAN LIVING TRANSFORMATION SheltonMindel, Upper West Side; photography: Antoine Bootz.

3. SHOWROOM Hachi Collections, Omakase Noodle Bar Shuya and Hachi Collections furniture showroom, Murray Hill; photography: courtesy of Hachi Collections.

4. CREATIVE OFFICE Gensler and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Walt Disney Company New York City head­ quarters, Hudson Square; photography: Garrett Rowland.

5. BAR/LOUNGE Goodrich NYC, So & So’s, Hell’s Kitchen; photography: Read McKendree.

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1. SUBURBAN LIVING TRANSFORMATION

Smith Home Studios, Hunter, NY; photography: David Engelhardt.

2. RESIDENTIAL LOBBY/AMENITY SPACE

Gensler and BHDM Design, Pearl House, South Street Seaport; photography: Robert Deitchler.

3. LARGE URBAN LIVING Hendricks Churchill, Carnegie Hill; photography: Chris Mottalini.

4. MODEL APARTMENT BHDM Design, The Maybury, Hell’s Kitchen; photography: Reid Rolls.

5. GRAPHICS+BRANDING Tamara McCarthy and 44LLC, Kid Pizza, Chelsea; photography: Andrew Bui.

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1. OUTDOOR SPACE Rosales + Partners and Stantec, East Midtown

Greenway, East River Esplanade; photography: Juan Navarro.

2. GREATER GOOD Pernilla Ohrstedt Studio and Billion Oyster

Project, Love Ever After, Times Square; photography: Naho Kubota.

3. SHINING MOMENT L’Observatoire International and Samoo

Architects, Korean Cultural Center New York, Koreatown; photography: Chuck Choi.

4. EARLY EDUCATION Gluck+ Architecture, WHIN Music Community Charter School, Washington Heights; photography: Here and Now Agency.

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exquisite inside and out ACOS and Studio Widoki add tasteful office headquarters to the Omni Kaiser Patisserie production plant in northern Poland text: jane margolies photography: tomo yarmush

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After making a fortune with a major fishprocessing company, Polish businessman Sławomir Gojdź decided to start a second food company of an altogether different sort. He had trained to be a professional pastry chef earlier in life and his love of high-end gastronomy had deepened through travels to France. So in 2020, Gojdź started a chain of cafés selling French-style pastries, beginning with one in his hometown of Słupsk, an industrial city in northern Poland. Today, Omni Kaiser Patisserie has 12 shops throughout the country, plus its first international location, in Berlin, all of them serving up impeccable tarts, cakes, meringues, and macaroons, thanks in part to a hardworking production plant on the outskirts of Słupsk. And now the company devoted to precision-crafted pastries has a precision-crafted headquarters to match, thanks to a pair of Polish firms, ACOS and Studio Widoki.

ACOS founders and lead designers Anna Stojčev-Młyńska and Stanisław Młyński received their architecture degrees in their home country before going to London for additional schooling and work experience.

The architects, who are married, opened an office in Gdańsk, about 2 hours from Słupsk, a few years before Gojdź approached them about adding administrative offices to his production hub. Seeking to complete the project in a timely way, they recruited another architect, Mateusz Domaszk, who Młyński knew from their days playing soccer together as kids.

Domaszk, whose Studio Widoki is also in Gdańsk, had worked on projects in Słupsk and knew his way around the local rules and regulations. Together, the three would collaborate on the architecture portion of the commission.

They decided to leave the production hub largely undisturbed—it was relatively new and essential to the company’s day-to-

day functioning—and attach to it a twostory addition that also serves as the new public-facing front of the building. The 4,600-square-foot volume is enclosed in expanses of glass divided by slender, vertical steel blades. Fiber-cement panels colored a warm ochre are suggestive of wood but won’t fade with age and help the building blend in with its natural surroundings.

Inside, Stojčev-Młyńska and Młyński, who designed the interiors, maintained the natural theme and color scheme, choosing a material palette that leans on wood, stone, unpainted metal, and solid textiles.

The double-height lobby is paneled in oak to which a touch of red tint has been added so that the wood, which can yellow over time, maintains its lustrous hue. “Five to 10 years from now the timber will remain the color we want it to be,” Młyński says.

Off the lobby, a conference room provides space where managers of all the Kaiser shops might assemble for training or

Previous spread: For the exterior of the Omni Kaiser Patisserie office head­ quarters in Słupsk, Poland, ACOS and Studio Widoki chose wood-toned fibercement panels that blend in with the natural sur­ roundings. Inside the lobby, ACOS selected actual wood, oak, for the walls and spiral stair and Chisel chairs by Andreas Bergsaker.

Opposite: In reception, a Column pendant fixture by Lukas Peet illuminates the custom reception desk faced in Himalayan onyx, while armchairs by Norm Architects flank a custom coffee table, its top made of polished-steel planks.

Top, from left: A custom pendant composed of metal wire fitted with tiny LED diodes hangs over the staircase. The Viscont white granite flooring used for the interior extends outside to the terrace. Bottom, from left: Textile ceiling panels hide electrical wiring and HVAC ducts, with lighting discreetly tucked in the groves in between. A meeting area’s swivel chairs stand near a pylon, clad in the same granite and fitted with custom glass lenses.

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Top, from left: Approximately 3-inch-thick balustrades. The north office’s Eva Jablonsky oil painting. A channel alongside the glass facade for catching rainwater runoff. Oak, steel, and granite in a restroom. Below: Backlit acrylic signage is mounted outside the two-story, 4,600-square-foot addition, which adjoins Omni Kaiser Patisserie’s existing production plant.

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“The company devoted to precision-crafted pastries has a precision-crafted headquarters to match”

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visiting pastry chefs could meet before heading to the production side of the building for hands-on demonstrations.

Folding screens open the room to the lobby so that the entire ground level can function as one big event space. A spiral staircase, with treads in the same Viscont white granite as the floor, coils upward, its balustrades crafted of more oak.

On the second floor, where reception and workplaces for such functions as marketing are located, the granite floor continues. The same stone also covers a structural pylon that was a hulking presence until ACOS, which stands for a collection of stories, cleverly turned it into a visual asset. The team had holes drilled through the stone, capped the openings with custom glass lenses, and had electrical wiring threaded inside.

During the day, light filters through the glass and provides glimpses of what’s on the other side of the pylon. At night, with the lights on, it’s a luminous feature.

Flooring switches to soft carpeting in some areas. Works by Polish artists Jerzy

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Cepiński, Eva Jablonsky, and Oskar Zięta add interest. Furnishings include a mix of the custom and the high end. And then there are the IKEA table lamps in some of the workspaces. “It’s not always about price or status on the market,” StojčevMłyńska says of the steel-finished lamps with curved posts. “Even though they weren’t expensive, they’re a beautifully designed form that fits perfectly.”

In Gojdź’s suite, the table lamps are upscale, one in Italian marble, the other in matte steel, as is the streamlined upholstered seating by Jonas Wagell. His oak desk however is a custom piece by StojčevMłyńska and Młyński, as is a large, mostly

white artwork. They had admired the embossed recycled paper product that the Swedish company Baux uses to make acoustical panels and conceived a grid of them to add textural interest. A steel disc—another artwork the architects dreamed up—reflects natural light coming in through the glass windows.

Gojdź refers to Kaiser’s new addition as pracownia—the Polish word for studio or workshop, often associated with artists or craftsmen. That says something about his aspirations for his young company and his pride in its new headquarters, which Kaiser will no doubt put to use cooking up new delicacies—and expansion plans.

PROJECT TEAM HUBERT STENZEL: ARCHITECT OF RECORD. KINGA MADEJ ARCHITEKT KRAJOBRAZU: LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT. SCALA STUDIO KAMIENIA: STONEWORK. PRACOWNIA MEBLI STYLOWYCH IRENEUSZ ZWARA: MILLWORK, CUSTOM FURNITURE WORKSHOP. PYRAMID: STRUCTURAL ENGINEER. PRODUCT SOURCES FROM FRONT HAY: CHAIRS (LOBBY). A-N-D LIGHT: PENDANT FIXTURE (RECEPTION). KARIMOKU CASE: CHAIRS. VIPP: SWIVEL CHAIRS (MEETING AREA, FOUNDER OFFICE, CONFERENCE ROOM). &TRADITION: CHAIRS (NORTH OFFICE, OFFICE AREA). FLÜGGER: PAINT (OFFICE AREA). TACCHINI: UPHOLSTERED SEATING (FOUNDER OFFICE). NORMANN COPENHAGEN: DESK LAMP. HÜBSCH: SIDE TABLE LAMP. NORDLUX: LAMPS (CONFERENCE ROOM). HÄFELE: SCREEN FOLDING SYSTEM. THROUGHOUT EQUITONE: FACADE PANELING. XAL: LIGHTING.

Opposite: In the office of Kaiser founder Sławomir Gojdź, Julep upholstered seating is by Jonas Wagell and the Eddy marble desk lamp

by Simon Legald.

Top: A mirrored wall piece by Oskar Zie˛ta accents an office area with Rely chairs by Hee Welling and IKEA lamps. Bottom, from left: In the conference room, Glossy lamps by Maria Berntsen line up on a custom oak table inset with da Vinci quartz­ite. Custom folding screens open the conference room to the lobby, creating a large event space that has access to the terrace via sliding glass doors.

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c o n ta c t s PHOTOGRAPHERS IN FEATURES Lisa Cohen (“Ancient and Modern,” page 114), Living Inside, livinginside.it.

David Frutos (“Chimney Suite,” page 140), davidfrutos.com.

Juanca Lagares (“Blue and White,” page 148), juancalagares.com.

Eric Laignel Photography (“Brick by Brick,” page 122), ericlaignel.com.

Tomo Yarmush (“Exquisite Inside and Out,” page 166), tomoyarmush.com.

DESIGNER IN WALK-THROUGH MoDusArchitects (“Architectural Confection,” page 47), modusarchitects.com.

PHOTOGRAPHER IN WALK-THROUGH Marco Cappelletti (“Architectural Confection,” page 47), marcocappelletti.com.

DESIGNERS IN POWER PLAYERS Architecture Plus Information (“Amenities Define Where—and How—Work Gets Done,” page 80), architectureplusinformation.com.

Gensler (“A Smart Approach to Hybrid,” page 80), gensler.com.

Patrick Jouin ID (“Stronger Together,” page 103), patrickjouin.com.

Brad Wilson (“New Keys,” page 95), Ace Hotels, acehotel.com.

ARTIST IN CENTERFOLD Interior Design (ISSN 0020-5508), September 2025, Vol. 96, No. 8, is published monthly with seasonal issues for Spring and Fall by the SANDOW Design Group, LLC, 3651 FAU Boulevard, Boca Raton, FL 33431. Periodicals postage paid at Boca Raton, FL, and additional mailing offices. POST­ MASTER: Send all UAA to CFS; NON-POSTAL AND MILITARY FACILITIES: send address corrections to Interior Design, PO Box 808, Lincolnshire, IL 60069-0808. Subscription department: (800) 900-0804 or email: interiordesign@omeda.com. Subscriptions: 1 year: $69.95 USA, $99.99 in Canada and Mexico, $199.99 in all other countries. Copyright © 2025 by SANDOW Design Group, LLC. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA. Material in this publication may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher. Interior Design is not responsible for the return of any unsolicited manuscripts or photographs.

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DAVID FRUTOS

Ernesto Neto (“A Crochet of Influences,” page 109), @ernestonetoart.

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THE spec

Furnishings that connect the dots...

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editors' picks

1. Daisy hand-burnished brass sconce with mirrored bulb by Blue Green Works. bluegreenworks.com

2. Raum’s Issho rug of hand-tufted New Zealand wool by Carpet Edition. carpetedition.com

3. Divot mirror of textured cast resin by Joseph Algieri and Danny Kaplan Studio. dannykaplanstudio.com 4. Fabian Freytag’s Blossom limited-edition portable lamp with bone-china shade, hydro-dipped metal base, and olive-green metal body by Original BTC. originalbtc.com

5. TVK resin side table in Methyl Blue (also on cover) by Niko Koronis through Studiotwentyseven. nikokoronis.com, studiotwentyseven.com 6. Bly Studio’s Bug armchair with Scandinavian pine frame that ships flatpacked by Eilersen. eilersen.eu 7. Puntini Sisal screen-printed sisal wallcovering in Tanlines, Seaglass, plum, and indigo by Backdrop. backdrophome.com 8. Marcantonio’s Fiore upholstered armchair available in indoor and outdoor versions by Natuzzi Italia. natuzzi.com

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1. COR SITZMÖBEL “Dschalies” is a magical word from the Orient that stands for hospitality and relaxed communication. The Jalis club chair, the youngest member of the large Jalis family, has everything it takes to make you feel comfortable in convivial company—while also cutting a fine figure. It’s the perfect prerequisite for a cozy yet stylish look. cor.de UScontract@cor.de

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2. KASWELL FLOORING Since 1972, Kaswell Flooring Systems has been the pioneer in the use of end-grain blocks for flooring and millwork across residential, corporate, hospitality, and healthcare interiors. Our Pre Finished Fir Strip Block (featured above) combines unmatched durability with a simplified T&G installation process.

This product is available in a variety of stunning colors to complement any design aesthetic. t. 508.881.1520 kawell.com

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3. NATIONAL TERRAZZO AND MOSAIC ASSOCIATION This grand civic

building is the home of the famed Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo. The arena joins the city’s Cultural District and the Will Rogers Memorial Center as a showcase of refined references to the legendary trick roper and the city’s cattle-driving heritage. The Art Deco–inspired style responds creatively to the neighboring 1930s-era structures. ntma.com

4. FRÍANT Designed for privacy and productivity, ReddiSpace offers premium acoustic booths in four sizes. Combining style and functionality, it adapts to varied workstyles and spaces, helping teams focus and collaborate. friant.com

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i n t e r vention

It’s custom in Albanian culture that guests be greeted with “bread, salt, and heart.” The bread and heart refer to food and welcome, but the salt symbolizes sharing treasures, harkening to centuries ago when salt and gold were considered equal in value. This tradition inspired Bread & Heart: Bring Some Salt, Please!, the name of an inter­ national festival that debuted in Tirana last June, bringing contributions from more than 150 local and global creatives. Among them was Miami-headquartered Oppenheim Architecture, which, with its satellite studio in the capital city, has been key in driving the country’s architectural evolution and has a model of its Besa Museum included in the Albanian pavilion at Italy’s current La Biennale di Venezia.

For Bread & Heart, the firm created the Pillars of Besa, an introduction to the more monumental version planned for the courtyard

pillars of the community COURTESY OF OPPENHEIM ARCHITECTURE

of the Besa, which will occupy the historic Qanie Toptani Libohova House that is being restored and musealized by Oppenheim, will honor Albanian culture including the citizens who saved Jewish people during the Holocaust, and open in 2027.

Pillars of Besa, ranging from 7½ to more than 30 feet tall, half the scale of their future iterations, are a manifestation of the concept of besa, Albanian for faith, but has come to represent tradition, protection, hospitality, and honor. Made from locally sourced chestnut and pine planks painted Albanian-flag red, each totem is inscribed with quotes from oral histories and written testimonies about the modern-day meaning of besa. “They offer space,” says architect Beat Huesler, project lead and director of the Oppenheim Architecture Europe studio in Switzerland, “for reflection and belonging.” The installation served as the festival entry point, but, modular and portable, it’s traveling around the country through 2026. —Wilson Barlow SEPT.25

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WE’RE WE’RE BACK!BACK! WALDORF WALDORF ASTORIA ASTORIA TH TH 2025 , 2025 DECEMBER DECEMBER 10 , 10

Design’s Design’s most most prestigious prestigious nightnight returns returns to thetoiconic the iconic Waldorf Waldorf Astoria Astoria in NYC. in NYC. 20252025 INDUCTEES INDUCTEES Héctor Héctor Esrawe Esrawe Esrawe Esrawe StudioStudio Pierre-Yves Pierre-Yves Rochon Rochon Pierre-Yves Pierre-Yves Rochon Rochon Marion Marion Weiss Weiss & Michael & Michael Manfredi Manfredi WEISS/MANFREDI WEISS/MANFREDI SPECIAL SPECIAL TRIBUTE TRIBUTE

Waldorf Waldorf Astoria Astoria New New York York

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