Identity | July 2011

The Middle East’s interiors, design & property magazine

identity

Tomorrow’s brief: design ethics at work Property roulette: from London to Las Vegas Genius at work: an exclusive with Lissoni NYC’s bright side: living in shades of green

® ISSUE ninetyFOUR Year eight juLY 2011 A MOTIVATE PUBLICATION

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Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone Authority

00_ID Cover and Spine JUN11.indd 1

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INSIDE

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Cover photography: Bangboom by Ingo Maurer

THE ISMAILI CENTRE, DUBAI

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THE DINING ROOM IN DOUG MEYER'S APARTMENT

PIERO LISSONI

JULY 2011

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FEATURES

18 Breaking with convention

28 The bold and the beautiful

Globally green: a LEED Platinum convention centre in Vancouver, a photovoltaic skylight in Madrid, a vertical farm in Stockholm and more.

Decorator Doug Meyer uses vibrant colours and bold art to ward off the era of grey.

52 Future perfect 24 On the level Piero Lissoni: The architect and designer continues to personify the staying power of minimalism.

How the Aga Khan Award for Architecture recognises design’s influence on culture and identity.

July 2011

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DESIGN FORMULA

ISSUE 94 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Obaid Humaid Al Tayer GROUP EDITOR & MANAGING PARTNER

Ian Fairservice HELSINKI FILE BOX BY DESALTO

GROUP SENIOR EDITOR

Gina Johnson | gina@motivate.ae GROUP EDITOR

Catherine Belbin | catherine@motivate.ae

FEATURES WRITER

Samia Qaiyum | samia@motivate.ae CHIEF SUB-EDITOR

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Iain Smith | iains@motivate.ae

Whatever works Office models across the world are evolving as a result of growing demands and societal shifts.

Discover the latest range of design elements adding fashion and function to the modern workplace.

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Belinda Igaya | belinda@motivate.ae SENIOR DESIGNER

Michelle Liu | michelle@motivate.ae GENERAL MANAGER – PRODUCTION AND CIRCULATION

S Sasidharan | sasidharan@motivate.ae SENIOR MANAGER – PRODUCTION

S Sunil Kumar | sunil@motivate.ae MANAGER – PRODUCTION

C Sudhakar | sudhakar@motivate.ae

PROPERTY

GENERAL MANAGER – GROUP SALES

Anthony Milne | anthony@motivate.ae GROUP ADVERTISEMENT MANAGER

Seema Kausar | seema@motivate.ae ADVERTISEMENT MANAGER

Shweta Praful | shwetap@motivate.ae SENIOR SALES EXECUTIVE

Atiya Naseer | atiya@motivate.ae GENERAL MANAGER – ABU DHABI

Joe Marritt | Joe@motivate.ae SENIOR ADVERTISEMENT MANAGER – ABU DHABI THE MOVE HOTEL IN ITALY

Darryl Wiley | Darryl@motivate.ae SENIOR SALES EXECUTIVE – ABU DHABI

Hamdan Bawazir | Hamdan@motivate.ae CONTRIBUTORS:

Nusrat Ali | Steve Hill | Ana Maksic | Shalaka Paradkar | Ian Phillips | Ruby Rogers | Lisa Vincenti | Richard Warren

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July 2011

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EDITORIAL

Think global

Clockwise from top left: Matteo Nunziati; Ettore Alessi; Italo Rota; Giovanni Giacobone.

PHOTOGRAPHY: VIKRAM GAWDE

Award-winning architect and industrial designer Matteo Nunziati was in Dubai recently to promote the forthcoming MADE Expo to be held in Italy. During a presentation hosted by the Italian Trade Commission at the Kempinski Hotel, he updated the audience of designers and buyers on his local and international projects – including the Acacia Avenues development in Jumeirah. Nunziati, who designs for numerous Italian manufacturers, was recently awarded the Wallpaper Award for the leather table he created for Matteo Grassi.

Industrial designer Giovanni Giacobone, of Progetto CMR, Alberto Lualdi, Vice President of Federlegno-Arredo, and Lualdi Porte also spoke about Italy’s role in the construction and design sector, and the value of this relatively new exhibition. MADE Expo 2011 will be held at the Rho fairgrounds in Milan from October 5-8.

Haworth – the American office furniture company that won several awards at this year’s NeoCon show in Chicago – also made an appearance in the city, launching its award-winning Very Task chair and wafer-thin LIM light at the Ibn Battuta Gate Hotel.

Established in 1968, Interiors is one of the UAE’s oldest importers of quality furniture. The boutique has recently acquired the rights to sell a new collection from Michael Amini – founder of the American brand AICO, which developed the new Hollywood-inspired line in collaboration with actress Jane Seymour.

Meanwhile, British company Laura Ashley, best known for its quintessentially English prints, expanded its home furnishing outlets with the recent opening of a 306-square metre boutique in The Dubai Mall. Al Aqili, which represents numerous quality interiors brands, is the master franchiser for Laura Ashley in the GCC. World Interiors Day takes place annually during the last weekend of May; this year’s edition was celebrated with a daylong event at the Jacob Sardini Design Studio on Sheikh Zayed Road.

Held in collaboration with APID, the networking event brought together members of the design community and provided a platform for local university students to exhibit their projects. identity also caught up with Italian architect Italo Rota – designer of the Cavalli Club – to chat about developments on his latest project, the Chameleon Club in the Byblos Hotel. The eclectic new nightclub is scheduled to open in the last quarter of 2011.

Ettore Alessi – the creative spirit involved in Alessi’s iconic wire basket, fruit containers and Bombé’ tea and coffee set – recently passed away. Earlier this year, Alessi celebrated the 90th anniversary of the family-run company with an ongoing exhibition of its most iconic products at Milan’s Triennale Design Museum, running until February 2012. Ettore’s technical expertise played a significant role in developing the brand that is intrinsically linked with some of the best contemporary designers of this era. A highly regarded global authority on the cold pressing of metals, he oversaw a radical shift away from brass and silver nickel towards an increased use of stainless steel for household accessories.

Group Editor Catherine Belbin.

July 2011

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ECO

Breaking with convention Another award for the Vancouver Convention Centre, complete with the largest living roof in Canada; a bid for the first circumvention of the world by a solar powered vessel; and an ambitious plan to establish a vertical farm in Sweden capture this month’s eco imagination.

TEXT: STEVE HILL

GO WEST

The sustainability credentials of the LMN-designed Vancouver Convention Centre West have again been recognised with a Top Ten Green Projects award by the American Institute of Architects Committee on the Environment.

Described as the world’s first LEED Platinum convention centre, it features a 2.4-hectare living roof – the largest in Canada and the largest non-industrial living roof in North America – complete with more than 400,000 indigenous plants and grasses which reduce heat gains in the summer and heat losses in the winter.

No chemical fertilisers, pesticides or herbicides are used on the living roof, which is mowed once a year, in the autumn, with clippings composted back into the soil as fertiliser.

A restored marine habitat was built into the foundations of the West building, improving water quality in the area and encouraging the growth of a large variety of sea life.

And a heating and cooling system takes advantage of the adjacent seawater to produce cooling for the building during warmer months and heating in cooler months.

The centre’s sophisticated black water treatment plant provides toilet flushing water and rooftop irrigation during warmer weather, contributing to a 72 per cent reduction in the use of potable water.

Around 180,000kg, or half the total volume of waste generated annually, is recycled, including batteries, wood, glass and plastics. And the centre operates a ‘scratch’ kitchen primarily using locally grown products and avoiding prepackaged canned goods.

July 2009 2011 March

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ECO

Clockwise from top left: The PlanetSolar Tûranor; the photovoltaic skylight in San Antón Market, Madrid; Renault’s Kangoo Maxi ZE electric car

SAILING THROUGH

PlanetSolar Tûranor is now more than halfway towards its aim of becoming the first solar-powered boat to circumvent the world.

The 31-metre vessel departed Monaco in September and is due to reach Abu Dhabi later this year en route to the Suez Canal, with a return to the Mediterranean provisionally scheduled for April 2012, although much depends on prevailing weather conditions.

The German-built 85-tonne catamaran is covered with 38,000 solar cells boasting a total area of more than 600 square metres, capturing energy which is stored in the world’s largest lithium-ion battery to power an emissions-free and silent electric motor.

Tûranor, which aims to showcase the reliability and effectiveness of renewable energies and photovoltaics, could become a production model in the future and is attracting great attention, particularly in island communities looking to lessen dependence on petrol and diesel-powered engines.

It has already established two records, setting the fastest Atlantic Ocean crossing by a solar boat and the longest distance covered by a solar electric vehicle.

Its name is derived from JRR Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings and, appropriately, means ‘power of the sun’.

MARKET SHARE

Onyx Solar has designed a 168-square-metre photovoltaic skylight featuring 54 semi-transparent panels for San Antón Market in Madrid which will generate about 8,000 kW a year, preventing the release of five tonnes of CO2.

A transparency rate of 20 per cent allows daylight to permeate the building while still generating power.

Onyx specialises in developing smart solar solutions for Building Integrated Photovoltaics, replacing conventional materials such as glass or ceramics with constructive materials with photovoltaic properties in ventilated facades and roofs, curtain walls and skylights.

The in-situ generation of electricity can be used for self-consumption or connected and sold to the grid, ensuring that the money invested in a building and installation can be recovered after a certain period of time.

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Onyx, an official partner of the Sustainable Energy Europe Campaign which showcases renewable energy solutions, completed work at San Antón Market shortly after concluding a project at the genomic centre in Granada, where it designed a photovoltaic ventilated façade and also confirmed its first scheme in the United States.

TAKING CHARGE

The Kangoo Maxi ZE, the extended version of the Kangoo ZE, is set to join Renault’s range of electric vehicles when it goes on sale in the autumn.

It is recognisable because of the lack of an exhaust and the inclusion of a flap at the front which will enable the battery to be charged in between six and eight hours.

The bonnet conceals a 44kW motor (equivalent to 60hp), which is powered by a 22kWh lithium-ion battery located beneath the floor. The vehicle’s combined-cycle range of 170 kilometre can vary depending on factors such as type of road, temperature, speed or driving style.

To optimise range management, the dashboard has been revised to incorporate a new MMI (Man Machine Interface) which displays the battery’s level of charge and the vehicle’s remaining range (in kilometres).

Eco-driving systems and the ability to pre-heat the vehicle while the battery is being charged have also been developed.

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ECO

INTERIORS

VERTICAL LIMIT

Stockholm-based company Plantagon has signed a letter of intent with the Botkyrka municipality in Sweden to establish a massive vertical farm.

The first stage of the project, which has received funding from the Swedish Government’s clean-tech initiative, the Delegation for Sustainable Cities, is to analyse the benefits of sustainable urban development from the establishment of a vertical greenhouse within a geodesic dome.

Driving the project is the fact that by 2050, 80 per cent of the world’s population will be living in towns and cities, hence there is a need to create more farm land and reduce the carbon footprint of the food we eat.

Botkyrka Mayor Katarina Berggren said: “Placing a vertical greenhouse in the municipality of Botkyrka will be in line with both our municipal business and climate strategy.

“This investment fits in well with our ongoing effort to promote a sustainable lifestyle in the northern parts of our county, and the greenhouse itself will be a visible landmark for the municipality at the entrance to Stockholm.”

The finished greenhouse will be spherical and 60-70 metres in diameter.

HOME FIRST

The first ‘net zero’ production home in the United States has been unveiled by Meritage Homes in Arizona.

Energy-efficient features include 100 per cent ENERGY STAR–certified appliances, extreme energy-efficient HVAC system, air-tight spray-foam insulation, “smart” controllers for landscape irrigation, lighting and thermostats, double low-E vinyl windows, dual-flush actuator toilets and low-flow showers and faucets for water conservation; advanced CFL lighting system, and low-VOC (volatile organic compounds) carpets, paints and finishes for a healthier, safer, and more environmentally friendly home.

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Clockwise from top left: An artist rendering of the vertical farm in Sweden; America’s first “net zero” production home; the DuraPlup Lamp by Wästberg

LIGHTING THE WAY

Its official name is the Claesson Koivisto Rune w101, but it is becoming more popularly known as the DuraPulp Lamp, an award-winning design now receiving plaudits around the world.

This story began more than seven years ago when Södra, a Swedish producer of pulp, wood products and bioenergy, began researching DuraPulp, a fully biodegradable material made of 100 per cent renewable fibres combined with polyactic acid, a renewable biopolymer produced from starch.

This product has high wet strength, high water resistance, high dimension stability as well as high tensile strength and bending stiffness.

Swedish lighting company Wästberg took DuraPulp and, in close collaboration with Swedish architects and designers Claesson Koivisto Rune, developed the DuraPulp Lamp, which features sandwiched paper sheets of this unique material featuring thin uninsulated copper wires supplying power to LED lamps.

The end result is a product that is more efficient than its rivals in terms of lighting technique, materials used and production process. And its makers are so proud of their achievement they have no hesitation in saying: “We dare anyone to manufacture a more ecological electric lamp.” ID

March 2009

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KOMMA

Baltimora design Vuesse & Marco Pareschi

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The “best seller” from Italy

Photography: G. Gastel

Piero Lissoni

On the level Piero Lissoni talks about his lifelong love of architecture, how design dominates his every waking moment and why he cannot stand self-important poseurs. TEXT: RUBY ROGERS

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PROFILE

From top: Modern collection, Truck bedside table and Shin bed from Porro

It was always going to happen. The moment Piero Lissoni announces that he is “totally free” his phone rings. “He’s a busy man,” shrugs his PR. Indeed he is. It is the week of Milan’s Salone Internazionale del Mobile and across the city products bearing Lissoni’s name are making their debut: Ghiaccio for Porro, a simple low-slung armchair softened by fabric or leather; Zooom for Kartell, a solid-looking extending dining table with a sleek, tempered glass top; and a pair of understated wall sconces for Flos.

One can draw a couple of conclusions from this impressive offering.

Firstly, Lissoni is firmly on the radar of the world’s favourite brands.

Secondly, minimalism is the mainstay of his much-coveted style. While the aforementioned designs do not demand attention, they certainly deserve

every column inch of coverage – elegant, functional and precise in each and every detail. The same sharp-eyed attention to detail is carried through to Lissoni’s architecture and interior design projects of which there are many.

“It’s a Milanese tradition,” he says of his “schizophrenic” approach to working. “Forget this stupid idea that you have to be specialised” – sage advice for young architects and designers coming up through the ranks – “one day I am an architect and designer, the next day I am a graphic designer. I choose to be like Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde. I intend to continue in this way.”

So far, so good. Lissoni’s projects run from private villas and luxurious hotels to company headquarters, yachts and shops. And when we touch on the subject of product design, Lissoni reels off a long list of big brands he has worked for,

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Clockwise from top left: Birillo liquid soap dispenser from Alessi; Deck and Zhu chairs from Glas Italia; Zooom table from Kartell and TYL wall mounted lights from Flos

including Alessi, Cappellini, Fritz Hansen, Cassina. He’s not boasting; on the contrary, he proves genuinely unassuming, but the fact remains that Lissoni can legitimately claim to have produced designs for every room of the house.

Accessorising the bathroom is his Birillo series for Italian tastemaker Alessi.

Recent additions include a liquid soap dispenser reduced to its bare essentials.

Furnishing the garden, meanwhile, is his first indoor/outdoor sofa collection for Pierantonio Bonacina, taking inspiration from the shape and functionality of everyday industrial objects. And in the kitchen is his Aprile kitchen system for Boffi – an appealing mix of natural and modern materials.

Lissoni finishes his phone call and apologises for the interruption. “Where were we?” he asks. “Ah yes, Boffi. I started working for them six months after graduation and I still work for them today.”

So what has changed about the industry in that time? “For the worse? I don’t know, I prefer to be positive,” he smiles. “What’s better is that we now have incredible technology that makes many things possible.”

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Among the many possibilities is Boffi’s recent departure into storage systems.

“It’s a natural progression,” says Lissoni of the move. “Boffi designs tools for the kitchen and bathroom. It does not matter whether the house is big or small; it is the tools that define it. For this reason we decided to use our knowledge and put it inside a wardrobe.”

So they did, launching Solferino, a load-bearing structure in tubular steel, lacquered in a black epoxy powder coating and boasting integrated lighting, superthin shelves, drawers with aluminium front panels and Boffi’s patented hinged doors.

Quizzed about his approach to design, Lissoni reveals that the process changes but the rules stay the same. “They are very easy to follow,” he says.

“When we start a new project it is forbidden for anyone around me to refer to books and magazines. The primary level of the design process is to think. To be inspired and to copy are often mistaken. It is easy to jump from one to the other. I don’t like to give my contemporaries the incredible honour of copying them,” he laughs.

PROFILE

From top: Aprile kitchen system from Boffi; Ghiaccio armchair and Minimo table from Porro

“I’m joking of course! I try to stay away from that because I don’t want to feel like a thief.”

A brief pause follows, enough time for Lissoni to change the course of conversation. “I was born an architect,” he muses. “It’s funny. I was talking to my mother and she said that when I was a young boy my only wish was to be an architect. I was always making things with my hands. I like this idea and I am very proud of it.”

He went on to study architecture at the famous Politecnico di Milano and on graduating in 1985 began collaborating with Boffi. In 1986, together with

Nicoletta Canesi, he launched Lissoni Associati, which has grown into a 70-strong studio of architects, interior designers and graphic designers.

It’s been hard work. “A lot of hard work,” Lissoni stresses. “People are convinced that this is a glitzy life. Some idiot designers show our life to be like that of a rock and roll star. This is ridiculous. Our life is about responsibility and hard work. There is a lot of discipline involved. Mistakes are made because people are only interested in the glitter and sparkle, they then create some ugly, ugly pieces of design.”

Lissoni is genuinely concerned by the bad example being set to future generations. “I saw two young designers at the exhibition yesterday – a girl and a boy – walking around in a self-important way. They were nobodies.

Nobody knew them but they were acting as though they were stars.” He shakes his head. “This is the wrong attitude.”

With his hectic schedule, does Lissoni ever find time for himself? “To be good at some professions you have to be totally involved,” he smiles. “I don’t like to divide my time in a precise way. I can’t say: ‘My work time finishes now.’ It doesn’t work like that.” ID

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The living room includes a green chair from the Eames Aluminum Group and features artwork by Swiss artist Arnold Helbing.

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INTERIORS

Left: The Louis XV-style chair in the master bedroom dates from the 1920s, while the Warhol Marilyn has followed Meyer around for the past 20 years.

Right: The artworks are, from left: a 1959 Eugene Berman collage entitled Ruth Smile; a watercolour by a Moroccan artist called Mohamed Raiss El Fenni; a colour pencil drawing by Meyer’s brother, Gene, entitled Man with Flower (2010); an 1950s oil on canvas by an unknown artist; a fashion illustration dated 1989 by Gene.

The bold and the beautiful As his relationship with his partner came to an end, Doug Meyer realised it was time to wave goodbye to his drab grey interiors, and embrace his love of vibrant colours and fantastic pieces of art.

TEXT: IAN PHILLIPS PHOTOGRAPHY: MARK ROSKAMS / TRIPOD AGENCY

For decorator Doug Meyer, colour is everything. “I’ve been in some beautiful rooms that are beige and grey, but they don’t make me happy, they don’t make me think,” he declares. “Colour is just how I live. It’s never shocking for me. I always find it so amazing.”

As a young boy, he pestered his mother to let him have an all-pink room and was temporarily mortified when his older brother, Gene, gave a tour of the family home to some friends and one exclaimed: “I didn’t know you had a sister.” He soon got over the comment. “I kept it pink for another two years” Meyer remembers.

Thus, it seems rather bizarre to learn that he originally planned for his New York apartment to be entirely grey. “I was in a relationship and my partner loved the colour,” he explains. “So, I sort of gave myself a challenge: ‘Let’s see if we can make a grey apartment just fabulous’.” The moment the liaison ended, he realised it had to change quick and fast. “It was,” Meyer notes, “like a prison.”

He put in lime green epoxy resin floors throughout (the tone was inspired by a Schumacher fabric), painted the sitting and dining rooms a matt forest green, and covered the bedroom walls with a blue raw Indian silk. The blocks of solid hues, he opines, are the perfect foils for art: “They really allow works to pop.”

Meyer and his older brother, fashion designer Gene, certainly had a quite colourful upbringing. He was born in Kentucky in 1961 – the year his parents built a modern, cutting-edge house in Louisville. Both the interiors and exteriors were mainly white, with the exception of a hot-pink front door. His mother Kitty was an “incredibly stylish” Candice Bergen look-alike, who had a way with styling objects.

“She would go round the house and do these amazing settings and tablescapes,” Mayer recalls. His father Eugene, meanwhile, ran a hat-making business and was a passionate golfer. “On the weekend, he had this wild group of clothes that he would wear to the club – vivid lime green corduroy pants and a

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Left: The linen wall covering in the entrance hall is printed with a Josef Frank motif called La Plata and the 19th century American box front chest was inherited from Meyer’s mother. Right: The dressing room features a series of coloured pencil portraits by Gene Meyer against vintage 1970s wall fabric from Hull Traders.

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fuchsia top,” Meyer says. “The colour combinations were really cool.” Other early inspirations included two David Hicks books he received for his 10th birthday.

Then, at 16, he moved to New York to study fine arts at Parsons and danced most nights away at Studio 54. Legend has it that he would do his homework on the balcony and in the coat check. He also started working for art dealer Holly Solomon, who quickly became his “mother and mentor in New York”.

He still recalls the impression made upon him by her flat on Sutton Place, which brought together modern paintings, traditional architectural details and classic furniture that had been repainted by artist Kim McConnel. “I never realised until years later just how much that influenced me,” Meyer says. “It was taking a classic piece of furniture and making it completely unique.”

Then, in the early 1990s, Meyer moved to Miami and opened a news stand called Beach News, which also sold gifts. Gianni Versace would pop by every morning to pick up Corriere della Sera and Madonna would stock up on nudie pens.

His first interior project was at one of his parents’ houses in Coconut Grove, Florida. He was about 16 at the time. “A lot of magazines actually wanted to shoot it, but my mother wouldn’t let it happen,” he laments.

Since then, Meyer has come to consider his interiors as more “conceptual” than “decorative”. “So much of what I do is about creating an environment that is unexpected – bending the rules,” he explains. Since 2005, he has also collaborated on product design with his brother, be it fashion items or accessories for the home. This month, they are launching both a new website and a collection of outdoor fabrics for Link.

Meyer’s 60sq/m New York flat is at the heart of the Chelsea Gallery District, just half a block from the Hudson River, along which he jogs daily. His 90-minute morning runs take him to Wall Street and back, and he often heads out a second time later in the day. “It’s just so therapeutic for me,” Meyer notes. As for the apartment, he says that he was attracted by the layout (“I hate where the living

INTERIORS

The collage on the hallway was created using fashion images from books and magazines, inspired by Meyer’s interest in imagery of people and because it “also helped cover up an electrical panel box”.

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INTERIORS

Clockwise from top left: the kitchen walls are decorated with fashion illustrations from the 1950s-1990s; Doug Meyer; details in the dressing room: the ties inside the tray were designed by Gene, and the papier mâché bust – from the estate of Andy Warhol – was bought at an auction.

room is next to the bedroom”) and the fact that each space is a neat rectangular box. “I hate rooms that have angles in them,” he asserts. “It just throws me.”

Meyer stripped the apartment of its baseboards and mouldings. “I didn’t want any decorative elements. It just became about the colour,” he says. He added pattern solely in the entrance hall, where he covered the walls with a Josef Frank print on linen called La Plata. He also created a dramatic black and white collage of fashion images in the hallway, which took three-and-a-half months to collect and install.

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As for the furnishings, they are what he terms “edited to death”. “If you start layering and layering stuff, it just makes the apartment look smaller and smaller,” he comments. Meyer also believes that unique and unusual pieces need space to breathe: “Truly, no room needs more than a couple.”

The only things he has a lot of are chairs. Many are still grey – both the upholstery and woodwork. “One of the things I like about furniture is making it all the same colour,” he affirms. “That way, it becomes more like an object or a sculpture.”

There is also a vintage armchair he inherited from his mother and which has been part of every home he’s lived in. “It’s changed each time and even in the same house, it’s changed maybe three or four times,” Mayer relates. “Poor chair!

It’s like someone who dyes their hair the whole time. It’s going to fall apart!”

More than anything, Meyer sees the apartment as a showcase for art. There are a number of works he’s had for decades, like the Marilyn Monroe screenprint in his bedroom and the Louise Nevelson sculpture in the sitting room. He also raves about the wonderfully graphic Joseph Stashkevetch drawings in the dining room and has decorated the kitchen with an array of fashion illustrations. In the hallway, meanwhile, are a couple of Cindy Sherman photos, which the artist gave him as Christmas presents when he worked at Metro Pictures in the early 1980s.

Nowadays, the gallery is just by the backdoor of his building and Meyer rejoices at the proximity of the art scene. He finds it both inspirational and also handy when looking for a work for a client. It does, however, have its drawbacks.

“When they have opening nights, it’s a nightmare,” he admits. “There are mobs of people. You can’t get into any restaurants or even get a cab!” ID

OFFICE | DESIGN FORMULA

Whatever works The work landscape continues to be transformed, and informed, by societal and lifestyle shifts. Both at home and in corporate suites, the workplace is becoming increasingly mobile and must meet a growing roster of demands, but the range of designs on offer never proves anything less than inspired. TEXT: LISA VINCENTI

M UL R O F N G DESI

CONTENTS: 40 The evolution of the office 43 Personal preferences 44 Remote controlled 47 Take the office home 48 Private practice

A

Creating drama in the workspace can be achieved by adding mood-enhancing lighting, such as the black-matte version of ModoLuce’s Lucilla table lamp.

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DESIGN FORMULA | OFFICE

Workplace solutions needn’t be predictable. Above: the Bukva bookcase by Victor Vasilev for Living Divan delivers a strong visual impact. Bottom: Jean-Marie Massaud’s Flow armchair, for MDF Italia, blends familiarity and peculiarity.

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When Robert Propst joined Herman Miller Research Corporation as its president in 1960, he surveyed the all-too-familiar office scene and concluded: “Today’s office is a wasteland. It saps vitality, blocks talent, frustrates accomplishment. It is the daily scene of unfulfilled intentions and failed effort.”

We get a glimpse into this traditional office scenario via the meticulously rendered sets on the hit US television drama Mad Men. The show trains the camera on 1960s corporate America, following Madison Avenue advertising executive Don Draper through his office and home.

The critically acclaimed series perfectly captures the changing moods and social mores of the era – and its impeccably choreographed style served as inspiration for many fashion and furnishings collections during the major fairs throughout Europe last autumn and into 2011. However, one thing is certain, while the office sets perfectly render the mid-century modern aesthetic and the ethos of the era’s workplace, which emphasised hierarchy and separation of responsibilities, it also illustrates just how far the contemporary office landscape has come in the past half-century – and how it continues to change.

“Whether you are an accountant or a designer, to successfully undertake your work you have to undergo a creative processes; a process that is aided by different office scenarios; variety where your brain can relax, breathe and find alternative ways of thinking,” says Isabel Pintado, associate partner at architectural firm Godwin Austen Johnson. “Breaking the barriers between the office and home environment is the logical way forward. Examples, such as Vitra’s Citizen Office, which I visited a couple of weeks ago, make you realise how the answers are there, we just need to be brave and implement them.”

While the modernist aesthetic of the 1960s remains iconic, the structure and nature of the workplace has undergone unimaginable alteration. New design schemes, fostered by decades of research on the workplace, the digital revolution and societal change, have pushed the boundaries of how, where and when people work, and begs the question of whether the topography of the corporate office captured in Mad Men is a relic best-suited to the sets of a television drama.

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European furnishings makers, such as Presotto’s Pari&Dispari configuration, continually present chic and stylish systems to tame the clutter.

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Above: Poltrona Frau’s leather-clad Shell chair and asymmetrical Fred desk present a warm and natural profile. Bottom: The contemporary Lego-inspired Top Four collection, by italian lighting maker Luxit, offers personality and flexibility.

In fact, new ways of working have prompted the question among workplace planners and research experts, does place still matter? The impact of changing work styles, which are now far more relaxed, with more workers mobile, working from home, at a café, a central HQ, a virtual office or a combination of all of the above is transforming how office planners envision the spaces they create.

Furthermore, according to research conducted by New Ways of Working (New WOW), an organisation comprised of industry and academia, exploring how the office has changed over the past several years to include distributed work (telework) and cross-cultural work, the office remains critical yet its function and use is undergoing a huge change.

“If fewer and fewer workers come to the central office to work, how will offices be used in the future? Or is the centralised office as a place to work an artefact of the 20th century soon to be replaced by home, third places [such as cafés] or virtual workplaces?” asks author June Langhoff in her white paper entitled the Does Place Still Matter? The Role of the Workplace in a Distributed World, part of a series sponsored by office furnishings designer Haworth.

Langhoff surveyed a number of key professionals at businesses and universities such as Cisco Systems, Gartner Inc, Haworth, Hewlett Packard, KOKUYO Co, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, SRI Consulting Business Intelligence, Stanford University, Sun Microsystems, VTT of Finland and the Work Design Collaborative. “We still need places. Our experts were unanimous in maintaining that place is important, even in a world of highly distributed workers,” she concludes.

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“There will be less space devoted to workplaces, due to increases in distributed work. Certainly, there will be fewer ‘personal workplaces’ as work becomes more distributed both outside and inside of corporate offices. But workplaces will be even more important as a means of maintaining relationships, working collaboratively, sparking innovation and fostering employee engagement.”

THE EVOLUTION OF THE OFFICE

In the decades following the corporate scenario laid out in Mad Men, where the head honchos occupied the corner suites while the minions toiled in a far less satisfactory settings, office designers began rethinking the layout of corporate spaces to increase worker satisfaction and hence productivity. In fact, the open office plan reached an apotheosis of sorts when Frank Lloyd Wright designed the stunning “great workroom” of the SC Johnson Wax Administration Building in Racine, Wisconsin, in 1936. The centrepiece of the Johnson Wax building was an enormous expanse of open space with individual desks arranged along the implied perimeter lines of the structural bays, an organisational structure that was to permeate the American workplace for the rest of the 20th century.

By the 1960s, the white-collar workplace had been clearly codified: corridors of private offices along a building’s perimeter, and open and typically dense secretarial pools in the centre. So when Herman Miller’s Propst, declared the scene a wasteland, he set out to recreate the workplace, enlisting first George Nelson and later Jack Kelly, and the collaboration resulted in the Action Office

Designed by Massimo Morozzi for Edra, Paesaggi Italiani lends itself to a wide range of possibilities.

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Above: The dynamic, tilt-able Tip Ton chair is paired with the flexible Map table in Vitra’s latest collection for the office scenario.

Bottom: Herman Miller’s touch-controlled Leaf lamp task lighting folds to create ambient light, or straightens dramatic wall lighting.

I and II. These were the first open-plan office furniture systems made up of components that could be combined and recombined into a variety of work areas, not only for support staff but also for managers.

Propst sought to foster a collaborative culture by removing barriers among colleagues, allowing each to have a broader view of their own particular role within a company. Yet Action Office, which proved a tremendous success for Herman Miller, was credited with spawning the age of the cubicle farm, which afforded workers more privacy than a desk and proved a flexible solution for corporations, but failed to achieve some of its loftier intentions.

Nelson disowned the Action Office II line – and even Propst bemoaned the “regrettable” uniformity to which it had been applied. In 1970, Nelson sent a letter to Robert Blaich, Herman Miller’s vice-president for corporate design and communication at the time, in which he described the system’s “dehumanising effect as a working environment”.

“One does not have to be an especially perceptive critic to realise that AO II is definitely not a system which produces an environment gratifying for people in general,” Nelson wrote. “But it is admirable for planners looking for ways of cramming in a maximum number of bodies, for ‘employees’ (as against individuals), for ‘personnel’, corporate zombies, the walking dead, the silent majority. A large market.”

Not until the 1990s, when small technology startups in Silicon Valley began making headlines, did a major rethink in office design occur. Among the new darlings of Wall Street, this breed of young entrepreneurial company abandoned the rigidity and hierarchy of earlier office plans in favour of a more democratic, fluid and collaborative schema, which also saved on overheads since cubicles and permanent walls are more expensive. But the global economic recession and further technological advances, along with new insights into human behaviour and the workplace, altered the landscape even further.

PERSONAL PREFERENCES

The dawn of a new decade, 2011 marks the emergence of the post-recession economy and, along with it, came a new business climate with a set of fresh challenges for designers to overcome. According to the International Interior Design Association (IIDA), this age of recovery is marked by corporate scrutiny of the bottom line. “Efficient working environments are increasingly in focus as clients demand more value from their fit-out investment. Optimising space is king in light of smaller interior footprints and the requirement for office environments to respond to changes in business,” the IIDA states.

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The office workplace of the next decade, the IIDA continues, must be as flexible as possible, paying close attention to the way people interact with it and the way in which the office impacts the health, safety and welfare of its broader community. “Embracing integrated solutions as well as innovative ideas for individual requirements will be a complicated, but necessary requirement of the interior design industry over the next decade,” says Cheryl Durst, executive vice president and CEO of the IIDA. Durst shared the top eight trends that will influence and transform commercial interior design over the next decade during a discussion at this year’s Office Exhibition, the Middle East’s premier trade event for office fit-outs.

What proves so interesting about the direction corporate design is heading is that it is taking major style cues from trends issuing from the residential design area. Accordingly, office design will be global, green, personal, interactive, humanitarian, minimal, elastic and democratic, Durst says.

“Design is an international language that is spoken by those who design and the clients and consumers for whom the projects and products are being created,” she adds, noting that societal and environmental issues and sustainability are uppermost in the minds of designers and product manufacturers, since those concerns have proven they are not just a passing fad. “The days of ‘one size fits all’ solutions are gone, and consumers and clients are demanding office environments and products that reflect ‘self-expression’ and build a personal brand.”

The revolutionary concepts behind office systems such as Herman Miller’s Action Office were designed to inject a workplace with life and have workers feel engaged. Five decades later, corporate office designers are still struggling to create environments that invite, engage, elevate and enhance. “Human beings aren’t ‘adjunct’ or coincidental to an interior space – they fully inhabit it,” Durst

Porada’s just-introduced Zeus bookcase presents an organic, natural profile.

notes. What’s more, design should “reassure, relate and connect” human beings. The open office plans of the mid-20th century attempted to foster such feelings among workers, yet often ended up having the opposite effect.’’

“Some years back, clients used to come to us with a list of defined requirements: ‘We want x-number of desks with y-number of meeting rooms for z-number of employees’,” notes London-based interior designer Sevil Peach, of Sevil Peach Gence Associates, who has collaborated with Vitra for nearly a decade. “Now clients increasingly come with aspirational and qualitative visions rather than numeric and quantitative briefs. These less tangible aspirations such as, ‘we want to achieve better collaboration, communication, interaction’ etc etc mean that the projects are more of a vehicle for cultural change rather than simply an environmental update.”

REMOTE CONTROLLED

Franco Albini’s stunning nautical-inspired 1940s Veliero, now presented

by Cassina, radically re-worked the laws of gravity.

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As more workers find themselves working remotely, touching down in the office only once in a while, the need to make employees feel connected to others and the company becomes increasingly important, and has spawned fresh thoughts on the office arrangement. The role of the office becomes much more than just a place to work, it also serves as a hub for connecting to technologies, socialising and relaxing.

Two decades ago, Vitra embarked on its Citizen Office concept, inviting Andrea Branzi, Michele de Lucchi and Ettore Sottsass to sit down together and contemplate the office. They developed strategies designed to do away with the limitations set by one-dimensional office environments and proposed an alternative setting that was “alive, that facilitated interaction and that did not draw any distinctions between working and living”. “We believe you should use an office like you would a city,” says Jo Kaiser, Vitra’s managing director of North American operations.

The alternative the three design heavyweights proposed, which later became the subject of an exhibition at the Vitra Design Museum, as well as a publication, presented the office from the viewpoint of office workers – who use the latest communication technologies, network and move independently in many different types of office scenarios at different times. Incorporating space for group brainstorm sessions, more relaxed lounge areas and places to retreat became the hallmark of Citizen Office and other workplace systems that follow.

“Today, ideas from this project can be found applied – to differing degrees based on the work culture – to offices around the globe. Not necessarily because the exhibition or the book was so influential, but because we and the three designers anticipated two things that would become part of a mega-trend and redefine the offices of the information society,” states Vitra in its Citizen Office catalogue. “On the one hand, we predicted that the office worker would become an independent and self-confident team player. We call these workers office citizens. We also predicted that they would work in an environment where hierarchies would be getting flatter and new technological advances would start playing a central role in communication.”

Today’s work styles are more fluid, interactive and mobile, and top players in the field are addressing this. Knoll, an office furniture stalwart whose famed products are all over the Mad Men set and which has collaborated with innovative designers including Eero Saarinen, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Harry Bertoia and Frank Gehry, asked six industrial designers to update the office. It essentially asked: ‘What would Don Draper’s workspace look like if he were an executive at a tech startup?’, and the solutions they came up with were highly flexible, green, ergonomic and designed to facilitate collaboration.

Knoll’s new Antenna Workspaces, which highlight the company’s new approach to workplace design, reflects the freedom and mobility people seek in today’s office. Designed by Masamichi Udagawa and Sigi Moeslinger, principals of Antenna Design, the desks, tables, screens and storage of the new line combine and recombine in an infinite number of ways for open plan environments, private

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Above: Molteni&C’s Pass wall system is full of bright ideas. Bottom: Young Asian designer Nathan Yong creates the poetic Paper Table for Ligne Roset.

OFFICE | DESIGN FORMULA

offices and meeting spaces. Counter height tables and adjustable, seated-tostanding height desks facilitate a range of work postures. Employees can work at a long table with colleagues and chat about an idea or share a video, and then hide behind private screen to focus and get some work done.

“The physical work environment in itself does not create innovation, but it can support and encourage behaviours that lead to innovation, such as collaboration across (functional and hierarchy) boundaries and team working,” notes Bettina von Stamm, founder of the Innovation Leadership Forum.

Hence, one of the primary goals that interior designers need to achieve is building scenarios that foster innovation and creativity, the pillars upon which the information age rests.

TAKE THE OFFICE HOME

At home, there are many lessons to be gleaned from the corporate world.

As more of the global workforce finds itself working from home, creating a setting much like those refined and expertly crafted in the corporate landscape is critical – just on a smaller scale. Today, people work in many places throughout the home, whether at a desk, kitchen table, the living room sofa or a combination of all three, so thought must be given to providing plenty of flexible, transformable solutions.

Multi-functional furniture that nests, folds, flips and transforms can be tucked away when not in use to provide more floor space and help the at-home

Clockwise from top left: Alessi’s Hani sculptural pencil holder by Karim Rashid; Nemo’s clever Mr. Light short table lamp; One office collection from Moody Design

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worker unplug after hours while clever storage solutions allow one to organise and hide the clutter that makes a space seem smaller and chaotic. The established European furniture makers (such as Molteni & C and Porro) have always led the way in stylish modular storage solutions. One recently introduced smart system is Boxetti, an example of a new area of exploration: the office in a box.

Designed by Latvian Rolands Landsbergs, the Boxetti collection offers a slew of clever features for its Practice workspace module, which contains a set of integrated furniture that can be hidden away once the work is done. A manual foldaway desk top with a block of drawers, a bookcase system and an uber-cool upholstered chill-out niche for a more relaxed posture, are just some of the highlights of the handmade line.

“The collection is driven by three basic design principles – functionality, advanced technologies and contemporary minimalist aesthetics,” says Landsbergs. “Each of (the) Boxetti modules is designed to achieve maximum efficiency. The capability of the modules to be transformed into compactly solid blocks is essential for the design concept, and to obtain an unobstructed and comfortable space – free of uselessness.”

PRIVATE PRACTICE

Despite the leap forward ushered in by entrepreneurial tech companies two decades ago and programmes such as Action Office, new office spaces of the early part of the 21st century often lacked what so many are looking for. In fact, as the walls have come down in corporate settings, and as many homeowners have likewise adopted an open living arrangement at home, a lack of order and boundaries plagued many designs. Privacy, or a lack thereof, has become a major issue to contend with.

From top: Bangboom pendant lamp by Ingo Maurer; Paul Sumit tiles from Messara Trading

In the residential sphere, the past year witnessed a number of new products designed to help produce a more secluded atmosphere for escape. Seat backs and armrests began to rise, and nest-like designs have been on point. Montis’s Scene, designed by Dutch designer Gijs Papavoine in 1998, has now been launched in a super-sized model with towering back, which can be configured in a number of ways. Slender backrests fold around the seating element as a collar raised high in the wind, creating a shielded and private area for the sitter.

Vitra’s Alcove Highback Sofa, whose side and back panels reach an exceptional height, was designed by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec to create an oasis in the midst of a spacious setting.

From prolific London-based designer Kelly Hoppen comes her interpretation of the vintage Bubble Chair, where an acrylic orb rests on a circular pedestal, providing the bests of both worlds.

Likewise, two introductions from Cappellini, the cocoon-like Secret Clubhouse and extra-large Wanders’ Tulip Chair, offer chic escapes as well.

In the office environment, as offices spaces brought down walls and eschewed the cubicle, issues of noise and nosing around, often proved counter productive and introduced a new variable for office designers to consider. “Research has shown that privacy disruptions created by acoustical and visual distractions are a major complaint when evaluating workplace job performance and satisfaction,” state Teresa A Bellingar and Virginia W Kupritz, who have published research on the topic.

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From top: Living Wall from Ahrend; Very Task chair and Eddy task table both from Haworth

“The number one desire in the workplace is privacy – the ability to perform distraction-free, individual work when necessary,” states global office furniture maker and space designer Haworth of its years of research in the field.

New introductions by many office furnishings makers today address the point. From Vitra comes an array of items from sound-blocking movable walls and acoustic neutralisers to high-back sofas, designed for retreat. Vitra’s latest Net ‘n’ Nest introductions by Jasper Morrison and the Bouroullecs present not only a protected private zone, but a space for a private meeting with a colleague or two. Likewise, the company’s Network Office series, designed by Peach, creates carrels, a library and sofa islands to meet this need.

“In the corporate world, individuals have alternatives to either work at their desk, if they have one, at a large ‘dining table’, at a sofa or at a booth,” notes GAJ’s Pintado. “There is a clear symbiosis between the different areas within a home and the different work scenarios appearing in corporate office design.

The more variety of scenarios, the more an individual can personalise their day and, as such, perform to the best of their abilities.

“People are magical tools that, given the correct environment, can thrive and outperform their employers’ expectations. I believe large open-plan offices, where there are no visual barriers and no vertical elements to break the eye, will slowly be eliminated in favour of smaller-scale, collaborative environments where the individual is treasured and allowed to flourish.” ID

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Design sources ahrend.com alessi.com; tel: (04) 340 2933 arflex.it atipiconline.it bouroullec.com boxetti.com cappellini.it; tel: (04) 295 2180 diamantinidomeniconi.it edra.com; tel: (04) 324 0202 fdvgroup.com gaj-uae.ae; tel: (04) 335 4545 haworth-asia.com; tel: (04) 886 5713 hermanmiller.com; tel: (04) 283 3040 ingo-maurer.com kartell.com; tel: (04) 348 8169 kellyhoppenretail.com knoll.com; tel: (04) 336 4666 kundalini.it; tel: (04) 335 0006 lemamobili.com livingdivani.it; tel: (04) 334 9943 marcelwanders.com; tel: (04) 340 57 95 matteograssi.it mdfitalia.it; tel: (04) 334 4478 messara.biz; tel: (06) 533 6625 modoluce.com molteni.it; tel: (04) 297 1777 moodydesign.ae; tel: (04) 339 7177 nemo.cassina.it porro.com; tel: (04) 334 9943 poliform.it; tel: (04) 394 8161 poltronafrau.com; tel: 295 2981 porada.it presottoitalia.it sedus.com sigel.de tisettanta.com vertijet.de vitra.com; tel: (04) 228 3008 walterknoll.de

A design classic, Kartell’s Portariviste magazine rack by Giotto Stoppino remains an ingenious solution to paperwork.

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Future perfect Farrokh Derakhshani, who steers one of the most unique prize programmes in architecture, discusses how design can shape identity.

TEXT: SHALAKA PARADKAR

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For over three decades now, one of architecture’s most unique prize programmes has been rewarding architects, builders and clients in communities from Indonesia to France, from Portugal to Zanzibar and several countries in between.

It’s also been called the wisest prize in architecture.

In the 34 years since it was established, The Aga Khan Award for Architecture has been bagged by a wide array of projects, on sites ranging from tropical beaches to denuded wadis, deserts to rainforests, modern cities to secluded wilderness reserves.

When HH The Aga Khan founded the award, it was aimed at enhancing the understanding and appreciation of Islamic culture by way of its architecture.

Since then 85 projects that are not overtly Islamic, but are definitely rooted in a local idiom, born out of a community’s need and thus, extremely contextual, have laid claim to the award, architecture’s richest prize purse.

DESIGN@LARGE

But perhaps the most unique – and visionary – aspect of the award is that, unlike architecture’s other big prize, the Pritzker that awards only the architect, the Aga Khan Award is given to the team that realised the project.

“As compared to art, an architecture project is not the creation of one person,” says Farrokh Derakhshani, director, Aga Khan Award for Architecture.

“The client’s vision is very important as are the architects, the users, the craftsmen and the engineers; depending on the project, each of these people can have a greater or lesser role. This award does not celebrate one person, it is a celebration of the project and collaboration between these people.”

Derakhshani has been associated with the Award since 1982. Having trained as an architect and planner at National University of Iran and the School of Architecture in Paris, his main field of specialisation is the contemporary architecture of Muslim societies. He has served as a jury member at various

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The images in this feature highlight the various aspects of the Ismaili Centre in Dubai, which was opened in 2008 by Prince Karim Aga Khan. Nestled among the concrete and glass in Oud Metha, the serene complex is utilised as a creative space for contemplative, cultural, educational and recreational purposes. Designed by Egyptian duo Rami El-Dahan and Soheir Farid, the complex – a combination of interlinking interiors, courtyards, gardens and watercourses – draws inspiration from the Fatimid mosques in Cairo. Built primarily in Aleppo limestone, the detailing in the multi-directional domes, marble interiors, carved hardwood exteriors, elaborately patterned doors and masharabiyya (lattice work) testifies to rare artisanship. With its rolling lawns, date palms, cool ferns and seasonal plants, the landscaping tempers the heat and creates almost a microclimate for the centre.

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international competitions and schools of architecture and collaborated on a large variety of publications on architecture.

Speaking to identity on the sidelines of Art Dubai, Derakhshani discussed the challenges facing architecture in the Islamic world and how design can make a difference.

Much has been said about the Award’s stringent selection process: the three-year award cycle is governed by a Steering Committee chaired by the Aga Khan. Each cycle has a new committee that establishes the current eligibility criteria for the projects, provides thematic direction to the selection process and develops plans for the future. The Steering Committee is responsible for the selection of the Master Jury appointed for each Award cycle – over the last 11 cycles of the award, the juries have been notable for their depth, balance and pluralistic nature. They are not changed with every cycle.

Prizes totalling $500,000 (Dhs1,825,000) are presented every three years to the five projects selected by the jury. “Sometimes people want to know why the awards cycle takes so long. It must be remembered this is the only award that sends the jury to visit the site of the project. It’s important to see how people are using it, whether it’s being appreciated or not. Evaluation post occupancy is a very important part of the award. The projects shortlisted for the award have to be recent, have to be completed and in use. Therefore it’s only after one year that users know if they are happy with the building,” Derakhshani says.

Shortlisted buildings can be in any part of the world where Muslims are present and the project can be of any scale and programme.

“Architecture is any intervention in the built environment; and they are all equally important [for the award]: from a small shed to a large scale urban planning project, from a landscape scheme to an area conservation. It is what man does to his environment. We don’t look at a specific scale. But we look at excellence – how that project has been achieved, its excellence in process and design.”

At the time of our conversation, Arab cities from the Maghreb to the Levant were on the boil.

In a time of such socio-political upheaval, can design play a role at all?

DESIGN@LARGE

Farrokh Derakhshani

Derakhshani’s response was measured. “Design has an important role to play in culture. It is tied with identity, which is the culture of any place. Right now in some parts of the world, people are searching for their own identity and asking this question repeatedly; other tend to be in the nostalgia of the past.

The reality is that today is what shapes a new identity. It’s a work in progress.

What is different today is the speed of change. That’s why it is more difficult for people to step back and see where they are.

“In such a situation, public space is very important. They existed in traditional cities, but have been swallowed up by the rapid change brought upon by urbanisation. What has been lacking in most of the Arab world, and in other developing countries in Africa and Asia, is that the public was not the focus of the development.”

It is indeed a striking reference, for in the protests across Arab cities, it is public space that has been reclaimed by people.

Derakhshani cites the example of the award-winning project from Tunisia, the revitalisation of the Tunis hypercentre. “This was a place where the post colonial city had been changed, boulevards had become parking spaces. Now they have transformed and rehabilated this space with trees and landscaping – it has become a pleasant space for people to use. Citizens are using it (perhaps a little too much!). Appropriating public space is very important. So also the Wadi Hanifa project in Saudi Arabia is an extremely important, being one of the few projects of its kind in the world. The landscaping of a once-barren flood plain has created a public space where people now go jogging, picnicking and spend time.”

Once the project has won the award, Derakhshani visits the site to celebrate with the community who are using it. At the same time, it is discussed in the local universities from the academic point of view. This has been one of the major changes in the awards. The other is the level of transparency brought into the selection of projects.

During the 11th award cycle of 2010, the 19 shortlisted projects were shared with the public through a book to promote further discussion.

A recurrent theme runs through the shortlisted buildings: they are notable for their use of local materials and appropriate technology. Derakhshani says this is a trend that has grown over the recent cycles of the award.

“The contribution of local architects is more evident now. We have awarded civic projects designed by an international star architect who worked very closely with a local architect – a big reason for the project’s success. It’s not something packaged at Houston or elsewhere and installed here. It recognises that which is deeply rooted.” ID

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READY SET

STRATEGISE!

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Nominations for the ADCB Ambition Award are now open. To enter, simply log in to www.emirateswomanawards.com and tell us (in 500 words or less) your greatest entrepreneurial or community improvement ambition and what you are doing to achieve it. The winner will receive USD10,000, a place on an INSEAD Key Management Challenge course part of INSEAD’s Global Executive MBA at Abu Dhabi campus and AED2,000 worth of shopping vouchers to spend in BurJuman Mall, Dubai. Nominations close on the 15th August 2011. For terms and conditions, visit emirateswomanawards.com.

THE COSMOPOLITAN OF LAS VEGAS, THE CHANDELIER. COURTESY OF THE COSMOPOLITAN OF LAS VEGAS

idProperty

CONTENTS: 60 Victorian Modern 66 Let there be light 72 Antennae

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Victorian modern

PHOTOGRAPHY: RICHARD WAITE

A new wave of Middle Eastern home buyers in London are going native. They want Victorian houses and modern European style. TEXT: RICHARD WARREN

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Reception room, upper basement. Garden in background visible through sliding French doors.

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Victorian Britain and the modern day Middle East share a common characteristic – large families. The average size of a UAE family is 7.28 persons, about the same size as the typical family in Victorian England which had between five to six children. Rather neatly, this means today’s average-sized Middle Eastern family fits snugly into a London family home built during the latter half of the 19th century. This is fortunate, because the number of Middle Eastern families looking to buy homes in London is growing and the type of abode they want most are Victorian-era houses.

According to estate agency, Knight Frank, Arab buyers invested Dhs16 billion in central London property in 2010, a substantial increase on the Dhs10 billion they spent in 2009. In 2011, the agency forecasts they may spend up to Dhs21 billion, which is good news for London property

INTERNATIONAL | idProperty

developers busy renovating Victorian houses for them. These developers include Finchatton which has three Middle Eastern clients.

“We have noticed a significant increase in levels of interest in London property from most Middle Eastern countries including Kuwait, Qatar, Egypt and Saudi Arabia,” says Alex Michelin, co-founder of Finchatton. “In comparison with this time last year, we are pleased to report that enquiries from Middle Eastern clients are up by 50 per cent.”

The hike in oil prices coupled with a fall in British property prices and value of Sterling over the past four years has made London property more affordable for Middle Eastern buyers he says.

“They see London as a great store of wealth,” says Finchatton’s other co-founder, Alex Dunn. “It is almost an asset class in itself.”

The developer’s Middle East clients include a wealthy businessman who bought 26 Moore Street, a multi-million pound, mid-Victorian Chelsea townhouse, in 2010, for his family of six children and one grandmother. Not unsurprisingly for a family of that size the house has lots of places to sleep.

Only one of its five floors, the ground, does not have a bedroom. Michelin says the 381 square meter house can sleep up to nine people, the maximum number of family members expected to be there at any one time.

“Middle Eastern families want a lot of bedrooms and have more space for family,” says Michelin.

There are plenty of stairs in this five storey house, so those members of the family with the youngest legs are given the most stairs to climb. The third floor, at the very top of the building, has two bedrooms for the family’s twins

Kitchen, ground floor

Dining room/front entrance area, ground floor

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PHOTOGRAPHY: RICHARD WAITE

From top: Master bedroom, second floor; bedroom en suite bathroom, second floor

and nanny. The second is given over entirely to the parent’s large master bedroom and en-suite bathroom, providing them with privacy. The first floor is a quiet, adult space that accommodates a study and formal reception room which does not have a TV. The ground floor has the kitchen and dining room which doubles as the entrance area to the house. The upper basement has the granny flat which has its own entrance to the street, a kitchenette and shower room, so she can live independently of the rest of the family if she wants to. Opposite granny is a family lounge with TV. Compared to Britain’s Victorians, modern Middle Eastern families need more space, because there are must-have gadgets around today that didn’t exist 150 years ago. With this in mind the developer has dug a lower basement to house the building’s electronics, the utilities room, fifth bedroom and an informal cinema room.

Old photos show the house was tired and poky before Finchatton started work. Now it is filled with light. A skylight, measuring 2.8 metres by 1.8 meters, above the stairwell allows light to filter down five floors to the basement, helped on its way by a reflective mirrored wall, 18 metres tall, the full height of the stairwell.

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Despite its “basement” location the upper basement lounge feels airy, because light is allowed to enter the three meter high room through French doors that open out onto the garden. Natural light is drawn into the lower basement’s cinema room from two light-wells in the garden above. The designers’ light and dark interior design-theme emphasises these types of light enhancing features, and dozens of ceiling spotlights and other light fixtures brighten rooms on the gloomiest of London’s grey days.

“Light is such an important factor,” says Dunn, “Light is one of the pillars of our design philosophy, it is very important to the overall design. It is not just about volume. You can have a large space, but it can feel small and dark.

Subconsciously, light is the first thing we look for. I am from the Caribbean, so light is very important to me, but in a north European country we are starved of light, so we like to have lots of light (sources) in a place as we do here.”

The house is fully kitted out with bespoke furnishings, commissioned artwork and high end appliances. Like many other Arab buyers arriving in London today, the owner wanted a home designed along contemporary, European lines rather than in a traditional Arab way.

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PHOTOGRAPHY: RICHARD WAITE

From top: Twins’ bedroom, third floor; reception room, first floor

“They said they wanted it to be a typical Chelsea townhouse,” says Michelin, “The buyer is well travelled, has grown up in US. There is definitely a shift as they (Middle Easterners) travel and see the options. They say I am in London, therefore I want a London home, I am in France, therefore I want a chateau, and so on.”

One British preference that is given short shrift are baths. The house has only one bath, but it does have four showers.

Like many other Middle Eastern buyers, the owner bought this home so they can have their children educated in London.

“This family will spend up to six months of the year in the UK, because the children will be educated here,” says Michelin.

Education also drives demand for another type of accommodation much sought after by Middle Eastern buyers – large flats. About 15,000 students

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from GCC states attend British universities, and the wealthier among them have their accommodation bought by parents.

“We have had a great deal of interest from Middle Eastern buyers wishing to buy an apartment for their children who they are sending to the top London universities,” says Ian Brownridge, partner and Head of Sales at Carter Jonas Chelsea and Knightsbridge Office, “They are buying multi-million pound apartments in prime areas for their children to use for three to four years while studying and which are considered safe investments.”

British government plans to cut overseas student numbers may mean fewer Arabs attend British universities in future.

But the authorities want to make it easier for the world’s wealthy to live in the country, so demand for family homes from Middle Eastern buyers may increase. If passed by Parliament, new rules would allow foreigners with Dhs59 million in assets to live in Britain for only six months of the year instead of the current nine months, and they need wait only two years to gain residency, not five years. Foreigners with GBP29 million to invest would wait three years and those with GBP5.9 million, five years. Residency rules for overseas entrepreneurs would be relaxed. Politics is also having an impact.

Immigration lawyers are receiving more enquiries from wealthy Middle Eastern families since political unrest swept through the Arabic-speaking world earlier this year. Add all this up together and more Victorian houses may become home to large Arab families in the years ahead. ID

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The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, West Lobby. Photography: James Medcraft

idProperty | PORTFOLIO

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Let there be light From the Venetian countryside to the theatre, hotel interiors are drawing inspiration from unconventional and eclectic vistas. ID explores two new properties designed by the prolific Marco Piva and David Rockwell.

TEXT: NUSRAT ALI

identity [interior/design/property]

PORTFOLIO | idProperty

DESERT DRAMA

Silly themes and kitschy décor remain the norm in Las Vegas – and providing the perfect antidote is the recently opened Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas. With its stunning interiors designed by David Rockwell, the resort caters to the “curious class” – a group of travellers who are creative, enjoy foreign foods, the arts and new experiences. After a dozen years of designing in Sin City, Rockwell joined Jeffrey Beers International, Bentel & Bentel, Studio Gaia and Tihany Design in completing the interiors for his latest visual feast. Speaking of the project, the architect explained: "A large part of the design sensibility was the notion of curation collected so it doesn't feel like it was all bought at exactly the same time from exactly the same place." In collaboration with the Vegas based Friedmutter Group, Rockwell focused on a shared sense of openness and intimacy created by semi-enclosed "micro-environments" that tie together larger areas.

Illustrating this idea is the spectacular 65-foot-tall, two-million crystal piece chandelier that doubles as an inhabitable bar/lounge. Opaquely transparent and spanning three levels, it subtly breaks up the resort's massive size and acts as focal point. Speaking of The Chandelier Bar, Rockwell said: “The idea was to simultaneously have a central, vertical focus and imagine what it would be like to be inside a chandelier.”

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Photoraphy: Jeff Green. Portrait: Johnatan Levine

idProperty | PORTFOLIO

Rockwell’s commitment to design is evident from the moment one enters the lobby. Guests are greeted with an out of this world visual experience – eight massive columns surfaced with 384 LCD screens present ever-changing images, from dancers to bubbles. Check-in takes place at one of the red Louis XIV-style registration desks, instead of the long counters found in most hotels.

The Cosmopolitan’s condo-style rooms are also a unique feature. With kitchenettes, large bathrooms with soaking tubs, sitting areas with dark indigo sofas, quirky accessories and coffee-table books, each has a residential feel.

Keeping the hip and high-tech in mind, rooms give guests access to advanced electronics to create a personalised ambiance with music, mood lighting and temperature controls.

Unlike most Las Vegas hotels, The Cosmopolitan is built on less than 10 acres, giving it a more vertical, urban feel. Most rooms have large outdoor terraces that offer spectacular views of the Strip. Casino space is given up in favour of avant-garde retail shops, several of which are new to the Las Vegas market. Most of the resort’s restaurants sit around a common area, rather than

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being spread out through the casino like other Strip properties. The sunlightfilled casino – another rarity – features draping around casino cabanas for a more intimate gaming experience. All these elements come together theatrically to reinforce why the eclectic Cosmopolitan is being hailed as the “next generation of Las Vegas hotels”.

Above: Jaleo restaurant, The Cosmopolitan.

Left: David Rockwell

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Inspirations

idProperty | PORTFOLIO

MARCO’S MOVE

With his unusual creative flair, Italian architect and designer Marco Piva never fails to impress. Armed with a rational approach, his design solutions are pervaded by stylistic freedom and compositional sobriety, drawing inspiration from his innate curiosity with the world. The latest feather in the maestro’s cap is the new four-star Move Hotel in Mogliano Veneto, created in collaboration with DHK. Opened in May, the innovative hotel structure is strategically located just a few kilometres from the airports of Venice and Treviso, immersed in the tranquil countryside of Trevigiano. The main element of the project’s design was the development of a formal continuity between the structure and its context – a recurring theme in Piva’s projects – with a focus on light colours and natural

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idProperty | PORTFOLIO

PORTFOLIO | idProperty

materials such as stone and wood. Inspiration comes from the surrounding countryside and charming Venetian villas, and with the building characterised by a dynamic arch shape that develops over two floors, its impact on them is reduced to a minimum. The leitmotif of the hotel became the environment’s abundant sunlight and Piva translates this into the key design element using archite, glass and teak to form the bulk of the interiors. Light continues to play a leading role into the lobby – tubular lamps hang in the void with an abundance of natural light filtering in from the large glass facades, characterising the common areas of the ground floor. The reception banquet is covered in lightly coloured Lessinia stone, providing contrast with the dark tones of the grey veined stone covering the lobby’s floors and walls. The Move Hotel has 203 rooms, all of which feature sober and elegant accents designed by Piva himself, such as the Ayers di Leucos blown glass table lamps and the Reverso di Novello sinks. A large Congress Centre is located in the hotel’s centre, and is surrounded by an artificial lake with a fountain. The foyer develops into a reception and relaxation area decorated with boiserie and glass showcasing.

Light colours and comfortable furniture set the tone for moments of relaxation in the hotel’s wellness centre, comprising of a covered pool, sauna, Turkish baths, Kneipp spa, sensory showers and fitness room. The contrast between the teak floor and the exposed cement around the walls constitutes a characteristic and sophisticated detail in the pool’s large solarium. Fluid and functional, Piva describes the new hotel as “the result of the perfect integration of comfort, hospitality and high quality services”, standing as a symbol of affordable luxury for everybody.

Clockwise from top left: The hotel's internal court; an aerial view of the lobby; Marco Piva

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idProperty | ANTENNAE

From Portugal to South Africa to the United States “buyers’ markets” prevail as global property values weaken... yet again. TEXT: RICHARD WARREN

BAILOUT BLUES

BUYER’S MARKET?

Portugal’s Dhs409 billion bailout from the EU and the International Monetary Fund is good news for the country’s property market, according to developer Michael Nascimento. “Investors looking for medium to long-term property investment returns shouldn’t ignore the existing opportunities that the market offers during this period of economic difficulty,” he told website A Place in the Sun. “Things will eventually improve.” According to Nascimento, there were plenty of bargains to choose from following several years of price falls. However, consultancy Capital Economics throws cold water on such optimism, forecasting the economy will contract two per cent in 2011 and that speculation over whether Portugal needs to restructure its debts will continue. Neither this ongoing depreciation of national wealth or uncertainty about the country’s finances, implying higher taxes and public sector cuts, are good for the property market.

South Africa is a “buyer’s market”, says estate agency Cluttons. Prices fell 15 per cent in most areas during the recession, which bottomed out in 2009, and the length of time a property stays on the market has been lengthening since the end of 2010. What’s more, only 15 per cent of sellers are managing to achieve their asking price.

According to the Global Property Guide, prices fell 2.9 per cent over the past year. However, there are glimmers of an upturn in Cape Town, which benefited from Dhs5.2 billion of investment in its transport infrastructure prior to the football World Cup in 2010. The city’s property market is being helped by banks lending mortgages more freely and overseas cash buyers purchasing homes.

Jacques Ellis, managing director of Cluttons South Africa, says: “The middle and luxury end of the market offers substantial opportunity for price increases over the next few years.”

FORCE INDIA

The home of Bollywood will be a top 10 international city by 2021, the world’s millionaires believe. Mumbai is currently 38th in the Knight Frank Global Cities Index, third from bottom. But, according to a survey of high net-worth individuals carried out by the estate agency, India’s commercial capital will be seventh on that list by 2021, ahead of Tokyo and hot on the heels of Singapore. If this acceleration in fortunes happens, then Mumbai will be the planet’s fastest developing urban area over the next 10 years. A top international city needs housing to match, so the world’s property developers, architects and interior designers are moving in. They include Jade Jagger for yoo, which is designing Lodha Fiorenza, a set of 452 apartments in four towers scheduled for completion in 2013.

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WORLD DOWNTURN

At the height of the global property boom in 2007, we were encouraged to move off land and out to sea. Developers became ship builders and marketed apartments on three residential ships that were, in effect, floating condominiums – the Megellan, Orphalese and Four Seasons Ocean Residences would circumnavigate the world, stopping off at travel hotspots like the Monaco Grand Prix and Rio Carnival, we were told. Plans for all three ships were abandoned following the credit crunch of 2008. The World, which set sail in 2002, remains the only residential ship in existence. Now, American investors want to revive the dream of living at sea by launching Utopia in 2014. Marketing begins in the next few months for the ship’s apartments that range in price from Dhs14.6 million to Dhs95 million. The ship’s backers, Frontier Group, are confident their plans won’t sink without trace, because personnel who launched The World successfully are involved in Utopia’s launch.

“Global housing markets have taken a turn for the worse,” says the Global Property Guide in its latest survey of international house prices which shows they are falling in a growing number of countries.

The Eastern hemisphere continues to do better than the West, but there are one or two surprises.

Thailand’s property market, which had been blighted by price falls for several years, has turned positive, with prices rising 4.6 per cent year-onyear. Now, it is previously booming China’s turn to become the laggard of Asia, recording a 3.5 per cent fall in property values. Meanwhile, in Europe, the bounceback in the Baltic states has slowed, while prices fell in Ireland, Spain and elsewhere.

Norway tops the region with a six per cent increase.

Prices have turned negative in Australia and New Zealand, and they continue to fall in the United States. Price rises have also slowed in Canada.

HEALTHY HOMES

TWIN DIPS

THE BRITS ARE BACK IN TOWN

We’ve seen resort communities centred on golf, sailing, polo and even football emerge in different parts of the world. Now we have the spa community. In Switzerland, 30 apartments and a hotel are being built as part of 51º Spa Residences, a thermal spa complex in the mountain town of Leukerbad in the Valais region.

Spa facilities at its 900sq/m Banya Experience Spa include a number of thermal water pools of varying temperatures, a Russian style Banya Suite, a crystal steam bath, an ice fountain and outdoor pool. Prices for apartments at the development start at Dhs78,000 per square metre. Developer Swiss Development Group promises to have the whole scheme completed by 2015. Leukerbad is the largest spa and wellness centre in the Alps, boasting 30 thermal pools. Surrounded by mountain peaks, some 4,000m high, the town can be used as a base for skiing and hiking.

Property prices in the United States are falling faster now than at any time since the height of the financial crisis in late 2008. Prices have fallen 5.5 per cent over the past year and are 19 per cent below the 2007 peak. Consultancy Capital Economics believes these official statistics underestimate the true extent of price falls, because they only relate to mortgage-backed purchases, not cash purchases.

Many cash buyers target homes offered at heavily discounted prices by desperate, indebted sellers and the banks which foreclose on them. So many US homes have been repossessed that banks now own half of the properties in many cities, including Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland. However, not all is doom and gloom. In Manhattan, Wall Street money and foreign money means sales of apartments remain brisk at luxury condos like the 17-storey Centurion, pictured above, which was designed by Pei Partnership Architects with IM Pei.

Prices in central London have risen by an average of Dhs4,640 every day over the past year. That’s Dhs1.7 million over 12 months, more than enough to buy an average priced home elsewhere in Britain. In addition to the 60 different kinds of foreign nationalities purchasing like mad in London, Britons are also eager to buy. “UK buyers still account for around half of all transactions in the market and buyers in business and financial service employment represent at least 40 per cent of all buyers in the robust £1 million (Dhs6m) to £5m (Dhs30m) million sector,” says Knight Frank’s Liam Bailey. “Assuming that central London’s jobs market can continue to outpace the wider UK market during 2011, it is likely that prices at current levels will be sustainable even if overseas demand begins to wane.” To cater for this demand property developers, like Finchatton and Oliver Burns, are building new luxury homes (pictured above).

WAVE OF OPTIMISM

July 2011

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Books

FORUM

STATEMENTS IN STYLE Luxury. Elegance. Style. Celebrate the melding of these to create a statement where essence meets expression.

GREEN LANTERN GETS MOODY

DESIGNER DUO

Art seduces form. The result is the creation of the sophisticated, sturdy and timeless Baltazar Maisona-Porter brand, which forms connections between the sensuous vision of fashion designer Nuno Baltazar and the rational traces from architect Vitor Almeida. Featuring consoles, trunks and folding screens intricately carved with the Baltazar insignia as well as ottomans, cabinets, coffee tables and accessories, the collection has a style proposal for every environment. Graphic elements and colour palettes from Baltazar’s most emblematic collections are recreated, with natural wood, high gloss lacquer finishes, polished brass, bronze and leather becoming the protagonists.

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Moody Design offers furniture for children and young adults that can be customised in a variety of fun and functional ways. Their distinct wardrobes and flag bookcases with rotating shelf doors allow variations quickly and simply. Exclusive right owners for Warner Bros DC comic characters the Middle East, Moody Design offers users a range of characters to choose from for furniture personalisation, and Green Lantern is the latest addition to the range.

SEA SENSATION

Winner of the Wallpaper Design Award in the Best Boat category, the new Aquariva speed boat reiterates the collaboration between renowned Italian design houses, Gucci and Riva. Customised by Gucci’s Creative Director, Frida Giannini, the Aquariva celebrates the era of La Dolce Vita, when glamour and elegance defined a lifestyle. Characteristics include a fiberglass hull and detailing painted in Gucci’s glossy white alongside Riva’s signature use of varnished mahogany for the cockpit, walking decks and awning cover hatch. The waterproof fabric covering the seats and sundeck features the emblematic Guccissima print, while Gucci’s green-red-green web detailing adds an iconic touch.

KITCHEN + BATHROOM

Design agenda K & B 2011, Cairo, Egypt, July 14-17 TIME TURNS TO ART

SAITEX 2011, Johannesburg, South Africa, July 17-19 The Manchester Furniture Show 2011, Manchester, United Kingdom, July 17-20

Smith of Derby pays tribute to its 40 years in the Middle East with the world’s first bespoke Islamic clock.

Launched at Interiors UAE 2011, the luxury clock made with gems, precious stones and precious metal covering has geographic-specific prayer time settings by city, combines local times with the five daily prayer times and comes with a call-to-prayer sound.

Decoration + Design 2011, Melbourne, Australia, July 21-24 Homedec 2011, Johor Bahru, Malaysia, July 22-24 Gift + Home Las Vegas, Las Vegas, USA, August 1-5 Casa Brasil 2011, Bento Gonçalves, Brazil, August 2-6 Home Decor Exhibition Hometex 2011, Shenzhen, China, August 3-5 HOME EXPO & LIVING CONCEPT 2011, Bangkok, Thailand, August 6-14

CRYSTAL CLARITY

Debuting at Galeries Lafayette is Airfree’s limited edition S-Exclusiv range of air purifiers. Hand crystallised in the UAE, with more than 20,000 genuine Swarovski crystals per unit, the units are quintessentially Dubai. The S-Exclusiv models showcase the brand’s trademark element of bling.

ARTE PLUNGE

Arte Casa’s modern and opulent bathroom creations and fixings stand out with their sophisticated fabrications. Choose from the range of bathtubs, whirlpools, spas, fixtures and tiles in ceramic, mosaic and antique marbles to add a touch of luxury to any bathroom.

OLE! OLA 20

Snaidero invests again in the ambitious fusion of traditional, classic and extremely contemporary; Pininfarina rises to the challenge and the result is Ola 20 – winner of the Trophee Sadecc for kitchen furniture design during the prestigious Lyon Expo.

Stepping away from the bourgeois, the elegant and sophisticated kitchen has accurate and au courant features. Characterized by fluid round corners, a table extension of the countertop, sculptural design of the base and a powdered mica finish makes for a fresh and futuristic environment.

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ANTENNAE

A cultural complex in the Albanian capital of Tirana featuring a Museum of Religious Harmony; a new dinosaur hall at Los Angeles’ renowned Natural History Museum; and the award-winning Balancing Barn in eastern England catch the architectural eye. TEXT: STEVE HILL

2 4

7 8

6

5

3

PHOTOGRAPHY: © XV STUDIO

PHOTOGRAPHY: © STL CHICAGO

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1. ADDIS ABABA

2. HERLEV, DENMARK

3. KAOHSIUNG

MARKET FORCES

HOSPITAL EXTENSION

HIGH NOTE

Currently under construction in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa is Lideta Mercato, a new market in a dense neighbourhood dominated by mid-rise buildings. Designed by Barcelona-based XV Studio, the project is carved to create an interior world in a multi-storey contemporary building. The roof contains gathering and recreational areas, making a new urban oasis protected from the rain and the sun. The circular porches and the roof collect rainwater, which is processed and re-used. The porches also hold a network of photovoltaic panels that produce and store electrical energy for the interior and illuminate the façade at night.

A 54,000-square-metre extension to Herlev Hospital is to be designed by Henning Larsen Architects. The project will comprise a new emergency department and maternity services centre, including a paediatrics unit and maternity ward. The project consists of three circular buildings placed on rectangular bases which are displaced from each other creating a number of inviting outdoor spaces. The new extension thus constitutes a downscaled and compressed contrast to the 120m-high rectangular geometry of the existing hospital. Construction is due to begin in May 2014 and the extension is expected to be ready for use in October 2017.

A Marine Culture and Pop Music Centre in the harbour area of Kaohsiung is due to be completed in October 2015. Designed by STL Chicago, it has been conceived as a world-class music performance venue featuring a large performance hall and several smaller halls which will serve the television entertainment industry as well as theatrical events. It will also act as a home for the pop music industry and offer a marine culture exhibit space. The ‘music box’ and landmark tower will provide the entire bay with a renewed, iconic identity and, it is hoped, will establish Kaohsiung as a fulcrum for Asia-Pacific pop music production.

identity [interior/design/property]

PHOTOGRAPHY: © CHRIS WRIGHT

5. LOS ANGELES WALKING WITH DINOSAURS

IN THE BALANCE

PHOTOGRAPHY: MECANOO

PHOTOGRAPHY: PERKINS EASTMAN

Living Architecture, a non-profit organisation founded by Swiss philosopher and writer Alain de Botton and devoted to the experience of modern architecture, has commissioned MVRDV to design the Balancing Barn, an award-winning holiday rental home in eastern England. It is 30m long and cantilevers over a slope, with 50 per cent of the building hanging in free space and giving views over a wildlife nature reserve. It is clad in reflective stainless steel, which reflects the surrounding nature and changing seasons. Four en-suite bedrooms accommodate up to eight people while a hidden staircase provides access to the garden beneath and surrounding landscape.

PHOTOGRAPHY: © BJARKE INGELS GROUP

4. SUFFOLK

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles is this month due to open its new dinosaur hall, which marks the halfway point in a seven-year Dhs495 million transformation. The 1,300square-metre hall will feature more than 300 fossils, 20 full-body specimens, an array of manual and digital interactive displays, and video presentations. The museum is due to celebrate its centenary in 2013, by which time it will host new visitor amenities – including new stores, a café, restrooms and elevators – as well as 12 new galleries and five new exhibitions, while spacious grounds in Exposition Park are being reinvented as a nature destination in the heart of the city.

6. MOHALI

7. MOSCOW

8. TIRANA

BUSINESS CLASS

THE APPLIANCE OF SCIENCE

CULTURAL COMPLEX

The Indian School of Business has hired Perkins Eastman to act as design architects for its second campus in northern India. The 28-hectare campus is designed to accommodate 1,200 students enrolled in ISB’s one-year graduate programme and a maximum of 100 students in one to two-week executive courses. The main academic building’s canopy is a defining campus element, dividing the complex into smaller academic blocks, and creating courtyards for students and faculty to interact and socialise.

The canopy superstructure also plays a role in moderating the extreme climate, with shading from sun and shelter from rain. The project is striving to achieve LEED Gold certification.

Mecanoo has won a competition to design the new 40-hectare campus of the National University of Science and Technology. It will be sited in a new district of Moscow which is expected to become home to 300,000 residents over the next 20 years. The campus comprises housing for 10,000 students and 3,000 academics, seven faculty buildings, several research institutes, a library, business centre, hotel, recreation park, cinema, cafés and shops. Sustainability measures include a 45-degree building orientation which avoids full north exposure, maximum use of natural light, climate walls, thermal heat and cold storage, natural lighting and ventilation, and rainwater storage.

Construction will begin at the end of the year.

The Bjarke Ingels Group is part of a team selected to design a new 27,000-square-metre cultural complex in the Albanian capital of Tirana which will consist of a mosque, an Islamic centre and a Museum of Religious Harmony. The mosque can accommodate up to 1,000 people performing their daily prayers and, through a unique layout of courtyards and public spaces, can be expanded to cope with groups of 5,000 on Fridays and up to 10,000 on special holy days. A facade with a multitude of rational, rectangular windows finds its inspiration in Islamic mashrabiya screens, which provide shading and privacy while still allowing views out.

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BOOKS

This month, id explores the workspaces of tomorrow and discovers coastal living at its finest.

THE 21ST CENTURY OFFICE

SEASIDE STYLE

JEREMY MYERSON AND PHILIP ROSS

ELEANOR LYNN NESMITH

RIZZOLI

RIZZOLI

DHS 105

DHS 120

Offices are no longer dull, dreary spaces. The contemporary workplace of the 21st century demands different spatial, organisational and material characteristics from the mechanistic, process-driven model of the 20th century office. Workplaces are knowledge connectors, social landscapes and have now become synonymous with brand experience.

Written and researched by Myerson and Ross – the authors of The Creative Office – the book uses four distinct themes to illustrate the shift: narrative, nodal, neighbourly and nomadic office designs.

The 21st Century Office features 45 international case studies of offices planned or opened after January 2000 that showcase revolutionary designs in response to contemporary design challenges,and talks about the process behind the artistic decisions. Capturing emerging themes and ideas in beautiful and sharp images that alone provide inspiration, The 21st Century Office is the second attempt by the two authors to expand our thinking on what office design should encompass. From Sony in London and Fuksas in Rome to Duffy and Winstar in New York City, some of the most iconic office interiors are showcased.

Stylistic currents have ebbed and flowed, but Seaside Style is not about a look or fashion – it celebrates the joys that coastal life has to offer. The book provides the reader with a privileged view of the inside of Seaside, Florida – a town designed as the ‘ideal’ seaside community using a thoughtful approach to urban design. Drawing from a palette of refined materials, attentive detailing and appreciation of Seaside’s traditions, residents have shaped out an urban drama that sets the precedent for all coastal communities.

The book lays out a vision of coastal living based on how people in this idyllic community have arranged their spaces, furnished their homes and planted their gardens to make the most of the beauty that surrounds them.

Each profile features background information on the homeowner and why they decided to purchase or build in Seaside, as well as how and why the home’s architect was chosen. Steven Brooke’s spectacular imagery and Nesmith’s in-depth descriptions of houses highlight front porches, verandas, picket fences and pitched tin roofs with ample overhangs – all architectural elements that will find resonance in Dubai’s houses that are buoyed by the beach.

BOOKS AVAILABLE FROM BLOOMINGDALE'S DUBAI

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TEXT: NUSRAT ALI

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HANDWOVEN OUTDOOR FURNITURE CREATED WITH WEATHER-RESISTANT DEDON FIBER

www.dedon.de Nakkash Gallery · Al Garhoud Street · P.O. Box 26767 · Dubai-UAE Tel. 00971 4 2826767 · Fax 00971 4 2827567 nakkashg@emirates.net.ae · www.nakkashgallery.com

ICON

Orangina TEXT: STEVE HILL

Few drinks are instantly recognisable by the shape of the bottle they come in, but for 60 years Orangina has been a design icon thanks to an inspired idea

by Jean-Claude Beton.

The sparkling fruit drink already had a foothold in the French and North African beverage markets before Beton in 1951 took over a company established by his father and put in place changes that have endured to this day.

The original orange-shaped bottle design featured two separate containers, holding orange concentrate diluted with water and essential oil which ensured a bright, fruity taste. Breton simplified this design into a single vessel more closely resembling the shape of a teardrop or a pear, but retained the dimpled orange peel-like texture that has stood the test of time to remain popular today.

That ‘sit in the hand’ approach to shape and structure has proved to be extremely influential, establishing a bond with a product and its packaging that many other manufacturers have attempted to replicate but rarely bettered.

Easy to find among anonymous drink rivals in shop coolers or on supermarket shelves, Orangina continues to have universal appeal, partly thanks to a projected personality that is fun and friendly.

This image is also based on the work of French painter Bernard Villemot who, in 1953, launched his famous orange peel parasol on a blue background as well as a series of bold colourful advertising posters that have also been widely imitated across a varied range of products. ID

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