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“I only think about how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong.”
—Richard Buckminster Fuller
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Hot Homes See awe-inspiring homes in one-of-akind locales across the continent PAGE 90
CONTENTS ISSUE 19 FEATURES 90 From the City to the Sea (and Everywhere in Between) Location, location, location. It’s a cliché for a reason. Whether they’re hugging the cliff of a mountain or towering above Manhattan, these hot homes make the most of their one-of-a-kind sites. 92 Fun House Equal parts hilarity and high design make for an unforgettable multimillion-dollar NYC penthouse 102 Michael Graves The architect opens up about his life-changing paralysis and how it inspired him to revive design for the handicapped
DIALOGUE & DESIGN THINKING 57 The Boswash Shareway and the Evolving American Dream One architecture firm’s plan to redefine the way we move and live 58 The Other Half Landscape architect Peter Walker explains why 10 years after the 9/11 Memorial began, it’s still only halfway there 80 Taking UX to the Next Level A California kitchen and bath showroom signals the userexperience-based future of retail 82 Going Underground Manhattan architects transform an old warehouse into a cool townhouse
INFORMER 19 Pixels & Print 27 Objects & Gear 35 Fashion & Beauty 41 Travel & Culture 47 Structures & Spaces
PLUS 10 12 14 64 111 112
Contributors Letter From the Editor Letters Notes From the Bureau This Issue’s Best Albums For Hire
The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Chicago, photo by John Sturdy
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DESIGN BUREAU
toys by design
Art Heroes A designer turns art world gods into topshelf action figures Page 27
Architecture
Fun House Inside a multimilliondollar NYC penthouse with a sense of humor Page 92
INSIDE ISSUE 19
art
Weird Science A U.K. designer turns the stuff that makes you sneeze into art Page 24
DESIGN BUREAU
AMANDA HEIN PHOTOGRAPHY
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DESIGN BUREAU CONTRIBUTORS
John Sturdy is a photographer and filmmaker. His work includes print and TV campaigns, photographing interiors for heads of state, and shooting rock bands in tour vans. Sturdy concentrates most of his work with professional athletes and musicians. His work is a staple of the Chicago independent music scene. johnsturdy.com
Kimberlie Birks wrote this issue’s feature on Michael Graves. The art and design writer holds a BA in art history from Brown University and an MFA in design criticism from the School of Visual Arts in New York. Her work has appeared in Abitare, Domus, Azure, Metropolis, Inhabitat, and Architect’s Newspaper.
Gem Barton talks with fashion designer Jane Bowler and hat maker Gladys Tamez, covers feminist-inspired nail art, and more in this issue’s Fashion & Beauty section. A design nut from Brighton, England, Gem is a lecturer in architecture, curator, furniture-maker, writer, and all around designophile. gembarton.com
Dusdin Condren photographed Michael Graves at his Princeton studio for this issue. Condren works in portrait, editorial, and fashion photography. His background includes degrees in Slavic literature, stints living in Europe, and a short career directing theater. He lives in Brooklyn, New York. dusdincondren.com
cool by Publisher & editor-in-chief Chris Force chris@alarmpress.com
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Gem Barton, Alli Berry, Kerre Berry, Kimberlie Birks, Jeremy Brautman, Ann Chou, Dusdin Condren, Allison Good, Matthew Keeshin, Heidi Kulicke, Cesar Chavez Lechowick, Saundra Marcel, Jessi Sheehan, Jon Shaft, Lauren Smith, Lesley Stanley, John Sturdy, Katie Tandy, Dr. Rob Tannen, Savannah Thomas, Matthew Williams, J. Michael Welton ----Assistant to the Publisher
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Photo by John Sturdy, johnsturdy.com. Photographer’s assistant: Jon Shaft, jonshaft.com. Model: Savannah of Factor Women, factorwomen.com. Makeup and Hair: Kerre Berry of Factor Artists, factorartists.com. Wardrobe and Prop Stylist: Jessi Sheehan of Evolve, evolvechicago. com. Assistant stylist: Allison Good Shot on location at The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Chicago. For information, visit theresidenceschicago.com.
design Products featured on the cover: Sofa Rinconera Madrid, $23,450; Templo coffee table, $13,450; Iris side table, $1,736; Javier Martin art, $5,250. All furnishings courtesy of Baltus Collection. For a complete list of products, visit baltuscollection.com. On the model: Gown by Lanvin, $17,897, at Belle View Bridal Couture, Chicago; shoes by Christian Louboutin, $1,495, at Saks Fifth Avenue Chicago
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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
a railcar-inspired house built into a dense Michigan wetland. We surveyed two stunning homes outfitted by Baltus Collection, one with a fantastic ocean view of Miami, the other in one of Chicago’s most elite addresses, the Ritz-Carlton Residences (see cover). However, one of the most beautiful, and wild, homes we present is the work of design legend Michael Graves. Author Kimberlie Birks tells the amazing tale of the Wounded Warrior Project homes designed specifically for disabled veterans. With the help of Clark Realty Capital, Graves designed prototype homes in Fort Belvoir, Virginia, to help handle an increasing quantity of wounded soldiers looking to stay in active duty. The goal? To create “dignified, joyful, and healthy” homes for soldiers and their families.
“It looks good because it functions beautifully.” –Michael Graves
Involved in every step of the design, Graves, now 78, created striking and practical homes. They have floor plans with ample room for maneuverability, adjustable counter heights, sliding doors, and high-tech features like key-card readers for entry, multiple temperature zones, and closets capable of not only storing wheelchairs but charging prosthetic limbs. In one instance, Graves created a kitchen for a solider with an amputated limb who loves to cook. She’ll now, finally, be able to cook again. Wow.
Interior designer Ghislaine Viñas and architect David Hotson kick off our cover story on home design with a wild Manhattan penthouse, complete with an 80’ chrome slide, curved windows, a 45’ rock-climbing wall, and a secret room accessible by a hidden ladder.
We can’t help but be thrilled to see design’s application not only create luxury and emphasize beauty but also create utility where there was none before.
Wow.
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Our staff found not just wild homes but traditionally beautiful ones as well. We look at a luxurious California home built into a canyon for ultimate privacy, and
Chris Force Publisher & Editor-in-Chief chris@alarmpress.com
Photo by Jim Krantz, JimKrantz.com
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LETTErs to design bureau May/June 2013
SOUND BITES DB shout-outs from the Twitterverse
Our April issue took you into a dozen killer kitchens and bathrooms, one truly awesome office, the studio of starchitect Bjarke Ingels, and more. We love feedback, so email us: letters@wearedesignbureau.com
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Search thiS:
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google’s swank new london office P. 33 Boldly trying to go sideways, Danish architect
TM
Scrubba Dub Dub!
rock Star interior DeSign
the designers Behind your tuB p. 42
inside l.a.’s house of rock
BJARKE INGELS keeps rapidly moving forward
how one designer uses songs to style her spaces
killer
Kitchens
&Baths designs that wow
Architect Bjarke Ingels stands inside the New York office of BIG
YES IS MORE is the title of an exhibition and a book presenting B.I.G. in solo format for the first time in Denmark at the Danish Architecture Centre.
Bjarke Ingels attracts highly talented co-workers, but also gifted and ambitious clients from all over the world. He does so because his own talent is above all to swiftly create intelligent synergies out of indomitable ”movements”, wild energies and unforeseen dynamics and transform them into hitherto unseen, surprising, functional, valuable and beautiful solutions to the specific and complex challenges in each task.
House, Copenhagen’s largest ever private development—an enormous, figure eight-shaped complex that combines both commercial and residential spaces like a layered cake. Or the aptly named Mountain Dwellings, where upwardly trekking driveways in between green-roofed units appear like a concrete hill on Denmark’s otherwise flat topography. Or just down the road from that, the VM Houses, boldly featuring sharp, jutting-out balconies in every direction that make it feel both very different and a little dangerous. And his most controversial commission, the Astana National Library for the
dictator of Kazakhstan. This metal doughnut-designed building was a gem of a rendering, but construction was quietly abandoned early on after the theatrics of working within a corrupt, bribe-laden government proved too risky to continue. Although “theatrical” and “risky” are two adjectives that certainly describe Ingels’ flair. It seemed that Ingels’ career was proving to be unstoppable. So why, then, did he want to get away? “I just thought it was possible to disappear for six months to do something else, which would also allow me to take a break,” says Ingels. But that break never
Probably Frank Millers “Return of the Dark Night” has been my most favorite comic book — but definitely also Mouebius John Difool series, Letendre and Loisels Quest for the Time Bird, Manaras Indian Summer and the Monkey King. I was excited when the Warzowski brothers came out with the Matrix and had used pro graphic novel illustrators to make these incredible storyboards — composed more like cartoons than film scripts — and the movies are totally composed like graphic novels in terms of creating iconic images, using symmetries, Euclidian shapes such as circles and spheres, and highly composed close-ups with a careful mastery of foreground background information. I think transferring knowledge and ideas and sensibilities from one media to another is a great source of innovation. Essentially we think that it is hard to transmit the energy and the often complex cluster of ideas that trigger an architectural idea and shape its design. So we wanted — in the most blatant form imaginable — to combine images, drawings, models, statements of facts, and accounts of accidents and conflicts, opportunities and opportunism. We do a lot of lectures where we use images and other illustrations, graphs, diagrams, drawings, maps, numbers, etc in abundant quantities — sometimes up to 1000 slides in one lecture — along with a steady flow of words and gestures to communicate how our ideas evolved. They also contain films and music embedded in the flow of images. Our first intention was to simply transform this format into a book and an exhibition. We called it a bookture. It got really long and it was difficult to regulate the speed. How fast you hold an image or how fast you slide through a sequence of diagrams. So lacking the element of time it got boring. Then we realized that a comic book is all about communicating action, movement — development or even evolution — replacing composition and scale instead of time. A large detailed image inspires the reader to contemplate — study — explore — and a sequence of small diagrams makes your eyes roll over them faster. Suddenly we didn’t have to invent something from scratch, but could tap into a wellknown format very dear to us!
The results of B.I.G.’s practice has already won awards from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Architecture Biennale, the prize for ”The World’s Best Housing Project”, “Best Building in the Nordic Countries” as well as many other international kudos.
Bjarke Ingels, 2009 text from WhATA Interviews Bjarke Ingels.
The project and the title YES IS MORE is a double-edged wordplay on the dogma in modern architecture that ”Less is more”. Less is only more as far as dimensions go – the ability to encompass as many dimensions as possible (more) with as few expenses as possible (less). As a design parameter for an aesthetic retro minimalism this only amounts to idiosyncratic architectural idiocy.
YES IS MORE ISBN 978-87-992988-0-8
YES IS MORE is a popular and easily accessible manifesto for architecture as one of the most relevant aggregates of the 21st century in which we may epitomise and answer many of the global agenda-setting questions. In the exhibition and in the book, B.I.G. shows how they conceptualise the polymorphous demands, complex rules and highly specialised knowledge of society, creating tangible solutions through artistic processes; solutions which time and again attract the interest of the population at large as well as the respect of global aficionados. YES IS MORE is a communication created in this very spirit – combing elite and popular elements – allowing the sublime to shine through in the commonplace. Thus audiences are invited into B.I.G.’s processes, methods and results using the most approachable and populist means of communication available – the cartoon.
Copyright © 2009 BIG ApS 2nd edition, 2009
YES IS MORE Copyright © 2009 BIG ApS 2nd edition ISBN 978-87-992988-0-8 Printed in Denmark by Lyngs Bogtrykkeri and CS Grafisk A/S Published by BIG ApS on the occasion of the YES IS MORE exhibition - Close up : BIG at Danish Architecture Center in Copenhagen, Denmark, 21 February - 31 May 2009
AN ARCHICOMIC ON ARCHITECTURAL EVOLUTION
Inspiring Dialogue on Design
Shaping DeSign with SounD
so long to architecture?
At this point, Ingels was already well on his way to earning a reputation abroad as the wunderkind of architecture, taking the profession by storm with his youth (then 35), photogenic good looks, and eccentric obsession with movies. His burgeoning brand of “rock star architect” was proving true each time he won away a high-dollar commission from an older, more established firm with a fast-andfurious firecracker sales pitch. His company, Bjarke Ingels Group, or BIG, was only four years old but already racking up a stunning portfolio of built projects and competition wins. Impressive projects, like the 8
It is now three years later, and BIG is bigger than ever—with seven additional partners and 147 employees. Ingels really has f lourished in America’s enterprising culture, and he appreciates all the opportunities that have abounded. “What’s amazing about America is this ‘OK, let’s go’ attitude. When an American sees something that he or she likes, they want one,” he says. Although Ingels may be an outside-the-box thinking rock star, he is a realist at the core. It’s perhaps why developers have been so keen on working with him. “One of Bjarke’s many talents is designing things that can get built,” said Durst in a 2012 New Yorker profile on Ingels. He is an architect who seems to share an enthusiasm with developers for getting things done at a clipping pace. “There is nothing cooler in the world than built buildings,” says Ingels. “We spend so much time fantasizing about how to solve
Unlike a classic architectural monograph, this book is more of a popular cultural manifesto which is also literally the first actual documentation of B.I.G.’s trailblazing practice. As the book demonstrates, this is a practice where method, processes, instruments and the approach to the concept of architecture is precisely as wild, unfettered and result-producing as the world it is part of and greets with an unqualified YES.
BY SAUNDRA MARCEL PORTRAIT BY MATTHEW WILLAMS
Bjarke ingelS
happened. Instead, Ingels was tapped by billionaire real estate mogul Douglas Durst to work on W57, a massive residential complex in New York City. But Ingels wasn’t all too concerned about his foiled plans. “When Durst came to my office and told me about this ‘little project’ by Manhattan standards, I thought, ‘What the hell. Fuck it. Go there for fun, or go there for work.’”
bjARkE INgELs gROUp
I
t was 2010, and Bjarke Ingels had decided to take a break from the business of architecture. He would move from Copenhagen to New York City, teach at Harvard, and finally have time to write that novel he’d been dreaming of. With his visa and teaching position secured, the book outline written, Ingels was packed and ready to hightail it out of Denmark.
AN ARCHICOMIC ON ARCHITECTURAL EVOLUTION bjARkE INgELs gROUp
We are very grateful for the support of Realdania, Statens Kunstfond, LEGO, Danmarks Nationalbanks Jubilæumsfond, Dreyers Fond, Arup AGU, Bach Gruppen A/S, Høpfner A/S, Ramböll, E. Pihl & Søn A.S, Adams Kara Taylor, Moe & Brødsgaard Rådgivende Ingeniører, Grontmij/Carl Bro, Egetæpper A/S, Danish Hardwood A/S, Foamglas, NSD Lift AG, SA Vinduer, Schaumann, Vink, and COWI
A smattering of Ingels’ work shows his inclination to build fun directly into his buildings. Clockwise, from left: Copenhagen’s 8 House, which helped put Ingels on the map; The public swimming and diving platform on the Copenhagen Harbor; BIG’s plans for the new Park City, UT’s Kimball Art Center; A perspective of the planned Phoenix Observation Tower, located in Phoenix, AZ.
Drawings, renderings and illustrations © BIG ApS
Mechanical, photographic, electronic or any other copying of this book or parts hereof is only allowed according to the rules of Copy-Dan. www.big.dk
bjARkE INgELs gROUp
Kent Martinussen Architect, CEO, Danish Architecture Centre
YES IS MORE_FINAL_COVER.indd 1
02/08/2009 23:42:22
Ingels published his archicomic Yes is More in 2009. It’s available all over the world in 10 languages, and it has sold like hotcakes. The Danish edition, Ingels’ native tongue, wasn’t published until November 2012.
All project photos courtesy of BIG
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0_Cover.indd 1
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Kitchen Addict
“I’m an interior designer and I love, love, love looking at kitchens— thank you for dedicating a feature to them. I’m always amazed and challenged when I see what my fellow designers come up with.” (B.B., via Email)
STRUCTURES & SPACES
Big Bjarke
“Your Bjarke Ingels story was an interesting read. He comes off as a restless artist. I’d never read much about an architect before, but I figured they all just ate and slept buildings.” (K.J., via Email)
Enviable interiors to shamelessly ogle
OFFICE TOUR
You Wish Your Office Was This Cool
Office Space
PENSON gives Google a London headquarters worth searching Think your job sucks? Maybe it’s just your office. One look at Google’s new London headquarters at Central Saint Giles will leave a lot of people polishing their resumes and hoping for a job with the Internet giant. European interior design and architecture studio PENSON, who recently delivered a futuristic Space Odyssey-looking office for Google’s London engineering staff, softened the theme for this 160,000-square-foot space, opting to style it as a tech-friendly take on a classic London townhouse. CONTINUED
Photos by David Barbour, courtesy of PENSON, pensongroup.com
“I don’t know about that Google office. Call me oldfashioned (or just old), but I think work should be work, you don’t need a sauna.” (G.D., via email)
“There’s no way this thing can be finished in the next two years. And I’m 80 years old. I want to see it done.” landscape architect Peter Walker on the 9/11 memorial PAGE 58
DB TWEETS Join the conversation at twitter.com/DesignBureauMag
@hannahbhappy Always a good day when @DesignBureauMag arrives in the mail @SoHaus225 Just heard of @DesignBureauMag last week; cool concept—focus is on collaboration of designers, craftsmen, artisans. @lynnedoor Best moment of my day... getting the new issue of @DesignBureauMag!! @jennbeens2 borrowed a bunch of @DesignBureauMag’s followers. hey, thanks for the inspo! @RayNorrisDesign Starting my morning with a #Cappuccino and the latest issue of @DesignBureauMag. Happy Friday!! :-) @buildllc Check out the super sexy issue of @DesignBureauMag online. we likey
CORRECTIONS
In Design Bureau’s special edition Architecture, we incorrectly stated Jesse Hibler’s profession. He is the design and planning professional of Hibler Design Studio . We regret the error.
For the record: Rants, ramblings, and random facts from behind the scenes of this issue
6X22
3,000
4
foundry
The dimensions, in feet, of the vinyl record sleeves depicted in custom wallpaper at W Seattle hotel. p. 45
The number of times designer Rob Kesseler magnifies pollen spores to create hypercloseup designs. p. 24
The number of people in the United States whom architect Michael Graves says share his rare paralytic condition. p. 102
Emporium Design took inspiration for restaurant Boulton & Watt from the Soho Foundry, where steam engines were built. p. 43
Peter Walker portrait by Ethan Rohloff, courtesy of Peter Walker Partners Have a question or comment? Give us a shout at letters@wearedesignbureau.com.
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PIXELS & PRINT
The best of the best in graphics and photos
My View
one photographer one City FIVE photos
Cesar Chavez Lechowick “I was going through a challenging time when a close friend suggested we leave town for the weekend and stay at her family’s summer home during the winter. It was supposed to be a therapeutic exodus from our lives. I did not have much experience with summer homes. The house had all its summer charm sucked out of it. The only one living at the house was the cat, Cleo. CONTINUED
Photography by Cesar Chavez Photo Lechowick, credit lorem cesarlechowick.com ipsum dolor es
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Pixels & Print
My View
It was sad decadence. I became more introverted as my partner and good friend became the opposite. The connection they had and how they expressed themselves through their physicality beguiled me. I did not speak very much and shot a ton. We went many times over a couple years, but there was one day in November, early on in the project, when a stream of images were made. This particular period created the backbone for my series Anthony & Cleopatra.� a
Photo credit lorem Photography by Cesar ipsum Chavez dolorLechowick, es cesarlechowick.com
(CONTINUED)
Pixels & Print
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FILL IN THE BLANK
Bratislav Milenkovic
E
ccentric creations by this illustrator from Belgrade have turned up in magazines like Wired and exhibitions around Europe. His inspiration? “Strange and unattractive things.”
I would love to see one of my illustrations on the cover of…
a Penguin book.
I’d probably quit the business if I were ever asked to make an illustration for…
some soft rock hits compilation cover. So, if someone wants to put me out of the game, here’s the way to do it. My favorite thing about living in Serbia is…
that the local burgers are at least three times bigger than anywhere else I’ve been. If I had only a week left to live…
I would probably ask for a deadline extension. That’s not something that I usually do, but this sounds like a good moment to ask for it.
CONTINUED
The letter P from an exhibition of 30 Cyrillic letters. “The Cyrillic alphabet is a playground for someone who takes great pleasure in blurring the boundaries between illustrations and typography,” Milenkovic says.
Images courtesy of Bratislav Milenkovic, bratislavmilenkovic.com
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Pixels & Print
FILL IN THE BLANK
The story of my life would be called…
A Wrong Line at the Cash Desk. And the title would have some script lettering. People tell me I remind them of…
some guy from Scandinavia who somehow ended up in Serbia.
If I were a combination of two animals I would be…
a grumpy owl with yellow cat fur. Weird, right?
If I weren’t an illustrator I would be…
a coffee roaster, or I would run my own bar.
In the year 2100, design will be…
a matter of life and death! a
Images courtesy of Bratislav Milenkovic, bratislavmilenkovic.com
Anders Nilsen tackles life’s big and little issues in his heartfelt, über-detailed comics
By Lauren Smith
(CONTINUED)
Storytelling
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But Nilsen’s greatest work may still be ahead of him. Smaller scale but no less intriguing, his sketchbook monologues are hilariously deep and analytical, starring a blank-faced figure who speaks candidly on just about everything and anything, ranging from political debauchery to the woes of the human condition. “That work is usually me just poking fun at the world or at myself in some way. It’s also about trying to generate ideas as spontaneously and unexpectedly as possible, which is important to me and has been where every major book project I’ve ever done has come from one Anders Nilsen way or another. I’m trying to surprise myself.” a
“I’m interested in the way images convey meaning and story that text and language doesn’t or can’t,” Nilsen says. “So even in the final chapters of Big Questions, exactly what it ‘means’ in textual or language terms is a little hard to get at. In a way, I relate this to the way dreams work. I’m trying to lead the reader into a dream with me, rather than tell them about it after the fact.”
he term “magnum opus” got thrown around a lot when Chicago-based cartoonist Anders Nilsen released his 10-year project Big Questions (Drawn & Quarterly) in 2011. The 600-page fable is a joyride of meticulously stippled backgrounds and a uniquely developed list of characters. Nilsen’s narrative on life and the endless pursuit of answers is somewhat dark, yet eloquently compelling. Big Questions pulls readers into a dreamlike realm, where oftentimes the imagery speaks for itself.
Pixels & Print | DESIGN BUREAU
Images courtesy of Anders Nilsen, andersbrekhusnilsen.com
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Pixels & Print
Sci-Art
Weird Science Rob Kesseler turns the stuff that makes you sneeze into art
Kesseler and the Gulbenkian Science Institute created microscopic flower images for a new porcelain line for Vista Alegre.
Images courtesy of Rob Kesseler, robkesseler.co.uk
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t the age of 10, Rob Kesseler received a life-changing gift from his father—an old brass microscope. But it wasn’t until the late ’90s that it inspired him to make art. “It occurred to me that no one was working creatively with microscopic plant material,” says Kesseler, a professor of ceramic art and design at Central Saint Martins College in London. His childhood fascination with nature has led to an innovative body of work ranging from fine art books and gallery exhibitions to a 200-piece china set adorned with images of pollen. Here, Kesseler chats about the magic behind his microscopic images.
Pixels & Print
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DESIGN BUREAU
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“If people go away from my work looking at the world with fresh eyes, then I am happy.” –Rob Kesseler
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DB: So, what are we looking at here? These things can’t be real. Rob Kesseler: Some of these images are pollen grains collected from European wildflowers magnified up to 3,000 times. It is hard to believe that what we can only see as dust could have such an astonishing array of forms. DB: Can you describe your technical process? RK: The pollen images are initially created on
a scanning electron microscope. The images from the microscope are black and white and I introduce color through Photoshop, usually based on the color of the original flower. For the images of plant sections I use a razor blade to cut ultra-fine sections through the stems of plants and stain them in organic dyes. I then use a conventional light microscope and take up to 600 close-up shots across the surface
at a high magnification, which I spend several days stitching together to give me an HD image up to six feet across. DB: They come out looking so vibrant. RK: Nature uses color to attract an audience of insects to pollinate the flowers and disperse its seeds. I use color to attract a human audience to show them things their eyes are not capable of. a
1 Goat willow pollen grains 2 Viburnum leaf hairs from Kesseler’s solo exhibit at Nash Conservatory, Kew Gardens
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3 Soil bacillus 4 Common mallow pollen grain
Images courtesy of Rob Kesseler, robkesseler.co.uk
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Pixels & Print
The art of
self
representation New York artist Borbay proves he doesn’t need a PR team to get noticed By Gem Barton
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ollage artist Borbay’s work combines texture, words, and colors to create “portraits” of celebrities, including Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, and Kanye West. The artist, who was named by Time Out as one of New York’s most creative, doesn’t have an agent or a PR person. Instead, he follows the Warhol mantra: Good business is the best art. “When you go to art school, your professors teach you to shoot slides, send them to hundreds of galleries, and hold your breath,” says Borbay. “Instead, I create, promote, exhibit, and sell Images courtesy of Borbay
my work personally. In the beginning, it was an uphill battle. Now it’s a major plus for my collectors.” Although being his own business manager and marketing team must add another level of stress to his already high-profile career, there is an upside to it; not having gallery representation means an artist is not subjected to high commissions, up to as much as 50 percent of the sale price. But the associated lack of publicity can often impact an artist’s chances of being selected for representation at a higher level. “Without gallery representation, you are completely and utterly
“I treat it like a business. Being an artist is simple: create, sell your work, create more.” –Borbay off the museum radar,” he says. Though Borbay thinks change will happen soon. “My theory? As the independent artist model grows and becomes more prevalent, so too will the curators expand their radar. At some point, I look forward to a meeting of the minds, and finding a museum wall my way.” a fkjdhk
Clockwise from top: Guggenheim 4 by Borbay; the title of the portrait Dr Bill Venkman mashes up Bill Murray with one of his most beloved characters; Borbay’s selfportrait logo
objectS & gear
Things that make us drool, covet, and go broke
Toys by Design
Art Heroes Mike Leavitt turns art world gods into top-shelf action figures By Jeremy Brautman Mike Leavitt will probably create something in the time it takes you to read this. The prolific Seattlebased artist has been building a series of action figures in the likeness of contemporary artists since 2003. He chats with us about the latest recruits in his Art Army series and his biggest design challenge: turning the political into something fun. CONTIN UED
Action Leavitt’s Banksy figure from the Art Army series
Photos courtesy of Mike Leavitt, intuitionkitchenproductions.com
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Objects & Gear
Toys by Design Jeff Koons
(CONTINUED)
“I have this tiger-kill instinct to make art.” –Mike Leavitt
JB: How did the idea for your latest series of Art Army action figures, Royalty, come about? ML: I wanted to take aim at the top. I hadn’t yet targeted the richest, most lionized, living art world heroes. Things got a little strange when Lucian Freud and Cy Twombly both passed away right before my show opened in New York. JB: Has your design process changed since you started the Art Army project? ML: It’s evolved into a methodical, process-driven exploration rather than my comfort zone of trial-and-error experimentation. For the new figures, there was deep research and extensive sketching. Making art is fun, and this wasn’t. That’s why I don’t feel like I’m really just making ‘art’ anymore.
Ai Weiwei
JB: Do you have a favorite design challenge? ML: It’s an über challenge: blending politics and functionality. Designing a functional object is difficult enough, and people don’t like confrontational politics. The challenge is designing an object that people want, while making it about something they don’t want to hear about. I like to think of this niche as adult educational toys.
Damien Hirst
JB: Which designers and artists are inspiring you right now? ML: Tom Sachs is very interesting to watch. He’s really enveloping a whole new working process. Ai Weiwei is interesting for a totally different reason. It’s not original for an artist to fight the power so boldly, but for an artist inside the phenomenon known as present-day China is quite inspiring.
David Hockney
Chuck Close
Photos courtesy of Mike Leavitt, intuitionkitchenproductions.com
JB: What’s the secret to being so prolific? ML: Maybe it’s my Norwegian DNA, but I have this tiger-kill instinct to make art, and luckily, it’s in the name of peace and love. I must’ve been descended from a Viking ship-builder and not a sword-bearer. JB: What’s next? ML: My next show at Jonathan LeVine Gallery opens on November 30, 2013. I’m spending an entire year working on it. If there becomes such a thing as too much hype for this show, it will live up to it. a
Objects & Gear
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DESIGN BUREAU
lighting
DIY Lighting This clever design gives you the pattern and lets you select the rest
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ustralian craft designer Tamara Maynes has developed an eight-step process to designing your very own pendant light. Just click, download, and print, and you’ll be able to create the Quilt Light design using whatever material you desire. “I find real expression in giving others the power to be creative and encouraging them to truly think about what goes into a product in terms of materials and skill,” Maynes says. Now being a designer is as easy as 1,2,3… through 8. a
art for a cause
Don’t cry for me Artist Francesco Vezzoli helps earthquake-ridden Italy through his tear-stained images
Francesco Vezzoli framed postcards, $399, yoox.com
You might not recognize artist Francesco Vezzoli by name, but his images are unforgettable: a trail of bloody tears falling from the eye of Nicki Minaj on the cover of W magazine; a painting of a breast-bearing Dolly Parton with flowers streaming from her eyes; a face-swap style portrait of the artist next to Lady Gaga, again with tears—this
time silver metallic. Now Vezzoli is using his eerie imagery to help rebuild iconic architecture in Italy after an earthquake tore through Finale Emilia last May. To help raise money to restore the damaged town hall, Vezzoli has partnered with etailer Yoox.com on a limited edition of 399 framed self-portrait postcards with—you guessed it—his signature tears rolling down his face. Vezzoli, perhaps best known for his use of embroidery and crochet techniques, has said this project will mark the end of his experimentation with embroidered images, so collectors, be sure to get one while supplies last. Otherwise you will be the one left in tears. a
Quilt Light template, $20, quiltlighttemplate.bigcartel.com; All images courtesy of the designers
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Objects & Gear
furniture
Book Art Here’s a good reason not to ditch your hardcovers for an electronic reader
Dutch design firm Atelier 010’s Bookworm bookcase ensures you won’t have to go far to curl up with a good book. The asymmetrical curved design makes a nice sculptural cocoon to ensconce both the reader and the book collection, and a dangling lightbulb puts the finishing touch on this colorful piece of
Bookworm, from $8,500, atelier010.nl. Photos by Caren Huygelen, huygelen.nl
functional art. Built from thin layers of medium-density fiberboard and plywood bent across custom molds, each Bookworm is made to order in custom colors and assembled on-site. But with a price tag around $8,500, you might have to part with your most prized first edition to add this bookcase to your collection. a
Objects & Gear
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DESIGN BUREAU
De vorm Pod chair by benjamin hubert Block out the office racket with sounddampening seating made from recycled PET felt with Kvadrat upholstery. From $2,800, devorm.nl, benjaminhubert.co.uk
Alma lamp by cristian reyes This multifunctional ash wood, steel, and felt lamp morphs from a full-height floor lamp to a desktop lamp and even a coat rack. Price on request, cristianreyes.com
substance Tribal DDB Amsterdam office by i29 Considering its sound-absorbing properties, outfitting office walls in felt is a no-brainer, but Dutch design firm i29 goes a bold step beyond, covering the lights, chairs, and desks as well. i29.nl
felt up S
oft enough to cuddle up with. Strong enough to form construction materials. With its feelgood recycled content and mod looks, felt is a hot material in all sorts of products and spaces.
11+ Felt Case It seems every designer and his mother is making an iPad case these days, but the rough-and-ready makeup of felt makes this one from Korean company 11+ a keeper. $56, elevenpl.us
leff Amsterdam felt clock by sebastian herkner Recycled PET felt is a perfect match for this simple and sleek clock. Price on request, leffamsterdam. com, sebastianherkner.com
All photos courtesy of the designers
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Objects & Gear
must-have gear
Every Wallet Tells a Story
The wallet. It rides most guys’ rear ends all day, and it’s the key item in any purse. Terrence Kelleman thinks an object that personal should tell a story, too. His Brooklyn-based Dynomighty Design has become a multimillion-dollar operation with distribution in 60 countries on the strength of the Mighty Wallet. More than 230 unique designs—everything from an MTA map to a pile of cheese puffs—have graced the lightweight, durable Tyvek wallets that retail for 15 bucks. This year, Dynomighty will launch its first open call for new wallet designs. Kelleman shares with us his most memorable Mighty Wallet collaboration so far.
Exclaim by edifier We love the mash-up of straight lines and smooth curves on these portable beauties. $100, edifier.us.com
audio files
Stylin’ Speakers
Ditch those earbuds and pump up the jams with these sweet sound systems
Unmonday 4.3l This smart porcelain speaker can deliver mono, stereo, and Dolby Surround sound through up to five speakers connected wirelessly. Flip the hexagonal shape and a motion sensor changes the settings. Price on request, unmonday.com
Mighty Wallet images courtesy of Dynomighty Design, dynomighty.com. All speaker images courtesy of the designers
Hornlet by specimen Handmade in Chicago, these 19-inch horns are made from recycled newsprint, dryer lint, and shellac (no, not the band). $1,200/pair specimenproducts.com
Objects & Gear
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DESIGN BUREAU
lighting DB: You’ve worked on products with the likes of Yoko Ono and Ron English. Do you have a favorite co-designer? TK: It was a homeless Navy vet named Brian Christopher. A news channel in Boston ran a story about how he found a cash-filled Mighty Wallet in the street without any ID. Instead of taking the cash, he
turned the wallet into the police and it became a news sensation. When we found out that he was also an artist, we invited him to New York to design his own Mighty Wallet. DB: Is his design popular? TK: His design uses images of skeletal structures. It’s very cool and sells very well. Proceeds from this
wallet are split between Brian and the Navy vets center where he was staying. Our collaboration had a great impact on Brian both financially and artistically. It also had a strong effect on Dynomighty, showing the potential we have to provide a platform that allows artists to turn their art into a means of financial support. a
FYLM by design affairs studio Gone are the days when a big boombox showed you were cool. Thin’s in, and it doesn’t get slimmer than these foldable film speakers. Price on request, designaffairs.com
Ceramic speakers and subwoofer by joey roth The real deal. Simple, elegant style and top technology in one package. $1,095, joeyroth.com
Storybook Lamp Design A whimsical light inspired by a classic design and a fairy tale
Delightfull Diana Floor XL lamp, ¤4,730, delightfull.eu
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ans of the classic Anglepoise lamp will enjoy this fun interpretation from Portuguese light house Delightfull. They’ve scaled up the desk version to create a largerthan-life floor lamp and added bright colors to punch up the new look. “The idea for the Diana Floor XL lamp came from being a big fan of the table version, which I think is a great piece of design with a sweet personality of its own,” says designer Diogo Carvalho. He says his design is perfect for artist studios, schools, and playful office spaces like Google. Though critics might judge the design for being a bit too similar to its famous predecessor, Carvalho insists his design is an original: “I managed to create a design that seems like the lamp was simply scaled up, but in reality it has much more thought into it, while keeping the same playful aura and Alice in Wonderland type of effect.” (Cheshire cat not included.) a
Photo courtesy of Delightfull, delightfull.eu
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Objects & Gear
design jobs around the world
Global Census These designers love it when you walk all over them… their rugs, that is. we get the scoop on how much dough there is to be made in high-end rug design BY LAUREN SMITH
Florian Pucher
Linus Dean
Michelle Weinberg
Samuel Accoceberry
Location: Beijing, China
Location: Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
Location: Miami, Florida
Location: Paris, France
Website: florianpucher.com
Website: linusdean.com
Website: michelleweinberg.com
Website: samuelaccoceberry.com
Education/Background: Studied architecture at University of Applied Arts in Vienna, graduated under Zaha Hadid. Two trimesters of interior design study at ESAG Penninghen
Education/Background: Advanced diploma in graphic design from the S.I.T Design Center in Sydney, Australia in 1998 and an advanced diploma in graphic design. Started company designing typographically inspired, traditionally handmade rugs in 2010. Spent five months in Nepal meeting with rug manufacturers and weavers.
Education/Background: BFA from School of Visual Arts, NYC; MFA from Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia
Education/Background: Graduated from
Notable Projects: Ongoing
Landcarpet project (pictured); Roots of Vegetal rug Income Per Project/salary: Individual
rugs in editions of 1 take $8,00010,000 at international design auctions.
Notable Projects: Recently designed a rug for filmmaker Steve Kloves. “Knowing that one of my rugs is in his New York studio is pretty cool.”
Notable Projects: Irregular Polygon
rug (wool/silk, hand-tufted in India by Odabashian) used by dance/ theater artist Octavio Campos in art installation/performance Hombre Geometrico in 2012; Tumbld Flwrs rug (pictured) exhibited in American Design Club’s Use Me exhibition in NYC Income Per Project/salary: Limited editions of three sell for $9,000 each
Parting thought: “To be a designer
means being passionate and daring about design, pursuing and building up ideas.”
Notable Projects: Infinity shelf system;
Landa desk for Alki; Xistera chair for Pyrenea; Triku chairs and tables for Alki; mirrors for Marcel By; Tresse rugs for Chevalier Edition (pictured) Income Per Project/salary: $8,000
for Tresse rugs Income Per Project/salary:
Parting thought: “A rug converts a room
Approximately $242 per square meter for an average retail price of $2,500
to a stage set where anything can happen. I view my design projects as the creation of vivid backdrops for human activity.”
Parting thought: “For me, to be original,
means to be yourself.”
All photos courtesy of the designers
Higher National School of Art of Nancy and R. Loewy School (for industrial design) in France. Worked for various design studios in Milan, collaborated with Arik Levy in Paris, and opened his own studio in 2010.
Parting thought: “Banzaiiii!!! For me it
means to be fast, to give the best, to believe, and to not be too serious.”
fashion & beauty
Designer Q&A
Hyper Color Fashion designs from Jane Bowler have caught the eye of some of music’s It girls (Rita Ora and Azealia Banks included), but despite the hype, she just wants to do what she loves by gem barton CONTINUED
Photography by Kate Garner, kategarner.org. Styling by Jodie Kharas
Because style never goes out of‌ style
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Q&A
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Fashion & Beauty
(CONTIN UED)
Gem Barton: You have a strong background in textiles. How does this manifest in your work? Jane Bowler: I always allow the process to define the form, working with the material in a way that dictates the shape and structure of a garment. It is such an exciting way of working, as often I really don’t know what the outcome will be. The colors, texture, and unusual choice of materials definitely make it very different to anything else I’ve seen. The idea of transforming mundane plastics into high-end garments is quite a challenge, but I love the outcomes. GB: Collaboration is a key part of your process—you have always been quite vocal about this. JB: I work very closely with my knitwear team Heather Orr and Victoria Bulmer who are [also] RCA graduates. They both have very different styles of working which complement
“Materials and innovation are the driving force behind any collection. It is the starting point beyond any visual references.” –Jane Bowler Photography by Kate Garner, kategarner.org. Styling by Jodie Kharas
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Bright colors, fringe, and recycled plastic materials are hallmarks of Jane Bowler’s designs.
Jane’s Firsts and Favorites Favorite designer: Iris van Herpen First item of clothing you ever bought? Bright orange silk satin wraparound skirt. It was the ’90s though, so I have an excuse! First item of clothing you ever made? The first garment was the yellowfringed raincoat based around the shape of a traditional British Mackintosh. I didn’t even use a sewing machine as it was ultrasonic welded at the seams. Heels or flats? I love wedges! They creep into every collection. Three things you can’t live without? Sweets, plastic, my heat press Favorite store? Urban Outfitters. Although charity shops and car boot sales are my favorite place to shop for clothes.
my collections perfectly. This season I am also working with Sophie Gray-Cowley, who is an amazing print designer; Lauren Moore, a bag designer; and Hetty Rose shoes. GB: In the crazy world of fashion, how do you stay grounded? JB: The Jane Bowler brand encompasses much more than just the label itself. It is also about teaching the next generation of designers through workshops and teaching that I do, alongside seminars at the British Council and High Fashion Low Countries event in Antwerp. a
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Fashion & Beauty
on trend
Natasha Walter (Writer)
Tavi Gevinson (Fashion Blogger)
Aung San Suu Kyi (Politician)
Adrian Piper (Artist)
Olive Morris (Community Leader)
Nailing Feminist Inspiration Girls, no need to wear your feelings on your sleeve anymore. Show love for your heroines via your nails By Gem Barton
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rawing upon the culture of nail art, British artist Phoebe Davies, in collaboration with Life for Girls and in partnership with South London Gallery, has created a series of vinyl printed nail designs bearing the likeness of powerful feminists. Those included in the woman-powered nail art are astrophysicist Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst, and artist collective Guerrilla Girls. And fear not, if you don’t see your favorite feminist among the designs, they’re open to your thoughts. (Hillary Clinton, we’re looking at you.) a
Images courtesy of Phoebe Davies, phoebedavies.tumblr.com
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Haute hats
Horse Inspiration Hat maker Gladys Tamez used the gentle giants to drive her latest collection By Gem Barton
A crazy dream was behind the inspiration for milliner Gladys Tamez’s latest collection, Horses in Space. “My husband is part of an equestrian club that rescues horses and I sometimes go with him to feed them. Their size, mass, power, and beauty spoke to me. I had a dream where I could see the parts of the horse—the eyes, ears, spine, hooves. I started thinking about these anatomical parts within the dimension of space. So the collection is about the space around us and how we are all living forms existing within it,” she says. Four-footed friends aside, Tamez is also inspired by famous hat wearers. “I’m most proud of Johnny Depp because he’s a hat fanatic and probably knows more about hats than any man alive. I’m also proud of all the musician [hat wearers] like Wiz Khalifa, Gil from Kinky, Twin Shadow, and Little Dragon,” she says. Although one non-hat wearer inspires her, too. “Geezer Butler from Black Sabbath. He doesn’t even wear hats, but he had to have one anyway. Plus I’m a huge Black Sabbath fan.” a Gladys Tamez’s Horses in Space line. At left: Style #141 The Wallis. At right and inset: Style #144 The Dressage. Among the milliner’s celebrity customers are Johnny Depp, Rihanna, Kelly Rowland, and Miley Cyrus.
Photos by Sasha Sheldon, shashasheldon.com; stylist Courtlyn Saxby; designer Gladys Tamez Millinery, gladystamez.com
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Fashion & Beauty
Must-have Gear
Carry On
Black, White, & Red all over You know the joke‌ now make good use of it by storing your paper and more in this graphic tote. By Sondra Roberts, $73, lorisshoes.com
These bold bags will transition you seamlessly from spring to summer Photo by Zack Burris styling by Miriam bouleanu
Nautical Note
Wild Thing
You don’t have to be from New Jersey to appreciate a good animal print. Stand out from the crowd with this zebrainspired look. $95, rafe.com
A single navy stripe gives a nod to the maritime trend. Perfect for the beach and beyond. $35, everlane.com
travel & culture
destination Design
Modern Museum Fusion Lodging and culture combine in this creative combo
Hate when you book a sweet hotel room but don’t get to spend any time in it because you’re running around town seeing the sights? Save yourself some time and check out 21c Museum Hotels to get it all in one place. CONTINUED
Photos courtesy of 21c Museum Hotels, 21cmuseumhotels.com
Eat, shop, explore, do what you do
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Travel & Culture
destination
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A 30-foot gold David replica by Turkish conceptual artist Serkan Ozkayaliquo sits outside 21c in Louisville. Below: Interiors at the hotel add artsy style to a Kentucky vacay. eturitia sedis sint quam quiat eiciduciam
several 19th-century tobacco and bourbon warehouses were converted into the louisville Hotel
Photos courtesy of 21c Museum Hotels, 21cmuseumhotels.com
Founders and philanthropists Laura Lee Brown and Steve Wilson created the unique hybrid of boutique hotel and contemporary art museum out of a desire to help revitalize the downtown Louisville, Kentucky, area, and to bring art into the daily lives of the people in their community. The art-collecting couple partnered with architect Deborah Berke to convert several 19th-century tobacco and bourbon warehouses into the museum/hotel, infusing it with high-end design and contemporary art. Other locations in Cincinnati and Bentonville, Arkansas, feature their own modern museum/hotel fusion. And the name? A clever abbreviation of 21st century—how modern. a
Full Steam Emporium Design looks to the Machine Age for a NYC eatery
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istory lesson: Boulton & Watt was a pioneering English steam engine manufacturer founded at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. For the New York restaurant bearing its name, the inspiration is obvious. “We created a backdrop that looks and feels like a sophisticated 19th-century factory, with many real artifacts and mechanics highlighting the interior of the space,” says Emporium Design principal Robert Stansell. “We make sure that the found objects that are seen throughout the space are authentic artifacts that are repurposed in ways that serve a function, not contrived decoration,” adds Emporium principal Tim Welsh. The firm led the concept, design, branding, and construction of the project. The consistency of their vision—from custom patinaed steel windows and light fixtures salvaged from a turn-of-the-century factory to hand-painted signage and branded beer jugs—yields a warm and authentic space where both a blacksmith and a Brooklyn hipster could feel at home. a
PHOTO BY WASEEM GHATTAS | WHOSEVENTBOOTH.COM | WASEEMSHOUSE.COM | 516.835.1915
restaurant spotlight
What: Boulton & Watt restaurant, designed by Emporium Design Where: Manhattan Who: Chef David Rotter serves comfort food in a former factory
BOZEMAN, MT | 406.570.9543 FACEBOOK.COM/FREEBUILDERS
Photos courtesy of Emporium Design, emporiumdesign.com
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Travel & Culture
men’s style
restaurant spotlight
From HoJo to Hotspot A NYC interiors firm makes a 1960s hotel feel more like home
O Reclaimed wood flooring, glassedin fireplaces, warm leathers, and pops of color make the J House hotel and eleven14 Kitchen restaurant feel cozy and comfortable.
nce traces of a 50-year-old Howard Johnson had been purged, “under-designing” was top on the menu for Dash Design’s interior direction at the new J House and eleven14 Kitchen in Greenwich, Connecticut. Attached to the 86-room hotel, the on-site restaurant helmed by Spago vet François KwakuDongo is marked by unpretentious retrostyle accents like chesterfield chocolate leather banquettes, a wood-burning open hearth clad in custom copper panels, warm mid-century-inspired chandeliers, and illuminated pantry shelves lined with pickled vegetables and fresh breads at the entrance. “We wanted to continue the use of simple modern materials such as exposed concrete and steel, and contrast that with warm residential elements to create a modern Greenwich home,” says David Ashen, founder and principal of Dash Design. The hotel space continues the comfort theme but injects a touch of glam with a sculptural stainless steel check-in desk and a colorful projected video art installation by Spanish artist Daniel Canogar in the two-story lobby. a
What: J House hotel and eleven14 Kitchen, designed by Dash Design Where: Greenwich, Connecticut Who: Seasonal nosh from François Kwaku-Dongo
Inside Berlin’s Burg & Schild store.
everyman’s store Travel has inspired this man’s man to open a fashion boutique. Trust us, it’s worth the trip. Berlin’s Burg & Schild is a clothing store with testosterone to spare, featuring such masculine wares as jeans, plaid shirts, and leather gloves. Store owner Shane Brandenburg started the shop after being inspired by the everyman. “Before Burg & Schild, I worked for 10 years for jeans brand G-Star. At this time, I traveled a lot and always took pictures of people from the street with their own personal style of clothing,” he says. “I was very attracted to Berlin and in the end things got together very quickly.” His store features many boutique brands, such as Indigofera from Sweden and Mister Freedom from L.A. Outside of clothing, Brandenburg has a passion for something else: motorcycles. “The Burg & Schild custom bike, built by Motortechnic from Bavaria and is completely handcrafted. It’s a Replica FL 1945 Knucklehead Engine on an original Harley-Davidson frame,” Brandenburg says, adding that it was built according to his ideas and sense of style. “This year we’re going to ride from Berlin to Copenhagen.” Good thing he knows where to find some threads for the journey. a
Photos by Daniel Aubry
Photos courtesy of Burg & Schild
Travel & Culture
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Hot Hotel
Seattle Spirit Remember when Seattle used to be associated with grunge? You’d never know it to set foot in the W Seattle hotel.
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he look of the newly renovated public spaces at the W Seattle hotel, including the restaurant and bar Trace, is considerably more glam than anything that might’ve come out on the Sub Pop label in the early ’90s, but the modern look does draw on the city’s sonic history. “There is a specificity of place to the design,” says Jeff Kovel, principal of Portland-based Skylab Architects, who developed the concept with W’s design team. “The interior draws connections to the geography and regional culture with the organization of the space and with furnishings and finishes.”
To frame one awesome gathering space, Skylab collaborated with NYC’s Flavor Paper to produce 6-by-22-foot wallpaper panels with an oversize record collection full of classic funk, soul, and of course, Seattlecentric albums. A nearby DJ booth nests high above a massive fireplace covered in 1,000 stainless steel tiles, a nod to the city’s aviation industry. Multicolored cording separates seating areas and bright pink blown glass chandeliers from Portland’s Esque Studio hang above banquettes covered in Native American-inspired pink and gray striped fabrics. But, thankfully, no shredded denim or flannel in sight. a
Photos courtesy of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
Custom Flavor Paper wallpaper panels depict a larger-thanlife record collection
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Travel & Culture
Exhibition
Dream World British installation artist Bruce Munro lights up Nashville
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light bright Installations from British artist Bruce Munro’s exhibit Light, on display at Nashville’s Cheekwood Botanical Garden May 24 through November 10.
field of 20,000 lighted glass spheres. Forty towers of sparkling water bottles. Hundreds of miles of glowing optical fiber. Bruce Munro is a master at turning unusual materials into dreamlike light installations. The internationally acclaimed British artist, who has mounted a solo exhibition in the U.S. only once before, found a new muse in Nashville’s Cheekwood Botanical Garden & Museum of Art. On display at Cheekwood May 24 through November 10, the exhibit (aptly named Light) will include four installations never before seen in the U.S. and three world premiere pieces inspired by the historic 55-acre American Country Place Era estate. Beyond the eerily beautiful iridescent world Munro creates among the garden’s gently rolling hills, woods, and waters, a collection of illuminated sculptures and a brand-new cascading chandelier of fiber optic cables will light up Cheekwood’s Museum of Art, housed in a 30,000-square-foot Georgian-style mansion. a
Photos by Corriette Schoenaerts (first, fourth-fifth), Alex Wilson (second), Mark Pickthall (third and sixth), and Hank Davis (portrait)
structures & spaces
Enviable interiors to shamelessly ogle
Interiors
Bewitching Wallpaper Graham & Brown’s new spellbinding designs CONTINUED
Photos courtesy of Graham & Brown, grahambrown.com
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Structures & Spaces
interiors
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1. Bewitched Silken patterns form an enthralling gleam to once plain dull walls. 2. Stardust Twinkling stars dot the background resembling a stunning and infinite galaxy. 3. Goddess Sublime aspects of the feminine face emerge from crosshatches of tree branches. 4. Mermaids A playful shoal of beautiful mermaids sways to form a vibrant treatment. 5. Mirror Mirror Geometric glass-like facets sparkle to give a tone of reflecting sunshine. Previous page Fairytoile Characters from your favorite fairy tales come out of the dark on this flocked wallpaper.
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apitalizing on the popularity of wolves, vampires, and fairy tales that have captivated people everywhere, British wallcoverings company Graham & Brown now has a line of enchanted wallpapers. Entitled “Spellbound,” the collection features paper designs with glistening cobwebs, swimming mermaids, tree branches that form a nearly hidden face, and a spooky forest filled with mythical characters. The haunting papers will transform any room into your own storybook-style dwelling—sans poisonous apple. a
Photos courtesy of Graham & Brown, grahambrown.com
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wall art
Tile Travelogue Photographer Peggy Wong infuses architecture into kitchen and bath coverings By Gem Barton
Travel and architectural photographer Peggy Wong has joined forces with tile retailer Clé to create a new series of photo-based marble tiles. The limited edition series, pw.travelogue, showcases her black-and-white images of spaces, contrasts, and textures. “With this first series, I initially saw the collection in a modern setting, an airy and open space,
and I still do. But I would be keen to see it installed at a rustic home, the sharp contrast of traditional setting and contemporary imagery could create an even more dynamic focal point,” says Wong. These modern graphics, which have been skillfully lithographed onto luminous thassos marble, bring a whole new dimension to the use of tiles both in and on buildings. a
Photos courtesy of Peggy Wong for Clé, peggywongphotography.com, cletile.com
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Objects & Gear Structures & Spaces
five designers / Five questions
5 Men Who Make Chairs
What can we say, Italian guys know how to make a mean chair (OK, one is Swiss, but he’s just over the border). We chat with five of them about their favorite chairs and how weird their friends think they are. By LAUREN SMITH
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Explain your job to a 6-year-old version of yourself.
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RODOLFO DORDONI
SIMONE VIOLA
LUCA NICHETTO
Pilotta chair for Cassina, cassina.com
Alea chair for Simone Viola Design
Robo chair for Offecct, offecct.se
1 I’d start by giving 6-year-old Rodolfo a box of colored pencils.
1 ‘When you’re at home look at how many items you have around you. Before they are made someone has to draw them: That’s my job.’
2 Two words: Industrialized craftsmanship.
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What triggered the design of your favorite chair?
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How do you let loose when you aren’t working?
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The concept was to create something extreme, elegant, sensual, and captivating that would cause everyone who sits in it to dream. 2
Your non-creative friends rate you on a scale of 1-10 on how weird you are. What number do they pick?
You have to build a chair that induces laughter. What does it look like?
3 I love to go to Sicily to relax when I’m not working in Milan, where my architecture and design studio is based.
4 I have no clue how they’d rate me, but I’d rate them a 10 for weirdness.
Don’t you think there are already too many chairs around...?
3 I think the best way to be creative is to not focus on the job 24 hours a day but have moments during the day to stop and ‘recharge,’ have fun, and grow other passions.
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4 In some ways I’m the exact figure of the classic Swiss person: precise, punctual, and organized. However, like every human being, I have my character, my rhythms, my obsessions and perversions. If you are a designer you don’t necessarily need to be weird! I think 5.
5 There are different ways to get a laugh. The aesthetic function is certainly important, but in this case I think the interaction between the person and the object is more important. There are strange and bizarre chairs and others characterized by materials that stimulate the senses.
Want to put someone up for the 5 Designers/5 Questions challenge? Email us at letters@ wearedesignbureau.com. We love giving quizzes.
Photoscredit Photo courtesy lorem of Rodolfo ipsum dolor Dordoni, es rodolfodordoni.it; Simone Viola, simonevioladesign.com; Luca Nichetto, lucanichetto.com; Fabio Novembre, novembre.it; and Alessandro Busana, alessandrobusana.it
1 ‘Ciao Luca, my job is to draw objects that your grandfather can make!’
2 It’s hard to choose my favorite chair that I’ve designed—each product is like a son or daughter— but certainly my strongest bond is with the Robo chair for Offecct, the first product I designed for a Scandinavian company, which gave me international visibility and opened the door to new collaborations in Scandinavia.
3 I like to enjoy my life with my girlfriend in our apartment in Stockholm.
4 I hope they’d rate me a 5, but maybe it’s more.
5 I’m on my way to the imm Cologne furniture fair right now so I can’t build this funny chair at the moment!
Marvel ConstruCtion Co. FABIO NOVEMBRE
ALESSANDRO BUSANA
Nemo chair for Driade, driade.com
Plus chairs for Pedrali, pedrali.it
1 I wouldn’t really have to explain: We are more or less the same. We both have that same sense of excitement, curiosity, and will to learn like it’s our first day in school.
1 ‘Little Alessandro, in this game called design, the players always have to dress in a strange way. Now, take a green pencil and draw everything passing through your wonderful virgin mind, then shout as loud as you can to capture the attention of all the old people around you to show them your beautiful green drawing.’
2 A few years ago I bumped into a sketch of Giò Ponti from 1950 named ‘A Drawing Is an Idea.’ That drawing became my idea for a chair called Nemo that is, to this day, my most successful piece of furniture. Nemo is like a mask that we all can wear to tell the truth, as Oscar Wilde stated.
3 It’s hard for me to call what I do work. Even if I put forth an effort I never feel like I am working. I feel like thinking, talking, living, loving...
The only non-creative friends I have are my football mates, and for sure they rate me 10. What I do for a living and my lifestyle are incomprehensible for them. 4
5 If you shape a nude body on the back of a chair, offering the choice of both sexes, you’ll create the conditions for a very funny roleplay game... him or her?
2 My favorite chair is maybe my first chair project, Plus. I tried to create a chair that’s easy and elegant at the same time, to be used indoors or outdoors. It’s a hybrid object that follows my own design philosophy!
3 I like to make some upgrades to Hole Design Studio’s single speed bicycle... it relaxes me very much.
4 I think 3... because my friends are stranger than I am!
5 For sure I would like to create a wonderful, beautiful, and super comfortable conference chair—that farts when you sit on it. It reminds me of a toy that I always used when I was kid. Laughter guaranteed.
Quality residential construction for over 30 years
44 Rumford Avenue Waltham, MA 02453 781-209-2500 888-463-1805 Fax www.marvelconstruction.net
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well-designed R & R
Hot Hot Heat
They don’t come cheap, but these designer home saunas bring some serious style to your schvitz
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Effegibi model: Sky Deco price on request effegibi.it A cheerful pattern laser-cut into Canadian hemlock means the Sky Deco should fit unobtrusively into unexpected rooms in the house, and if the natural light from the all-glass ceiling doesn’t chill you out, maybe one of the light-therapy cycles will.
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Klafs model: tangram price on request klafs.com German spa designer Klafs’ new freestanding geometric sauna— inspired by the trend toward wide-open floor plans—has an attached shower, steam bath, and black stone cooling area.
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Model: Inipi B Price on request duravit.com Austrian design trio EOOS gives this sauna a sleek Alpine style. It also comes in a Super Compact version with a footprint of less than four square feet. Perfect for that studio apartment you rent.
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Jacuzzi
Küng
Model: Sasha Price on request jacuzzi-sasha.eu Jacuzzi is synonymous with fun in the tub, but the Italian brand knows its way around a sauna, too. This three-in-one unit adds an “emotional shower box” and a hammam steam room into the mix. Not a good idea if you ever plan on leaving the house again.
model: cube corner From $45,000 kuengsauna.ch Intersecting cubes of varying heights and frameless glass doors make this model from Swiss brand Küng distinctive, sure, but it’s the bold red color that really sets the Cube Corner apart. Its style is as energizing as it is soothing.
All photos courtesy of the brands
Duravit
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Established in 1987
www.greenwichlandscapes.com
617.905.2246 | www.matthew窶田unningham.com
MATTHEW CUNNINGHAM LANDSCAPE DESIGN
2011 APLD International Gold Award South End Courtyard, Boston
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landscape
Great Outdoors F
rom a little moss in the backyard to a pool paradise, three designers talk making the most of your outdoor space By Katie Tandy
The “Plant Geek” DESIGNER: Matthew Cunningham
Wrist-deep in soil since his childhood, landscape designer Matthew Cunningham of Mainebased Matthew Cunningham Landscape Design shares his tricks of the trade and offers advice on native plants, creating outdoor spaces, and how to highlight seasonality instead of avoid it. KT: Isn’t it hard to plant for all four seasons and make it look good year-round? MC: If you focus on using native plants, a lot of them have multiseasonality. Lowbush blueberry for example has this incredible rich, red bark on its twigs in the wintertime and then in the spring, has chartreuse green foliage and white flowers. And of course blueberries later on. In the fall when the cold front hits, the foliage turns blood red. Seemingly small elements, something like moss, can make a big seasonal impact as well. I often tuck it in the joints between hardscape. In the summer you don’t notice it as much, but come wintertime you suddenly see this amazing pattern. KT: People often get overwhelmed by their outdoor space—they’re not sure where to begin. Do you have any tricks for people to assess a jumping-off point? MC: Everything depends on how they are going to use it and how much maintenance they are willing to devote to it. Are you creating enclosure, something more decorative to help soften the lines of a building, a buffer of privacy? Identify elements like utility lines or air conditioning units that you’d like to screen. Then draw out a basic diagram. It’s helpful for someone to think about the big picture. KT: How can people determine what best complements their style? MC: Most people can tell if they’re modern or traditional just by looking at choices they’ve made in their home or the clothes they wear. If they’re wearing all black, they probably don’t want a hotpink garden. Assess what your scope is. From a window box to a rooftop garden or a huge estate, if it’s the wrong kind of space and doesn’t match your personality, then it won’t get used.a
Photo courtesy of Matthew Cunningham Landscape Design, matthew-cunningham.com
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The Pool House Pro DESIGNER: Charles Rose Architects
For this historic Massachusetts property, the backyard pool space needed to augment the landscape, not clutter it. So the homeowners sought out Charles Rose Architects hoping for a contemporary Polynesian hut to echo their sleek yet rustic stone pool. The couple’s primary concern was establishing a dialogue between the architecture and the natural landscape, which included many centuries-old trees. “Our buildings’ implantation and shape often result in the careful study of the landscape and how a built volume interacts with it,” says principal designer Charles Rose. The main house on the homeowners’ estate hails from the 19th century, and had been crafted from wood in a federalist style. To echo this design for the pool house, Rose combined several types of wood, including Douglas fir, western red cedar, ipe, and mahogany. Although the pool house structure is more modern than the main home’s design, its rustic materials serve as a foil for the surrounding landscape. “The materials echo with the main house as well as the two barns, just off to the side,” Rose says. The new backyard now features indoor and outdoor sitting/dining areas, a kitchenette, an outdoor shower, a 1,500-square-foot deck (complete with hot tub), and a fire pit with built-in seating. “Our projects often adopt a more sculptural form to achieve building contemporary volumes in harmony with its site,” says Rose, “but in this project, the shape of the pool house is extremely simple, letting the materials and texture of the house handle its modern look.”a
Watery Wonderlands DESIGNER: Caviness
Landscape & Design
Not every designer puts fun at the forefront of design, eliciting the joyful abandon of a child at play. But there’s a reason people pursue Caviness Landscape & Design when they want a watery wonderland. The firm’s intricate designs of waterfalls, grottos, rivers, and tunnels are utterly unique, coupling together natural majesty and extravagant luxury. At the Mustang Estate, just west of Oklahoma City, Caviness’ clients are avid scuba divers and entertainers who wanted a place to celebrate their underwater hobby with friends and family. “They totally let us run with it,” says Kelly Caviness, president and CEO of the company. The backyard was a “blank slate” when he was brought on. Against the thickly wooded forest backdrop Caviness designed a fantastical landscape including two looming grottos, a swim-through tunnel, diving ledge, lazy river, misting system, and two waterfalls. At night, the entire structure is lit with the comehither glow of LED lights. “These can be changed at the push of a button, altering the mood of the space,” says Caviness. While the lighting adds a decidedly modern edge, the hand-formed and stained rocks of the grotto could fool visitors into thinking they’ve stumbled on a natural wonder. “We really want the client to have a multi-sensory experience,” he says. “It always brings out the kid in everyone.”a
Pool house photos by John Linden; pool photo by K.O. Rinearson
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bureau of ergonomics
Overcomplicated Ovens & Productive Powder Rooms Baffled by some of your kitchen appliances? How about your toilet? Certified Ergonomist Dr. Rob Tannen offers up some insight
CHECK ENGINE
80%
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Why have ovens become complicated with so many buttons? It’s difficult just to set a simple timer. A: Call it feature creep or information overload, there’s no denying that cooking appliances have become very complex. A growing number have even integrated touch screens and wireless features. Since most ovens essentially provide the same fundamental function, such as heating the air, differentiating makes and models comes down to factors such as styling and interface design. Unfortunately, most appliance companies are not very experienced when it comes to designing usable interfaces. Combine this with the marketing-driven push to add arguably useful functions like “pizza mode,” and you wind up having to set a $10 egg timer alongside your $4,000 oven.
Have a question for Dr. Rob? email letters@wearedesignbureau.com
P R N D 2
I’ve heard that sitting on the porcelain throne is not the most ergonomic way to answer nature’s call. It’s been said that we should squat like our ancestors did—is there any truth to this? A: As any backwoods camper (and more than a billion people around the world) can testify, squatting is nature’s preferred method for taking care of business. In the 19th century, the introduction of indoor plumbing and the seated flush toilet changed this for many people. It has been argued that sitting puts the body in an unnatural
Illustration by Alli Berri. For more help with design and ergonomics, visit bresslergroup.com
and strained position, leading to conditions ranging from constipation and hemorrhoids to colon cancer. You can actually purchase a platform for your toilet that lets you squat over it, but this trades off the potential ergonomic benefits of squatting with the challenge of climbing on and off the platform. I consider this a wash. a
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architects & artisans
The Boswash Shareway and the Evolving American Dream Along the stretch of I-95 between Boston and Washington, Höweler + Yoon Architecture wants to redefine the way we move and live by J. Michael Welton
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Scott Fitzgerald may have declared it an illusion in The Great Gatsby, but the American Dream is alive, well, and simply evolving, says architect Eric Höweler of Boston’s Höweler + Yoon Architecture. “It’s not a revolution but a slow, natural evolution,” he says. “It’s about what it means to be a family, an American, and a community.”
I talked to Höweler about the evolving American Dream after his relatively small firm won the prestigious Audi Urban Future Award last October, handily trumping others from Istanbul, Mumbai, São Paolo, and China’s Pearl River Valley. The 2012 award was one of four components in the Audi Urban Future Initiative, and focused on specific mobility scenarios in five metropolitan regions. Höweler + Yoon’s winning entry overcame a sensitive set of bottomup solutions from four other firms keenly aware that traffic around the world is simply not moving.
along the highway. Expanding on this idea of collective ownership, the plan also boldly proposes that battery-powered automobiles be shared among many people. It frames housing from the position, too, stating that homes in the suburbs could easily be owned by multiple entities. Along with addressing traffic, Shareway’s bigger ambitions challenge the notions of American individuality and private property with a new vision for shared space.
your own house and your own car, people aren’t going to give that up easily. But a shared house doesn’t have to go to the bank, so shared is not incompatible with the American Dream. In fact, there’s more freedom—this is more choice.” A persuasive Höweler envisions a transition to the Shareway plan over generations, looking toward a highly mobile society where individuals might live in one house one day, and in another the next. “My students don’t want to own anything, much less a house,” he says, referring to his architecture students studying at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. “They want to be mobile enough to accept a job in Austin.” This generational solution, particularly for shared cars and homes, is based on current trends. It’s also representative of Audi’s aims for the competition, as the car company is currently extrapolating and forecasting for mobility through 2030. “That’s what architects do, too,” Höweler adds, commenting on Audi’s work toward a long-term mobility vision. “It’s an anticipatory discipline. It’s not science fiction—it’s grounded in what’s happening today.”
Along with partner Meejin Yoon, Höweler chose to address the 400-mile stretch of I-95 that connects Boston and WashingThe award came with €100,000 prize for ton, a highway corridor so jam-packed with the architects, and Audi will also provide traffic that it’s probably the most cursed in€200,000 to get the Boswash project unterstate in the nation. They call this stretch derway. It’s not huge, but it’s a start. And it Boswash, and their solution the Boswash should come as no surprise that Höweler Shareway. Höweler and Yoon built Shareway around the idea that Americans enjoy being “The man-woman-two-kids-one-dog family has ideas for next steps that he can implepart of groups of people, places, and ideas might have been one version of the Ameri- ment now. “One of the things we visualize that are constantly changing. “The idea that can Dream, but that’s evolved,” Höweler is to promote switching at a smaller scale, Americans are so individualistic that they says. “We’re arguing for more diversity in with electric power for car share,” he says. can’t form an affinity group is a fallacy,” he how the American Dream manifests itself. “We’re working on a project with the comsays. “Social networks are made up of flex- We wanted some sort of corrective vision missioner of transportation in Boston, and ible, agile collectors.” Shareway capitalizes that could happen in the U.S.” Still, it’s not I think we can pull them aside and say, ‘Hey, on this agility by reimagining I-95’s physical an easy idea to swallow for all Americans, here’s a cool idea. Would you be open to disstructure. It suggests that both commuter especially in a country that equates indi- cussing this for Boston?’” and commercial rail traffic be bundled in vidual ownership with social success. Fitzgerald notwithstanding, Höweler’s tubes in the airspace above I-95. Cars, bikes, and pedestrians would be bundled similarly, “That’s what the jury had the hardest time brand of optimism is one of the drivers that’s and gas and water lines would also follow with,” Höweler says. “The idea of having turned the American Dream into a reality. a
Renderings courtesy of Höweler + Yoon Architecture
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The Other Half There’s more to come for the 9/11 Memorial site, the rest of the unfinished eight-acre plaza that will function as a public park. Landscape architect Peter Walker explains why 10 years after the project began, it’s still only halfway there. By Saundra Marcel
Illustration by Spencer Matern
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here’s been a grand opening, and more than six million visitors have visited, but the 9/11 Memorial site in lower Manhattan is still very much a work in progress. Landscape architect Peter Walker, co-designer of the project, estimates that after 10 years on the job, his vision is only halfway realized. More acres of the plaza need to be built and that can’t happen until the underground museum and train station are finished, as well as the surrounding streets.
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As the memorial required an innovative sustainable pavement system, Peter Walker and Partners called upon long-trusted paving consultant Mark Smallridge & Associates to help engineer and execute the intended design. “This included consideration of the material properties,
the anticipated loading of the plaza, drainage provisions, and the environmental conditions,” says Mark Smallridge. “A complete solution was developed so that it could meet the unique conditions of the pavement substrate while meeting Peter Walker and Partners’ particular vision.”
Dialogue
“There’s no way this thing can be finished in the next two years. We’ll be lucky if it’s three. And I’m 80 years old. I want to see it done.” —Peter Walker
Despite being unfinished, the memorial is open, and people have been coming from all over the world to pay their respects. Crowds are hustled through the maze-like barriers of this construction site before reaching its heart: the solemn memorial of two meaningful voids in the ground. Eventually, though, the experience will be completely different. The finished product will be a memorial plus an open public space. Eight carefully planned acres that will ultimately be a contemplative and restful place, transformed by a lush forest of more than 400 swamp white oak trees. It will be one of the most sustainable plazas ever constructed. This part of the project will conclude years from now, quietly and without as much pomp and fanfare. But for generations to come, this park will ultimately be an important and reverent part of the experience. Saundra Marcel: How did you become involved in the 9/11 Memorial project? Peter Walker: We were called by architect Michael Arad when he was one of the eight semifinalists in the design competition. The jury liked the concept of the sunken spaces representing the missing buildings, but he had the whole eight acres in stone. That was too harsh. Our job was to make a park compatible with the voids. It would get the mood of the memorial, but operate as an open public space.
SM: The jury’s mandate was to humanize the site. Your assignment was to take this harsh concept, and without disturbing the idea, transform it to be softer and more alive. What parts of this task were the most challenging? PW: Normally, you have an experienced architect with an experienced landscape architect, so they know what each person does and so forth. But Michael had never built anything before. I mean, he had never even done a set of working drawings. So it took a while to get our teams working in a way that we could accomplish the various ends. There were a lot of challenges in the first years. It took a lot of hard work to get all that pulled together.
Landscape architect Peter Walker designed a forest of 400 swamp white oak trees that would change with the seasons.
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Photo by Alan Ward, courtesy of PWP Landscape Architecture, pwpla.com
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CONTINUED
“People are going in, they’re getting a sense of what the future will be. The voids are in and the names are in, but the plaza will be twice the size that it is right now.” SM: The landscape around the memorial is such a huge part of the experience, but in its own way, it’s minimal. What led you to this approach? PW: One has to take the memorial function and the park function as two separate activities. People who go to see the memorial will experience the park, but not in the same way as people living and working around it. So we
had to analyze which park functions should be accommodated, and which would be detrimental to the sense of dignity and honor of the memorial. We already had the rejection on the big stone plaza idea. We knew we had to introduce plant materials and softening on the ground. But we had to keep the plaza flat. The flatness is so important. When you come across a flat surface, and then suddenly these great holes cuts down, this contrast gives it power. For me, that was an interesting artistic challenge. SM: What are your favorite details? PW: If you look from the north or the south into the memorial, you will see the trees as woods, very soft, almost random. You have to turn 90 degrees to see them as colonnades. They change as you move through. It’s like an Escher drawing, a trick of playing back and forth between soft and hard. It’s very simple, but not so simple that it’s not interesting. If it gets too interesting—like if you have swings and slides—it would be great for a park, but it wouldn’t be great for people coming to a memorial. SM: With such a high-profile and emotionally charged project, there was plenty
Renderings by Squared Lab Design; Photos by Alan Ward; all courtesy of PWP Landscape Architecture, pwpla.com
of criticism levied from various parties. Was there any controversy over your landscape design? PW: We didn’t have controversy over anything conceptual. Where we had trouble is where people differed in the details. One person liked one kind of bench, another person liked another kind. One person liked a lot of trees. Somebody else liked less. Security was a real problem. How do you keep a place open and also secure? We spent almost two years on the security issue. On the whole, we’ve won those battles, though. I don’t mean to sound bitter. It just took a long time. SM: And how has the public received it so far?
PW: That’s right—the public. You have to decide whose interests you’re serving. Existentially, it’s the families who became the client, not that they speak with one voice. When we started this, they were hurting. We felt we had to satisfy their feelings, which were the strongest of all and the most immediate. I was worried all the way along that we would not be able to, and that would have been a real failure. At the opening, I was getting praise from some of the most active representatives of the families—and I was flying high. a
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Divine Design Los Angeles-based Sparano + Mooney Architecture designs a Utah church worthy of serious praise (and a float)
gathering space were all material choices made with the idea that the materials should embody a lasting impression of the hand of the craftsman.
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or centuries, churches were the epitome of high design, yet somewhere along the way, their design began to elicit more yawns than hallelujahs. Architects John Sparano and Anne Mooney stage a design revival in their vibrant and modern look for St. Joseph The Worker Catholic Church in West Jordan, Utah.
DB: The inside looks more stylish than a traditional church people may be used to seeing—did the parish have a clear direction they wanted for the design? Anne Mooney: The client came to the project with no preconceived ideas of what they wanted. Our approach to the design of sacred space is one where the architecture seeks to reinforce the teachings of the denomination through its forms and gestures. The client’s beliefs are the constant; the architecture that expresses them is the variable.
DB: So how did this particular parish influence the materials you used? John Sparano: The materials emerged from our translation of ideas embodied in the patron saint of the parish, Saint Joseph the Worker, into the architecture. He is believed to have been a carpenter and has evolved into the patron saint of workers, craftsmen, and laborers. The board-formed concrete drum of the sanctuary, flat seam copper panels of the day chapel and lantern, as well as the western red cedar of the parish office and
DB: Tell us about the circular design—is it symbolic of anything? JS: Through the design process for the sanctuary it became clear that a rounded form provided the ideal shape for gathering. The form also has a rich historical precedent in sacred architecture, from the Pantheon to the Tempietto in Rome. DB: What was the response from the community—anyone saying this is too stylish for a church? AM: We attended the Salt Lake City St. Patrick’s Day parade last year and were surprised to see that the Saint Joseph the Worker Parish had built a trailer-mounted, scale model float of their new church. Children from the parish were sitting and standing all over it as it passed, laughing and throwing candy to the crowds. We were left to wonder if this might not be the new gold standard for measuring the success of any church project: Do the users feel their new building is worthy of a float? a Photos by Dana Sohm, sohmphoto.com
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Fine-Tuning How professional oboist turned interior designer Marcia Butler creates high-performance spaces By Ann Chou
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en years ago Marcia Butler went from making music to making homes. Here, the Sunnyside, New York-based designer tells us why the two practices aren’t as far apart as you’d think. Ann Chou: Ten years ago you made a move from music to homes. Why interior design? Marcia Butler: How did I go from playing the greatest music ever written to selecting pillow colors? The creative aspect of being a musician or designer originates from the same vessel. AC: How do your projects begin? MB: With an organic connection. My Boston Brownstone client originally just wanted
AC: How do your projects reflect how your clients want to live? MB: A project I did on East 87th Street reflects my client’s desire for everything in its place in a very large apartment. With small children at home, storage was a priority, so at every turn I maximized storage and furnished the rooms with pieces that encouraged a ritual of tidiness. Aesthetically, she wanted a clean, spare, but also warm look, so I incorporated clean lines and comfortable furniture with accents of color and texture. For a kitchen project I call the ‘White Kitchen,’ the clients wanted everything out in the open so that they could easily prepare food and not have to keep opening doors and drawers. Hence the floating shelves. AC: Those shelves are awesome. What’s the story behind them? MB: My client is the daughter of a raku potter and wanted a way to display her mother’s pieces. On a hunch I went to shoji screen and furniture maker Mr. Hanafusa at Miya Shoji with the design and dimensions of the wall, and somehow he had the perfect piece of wood for us. He’d had it for 20 years, and it was just sitting in his studio in Long Island City. It was the perfect storm. a
help with a fresh color palette throughout his home. But we had such a rapport that within a few days he asked me to redesign the entire space. AC: How do you approach a new interior design project? MB: First I ask my client, ‘How do you want to live?’ to discover what’s important to them and how they want their home to encourage what they do, whether it’s raising a family, working from home, or entertaining. The second question is, ‘What’s your favorite color?’ Left to right: Boston Brownstone, East 87th Street, and Butler White Kitchen. Photos by Peter Murdock.
Marcia Butler Interior Design Inc
“My inspiration for interior design eminates from art, architecture, music, life’s whimsy and my deep connection to people, their dreams and desires.”
Reproduction and custom wood windows, doors & doorways Marcia Butler Interior Design Inc marcia@marciabutler.com www.marciabutler.com www.marciabutler.com/blog 917.825.8892 3960 48th Street Sunnyside, New York 11104
Architectural Components Inc. 26 North Leverett Road Montague, Massachusetts 01351 413 367-9441 Fax 413 367-9461 www.architecturalcomponentsinc.com PHOTO BY Bill BrOwnwell
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Notes From the Bureau
Before
News and Musings from the world of architecture and design
Furman + Keil’s pioneering ecological design goals required the architects to work closely with experienced builder Branson Fustes and his team at Austinbased Pilgrim Building Company. “The North
Peak House has many aspects that make it exceptional,” says Fustes. “The entire project far exceeded strict toxicity standards and sustainable construction methods.”
air quality of the home. To ensure a healthconscious design, Furman and Keil relied upon the owner’s professional expertise. “We couldn’t have vetted the amount of materials without her inspection, and that guidance was critical,” Furman says.
Healthy Home, Happy Owners Two architects go beyond green design to create a home that is extra safe for its owners By Matthew Keeshin
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hen building a house for a client who is an environmental health economics professor, principal architects Gary Furman and Philip Keil knew they had to make sure their design was as healthy as can be. The architects’ North Peak House in Austin, Texas, aimed to go beyond basic green materials and practices to become a “healthy house,” the difference lying in the
Although materials for a green house are usually chosen for superior insulating properties or recycled content, the chemicals that make up some of those products can be bad to breathe in over time. During their research, Furman and Keil discovered that the European standards for disclosing “redlisted” toxins were more stringent than the standards for American manufacturers. “We found ourselves calling manufacturers to ask if our red-listed chemicals were in their product or not. If a company wasn’t willing to disclose that information, we wouldn’t use their product,” Keil says. The architects used zero VOC paint, toxic-free sealants, and formaldehyde-free insulation to produce a home that had a low impact on both people and the environment. “We want to use green practices to create a regional aesthetic and a climate performing house. Those two things for us go hand in hand.” a
Eyes on ISOM A brother-sister design quartet launches its first furniture and case goods line BY Lauren Carroll “It was now or never,” says Matthew Isom, one-fourth of sibling design collective ISOM. After the passing of their father two years ago, Isom and his brothers, Chris and Jeffrey, and sister Jennifer realized it was about time they not only combine their different design skills, but honor their father’s passion for design, as well. “There was no chance in hell any of us were going to be doctors,” Isom says. The first collection, set for release late spring or early summer, includes a complete line of furniture and case goods like handcrafted sofas and tables. Marrying smooth and organic materials with crisp lines, the
North Peak House photos courtesy of Furman + Keil Architects, fkarchitects.net; ISOM photo courtesy of ISOM, isomcollective.com
concept of the collection was based on stripping architecture down to its bare bones. Simple yet rich materials form the basis for the pieces, with natural materials such as leather and brass. “Purity inspires me and brings out new ideas,” Isom says. “Everything that is unnecessary is eliminated.” a
Vermont Wonder This builder seamlessly blends design and construction into the scenic backdrop of New England By Heidi Kulicke
Jim Huntington knows New England. The self-taught, Vermontbased builder and designer founded his company, New England Housewrights, in 1980 to fill a niche—building houses that proudly declare their regiona l design heritage. Huntington crafts energy-efficient farmhouses and shingleand cottage-style homes to blend in with the landscape and complement the homeowners’ lifestyles.
Like this quaint cottage getaway in rural Shoreham, Vermont, many of Huntington’s homes feature rich wooden elements that echo their surroundings, with hardwood f loors, wooden ceiling beams, crown molding, and custom kitchens the skilled carpenter crafted himself.
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polished concrete
He’s also environmentally conscious. “Green is an overused word in building today, but I try to buy locally when possible,” Hunting ton says. He makes a point to explain to clients the environmental advantages and disadvantages of certain products and materials to help them make informed purchasing decisions. Huntington collaborates with the individual builder when his role is designer, and collaborates with the architect when he’s the builder. But balancing the creativity of design with the practicality of building presents an exciting challenge for Huntington when he wears both hats on a single project. “My goal of creating something both functional and beautiful requires both creativity and common sense. My right and left brain are sometimes at odds,” says Huntington, “but it’s never dull.” a
305.576.6533 ext.106 durabond@durafloor.net Miami, Florida Photo courtesy of Jim Huntington, jimhuntingtondesignbuild.com
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Notes From the Bureau
Glavovic Studio and AECOM completed the Young At Art | Museum Broward County Library building. “It’s a children’s museum for serious play,” says Margi Nothard, design principal and president of Glavovic Studio. The team responded with a building that is both serious and playful, full of crisp, angular shapes and frequent nods to its location in the tropical white and orange palette, airy interiors, and close connection to the verdant outdoors. The private art museum and public library are connected through a centralized promenade that guides visitors to engage in hands-on exhibitions and spaces for learning. The promenade connects all the activities that go on in the building into an internal pathway. When visitors move through the library, a dividing glass wall between the library and museum visually connects the two spaces.
Designing an Icon Grown-up architecture makes a Florida children’s museum fun for more than just the kids By Matthew Keeshin
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ilbao. Basel. Davie? Some places are synonymous with iconic museum design. The town of Davie in South Florida got its own architectural icon when
“An important distinction is that we wanted everyone to feel that sense of wonderment and excitement, not just the children but adults as well.” —Margi Nothard
Photos by AECOM and Doug Snower (following page), courtesy of Glavovic Studio, glavovicstudio.com
As a LEED Gold certified project, the building itself is an ongoing learning experience for visitors and classes. The mechanical systems that typically are hidden behind a wall, basement, or ceiling in a museum are revealed. HVAC systems, a cistern for rainwater, and angled walls for natural light are integrated with outdoor courtyards that make the space legible for children to understand and learn about sustainable practices in conjunction with experiencing art. “An important distinction is that we wanted everyone to feel that sense of wonderment and excitement, not just the children but adults as well,” says Nothard. “We saw this as a building for families.” a
Dialogue
Visual Excellence
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DESIGN BUREAU
DB: Let’s start with the basics—what exactly does Duggal do? Michael Duggal: Duggal is a full-service visual solutions company that specializes in everything from high-quality digital
The CEO and marketing director of Duggal Visual Solutions explain how they keep other companies looking good in pictures
Glavovic Studio employed green building technology—quite literally—from top to bottom at the YAA | Museum Broward County Library building. Miami-based epoxy and resinous flooring experts Dura Bond Company designed and installed the saltand-pepper polished concrete flooring that helped with the build-
ing’s LEED Gold Green Building Certification. “With the growing emphasis on sustainability, polished concrete has become the desired finish for many of our customers,” says owner Maury Mulder. “It allows for easy maintenance and longevity, but it also looks spectacular.”
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rom stunningly high-resolution wide format visuals to dramatic window displays, the creators and designers at Duggal know a thing or two about how to make a company stand out. With more than 50 years of experience, the Duggal team has worked on projects for lauded brands like Tiffany & Co., Verizon, Disney, The Museum of Modern Art, and more. Michael Duggal, the company’s CEO and son of founder Baldev Duggal, and Heather Gorman, marketing director at Duggal, let us in on what sets them apart.
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Notes From the Bureau ing out the space. Goudreau got to work on taking the space from gross to glam. To rid the bathroom of its claustrophobic layout, the designer knocked down all of the walls, opening it up to the rest of the apartment. Now, the shower is large enough for the couple to get sudsy together, a must-have on their list. “It’s pretty sexy,” Goudreau says of the new space. And fear not—for the more bashful guests, the clear glass turns opaque once it gets steamy inside. For the palette, Goudreau found inspiration through her homeowner friend’s career as a jewelry designer. She blended metallic tones with gunmetal glazed walls and floors, rose gold accents and finishes, and mirrored surfaces. A giant 9-foot sliding mirrored pocket door conceals the toilet and sink. Not to worry though, the rest of the mirrors in the space are above the chair rail. “I have seen full-length mirrors in bathrooms and it is not something you want to see every day,” Goudreau says. Adding a bit of smoke to the mirrors, custom cabinetry disguises all of the necessities (and unmentionables) needed in a bathroom.
retouching and printing to design and fabrication of custom interactive displays. We are somewhat unique in that we can take a project through its entire scope all in-house, which frees up our clients creatively and helps keep turnaround time and costs lower for our customers. DB: Has there been one material in particular that has been most effective in visual marketing? Heather Gorman: One of our new materials is called Magic Canvas. This very versatile material does not have the shine that vinyl has and can be used as a temporary and reusable wall covering. What makes it special is that it’s easy to install and can be placed on glass, wood, sheet rock, and even brick, then removed leaving no residue and placed in another area without losing its adhesive quality. DB: Are there any new innovations that are in the works that you are really excited about? MD: Innovation is what defines us, and today we are working on new ultra-bright, thin LED light boxes that will really change the segment. We are also going to be the first global install for two new cutting-edge printers that will revolutionize the industry in terms of their quality and speed. Also, our multimedia division keeps on amazing me with the interactive displays they are creating. Without disclosing too much about it, I’ll say we have a number of truly magnificent things coming on the horizon. a
But lighting is really what sparked Goudreau’s creativity. “You have more control over lighting than paint—being able to dim them, make them really bright, or even changing the color.” She says the homeowner couple has even gotten creative with their lighting design, turning it red, white, and blue during the summer Olympics. Despite the small space and even smaller budget, Goudreau managed to transform her friends’ space from sterile to steamy. Now their only problem will be trying to wipe all those fingerprints off the shower door. a
Sexy Bathroom Redesign Interior designer Jessica J. Goudreau transforms a small bathroom from sterile to steamy By Lauren Carroll The glitzy bathroom in this West Village studio apartment oozes sex appeal. It was not so sexy, however, when Jessica Goudreau, interior designer and founder of East Side Interiors, first found it. Inside a converted carriage warehouse that her friends called home was a tiny 2-footby-2-foot bathroom, with a shower that was smaller than most public toilet stalls, and dingy yellow tiles and dirty grout round-
DKNY and Dior store photos courtesy of Duggal, duggal.com; bathroom photo courtesy of Jessica Goudreau, eastsideinteriors.com
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IN THE DETAILS Exploring the key elements of uncommon spaces
With Gleysteen’s background in sculpting, he approached the 3,600-square-foot house with a sculptor’s eye and used concrete, hearty plank, glass, and corrugated aluminum siding for its exterior.
PROJECT: Overlook House / Location: Lexington, Massachusetts Designer: Marcus Gleysteen of Marcus Gleysteen Architects Photos: courtesy of Marcus Gleysteen Architects
Design Thinking
Gleysteen used the zeroclearance fireplace to establish a sense of place in the living room. “If you don’t create a sense of place, your living room will feel like a hotel lobby or waiting room,” says Gleysteen. Its exposed chimney is made from Douglas-fir while the hearth is made from grey marble stone. The soft, neutral wall color reflects natural light during the day and brings a warm and inviting coziness to nights.
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Landscape architecture firm Ryan Associates was brought to the project early on to ensure that the exterior features of the home accounted for the most unique aspects of the site. “The terrace off the living room commands a long view over woods and meadows to a lone steeple in the distance,” says owner Thomas R. Ryan.
The overlook in the master bedroom thrusts out over a beautiful, lush view of the surrounding wetlands. Indirect energy-efficient windows open up the space while popper windows underneath allow fresh air to come inside. Indirect lighting in the ceiling soffit offers a soft luminescent glow.
An open floor plan with an overlook Due to the structural foundation failures of the site’s original house, Marcus Gleysteen and his team decided it was necessary to create the Overlook House from scratch. The Massachusetts-based architect chose an open floor plan to foster a stronger sense of family participation and an overall design he describes as organic modernism: “Modernism that evolves naturally from all the resources at hand,” Gleysteen says. With his sculpting background, Gleysteen applied his artful training to combine sculpting with architecture. The Overlook House’s exterior is shaped from classic New England materials, while the interior features clean, natural finishes. “It’s dynamic, dramatic, and integrates effortlessly with the landscape,” he says. A cantilever that extends out into the surrounding wetlands offers sufficient space without the hefty environmental footprint. —Lesley Stanley
Gleysteen designed the house around the central kitchen. Because of the home’s open floor plan, Gleysteen anchored the area with a lowered ceiling and a limestone tile floor. Maple cabinetry and a recycled heart pine island create clean lines with natural finishes.
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IN THE DETAILS A Tom Dixon S-Chair by Cappellini (cappellini.it) sits on a custom fabricated platform of bent blackened steel to take in the views.
The EOOS-designed Living Landscape sofa by Walter Knoll (walterknoll.de) rotates to offer different views.
White leather wall panels, a brushed bronze fireplace surround, and black walnut floors create warmth and texture Rug by Black Sheep Unique (blacksheepunique. com), Citadel Composition suspended lamp by Quasar (quasar.nl), gold chairs by Moroso (moroso.it), custom coffee table by Allison Burke
Remodeling from the 34th floor wasn’t easy. The penthouse at the W Austin’s unique structural demands called for the skilled craftsmanship of Branson Fustes of Pilgrim Building Company in Austin. “Not only did the material have to be fabricated to a high level of accuracy, but the infrastructure had to be raised to a level that could support the finished materials,” says Fustes.
Tall Order The design at this Austin penthouse can’t get much higher The owner of this Residences at W Austin penthouse loves his sweeping views over downtown Austin so much, he wasn’t content to take them in standing on the ground. “He has incredible views through his 14-foot tall windows,” says Allison Burke, who designed the space for Michael Hsu Office of Architecture. “He had this strong desire to be able to inhabit the verticality of the room.” To give the owner some additional altitude, Hsu built a curving staircase up to a suspended steel platform lookout space. In the master bedroom, which the owner furnished himself, a yellow scaffolding bed adds another boost and creates a sitting area below. “I didn’t totally understand until the painters showed up with their scaffolding and he said that was exactly what he wanted for his bed platform,” says Burke. “Our goal was to balance his love of modern technology and whimsy, and address them with simple and refined solutions with moments of whimsy.” a
Art in the eating area shows the owner’s playful side. Philippe Starck Caprice chairs from Cassina (cassina. com) and a custom sofa by Allison Burke sit around an Arper Dizzie table (arper.com)
Project: W Penthouse / Location: Austin, Texas Designer: Allison Burke, Michael Hsu Office of Architecture / Photos: Casey Woods
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IN THE DETAILS Core Landscape Group in Atlanta made its goal to extend the distinctive aesthetic elements of Dencity’s design seamlessly into the architectural landscape of the residence. “We always enjoy collaborating with Dencity,” says Core co-owner Nick Harrell. “They provide a general design direction and allow us to interpret the exterior how we think it best integrates.” Russell says the living room was created with the idea that it was carved out of a cube. The walls are finished with a thin wenge wood veneer, similar to a wall covering. The custom-built wenge wood and stone coffee table lights up from its interior to add light from the ground up. The custom-built sofa provides ample seating for entertaining.
Sustainable, Urban living Atlanta-based architect Bryan Russell says that his work on the Liotta Residence was nearly complete before ever meeting the clients. “There was more of an abstract approach to [the process],” he says. Russell’s firm Dencity designed the 6,300-square-foot home to integrate sustainability without sacrificing aesthetic. “We still wanted the house to be progressive and stunning,” says Russell. Sustainable highlights include a water filtration system that collects water that travels down the roof into a trough where it is cleaned and used for irrigation. The roof’s overhang also provides a bright environment for guests in the courtyard without the heat. Other features include recycled stone and carpeting and energy efficient lighting, which allow the residents to enjoy their home without worrying about its environmental footprint.—Lesley Stanley
As the saying goes, everyone congregates in the kitchen… but not at the Liotta Residence. Russell designed the sleek, minimalist kitchen with off-white laminate cabinets to be less of a focal point and more of a backdrop for the dining and living areas. An unassuming built-in storage space at the end of the countertop is an ideal space to store small appliances.
Project: Liotta Residence / Location: Atlanta, Georgia / Designer: Bryan Russell, partner at Dencity, LLC Photos: james Klotz photography
Design Thinking
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The 6,300square-foot home’s exterior features stucco, ipe wood, aluminum paneling, and a metal roof. The overhang protects the house from midday heat when the sun is at its peak.
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IN THE DETAILS
That’s not an area rug beneath the 360-degree accessible floating spoon tub in the master suite’s dressing area. It’s an 8 x 24-foot penny tile floor with gold calcutta marble trim. The venetian glass chandelier adds a sophisticated charm while walnut wood flooring brings warmth.
The 12-foot table made from reclaimed wood had to be built inside the cellar because of its sizable length.
As a rule of thumb, architects and interior designers know to keep friends close and good builders closer. EKO Studio has worked on several detailed projects with Long Island-based construction and renovation company Vella Interiors. “With the Robert James Residence, we met with EKO at least once a week to ensure that every aspect of the design was achievable,” says owner Michael Vella. “We even built a full scale mock-up of the kitchen, allowing EKO to collaborate on all of the details.”
When designing the playhouse barn, Kim decided on slatted oak trusses and iconic red barn wood planking complete with sliding chalkboard doors and a lofted play area.
Hybrid in the Hamptons
Brooklyn-based architect and interior designer Eugene Kim knew that her client’s request for a traditional-meetsmodern Eastern Long Island home was unusual. “There is no such thing as a 10,000-square-foot farmhouse,” says Kim. “I wanted it to be a new breed of aesthetic.” That new breed of aesthetic digs deep into the theme of duality. Kim designed the home’s upper half as a place to relax with family while the lower portion is the spot for entertaining and forgetting the day’s stresses. One of the biggest transformations for the home was the basement. Kim transformed the once unfinished space into a wine cellar complete with a formal sitting room and a grotto, a place to play pool and let loose. Ultimately, the home’s rich layers, warm wood floors, and clean lines bring an overall sense of balance to the space and create a relaxing environment, regardless of which space you’re enjoying. —Lesley Stanley
Project: Bridgehampton House / Location: Bridgehampton, New York / Designer: Eugene Kim of Eko Studio / Photos: Angie Lee
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Suburban Snapshot
“The fact that the exterior remained ‘suburban’ actually seemed to strengthen our concept of the Cabinet Core being a modern installation within a more ‘typical’ context.” —designer Peter Liang
Cool to the Core A SF-bay area house gets a design boost from a surprising centerpiece “We don’t really like this house—it’s too bland,” designer Peter Liang remembers his clients telling him this when they brought in his firm The Blue Truck Studio to make the house they had just bought seem, well, less suburban. Big changes to the exterior would have to wait until there was more time and money in the budget, so Liang and architect Jon Man decided to modernize the inside first. “The fact that this project began with the task of making a house ‘more interesting’ set the tone for a very fun and explorative process,” says Liang. “The clients pitched a round hobbit door. We drew a lookout tower. There was a 12-foot table at one point, and many Swiss Army knife variations of the Cabinet Core.” The Cabinet Core, as they’ve come to call it, was the innovative solution Liang devised to create a central spine of builtin spaces that would help organize the floor plan and provide storage. And we’re not just talking about storing the family of four’s stuff—the core stores the house’s garage vestibule, the bathroom, and the pantry. In several rooms, workspaces, sofas, TV stands, and closets are built into the core. Bold oranges and greens accentuate these spaces and play against the subdued palette of the rest of the house. “It’s a functional object, a piece of furniture, and a sculptural installation,” says Liang. “Plus it provides a foil for the banal suburban style of the house. It’s detailed to be very reductive and minimal and yet also a centerpiece.” a
“We have a tremendous respect for Blue Truck’s approach to balancing creative design and function,” says Bill Hinkamp, principal of Rockridge Builders. The Oakland, California-based construction services firm partnered with The Blue Truck Studio on the Bakesale Betty bakery in downtown Oakland. “The overall design of Bakesale Betty blended functional spaces with early 20th-century charm.”
Project: Shelby Lane Residence / Location: Los Altos, California Architect: Jon Man of Man Architecture / Interior Design: Peter Liang of The Blue Truck Studio photos © GTODD photography
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Taking UX to the Next Level A California kitchen and bath showroom signals the user-experience-based future of retail By Ann Chou From the outside, Fixtures Living appears to be an unassuming kitchen and bath showroom, but step inside one of the stores and you won’t see rows and rows of kitchen appliances. Instead, you’ll see a live kitchen where cooking demos are held. Forget about boxed showerheads hanging on a rack—here you can actually try out the shower. Christian Davies, executive creative director of FITCH, the London-based global design consultancy behind the Fixtures Living concept, explains the movement toward greater user experience.
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Ann Chou: From the outside, Fixtures Living looks pretty standard. What sets it apart from the typical big-box kitchen and bath store? Christian Davies: This showroom isn’t product-centric, it’s experience-centric. Rather than asking you what you are here to buy, we ask you if you’d like a handcrafted cappuccino. We don’t ask you what cook top you are looking for, we ask you how you like to cook.
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CONGRATULATIONS TO CHRISTIAN DAVIES FOR WINNING BEST IN CLASS ACCOLADE AT THE RETAIL DESIGN INSTITUTE’S INTERNATIONAL STORE AWARDS BURKE CONSTRUCTION GROUP IS THE PROUD GENERAL CONTRACTOR OF THE AWARD-WINNING COSTA MESA FIXTURES LIVING PROJECT 385 Pilot Road
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Headquartered in Las Vegas, Burke Construction Group is well versed in building exciting new places for grown-ups to spend money. For the awardwinning Fixtures Living project, the company worked in close partnership with FITCH
in order to produce a retail experience unlike any other. “This project was unique for us,” says senior project manager Steve Drew. “It’s not often you get to be a part of a concept that will change the industry.”
AC: What kind of research did you have to do get the ball rolling? CD: Fixtures Living came to us with a clear idea of the customer they wanted to attract and the broad ideas around how the experience would be different. Our job was to bring that to life—to create a totally immersive environment and fill it with the unique moments that would deliver the desired experience. AC: What’s one of your favorite aspects of the showroom? CD: The elements of live theater, whether it’s a cooking demo or someone trying the shower in the Sanctuary, are truly engaging. I’ve watched people spend hours and hours in this store simply watching and learning. It’s a huge part of Fixtures Living’s mission to create joy through a place where people can shop. AC: Is this the future of showrooms and stores in general? CD: It certainly responds to a number of the trends we are tracking. We’re seeing a huge movement towards ‘real’ these days in response to digital fatigue. Stores like Fixtures Living, Eataly, and Lululemon are doing well not only because of their curated merchandise, but because the experiences are tangible with a real person who believes in the brand and really knows about all of the products in the store. So, yes, I think there is something deeper in that, something quite profound as we consider the future of retail. a
Going Underground Manhattan architects transform an old warehouse into a cool townhouse by turning design obstacles into opportunities By Heidi Kulicke
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ew York’s formerly industrial Tribeca neighborhood has its share of old warehouses converted to chic loft buildings, but not many architects would think to turn a warehouse into a townhouse. When Kathryn Dean and Charles Wolf of Dean/Wolf Architects first saw the fivestory warehouse they were to revive, it lacked the natural light and yard space that usually makes townhouses appeal-
ing. Why? The future living space was 85 feet long with windows only in the front and back. Dean and Wolf remedied the situation by carving out the middle of the building to bring light deep into the center of the house, and created “gardens” built down into the depths of the space. The entrance to this “inverted townhouse” can be found on the fifth floor, where a two-story outdoor garden occupies the middle of the space.
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Fixtures Living photos by Mark Steele Photography, marksteelephotography.com; Inverted Townhouse photos © Paul Warchol, warcholphotography.com
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The project was split into two phases to allow the clients to live in the building once the first phase was completed. This helped keep expenses manageable for the clients, says Dean. The first phase included the master bedroom and entertaining spaces on the top two and a half floors. Fascinating project details include frameless burgundy glass floating down through the walls of the structure and glass floors on the lower levels. Dean and Wolf used simple details to keep construction costs down on the lower floors, which contain kids’ bedrooms and playrooms.
Because of the unusual setup, Dean and Wolf were very particular about the way they used materials and light. “We often combine metal, glass, and wood because of their appeal,” says Dean. Contrasting the brick building, metal played such a huge structural role in the inverted townhouse that it became an integral part of the interior aesthetic. Excited by the Richard Serra sculptures they had seen at the Dia Art Foundation, the clients requested Corten steel to finish Photos © Paul Warchol, warcholphotography.com
interior and exterior spaces—a challenge because the material is usually used outside and achieves its aged look by rusting. To get the rusted finish the steel has in its final state, it needed to be specially manufactured at a plant in Long Island, then shipped to another location for a chemical finish, then transported to the city for installation. “The steel is a powerful presence,” Dean says, and now it can be seen in everything from exposed roof beams to a two-story shelving unit. a
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Changing Spaces An Arizona home grows up with the family By Margot Brody
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or 13 years, Matthew and Maria Salenger have lived at the same address within a 1950s suburban development in Tempe, Arizona. But as their lives have changed, so has their home. Just beyond the unassuming façade of their Cedar Street residence, the two architects have made it a point to challenge convention and embrace change. In 2000, the Salengers purchased the original three-bedroom house, where they founded their architecture firm Colab Studio. To allow themselves more open, undefined space for their in-home architecture practice, they gutted it and built two “bedroom pods” in their spacious backyard. But with the birth of their son CONTINUED
Photos by Mark Boisclair. Bottom photo by Bill Timmerman
To control wind and solar heat gain, Phoenixbased screening specialists The Screen Machine and parent company TSM Systems worked with Colab to design and install the remote-controlled motorization system for the operable awning wall. “We work with many high-end architects on projects that require innovation and creativity,” says Fred Woodward, president of TSM Systems.
TSM SYSTEMS, LLC 720 East Dunlap Ave Phoenix, AZ 85020 602 944 9504 DESIGN
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INSTALL
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Roller Shades Motorized Manual Interior and Exterior Shade Structures Tension Fixed Special Applications Awnings Canopies Screens Insect Shade Screens Screen doors Roll a Way Screens
Skyline Windows has been a family-run business since 1921. Our success has hinged on a commitment to the highest standards for aesthetic and engineering practices for windows and doors manufactured in aluminum, steel or wood. Skyline’s experience in product design, fabrication and installation is invaluable in helping us fulfill our client’s expectations. Our dedication to historical, preservation and special projects has enabled us to meet the needs of the most demanding architects, designers and builders throughout the United States.
CONTACT: Peter Warren 220 East 138th Street, Bronx, NY 10451 Phone: 646.273.1464 Fax: 212.491.5630 plwarren@skylinewindows.com www.skylinewindows.com
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DESIGN BUREAU
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(CONTINUED)
Photo by Bill Timmerman
Design Thinking
Design Thinking
The studio and home of Matthew and Maria Salenger has undergone several transformations since they purchased their 1950s three-bedroom house. An earlier incarnation placed sleeping spaces
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DESIGN BUREAU
in enclosed mobile structures in this courtyard. The birth of their son necessitated another design overhaul. Here is an exterior view of how the home looks now.
in 2008, the couple realized they would have to rethink the cool but increasingly impractical layout of the space. “We felt the need to continue changing the house with our ongoing lives,” says Matthew Salenger. “A house for us must be flexible and transformable.” “The main house became crowded with all of the functions melding together,” he says. “And our previous ‘odd’ design had completely tanked the value. We wanted our new design to fit with our desire for unconventionality, but retain financial viability.” Once again, the pair’s penchant for out-ofthe-box thinking came to the rescue. “We engaged 40 potential homebuyers to test what they would want in a home,” he explains. “The first priority was a ‘great room’ combining living-kitchen-dining, and the second was a courtyard. Their answers became the basic program for our house.” With the addition of an open-form structure on the far end of the backyard, the Salengers loosely separated the functions of each house into “daytime” and “nighttime” activities. “The separation also allows our son to sleep while we entertain, or to keep noisy youngsters separated if desired,” says Salenger. High, etched glass privacy walls along either edge of the grass courtyard create an entirely enclosed central outdoor space. “The courtyard acts as a giant playpen for our son, allowing the adults to watch his activity while cooking, dining, or relaxing,” he says. Additionally, climate-specific details, such as a giant sun shade, make the design environmentally feasible. Thus the layout of the residence culminates in an intimate, comfortable, and modifiable living compound. “Kids are born, grow up, and move out. Adults have their changing needs too,” says Salenger. “To us, it makes sense to allow a house to adapt to its users’ needs.” a
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Lamoureux Architect Incorporated’s mountaintop Rose Crescent project in West Vancouver, British Columbia. For more from Lamoureux, see p. 101.
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Hot Home Design:
From the City to the Sea (and Everywhere in Between)
Location, location, location.
It’s a cliché for a reason. Whether they’re hugging the cliff of a mountain or towering above Manhattan, these hot homes make the most of their one-of-a-kind sites.
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design bureau Hot Home Design –
Design: David Hotson Architect, Ghislaine Viñas interior design
Location: new york city
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Fun House Equal parts hilarity and high design join together in this multimillion dollar lower Manhattan penthouse by Saundra Marcel
“Hotson Architects did an excellent job of coordinating all the various subcontractors, and through systematic review of each other’s plans, mock-ups, and testing we successfully integrated everything,” recalls Jeff Tarr, president of Tarr Technology Consulting in New York City. As the audiovisual consultant for this Manhattan penthouse, the boutique residential technology integration company strove to combine the latest technology with reliability and ease of use. “We love working with technology because it is always changing,” he adds.
CITY
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Photos by Eric Laignel, ericlaignel.com. hotson.net
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t’s like angels fell out of the sky with money,” says Ghislaine Viñas, interior designer of this lower Manhattan penthouse apartment. Together with architect David Hotson, the design duo transformed 6,000 feet of diamondin-the-rough top-floor commercial office space into a four-level wacky and whimsical dream home for one very imaginative couple. And while they can’t reveal who the owners are, they also can’t stop talking about them. “They’re different, obviously,” Hotson says. “They’re risk-takers, and they’re involved. You know, having a great space to start with, breathtaking views, and a dream budget; that’s all wonderful. But having a client who’s engaged all the way through, that’s the prize.”
a button, it immediately fogs over for privacy. In a different shower, a tiny peephole frames a view of the faraway Chrysler Building. It’s now a far cry from the awkward and empty guts that existed here before the project started. “It was the kind of space that people looked at and thought, ‘What on earth do we do with this ?,’” says Viñas of the pre-renovated apartment. Adds Hotson, “From what I’ve heard, a lot of potential buyers came through and were just completely intimidated by the scope and scale of what had to be done. Whereas my reaction was the same as Ghislaine’s. This is one of the most astonishing properties I have ever seen. The views are incredible, the historical character of the building is amazing, as was the opportunity to work in really dramatic, complex dimensions of architectural space that you don’t usually get in New York.”
Designed by New York City-based manufacturer Skyline Windows, the curved windows of this penthouse offer stunning views of lower Manhattan. Skyline project manager Robert Marino collaborated with the architect to design the custom windows. “We were able to exceed their expectations with narrow sightlines and window performance,” says Marino.
The standout feature of the apartment is the 80-footlong slide, a helical option for transportation commencing at the top level and dumping out at the bottom near the entryway. For those looking for a more challenging ascent, there’s also the option to rock-climb your way up to the top—a staggering 45 feet. Neither is a very “skirt friendly” option, but nor is the more normal means of getting from floor to floor: a stairway made with disorienting glass views through to below. The whole place is filled with these kinds of creative
It was the first collaborative project for Viñas and Hotson, one that spanned four years and was not without its challenges. But where their creative ideas differed, the client’s desires united them. “You can’t impose stuff like this on a client. They wanted it. The slide, for example, was concepts. Like the nest: a brightly colored floral marshmallow of a squishyfloored space perched high above the living area, perfect for snuggling or just sinking in. There are four bedrooms, plus a secret mid-floor sleeping space accessible by an in-wall ladder. The majestic master features a fire hydrant-crowned headboard and matching silver metallic fire hydrant wallpaper. In the shower is a window allowing for the user to partake in a little inter-apartment exhibitionism, but with the press of
her [the client’s] idea, and she defended it every step of the way,” says Hotson. It’s a grown-up playground, certainly a dream home for any kid. Although, surprisingly, none live here. Just a young-at-heart couple with a sense of humor and joie de vivre. a
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Hot Home Design
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interior Design: Matrix Design Studio
Location: Carmel Valley, California
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he home is on a large inland preserve set down into the canyon part way, so it retains unusual privacy. The architect, Bill Hayer, developed the project around the natural terracing of the site, resulting in a tuckedin feeling even through the home is 14,000 square feet.” —Fred Gemmell, Matrix Design Studio
“The stone and stucco color palette is earthy and relates to the natural colors of the site,” says Gemmell. “The slate is an unusual copper and gray slate with a tie-in to the site colors. We found some very rare materials such as Brazilian rosewood and Macassar ebony, which we used as focal points to the very strong architectural presence of the home’s axis.”
Photos by Pablo Mason, pablomasonphotography.com. matrixdesignstudio.com
desert
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Design: Lucid Architecture
Location: Olive Township, Michigan
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Eating and kitchen spaces have views into the yard so the owners can keep watch of their two young girls. The master bedroom suite to the north becomes a tranquil retreat overlooking the wetland and forest.
The living area is anchored by a double-sided fireplace built with concrete block colored to match the bark of beech trees growing on the site. A 24-foot sliding glass door opens to the outdoors.
Photos courtesy of Lucid Architecture, lucidarc.com
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ntering the densely forested site overlooking the Pigeon Creek wetland, you cross an abandoned railroad grade from more than 100 years ago and the home is revealed in the distance as it slides into sight out of the forest. The main form of the house is a tall, slender box inspired by the rail cars that once traversed the site.”
—Architect Eric De Witt
“The building form is shaped by the owner’s desire for a distinctly modern home that feels warm, open, and comfortable, and has a strong connection to the outdoors,” says De Witt. Zahn Builders used varied exterior materials of glass, western red cedar, cement panels, and metal to articulate the different functions and volumes of the home.
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Hot Home Design
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Design: Baltus Collection
Location: Miami, Florida
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“The enormous glass windows had to be brought up from the side of the building with a crane, but we knew they were absolutely necessary to showcase the home’s unrivaled views,” says Smith. Baltus Chaise, $7,320, and Trapecio side table, $3,279, both by Baltus Collection (baltuscollection. com). Wood sculptures purchases in Indonesia. White sheer motorized draperies by Ron’s Window.
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hen looking out from any room in this spacious 46th-floor penthouse on Brickell Key, one is met with stunning ocean views for miles and miles. Baltus Collection’s custom design capabilities allowed us to create a comfortably modern interior space that responds to the home’s magnificent natural surroundings.”
–Interior Designer Carie Smith, Baltus Collection
Photos courtesy of Baltus Collection, baltuscollection.com
sea
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Design: Baltus Collection
Location: Miami, Florida
“Each unique Baltus piece brings the home to life without detracting from the beautiful exterior views,” says Smith. Rinconera Madrid sofa, $23,450; Totem sofa console, $8,530; Templo coffee table, $13,448; Detroit Armchair, $7,070; Baltus Chaise, $7,320; Cosmos TV console, $13,550; Lyon desk, $14,720; Trapecio side table, $3,279; and custom entry bench, $4,300, all by Baltus Collection (baltuscollection.com). Hanging shade lamp by Penta (penta-light.com); accessories by Rina Menardi (rinamenardi.com)
“Using Baltus concepts, we were able to transform the home from a cold, bachelor-style unit into a welcoming family home. One element we added was the custom designed loft space for three girls,” says Smith. Fully custom beds with custom upholstered headboards, price upon request, by Baltus Collection (baltuscollection.com). Hanging shade lamp by Penta (pentalight.com), purchased at Farrey’s (farreys.com).
Hanging pendant lights by FLOS (flos.com), purchased at Farrey’s (farreys.com); extended dining table and benches by Bulthaup (bulthaup.com)
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sea
Hot Home Design
sea
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Design: Carver + Schiketanz
Location: Big Sur, California
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“A stone base interlocks with the hillside on the northeast of the site and also becomes the visual base for the lighter elements of the building, like the living room, which cantilevers over the western cliff, and the master suite, which rests on top of the base,” says Schicketanz.
“The cleansing color palette of whites, dark grays, and browns was designed to contrast the vivid blue of the Pacific and the bright green of the springtime hillsides,” says Schicketanz.
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his sloping property falls off steeply to the Pacific Ocean, and there was hardly any flat usable land. It previously had several cabins and paths and very cluttered, non-native landscaping. It was equally important to us to clean up the landscape, introducing simple curved shapes to emulate the coastline, and to design a building that integrates properly with the hillside.”
—Architect Mary Ann Schicketanz
The interior was designed to provide a seamless transition from the landscape and exterior architecture. Reclaimed flooring materials like teak and limestone transition to the decks and patios.
Photos by Robert Canfield, canfieldphoto.com. carverschicketanz.com
The roof was designed with the wingspan of the birds in mind and to allow the uphill neighbor better coastline views.
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Design: Steven Harris Architects
Location: Kinderhook, New York
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Field
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he site of this weekend house is one of the highest points in the Hudson River Valley between the Catskills and the Berkshires. When we first saw it, it was an open field. We rearranged a whole hill ultimately, moving tens of thousands of cubic yards of dirt.”
Photos by Scott Frances/OTTO, scottfrances.com. stevenharrisarchitects.com
—Architect Steven Harris
“The houses oddly have no scale. As you’re approaching the hill you can’t tell how big they are—there’s 1,800 square feet of building on a 50acre site. We abstracted the house to keep the scale ambiguous and to make it seem a little more assertive,” says Harris.
An antique Triennale floor lamp, vintage Milo Baughman chair, and Calvin Klein linens decorate one of the bedrooms.
Steven Harris Architects built the first building as an artist’s loft with a small bedroom, and 15 years later they added the second building with three bedrooms, a kitchen, and a dining room. “There was always an assumption that it would be more than one building. There could be a third or a fourth,” he says.
Field
Hot Home Design
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Design: Steven Harris Architects
Location: Kinderhook, New York
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When looking at architecture, first and last impressions are important. That’s why Architectural Components of Massachusetts spends so much time meticulously crafting doors, entranceways, and windows for restoration projects and custom-built residential properties such as Steven Harris Architects’ Kinderhook retreat. “Our products have been used in both landmark buildings and new construction projects where special detailing is required,” says president Chuck Bellinger.
The kitchen features Viking appliances (vikingrange.com), Chicago Faucets (chicagofaucets. com), custom cabinets with Bendheim glass (bendheim.com), and Imperial Danby countertops.
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Design: Lamoureux Architect Incorporated
Location: West Vancouver, British Columbia
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ur client wished to add a new master suite to this existing 1950s post-and-beam at the foot of the North Shore Mountains, and to modernize the home’s style. Apart from building on the steep and rocky terrain, it was challenging to create a grand sense of space with very little space, and to balance the desire for views with proper display space and lighting for a substantial art collection.”
—Architect Brad Lamoureux
Modifications to this 1950s post-and-beam house attempt to mediate between the forest and ocean harbor while providing a backdrop for the display of art and sculpture.
Project superintendent Chris Kleaman and his team at WoodRose Homes know Vancouver inside and out. And no wonder. The company has been building custom homes in the region for more than 20 years, including nearly a dozen designed by Lamoureux Architect Incorporated. “We have truly enjoyed every project with them, as each one brings an extraordinary level of uniqueness,” says Kleaman. “This allows us to continually push the envelope of great building and deliver exceptional luxury residences.”
A small start can sometimes give way to larger ambitions. Take Scott Coats, cabinetmaker and owner of Fusion Woodwork. What began as a modest shop in a rented Vancouver garage has grown into a full-service custom cabinet and millwork operation that employs the latest hightech machinery. “Our focus has always been on higher quality and greater efficiency through technology,” Coats explains. It seems his investment paid off. The expansion has enabled him to create bespoke cabinetry for high-profile clients like Lamoureux Architect Inc.
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his house is designed around a water courtyard and outdoor pool with a negative edge. We sought to reinforce the connection between inside and outside living with floor-to-ceiling walls of glass. In all principal rooms, the walls of glass slide away to completely open the inside and out.” — Architect Brad Lamoureux
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Wounded 102
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obility and Michael Graves are at a permanent standoff. Ten years ago, the world famous architect and designer woke up to find himself paralyzed from the chest down. “You are reminded of your disability every day,” he says of his life. “People say ‘don’t worry,’ but they don’t understand that it makes you feel like shit.” Don’t think for one second, however, that Graves wastes time on self-pity. His life motto? “The next.” And since learning to live in a wheelchair, his design work has been aggressively pursuing just that. Graves has diligently focused on improving handicap design at the everyday scale, and he is only moving in one direction: forward. By Kimberlie Birks ||| portrait by Dusdin Condren
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t was February 21, 2003 when architect and design powerhouse Michael Graves did something almost unprecedented: He left work early.
“That was only the second time in 17 years that I’d heard him say he didn’t feel well enough to work,” recalls Karen Nichols, a principal at his Princeton, New Jersey design firm, Michael Graves & Associates. Graves has been one of the most prolific designers of his generation. He is known for his bold, colorful, and often cartoonlike architectural style that defined American post-modernism, and in 2001 he earned the American Institute of Architects’ highest honor. But it was his work for Target that truly hit the bull’s-eye. His bird-spouted teapots and eggshaped timers brought high de-
A rare glimpse inside the studio of Michael Graves reveals a very low key setting, but one with many projects in the works. Photo by Dusdin Condren
sign to the mass market, and the objects proved that design didn’t have to be “so serious—or so seriously expensive.” His is the kind of career that requires nights, weekends, and lost vacation days. And although the hardworking architect wasn’t one to play hooky, he had been battling
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a persistent sinus infection. So on that February day, he decided to leave early. That night, Graves left his dog in the care of a neighbor and checked into the hospital. His symptoms—a low-grade fever and nerve pain in his back that he likened to having a tooth drilled without novocaine—left doctors baffled, and no amount of painkillers seemed to ease his discomfort. When the architect became unable to feel his legs around 3 A.M., his doctors assumed it was the effect of the morphine; but by morning they realized the paralysis had now spread from the chest down, and it wasn’t due to the medication. It was permanent. Now, a decade later, Graves’ doctors still don’t have an answer to why he suddenly became paralyzed and why the paralysis persists. “It’s very rare,” Graves says. “I have been told that there are four people in the United States that have something like this.” In the months following that fated February night, there was much that propelled Graves through his recovery, including his resolve not to die in the hospital because, as he says, “It’s so ugly.” Having progressed through eight hospitals and four rehabilitation centers, the architect was all too familiar with the design failings of our health care system. On his first day in a wheelchair, he was given the challenge to dress and shave himself. “That was extraordinary for me,” he says. “I couldn’t turn on the water, I couldn’t plug in the razor, I couldn’t look in the mirror. And this is a hospital very well known for therapy. At that point I said to myself, ‘I am going to do something about this. I am a designer, I’m an architect; I’ve got the bully pulpit.’” When he returned back to work, Graves used his paralysis to propel his design ideas forward. Partnering with medical technology company Stryker, the architect decided to begin where he could have an immediate impact: hospital furni-
ture. “We really challenged the whole notion of functionality,” Graves says. His first collection for Stryker included a patient chair, bedside stand, cabinet, and overbed table. “We always correct people who say, ‘You’re trying to make this look better.’ Well, yes, we want it to look better, but that’s easy. The look and the function are one and the same. They are not separate. It looks good because it functions beautifully. That message is very hard.” But Graves doesn’t stop at hospital room furniture; for countless people like him who carry with them a permanent handicap, Graves knows design must work harder to pave their way beyond the hospital door. “Let me dump on ADA now,” he says, in reference to the Americans with Disabilities Act. “ADA is a basic set of handicap requirements. Very basic,” he says. “I don’t mean to put them down, but this is the way I see what ADA does: They put grab bars in a few hotel bathrooms and say, ‘There. Done.’” But, as Graves exemplifies, many disabilities require design standards that are much more acute. And as he sees it, the ADA does not provide them. Graves had to significantly modify his beloved home in Princeton to accommodate his needs after he became wheelchair bound. “You don’t want a house to say ‘old people live here’ or ‘sick people live here’. You want the house to be very normal looking. How do you do that?” As a designer, Graves knew he could do more for others like him who wanted to be comfortable in their home, living with their disability. Fortunately, so did the people at Clark Realty Capital, the real estate developer that oversees the military homes at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. They noticed that an increasing number of wounded soldiers returning from war wanted to remain on active duty. They also noticed that standard military housing wasn’t going to help these families adapt to their new lifestyles. In an almost unprecedented move, they resolved to make military homes
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You don’t want a house to say ‘old people live here’ or ‘sick people live here.’ You want the house to be very normal looking. How do you do that?
built around a much more innovative approach to handicap-accessible design. In 2010, Clark Realty project director Casey Nolan approached Graves to design a prototype that would make the homes of wounded soldiers and their families more dignified, joyful, and healthy. “We weren't sure if he’d even respond,”
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Nolan says in a video about Wounded Warrior’s development. “I mean, this is just one or two houses on a military base, and he’s known for building institutional buildings around the world.” But Graves took on the challenge, and the Wounded Warrior project was born. “Michael showed up to every design meeting, and was Photo by Jim Kirby
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doing the sketches himself,” Nolan says. Alongside world-renowned design firm IDEO, Graves began by spending several months seeking the input of scientists, architects, psychologists, consultants, builders, and engineers to provide a framework for the homes that far exceeds typical code and accessibility requirements. “When you’re in a wheelchair, it is a game of inches,” Nolan says, explaining Graves’ commitment to even the tiniest details. Graves agrees with this perspective wholeheartedly, and knows from his experience that good handicap-accessible design doesn’t need to be difficult. “If I am in a hospital and I can’t reach the sink faucet, I get pissed off,” he says. “It is tiresome to be carping about things that are so easy. You put the faucet on the side. Period.” With their bright colors, picket fences, and light-filled interiors, both Wounded Warrior home models are beautiful in appearance, but it’s the functional design details that really establish them as a new model for handicap-accessible living. It’s Graves response to the ADA. “The vets are so far beyond that in terms of their needs,” he says of the narrow and shortsighted metrics. His designs respond to the everyday issues faced by wounded soldiers and their families by addressing all-inclusive problems like mobility. “In a wheelchair, the first thing you think about is ‘How am I going to get around?,’” says Danielle Shell, a Wounded Warrior spouse interviewed for the Wounded Warrior video. “This alleviates all of that worry.” The homes work hard to be flexible where their occupants are not, and Graves’ efforts to set a new standard are apparent everywhere, beginning at the front door. Each is equipped with an entry card reader to aid those without manual dexterity who need help turning a traditional key. Inside, the entire floor plan in both homes is wheelchair friendly, with living spaces that have ample space for maneuverability, accessible bathrooms, adjustable counter heights, sliding doors, and windows that extend to 18 Photo by Jim Kirby
inches above the floor. Twelve different temperature control zones also give the wounded warriors the ability to cater to their more specific temperature needs without affecting the comfort levels of their family members. There’s even a technology closet in each master bedroom where wheelchairs and prosthetic limbs can be charged and stored. Graves smiles proudly as he describes one of the home’s newest occupants. “The woman had her arm amputated and is also a chef,” he says. “Her first comment when she saw the kitchen was, ‘Finally, I will get to cook again.’” While the Graves models are only the first two of 19 additional accessible homes planned for Fort Belvoir, the Wounded Warrior Homes Project hopes to ignite a bigger conversation about how developers and builders can leverage thoughtful, human-centered design to better accommodate all persons with disabilities. Graves thinks that with time, this shift in focus toward handicapaccessible design will happen naturally. “With the baby boomers coming of age, things will change,” he says. “We will have a lot of people the same age looking for the same thing, looking for a walker that doesn’t have tennis balls on [its feet] and looking for good-looking objects.” At 78, an indefatigable Graves is happy to lead this conversation. “It all stems from the same sense of the humanistic code,” he says. The man who began his career by bringing design for the few to the many may find his biggest legacy lies in bringing design for the many to the few. “I want all of those things that are used for an ambulatory society, but one that takes care of people like me with equal vigor,” he says. “I am doing that now the best I can, but I don’t know if I will get enough done to show a new standard. I hope I am able to.” It all goes back to that unshakeable Michael Graves drive to live moving forward. He doesn’t let his immobility shake him. “I don’t see myself like that,” he says when asked directly about his own physical self-image. “I dream walking.” a
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In Hot Waters
What we wouldn’t give for the chance to take a dip in any one of these high-design pools. The Association of Pool & Spa Professionals honored 52 companies for creating the world’s premier pools, spas, hot tubs, and water features in its 42nd annual International Awards of Excellence.
“The winning installations demonstrate the beauty, desirability, and fun of water in people’s lives, and we’re proud our members are reflecting success through this recognition,” says APSP president and CEO Bill Weber. Here, some of our favorites from among the winners in 34 categories.
GOLD
Blue Stone Pools
Caviness Landscape Design
Claffey Pools
Category
Traditional
Natural Material
Natural Setting
City/State
Perth, Australia
Edmond, Oklahoma
Southlake, Texas
Crystal Pool & Spa, Inc.
Pool Environments
Bradford Products
Category
Freeform—601 square feet or more
Technical/Engineering Achievement
Spas
City/State
East Hanover, New Jersey
Perth, Australia
Wilmington, North Carolina
Dolphin Pools
J.Brownlee Pool & Landscape
Tranquility Pools
Category
Residential Fiberglass Pools
Natural Material
Concrete Spas
City/State
West Monroe, Louisiana
Memphis, Tennessee
Haskell, New Jersey
SILVER
BRONZE
Given few creative restrictions for the Mustang Estate, multiple APSP award winner Caviness Landscape &
Design took its out-of-the-box style to new heights. “We created something really interactive,” says CEO Kelly Caviness. The Oklahoma-based firm specializes in nature-inspired swimming pools, water features, stonework, and landscapes. “We do not want to be known for any cookiecutter design,” she says.
All photos courtesy of the APSP. View all of the award winners at apsp.org.
Crystal Pool and Spa Inc. keeps raking in the Awards for their Palatial Swimming Pool Designs. This past year was no exception. The family owned business took home 3 Gold Medals for NESPA,1- Silver for A.P.S.P. International Awards, along with The Peoples Choice “ Best Of Show “ for 2012. The well deserved honors were due in no
small part for their innovative designs and use of Gunite.Their unyielding Customer Service has garnered them respect amongst the Top pool Builders in the tri-State area. Steve Sylvestro “Owner” prides himself on holding the customer’s hand from the beginning of the project to the end, keeping a watchful eye on the most finite details.
EST 1991 • CUSTOM DESIGNS • OUTDOOR KITCHENS SWIM UP BARS • COMMERCIAL / RESIDENTIAL
In business for over 29 years. Caviness Landscapes specializes in complete landscape design and construction such as... • large residential projects • natural water features • natural setting swimming pools • hardscapes www.cavinesslandscape.com 405.330.2844
MEMBER 973.599.0205 WWW.CRYSTALPOOLANDSPAINC.COM
Music
This issue’s best Albums 01/
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Presented by
DESIGN BUREAU
ALARMPRESS
How to Destroy Angels Welcome Oblivion (Columbia)
In 2010, Nine Inch Nails leader Trent Reznor launched a new project, How to Destroy Angels, with wife Mariqueen Maandig and collaborator Atticus Ross (who is co-credited on The Social Network and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo soundtracks). The group’s first two EPs contained familiar Reznor melodies and “post-industrial” elements, but with an expanded palette of metallic and organic timbres, which paired well with the syn02/
03/
04/
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thetic swirls and swells as well as Maandig’s breathy vocals. On the group’s debut LP, Maandig’s vocals have a wider range and do a better job of leading, and there’s better interplay between her and Reznor, notably on lead single “Keep It Together.” Like NIN’s The Fragile or Ghosts I–IV, a good chunk of Welcome Oblivion is softer—more atmospheric—but mixed with cuts like “How Long,” a modernized blast of electro-pop. Four tracks here are repeats from the EPs, but they’re standouts that many will hear for the first time. Introduce yourself. [SM] 06/
07/
The Black Angels
Rotting Christ
Intronaut
Indigo Meadow (Blue Horizon)
Kata Ton Daimona Eaytoy (Season of Mist)
02/ When we last heard from The Black Angels, the Austin psych-rock band had reigned in its looser attributes and focused more on songcraft with Phosphene Dream in 2010. Indigo Meadow picks up from there, presenting a focused rock record with the right balance of riffs, hooks, and sounds. Listeners will recognize the usual hallmarks—dirty guitars, combo organs, and trippy effects—but things are different. The opening title track is one of the darkest, melodically, on the album, setting the tone for deep grooves and grimy guitar tones. “Don’t Play with Guns” is heavy scuzz pop, and after a series of catchy retro jams, “Black Isn’t Black” closes in the same vein as the album started. It’s a welcome return. [SM]
03/ A progenitor of Grecian black metal in the early 1990s, Rotting Christ has done more than merely spread a Scandinavian style across the Mediterranean. Each release has evolved from its predecessor, and the Athens band’s past two albums have channeled its heritage by tying chants, choirs, and bagpipes to gothic metal. Translating loosely to “do what thou wilt,” Kata Ton Daimona Eaytoy is an apt title for a band playing by its own rules. Its 11 tracks, which use poetry and folk lyrics from indigenous and olden cultures, are an engaging blend of mid-tempo chugging, upperstring black-metal melodies, rock riffs, and deep, elongated vocalizations. Put up those horns… if thou wilt. [SM]
Habitual Levitations (Instilling Words with Tones) (Century Media)
Marnie Stern
And So I Watch You From Afar
Coliseum
The Chronicles of Marnia (Kill Rock Stars)
All Hail Bright Futures (Sargent House)
Sister Faith (Temporary Residence)
05/ Any piece about singer-songwriter Marnie Stern usually starts by mentioning her shredding and finger-tapping abilities. And they’re legit. But on her fourth album, The Chronicles of Marnia, Stern’s quirky, nasally falsetto is a renewed focus, appearing in more places and in more layers instead of those frenzied riffs. Of course, the complex fretwork hasn’t disappeared, and it’s now joined by the nimble sticks of drummer Kid Millions of Oneida. But on Marnia, Stern makes equal use of her voice as musical instrument, alternately coquettish and raw, and the differences in vocal timbres play a beautiful counterpart to the unordinary melodies. [LE]
06/ Sargent House has made a habit of plucking talent from wherever it pleases, and Belfast, Northern Ireland, was the destination for one of its newest additions, the euphoric math-rock group And So I Watch You From Afar. Now, following a re-release of the last ASIWYFA album in the States, the label has released the band’s brand-new dose of übermelodic riffs and head-banging rhythms. Glistening guitar textures and extra-thick bass licks again lead the way, but there are a few more harmonized vocal refrains to go with intermittent usage of voice as texture. And with sonic switcheroos in the form of trumpet, flute, and synthesizers, the band’s latest announces its own bright future. [SM]
07/ For 10 years, Louisville’s Coliseum has banged out no-nonsense punk/hardcore tunes behind the direct, abrasive riffs and gruff vocalizations of guitarist Ryan Patterson. Stylistically, Sister Faith offers much of the same—only with more rock hooks and a host of guest contributions. “Love Under Will” showcases a “sensitive” side of Coliseum, with a bass groove setting up breathy singing and guitars that ring out with emotional release. “Under the Blood of the Moon” directly follows with what could be a Killing Joke B-side, and after that, “Used Blood” and “Black Magic Punks” channel a bit of Fugazi in Patterson’s vocals. Despite its similarities, this ain’t your daddy’s Coliseum. [SM]
04/ Now on its fourth full-length, Los Angeles’s Intronaut has been a lesser-known gem of progressive sludge metal for the past eight years. Valley of Smoke, the band’s 2010 album, was a colossal effort, and Habitual Levitations is another—only with a higher profile and a stronger sense of dynamics. Mathy and polyrhythmic, its nine epic jams contrast light and dark, beautiful and melancholy—using technical prowess within a songwriting framework. There are similarities to Isis’s Panopticon in the harmonized vocal passages, clean-channel guitars, and bass tones, but there’s also plenty of brutality and tight-as-nails drumming. If you’re unfamiliar, don’t be. [SM]
Scott Morrow is the music editor at ALARM Press and author of This Week’s Best Albums, an eclectic weekly series on exceptional music. Visit alarm-magazine.com for more. [LE] Lincoln Eddy, [SM] Scott Morrow
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For Hire: Carly Ayres
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FOR HIRE Talent that loves art in A brain made for math and science meetsDesign a heart Fresh On the Market this multifaceted designer. Get to her before she’s famous...
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FOR HIRE What is your area of design expertise? DESIGN TALENT FRESH A mathleteONwith an art portfolio, I struggled to find THE MARKET harmonious balance between the two. I was always keen in math and science with an interest in art and design, DESIGN TALENT FRESH DESIGN TALENT FRESH and I found myself able to synthesize both in the field of ON THE MARKET ON THE MARKET industrial design.
FOR HIRE: Laura Allcorn DESIGN TALENT FRESH ON THE MARKET
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In your wildest dreams, what kind of products do you aspire to make? I want to work on projects that reframe reality and depart from the expected. Design can be a catalyst for so many things. Even if it’s just disrupting the natural ebb and flow of your life to make you aware of something else, objects and experiences have the power to make you think. These are the types of projects I’d like to work on in the future. Who are some designers you look to for inspiration? I greatly admire Christopher Clark, Adam J. Kurtz, Brendan Keim, Dana Davis, Jason Santa Maria, Candy Chang, Frank Chimero, Tom Sachs, and the folks at SOFTlab, who make some really delightful stuff. What’s your dream job? Ultimately, I’m looking for a job where I can collaborate on challenging projects with people who love what they do. I’d like to work on a wide range of projects involving a multi-faceted approach. Eventually, I would love to have my own studio. Why should somebody hire you? So when I’m famous they can say I used to work there.
Carly’s work, from top left: A kaleidoscope for grown-ups crafted from a steel
tube; a de/motivational letterpress poster; infographic identifying congressional voting records; laser-cut stainless steel bowl; a colorful concept watch
Carly Likes: Gruyère cheese, black licorice, polka dots, Ray Bradbury, Gimme Bar, space ice cream, organizing things by color, watching CreativeMornings talks, and the Internet Carly Dislikes: Spiders, infinite scroll, the spinning rainbow wheel of death, being cold and wet
RESUME SNAPSHOT: Carly Ayres EDUCATION Rhode Island School of Design Bachelor of Fine Arts, Industrial Design, 2013
Work Experience risd-id.org Founder/editor of industrial design blog
SOFTlab Design intern working on prototypes
Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island Business and Entrepreneurial Studies, 2009-2013
Brown University Spectator Chief design editor for political journal
ROBRADY Design Industrial design internship
Photos courtesy of Carly Ayres
Wanna hire Carly? Check out her website: carlyayres.com
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