Design Bureau Issue 5

DESIGN BUREAU // Informer

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COSMONAUT GHOST TOWN: A PHOTO ESSAY ZÜRICH’S HIDDEN CULTURAL HOT SPOTS 5 REDESIGN TIPS from plan design group cool kitchen items to sharpen your style

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may/june 2011 $8 USA/CAN

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PLUS! top 10 design sites around the world to visit from thinc design

DESIGN BUREAU // Informer

Contents

INFORMER 10 12 14 15 16 17 18 20 22 23 24 26 27 28 30 31 32 33 34 36 39 40 42

Experimental Interiors Sharp Kitchen Style Smoking-hot Chairs Garden Minimalism Design Diction Technology Redefining Design Amazing Concepts Strong Connections: Image Audiovisuals Designing for Kids Tough as Nails Year in Design: 1964 Impressive Packages Design Tastes Good Posters: Deadly Illustration A Brave New World for Books Update Your Bookshelf Good Looks: Golden Chains Good Looks: Better than Monograms Chicago Spotlight: Marisa Swystun Studio Tour: Face Modern Mobile: High Design for Traveling Homes Design Icon: The Cubicle The Family Five: TNOP Bureau Expert: Antoine Roset, Ligne Roset DESIGN THINKING

44 52 56 60 62 66 70 74

Creative Differences: Studio Tractor Bureau Expert: Tom Hennes, Thinc Design The New Modern Farmhouse: Patkau Architects Pack and Post-It: Workshop for Architecture Rising Standards: Glen Irani Architects Engaging Environments: Marner Architecture Everything Olds is New Again: Matthew Baird Architects Spatially Challenged: PLAN Design Group FEATURES

78 88 94 104 120 129

Curating Unique Experiences: ICRAVE Brand New Rules: Cindy Gallop Star City: Russia's 50-Year-Old Cosmonaut Ghost Town Dark Fiction Fashion Hidden Z端rich This Issue's Best Albums: Presented by ALARM PLUS

08 09 130

Letter from the Editor Contributors Letters For Hire

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DESIGN BUREAU: The Intelligencer

DESIGN BUREAU Publisher & editor-in-chief

Chris Force chris@alarmpress.com

Design Bureau goes beyond print by engaging readers with The Intelligencer, a free bi-weekly e-newsletter sent to readers, delivering a dose of inspiration on everything design.

----MANAGING EDITOR

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

copy editor

SALES EXECUTIVE

Kristin Lamprecht kristin@alarmpress.com Kyle Gilkeson

editoriAL INTERNs

Ellie Fehd ellie@alarmpress.com

Amy Amato amy@alarmpress.com

Lauren Del Campo Kathryn Freeman Rathbone

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Elise Schmitt elise@alarmpress.com

DESIGN DIRECTOR

Marketing manager

Lindsey Eden Turner lindsey@alarmpress.com

MARKETING INTERN

art director

-----

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contributors

Alexandra Chan

account managers

Tarra Kieckhaefer tarra@alarmpress.com

Roxane Attard, Sasha B of APM Models, Celia Burton, Chuck Choi, Lauren Del Campo, Joseph DiMaggio, Erika Dufour, Fiona Garden, Francesca Giovanelli, Maria Gruzdeva, Maggie Ibiam, Nici Jost, Paul Joyce,Skye Kelly-Barrett, Ellen Knuti, Tina Kristoffersen, Eric Luc, Maja M of Unique Models, Kaitlin Madden, Maryna of FM Models, Christopher Moraff, Scott Morrow, Peter Panszczyk, Sarah Piantadosi, The Post Family, Kathryn Freeman Rathbone, Caitlin M. Ryan, Karl Rothenberger, Victoria Sekrier, Lesley Stanley, Suzie Street, Tomoyuki Tamura, Simon Thistle, Cille Veerasawmy, Wallo Villacorta, Matthew Williams, Sean Yashar

Brittany Lehmann blehmann@alarmpress.com

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Greg Waechter greg@alarmpress.com

cover image

Kiley Netzer kiley@alarmpress.com PRODUCTION managers

Cheyenne Eiswald Megan Hamlin ----controller

Andrea DeMarte assistant to the publisher

Brittany Miranda -----

Human resources

Gabriella Marina Gonzalez headpiece, shot by Eric Luc in Brooklyn.

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Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is strictly prohibited. DESIGN BUREAU is a trademark of Design Bureau.

DESIGN BUREAU // Contents

Dark Fiction Fashion Four international fashion designers uncloak the thread of cryptic narrative and poetic mythos that drives their latest collections. Page 104

Hidden Z端rich DB takes a trip to the compact Swiss metropolis to peel back its layers of history, and uncovers a thriving, off-beat contemporary design scene.

Page 120

Top: Rachel Freire design, photo by Fiona Garden; Bottom: Hochparterre bookshop, photo by Wallo Villacorta

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DESIGN BUREAU // Contents

Star City Photographer Maria Gruzdeva spent over a year documenting the culture inside a hauntingly ageless Russian space exploration compound.

Page 94

Curating Unique Experiences Chock full of eye candy and exquisite detail, ICRAVE's interior designs demonstrate that presentation can make the product. Page 78

Proton mock-up, Alley of Cosmonauts, Baikonur, Š Maria Gruzdeva; Provocateur, designed by ICRAVE.

DESIGN BUREAU // Contents

Brand New Rules With her home (a pop-culture landmark) as the backdrop, Cindy Gallop expounds on authenticity and the future of design.

Page 88

Creative Differences: Studio Tractor See how this Brooklyn architecture duo turns healthy debate into next-level design—and how tractors symbolize its aesthetics and ethos. Page 44

Sharp Kitchen Style A collection of cool knives and culinary accessories. Page 12 From top: Cindy Gallop’s apartment, photo by Matthew Williams ; loft design by Studio Tractor, photo courtesy of Studio Tractor; Japanese knife, photo by Erika Dufour

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DESIGN BUREAU // Letter Informer & Contributors

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

DESIGN BUREAU CONTRIBUTORS

Keep it real and do it yourself.

That is the DIY punk law, repeatedly growled out by innumerable punk bands and enforced by all means.

T-shirts? Hand-printed. Seven-inch covers? Photo-copied and hand-folded. Business model? Make something for $1, sell it for $2, take $1 profit and make another one.

Don’t like this record? Start your own label, your own band, make your own.

The law is simple, consistent, and obediently followed (even when those same punk rockers get old and start design companies). And since I went to art school, a bastion of dysfunctional business and ethical philosophies, it was the one law that seemed to really make sense.

The approach is not as naïve as it appears. “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication,” wrote Da Vinci. Look at widely successful recent tech designs and they all share a stark, even severe, simplicity—the MacBook Air, the 140-character Twitter format, and Pandora Internet radio. A renewed enthusiasm for pour-over coffee drippers and rubber boots are designs that also come to mind.

So it’s not surprising to hear that young designers, like the Brooklyn-based duo behind Studio Tractor, quote simplicity as the single word that defines their practice (page 45). And instead of using high-end 3-D software, architect John Lee used cigarette packs and Post-it notes to create a mockup for the Millerton home (page 60). Robert Richter’s GPS for the blind system translates a complex map system into a simple touch pad with audio clues (page 17).

Fiona Garden is a former model turned fashion and portrait photographer, with a deep love of black-and-white imagery. Two years ago she walked away from everything she owned and moved from Vancouver back to her spiritual home of London, UK, where she lives with her husband and their ever-expanding Imaginagerie.She photographed Rachel Freire's fashions for this issue. www.fionagarden.com

Eric Luc is a photographer living in New York City. His photographs capture people and collections of places that tend to render even the most banal assemblages unfamiliar. For this issue, his contributions include Studio Tractor photographed in its work environment, and a feature on clothing designer Gabriella Marina Gonzalez. www.ericluc.com

Simon Thistle is an 18-year-old photographer whose talent belies his age. Causing quite a stir as a key member of London’s new class of emerging talent, Thistle creates cinematic stories with a distinctly flirtatious and youthful edge that are quickly becoming a signature of London style.

For this issue, Thistle shot the looks by Emma Griffiths. www.sthistle.daportfolio.com

Photographer Matthew Williams shot Cindy Gallop for this issue. He says, “I like following the crowd. If someone else hasn’t done it first, then I am just not so sure. If I went back in time for a day, the first thing I would do is go to McDonalds.

I just want to fit in. I hope there are other people on this page like me.” www.matthewwilliams photographer.com

Simple solutions permeate this issue of Design Bureau.

That’s not to say that we’re dedicated to minimal design. We also explore the grandiose. In this issue, we were thrilled to discover the bulletproof pocket square (page 22); Burniture, a chair-shaped candle (page 14); and the preposterous design of Cindy Gallop’s home (page 88).

The intersection of these theories found us looking to fashion designers practicing old-world craftsmanship mixed with scathing contemporary bite, like British designer Rachel Freire (page 109). Her use of distressed, “stupidly delicate” materials are mixed with brute, utility-creating designs that, like the rest of us, are forced to live comfortably between the practical and the ridiculous. Her work reinforces the often intensely personal, meaningful, yet quizzically strict sense of direction that guides even the most experimental and independent designers.

Chris Force Editor-in-Chief

DESIGN BUREAU // Informer

LETTERS TO DESIGN BUREAU May/June 2011

Watercolor inspiration

™

Wonderfilled world of design

CAFÉ CULTURE

Vienna’s new design scene

DESIGN STUDIO PROJECT PROJECTS INDIANA’S HIDDEN DESIGN UTOPIA

Inspiring Dialogue on Design

I LOVE this magazine. A few months ago I discovered it and became completely obesssed with the content and aesthetic. In my opinion, you guys have something truly special. As a landscape architect, I'm always in search of great design. There are a lot of magazines out there but for the most part they are pretty mediocre and predictable.

Inspired by the magazine, I painted this cover of Gosha as appreciation.

RUSSIAN Cheers to your quest for SKATEBOARD FASHION greatness!

Corey Mason , via email

MARIAN BANTJES’

GOSHA RUBCHINSKY’S POST-SOVIET MUSES

BOOK DESIGNER JOHN GALL Sweat, Inspiration, and the iPad

PENTAGRAM’S ABBOTT MILLER The Design of Conversation

INSIDE THE SELBY BEN RYUKI MIYAGI KEMISTRY GALLERY

As a person who practices photography as a hobby, I enjoyed the article titled “Céline Clanet’s Máze,” and marveled at the images taken by Céline. I never would have imagined that people could choose to live in such an inhospitable environment, let alone fight to keep it intact, and I hope they will continue their fight in spite of global climate changes. Many thanks to Design Bureau and Céline Clanet!

William McDonald , via email

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011

praise for Céline Clanet's Máze

MUSICIAN JULIETTE COMMAGERE’S CURATORIAL INSTINCTS

Sound bytes

Jan/Feb ISSUE

“Just discovered your mag and I think it's a refreshing departure from what other ad-crazy contemporaries are doing. Good work.”

ABE via the web

The man behind the design

“Tom Polucci is a bright light in the design industry— I like him even more after reading this!”

MICHAEL via the web

correction: A photography credit for Erik Freeland, Theo Morrison and

Paul Warchol, who photographed the story “Designing to Build” about Peter Gluck and Partners on page 76, was mistakenly left out of the Jan/Feb issue.

We regret the error.

Have a question or comment? We want to hear from you.

Give us a shout at letters@wearedesignbureau.com.

Storefront: POST 27

“Love it. Excited to visit the shop in person.”

VICTORIA via the web

“Gorgeous store. Amazing story. So inspiring!

Go. Go. Go.” TEREASA via the web

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DESIGN BUREAU // Informer

COOL SHIT WE LIKE: EXPERIMENTAL INTERIORS A house should be a reflection of its owners’ tastes. So if you find yourself a bit left of center, here is a collection of unusual and out-there home dÊcor items to suit your style.

VAULT by Daphna Laurens With five small drawers, the Vault desk offers protection for objects with emotional weight, not monetary value. Inspired by the material pyrite (otherwise known as Fool's Gold), the desk implies that value is subjective, and that what's important can't always be placed behind lock and key.

TAFELSTUKKEN by Daphna Laurens Acting like a selfcontained gallery display, these lighting designs shine upon themselves.

Everyday objects on the table's surface become a part of the act.

If interested, act fast; the handmade lights are produced in a very limited edition of just 15.

Daphna Laurens, prices upon request, www.daphnaisaacs.nl

DESIGN BUREAU // Informer

VESSEL LAMPS by Samuel Wilkinson These lights reference a ship in a bottle, with tinted glass that mutes the light without hiding the form, and produces an irregular reflection that appears to be holographic. They can either be hung as a pendant or placed on a flat surface.

LUIZA MAGAZINE HOLDER

by Oiti This circular container is made of plywood and blends function and sculpture. The perfect space to house all of your issues of Design Bureau.

SPRIG LAMP by Victor Vetterlein Suspended, stacked or piled, these twiggy lamps take the guesswork out of making a fire and turn the stick itself into a source of light.

Vessel lamps, price upon request, www.samuelwilkinson.com; Sprig lamps, price upon request, www.victorvetterlein.com; Luiza magazine holder, $372, www.oiti.com.br

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DESIGN BUREAU // Informer

CooL shit we like: Sharp kitchen style There are so many options to choose from when selecting tools for your kitchen. But not all can be hand-engraved in a Japanese market or designed by legends like Renzo Piano. We have compiled a collection of culinary objects that will get the job done with just the right amount of panache.

Kramer Knives Damascus, or pattern-welded steel, is the process of combining two or more types of steel to achieve a desired aesthetic. The intricate designs of Kramer knives use 20 layers of three different types of steel that harden and temper in the same temperature range.

The resulting billet is stretched and manipulated to create intricate and desirable patterns.

Custom Japanese Hocho Contributing photographer Erika Dufour was wandering around the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo with the vague notion of picking up a knife for her new kitchen. When she soon found herself enamored with a particular knife, the proprietor handed her a piece of paper, asking her to write her name down. As it turned out, he was engraving the knife on the spot. Says Dufor, “[It’s] one of my prized possessions in my house, as it isn’t just a knife, but a representation of an amazing trip.”

Kiku Tanto The Kiku Tanto is the result of collaboration between custom knife maker Kikuo Matsuda and SOG Specialty Knives and Tools. Limited to just 100 pieces, the knife features an eight-inch, mirror-polished blade, a black canvas handle and micro-fine, ultra-durable OU-31 steel.

Custom Japanese Hocho, photographer's own; Kramer Knives, price upon request, www.kramerknives.com; photography by Erika Dufour Kiku Tanto, $2,590, www.sogknives.com

DESIGN BUREAU // Informer

Arguably one of the greats of modern architecture and design, Finnish designer Alvar Aalto brings his curvaceous design to this shapely platter.

Serving tray, 1937

Kitchen Pencil Designed and made by Sebastian Bergne for the Lapis Drawing Experience exhibition. More than 30 designers were asked to rethink the wooden pencil. A small numbered edition of 15 Kitchen Pencil prototypes were made by the designer and are available exclusively through Spunique.com.

Kitchen Pencil, 2007

Jerry Cheese Board Sebastian Bergne designed this cheese tray after watching too many cartoons. The board is a handsome chunk of beech with a sense of humor.

Cheese Board, 2009

As Finnish designer Kaj Franck put it, “Color is the only decoration needed.� Teema is highly versatile, easily matched with other pieces and serves all dining needs.

Teema glass serving bowl, 1952

The curves of the stainless steel serving utensils, designed by renowned Italian architect Renzo Piano, make these pieces attractive to hold and behold.

Serving set, 1998

The Kartio pitcher, designed by Kaj Franck, balances the material and the geometric form and is simple, yet durable enough for everyday use. Carafe, 1958 Sebastian Bergne products available at www.buysebastianbergne.com; all other products on this page available at www.iittala.com

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DESIGN BUREAU // Informer

smoking-Hot Chairs Two totally different seats that defy categorization

Gender Bender Architect Didier Fiuza Faustino conceptualized his handmade Hermaphrodite chair as a play on gender.

Originally inspired by an equestrian saddle, Faustino’s aluminum seat generates questions of identity by resembling an androgenous pelvic structure. Although this provocative seat certainly isn’t the most ergonomic place to perch, its corporeal design will find a kindred spirit in any human that happens to sit upon it—a subtle reminder of our own skeletal design. a

THE HOT SEAT Designer and sculptor Hongtao Zhou’s background in chemistry, wood science, furniture design and sculpture spurred his creation, Burniture.

“I create pieces to generate functions, ideas and thinking,” says Zhou.

“Burniture is about over-consuming the fuel, weakening the structure and causing the system to collapse.”

The construction behind the chairs did not come without challenges, as Zhou had to work around the malleable nature of wax. But he was able to determine the correct dimensions by testing a sample joint structure with burning wicks. “I made a thin chair frame out of tree branches and fixed it to the base, put a wick along the structure and then put melted wax slash around it from the bottom,” he explains. “When the temperature drops, the slash becomes a solid structure. I made the seat slightly thicker and drilled small holes to hold more small wicks to burn the chair.”

Buyers looking to own a Burniture chair are out of luck. Zhou only produced two, and both were burning on display at the Gallery of Art Loft at University of Wisconsin for 10 days until they completely collapsed. a

Hermaphrodite Chair, www.didierfaustino.com; Hongtao Zhou’s Burniture, www.hongtaozhou.com

DESIGN BUREAU // Informer

garden minimalism

STAFF PICKS:

“I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT MY...”

The DB team shares the designed objects that get them through their work day

“...Incase iPhone covers.”

Amy, Sales Executive “...Millimeter/Milligram planner.”

Lindsey, Design Director “...iPad.” Kristin, Managing Editor “...Frye shoes.”

Kathryn, Intern “...Bialetti stovetop espresso maker.”

Bojan, Art Director “... Uni-Ball Micro Point Roller Ball black ink pen.”

Chris, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief “...my Matt & Nat eco-friendly tote.”

Brittany, Account Manager “...Post-It notes.”

Kiley, Account Manager

Suspended style for the home This gravity-defying planter, designed by Patrick Morris for New Zealand gardening guru Boskke, will change how you look at gardening—or at least cause a double-take.

By suspending the planter upside-down, and using a unique watering system that slowly nourishes the plant’s roots, the Sky Planter saves valuable floor space and literally livens up a room with oxygenemitting foliage. No need to worry about falling soil, as the planter features a locking disc and mesh to keep everything in place.

DESIGN DICTION Our list of academically inclined design nomenclature perfect for dropping during your next museum mixer

Unpack (v. trans.)

To thoroughly examine and critique every aspect of an idea or object.

A buzzword in design theory, “unpack” is utilized in writing and presentation ad nauseam.

A simple watering can that is as sleek as it is functional Conventional watering cans can be a pain to use. This streamlined, practical design

by Pascal Charmolu for Born in Sweden features a flexible silicone hose with a built-in magnet that allows it to be attached to the can’s body when not in use.

How to use it:

“To understand the objectives of postmodern aesthetics, it is necessary to unpack the era’s corresponding signs and symbols of communication.”

Sky Planter, $25-75, www.boskke.com; Watering can, $78, www.aplusrstore.com. Photo by Mimbild AB / Klas Svensson and Peter Anderson

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DESIGN BUREAU // Informer

Technology redefining DESIGN Singing Robots Make music with an interactive collection of smart statues Swedish design company Teenage Engineering is known primarily for its intuitive, color-coded synthesizers and controllers, but the tech-savvy Swedes also recently put their know-how to use on a robotic choir. The Absolut Choir (yes, as in the vodka) comprises a motley crew of 22 colorful, wooden “singing dolls” with the largest measuring eight feet tall and the shortest just four inches.

The choir is designed to produce interactive music based on human input. Using a Linux software platform, users can type words for the choir to process. Based on the length and quality of those words, the musical bots produce an original melody, tempo, dynamics—soft, sharp, short—timbre and lyrics. Plus, it “remembers” past user input, and can develop “moods,” both of which can factor into the music it makes in the future. No word on how long before they develop a rock-star ego and smash themselves over a drum kit. a

FORMED BY SOUND Vase #44 visualizes voices in a vessel French designer François Brument has created a sculpture that truly reflects its owner. Simple in function but exceptional in its composition and form, Vase #44 is a feat of modern technology within design. The vessel is the result of a program that sends sound information through a microphone to 3-D software, which then generates a design shaped by the individual’s pitch and volume. Brument says coding has allowed him to explore entirely new ways to conceive objects. “The Industrial Revolution created the standardization of objects and the industrial design practice,” says Brument. “This process is totally industrial, but its interaction with the user frees it from [that] standard.”

Apart from Vase #44’s understated yet eye-catching aesthetic, it offers individuals the opportunity to play a part in the creation of an object that might otherwise be just a regular household item. “I started researching what I call a shape in perpetual motion,” says Brument. “I think it’s important today as a designer to ask yourself: what is design practice and what are the methodologies that can emerge with those technologies?” a

Absolut Choir, namm.teenageengineering.com; Vase #44, www.in-flexions.com

DESIGN BUREAU // Informer

AMAZING CONCEPTS Cleaning COAL The purifying power of white charcoal Get ready to rejoice next time you open your stocking and find a lump of coal. The handcrafted white charcoal from Sort of Coal is designed for purifying everything from a cocktail to an entire room. Used by the Japanese for many centuries, Sort of Coal has adapted the mineral-rich substance for products to remove chlorine from tap water and add minerals. The charcoal blocks are made from Japanese and Korean oak, while products like soaps and shampoos are made with white charcoal powder from Korean red pine leaves.

Sort of Coal has also turned the magical substance into sculptural pieces and jewelry. And, after a piece of the charcoal has run its course, you can simply crush it and mix it with potting soil. The coal naturally nourishes plant life and regulates their pH level. a

The Bincho is a hand-blown glass water bottle that includes a clarifying stick of white charcoal called Kishu Binchotan.

GPS FOR THE BLIND Digitally mapping the road ahead Though currently just a concept, Plan.B is a device that could change the way the blind see the world. Looking like a mix of an iPad and a Lite Brite and functioning essentially like a Braille GPS system, Plan.B uses satellite feedback to plot the user’s location. The dynamic textured surface then converts that information into a digital topography to represent the surrounding environment, signaling such features as roads, intersections, buildings, bodies of water and more.

Says Robert Richter, the German designer who created Plan.B for his thesis at Fachhochschule Münster University of Applied Sciences, “The blind can thus move independently, safely and freely in a foreign environment, [what’s] more, he can explore it and learn from architectural proportions and distance.” In addition to navigating by touch, users would be able to use the device’s built-in audio capabilities to learn about their environment in greater detail. Guide dogs and walking sticks aren’t likely to be phased out anytime soon, as Richter stresses his device isn’t meant as a replacement, but merely a supplement to improve how the blind can navigate and know a city. a

Sort of Coal, from €12, www.sortofcoal.com; Plan.B, www.oriko.com

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DESIGN BUREAU // Informer

Strong connections Image Audiovisuals makes conducting business easy, whether in the board room or abroad Text by Christopher Moraff

According to a report from Forrester Research, by 2016, 43 percent of the US workforce will spend at least part of its time working remotely from home. Paralleling this trend will be enormous growth in the use of next-generation video-conferencing solutions.

Colorado-based Image Audiovisuals, Inc. sits at the forefront of this revolution. The company specializes in enterprise-wide solutions that enable companies, non-profit organizations and universities across the US to leverage the latest in audio- and video-conferencing technology, with a keen eye tuned to aesthetics. Dave Mueller, the company’s president, says corporations are just now seeing the tip of the video-conferencing iceberg. “Inexpensive broadband access, larger bandwidth availability and easier desktop integration have opened up video-conferencing solutions to the masses,” he says. “With realistic high-definition systems widely employed now and 3-D technologies looming on the horizon, the future of the video-conferencing market is brighter than it’s ever been.”

That’s saying a lot for a company that already does nearly 2,500 projects per year, with major clients including the Colorado Convention Center, Denver’s Curtis Hotel, Copper Mountain Resort and defense contractor Northrop Grumman. But how does Image AV balance all

this technological innovation while still keeping in mind aesthetic sensibilities? Jason Shelton, Image AV’s director of business development, says that’s easy: incorporate architects into your team. For its work on mega-mining project Newmont Mining in Colorado, Image AV worked in tandem with architects at BOX Studios to create and design an audiovisual system for Newmont’s Denver headquarters. Shelton worked as a design consultant on the project, which networked 32 conference rooms across seven floors, providing both audio- and video-conferencing capabilities. “Newmont took about 10 months from beginning to end,” says Shelton. “It was definitely one of our larger, more complex projects.”

Shelton says it took eight people nearly a year to lay the equivalent of 120 miles of cables in Newmont. But throughout the process, Image AV kept in mind BOX studios’ overall design sensibility. “In Newmont, we used retractable microphones that simply roll back for a nice clean look when they are not in use. It doesn’t compromise the aesthetics of the room. We try very hard to make sure [it] looks right and that it’s not intimidating.”

With the advances of Internet technology and connectivity coupled with a comfortable conference room environment, Shelton feels that video-conferencing will be a more efficient way to conduct cross-country business moving forward. “People who would have [had] to fly six hours for an hour-and-a-half meeting now can have the personal interaction of doing business in a virtual setting.

Users are just now coming to a place where they are no longer intimidated by this technology.” a

DESIGN BUREAU // Informer

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DESIGN BUREAU // Informer

DESIGNING FOR KIDS MONSTrous creativity A storefront selling boxed and bottled imagination Behind a whimsical storefront, Hoxton Street Monster Supplies offers all manner of gross-out oddities, including Tinned Fears, Human Preserves, and more. Known as a “Purveyor of Quality Goods for Monsters of Every Kind,� Hoxton is actually a space for learning, as part of the Ministry of Stories where kids from 8-18 are taught by professional writers and other volunteers. The store is the creative genius of many imaginations, including entrepreneurs Lucy Macnab and Ben Payne, graphic design firm We Made This and author Nick Hornby. a

Hoxton Street Monster Supplies, www.ministryofstories.org, Photos by Alistair Hall and Miriam Douglas

DESIGN BUREAU // Informer

For YOUNG ARCHITECTS Bauhaus blocks teaching tots design fundamentals In design, as in most things, simplicity is key.

These brightly colored building blocks were designed in 1924 by Alma Siedhoff-Buscher during her studies at the German Bauhaus school. Though originally a part of the children’s room in the model house “Am Horn” in Weimar, the sheer versatility of the blocks makes them the perfect toy for design-minded adults too. Swiss toy manufacturer Naef has been producing this classic replica set since 1977. a

FOLD SChOOL DIY cardboard furniture As anyone who has ever given a shiny new toy to a child, only to witness the packaging being played with more than the gift, knows, kids don’t care about price or material. From Swiss designer Nicola Enrico Stäubli comes Foldschool, a line of DIY cardboard furniture aimed at reducing the waste typically associated with furniture. The cardboard cutouts put the design process in the hands of the consumer; all one needs to make a chair, stool or rocker (based on free, downloadable patterns) are a few household items: cutter, ruler, folding tool, cutting mat, spray adhesive, needle, glue and masking tape. Building a Foldschool piece is a hands-on lesson in design, architecture, construction and sustainability—how many other chairs can claim that? a

by Christopher Moraff

Naef building blocks, $ 155.30, www.naefspiele.ch; Foldschool, free PDF download, www.foldschool.com

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DESIGN BUREAU // Informer

TOUGH AS NAILS Ordinary objects revitalized with indestructible materials Whether it's a bulletproof pocket square that protects your heart or Kevlar-reinforced headphone cables that can take a beating, these products are built to outlast almost anything, including their owner. a

“The Damned” Pocket Square An oft-overlooked bit of male sartorial sophistication, the pocket square gets a shot of strength from designer Sruli Recht. Though the handsome piece is technically bulletproof and made from ballistic-strength aramid fiber, it's not recommended that you test its limits.

Blockhead Stem IB

This chunky bicycle stem adds a touch of muscly minimalism to your steed's cockpit. The "IB" in its title stands for "integrated brake lever," which, like the stem, is machined from lightweight, durable 6061 Aluminum.

The Damned pocket square, €95, www.srulirecht.com, Photo by Marinó Thorlacius; Blockhead Stem IB, $169, www.cwandt.com, Photos courtesy of CW&T

DESIGN BUREAU // Informer

year in design 1964 Remembered primarily for its groundbreaking civil rights events and political tragedies, 1964 also qualifies as an amazing year for design advances, not the least of which is the decidedly minimalist monokini.

John George Kemeny and Thomas Eugene Kurtz invent the BASIC computer programming language at Dartmouth College

[M] BLK Earphones If it looks like a bullet and feels like a bullet, it must be heavy-duty earphones from Munitio. Titanium-coated, goldplated, Kevlar-reinforced—these stealthy earphones are built to last and feature a built-in mic and noise-isolating technology.

Ford introduces the Mustang, designed

by Joe Oros William Pereira’s Los Angeles County Museum of Art is completed; LACMA curator Jim Elliott calls the building “the first tract house museum” Robert Moog designs the first electronic Moog synthesizer, which went on to pioneer popular 1970s disco music Satirizing nuclear fear, Stanley Kubrick releases Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb Sony begins marketing the first reel-to-reel video tape recorder for home use Fashion designer Rudi Gernreich designs the original monokini topless swimsuit in the US; by the end of summer, 3,000 swimsuits were sold, priced at $24 each Color TV sets become mainstream in US homes

A-BOX Stereo Housed inside a military-grade ’50s-style ammo box are kevlar speakers and a heavyduty amplifier. Inside, the steel plating is coated with vibration-dampening material for top-notch sound quality. It's not really bulletproof, but it's sturdy as all get out.

Ranger 7 succeeds as the first US space probe to take pictures of the lunar surface; it transmits 4,316 hi-res photos of the moon back to Earth (For more on space design, check out our story on the Russian cosmonaut space center on p. 94)

[M] BLK earphones, $179, www.munitio.com, Photos courtesy of Munitio; A-BOX stereo, $339-475, www.thodio.nl, Photos courtesy of Thodio

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DESIGN BUREAU // Informer

IMpressive Packages

BIZARRE ZARB Champagne bottles with clever and couture packaging design “Trying to build a new brand in the traditional world of Champagne seemed fun,” says Sander Bakker, partner and creative director of Amsterdam-based PR company THEY. THEY recently ventured into uncharted territory by stepping away from building other company's brands to create its own: a new Champagne called ZARB. It's certainly not a traditional move for most PR firms, but as Bakker breezily points out, it's “typically ZARB,” referencing the brand’s moniker, which is derived from the French slang term meaning bizarre.

BOTTLING A RISING STAR Beer redesign is rooted in rock Wanting to redesign its beer as a hip libation for nightclubgoers, beer brewer Estrella Levante turned to Spanish design studio Espluga + Associates to revamp its image.

The result: a mono-block bottle trio that depicts energetic young Spaniards jamming out to rock performances.

Not only does the eye-catching yellow-and-green image capture Estrella Levante’s personality, it reflects the vibe of Espluga + Associates too.

The firm’s design fits into a larger publicity campaign handled by branding firm Seisgrados. In order to transform Estrella Levante into a rock-n-roll beer that club kids enjoy drinking, Seisgrados devised a narrative known as “The Other Karaoke.” The campaign spins a story about fun-loving karaoke singers who aren’t known for their performances, but rather for their drink of choice: Estrella Levante beer. To make this story a reality, Seisgrados hired outgoing amateur singers to make the rounds at local karaoke bars in Murcia, Spain (Estrella Levante’s hometown), promoting the beer the entire way. Espluga + Associates was brought on board to ensure that the beer’s new image would match the personality of its energetic promoters. “We like to work in between disciplines,” says founder David Espluga. “Most of the times, the best solutions for a project come from the gaps left between disciplines.” a Estrella Levante beer, www.estrellalevante.es

Emphasizing the bubbly's wacky side is each bottle’s individual design. The creative team at THEY called on its creative network to create an identity for three collections of bottles. “We wanted a gallery of ZARB-ART, but we didn’t have any specific goals,” says Bakker. Deep Black, the latest in the ZARB collection, features underwater images shot at 1,640 feet below sea level. The inspiration was none other than aquatic adventurerer Jacques Cousteau, as Bakker thinks he probably would have liked this ZARB line, “being French and a deep-sea lover.” Past ZARB collections include Skin, with bottles bearing sugarcoated lips and other body parts; and Art, with bottles decked in strange flair such as bones, feathers and ribbons. Bottle designers include underwater photographers David Shale and Zena Halloway, costume designer Vin Burnham and 3-D graphic designer Frank Tjepkama. “George Bush is still on the wish list,” Bakker adds cheekily.

The creative director hopes that, if anything, ZARB Champagne will have a lasting effect on its imbibers. “We hope their mind goes ZARB for as long as the bottle lasts,” he says. a

“Trying to build a new brand in the traditional world of Champagne seemed fun... typically ZARB, you might say.”

—SANDER BAKKER, CREATIVE DIRECTOR, THEY Client: ZARB Champagne, owned by creative firm THEY Firm: THEY-Amsterdam, The Netherlands Unsurprisingly, THEY did all its own branding work Method: A themed collection of bottles conceptualized by a diverse array of designers and creative people

DESIGN BUREAU // Informer

ZARB Champagne, â‚Ź30-40, www.zarbchampagne.com

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DESIGN BUREAU // Informer

DESIGN TASTES GOOD Robotic Food delivery A high-tech munchie-machine that aids in human-robot interaction research Robots can get a bad rap—especially overly intelligent, autonomous bots—due to their implied potential for a hostile world takeover. And with hyper-realistic, walking, talking automatons getting closer and closer to the uncanny valley, people have good reason to be slightly creeped out.

Enter Jodi Forlizzi, an assistant professor of design and human-computer interaction, and her interdisciplinary team at Carnegie Mellon University. Their creation is Snackbot, a mobile robot that can function either autonomously or semi-autonomously to serve two basic functions: aid in robotics research and deliver snacks to the staff that created it. “We wanted to build a robot we could study long-term in real-world settings—not the laboratory,” says Forlizzi. Snackbot is helping to reveal how humans and robots interact, and how a robot can adapt to a familiar environment. Should you be considering building a beer-fetching bot of your own, Forlizzi has some advice: “Building a robot and a snack delivery service takes a long time, much longer than we originally anticipated!” If only they had a robot to do it for them. a

DB Cocktail Hour How to make one of our favorite after-hours, forgetyour-InDesign-problems drinks The Flamingo Ingredients 1 1/2 oz. Ransom Gin 1/2 oz. Aperol 1/2 oz. Grapefruit Syrup 1/4 oz. Lime Juice Preparation Combine ingredients in shaker with ice.

Shake vigorously and strain into glass.

Serve it in a martini glass with an umbrella and feel your kerning woes slip away.

Drink Courtesy of Denise Beckman at Custom House Tavern in Chicago www.customhouse.cc

Snackbot, www.snackbot.org, Photos courtesy of Carnegie Mellon University

DESIGN BUREAU // Informer

POSTERS: Deadly illustration The seven sins are interpreted in sinfully simple posters Ambiguity abounds in Russian graphic designer Alexey Malina's poster series, “Seven Sins.”

Minimal in both color and design, each of Malina’s posters envisions one of the seven deadly sins—wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy and gluttony—with a corroding geometric shape.

Using elemental shapes in stark contrast, Malina strips graphic representation to its

base. The visual metaphors aren’t immediately obvious, but instead, the shape-shifting black mass draws the viewer in through alluring mystery, just like the sins themselves.

When Malina shifts a square from a diamond orientation for Pride to a flat-bottom square for Sloth, his deliberate attention to detail is made clear. a

Facts and Figures: Working in Multimedia and Animation

Who hasn’t cursed the slow, bloated pseudo-elegance of a Flash-based website? Despite its misuse and abuse, online multimedia and animation can be remarkably effective when used in an appropriate context.

Multimedia artists, with their ability to create these dynamic web pages, work behind the scenes to inject the digital world with a healthy dose of aesthetic sophistication. Here, Design Bureau examines the facts behind these indispensable professionals.

28,800:

The number of multimedia artists and animators currently working in the United States

$58,250:

The median wage for a multimedia artist

Motion Picture & Video Industries:

The largest employer of multimedia artists and animators

1.241:

The number of multimedia artists per 1, 000 workers in Los Angeles, CA

Arkansas:

The fifth highest-paying state for this profession Statistics taken from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For more information, visit www.bls.gov.

"If it’s a good idea and it gets you excited, try it, and if it bursts into flames, that’s going to be exciting too.

People always ask, “What is your greatest failure?” I always have the same answer—We’re working on it right now, it’s gonna be awesome!"—Jim Coudal, principal of Coudal Partners, in a 2009 interview on DesignGlut.com Seven Sins posters, www,makearea.com; Full interview with Jim Coudal, www.designglut.com

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DESIGN BUREAU // Informer

Asian Graphics Now! Author: Julius Wiedemann Publisher: Taschen

Eadweard Muybridge: The Human and Animal Locomotion Photographs Author: Hans Christian Adam Publisher: Taschen

For more information on Taschen’s books, visit www.taschen.com

The Package Design Book Authors: Jean Jacques and Brigitte Evrard Publisher: Taschen

DESIGN BUREAU // Informer

A Brave New World for Books Amidst a sea of iPads and Kindles, image-laden coffee-table tomes have become collectible forms of art

“As digital delivery improves, there's less reason to buy a book for its information content.

So, we have to create more value for books as objects.”

—JULIUS WIEDEMANN, TASCHEN

It’s a common argument that publishing is waning; blame the printed word’s death on a world gone digital. However, many book publishers have embraced the power of online communication as the next tool that will propel publishing forward. Here, Design Bureau talks to Julius Wiedemann, the executive editor of graphic books and director of digital programming at Taschen, about fearlessly engaging this new frontier and exposing the world to new subject matter through the solid format of the book.

Book publishing is currently undergoing a major phase of development. How is Taschen updating its strategies to fit the expectations of contemporary readers?

Right now we have to think about how publishing can go digital. To us, it eventually became very clear that you have to think about the book as an object and as a delivery device. As digital delivery improves, there’s less reason to buy a book for its information content. So, we have to create more value for books as objects.

Why do a book now on Asian graphic design?

In 2008 I did a book on Japanese graphics.

This time, I wanted to do a book about the whole of Asia because it’s so attractive as a place for the world. Visually, culturally, it’s stunning. It’s a good place to cover because Asia is emerging: Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and China are all important places to be covered because people are willing to be inspired by as many sources as they can. Books become sources of discovery.

Why organize the book through types of work projects rather than categories like designer, color and form?

We didn’t want to organize the book by designer because we would have lost the opportunity to publish nice work that isn’t part of a Text by Kathryn Freeman Rathbone

great collection. We separated the work into categories the reader would look for: branding, packaging etc. Sometimes projects didn’t fit anywhere. For example, in China, graphic designers do a lot of exhibitions, so there’s a lot of personal work. These works had to be included because Asian Graphics Now! isn’t just about commercial work. The “personal” work chapter says a lot about the industry in Asia.

Taschen has really branched out to produce books that cover new aspects of design. At the same time, the company continues to publish more traditional books, such as monographs and exhibition catalogs. How do Eadweard Muybridge, The Package Design Book, and Asian Graphics Now! fit into Tashen's new approach to publishing?

The Muybridge book is different than the other two. It follows a line we have been doing for ages, publishing complete historical archives. The Package Design Book and Asian Graphics Now! are focused on contemporary material, and they have been produced as careful surveys/selections of this work. All three books fit really well in different demographics, so they appeal to a wide audience of readers.

Will these three titles ever exist as both printed books and online books?

We have just started to work on digital versions of titles, and more will come. It has been really exciting to work on these new ventures.

In a couple of years, they will be an integral part of the business because the line between books as objects and books as content delivery systems will be more clearly defined. We want to make sure we are well placed on both sides of this line. Just to imagine that we have hundreds of titles out of print that many people would love to get to know digitally is an incredible challenge. There is a pent-up demand out there, and the publishing industry has to respond to it. a

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DESIGN BUREAU // Informer

Update your bookshelf The latest titles for different design tastes FOR DESIGN GEEKS CURIOUS ABOUT WHAT THEIR GRAPHIC GODS ARE DOODLING…

FOR DIY INTERIOR DESIGNERS LOOKING FOR INSPIRATION FROM THE MASTERS...

Graphic: Inside the Sketchbooks of the World’s Great Graphic Designers Steven Heller & Lita Talarico The insides of sketchbooks and journals of famous graphic designers and illustrators are rarely seen. This new book gives readers the opportunity to take a peek at the rough sketches, drawings, words and ideas at the root of inspiring design. www.thamesandhudson.com

Handcrafted Modern Leslie Williamson This book gives readers a glimpse into the homes of renowned architects and interior designers, including Charles and Ray Eames, Walter Gropius and Albert Frey. From fireplaces to furniture, take a look at new photographs that shed some light on the places these icons call home. www.rizzoliusa.com

FOR THE ART-FILM BUFF LOOKING FOR A FRAME-BY-FRAME CHRONICLE...

FOR THE DESIGN ENTREPRENEUR LOOKING TO BUILD AN EMPIRE…

Predictable Magic Deepa Prahalad & Ravi Sawhney In this how-to guide, industrial designer Ravi Sawhney and business strategist Deepa Prahalad give readers insight into building lasting connections between product, brand and consumer. Learn how to implement what the book calls “Psycho-Aesthetics,” “a breakthrough approach to making the magic happen.” www. predictablemagic.com

FOR GRAPHIC ADDICTS SEARCHING FOR THE BEST FORMS OF VISUAL EXPRESSION…

Data Flow 2: Visualizing Information in Graphic Design R. Klanten, S. data floW Ehmann, T. Tissot, N. Bourquin (editors) Keeping up with the ever-increasing, • ever-changing methods of visually communicating information is no simple feat.

From interviews with experts to examples of graphic triumphs, this book is a designer’s key to staying on top of meaningful and modern information graphics. www.gestalten.com The eight comprehensive chapters in Data Flow 2 expand the definition of contemporary information graphics. Wide-ranging examples introduce new techniques and forms of expression. In addition to the inspiring visuals, interviews with the New York Times’s Steve Duenes, Infosthetics’s Andrew Vande Moere, Visualcomplexity’s Manuel Lima, Art + Com’s Joachim Sauter, and passionate cartographer Menno-Jan Kraak as well as text features by Johannes Schardt provide insight into the challenges of creating effective work.

La Jetée: Ciné Roman Chris Marker The 1964 film La Jetée is created almost entirely from still photographs, telling the story of a world after a nuclear apocalypse. With underlying themes questioning time and memory, the tale of La Jetée is retold here, allowing science-fiction enthusiasts a chance to revisit the film one photograph at a time. www.zonebooks.org

Compiled and written by Lauren Del Campo

Graphic, £24.95, www.thamesandhudson.com; Handcrafted Modern, $45, www.rizzoliusa.com; Predictable Magic, $29.99, www.predictablemagic.com; Data Flow 2, $78, www.gestalten.com; La Jetée: Ciné Roman, $38.95, www.zonebooks.org

DESIGN BUREAU // Informer

GOOD LOOKS: GOLDen chains Jewelry born of Indian beadwork Frida necklace, $465

Fiona Paxton has traveled the world to find inspiration for her collections, with her influences ranging from the German Bauhaus to art deco and Japanese punk. The British designer, who is not formally trained in jewelry design, found a kinship with craftsmen from India and their intricate beading work.

“I have always loved craft techniques, and the way the beaders from India translate designs into beadwork is very beautiful and accomplished,” Paxton says. “Pattern and surface texture is what comes naturally to me... [and] I think it gives the collection a unique feel through coming to the practice with a different viewpoint.” a

Sydni necklace, $395

Raquel necklace, $325

Fiona Paxton jewelry, www.fiona-paxton.com

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DESIGN BUREAU // Informer

GOOD LOOKS: BETTER THAN MONOGRAMS Rux Studio pushes the limits of diverse projects Like a modern-day version of the classic silhouette portrait, the Cameo collection of jewelry by Rux turns a loved one’s profile into a customized keepsake. Using 3-D design software, a photograph of the client’s choice is transferred to the edge of a wooden bangle bracelet or hand-polished ring.

“I wanted to reinvent the portrait in a way that gives people the pleasure of having a custom sculpture that is more affordable,” says designer Russell Greenberg. Greenberg was inspired to create the line after hoping to experience an emotional connection to his own wedding band.

“When you see somebody take this ring and hold it up to the light and they recognize the profile of the person they’ve fallen madly in love with, that’s an amazing moment.”

“I always had this fascination with optical illusion.”

—RUSSELL GREENBERG, DESIGNER

Vanishing Mosque The winning design in a contest held in the UAE, Rux's breathtaking mosque also functions as an urban plaza

But Rux studio doesn’t stop with custom jewelry.

Its portfolio comprises a surprising mix of projects, from designing packaging for NYC condoms and Time vodka to developing technology for luxury boutique vending machines, and even a competition-winning mosque design for the United Arab Emirates. “There’s an eclectic mix of stuff happening all the time,” says Greenberg of Rux's multifarious interests.

Rux won the Traffic Design Competition, beating out other international firms with its Vanishing Mosque design. The holy place sits in the midst of an urban plaza, and its spacious, open-air design allows for it to function as both a place of worship during the day and enjoyment during the evening.

Oriented in the direction of Mecca, light bounces off columns decreasing in size and delicately scaled marble to create a seemingly endless view.

“I always had this fascination with optical illusions,” says Greenberg. “The mosque is all about this deceptive illusion that you get when you experience the space from a specific vantage point.”

Regardless of the project, Greenberg’s use of subtlety and visual tricks succeed in keeping the viewer engaged and questioning—something to which all great design should aspire. a

Cameo by Rux, Bangles from $350, Rings from $1,700, www.cameobyrux.com; For more information on the mosque and other projects by Rux, visit www.ruxdesign.net

Cameo bangles and rings Using 3-D design software, Rux makes custom bangles and rings with the profile of a loved one

DESIGN BUREAU // Informer

chicago spotlight

MARISA SWYSTUN Sometimes the best work is right under our noses. This month, we aim the local spotlight on Marisa Swystun.

Chicago-based fashion designer Marisa Swystun has a design aesthetic honed in contemporary art galleries and museums. Though now known for her hand-painted silk tunics and effortlessly draped dresses, Swystun began her career in Detroit in the non-profit arts sector, before relocating for a job at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Fittingly, Swystun launched her first collection in 2009 at the opening of the Modern Wing at the Art Institute of Chicago. Each fashion season since, she’s turned out ethereal yet eclectic pieces that combine high-style detailing with low-maintenance upkeep. Even her painted silks can go through the washing machine. Says Swystun of her inclusive design philosophy: “Every woman writes the book on her own style. I just give her something to work with.”

For more information on Marisa Swystun, visit www.marisaswystun.com Marisa Swystun photos by Karl Rothenberger

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DESIGN BUREAU // Informer

STUDIO TOUR: FACE Design Bureau explores the extraordinary spaces that inspire the world’s leading creatives Often in the design industry, the only products shown to the world are the finished ones. But every great design starts somewhere, and for Face Studio, this somewhere is an eclectic building on a busy, tree-lined avenue in San Pedro, Mexico. The headquarters might be modest, but this multidisciplinary design company does not let that stop it from producing a vast array of modern, captivating projects. The studio’s impressive portfolio includes branding for popular Mexican nightclub Hardpop, and packaging design for SKYY vodka. “The main idea was to create a small yet fresh design studio specialized in pure, modernist graphic design,” says Face partner Rik Bracho. a Text by Lauren Del Campo / Photos by Face Studio Exposed brick archways, semi-circle windows and a palette of white, black, pink-orange and red acrylic colors throughout, the spaces gives off an urban feel. “Each room has its own style,” says Bracho. Three employees sit at a large, L-shaped desk made from OSB wood atop a polished concrete floor.

FACE STUDIO AT A GLANCE: Location: San Pedro, Mexico Number of Employees: 5 Year Founded: 2006 Website: www.designbyface.com Notable Projects: Skyy Vodka, Hardpop Nightclub

DESIGN BUREAU // Informer

A two-hour lunch is ample time for the creative bunch to enjoy neighboring restaurants, including an Irish pub, Aguas Frescas and chocolateries. “We’re very relaxed about breaks,” says Bracho.

Nestled in the trees in San Pedro, Face's office blends rustic brick elements with clean lines and modern finishes.

Clients are greeted in the small lobby with low, modern seating and a flat-screen television displaying Face projects on a black wall.

“It’s very important to have an office that promotes creativity,” says Bracho. “Not only for the people that work here, but also for our clients…they love a cool office.”

A daily reminder of simplicity comes in the form of a large neon sign reading “Supermodernism.”

Bracho’s love for simple things gives direction to his team throughout its design process.

“The best thing about modernism is that it’s made for everybody, forever,” says Bracho. “Its intention is to deliver a universal, timeless message. That’s why it’s so simple. As Dieter Rams would say: ‘Less, but better.’ ”

A red acrylic conference table pops against white walls, black chairs and window treatments, providing a bold space for collaboration.

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DESIGN BUREAU // Informer

MEHRZELLER

Designer: NONSTANDARD

EMERGENCY RESPONSE Studio Designer: Paul Villinski

Mehrzeller custom-made caravan, from â‚Ź45,000, Photos courtesy of nonstandard.at; Emergency Response Studio, Photos courtesy of Jonathan Ferrara Gallery

DESIGN BUREAU // Informer

Modern Mobile: High Design for Traveling Homes The mobile home, though once overlooked and derided for its association with low-income trailer parks and roving gypsy caravans, represents a creative playground for designers. Relatively low overhead costs and virtually unending customization options make it an appealing medium on which to put an individualistic stamp. Plus, with such tight confines, uncommon design solutions are not only encouraged, but necessary.

Whether a classic Airstream or tow-able Tumbleweed log cabin, one thing remains constant: what is lost in terms of physical space is replaced by the prospect of a new view every morning. a

TRAILER WRAP Designer: Michael Hughes

Trailer Wrap, Construction cost: $46,000, www.trailerwrap.net; Photos courtesy of Michael deLeon, www.michaeldeleonphoto.com

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DESIGN BUREAU // Informer

TUMBLEWEED Houses Designer: Jay Shafer

MOBILE HOMES FACTS & FIGURES Average cost of a new manufactured home in the US:

$63,100 State with the highest average price for mobile homes:

NEVADA: $107,600 State with the lowest average price for mobile homes:

MICHIGAN: $51,300

EDDIE BAUER AIRSTREAM

(These data are produced by the U.S. Commerce Department's Census Bureau from a survey sponsored by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. 2009)

Designer: Airstream & Eddie Bauer

Tumbleweed Houses (Clockwise: Epu ($45,997), Lusby ($49,997), Weebee (48,997)), www.tumbleweedhouses.com; Photos courtesy of Tumbleweed Tiny House Company; Eddie Bauer Airstream, $73,702, www.airstream.com; Photos courtesy of Airstream

DESIGN BUREAU // Informer

DESIGN ICON: The Cubicle 1960

Love it or hate it, the cubicle defines the modern workspace In the 1950s, open offices were all the rage, but as corporate culture took off in the 1960s, so did employees’ desire for a bit of private space. Enter the cubicle: a small, customizable nook that offers every employee a semi-private personal office space. Since then, commercial architects and office managers alike have mobilized cubicles as the go-to office space division system. And although the cubicle’s typical structure and arrangement is commonplace, its design history is anything but. a

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Late 1960s: Recognizing the efficiency inherent in Propst’s design, office managers across the country scrap the original plan and decide to grid open office floors with cubicle modules in order to maximize the utility of square footage.

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1970s: Cubicle craze spreads worldwide, reorganizing corporate offices across the globe. The term “cubicle farm” is coined to describe corporate spaces with seemingly unending rows of desk blocks.

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April 16, 1989: American cartoonist Scott Adams (left) publishes his first Dilbert comic strip, igniting a wave of pop satirizations of white-collar corporate culture. The cubicle becomes the butt of many of these jokes.

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2000: Design think tank IDEO releases schematics for “Dilbert’s Ultimate Cubicle,” a space composed of smaller modules that can be rearranged to fit its dweller’s needs and preferences, with some even accommodating space and hardware for a hammock.

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2003: IBM and furniture manufacturer Steelcase collaborate to create BlueSpace cubicle prototypes that feature a projection system and integrated computer screens. Disney World displays these in its theme parks as an example of design technology, encouraging all people to rethink the potentials of typical office space.

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TODAY: Although many offices are now reverting back to the open-air style prominent in the ’50s, cubicles are being more seamlessly integrated into these floor plans, creating spaces that encourage creativity and collaboration, while still offering a sense of privacy.

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Early 1960s: Robert Propst, a designer working for Herman Miller, proposes the cubicle’s design as a part of his Action Office system, a kit of interchangeable parts that prioritizes a highly organized individual workspace while creating a larger area for group collaboration. In Propst’s original plans, wall panels are to be set at 120 degrees, thereby making the configuration of three- and four-walled cubicles impossible.

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Text by Kathryn Freeman Rathbone

Photos courtesy of Herman Miller and IDEO

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DESIGN BUREAU

THE FAMILY FIVE: TNOP Better known in the design world under the handles TNOP and bePOS|+|VE, Teeranop Wangsillapakun is making his mark from Chicago to Bangkok local cultures and other source of inspirations that I can’t get in Chicago. You have to be focused to get things done in Bangkok.

Which typeface should be burned, buried and forgotten forever?

There are a lot of them I feel that way [about], especially the overly illustrated ones. But for some, if you look at its context, I see challenges or opportunities that might lead to something new or better from my perspective. Even the most famous type designer has had a bad day!

I remember collecting your T26 promo posters in school. In fact, every design student I knew plastered their studio with them. What are some of your favorite projects you produced while working at T26?

XXX

My favorite project was the newspaper for the “Typerware” set, a collection of text fonts from T26. Back then, when people think of T26, they didn’t think of nice and clean text fonts, even though T26 carries quite a bit. So I came up with the concept of “Typerware” to represent this collection. I used Tupperware boxes to represent the easy way to use, then reuse, this collection of text fonts over and over. The other project that I like is the T26’s “Spaceships” poster. I originally created only 13 spaceships, but later modified and finished 26 of them to release as a font called “It’s over captain.”

After creating memorable work for Chicago design firm Segura, Inc. and its digital type foundry T26, Wangsillapakun struck out on his own as TNOP. His work in packaging, poster and identity design features a colorful mix of custom type and clean lines.

You work between Bangkok and Chicago quite a bit. Do you like designing in one city more than the other?

Each issue, The Post Family interviews a new designer/studio with the goal that they reveal all of their most secret wisdom so we may learn to be as radical as them. www.thepostfamily.com

I prefer designing in Chicago, actually. I can get a lot done here for some reason. Chicago is a comfortable city [in which] to live and to work as a designer when you compare to a competitive city like New York. On the other hand, Bangkok is a hectic city, but it offers

I’m always excited to see the experimentation in your personal projects—the “Fresh” poster, the “Design Propaganda” series, the “Container” print. Are you working on any new products for your shop?

Yes, I’m working on a new poster which is based on one of my paintings. I started this poster a while ago. It’s a combination of design, typography and Impressionism (specifically Pointillism).

You are well-branded as TNOP. Can you give us your full name? Or is it a secret?

Not at all. TNOP comes from “Tee-Nop,” as in “Teeranop Wangsillapakun,” which is my full name. Although, it doesn’t look this long when I write in Thai! a

DESIGN BUREAU 1

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1. “heART to HEART” installation in Bangkok 2. The Future is Here; book design for UAE's bid

to host the headquarters of the International Renewable Energy Agency in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi

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BUREAU EXPERT: Antoine Roset, Ligne Roset Design Bureau chats with the executive vice president and heir to the esteemed French furniture house Antoine Roset has a lot on his plate these days. As a young, high-powered executive at the helm of his family’s 150-year-old company, he’s constantly traveling the world, keeping the design community abreast of Ligne Roset’s rich history and contemporary designs. The jet-setter explained how his family’s business has been able to maintain its level of excellence and which piece of Ligne Roset furniture most embodies his personality.

Bloom hanging lamp; $295

You’re currently celebrating 150 years as a company. What is the secret to maintaining a thriving family business since 1860?

Being 100-percent family-owned and -operated is the secret.

How do Ligne Roset furnishings capture the essence of French design?

At the core of Ligne Roset is a fundamental French sensibility for design. However, we’re privileged enough to be able to work with the best of international designers that the world has to offer.

You’ve had many classic pieces over the years, but one that stands out is the Togo classic sofa, with more than 1.2 million sold. It originally debuted in the 1970s and is as popular as ever. Why do you think this design is still relevant today?

Togo sofa without arms, $3,135-7,345

Because it’s comfortable and has a very unique design. This shape is timeless.

How has Ligne Roset’s style changed over the past 150 years?

We have found that throughout the years people have become more aware of design and comfort. Technology has evolved to meet the standards of our clients, and also allows us to push the creative envelope.

Ligne Roset’s pieces all seem to be somewhat architectural and bold in shape. Does architecture play a role in your designs?

Facett armchair, $2,470-5,045

Many of our designers have been trained as architects so, yes, architecture is inherent in many of our pieces.

Throughout the years, Ligne Roset has worked with many heralded designers. Was there one that stood out among them all?

We’ve been fortunate to work with many of the industry’s greatest designers, so it’s next to impossible to identify just one.

Where do you see the world of furniture design heading?

An appreciation for high-end, contemporary furniture is becoming more mainstream. Clients are sophisticated and have become more knowledgeable about the design process. a

DESIGN BUREAU

Inside the world of Antoine Roset The exec shares a bit about his personal world What tips would you give to somebody designing his or her home?

Take your time and define your aesthetic. And visit Ligne Roset!

What does your home look like?

An urban New York City loft that is both contemporary and inviting in feel and design. Â What one piece of design can you not live without?

My Blackberry and Nespresso machine If you were a piece of Ligne Roset furniture, which one would you be? And why?

One of our hanging lamps, simply because it would give me the opportunity to quietly observe from above.

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creative differences Studio Tractor's principals don't agree on much. Except good design.

By Christopher Moraff / Portraits by Eric Luc

There is a Polish saying that translates to “Strong like bull, smart like tractor.” For Mark Kolodziejczak and Michael Tower, the creative halves of Studio Tractor Architecture, the phrase elucidates the artistic and practical vision that inspires their collaboration. In fact, the friends adapted it for their company’s name. “[Tractors] represent this emblem of utility and simplicity and beauty at the same time,” explains Tower. “It just seemed like a great way to frame our approach.”

Kolodziejczak and Tower met as as classmates at Cooper Union in the early ’90s, enjoying a mutual respect for each other's ar-

chitectural strengths. They decided to mesh their talents in 2004 with the launch of their firm, but as Kolodziejczak readily admits, he and Tower rarely agree on every aspect of a project. “I always tell my clients they’re getting two for the price of one, because we don’t always agree with each other, but we’ll hash it out until we have great ideas to present to them.”

Design Bureau sat down with the former classmates and current business partners to find out how two distinctly different people and personalities can come together to create a clean and cohesive style.

Christopher Moraff is a freelance writer and photographer whose work has appeared in a number of national and international publications. He lives in Philadelphia and his work can be found online at www.christophermoraff.com.

Opposite page (from left): Mark Kolodziejczak and Michael Tower

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Q&A: Michael Tower Did your upbringing in Detroit influence the way you approach your work? It influences me quite a bit. It was just about being surrounded by a lot of people who were hands-on and mechanically oriented. That really framed my view of the world and the way I approach architecture.

Who were some of your early influences?

Music had a big effect on me when I was younger, especially the emergence of electronic music. It was a very immediate kind of way to engage in artistic expression. But I would say the artist Gordon Matta-Clark had the greatest influence. His work reflects so much of what I was interested in back then.

The decay of the buildings in Detroit, the exposure of structure and the interior, the literal deconstruction of space was critically important to me as a young architect.

Why do you think that you and Mark work so well together? We’ve always shared a common language. In terms of design, we are very collaborative; we push each other, we trade off ideas and we make concessions and formulate a vision together. We have this amazing ability to be arguing with each other and realize we’ve been arguing the same point. I’d say we disagree as often as we agree and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I think it makes for a better kind of design. It’s less polemical and more what’s appropriate.

“[Mark and I] have always shared a common language... we have this amazing ability to be arguing with each other and realize we've been arguing the same point.”

—michael TOWER, principal Studio Tractor is a big proponent of prefabrication. Why? Prefabrication is something that has always been interesting to me as an extension of my interest in manufacturing and what would seem to be a kind of logical transition into the production of architecture. It offers a certain economy of production; thermal and structural efficiency. It’s harder to put your finger on what’s prefabricated or not anymore, and I think that’s the success.

Quick Questions with Studio Tractor

Michael Tower

Mark Kolodziejczak

Black or white?

Jazz or Classical?

Wood or metal?

Silver or gold?

Beef or chicken?

Beatles or Stones?

Cats or dogs?

Beer or wine?

White Jazz Wood Silver Tofu Beatles Dogs Wine

Black Classical Wood Silver Beef Stones Dogs Beer

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Good Hope Hardwoods

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DESIGN THINKING

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Cotter-Pin Bicycle Rack—Aldrich Museum, Ridgefield, CT A byproduct of a longstanding relationship with metal fabricator Peter Kirkiles, the bicycle rack grew out of discussions about furniture and furniture designs.

When they architects were invited by the Aldrich Museum to design a temporary bicycle rack for its Bike Rides exhibition, they imagined a piece of site furniture with the same sensibility as a piece of furniture. The rack expresses the simplicity of a bent metal cotter pin.

Photo by Studio Tractor

How do the words “clarity” and “simplicity” translate to your work? I think that there is something to be said about framing experience and framing space in a way that allows you to inhabit it and really engage with it, which is something I think we’ve always appreciated about early modernism and traditional modernism. There’s a real directness to letting light into a space—expressing a material, expressing a connection between two materials or a connection between two spaces.

Tell me something about you that our readers may not know. I have a son who is three and a half.

Being a parent is the hardest job you’ll ever love.

If you could meet any person, living or dead, who would it be? Three people, actually: [German

What single word best describes your architectural vision? Simplicity.

composer] Karlheinz Stockhausen, mostly because of his work in pioneering experimental and electronic music; Konrad Wachsmann, a modernist architect and engineer who I’ve researched over the years and have been completely fascinated with; and [musician and Roxy Music co-founder] Brian Eno. Music for Airports sort of changed my life as a teenager.

DESIGN THINKING

"Mark and Michael are very partial to using wood in their designs and that’s where we come in. They both have a deep appreciation for the beauty and warmth that hardwoods like claro walnut can impart to a room and the way they use it highlights the wood’s special properties.”

—Skip Kise, Good Hope Hardwoods

Artists' Loft—New York, NY This renovation was a collaboration with two artists—a wood carver and a painter—who were looking to showcase their work in their two-story apartment. Eliminating as many partitions as possible, Studio created an open staircase that connected the second floor to a double-height presentation area, offering an elevated view of the freestanding wood sculptures and paintings.

The artwork was foregrounded by discrete lighting and minimalist fixtures in the gallery, the design of which still supported the daily functional needs of the clients.

Photos by Chuck Choi

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Q&A: Mark Kolodziejczak What inspired you to look artistically at the world around you and who were some of your early influences?

Growing up where I did [on the south side of Chicago], I was aware of the city’s architectural tradition. But it was in high school, when I first took up photography, that I really started looking at the city in a very particular way.

As for influences, I’d say the there are two people who also happen to be very tied-in with Chicago; photographer Aaron Siskind and also Richard Nickel, who photographed all the demolition of Louis Sullivan’s buildings. He actually died in one of Sullivan’s buildings on the same day I was born. [Nickel died in April 1972, when a staircase fell on him while he was attempting to salvage part of the interior of Louis Sullivan’s Chicago Stock Exchange as it was being demolished.]

Tell me about your working relationship with Michael.

Michael has a very linear way of thinking and a particular methodology that I find inspiring. I am a little bit more of an elliptical thinker; I always have two points of reference.

I have my own trajectory. Usually in partnerships everyone has a job to do, but when it comes to design there is typically only one strong voice, but I feel that doesn’t apply here. We both look at a project and the solution we come up with is the one that’s the right one for that project. I think that’s rare and I think that’s why we are where we are today.

You’ve used the term “poetry of materials.” What do you mean by that? I think that people tend to have a limited conception of materiality, and the sense of value of material is not really apparent to people. We’re trying to be experimental about our materials. I think when you are presented with limitations, it’s a testament to how creative and how ingenious you can be with the simplest means. It could be something as simple as wrapping a door handle with leather or changing the tone of a room by simply changing the temperature color of an LED bulb.

Does your experience with photography influence your architecture? Photography still plays a big role in how I approach projects, because it’s about framing the experience: what you see, when, and who sees it. To some degree, you’re really controlling the experiences; it’s not unlike how you crop a photograph. But as a photographer you either have it or you don’t. I mean you can look at an image and say whether it works or not, but architecture is outside of your realm, and after you’ve walked away from it, it may age with time gracefully or not.

If you could meet any person, living or dead, who would it be? Walter Pichler, who is a great sculptor/architect from Austria; or I’d love to sit down and have a great conversation with [artist] James Turrell.

Tell me something about you that our readers may not know. I’m married to sculptor Veronica Frenning, and, as an undergraduate, I designed a house for a blind photographer.

What single word best describes your architectural vision? Honesty. a

The Black Forest Planks of the Hochman Gallery Tower and Kolodziejczak recently completed work on the Hochman Gallery, an expansive gallery space that relocated from Manhattan to a former metal-casting facility in Long Island City, NY. “The whole thing about doing a gallery is you kind of have to stay out of the way of the art,” says Kolodziejczak. “You really have to be very mindful and respectful of the fundamentals of viewing art—that is, the light and the space around the art, and keeping the walls simple, but strong enough to hang a Cadillac from.”

In their design, Tower and Kolodziejczak chose one-of-a-kind flooring planks made from 100-year-old Douglas firs sourced from the Black Forest in Germany. The planks, which measure 12 meters long and 45 centimeters wide, were supplied by Dinesen, a Danish firm. “They are really beautiful,” says Tower. “There are no joints in between the lengths of the boards. They are really more monolithic, almost like a concrete floor, but with the warmth of the wood.”

According to Bente Kruse, an associate with Dinesen, the inspiration came from the Saatchi Gallery in London, another Dinesen project.

“The characteristically long and wide Dinesen Douglas planks proved to be the perfect solution for the main gallery room at Hochman Gallery,” she says. “They bring an elegant, calm and light aesthetic that complements the architectural design of the space and leaves room for the visitors to be immersed in the art.”

Above: the Saatchi Gallery in London

Sometimes the best work, is what you don’t see.

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BUREAU EXPERT: Tom Hennes, Thinc Design The globetrotting designer talks about a few of his all-time favorite spaces Tom Hennes has spent his career designing, dreaming and conceiving of places inspired by his many far-flung travels. Design Bureau asked the distinguished designer and principal at Thinc Design to curate a list of his favorite spaces from around the world. Some are historic, some are now closed, but all are unique in their own right.

Text by Tom Hennes

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Chumley's New York

The Teylers is Holland’s oldest museum, founded in the late eighteenth century to foster the knowledge of the arts and sciences. Its collection includes scientific instruments bought and used in their time, fossils and minerals displayed in old wooden cases and an extraordinary collection of art that includes original Michelangelo sketches. To enter this small but spectacular building in the center of Haarlem is to enter an accretion of wonder that spans more than 200 years, with next to nothing between yourself and the continual unfolding of knowledge that the collection represents.

My first summer in New York, in 1979, a friend took me through a small doorway into a hidden, seemingly private courtyard and then through a stout, wooden door. Behind that door was the packed, smoky bar and restaurant that was Chumley’s, a classic Village hangout that had once been a speakeasy. I never tired of taking out-of-town guests through that same, forbidden doorway to the secret explosion of city life that it so cunningly concealed.

(Editor’s note: Chumley’s closed in 2010.)

Photo courtesy of Teylers Museum

Photo by Jeremiah's Vanishing New York

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Teylers Museum Haarlem, Holland

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Richard Serra's Torqued Ellipses

I had seen and admired photographs of Serra’s Torqued Ellipses, but it was not until I walked through them that I comprehended them. Moving for the first time between an inner and outer wall that formed an undulating corridor, I thought the lights in the gallery were dimming. Looking up, I realized that it was my movement between walls that narrowed that seemed to dim the light.

It was then that I noticed that as I moved, the curving walls undulated. These massive pieces reflected my orbits with sensuous motion. (Editor’s Note: The Torqued Ellipses series is no longer on display, but was formerly on view at the MoMA and Guggenheim.)

IM Pei’s Islamic Museum carries traces of virtually every other museum he’s designed. Yet here, the effect is strikingly different: the scale of its rotunda space literally takes your breath away when you enter (I was by no means the only person to gasp while I was there), and the intimacy of its gallery spaces creates a space of reverie and an atmosphere of refinement that few museums come near.

Photo by Bill Stilwell. www.marginalia.org

Photo by Tom Hennes

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Islamic Museum Doha, Qatar

Katsura Rikyu Kyoto, Japan

I spent the summer of 1984 working on a project in Kyoto and arranged to join a tour of Katsura Imperial Villa. It contains four extraordinary teahouses from which to view the distillation of nature that is a Japanese garden.

In this most constructed of natural landscapes, I was drawn into the essence of the very specific relationship embodied here between humans and their natural world.

It is a silence that I carry with me to this day.

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Cranbrook Academy Planetarium, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan In its older incarnation, the Cranbrook Academy’s science museum featured a small planetarium with what I have been told was the simplest of star projectors—essentially a series of soup cans with holes punched in them. But when, as a child, I saw the lights begin to dim to a twilight glow that soon became the night sky, I was transported to a place of wonder that I’ve scarcely found in later life. It is something I think about whenever I design an immersive space.

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Hudson River Park, New York

Few urban projects have changed life in a city as much as the Hudson River Park on Manhattan’s West Side. Transformed from an intimidating, decrepit barrier of elevated highway and crumbling piers that kept New Yorkers away from their most beautiful river, this imperfect but revelatory ribbon of green space has extended from Battery Park to the Upper West Side, linking continuously to the older parks that extend to the northern tip of Manhattan. As each section has opened over the 20-odd years of its construction, New Yorkers have instantly occupied it, making it our own with a giddy amnesia.

Photo courtesy of Hudson River Park Trust

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Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Jerusalem

I had the good fortune of entering this place with an impishly childlike friend whose profound knowledge of the place and keen eye for the shadowy spaces of human nature enabled me to see it in all its glorious contradiction.

Really a collection of churches, each of which has accreted onto the others over time and through differentiated interpretations of biblical accounts of the death and resurrection of Christ, the church is a universe of independent worlds of faith and belief, stepping past and over each other.

In this labyrinthine space, I had the feeling that I was witnessing the simultaneous presence of interpenetrating universes, each unaware of the presence of the other.

Photo by Tom Hennes

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Anish Kapoor's Cloud Gate, Chicago

I had driven past the “Bean” on many occasions before I finally had the opportunity, at night, to stop and experience it at close range. It is an object of wondrous immateriality—undeniably, objectively present and yet ephemerally, essentially subjective and insubstantial in its effect. It is, close up, nothing but reflections. And what reflections!

Yourself and those around you and a city suddenly become a voluptuous, gravity-defying smile.

Photo by Patrick Pyszka

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And one more...

Of all the spaces I have repeatedly visited, the one that holds me spellbound each time is an empty theatre. In my years as a lighting and set designer, I would often enter the stage before anyone else, facing the empty house and imagining the world we’d go about creating there. It had an equal magic after a performance had been taken down, the stage emptied of all except the single “ghostlight” rolled onstage to prevent people from falling into the darkened orchestra pit.

Silent memories of what a collective imagination, on and off stage, had created and witnessed that day, suspended in the potential space of what would come next. a

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Thinc Designs' unique spaces Hennes' firm is known for designing a number of diverse spaces, including museums and educational exhibitions.

Top: A look inside The California Academy of Sciences' Steinhart Aquarium. The world-class aquarium features the largest indoor living coral reef system in the world, and a gallery with sinuous walls and islands, designed in partnership with Urban A&O, specialists in parametric modeling.

Bottom: One of Chicago's favorite exhibitions at the Museum of Science and Industry is YOU! The Experience, which teaches children of all ages about human biology with games, activities and artifacts.

For more information on Thinc, visit ThincDesign.com Photos by Tom Hennes

TM

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Text by Sara Jacobson

THE NEW MODERN FARMHOUSE Architecture firms are updating classically designed homes for pastoral surroundings

Text by Kaitlin Madden, a Chicago-based freelance writer Photos by James Dow

When a couple close to retirement approached architect John Patkau to design a house reminiscent of an open farmhouse or a villa in the South of France, Patkau looked not into the past, but into the future, for inspiration. Indeed, everything from its design to its name—the Linear House—signals modernity.

Despite the unconventional take on the classic farmhouse, both Patkau and the homeowners stand by the concept. Patkau planned for the home to feel just as expansive as the couple’s French villa inspiration. “The general thought was that [the house] would have a grandness to it, by virtue of the length of the home and the height of the ceilings,” he says. At 276 feet long, with 12-foot ceilings and full-length windows, the single-level home exudes a grand vibe.

Patkau arrived at the Linear’s unique concept the same way he does for most of his designs: by taking a look around. He surveyed the lot, housed on a small island in British Columbia, and its three distinct landscapes: a meadow, an orchard and a long area of fir trees. He was most drawn to the latter. “The inspiration for the long dark exterior came from the row of Douglas firs,” he says. The outside of the home—crafted from charcoal-colored, fibercement panels made in Switzerland—blends so well with the surrounding fir trees, that it’s almost invisible from the road.

The inside of the home, on the other hand, is as bright as the outside is dark. “The luminous interior was then a reaction or complement to the exterior,” Patkau says. Moreover, winters in British Columbia are notoriously overcast, and the couple wanted the home to

DESIGN THINKING

Roof Plan

Reected Ceiling Plan

Opposite: The Linear house is situated between a row of Douglas firs, making it nearly impossible to view from the road. Above: Despite the home's dark exterior, warm woods and natural light liven up the living quarters.

Right: Plans for the Linear house. a

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“The luminous interior was a reaction or complement to the exterior,” —john patkau, principal

Above and right: Clean lines and ribbon windows showcase the abundant natural beauty outside the Linear house

DESIGN THINKING

Linear House Salt Spring Island, 2006-2009

feel bright and airy year round. A combination of large skylights, sprawling floor-toceiling windows and interior walls finished with a plastic-like coating combine to create a living space that literally radiates light in the winter. In the summer, the windows, which cover nearly a third of the home, retract into the walls, turning the home into an almost pavilion-like space.

A sixteen acre farm located on Salt Spring Island, an island in the Strait of Georgia between Vancouver Island and the mainland of British Columbia, The homeowners, the who moved during ofwest site of this housein is bisected fromfall east to by a long row of mature Douglas fir trees. There is 2009, love the finished product, Patkau says. a gentle slope falling across the site from south to north. The south half region of the property is an orchard “They’d seen other houses in the that had containing a variety of fruit trees; the north half of gotten a lot of notice, so they knew the property is a hay field. what kind

of design we did and knew what to expect.” a

There was an existing cottage on the site which has been sold and relocated to a neighbouring property. The existing barn, garage and studio buildings remain. The new house extends 276 feet in a straight line along the south side of the fir trees. The orchard has been made more regular

with the addition of further fruit trees so that the clarity of the juxtaposition of cultural landscape to the south, and natural landscape to the north of the new house is reinforced.

The new house is subdivided by a breezeway into a principal dwelling and guest quarters. The exterior of the house is clad in charcoal-colored fibre-cement panels which render the house almost invisible when seen against the dark green foliage of the fir trees. Interiors are described by a luminous inner lining made of translucent acrylic panels. Over forty skylights bring sunlight into roof and wall assemblies during the day which causes this interior liner to glow softly; while at night, fluorescent lights mounted within the

skylight openings turn the entire interior into a luminous field. Areas within this overall luminous surround are subdivided and defined by the insertion of reinforced concrete fireplace masses and wood cabinet-like service spaces. Glazing within window openings, the largest of which is 78 feet wide, is fully retractable, so that during the prolonged fair weather of Salt Spring Island Top: A can ladder leads tointo a an bright and airy loft inside the Linear the house be transformed open-air pavilion.

House. Above: The house is nestled on a 16-acre lot, surrounded

by mature Douglas fir trees, an orchard and a large hay field

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Pack and post-it How unlikely items informed the design of an art collector couple's rural abode

Architectural models don’t have to exist solely in the realm of 3-D software, highend materials and painstaking construction.

Sometimes, a few strategically placed spare materials are all it takes to communicate a bold idea. Using empty packs of Merit cigarettes and bright-orange Post-it notes, the plan for a modern redesign of an upstate New York residence was transformed.

the walls. It was a very architecturally driven design and they graciously entertained the whole development of it.”

Then, during one of Lee’s meetings with the couple, they presented him with an image of a model home they had constructed out of decidedly peculiar materials. The new design featured tented Post-it notes as a pair of “broken wings,” or individual roofs, in lieu of the expansive roof that had been chosen in the initial design. The wings sat atop segmented sections of the home, represented in the model by empty cigarette packs. This miniature oddity became the inspiration for the home’s new direction—a design the homeowners felt would be more appropriate for its farmland setting.

The Millerton Home was created for its artenthusiast owners as a “museum for living” according to John Lee, founding principal at Manhattan-based Workshop for Architecture and its sister company Workshop for Construction. After several meetings and discussions with the German homeowners, it was decided that a contemporary structure would best suit their significant art collection.

“We had initially settled on a design that was Despite the drastic exterior changes, the plan radically modern,” says Lee. “The whole idea for the interior of the home largely stayed the of the project was this big roof that would same in order to maintain the fundamental encompass everything, and the material of “museum for living” theme. “What is surpristhe roof would be the same as the material of ing for everyone when they come into the

Folded Post-it notes and empty cigarette packs served as the brick and mortar in the Millerton Home's architectural model

Text by Kaitlin Madden

Using empty packs of Merit cigarettes and bright-orange Post-it notes, the plan for a modern redesign of an upstate New York residence was transformed.

house is that from the outside, you’d think there are these distinct wings and volumes, but once you go inside, [you see] everything is still connected. There are distinct bedrooms, but it’s really a gallery-like setting. The internal guts of it are very deceptive from what you might expect from the outside.”

“It’s actually been a very interesting exchange,” Lee says, “because they have been some of the most opinionated clients we’ve had in terms of what they like and what they think works and doesn’t work. It’s made me see residential design a little differently.” a

Outstanding floors for beautiful spaces

Saatchi Gallery, London Architects: Allford Hall Monaghan Morris

Dinesen Klovtoftvej 2, Jels DK-6630 Rødding T +45 7455 2140 info@dinesen.com www.dinesen.com

FOUNDING PATRON OF

SAATCHI GALLERY

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RISING STANDARDS One California architect's vision to elevate the community with space-conscious construction

With large lots at a premium and a commitment to resource preservation on the rise, Glen Irani Architects has pioneered its own interpretation of elevated homes in coastal Southern California.

inside and so much autonomy that there’s little reason [for them] to engage their communities, much less the rest of the world. I’ve always felt that, as an architect, I could help heal that.”

The Hover Houses are a series of angular structures marked by natural outdoor living areas, streamlined square-footage and an elevated building envelope. “[The Hover House] was really just a practical solution for living in a healthier way in this environment,” says principal designer Glen Irani of the impetus for his first Hover House, a 3,500-square-foot live-work space for his family. Irani explains that while elevated home structures may seem novel in Western construction, they have been built in the South Pacific, Mexico and Central America for centuries.

The idea behind his design was not so much to simply create outdoor space, but to create continuous outdoor space on lots as slim as 30 feet by 95 feet. In Hover House 2—the largest of the series at 4,000 square-feet on a snug lot of 60 feet by 140 feet—the structure is masked along the long lot line so that every single room opens up to the backyard garden. The house lives up to its name by hovering over an outdoor living space which boasts a fireplace and heated slabs to accommodate for SoCal’s occasionally less-than-perfect weather.

Irani’s interest in nature stems from his childhood years, when he spent his days camping and playing in reservoirs, creeks and brush outside the heart of Hollywood, CA. He knew when he formed his own firm in 1995 that a respect for nature and dialogue on community would be key focuses for his practice. “People are so isolated in their interior environment,” he says. “[They] have got so much going on

So far, Irani’s clients haven’t been willing to completely forgo an indoor living space for an exterior one; however, they have been willing to downsize in the name of efficiency. Hover House 3, the most markedly elevated of the series, features 560 squarefeet of exterior living space throughout three levels, in addition to a well-appointed 2,300-square-foot interior envelope. If the opportunity presents itself, Irani is happy

By Caitlin M. Ryan, a freelance writer, editor and stylist currently based in Austin, Texas. www.caitlinmarieryan.com

Opposite page: A look inside Hover House 3. From the street view, the Hover Houses appear as if they are literally hovering above the lot space; the outdoor space below is designed to bring the homeowner into the exterior environment

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“How far are [you] willing to stretch your personal vision to create an environment that substantially improves your life?”

—glen irani, Principal

to be involved in the interior design process as well, taking potential furnishings into careful consideration in the plans. To him, a couch that is one foot too long could devour an otherwise ample space. “We like to think of [the houses] almost like big yachts,” he says, “everything has to fit and function efficiently in a very confined space.”

Irani’s homes not only save their inhabitants money and conserve resources , but all of the residents have seized the opportunity to foster a connection with their surrounding neighborhood. In each Venice Hover House lives a family that is active within the Venice Canals community, which Irani refers to as “really just a pedestrian park.” “Anything that brings people together makes me feel like I’ve done something right.”

The architect acknowledges that there will be clients who are not ready to embark on the sustainable journey of living in a Hover House, but he says, “Nothing is going to change in our profession unless we educate.”

He urges people to be less concerned with the current cultural frenzy of trying to be as stylistically different with rare materials and expensive construction. “The question I would pose to developers and those who want to build their own home is: how far are [you] willing to stretch your personal vision to create an environment that substantially improves your life?” a

DESIGN THINKING

MAXIMIZING OUTDOOR SPACE

Opposite page: A look inside Hover House 3 Above: The outdoor spaces in Hover House 3 and Hover House 2 Photos by Chuck Choi

Irani's design embraces the outdoors with an efficient floor plan and an elevated footprint.

Each of the Hover Houses is suspended above the landscape to maximize outdoor living space and engage the surrounding environment.

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ENGAGING ENVIRONMENTS How one firm's practice of cultural study is shaping academic and corporate spaces alike

With all of the in-depth research that In the case of global law firm Allen & Overy, goes into each building he designs, architect Marner added glass walls throughout and Larry Marner is more like an anthropologist updated their space for the modern age. than a designer. Borrowing IDEO’s study- “We’re exploring workplace strategies that based approach, his eponymous firm found strengthen the collegiality of the members a formidable subject when it took on the of the firm and at the same time acknowlmission of creating a sense of openness and edge the level of technology. They’re doing [more] work digitally and there is less need space in the metropolis of Manhattan. for libraries, secretaries, and paper storage.”

Under Marner’s direction, fashion business school LIM College in downtown Manhattan With a total staff of 380, the added transadded 17,000 square-feet to its campus. A new parency fosters a sense of community and student center became an entrance and gath- awareness. Marner was also able to increase ering place, linking the lounge, bookstore and the amount of natural light in the space by library. Marner also added a vertical extension straightening the previously winding corrito the campus for graduate students. “The dors. According to Dave McWilliams, prinfeeling of community is important to us, and cipal of project partner JRM Construction we’ve been able to modernize and maximize Management, Marner was able to keep costs our space,” says LIM’s director of communica- down by “providing no less than three alternates for all major components of the project.” tions, Meredith Finnin.

“We studied how they behave,” says Marner McWilliams calls Marner “one of the most of his methods on the LIM project. “The ad- pragmatic architects I have worked with.” ministrators built an environment for the And with architects that have been working school, and we studied it carefully enough so together for nearly 17 years, Marner knows [that] we could pattern and design an effec- that a “one size fits all” solution never works. tive place for teaching and learning.” Marner By concentrating on micro-markets like inrefers to it as an “upside-down Acropolis” for dependent, urban K-12 schools, small collegthe way it draws people together in its middle. es, large law firms and small financial firms, “We use our anthropological method to add the firm has an exceptional knowledge base specificity to the particular client’s defini- that it brings to every new project, along with its keen anthropological eye. a tion of the design problem,” he says.

Text by Lesley Stanley, a Chicago-based freelance writer

Opposite page: A view inside New York's Allen and Overy law offices

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“The administrators [at LIM] built an environment for the school, and we studied it carefully enough so [that] we could pattern and design an effective place for teaching and learning.”

—larry marner, PRINCIPAL Above: LIM College's new lounge, bookstore and math center promote a community environment and a greater level of interaction

JRM Construciton Management, LLC, 242 West 36th Street, 9th Floor, New York, NY 10018 - P: 212.545.0500 - www.jrmcm.com

Allen & Overy, 1221 Avenue of the Americas, NYC Architect: Marner Architecture Construction Manager/GC: JRM Construction Management, LLC

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EVERYTHING OLDS IS NEW AGAIN How a former New York auto factory became one couple's new loft

Text by Caitlin M. Ryan Photos by Francesca Giovanelli

Spaces with a story behind them are nothing new for a city like New York. They can feel like undiscovered treasures for homeowners looking to inhabit a place unlike any other.

But they can also present quite the array of challenges for an architect commissioned to refurbish and repurpose them. This was was the case for a young couple looking for a oneof-a-kind apartment in bustling Manhattan.

The two had combed the city for both a property and an architect that would allow for an exercise in creative architectural design. They realized they had hit the jackpot after touring an old loft space in Chelsea that had formerly existed as an Oldsmobile showroom and factory. Before the efficiency of the assembly line introduced by Henry Ford, each piece of the American automobiles was manufactured on a different floor within the building. The couple snatched up the space right away, and, upon closing on the loft, struck gold with architect Matthew Baird, principal of his namesake Manhattan-based firm.

The new owners had fallen in love with the poured concrete in the industrial space, and were keen to avoid ruining it with sheetrock—the culprit in the white-box epidemic so common in other Manhattan loft developments. So together, Baird and his clients made a series of design decisions that would ensure the integrity of the original structure was not only preserved, but also expressed. “The project

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The cozy interior of this Chelsea loft is unrecognizable as its former incarnation: an Oldsmobile factory

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really became [about] how to hold onto that integrity,” says Baird. “It’s a very honest approach to laying in new materials against an existing datum. The intersections become the real design opportunities, where the new laminations meet the existing structure.”

Across the board, New York-based architects have to be fastidious in the detailing of their projects, with less opportunity for volumetric expression in a highly congested, vertical city. However, the Chelsea loft afforded Baird more space to play with, as the floorplan was effectively a perfect rectangle of 5,000 square-feet, high enough to have windows and unobstructed views on all four sides. Baird used an organizing principle he describes as a “pinwheeling relationship of spaces”: each room’s focus changes one’s direction and flows into another comparatively expansive space. Although the loft has an entirely open floor plan, Baird cleverly set a series of thresholds to prevent a clean line of vision directly across the space in every direction.

Above: A bedroom and the sleek metallic kitchen in the Chelsea loft Right: The master bath features a bowl-like tub

Further setting this project apart from the standard New York loft formula is Baird’s addition of a greenhouse. The greenhouse was not something the clients had originally requested, but rather an idea Baird and his team engineered after listening closely to their clients’ wishes during the design phase. Hoping to pounce on the vintage loft, the couple initially chose to sacrifice the outdoor space so commonly paired with other apartments they had toured. But Baird brought their shelved dream to life by carving out an area for a greenhouse between the dining and living room, creating a fully waterproof, drainable room with built-in watering systems. “The idea was to make it really feel [that] when it’s finally grown in, it’ll be overgrown with lots of hu-

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“That's what drives me as a designer. That kind of connection you make with people when you link them well to a place...there's a great ‘Ah-ha’ moment. And that's really what I really aspire to achieve.”

—matthew BAIRD, Principal midity, and in the winter you can open that door and allow that [air] into the apartment,” he says.

“It’s a rewarding process,” he says of meeting challenges.

“Design is essentially a problem-solving exercise, and at another level, it’s inspired creativity. When those two things meet and everyone knows it and feels it, it’s an incredibly rewarding feeling to be responsible for the genesis for those ideas.”

Baird’s work on the Chelsea Loft and his partnership with his clients is a testament to the fact that there is always a way to not only meet needs and preserve character, but to exceed expectations and reinvent tired methods. “That’s what drives me as a designer,” Baird explains. “That kind of connection you make with people when you link them well to a place, and that sense of accomplishment when the link is successful and they are happy. It’s not so much a linking, perhaps, as a fitting, really, of people to a place or a place to people. When the two fit well, there’s a great ‘Ah-ha’ moment.

And that’s really what I aspire to achieve.” a

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SPATIALLY CHALLENGED Architect George Berry of Plan Design Group on designing for unusual spaces

By Lauren Del Campo

Design seldom comes without constraints, whether it’s size, space or budget, but such limitations often bring about the most innovative and unconventional solutions.

Finding these solutions, however, presents its own set of challenges—challenges that PLAN principal George Berry is well-versed in handling. Berry’s diverse clientele and projects have presented a plethora of issues, from converting a sprawling space into a cozy office, to pushing the limits of a 500-square-foot apartment. Berry relies upon a cohesive direction in order to solve the problems created by unpredictable spaces. “Design is creating the story of how things came to be,” says Berry. “Whether you’re doing large or small, the most important thing is to have a strong concept or strong idea to drive the whole thing.”

Many of Berry’s tactics can be implemented in your own area, whether office or abode, to make it feel bigger, better and more accommodating. Here’s a list of top tips based on some of Berry’s past design predicaments.

Tip #1: Get creative with your budget It’s not always necessary to spend a lot when creating a new look. “As a design principle, if you’re trying to be efficient in terms of cost, always start with what you have,” says Berry. By taking stock of existing elements, you’ll likely learn that you have more to use than you first thought. Then you can save your dollars to buy the things you actually need, rather than needlessly spending on items you already own.

Tip #2: Play up your best assets They say if you've got it, flaunt it, and design is no exception. “Figure out what your assets are and maximize those,” says Berry.

He used this trick when working on a building for The New Teacher Project in Brooklyn. He took away part of the ceiling, exposing the original, and floated a ceiling in some places. “The bones of the building are quite interesting to see, but if you eliminate the ceiling entirely, you have acoustic issues. So we did a series of floating ceilings that allow you to install lighting, somewhat hiding the mechanical systems [without] feeling squashed.”

Have original crown moldings? Paint them in a unique shade to make them stand out. Does your place have a historic tin ceiling? Restore it to its original brilliance. Highlighting what’s already there will save you from hiring somebody to add more to it.

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Tip #3: Create more room with dividers Although open areas make any place feel more inviting, they may not always be a practical use of your space. By installing sliding doors or by inserting room dividers you can create an entirely new room without costly construction and design work.

Thus was the case when Berry was tasked with building out the Teach for America offices across the country. For the non-profit organization's Chicago office, Berry and his team designed it so that the reception area could be combined with conference rooms if they hosted an in-office event. A coat closet was also cleverly tucked away behind the Teach for America logo wall to maximize space without having to build out more costly areas.

“No matter how limiting a space or a budget is, start with a big idea.”

—george berry, PLAN

Opposite page: The New Teacher Project Patrick Clarke, president of Celtic General Contractors who worked with PLAN on The New Teacher Project, said not all of their work was without a little fun. “There are a lot of angles in the building, and George had a great time with that.”

This page: Teach for America Dividers break up the open floor plan, while bright colors and glass walls ensure a luminous space

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“Reordering and sometimes correcting the flow of a space is more dramatic than any added design feature.”—george berry, principal Tip #4: Reconfigure your floor plan You can make a big change in your home by reworking the layout. By turning a second bedroom into the master bedroom or an office into the dining room, you can completely alter the flow your home, making it instantly more spacious and inviting.

Berry was brought in to redesign a threeroom, 500-square-foot apartment in New York. With a front door in the bedroom, a kitchen in the middle and a living room and bathroom at the back, the space proved itself to be functionally inept, and the size constraints made a solution seem near impossible. Berry decided to turn the entire floorplan upside down, moving the living room to the front and the bedroom to the back. He also

employed some unexpected visual tricks to help make the space feel less constricting.

“In the 1920s, the larger Parisian apartments tended to line up all the doors in this way, so you can see from one end to the other. [With the new layout], you see all the way from one space to another.”

Tip #5: Keep the interior design at the same scale as your place Oversized furnishings can swallow up a small apartment, so remember to keep decorative elements at a small scale. “We kept everything low to make it feel bigger, more friendly and more casual,” says Berry of the same small New York apartment. “Instead of doing bookshelves on the wall, we put lamps on the floor on stacks of books.” a

Above: 457 Residence in New York.

Says Berry, “We did a custom bar that’s tall and narrow so it fits into the space. Because it’s a really small kitchen, you can also use the bar as a prep area.”

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Curating Unique Experiences Escape into the world of ICRAVE, a design firm that can transform any space, whether restaurant, hotel or airplane terminal—and turn it into an experiential getaway unlike any other

Text by Ellen Knuti

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lamorous hotels, sexy nightclubs, unique restaurants, airport terminals, even cruise ships—is there any challenge that New York-based design firm ICRAVE won’t take on? “Prisons,” jokes lead designer and partner Siobhan Barry. Then, she hesitates. “I say that now, but you never know. There could be a client out there with a really amazing idea for a prison.”

nation of architectural and interior design that is not easily forgotten.

And ICRAVE’s approach is working; its brand of high-end hospitality design is beginning to garner a name in and of itself. Increasingly, potential clients are pursuing ICRAVE’s expertise, citing the firm’s impressive dossier of past projects ranging from W Hotels to STK and even Terminal 5 at JFK.

The ICRAVE team specializes in a “choreo- Although ICRAVE was originally conceived graphic approach” to design, where the goal as a design-build firm (all three partners are is to create a space that evokes a certain emo- trained as architects), its cachet has grown, tional response, usually paired with a sense of along with the profile of its clients. Now, it excitement and discovery. Its process begins focuses primarily on front-end concept and by brainstorming in what Barry describes as a design development that is then sourced “brown paper session,” where every single idea through local partners and architects. The is jotted down on a large piece of brown paper shift is due in part to the high demand for its tacked to the wall. From there, the firm figures work. “Instead of getting a bite of the apple, out what the client’s goals are, and begins the we’re getting the whole apple,” Barry says, process of bringing evocative ideas to life. The “But we still want to own every part of the result is often electric—an energized combi- project from a conceptual level.”

The Collective, a restaurant in New York’s hip Meatpacking District, features found objects such as bottle caps and stenciled Knoll Tulip chairs.

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Fast Facts: The Collective Location: New York City Date opened: March 2010 Typical clientele: Party-going locals and bridge-and-tunnelers out on the town Highlights: Being in a charming flea market without worrying about bedbugs

The Nostalgic Experience

THE COLLECTIVE S

tep inside The Collective and you’re transported into a beautiful junkyard where you can munch on deviled eggs with truffled salt and sip a modified Moscow mule or a gin cocktail called “The Credible Hulk.” But it’s not the chic comfort food on the menu or the clubby scene at the bar that sets this NYC restaurant apart; it’s the uncovered treasures and found-object aesthetic that make The Collective an original.

“The Collective is about the reinvention of every object and element that we placed in that space. A return to craft, in a way. I almost see it as a phoenix rising from the ashes,” says Barry.

“You sculpt something out of these discarded objects, and it becomes the spirit of the place.”

Salvaged parking signs, orange pill bottles and massive first-model cell phones are among the decorative touches on the walls, chairs and tables that well-dressed New Yorkers clamor to gather around.

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The Swanky Experience

PROVOCATEUR

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estled on the hip of the Hotel Gansevoort in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, Provocateur is an evolved clubbing hotspot conceived with the idea that where the women go, the men will follow. Owner Mike Satsky sought out ICRAVE to design two distinct spaces, the Café and the Nightclub, to appeal to different but complementary moods.

seat,” Barry explains. “It’s a way to tease out the performer in somebody.” And just like a child’s dollhouse, at Provocateur, you can take off the top; the glass roof over the Café is retractable and gives the space a Garden of Eden feel when it’s open during the sweltering summer months.

To counter the playful sophistication of the Café, the fantastical Nightclub goes wild in violet, black and gold. It's where The Café’s decor is based on the idea of a fantasy dollhouse, “femininity meets dominatrix,” in the words of ICRAVE’s where eight banquettes are outfitted with custom uphol- owner, Lionel Ohayon. A set of 20-foot-wide feathered stery and theatrical backdrops that play off one another to wings modeled on a mythical Egyptian phoenix descend make complete vignettes. “They’re meant to kind of tease from the wall behind the bar, and a menagerie of LED lights people into letting go of their inhibitions and behaving color the arched ceiling. Sound too good to be true? Well, it differently than they would if it were a nice subdued love is guest-list only.

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Light is diffused through a translucent polycarbonate material inside the Zigzag house Stainless-steel and light wood create clean lines in a light-filled kitchen

Fast Facts: Provocateur Location: New York City Date opened: December 2009 Typical clientele: Model-types and the bankers who buy them vodka sodas...if they can get in Highlights: World-class house DJs and a retractable roof atop the garden

Another SWANKY ICRAVE spot:

DUSK When the sun sets on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, the night’s just getting started at Dusk, a 10,000-square-foot club opened by the late DJ AM and the Red Stripe Plane Group in 2009.

ICRAVE designed the space as a series of descending concentric ovals with a stateof-the-art sound system and dance floor in its center. Like Provocateur, Dusk has a sister space, Dawn, an old-world style pub replete with chandeliers and high-ceilings that hark back to the days of Prohibition.

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The High-Roller Experience

HOLLAND CASINO Rotterdam

Another HIGH-ROLLER ICRAVE spot:

W HOTEL ATLANTA The W Atlanta-Midtown cemented ICRAVE’s rep as who to turn to for a fresh take on a tried and tested model. ICRAVE designed the public spaces and all 466 rooms in the W’s latest incarnation of its chic, affordable luxury chain in Midtown Atlanta, in the heart of the city’s art scene. Punctuating the sleek lobby—or the Living Room, in the W’s parlance—is a spherical light fixture with 270 glass pendants hanging at different lengths from the ceiling, alongside a stunning egg-shaped hammock by Furniture

by Asti. The guest rooms have a more subdued modern glamour, with punchy touches like framed swatches of Flavor Paper’s colorful wallpaper hung above wooden bedside tables. “Whenever we get a call from ICRAVE, we get very excited because we know there’s a good challenge ahead,” says Rodney Cohen of Furniture

by Asti. “It’s not everyday that you see a product with truly unique intention.”

I

t took nearly three years from start to finish, but the redesigned Holland Casino Rotterdam brings together gaming, dining and nightlife in a varied, accessible setting. The casino’s layout allows for a broad survey of the space without the sensation of being overwhelmed by options, while the flow is guided and enriched by sculptural touches that punctuate ceilings and delineate one room from another. One of ICRAVE’s first international jobs, the Holland Casino was an expansion and renovation project that involved working within the framework of the casino’s original structure. The firm also had to account for the fact that much of the casino’s existing clientele was older, while a primary incentive in renovating the space was to attract a younger set interested in more than just playing the slots.

The result is a dramatic yet comfortable entertainment space that houses a multitude of activities for gamers and fun-seekers alike.

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IandCRAVE asked we made it!

Above and right: Inside the vibrant Holland Casino Rotterdam Left: The lobby inside the W Hotel Atlanta

Fast Facts: Holland Casino Rotterdam Location: Rotterdam, The Netherlands Date re-opened: November 2009 Typical clientele: Jet-setting internationals and elegantly aged locals Highlights: Eating, drinking, dancing and betting big all under one roof

303 Lesmill Road, Toronto, ON, Canada, M3B 2V1 Tel: 416.849.5960 • Fax: 416.849.5961 www.FurniturebyAsti.com

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The Jet-Set Experience

JETBLUE TERMINAL

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he concept behind JetBlue’s terminal at JFK is bold: challenge and redefine travelers’ expectations for airport dining—as if to say to each and every one of the 9,000 people who come through the terminal every day, “Go on, try me.”

ICRAVE partnered with OTG Management, one of the largest privately held airport food providers in the US, to design the terminal. Together, they developed six fullservice restaurants, a food court, gourmet markets, and a first-of-its-kind gate-side food delivery service by virtue of 216 self-service touch screens.

“The question became,” Barry says, “‘How can we make a streetscape that evokes some of what New York City has and bring that to the airport?’ We wanted to respond to the banality of eating in an airport where you could just as easily be in Chicago or Miami or Philadelphia.” The result at T5 is a cluster of menu- and chef-driven restaurants located at the crossroads of the Y-shaped terminal, each with a unique identity and decor. From Italian fare at AeroNuova or tapas at Piquillo, to classic French cuisine at the aptly-named La Vie, you might hope your flight’s delayed. a Ellen Knuti is a writer and photographer living in Brooklyn. She recently inherited an e-reader, but she just can't quit print media.

Fast Facts: JetBlue Terminal Location: JFK Airport, NYC Date opened: October 2008 Typical clientele: Chic business people on the go Highlights: Sit-down dining options that feel like you never left Manhattan

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Brand New Rules Cindy Gallop lives her life unabashedly, whether in the spotlight or at home in her dark apartment

By Sean Yashar / Photos by Matthew Williams

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hen deciding on a design for her throughout her home, which has become new digs, Cindy Gallop had only almost as well-known as she has. Known affectwo requirements: number one, tionately as “The Black Apartment,” the darkthat when night falls, her apart- hued space is housed inside the former New ment feel like a bar in Shanghai; York City YMCA—yes, the one made famous and number two, that her place be the ultimate by the song. bachelorette pad. “I want any guy who walks in through the front door to be a sure thing within “The Black Apartment is great for personal brand positioning, because it’s shorthand for two minutes,” she proclaims. what I’m all about to anyone walking into it,” Not exactly surprising requests to those fa- she says. “People have said they find it a great miliar with Gallop, a 25-year advertising vet space for being taken out of their normal busiknown for her work with such clients as Coca- ness environment, and therefore being encourCola, Johnny Walker and Polaroid during her aged by their surroundings to think more cretime as chairman of British ad agency Bartle atively and innovatively. ” Bogle Hegarty. Gallop left the corporate world to reinvent herself as a one-woman social Filled with trinkets and treasures from her networker with sites IfWeRanTheWorld.com travels around the world, the space is as and MakeLoveNotPorn.com, the latter of unusual as Gallop herself. Among her favorite which she launched during her now-infamous items? “Rikki Tikki Tavi, my stuffed fighting speech at the TED conference, which was laced mongoose.” But contrary to what one might with acerbic commentary on pornography in think, black—the color that permeates every nook and cranny of the space—is not Cindy's modern culture. favorite color. “I like red because it’s strong, Gallop’s brazen attitude and personal mantra bold, cheerful and with a Chinese heritage— of being “un-blackmail-able” is apparent just like me!" a

Top right: Marketing maven Cindy Gallop standing atop the bathtub in her “Black Apartment”—aptly named with its black walls, black floors and black ceiling. The apartment is housed inside Manhattan’s former YMCA men’s locker room, the very locker room that once inspired the ’70s iconic disco anthem. As she lends her unconventional design style to her bachelorette pad, she equally lends this quality to her Right: Gallop atop the ideas for “the stands future of branding bathtub in her “Blackcentury.

Apartment” in the twenty-second ”

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“Great design starts with who you are, and doesn't care what anyone else thinks.”— Cindy Gallop Above and right: Views inside Gallop’s apartment reveal her curated collection of unique goods, including a Gucci bicycle and golden Gucci chainsaw. But among her most prized pieces is an antique Chinese stone dildo that she found at a Shanghai market. It sits prominently on her coffee table.

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“I only work with you if you want to find a way to blow your entire category apart, to explode the old world order and to pioneer the new world order. In other words, I like to blow shit up.”—Cindy Gallop

Top: A golden, diamond-studded Gucci alligator Opposite page and left: Stefan Boublil designed Gallop’s apartment, and coincidentally purchased a raw space within the Chelsea YMCA at the same time as she did. She says that every visitor has the same reaction upon seeing her place for the first time: “I’ve never seen anything like this,” and “I could spend hours here.”

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STAR CITY

Russia's 50-year-old Cosmonaut Ghost Town

Photographer Maria Gruzdeva uses her camera to gain access to an all-but-forgotten space center from the ’60s Text by Lauren Del Campo

Maria Gruzdeva's assignment was daunting: to photograph the heavily guarded community of Star City, a cosmonaut research and training center and the launch facility at Baikonur, both developed in the 1960s during the Space Race with the United States.

During its heyday, Star City was a top-secret training facility and residential area for Russian cosmonauts, their families and other personnel. The center, which is still active, remains cloaked in mystery to this day. “My grandfather was sent to Baikonur to help run and operate the new launch facility,” says Gruzdeva. “Since I was a child, my grandparents

told me stories about living there and it soon turned into [a] magical place in my imagination, almost like a fairy tale land, where extraordinary things happened.”

The compound, located outside of Moscow, appears to have been frozen in time, nearly unchanged since the ’60s. Once a signal of the future and the brave new frontier ahead, Star City now seems to be lost in time. “Generations of cosmonauts have trained in these surroundings,” she says. “Because of the isolation, the physical space and its spirit have been preserved, I looked for traces of history, power and a ghost-like presence.”

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Vostok spacecraft, cosmonaut dummy installation, Museum of the House of Cosmonauts, Star City. Š Maria Gruzdeva

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Despite being born in Moscow, Gruzdeva was initially very foreign to the inhabitants of Star City. However, she managed to connect with them through a common tool.

“My camera unexpectedly helped me earn the trust of the residents,” she says. “I was not familiar to them, but my camera was—cosmonauts used to shoot with Hasselblads in space before the digital era.” Gruzdeva’s Hasselblad 503CW captured 2,500 photographs during the year and a half she spent in the space community. She says she relied upon her physical surroundings to direct her while shooting. “Physical space is a very important part of the intellectual dialogue created in an image,” she explains.

“I [questioned the] nature by exploring the reality of the space community, investigating the physical and psychological space, the routine of its residents, and their habitat.”

Gruzdeva’s images provide a glimpse into a little-known place and an era when space seemed to be an unreachable, unknowable entity. Her photographs manage to instill a sense of wonder in the viewer. “A visceral response is very important—a combination of practical and emotional,” she says. “I never chose images that would express a feeling or visual effect that did not correspond to the feel of the location.” a

Top to bottom: Engineer, Osipova, TDK-7ST simulator control panel, Star City; Interkosmos painting (R. Bobovich, 1982) in a reception area of Star City; Medical control panel, TsF-7 dynamic trainer centrifuge, Star City. © Maria Gruzdeva

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Negative pressure suit ODNT, Mir space station, Star City. Š Maria Gruzdeva

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USA VS USSR Direction – Space!

The Space Race Timeline The Space Race between the Soviet Union and the US caused quite a stir during the 1950s. Following the end of World War II, the Soviet Union and US would capture several leading German engineers and V2 rocket designs (the first objects to reach the boundary of space), signifying the beginning of a tension-filled, time-sensitive scientific and symbolic competition between two leading nations.

1950

1955

1952 International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) establishes the International Geophysical Year. From July 1, 1957 to December 31, 1958, while levels of solar activity are high, major countries will increase scientific investigation.

1955 July: White House announces plans to launch Earth-orbiting satellite for IGY. 1957 Oct. 4 (Official start of the Space Race): USSR launches Sputnik 1, an artificial satellite the size of a beach ball, which successfully orbits Earth in 98 minutes.

Nov. 3: USSR launches Sputnik II—inside, the first animal in space (a dog named Laika).

1960

1965

1970

1958 Jan. 31: The US successfully launches Explorer I, which eventually discovers magnetic radiation belts around Earth.

May.: USSR launches Sputnik III, which carries a large amount of scientific instruments. July.: US Congress passes National Aeronautics and Space Act. Oct.: US officially launches NASA. 1959 Jan. 2: USSR fires first rocket in orbit and detects solar wind.

Aug. 7: First photograph of Earth taken from orbit by the US. 1961 Apr. 12: Yuri Gagarin of the USSR becomes the first human to journey into outer space aboard Vostok 1 (Gagarin eventually becomes deputy training director at Star City).

1969 July 20: US lands first space flight, Apollo 11, on the Moon.

1975

1975 July (Official end of the Space Race): The space race ends with the joint-mission Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, which indicates a détente between the US and the USSR.

Timeline source: James J. Harford, Korolev's Triple Play: Sputniks 1, 2, and 3

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Russian Space Program Sites Map of Russia and Kazakhstan showing locations of Star City, site of training and residential facilities, and Baikonur, the site of the spacecraft launch facility

RUSSIA Moscow

Star City

Astana

KAZAKHSTAN Aral Sea Black Sea

Baikonur Cosmodrome

Caspian Sea

Clockwise from top: Proton mock-up, Alley of Cosmonauts, Baikonur; Monument to Y. Gagarin, Star City; Engineer, Sergeev, TsF-7 dynamic trainer centrifuge, Star City. Š Maria Gruzdeva

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DESIGNING FOR SPACE For those of us who aren’t quite rocket scientists, Professor Faysal Kolkailah, Aerospace Structure professor at California Polytechnic State University, answers a few questions about what it takes to create a spaceship and the high-risk dangers involved with damaged designs.

Q: What are some of the most important elements in designing spacecrafts?

A: Material selection is the number one step in any design, and the other thing is the study of fracture mechanics. Nearly 34 years ago, when I was deciding my concentration for my doctoral degree, I asked my advisor what I should focus on, and he told me the new materials that would be used in aerospace engineering, composite, and fracture mechanics.

Q: What are some problems that can occur when designing a spacecraft?

Direction – Space! photography by Maria Gruzdeva

Direction - Space!

Accompanying the Direction – Space! exhibit is a book of the same name.

Gruzdeva has selected 100 images from her collection, offering a deeper look into Star City and its components. It will commemorate the 50th anniversary of Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gargarin’s first flight into space. The tome focuses on Star City and Baikonur, as well as the Center of Satellite Communications, and Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, all in Russia.

For information on Direction - Space! published by Dewi Lewis Publishing, visit www.dewilewispublishing.com

About the Photographer: Maria Gruzdeva is a young Russian photographer now based in London.

She is able to offer a unique perspective on her country of origin, its post-Soviet history and aesthetics. Gruzdeva held her first major solo exhibition in Moscow in 2010 and has shown her work in several group exhibitions in London, as well as at art fairs such as VOLTA6 in Basel and Art Moscow.

A: One of the biggest problems in spacecraft design is when you’re re-entering space. The temperature is about 3,0004,000 degrees, so anything will melt. The trick is using composite tiles so that the bottom of the space shuttle is all composite. Unfortunately, accidents have happened because those composite tiles have been lost during takeoff, and the exposed area will burn. But the idea of composite is still a gray area—a lot of research is happening because there is a lot to learn.

Another problem in spacecraft design within fracture mechanics are cracks in the material. If there is a crack, the question is, how big is the crack and how fast can the craft go? Structural mechanics were not well known before the ’70s. But now if you have cracks, you do an analysis and a study and you are able to determine what speed is safe and how much time is left before the spacecraft will go completely out of business.

Q&A by Lauren Del Campo

Clockwise from top: Playground in Baikonur; Residential area, Star City; Main headquarters building, Star City

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Zvezda service module, Star City. Š Maria Gruzdeva

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Office reception area, Star City. Š Maria Gruzdeva

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SOVIET SPACE STAMPS A stamp is a tiny bit of graphic design that is shipped all over the world, acting as a brief introduction to a distant place. With such broad reach and widespread use comes a certain amount of gravitas—no better place to feature a storied space program. Of course, utilitarian art comes with limitations, like color use and spatial constraints. Preserved by dedicated philatelists (“philately” being the technical term for the study of stamps), this postage collection from the former Soviet Union speaks to the nation’s talented graphic designers, as well as its reverence for aeronautical accomplishments. a

Stamps courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

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four fashion designers on the art of storytelling i nterviews by: KYLE GILKESON & KRISTIN LAMPRECHT

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BARBARA I GONGINI Valby, DENMARK

"There’s always a hidden aspect in my clothes, due to my belief that there is always an existing opposite.

A certain amount of harmony contains certain amount of disharmony.

A part of [designing] is also to work with the sexuality, or the whole defined scene for the two sexes. Often within fashion you portray women as this very sensitive, very over-female creature. It looks helpless and princess-like.

This is a political issue for me: to give some space for physical dimensions and dynamics for both parties." a

Photographer: CILLE VEERASAWMY / Hair & MAKEUP: TINA KRISTOFFERSEN / Model: MAJA m at unique models

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Above: Headdress and top by Barbara I Gongini; Page 105, Outfit by Barbara I Gongini

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Cigarette wire neck piece by Rachel Freire

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RACHEL FREIRE London, UK

"Most fashion designers are creating looks and palates to sell on trend, but I create characters in my mind.

Imagine a fantasy world in your head inspired by your reality. It’s a story that constantly rewrites itself, like an ability to influence the future, depending on your mood. I am creating a universe.

[My spring/summer collection “The Girl I Never Was”] is based on a photograph, a picture of me as a little girl.

I have a big frown on my face, I’m wearing my father’s work boots and I have this leather purse around my waist and a girlie little dress. This little girl that I potentially was—little dresses with these heavy, contrasting accessories and this frown on her face—is how I am now.

That picture is exactly how I felt about being a girl.

I am somebody who does not follow fashion. I make a point of it. I live in army boots. I don’t purposefully try

Photographer: FIONA GARDEN, www.fionagarden.com / Makeup and Styling: RACHEL FREIRE / Model: Victoria Sekrier AT Models 1

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to dress in a masculine way, but its practical application probably makes it come across so. In contrast, I love beautiful, structured underwear beneath it. I am turning myself back into a girl through my work. Still in army boots, of course. But now I own some badass heels too!

I like structured materials [that] have longevity. Leathers, denims, drill-weave fabrics that can take a good battering and still come out looking good. I tend to avoid things like satin, as I really don’t see the use in it. Though I do have a penchant for stupidly delicate materials, as I love things to show the passage of time as they break down and decay. It’s a perfect complement to their counterparts, which will weather the storm." a

Custom made Ecco Leather Bolero Jacket by Rachel Freire

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Parachute Corset Dress by Rachel Freire

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GABRIELLA MARINA GONZALEZ London, UK

Describe your personal style Discount sportswear meets monster-truck-rally-dandyassault-victim.

Which book or movie best exemplifies your collection?

Federico Fellini’s Satyricon.

What otherworldly creature are you most like?

I wouldn’t want to insult anything magical by comparing myself to it. a

Pages 112, 113 & 115: Photographer: ERIC LUC / PhotograPHY ASSISTANT: PETER PANSZCZYK / Hair: JOSEPH DIMAGGIO / Make up: TOMOYUKI TAMURA FOR MAC COSMETICS / Model: SASHA B of APM MODELS Page 114: Photographer: SARAH PIANTADOSI / STYLIST: PAUL JOYCE / Model: MARYNA AT FM

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Mask by Gabriella Marina Gonzalez

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Shoes by Gabriella Marina Gonzalez

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Mask by Gabriella Marina Gonzalez

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EG by EMMA GRIFFITHS London, UK

“[My collection] comes from my heart and my innermost thoughts. Everything makes perfect sense when I’m in that zone, and when people ask me to explain, I find it difficult—like I should be in a shrink’s chair.

I design primarily for my alter ego, which is stronger than what I am as a person. With this collection, I was really feeling structure. I don’t like anything girly; I left my girlish ways behind me quite a long time ago. Life is hard and you have to fight and strive against the obstacles life throws at you, and I guess I feel like you can’t do that in a pretty dress. If my designs had no emotion behind them they would be just clothes, and that’s when I would stop designing.

Maybe there’s a tiny dark side to me… I think there is always a slightly sinister side to my work.” a

Photographer: Simon Thistle / Stylist: Suzie Street / Stylist Assistant: Maggie Ibiam / Hair: Roxane Attard / Make up: Celia Burton / Model: Skye Kelly-Barrett

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Dress by EG By Emma Griffiths; Necklace and bracelet by Maria Francesca Pepe

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Dress by EG By Emma Griffiths; Clutch: vintage

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Jacket and leggings by EG By Emma Griffiths

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Hidden Zürich When it comes to finding culture in this Swiss city, be prepared to expect the unexpected.

With an area of only 35.5 square miles, Zürich officially qualifies as a small city, but that doesn’t mean that it lacks hip spaces. Behind its reputation as a financial and shipping center is a dynamic cultural scene. And although they may not be completely obvious from the street, edgy hotels, restaurants and fashion houses abound in Zürich’s compact quarters.

These hidden gems make Zürich an ideal place to visit for anybody who wants to experience a large amount of culture packed within a small amount of space.

By Kristin Lamprecht and Kathryn Freeman Rathbone Photos by Wallo Villacorta

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Neumarkt 17 From the outside, Neumarkt 17 appears to be an unassuming white building along a continuous street wall in Zurich’s Old Town. But inside, the furniture and homewares gallery opens up into a labyrinthine arrangement of sleek display rooms, connected by a drainage grate walkway system and suspended above a cerulean reflecting pool and lush hanging plants.

Follow the grates to wend your way through a mock home that is furnished with some of Europe’s most chic interior décor items. Its downplayed façade may be easy to pass up when walking by, but Neumarkt 17 is a must-see. www.neumarkt17.ch/lage.html

Maison Blunt Step out of Zürich and into Morocco within this Bohemian teahouse. A cool crowd convenes here to drink pricey peppermint teas while listening to reggae and sitting atop colorful, oversized pillows. As pictured, the peppermint concoction is served in a full-sized glass with salad-like, leafy-green mint sprigs. www.maison-blunt.ch

Les Halles As the story goes, this former vegetable wholesale market started off with just two tables and has since grown to become one of the coolest restaurants in the city. With its mismatched chairs and tables (we dare you to find two exactly alike), sticker-filled walls and ceiling-turned-hangingbike-rack, Les Halles really is one of a kind. Check out the adjacent organic food market for a bite on the go. www.les-halles.ch

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Poles in the Sky: What the hell are those?

Travel around Zürich, and you may notice tall metal frameworks that jut up into the sky. These bizarre structures seem out of place with their surrounding context, but their placement is intentional: they’re site markers that stake out the footprint and height of proposed buildings.

Like many small cities, Zürich has traditionally built structures that blend into the existing urban scale. But with new architects winning big commissions with their bold designs, this practice was beginning to shift. Zürich residents raised concerns about how these buildings would alter the city’s character, so city officials, in staunch Swiss fashion, devised a pragmatic solution to help allay these fears. They erected these skeletal structures both to help architects better envision particular architectural elements and to help Zürich residents gauge the impact that a proposed building would have on a neighborhood’s composition. Once the markers have been in place for a determined period of time, residents vote on the proposed construction plans.

The pole system, while appearing strange from the street, actually makes architecture into a collaborative process by bringing architects, builders, and city dwellers together in dialogue about design. So if you see these poles when visiting Zürich, you can be sure that big changes are in store for the neighborhood.

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Freitag As a producer of cool accessories made from used truck tarpulins, seatbelt straps and airbag innards, Freitag has quickly become synonymous with Zürich’s sustainable street style. When the eco-friendly company needed a new place in which to sell its collections, converting old shipping containers seemed apropos.

Zürich firm Spillmann Echsle Architekten piled up 16 gutted and reinforced containers to build out four floors of retail space, and affectionately nicknamed it “bonsai tower.” The Freitag store has become a tourist destination in the hip Zürich West neighborhood, a post-industrial area that went unvisited for years. Freitag’s roof deck even provides a clear view of Zürich’s Hardbrücke transit bridge, the visual inspiration for the Freitag brothers' first line of bags. www.freitag.ch

REFERENCE Editorial Space The lesser-known sister to the hippest messenger bag brand in Europe, REFERENCE is more than just an accessories store. Sure, the REFERENCE space also sells bags in a variety of shapes and sizes, but unlike the colorful sacks Freitag is known for, these take inspiration from old horse-riding newspaper messengers and employ a muted color palette. Plus, REFERENCE has its own printing press where it crafts the day’s headlines by cutting and pasting words together from a variety of newspapers. Oh, and it serves coffee, too. www.freitag-reference.com Photos by Nici Jost

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Perla Mode This newsstand and creative space is better described as a house of oddities rather than as an art and design gallery. Don’t believe us?

Check out its recent show featuring musical sheep. www.shift.jp.org/en/archives/2006/10/perla-mode.html

Café Schöber Upon first glance, this coffeehouse appears to be small and cozy, but inside is an enchanting four-story European patisserie and confectionery, with each room revealing a different décor. The café, known for its elaborate wedding-cake creations, is steeped in history: Theodore Schöber started his namesake coffeehouse in 1875, in a building that dates back to 1314. www.conditorei-cafe-schober.ch

Thema Selection This former-butcher-shopturned-boutique features a well-curated offering of clothing and accessories for men and women.

The building, which dates back more than 100 years, still maintains its original flooring, casings and Italian-style frescoed ceiling. Come to check out the colorful scarves from resident designer Sonnhild Kestler, or relax in the reading room with a collection of rare design books and magazines from around the world. www.themaselection.ch

Hochparterre This unassuming store offers an expansive array of design and architecture books, magazines and other periodicals from around the world in—what else—a simple white space. www.hochparterre-buecher.ch

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IM Viadukt As Zürich West is quickly becoming the subculture capital of the city, one of the area’s oldest architectural structures has found a renewed life as the center of it all. In 2010, the IM Viadukt Markthalle opened as Zurich’s first enclosed market and shopping center, housed inside the unused space beneath the Wipkinger and Letten viaducts.

The viaduct itself was built in 1894 to accommodate the Swiss shipping and commuter rail systems as Zürich expanded into a true metropolis. The rail lines brought a greatly needed transit system into the city, and it also divided Zürich’s District Five into two distinct sectors: an enclosed residential neighborhood above the structure and an industrial zone hemmed in below. Over the years, the surrounding area devolved into a seedy red-light district filled with sex shops. District Five residents blamed the “stone snake” viaduct as they nicknamed the viaduct as the barrier that prevented neighborhood unity and insulated this downtrodden area from outside intervention.

The city finally responded to more than a decade of District Five petitions in 2004 and held a competition to reinvent and redesign the viaduct as a public space. Heralded Zürich architecture firm EM2N won with its proposal to plug both a market and a park into the viaduct arches. “This reprogramming of the viaduct initiates two decisive urban impulses,” says EM2N representative Caroline Vogel, “a spatial barrier becomes a linking structure, and the outdoor spaces bordering it are upgraded.”

EM2N’s redesign sets the market and shops back from the original masonry of the structure, leaving the viaduct’s original aesthetic intact.

Inside, vendors can lay out their spaces using a kit of parts specifically designed to draw attention to the viaduct’s original stone detailing.

Outside, EM2N converted the Letten Viaduct’s rundown train tracks into a pedestrian and bike pathway, giving District Five more green space and drawing even more people to the market. Now, when you go to the IM Viadukt, it becomes clear that the neighborhood is already experiencing a renaissance. As a one-stop place where people can go to have fun, shop, hang out, grab a bite to eat and pick up fresh groceries, the IM Viadukt makes District Five a place every Zürich visitor shouldn’t miss.

When the Markthalle opened last year, more than 20 farmers and grocers had already opened stands in the interior spaces. The market is open six days a week and includes a restaurant that caters food from its own vendors.

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Hotel Greulich Behind a façade of patterned metal panels sits Hotel Greulich, a combination hotel/restaurant/bar that prides itself on upholding a modern aesthetic without feeling cold. The Greulich inhabits a former apartment complex from the 1930s in Zürich’s Kreis 4 neighborhood. Though the area is historically known for its manufacturing grunge, it is now home to a rising arts district.

In order to construct an intimate ambience, architecture firm Romero & Schaefle erected a glass canopy that connects the two low-slung apartment buildings containing the hotel’s 18 rooms. The resulting small interior courtyard gives visitors a sense of privacy and shields the hotel from the constant bustle of Greulich Street. The restaurant, which is housed in a separate structure, extends this sense of privacy by incorporating low ceilings, warm honey-colored woods and updated ribbon windows that frame the landscape and architecture of the opposite street side. In a neighborhood that is still a little rough around the edges, Hotel Greulich is a surprising design haven. www.greulich.ch

Schiffbau Roughly translated, Schiffbau means “ship-building” in English, and as the name suggests, the Schiffbau theaters are located in one of Zürich’s historic ship-building halls. Schiffbau is a smaller extension of the more well-known Zürich playhouse, the Schauspielhaus. The reformed complex contains three theaters, rehearsal stages, workshops, offices, a restaurant, a jazz club and a sky bar offering a near 360-degree view of the city, bringing visitors into a work zone that was once exclusively used for shipping activities. Even if a performance isn’t on, the Schiffbau remains open to the public as a hub for social activity in the far end of Zürich West. www.schauspielhaus.ch/haus-service/spielstaetten/schiffbau

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This issue's best Albums

Presented by

MAGGIE Björklund

Coming Home (Bloodshot) In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Danish guitarist Maggie Björklund got her chops playing around Europe in country bands and pop groups. But it wasn’t until she discovered the radiant sounds of the pedal-steel guitar that she packed her bags to learn under a Nashville veteran. Following that tutelage, Björklund relocated to Seattle and subsequently appeared on a number of albums as a pedal-steel player.

Now that her pedal-steel gestation is complete, Björklund has released her debut solo album, Coming Home, on Bloodshot Records. It’s a charming collection of Southwestern folk tunes, and many of her established US relationships help make it so—including guest spots by Calexico, Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees), Rachel Flotard (Visqueen), and Jon Auer (The Posies). And though she employs her guests to magnificent effect, Björklund’s talents shine through. Coming Home proves itself to be a beautiful debut, from the crooning vocals, western guitar licks, and cello strikes of “Summer Romance” to the dark guitar lines and ghostly, high-octave contrasts of “Insekt.” /01

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JULIANNA BARWICK

TRUE WIDOW

GRAILS

ORCHESTRE POLY-RYTHMO DE COTONOU

The Magic Place (Asthmatic Kitty) Creating her music almost entirely out of overdubbed and looped vocals, singer/ songwriter Julianna Barwick is able to achieve a profound and resonant style. Her ascendant voice, particularly when presented en masse, takes a celestial quality and at times resembles high-pitched woodwinds, organs, or keyboards.

With distant wails and chants that swell and retreat, the music sounds like an experimental composer’s take on church choirs, and for good reason: Barwick refined her talents while singing in church and school choirs as a youth. There are a few complementary piano notes and a buried bass line here and there, but largely, it’s Barwick’s shining voice and compositional skills that steal the show. /02

Deep Politics (Temporary Residence) With cinematic soundscapes, Westernized Indian melodies, film-noir mystique, 1960s psychedelia, and crushing heaviness, Grails is an instrumental rarity. The Portland band’s last album, Doomsdayer’s Holiday, offered a stark contrast to its predecessors with increased heaviness, but its newest offering, Deep Politics, offers a better cross-section of the band as a whole. It’s an engaging and epic mix of acoustic intonations, indigenous sounds and melodies, spaghetti-western motifs, somber piano balladry, and more doom-filled, Eastern-infused stylistic transcendence. With arrangements by Timba Harris, the mighty violinist from unparalleled genre annihilators Estradasphere and Secret Chiefs 3, Deep Politics vies to be Grails’ best album yet. /05

As High as the Highest Heavens and from the Center to the Circumference of the Earth (Kemado) On its self-titled debut in 2008, True Widow turned heads with its blend of down-tuned shoe-gaze and stoner rock, somehow straddling the line between doom aesthetics and pop sensibilities. The trio’s second album and first for Kemado, As High as the Highest Heavens…, is a new dose of drawn-out melodies, fuzzy guitars, and hypnotizing harmonies. That last aspect comes equally from guitarist DH Phillips (formerly of Slowdive) and bassist Nicole Estill, whose echoing vocals ensure that you experience the music at a comfortably slow pace. /03

Cotonou Club (Strut) Dubbed “the greatest band in Benin’s history,” the Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou is a popular musical export from the small West African nation. The large group, active since the 1960s, specializes in funky and psychedelic afrobeat, and in support of reissue compilations in 2010, the band reunited for a series of comeback live dates. Now it has put out its first studio album in more than 20 years, Cotonou Club, released in North America by Strut Records of the !K7 Label Group. With re-recorded classics and brand-new compositions—including a bonus track with members of Franz Ferdinand—the album finds Orchestre Poly-Rythmo as forceful as ever with its dance-inducing blend of Vodoun rhythms and funky African psychedelia. /06

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ADEBISI SHANK

This Is The Second Album From A Band Called Adebisi Shank (Sargent House) Released to European acclaim in 2010, the aptly titled second album from Irish electro/ math rockers Adebisi Shank has now achieved North American release thanks to the peerless Sargent House. The record label/management company describes the trio as a blend of Fang Island’s shredding riffs with Battles’ electronic quirkiness and rhythmic playfulness. That description isn’t off the mark, but readers won’t get a sense of the band’s real abilities until they hear its hyper-melodic, polyrhythmic, and—most importantly—jubilant songs in full. /04

3:33

333EP1 (Parallel Thought LTD/Alpha Pup) With an identity currently under wraps, 3:33 makes its mysterious debut with 333EP1, a seven-track introduction that falls somewhere between sample-based experimentalism and dark, instrumental hip hop. Eerie, atonal backgrounds either establish a brooding atmosphere or introduce massive, head-nodding, and often-distorted hip-hop beats. Melancholy piano loops offer some of the EP’s only real melodies, while the rest is built from rustling, jangling, shrieks, whispers, and whirring electronics. Apt comparisons can be made to industrial hip-hoppers Dälek, particularly after hearing the bonus digital cut of “333N4,” a vocal version that features guest rappers Del the Funky Homosapien and Tame One. /07

Scott Morrow is the music editor at ALARM and author of This Week’s Best Albums, an eclectic weekly column and podcast presenting exceptional music.

Visit www.alarmpress.com for more.

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For Hire: Luke Archer FOR HIRE DESIGN TALENT FRESH ON THE MARKET

FOR HIRE

FOR HIRE design talent, studying This British export is proving to be a promising graphic DESIGN TALENT DESIGN TALENT Design Talent FRESH ON THE FRESH ON THE Fresh On the and cutting his teeth in the Mecca of design, Switzerland MARKET MARKET

FOR HIRE

DESIGN TALENT FRESH ON THE MARKET

FOR HIRE

FOR HIRE

Market

Tell us a bit about your background and how you first found an interest in design.

I grew up in a town called York, in England.FOR My HIRE as a TALENT FOR HIRE mother was trainedDESIGN FRESH ON THE Design Talentceramicist and my dad as MARKET Fresh On an artist. I had a very crethe Market ative upbringing, always drawing, painting and making things. The first that I can remember about my interest in design was when I was nine or ten. I used to collect the stickers that came on fruit—the more exotic the fruit, the nicer the sticker!

Who are some designers you look to for inspiration?

DESIGN TALENT FRESH Sometimes it’s not even a designer, but a typeface. I recently saw this ON THE MARKET really beautiful, grotesque font used for the logotype on a 1960s edition of a magazine called Bauwelt. It led me to go hunting around for information about the font, and in the process I uncovered all this other DESIGN TALENT FRESH DESIGN TALENT FRESH great imagery and documentation. it just gets me excited about ON THE MARKET ONAll THEofMARKET graphic design.

FOR HIRE DESIGN TALENT FRESH ON THE MARKET

FOR HIRE: Laura Allcorn DESIGN TALENT FRESH ON THE MARKET

FORFORHIRE HIRE

Is there a particular style of design or object that you absolutely despise?

Too many designers I know rant on and on about design that they hate.

It gets tiresome listening to them and I don’t think it’s the right mental attitude to have. I find that instead of getting annoyed about design I hate, it’s better to focus on what I like and to build on that.

What are your post-graduation career goals?

One of the reasons I decided to do the master’s at ECAL (in Swizterland) was because I wanted to explore different areas and methods of my personal practice, and to try and find out exactly where and how I want to work. So at the moment, I’m not entirely sure what I’m going to do! There are a few places that I would really like work, though; Berlin, San Francisco, Chicago and New York. This is partly because the graphic design coming from these cities is very exciting, and partly because they are just great places to live!

Why should somebody hire you?

Because I am thoughtful, passionate and inquisitive about design. a

Luke likes/dislikes…

Given my previous comment about design that I despise, here is my list, in no particular order, of 20 design likes!

A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, the sound of Ennio Morricone, Michael Bierut’s writing, Penguin book covers from the ’60s and ’70s, Fontana Modern Masters covers, @ font-face, Logotypes by Theo van Doesberg, “Surely, You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!,” Vitus 979 bike frames, Boy Scout Utility Modern, Design Observer, FF Bau, Venus Extended, Chris Nieri, Replica Type Specimen, I Like Aerials, Lineto. com, Printed Matter, van Doesburg’s stained glass windows.

RESUME SNAPSHOT: LUKE ARCHER EDUCATION ECAL, Lausanne Switzerland MA Art Direction Typography (2010-2012)

Work Experience Proud Creative Internship (2010)

exhibitions & PRESS London Design Festival: A Celebration of August exhibition, September 2010

Bath School of Art and Design, Bath, UK BA Hons Graphic Communication First Class Honors (2007-2010)

Mytton Williams Internship (2010)

It's Nice That: Graduates Showcase, July 2010

York College, UK Foundation Art and Design (2006-2007)

Interested in being featured in For Hire? Email us at forhire@wearedesignbureau.com

Magculture: Review of Rotary Magazine, April 2010

Creative Review: Feature of the AV Studio exhibition, March, 2010 Ephemeral Exhibition: Blackall Gallery, London, June 2010

Wanna hire Luke? Check out his website: www.lukearcher.co.uk

CHROMATIC The Crossroads of Color and MusiC

A New Book from ALARM Press

WWW.ALARMPRESS.COM

Work featured here and on inside covers by Andy Gilmore.