VOLUME 03 ISSUE 03 JULY-SEPTEMBER 2020
Rs.100
DESIGN CONNECT PROMOTING GOOD TASTE
AFFILIATED TO NATURE
DUBBELDAM INC. ARCHITECTURE CRAFTS A CONTEMPORARY HOME IN TORONTO USING BIOPHILIC DESIGN STRATEGIES
THE V-PLAZA CREATING A SPACE FOR SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION
HAPPY HOMES IN SURAT A PROJECT DESIGNED BY SANJAY PURI ARCHITECTS
SIT BACK AND RELAX @ CAFE GOT IN THE KIMPTON VIVIDORA HOTEL IN BARCELONA xxxxxxxxxxx|June 2018
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s we take footsteps towards the future, the landscape which encompasses our world tries to keep in tune with our lives. This is possible because there are number of professionals who work towards achieving this balance. The essence is to maintain a continuity of sorts, a continuity in the built environment where the past and present survive together symbiotically. The V-Plaza designed by 3deluxe tries to attain this coherence. A coherence which would preserve cultural heritage while creating space for social transformation. A space that is bright, friendly, open and connecting.
Editor’s Note
Contemporary architects don’t only have to edit the built environment, they have to create a sustainable environment by infusing the elements of sustainability and eco-sensitivity in their projects. In the project Excellenseaa 126 based in Surat, Sanjay Puri Architects tries to achieve this objective. Designed in response to the client’s brief, the location of the site & the city’s climate, Excellenseaa 126 creates a micro-environment that is sustainable. The extensive landscaping with trees, plants, and water bodies helps in passive cooling. The large overhangs & outdoor decks to each apartment reduce heat gain whilst adding individual outdoor spaces.
In independent properties too architects have successfully created this symbiosis. The Garden Circle designed by Designed by Dubbeldam Inc. Architecture + Design serves as a testimony to this statement. For this house located on a tight cul-de-sac in a midtown Toronto, the architects drew upon biophilic design strategies to create an abode that is sustainable and inspired by nature.
Apart from nature, designers are also taking cues from traditional homes, to invoke a homely feeling in the interiors. Numerous clients in the hospitality and retail space seem to have taken a liking for this idea. Perhaps at a psychological level, it offers a sense of relief to the customer who has to be cautious and yet dine in a restaurant or eat at a pizza outlet. Designed by El Equipo Creativo, The Fauna Restaurant based inside the Kimpton Vividora Hotel, a new hotel in the Old City of Barcelona, takes inspiration from a traditional Barcelona house which reflects very clearly in its patterns, textures, galleries and lattices and together it creates a very cozy and homely atmosphere.
Editor Vikas Bhadra vikasbhadra@designconnect.biz Designer Darshan Palav
We also converse with young Japanese Designer Nakamura Kazunobu who uses points, lines and surfaces to fulfil the Japanese sense of beauty in space, as discussed in ‘In Praise of Shadows’ an essay on Japanese aesthetics written by Junichiro Tanizaki. Back home, designer Neha Arora who specialises in commercial hospitality design, points out that a designer usually tends to be influenced by culture and the exposure garnered while travelling across the world. It helps them in creating immersive spaces that transports people to another world. This and more in this issue of Design Connect. Happy Reading!
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Affiliated to Nature - Dubbeldam Inc. Architecture + Design adorn a home in Toronto with biophilic design to create a symbiosis which is contemporary yet connected to nature
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A foreplay with light and shadows - In conversation with the winner of People’s Choice Award at the Frame Awards 2020, young Japanese spatial designer Nakamura Kazunobu
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A Style Statement - Sanjay Puri Architects designs a housing project for Happy Homes in the city of Surat. Christened as Excellenseaa 126, this project creates a sustainable micro-environment
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At home for dinner - The Fauna Restaurant based inside the Kimpton Vividora Hotel, Barcelona takes design inspiration from characteristic elements of a traditional Barcelona house
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Making way for transformation - By utilising innovative architecture, the V-Plaza designed by 3deluxe preserves the cultural heritage of Lithuania while creating space for social transformation
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Design Inclinations could be a product of the Cultural Syntax A designer can be influenced by culture as also the exposure the individual receives while travelling across the world says Neha Arora, Founder Principal at Neha Arora N, a commercial hospitality design studio
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Sit Back and Relax - Cafe Got in the Kimpton Vividora Hotel acts seamlessly blends elements of the city and hotel and creates a space where you can simply sit back and relax
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A piazza for the contemporary times - Grand Gateway 66 retail complex (GG66) designed by Honkong based Elena Galli Giallini Ltd. (EGGL) combines core Chinese and Western values to define cosmopolitanism of the city of Shanghai
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Affiliated to Nature
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The Garden Circle house by Dubbeldam Inc. Architecture + Design
The Garden Circle house by Dubbeldam Inc. Architecture + Design
Dubbeldam Inc. Architecture + Design adorn a home in Toronto with biophilic design to create a symbiosis which is contemporary yet connected to nature. Project Designed By: Dubbeldam Inc. Architecture + Design Photo Courtesy: Scott Norsworthy
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The Garden Circle house by Dubbeldam Inc. Architecture + Design
The Garden Circle house is located on a tight culde-sac in midtown Toronto, nestled in a family neighbourhood that boasts large trees. The Garden Circle House responds to the jumble of styles and sizes of other homes on the street with a scale and proportion appropriate to the lot.
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The Garden Circle house by Dubbeldam Inc. Architecture + Design
The house was designed for a family of four who love the outdoors and (most of) whom are avid hockey players. The clients were drawn to midcentury prairie style architecture that incorporates the use of natural materials, overhangs, ample natural light and a connection with the outdoors. The family wanted the architects to create a home that incorporated sustainable building strategies, was inspired by nature and awash in daylight.
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The Garden Circle house by Dubbeldam Inc. Architecture + Design
The house is designed as two shifted forms in plan, defined by two different colours of brick on the exterior (buff-coloured and grey brick). This shift creates spatial definition in the floor plan and double height spaces in the homes’ interior, accentuated at the wood stair and central skylight.
The ground floor contains all the communal spaces (kitchen, living room, dining room, entry points) with a reciprocal relationship between the indoor living spaces and the outdoors, made possible with large expansive windows and strategic views to the backyard. On the second floor are the more private areas of the home, including the bedrooms and bathrooms.
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Upon entry into the house, a direct view of the landscaped backyard is provided through a tall, narrow window on the axis. Looking back toward the front entry, a double-height space dramatically showcases the home’s dynamic spatial qualities, enhanced by the light that pours in from the tall windows, and the abstracted shadows cast from the unique triangular light fixtures overhead.
The careful choice of materials utilised in the project is also a testimony to the kind of detailing that preceded the execution of this project. Natural and warm materials work together in the interior and the exterior to create a richness and calmness more than a “wow� factor. The use of warmcoloured woods such as steamed robinia for the flooring, and walnut and mahogany for the stair and millwork, creates the ambiance for the interior. The fireplace is clad in subtly veined grey limestone and the millwork in grey-stained white oak slats. The exterior is clad in buff and grey brick complemented by the warm wood tones and mahogany windows and doors. Another highlight of the project is the curved central staircase that connects all three levels of the home. Crafted of solid mahogany, it features open risers and a curved balustrade that emulates natural organic forms, inviting the hand to run along its sculptural contours. Light filters through the large skylight above the stair, providing natural illumination and ventilation in the centre of the home, while simultaneously offering a view of the sky and highlighting the rich stair materials.
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The Garden Circle house by Dubbeldam Inc. Architecture + Design
In response to the client brief for a home that was sustainable, inspired by nature, the architects drew upon biophilic design strategies for the house. Biophilic design incorporates visual and non-visual connections with nature through views, materiality, sound and light to create a sensory experience (sight, sound, touch and smell) of the natural world in the built environment. The infusion of Biophilic design was achieved by using spatial strategies which provided a visual connection with nature. These strategies made use of natural materials and biomorphic forms and patterns integrated with elevated viewpoints and water features. An unhindered access to natural light also played an important role in this design.
The Garden Circle house by Dubbeldam Inc. Architecture + Design
That apart some branded accessories which have been utilised in this project are Lighting Bolt Pendant (Hollis + Morris) Triangle Pendant (Hollis + Morris) Labert & Fils Waldorf Suspension (Lightform) Kartell FLY Pendant (Suite 22) Wallpaper Fornasetti In Vetta Life (Are & Be) Woods (Lee Jofa) 16 Fornasetti Nuvole al Tramonto (Cole & Son)
Connect Online@www.dubbeldam.ca Complementing the biophilic design strategy for the home is the prioritization of sustainable elements including LED lighting. At night, the lighting reflects off the warm natural materials creating an inviting and hospitable feeling. In warmer months when the pool is open, the landscape and pool lighting creates a cool atmosphere inviting people to stay and linger outdoors in the patio lounge area. With a focus on sustainability, all of Dubbeldam’s projects exceed the local building code standards in terms of thermal resistance and R-value ratings of wall and roof insulation. The Garden Circle house is no exception. Triple paned windows and deep overhangs reduce the solar gain in the summer months and allow the natural heat energy into the home in the winter months. Dubbeldam is known to regularly work with skilled fabricators to develop products which sync with its design philosophies. The firm has great working relationships with local designers and many highlights in this project too are a result of this fruitful collaboration . Particularly the stair, which involved working with Berman Stairs Inc to provide the client with a focal point in the design.
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13 The Garden Circle house by Dubbeldam Inc. Architecture + Design
In conversation with young Japanese spatial designer Nakamura Kazunobu
A Foreplay With Light And Shadows Photo Courtesy: Atsushi Ishida and Nakamura Kazunobu Design-Works
In a conversation with Vikas Bhadra, young Japanese Designer Nakamura Kazunobu says he loves using points, lines and surfaces to fulfil the Japanese sense of beauty in space, as discussed by Junichiro Tanizaki in his essay on Japanese aesthetics ‘In Praise of Shadows’
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In conversation with young Japanese spatial designer Nakamura Kazunobu
“When I was a child, I wanted to be a sculptor. I liked drawing, but I liked making threedimensional objects even more,” says Japanese Designer Nakamura Kazunobu, the self-taught designer, initially one his works ‘Salome’ won a DFA Design for Asia Awards 2015 in Hong Kong under the merit category. This year Nakamura was also awarded the ‘People’s Choice Award’ at the Frame Awards 2020 ceremony held in Amsterdam. Looking back at his journey so far Nakamura says “At the beginning of my journey, I didn’t have much of an opportunity to work with famous designers. I never trained under a famous designer. It is through self-learning, I’ve taught myself to design. I liked the dynamic composition and dynamic curves of the paintings by the Japanese painter Eitoku
Kano, Tohaku Hasegawa and Katsushika Hokusai. When I was young, I wanted to copy their paintings and get to know their essence. Nowadays, I design my work with the idea that I want to enter the space of the great waves depicted in their paintings and stand in a place where I am wrapped up in their flow,” “Having said that,” he continues “I believe good design is a work that has an astonishing freshness to it, it introduces an atmosphere of exclusivity. I don’t think replication, even if it looks sophisticated, is true good design in my opinion. I believe good design has the strength, capability as also an aura to define an era. As a designer I continue to work hard, dreaming that one day I will be able to create work of that level,”
Though Nakamura is ideally an interior designer who specializes in everything from installation design to public space design, his idea of design differs from the way an architect tends to define it. Having said that he continues to remain immensely inspired by their work “I have a lot of respect for Frank Lloyd Wright, Mies, Rem Koolhaas and Kazuyo Sejima. If I had to name just one person, my design idol would be Ryue Nishizawa,” “He is an architect in partnership with Kazuyo Sejima. Their work always moves me when I see it. The archetypes of straight lines, curves, bumps, and manipulated shapes are a set of shapes that anyone can think of, but the space they manipulate and the space created by these elements coming together reveals a figure that no one has ever seen before,” Design Connect|July-September 2020
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In conversation with young Japanese spatial designer Nakamura Kazunobu
In conversation with young Japanese spatial designer Nakamura Kazunobu
“I like the works designed by Ryue Nishizawa, the Teshima Art Museum and the Hiroshi Senju Museum Karuizawa, both of which were designed independently by Nishizawa. I think they are good designs that have realized a surprising space,”
Kazunobu believes that unlike an architect a spatial designer’s creation cannot be realized only on the basis of function alone “Architecture is often explained by function.
But I believe that what is required in the design of a space cannot be explained by function alone. The design of the space is more like art. I think spatial design is about using space to express something that appeals to people’s emotions. The intention is to infuse it with a pleasant atmosphere, a positive aura and ineffable beauty,”
Furthermore, unlike an architect who can bank on a client brief, a spatial designer has to think along a different tangent. “When I work on a new project, I keep in mind the client’s ambiguous image, the potential of the site, and the motifs that normally interest me in my design studies. All these images overlap and resonate with each other to create a design solution, that works. As a spatial designer I look out for such points of resonance and reanalyse the design,” Design Connect|July-September 2020
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In conversation with young Japanese spatial designer Nakamura Kazunobu
The Japanese are well-known for minimalist designs, many architecture and design projects which come up across the world seems to proliferate the same idea. It makes one ponder, is the essence of culture in design getting saturated, is the world heading towards some kind of uniformity in design. “I feel that space design and interior design are like clothes,” says Nakamura “there is fashion in clothes, and each person chooses clothes to express their identity and express themselves. I think that interior design should also have individuality in each place. Even if the design languages are casually
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similar, I don’t think they should be unified. Of course, culture influences our tastes and values, and I think there are times when our designs are unconsciously similar to each other. Even so, I think that designing each place with individuality will enrich the entire cityscape,”
Likewise, evolution in design is also constant, though unconscious similarities do tend to play out, the progression of design continues “Unlike in the West, Japanese spatial design was originally two-dimensional and flat. However in modern times, Japanese space design has gradually come up with ideas by
incorporating a Western three-dimensional effect. Furthermore, in recent years, digital technology and programming technology have been introduced, and I feel that it has become possible to realize a three-dimensional hybrid design with a flat feeling that Japan likes.” For a spatial designer whose work is receiving global attention, Nakamura was not quite sure it would work out that way. “I wandered around looking for a job and eventually found my way to utilise my skills a spatial designer. I was bound by customs and common sense when designing.
In conversation with young Japanese spatial designer Nakamura Kazunobu
I always wrote down my fantasy designs in a sketchbook, but I thought it was something that couldn’t be realized, something that was insignificant. This was until ‘Salome’ happened,”
In his spatial designs Nakamura uses the foreplay of lights and shadows “I love to create a place where one can feel the presence of the air filled with haze and fog through an artwork that seems to dance in the air. The artwork will be as beautiful a shape as the flow of water and air. I try to design
such artworks that create such a space using points, lines and surfaces.” Much of this has to do with the Japanese sense of beauty in space, as discussed by Junichiro Tanizaki in his essay ‘In Praise of Shadows’. Nakamura likes to take a cue from the essay on Japanese aesthetics where Tanizaki implies “I am not designing for the purpose of manipulating the shape itself, but for the effect that the shape will have by manipulating itself.”
As the year 2020 comes to an end and the new year beacons Nakamura is keen do an installation in Shibuya, one of the special city wards based in Tokyo, Japan. Connect Online@www.nkdesign-worksblog.tumblr.com
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Excellenseaa 126 by Sanjay Puri Architects
A STYLE STATEMENT 20 Design Connect|July-September 2020
Excellenseaa 126 by Sanjay Puri Architects
Sanjay Puri Architects design a housing project for Happy Homes the city of Surat. The project encompasses an extensive landscape planned with numerous sports facilities & dedicated areas. Christened as Excellenseaa 126, this project also creates a sustainable micro-environment. Project Designed By: Sanjay Puri Architects Photo Courtesy: Abhishek Shah
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Excellenseaa 126 by Sanjay Puri Architects
In response to a very specific brief, this housing project has 126 apartments in six buildings of 11 storeys each. Planned in three different sizes these apartments of 750, 850 & 950 sqm are configured with large living spaces, 5 bedrooms, a study & a gym.
Located on a plot of 29,600 sqm in Surat city, India, with a height limitation of 40 metres, the buildings are laid out along the site perimeter creating a large focal garden of 13,000 sqm.
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All the vehicular movement is restricted to the perimeter along with a basement car park generating 80% of the plot as vehiclefree space.
Excellenseaa 126 by Sanjay Puri Architects
The large landscaped area rises in angular planes revealing a partially sub-terranean recreational club with entertainment & sports facilities that are sheltered from heat gain & simultaneously open to natural ventilation & light.
The apartments are planned to facilitate cross ventilation & are sheltered by large cantilevered decks that mitigate heat gain in response to the climate of the location, a climate where the temperatures are in excess of 35°C for three months annually.
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Excellenseaa 126 by Sanjay Puri Architects
Each of the buildings is 11 metres high entrance lobbies with two apartments on each floor & penthouses on the 11th floor.
The extensive landscaped space generated by the layout is planned with numerous sports facilities & different areas for different age groups.
Water recycling, rain-water harvesting, sewage treatment & solar panels contribute towards reducing the carbon footprint & making the project self-sufficient. The numerous sporting & entertainment activities are supplemented by conferencing facilities, a grocery store, a medical room, a laundromat & housekeeping staff facilities. Connect Online@ www.sanjaypuriarchitects.com
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Excellenseaa 126 by Sanjay Puri Architects
Designed in response to the client’s brief, the location of the site & the city’s climate, Excellenseaa 126 creates a micro-environment that is sustainable. The extensive landscaping with trees, plants, and water bodies helps in passive cooling. The large overhangs & outdoor decks to each apartment reduce heat gain whilst adding individual outdoor spaces.
The Fauna Restaurant based inside the Kimpton Vividora Hotel, a new hotel in the Old City of Barcelona tries to recreate a homely feeling and takes its design inspiration from characteristic elements of a traditional Barcelona house.
The Fauna Restaurant designed by El Equipo Creativo
Project Designed By: El Equipo Creativo Photo Courtesy : One Represent Agency and AdriĂ Goula
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The Fauna Restaurant designed by El Equipo Creativo
AT HOME FOR DINNER
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The Fauna Restaurant designed by El Equipo Creativo
Kimpton Vividora Hotel, a new hotel in the Old City of Barcelona offers a big food & beverage variety. Designed by El Equipo Creativo, the unique and different atmosphere invites the public to come in, relax, and enjoy the various areas of the hotel, such as Fauna Restaurant.
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The Fauna Restaurant designed by El Equipo Creativo
This restaurant is inspired by a traditional Barcelona house with its patterns, textures, galleries, and lattices that generate a very cozy and domestic atmosphere.
All projects have specific challenges and this too was no different. In this particular hotel, the ground level in contact with the street was especially small because the building had other commercial activities.
So the restaurant, open to a local clientele, had to be located on the second level of the hotel, which is a very uncommon situation in Barcelona where upper floors are traditionally used for private activities only.
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The Fauna Restaurant designed by El Equipo Creativo
The designers decided to convert this challenge into an opportunity: going to this restaurant should be like going to a friend’s house for dinner. And this became the design inspiration for the project. It was designed to invoke the different areas and material qualities of the typical Barcelona house where one might be invited by a local friend.
The restaurant welcomes customers with a vivid and changing-patterned tile floor, as a reference to one of the most characteristic elements of the traditional Barcelona house: the colorful tiled flooring patterns, different in each room of the house. As part of the same strategy, the ceilings are hand-painted with graphics inspired by the highly decorative traditional ceilings, bringing a crafted touch to space.
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Traditional Barcelona homey kitchens and pantries are also referenced in Fauna Restaurant. Hand-painted bluish ceramic tiles representing scenes of the Old Barcelona city welcome guests at the entrance area where the breakfast-buffet bar is located.
Acting as a counterpoint, the other activity pole of the restaurant is the open kitchen at the back, with a warm wooden atmosphere reminiscent of the traditional cuisines.
These cozy spaces full of natural light have a fresh exterior atmosphere, also represented through the furniture and natural greenery. Connect Online@ en.elequipocreativo.com
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The Fauna Restaurant designed by El Equipo Creativo
One of the most appreciated areas of the Barcelona houses is their typical galleries: cozy spaces full of plants between the interior and the exterior. El Equipo Creativo designed a gallery-like space, introducing some glazed dividing elements, which helped them create more private areas next to the facade, eventually used for events or meetings.
The V-Plaza designed by 3deluxe
Making Way For Transformation
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By utilising innovative architecture, the V-Plaza designed by 3deluxe in Lithuania preserves the cultural heritage of the nation while creating space for social transformation.
Project Designed By: 3deluxe Architecture Photo Courtesy: Norbert Tukaj The V-Plaza – Urban Development The V-Plaza designed by 3deluxe
What was previously a largely unused space adjoined by historical buildings is now becoming a new, inviting public amenity where you can casually enjoy a coffee in your lunch. 3deluxe, has brought to life a future-oriented architectural concept that sets new impulses and is geared towards the communicative needs of a young and dynamic generation.
The history-steeped “Unity Square” with its impressive buildings from different eras has been redesigned to reflect the innovative spirit of a country considered to be a pioneer of digitization. The extraordinary design sets off the extensive façades to bright and cheerful effect, creates modern workspaces and uses organically shaped green spaces, curved pathways, seating levels and the latest technology to transform the space into inspiring terrain with an urban ambiance. The real challenge was to preserve cultural heritage while creating space for social transformation. And the solution was innovative architecture that caters to the needs of today’s society: bright, friendly, open and connecting.
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The V-Plaza designed by 3deluxe
The buildings and façades With the buildings and façades 3deluxe has created an exciting ensemble featuring various architectural interpretations of the different eras that define the city.
For example, the new corner building is an homage to Lithuania’s Art Deco heritage. With its rounded and organically shaped glass fronts and the elongated façade, the corner building is quite captivating thanks to its elegant simplicity and flowing forms. Here, the coming together of old and new building cultures is celebrated rather than concealed. Extensive glazing and unfussy design meet detailed window frontage featuring applied decoration inspired by the façades of the neighboring historical buildings.
The central new-build block reflects the city’s Bauhaus tradition and forges a clear link to the now modernized dual ensemble that so epitomizes the International Style of the early 1960s. The redesign of the façade picks up on the aesthetic simplicity to be found in this Baltic testimony to midcentury Modern, with a pronounced Cubist design vocabulary and clear lines.
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The Square: New quality of life across 22,000 square meter In redesigning the space the historical square has been transformed: 3deluxe initially developed two design levels that structure the entire surface as a grid made up of visible lines on the ground.
One is linear and forms the historical context, in which the existing axes of vision and movement are taken into account. The other level is designed to be organic and fluid, reflecting the natural flows of movement of passers-by.
The natural result is an organic, landscapelike arrangement comprising dynamic thoroughfares, staggered seating and steps, and gently sloping green spaces and water features that connect the different height levels of the square in a seemingly obvious way. The materials used form a welcoming interplay of light granite, wood, and elaborately modeled elements made of white molded concrete. The choice of plants for the green spaces is based on the local flora. Native pine and birch along with insect-friendly grasses and shrubs form the basis of the greening concept.
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The V-Plaza designed by 3deluxe
This structuring gives rise not only to pathways but also to natural islands, which are enlivened in different ways: a green lawn for sunbathing, a skate park, a programmed fountain complex, or a modern event venue.
The V-Plaza designed by 3deluxe
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The V-Plaza designed by 3deluxe
An artificial stream meanders through the organic concrete landscape with wooden islands, inviting visitors to linger and play, while an interactive fountain installation enlivens the large, flat open space in the square, which can also be used for events, festivals and markets.
The investor funding the transformation of the square is a passionate skateboarder and wanted to offer skate enthusiasts a new home in the city, hence large parts of the square are laid out to be skater-friendly too. Specialists in skate park construction were therefore brought on board to help realize the challenging free forms developed by 3deluxe. Another addition, lying opposite the new corner building, is a modern amphitheater, and the frontage facing it can be outfitted with a giant LED screen for public viewings when required.
On this basis, additional mobile elements will be used to bring further life to the square: a pavilion that can be planted in various ways as an urban gardening project, changing installations such as kiosks, food trucks, and mobile seating, and a temporary event stage. All in all, it’s a square to bring people together, to create new opportunities, and to improve the quality of life for people in Kaunas.
Connect Online@ www.3deluxe.de/en/architecture Design Connect|July-September 2020
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Q and A with Neha Arora N - Founder & Hospitality Interior Designer
Design Inclinations Could Be A Product Of The Cultural Syntax
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What is your idea of good design?
A designer can be influenced by culture as also the exposure the individual receives while travelling across the world says Neha Arora, Founder Principal at Neha Arora N, a commercial hospitality design studio.
Good Interior design, is not just about designing beautiful spaces. It’s about creating an immersive space that transports people to another world. Especially in the hospitality interior design. After all, people want to escape reality and there should be a place for it.
Good design is about creating a strong sense of narrative, and weaving a story in the entire design scheme. From the light fittings to the wall décor, from the paint color to the photo frames, from the tactile sensations to the staff costumes, everything should be designed to bring the story to life and transport the guests to another world.
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39 Q and A with Neha Arora N - Founder & Hospitality Interior Designer
In any interior design project what is one of the core challenges which needs to be addressed? In commercial hospitality design, especially in today’s times, one of the core challenges one needs to address is, how to maximize the property’s ROI (Return on Investment), by using compact spaces and tight budgets; while at the same time, creating Instagram worthy designs that are engaging, exciting and an experience for guests. As a professional what do you believe is the hallmark of a good interior designer?
A good designer is a visual storyteller, who can transport people to another world.
Q and A with Neha Arora N - Founder & Hospitality Interior Designer
Which was one of your initial projects which was widely appreciated? One of my most notable works has been for FF21, a millennial co-living brand based out of Bangalore.
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The design story created for their property was – ‘a home where friends become family’. And every space was designed to bring that story to life! The reception area was designed to transport residents to a home study in nippy Berlin; the lounge area masqueraded as a living room, with a seductively inviting electric blue couch; and other magical elements like the blue faux fireplace and laddered coves, were created to exude a warmth that hugs you like home. When it comes to design inclinations, is it defined by the cultural syntax an individual is part of, or is it altogether a different factor at play?
Design inclinations could be a product of the cultural syntax that you’re a part of or the cultural syntax that you’re influenced by. For me, my design inclinations are influenced by my international travels. From Swiss Chalets to Danish Hygge Homes; Scandinavian Chic to Parisian Splendor; Tuscan countryside to English Cottages; they all inspire me to create work that transports people to different parts of the world.
With increasing globalization, has the Indian design taste undergone a radical change or do you still find traces of Indianness in the design sensitivities of the global Indian? The global Indian is definitely veering towards global design tastes. However, traces of Indianness are visible especially when it comes to their homes. Interestingly though, it’s different for commercial hospitality designs. Hoteliers, real estate developers, co-living and co-working brands prefer more global designs in their properties, in order to be at par with international standards! And this trend will soon catch up with residential designs too.
I don’t have any set brands. For me, whichever brand has the materials or products that fit my design story, for the project that I am working on at that moment, is my favourite for that time period. It’s about curating them from online stores, flea markets, independent artists, established home stores or even DIY projects.
What are the checks and balances you have in place to ensure that the commissioned projects are completed on time? I keep a master project checklist with monthly, weekly and daily planners that help keep me and my clients on track and complete projects within the mutually agreed deadline.
Many clients prefer customized offerings to be utilized in their respective projects, in such cases do you double up as a product designer or outsourcing is the keyword? Yes. When it comes to loose furniture, decor and lamps, very often I double up as a product designer to create custom pieces that are unavailable or out of budget. What are some of your ongoing and recently completed projects?
I am presently working on two co-living projects, one student accommodation project, and one service apartment. I have recently completed the designs for the 7th building of FF21 reaching 800 rooms in total. Connect Online @ www.nehaaroran.com Design Connect|July-September 2020
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Q and A with Neha Arora N - Founder & Hospitality Interior Designer
As an interior designer what are some of the branded products you have utilized in the projects you have executed? Mention your favourite brands?
SIT BACK AND RELAX
Project Designed By: El Equipo Creativo Photo Courtesy: One Represent Agency and AdriĂ Goula
Cafe Got in the Kimpton Vividora Hotel seamlessly blends elements of the city and hotel to create a space where you can simply sit back and relax.
Cafe Got in the city of Barcelona
Kimpton Vividora Hotel, a new hotel in the Old City of Barcelona offers a big food & beverage variety. Designed by El Equipo Creativo, this unique and different atmosphere invites everyone to come in, relax, and enjoy the various areas of the hotel, such as the Cafe Got.
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Cafe Got in the city of Barcelona
Cafe Got is a spot where the city of Barcelona and the Hotel Kimpton Vividora come together: an active space with a long faรงade facing the street which invites guests and locals to enter and interact. The designers soon understood that the space of the bar located in the lower level of Hotel Kimpton Vividora with a long faรงade facing the street should be part of the neighborhood, acting as a connection between the city and the hotel.
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Cafe Got in the city of Barcelona
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A double-height space with a cascade of glass lamps connects with the lobby area on the first level bringing a fresh and watery effect to the project. On the lower level, a comfortable lounge sitting-area, close to the façade and visible from the street, invites guests and locals to enter and relax. Green custom-designed ceramic tiles with geometric patterns, inspired by
Barcelona’s broad ceramic craftsmanship tradition, are applied to walls and dividers, which, together with natural plants, infuse the magic of green in this space. The patterns adorn the ceiling as well. As a discreet protagonist, the bar element sits at the back, like an elegant bright stone block in contrast with the travertine floors. Terracotta carpets and walls together with reddish wooden finishes give the warm contrast.
Different and carefully selected pieces of furniture, with an emphasis on local brands and designers, give it a casual, inviting atmosphere with a local flair.
Connect Online@ en.elequipocreativo.com
Cafe Got in the city of Barcelona
Ciutat Vella, and more specifically the Gothic Quarter and its street atmosphere, became one of the main inspirations for the design, where little narrow streets lead you to unexpected plazas, patios, and entrances to residential buildings. Stone, greenery and water are the essential ingredients of these fresh oases in the city and it was decided to introduce these same ingredients in the design of the bar.
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Grand Gateway 66 retail complex designed by EGGL
A PIAZZA FOR THE CONTEMPORARY TIMES 46 Design Connect|July-September 2020
Grand Gateway 66 retail complex designed by EGGL
An embodiment of ‘Haipai’ culture Grand Gateway 66 retail complex (GG66) designed by Honkong based Elena Galli Giallini Ltd. (EGGL) combines core Chinese and Western values to define cosmopolitanism of the city of Shanghai. Photo credit: Denice Hough Project Designed By: Elena Galli Giallini Ltd.
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Elena Galli Giallini Ltd. (EGGL), a Hong Kongbased firm specializing in architectural design, renovations, and interior and industrial design, have redesigned the North building of the Grand Gateway 66 retail complex (GG66), located in Shanghai’s bustling commercial, cultural, and historic zone of Xijiahui. Comprised of two distinct buildings of contrasting configurations, EGGL was commissioned to provide the prominent complex with a brand-new image, both architecturally and functionally.
Grand Gateway 66 retail complex designed by EGGL
An embodiment of ‘Haipai’ culture, where core Chinese and Western values collide to make Shanghai one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world, Xijiahui is in the midst of a contemporary revitalization that is seeing new developments and renovations. “We derived much of our inspiration from the cultural traditions of Xijiahui and Shanghai,” explains Elena Galli Giallini, Architect and Director of EGGL. “We are endeavoring to create what sociologist Ray Oldenburg refers to as the “third place”, meaning engaging environments away from home and the workplace that offer possibilities for socializing, discovering, learning, and sharing.”
48 Design Connect|July-September 2020
Grand Gateway 66 retail complex designed by EGGL
Designing A Modern Piazza In approaching the North building, EGGL faced a dark and aesthetically unimpressive, undefined structure that housed a dense compound with an intricate array of small retail outlets. With poor connectivity and sparse public spaces, the existing building interior lacked definition and attractiveness.
The building was badly in need of a rejuvenated image to portray meaningful relationships within a refined and contemporary environment. In response to the struggles of conventional malls in the face of an e-commerce surge, lifestyle changes, and evolving consumer demands, EGGL’s goal was to transform GG66 from what sociologist George Ritzer coined as a “cathedral of consumption”, to a social hub for modern, urban lifestyles, with the allure of a luxurious destination.
To achieve that goal, EGGL began by stripping down much of the North building, providing a blank canvas from which to embark on a completely new architectural and interior design, focused on the qualitative aspects of space identity and aesthetical appeal.
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EGGL complemented the architectural scheme with an infusion of primary design elements to define the character of the atrium, including spandrels with backlit glass panels, balustrades highlighted by metal and glass, and unconventionally-shaped columns. An abundance of open public spaces transformed lobbies on each level of the building into internal social plazas, each with its own visually distinctive atmosphere, and each centered on a core void incorporating the vertical circulation of backlit escalators. Let There Be Light
While abundant natural light is infused into GG66’s South building through skylights and a glass dome forming part of its main roof, the North building was devoid of such features, making lighting design a critical part of the process. EGGL overcame the challenge of a complete lack of natural light by leveraging the ceiling design as an opportunity to infuse vibrancy into the scheme through the integration of key features and organic shapes that provide dynamic illumination. Grand Gateway 66 retail complex designed by EGGL
Ceiling folds and looping coves distribute light to enliven the building’s architectural features. Meanwhile, downlights serve as accent points and the escalators further brighten the ambiance with their backlit wire mesh panels. On the sixth floor, ceiling breaks transform the escalator void into an eye-catching focus of folding planes and triangulated shapes. Hexagonal geometries interconnect to create sculptural features with suffused light filtering along the edges. EGGL’s selection of materials and choice of a soft color palette of beige and off-white hues for the ceilings and floors further compensates for the lack of natural light, while the bolder, darker hues of the metal claddings of columns and walls provide dynamic contrasts. Bronze and copper tones accentuate details and add warmth to the overall scheme.
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A Thorough, Rigorous Design Philosophy
Manipulation of materials, with combinations of varied textures, finishes and patterns was a critical part of the GG66 design. Everything from elevator cabs, to wall claddings, doors, handles, lighting fixtures were customized exclusively for the mall.
unconventional finishes and textures, with calibrated contrasts, energize the scheme and generate access points. This dynamic integration of opposite values reinforces what Elena Galli Giallini refers to as a “Yin–Yang composition of harmony”. Specially-designed motifs and the creative use of recurring geometric shapes create visual focal points that serve as common denominators within the overall scheme. Extraordinary Times
“We develop each project from a holistic approach, from space planning to the most minute details,” explains Galli Giallini. “Our designs build relationships between each and every part of a project, resulting in a cohesive ambiance.” Harmony Through Design
While the current COVID-19 climate only further accentuates the problems afflicting commercial complexes around the world, Galli Giallini foresees surviving malls scaling up amenities, revamping branding, and focusing on new paradigms of experiential-based offerings, while also providing harmonious spatial relationships and enduring elegance. EGGL’s strategy in approaching the Grand Gateway 66 project aligns with that vision by enhancing the retail complex’s image, and by transforming it into an experiential destination.
While the North and South buildings of GG66 presented EGGL with vast contrasts in spatial and visual characteristics, harmonization of the two buildings was never about forced artificial homogeneity, but rather about designing two distinct parts, with differing characteristics, that work in synergy as a singular new complex. Harmony and coherency are further emphasized through the consistency of EGGL’s color palette and selection of materials, while the use of
Connect Online@ www.elenagalligiallini.com
“We focused on creating a ‘sensory experience’, with a new look and feel that would set it apart from other retail destinations,” she says. “Our emphasis was on creating a fluid and dynamic spatial configurations that defines an engaging and memorable environment, and we believe that this mall is well-positioned to stand the test of time and thrive during these critical times.”
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Grand Gateway 66 retail complex designed by EGGL
In the washrooms, bespoke elements define a neat, clear-cut environment featuring white cubicles with bronze contrasts, unconventional lighting and cantilevered hexagon-shaped washbasins that enhance the ambiance. Everything weaves its way into the grand design with the colors and details of every object carefully selected in their placement.
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