architecture | Interiors | design | art
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№ 22 Fast Forward
Andreas Angelidakis Studio / Studio Gang / Zaha Hadid Architects / SCAU / ARUP Designersblock / Soft Lab / Issey Miyake / Yohji Yamamoto / Virtual Environments
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editor’s note In this quarter’s issue, we embrace technology, looking at everything from software innovations, with TED fellow Kaustuv De Biswas of dplay, to DIY Cyborg artist Sputniko! at Designersblock. We hope by now you’re all followers of our Facebook and Twitter pages, bringing you the latest in design news on a regular basis – links are on our website, which will also currently undergoing a redesign. Last month, at the Surface Design Show, we presented our first installation, working with artist Helen Pradas-Page. This Spring, we launch the first of our new series of talks in
collaboration with MA&DE at London Metropolitan University, aimed at engaging the design community and providing an opportunity for creative stimulation, discussion and networking – watch online for the program of future events. In this context of technology, I would also give pause to the recent events in New Zealand and Japan – and ask you to reflect on what role we can play as designers, perhaps through the use of technologies now available to us, in preventing disasters in our built environment. This leads us also to More thoughts on this in our upcoming summer issue on social design... Happy reading,
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architecture | Interiors | design | art
Editor Diana Biggs editor@demagazine.co.uk Editor-at-large Mariana Pestana mariana@demagazine.co.uk Feature Editors
Holly Harrington Jenna Voigt Lucas Gray Rose Etherington Stuart Blakley
Guest Editors
Carole Houston Indira Wisepart Richard Newlove Robert Cullen Shirley Shen
Art Direction - Design / layout Yvette Chiu yvette@demagazine.co.uk Marketing Sarah Beck info@demagazine.co.uk Accounts Department Jenny Shore accounts@demagazine.co.uk
de/design exchange spring 2011 Issue 022
design exchange Magazine 366 Bethnal Green Road London E2 0AH T: +44 (0) 20 7033 9410 F: +44 (0) 20 7739 1924 www.demagazine.co.uk
For subscriptions: UK: £15.00 per year (4 issues) visit www.demagazine.co.uk Š 2011 Copyright design exchange magazine claims no responsibility for the opinions of its writers and contributors contained within this design magazine. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without prior permission is strictly forbidden. Every care has been taken when compiling design exchange to ensure that all the content is correct at the time of printing. design exchange assumes no responsibility for any effects from errors or omissions. design exchange Magazine are media supporters of:
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/CONTENTS/
PROJECTs LA. Ecosystem the Hand House
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Andreas Angelidakis Studio Los Angeles
Aqua Tower
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Studio Gang Chicago, Illinois
Guangzhou Opera House
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Zaha Hadid Architects Guangzhou, China
Grande Stade
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SCAU Casablanca, Morocco 42 96
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42.............Reiser+Umemoto/ARUP 96 ...................................High Flying hotel 100.....Harmonising Sound & Design 104........The Rafayel on the Left Bank 108...........Norwegian Epic Cruise Ship
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C LU B O U T D O O R LO U N G E C O L L E C T I O N 路 D E S I G N P H I L I P B E H R E N S ( U S A )
S U P E R B LY C R A F T E D T E A K , W O V E N A N D A L U M I N I U M O U T D O O R F U R N I T U R E G LO S T E R , C O L L I N S D R I V E , S E V E R N B E A C H , B R I S T O L , B S 3 5 4 G G T E L . + 4 4 ( 0 ) 1 4 5 4 6 3 1 9 5 0 路 FA X . + 4 4 ( 0 ) 1 4 5 4 6 3 1 9 5 9 E - M A I L . I N F O @ G LO S T E R . C O . U K 路 W W W. G LO S T E R P R O . C O M
Radiant Micro Track system 3 Watt Micro LED spotlights Citizen LED array 12 Volt DC track system Radiant Architectural Lighting 10 Broadbent Close 20 - 22 Highgate High Street London N6 5JW ENGLAND UK 18
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TEL + 44 ( 0 ) 20 8348 9003 FAX + 44 ( 0 ) 20 8348 6478 E MAIL david@radiantlights.co.uk WEB www.radiantlights.co.uk
/CONTENTS/
FeAtures
Digital Fabrication
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Research Pavilion ICD/ITKE
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Embodying the future
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56.........................................Voussoir Cloud 64..............................Designersblock Choice 70.........................................Q & A Soft Lab 76.............................................Issey Miyake 78........................................Yohji Yamamoto 82............................................Tools for Play 86.................Restaurant & Bar Design Awards 94.................................Virtual Environments 122...Falper - New to Alchemy Design Award
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Danish Design - I like it! - Jasper Morrison Fashion Fringe at the Design Museum 134 This is Whitechapel
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Milan Furniture Fair Designersblock Milano 2011 in Ventura Lambrate designjunction Kim Beom: Animalia Anna Lovell/Vicky Davies, Jewellery Interiors UAE Kbb London ICFF The Sleep Conference India
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Belgrade Design Week OFFF Barcelona 2011 Clerkenwell Design Week
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DMY Berlin Pulse The Society of Women Artists Anniversary Exhibition New Designers 2011
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The Luminous Interval D.Daskalopoulos Collection Brit Insurance Designs of the Year Learning to Dwell: Adolf Loos in the Czech Lands
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The Home Technology Event Free Range 2011
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Show RCA 2011 Design Tokyo Restaurant & Bar Design Awards
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L . a . E cosyst em t h e Hand House a n d r ea s a n g eli dak i s St u di o, L os a ng el es
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The House as a psychological ecosystem where internet era social practices coexist with infrastructural references and a history of natural disasters. A portrait of Los Angeles, the disparate mix of infrastructural crisis, impending disaster and celebrity paranoia.
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A curious mix of nature and structure, Los Angeles is the place where glorious sunshine surrounds the darkness of failed ambitions. Young men and women arrive with stars in their eyes, only to end up serving coffee in Starbucks. All over the city you are served food by people who wanted to be adored. At the same time real time stars cover up for the paparazzi, then go home to expose themselves on Twitter and reality television. Reyner Banham’s seminal book on Los Angeles “The Architecture of Four Ecologies” could be updated with a fifth ecology, and perhaps we would call it Vanitopia? Ambitionville? Los Angeles is a metropolis planned by infrastructure and guided by celebrity and it is not by accident that Mulholland Drive, arguably its most famous and romantic road, is named after the chief water engineer William Mulholland, who devised L.A.’s reservoir system, and David Lynch made a movie with the same name, about an actress waitress’ paranoid hallucinations in Los Angeles. Case Study House attempts to sum up a portrait of this Los Angeles, out of the disparate mix of infrastructural crisis, impending disaster and celebrity paranoia. The first gesture on the site is purely infrastructural: the site line is offset into a thick, double layered concrete base that turns the lower part of the property into a water basin, a reservoir. On a thunderous February night, a mudslide is imagined 28
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and part of the basin fills with earth, forming an impromptu beach. Under the beach lie a four car garage and a system of corridors to bunker windows and surveillance paraphernalia. Above the reservoir, fiction suddenly takes over and the concrete hand of a giant girl angrily punches through the little mountain of Wetona Drive. By studying the cave that was formed, we understand that the punch came from the direction of the Hollywood
sign. Now the gigantic hand has calmed down, and appears to be coming out of the water, elegantly holding a serving tray, as if the statue of Liberty became a waitress and her hand holds up a building, perched over the cliff like a billboard. The house occupies this serving tray and the punched-out cave, two distinct, almost bipolar parts, connected by the reservoir. The mudslide reservoir has now turned into a large swimming pool, complete with its own
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sandy beach. The billboard, the infrastructural support, the beach and the unrequited narcissism of fame tumble together into a house. All the parts of the Los Angeles portrait are now in place and the result manages to equally reference Charles Jencks’ postmodernist manifesto on roadside curiosities “Bizarre Architecture” (Rizzoli 1979) as well as Kazys Varnelis’ “The Infrastructural City” (Actar 2009). The section of the house that sits on the tray is reserved for social interaction and networking. The Glass box represents the moment when the celebrity exposes herself to the paparazzi, like the young
actress who posted photos of her new haircut on twitter while pretending to avoid the paparazzi, who her agent alerted to where she was anyway. The Glass box sits on the concrete platform as a forgotten piece of infrastructure, perhaps part of a crane from the LA harbor, though the only thing it holds up right now are gauze thin curtains to tease the helicopter paparazzi flying by, hoping to get a snap of the resident celebrity. A staircase leads down from the social platform, onto the beach and back into the cave section of the house. There, a large living area mixes dining, lounging, reading and perhaps working; while the back opening of the cave leads up
to a great view of the Hollywood sign. Two large manufactured boulders organize the space into segments, while hosting service areas inside their hollow volumes. Behind the boulders are doors to excavated bedrooms, places of total isolation and darkness. The House acts as a psychological ecosystem where internet era social practices coexist with infrastructural references and a history of natural disasters. The residents enjoy total privacy together with total exposure, a day on the beach and a night in the cave, the entire city of Los Angeles abbreviated like a Twitter post inside the limits of their property. 29
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a Q u a t o wer Studio Gang Chicago, Illinois
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For a city that was entirely destroyed by fire nearly a century and a half ago, Chicago has become one of the foremost architectural meccas in the world. The latest addition to the striking skyline is no exception to the city’s innovative rule.
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Photo: Studio Gang Architects
The 82-story Aqua Tower is not only a brilliant example of Chicago’s iconic modern architecture, it is also the tallest building in the world designed by a woman. Jeanne Gang of Studio Gang Architects developed the concept of the tower by “an organic, site-specific design.” Noting the difficulties in framing narrow views in an urban environment, Gang utilized the natural surroundings 32
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to maximize certain perspectives. “Rather than starting with the goal of creating an icon,” she said, “we let the climate and views shape the building, weaving it into its surroundings.” The mixed-use high-rise includes a hotel, apartments, condominiums, park and offices. One of the building’s most notable, and green, amenities is the rooftop garden at the pinnacle. The 80,000 square foot Eden is one of Chicago’s largest, featuring an outdoor pool, running track, gardens, fire pits and a yoga terrace. The undulating façade of the high-rise ensures no two units will be the same. Some apartments feature balconies up to twelve feet while other units will only have a few inches of concrete extending beyond their window. The wave-like shape of the concrete terraces compliments the tower’s strategic location near both Lake Michigan and the Chicago River. However, since each floor plate is unique, this presented special challenges in construction. The building has also been criticized for the fact that the protruding balconies increase the surface area of the building, creating a need to expend more energy on heating the structure.
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Despite this criticism, Aqua is still on track to achieve LEED Silver Certification. The tower uses its east-west orientation to maximize its solar performance during Chicago’s harsh winter. The same terraces that have been criticized for their inefficiency also extended farther on the south face of the building to provide shade to south-facing units, reducing reliance on airconditioning. Construction was completed on Aqua in 2010; however, changing economic conditions made some changes to the original plan to make the building a mix between a hotel and condominiums. Many of the condominiums were converted into apartments, while other spaces may be used for offices and retail. Currently, the $350 million project includes a Radisson Blu hotel from the 4th to 18th floors, luxury condominiums and penthouses on the top 27 floors, and apartments in between. Among it’s awards, Aqua Tower has received Distinguished Building honors from AIA Chicago as well as being listed on of the five finalists for the 2010 International Highrise award (this award was later won by The Met highrise in Bangkok).
Aqua has also made a mark in the fashion world. Indian designer Deepti Prurthi showcased a collection inspired by the tower at Lakme fashion week. Deepti called her collection Complicated Simplicity. Her designs reflected the ripples of the tower. Joining such architectural marvels as Chicago’s gothic Tribune Towers and the recent Trump Tower along the Chicago River, only time will tell if Aqua can achieve the iconic status Gang didn’t intend with her organic structure.
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G u a n g zhou Ope ra H ous e Zaha Hadid architects Guangzhou, China
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According to Chinese legend, the creator of human life was Nü-Kua, a goddess who was part woman, part dragon. Alone on earth, the dragon goddess formed humans out of mud and gave them life with her breath. In Guangzhou, China, the vision of another “formidable” woman has taken shape on the banks of the Pearl River.
Photo: Iwan Baan
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Photo: Iwan Baan
Photo: Christian Richters
Now surrounded by a booming urban metropolis, UK architect Zaha Hadid’s Guangzhou Opera House rose from a rural agricultural centre. Since 2005, the city has grown around the iconic opera house, now stretching to the horizon in all directions. At a price tag of £65m, the 70,000m2 performing arts venue is the largest in south China and the third largest in the country. The striking, granite-covered structure sits as a centerpiece, lying like pebbles at the edge of 36
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a stream, smoothed by erosion. Its unique twin-boulder design enhances the city by opening it into the Pearl River, unifying the adjacent cultural buildings with the towers of international finance in Guangzhou’s Zhujiang new town. The larger of the two ‘pebbles’ is covered in grey granite and contains the opera house, while its sister structure shadows the larger building as a black graniteclad extension of the main performance center. The darker stone houses a black-box theatre.
Inspired by the movement of the neighboring river, the exterior emulates concepts of a natural landscape and the fascinating interplay between architecture and nature, engaging with the principles of erosion, geology and topography. Natural light invades the interior through a crisscross of irregular glass cages stretching fluidly across the edifice. Mimicking the design of nature, the interior cuts between plunging lobbies and winding staircases, evoking images of
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Photos: Virgile Simon Bertrand
natural stone. The walls of the undulating auditorium stretch and curve, as if they may tear at any moment, giving the building a sense of excitement even when the cheers of applauding audiences die down. Gold hues and glittering recessed lighting reminisce the elegance of old world theatres while embracing the modernity and technological advancement of China. The 1,800-seat auditorium of the Opera House houses the very latest acoustic technology, and the smaller 400-seat
multifunction hall is designed for performance art, opera and concerts in the round. Acting as a catalyst for cultural development, the Guangzhou Opera House was the first of many new facilities, including museums, libraries and archives. According to The Guardian, the Guangzhou project is the realization of Hadid’s vision to create a similar opera house in Cardiff bay, a project which never came to fruition. Hadid recently won the RIBA Stirling Prize (2010) for the
MAXXI Museum in Rome and well as receiving the Woman of the Year Outstanding Achievement Award (2010). The success of Guangzhou’s Opera House may inspire the ‘dragon goddess’ of British architecture to breathe new life into the United Kingdom’s cultural canvas.
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Gra n d e St ade SCaU Casablanca, Morocco
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The heat between Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman may have put the desert city of Casablanca on the map in the early 1940s, but the real star of the steamy Moroccan city will now be the new Grande Stade Casablanca by SCAU.
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Football fans in Morocco will have a new place to cheer on their national team, as the Moroccan Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure declared the Paris-based design agency SCAU the winner of an international competition for the design of a large-scale sport stadium. SCAU, in association with local Moroccan firm Archi Design, will build the complex on the site of a former quarry. The plan takes advantage of the sunken and abandoned 100-hectare site, allowing the structure to sink
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into the previously excavated landscape. Set for completion in 2013, the 80,000-spectator arena will rise out of the sand like a giant oscillating fan. The concrete curved blades that support the structure will not actually move, but the design, perforated with small, circular holes will allow for natural ventilation. Natural light is allowed to flow in between the geometry of openwork concrete fibre strips, alternating with areas of concentrated shadow. The design
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aims to juxtapose the refinement of traditional architecture, the mystery of the mashrabiyas and a modern view of ornamental Islamic art. However, the stark white structure is anything but traditional. Beyond creating flowing visual lines, the inwardly curved blades are angled to protect the interior from the direct rays of the hot desert sun. Arcing over the stadium, they cover spectators from exposure to direct sunlight whilst leaving an opening for
sunlight to fall onto the field of play. An oasis within an oasis, the space between the fin-shaped blades and the rectangular grandstand is adorned with gardens, cooled by the directed flow of a natural breeze. Harnessing the power of nature, the gardens act as a heat buffer, keeping the masses cool, which will certainly be a welcome inclusion in a nation whose Arabic name, Al Maghrib, means “where the sun sets.”
For SCAU, this project marks another on an increasing list of stadium successes. They are currently designing the Grand Stade Le Havre, an amorphous blue stadium, set to finish this year and recent completions include the redesign for Marseille’s iconic Velodrome and the shell-shaped Stade Nungesser in the heart of residential Valenciennes.
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Covering spectators from exposure to direct sunlight © Perspecteur : SCAU Harnessing the power of nature, the gardens act as a heat buffer © Perspecteur: SCAU The concrete curved blades that support the structure © Perspecteur : SCAU
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t a i p e i music hall reiser + Umemoto / arUP taipei City, taiwan
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Built as a metaphor for the Taiwanese pop music scene: a global phenomenon with a regional character. Though many aspects of pop culture exist in a hyper-technological or virtual realm, there is a need for a defined physical hub dedicated to the production and reception of pop.
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Pop music, whereas a global phenomenon, is regional in its definition. The Taiwanese Pop music scene typifies the phenomenon; while it crosses borders and cultures and dialects, it nevertheless has produced styles and genres with distinct transnational form and appeal. Though many aspects of pop culture exist in a hypertechnological or virtual realm, there is a need for a defined physical hub dedicated to the production and reception of pop. The Taipei Pop Music Center, to be completed in 2014, features a gradient of mixed-use spaces, from the fully public realm to the interior of the auditorium, and allows the visitor to partake
of the event dynamic however they choose to visit this complex. Whether they plan a night of music or are just browsing the myriad shops, markets, cafes, and restaurants, the complex will be a 24-hour attraction independent of the schedule of performances in the theaters. The new proposed elevated public space is a pedestrian zone creating a coherent public space, distinct yet connected to the life of the city and effectively joining the three major zones of the complex: the Main Concert Hall, Outdoor Amphitheater and the Hall of Fame. The public space is in itself a focus for outdoor events, surrounded by cafes, restaurants and shops. Here, the
spectacle of pop music can be celebrated and broadcast to the world. The Main Hall features a 3000seat indoor auditorium and a tower dedicated to the pop music industry. This hybrid of theater and tower will allow direct communication on an everyday basis between producers, artists and other industry players. In effect, this hybrid is a cultural incubator bringing the entire music community, production and performance, together under one roof. The Hall of Fame becomes an ongoing daily destination - an outlet to track the T-Pop industry, linked with performances, hall of fame
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induction ceremonies, outdoor spaces, and media projections. Within the Hall of Fame is the main exhibition space, digital media center, two lecture halls, and the Sky View Lounge with commanding views from its box seats of the entire event space. Lining the street adjacent to the Hall, live houses provide smaller performance venues and a vibrant streetfront that is integrally connected to the street life of Taipei. The form of the Outdoor Amphitheater is a hybrid of circus and city, and with the addition of a mobile stage, the Robot Theater, the design can adapt to a spectrum of event scales, public uses and
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mass events. The four docking positions of the Robot Theater along the elevated public ground allow for multiple event scales, accommodating a range of audiences from 16,000 to smaller shows operating simultaneously or with other functions such as day or night markets. In its most compact crystalline form, the Robot Theater docks with the Hall of Fame, creating an intimate performance space for Hall of Fame induction ceremonies and other VIP events. A technological net provides solar screening and LED lighting to the Outdoor Amphitheater, and connects the Hall of Fame, Robot Theater and Main Hall together.
As opposed to a singular or inflexible performance venue, the TPMC allows both high-end, indemand performances to coexist with small, up-and-coming artists. This has consequences not only for the diversity of concertgoers that the center will attract, but can also have important collaborative effects on pop music production in Taipei. Reiser and Umemoto envision the Taipei Pop Music Center as a coherent environment, not merely a collection of performance spaces but a vibrant new part of the city itself. “As Hollywood is to world cinema, so the Taipei Pop Music center will be to Asian Pop”.
The public space is in itself a focus for outdoor events, surrounded by cafes. The Taipei Pop Music Center Podiumtop The Taipei Pop Music Center - Podiumtop The Taipei Pop Music Center- Main Hall Interior side.
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No.1 Feature
digital Fabrication Words: Lucas Gray
Photo: Tarek Hafny, Egpyt Daniel Dendra, anOtherArchitect
Humans develop tools to enable them to accomplish a goal, to fulfill an idea. Once a new instrument is invented, we then experiment and explore to see the full extent of what is now possible. Initially we utilize the tool to direct the process rather than establish how we can take advantage of the tool to help configure and advance our ideas. In architecture, we are now reaching a point where we know the capabilities of modern tools - programs such as Rhino and 46
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Grasshopper, CNC Routers, 3D printers and laser cutters and are now manipulating them to digitally fabricate our visions, concepts and intentions. Digital fabrication is now translating our imaginations and theoretical explorations into physical objects. The capacity of these tools allows for the direct communication between complex 3D models and the manufacturing processes that carve and slice the forms out of materials such as card-stock,
foam, clay, nylon, or metal. This dialogue eliminates the need for abstracting ideas into two dimensional drawings thus allowing designers more freedom and flexibility to create complex geometries. The increasingly popular technique of digital fabrication permits us to imagine and actualize fresh forms and rethink the aesthetics of our design. It also allows us to think beyond the box and execute even our most theatrical notions - for example, processing the statistics
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Photo: Tarek Hafny, Egpyt Daniel Dendra, anOtherArchitect
of one city’s noise pollution and molding them into a table. PeakT (Noisy Tea Time) designed by Daniel Dendra of anOTHER Architect, captures the invariable nature of Cairo in a piece of furniture. Cairo is known as one of the noisiest cities in the world, leading to a harsh pedestrian environment. In order to highlight the discordant condition of the urban environment, Mr. Dendra recorded the sounds of various intersections of bustling Cairo
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Cairo is the noisiest city in the world and the table is trying to raise awareness of this problem in a playful way.
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streets and used a script to translate them into dramatic 3D surfaces. These surfaces were optimized through many iterations to create a captivating urban soundscape that was then CNC milled out of solid wood. The complex joint between the surface and the base was created by carving an inverse of the sonic map, allowing the top to sit perfectly and stably on its stand. Only when the noise is cancelled out by its reciprocal wave pattern can silence prevail and the table become usable. It is a poetic solution as the table would be unusable due to the mountains and crevices of the sculpted surface. Mr. Dendra thinks of this as a metaphor for how pedestrians experience the severity of the city. The constant noise, car pollution, and traffic make Cairo a challenging metropolis to occupy and not conducive to pedestrians. Not surprisingly, this issue is one that deafens most large cities today; this piece of furniture provides a unique perspective and awareness on the matter. The visualization of this hazard was realized thanks to the digital tools available. When the capabilities of these new technologies are indefinite, the limitations lie only in the imagination of the designer. 47
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Architect Michael Hansmeyer has used complex algorithms and digital fabrication techniques to construct elaborate columns with intricate geometries only possible through the manipulation of this technology. The incredible textures and forms flow in and out of each other, folding back on themselves and creating a vertical topography reminiscent of the artwork of H.R. Geiger. The intricacy of the surface made it impossible to use a 3D fabrication machine, which would be overloaded with the eight million polygons that complete the geometry of the 2,000 pound columns. The 48
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The ornament is in a continuous flow, yet it consists of very distinct local formations. The complexity of column contrasts with the simplicity of its generative process.
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true beauty is reflected in the infinitely elaborate forms, derived from the algorithms, which have been distilled into relatively simple single sheets of cardboard. Slicing the 3D model into 2700 1mm thick divisions allowed the complexity to be reduced into a workable amount of data. From there the outlines of each of the thousands of sections were simplified with further algorithms, input into a CAD program and fed to a laser cutter. It took three laser cutters running for 75 hours straight to cut out the sheets needed for one column. Once cut out and
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The calculation of the cutting path for each sheet takes place in several steps. First, the eight million faces of the 3D model are intersected with a plane representing the sheet. This step generates a series Image shows the of individual line segments that are tested for constructed column © self-intersection and subsequently combined to Michael Hansmeyer form polygons. Next, a polygon-in-polygon test Work-in-progress section of deletes interior polygons. A series of filters then the column with wooden core and hollowed out ensures that convex polygons with peninsulas segments to reduce weight. maintain a minimum isthmus width. In a final © Michael Hansmeyer step, an interior offset is calculated with the aim of hollowing out the slice to reduce weight. Hall of Columns, Many variants (i.e. permutations) of columns that were generated using one single process, yet with slightly varying process parameters. © Michael Hansmeyer
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stacked upon each other, the true magic of the design is revealed as these columns become a contemporary reinterpretation of Gothic splendor. These columns are still prototypes as they are made of cardboard or grey board and thus not very durable when exposed to the elements. Despite being made of cardboard, in order to stack and align the sheets, steel rods are inserted at their core 50
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allowing them to carry significant weight. This magnificent, innovative idea could lead to some truly captivating creations - including commercial products and eventually full rooms and other architectural spaces. Through this process of “computational architecture�, we can rediscover craftsmanship and attention to detail that is no longer readily available or affordable. We have to celebrate
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Hansmeyer’s astonishing devotion to this creation and appreciate what this means for the future of design. For a long time it has seemed that digital tools were leading the design process. As architects experimented with the creation of new forms for buildings, they rarely had strong reasons for the elaborate forms themselves other than to demonstrate the power of their new tools. As the projects
above illustrate, designers are now conceptualizing what they want to manufacture and using the digital tools as a means to turn powerful ideas into built artifacts. No longer are the tools leading the design but rather talented visionary thinkers are wielding these powerful tools to incredible results. In order to take full advantage of these tools, we need to challenge what we perceive as boundaries
Interior of the sheets that the columns were cut out of, i.e. the negative. These images are actual photos, not renderings. Š Michael Hansmeyer Renderings of column prototypes. Image is a zoomed in, showing the complex geometries and nearly endless level of detail that is produced through the process (similar to a fractal) Š Michael Hansmeyer
and rethink our entire process. We can now break free of our former restrictions such as cost, time and materials. These technologies offer a chance to place design at the forefront the manufacturing process, allowing it to be malleable until fabrication begins.
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No.2 Installation
rESEarCH PaVILION ICd/ItkE
In July 2010, the Institute for Computational Design (ICD) and the Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design (ITKE), both at the University of Stuttgart, constructed a temporary research pavilion. This innovative structure aimed to demonstrate the latest developments in materialoriented computational design, simulation, and production processes in architecture. The result was a bending-active 53
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structure made entirely of elastically-bent plywood strips. In terms of material, the premise was that any material construct can be considered as resulting from a system of internal and external pressures and constraints, and that its physical form is determined by these pressures. However, if in architecture, digital design processes are rarely able to reflect these intricate relations, in the physical world material form is
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always inseparably connected to external forces. In the virtual processes of computational design form and force are usually treated as separate entities, as they are divided into processes of geometric form generation and subsequent simulation based on specific material properties. The research pavilion demonstrates an alternative approach to computational design: here, the computational generation of form is directly driven and informed by physical behavior and material characteristics. The structure is entirely based on the elastic bending behavior of birch plywood strips. The strips are robotically manufactured as planar elements, and subsequently connected so that elastically bent and tensioned regions alternate along their length. The force that is locally stored in each bent region of the strip, and maintained by the corresponding tensioned region of the neighboring strip, greatly increases the structural capacity of the system. In order to prevent local points of concentrated bending moments, the locations of the connection points between strips needs to change along the structure, resulting in 80 different strip patterns constructed from more
Project Team Institute for Computational Design – Prof. Achim Menges Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design – Prof. Jan Knippers Concept & Realisation Andreas Eisenhardt, Manuel Vollrath, Kristine Wächter & Thomas Irowetz, Oliver David Krieg, Ádmir Mahmutovic, Peter Meschendörfer, Leopold Möhler, Michael Pelzer, Konrad Zerbe
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than 500 geometrically unique parts. The combination of both the stored energy resulting from the elastic bending during the construction process and the morphological differentiation of the joint locations enables a very lightweight system. The entire structure, with a diameter of more than twelve meters, could then be constructed using only 6.5 millimeter thin birch plywood sheets. The computational design model is based on embedding
the relevant material behavioral features in parametric principles. These parametric dependencies were defined through a large number of physical experiments focusing on the measurement of deflections of elastically bent thin plywood strips. Based on 6400 lines of code one integral computational process derives all relevant geometric information and directly outputs the data required for both the structural analysis model and the manufacturing with a 6-axis
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The strips are robotically manufactured as planar elements using a 6-axis industrial robot.
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Connected so that elastically bent and tensioned regions alternate along their length.
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Abwicklung für Fertigung Darstellung 1 Abwicklung für Fertigung Darstellung 2
industrial robot. The structural analysis model was based on a FEM simulation. In order to simulate the intricate equilibrium of locally stored energy resulting from the bending of each element, the model needed to begin with the planar distribution of the 80 strips, followed by simulating the elastic bending and subsequent coupling of the
strips. The detailed structural calculations, which were based on a specifically modeled mesh topology that reflected the unique characteristics of the built prototype, also allowed for understanding the internal stresses that occurred due to the bending of the material in relation to external forces such as wind and snow loads – a very distinct aspect of calculating
lightweight structures. Comparing the generative computational design process with the FEM simulation and the exact measurement of the geometry that the material ‘computed’ on site demonstrated that the suggested integration of design computation and materialization is a feasible proposition.
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No.3 Installation
Voussoir Cloud IwamotoScott with buro Happold
Voussoir Cloud explores the structural paradigm of pure compression coupled with an ultra-light material system. The project is the result of a collaboration of IwamotoScott and the engineering firm, Buro Happold. The design filled the gallery with a system of vaults to be experienced both from within and from above. The edges of the vaults were delimited by the entry soffit and the two long gallery walls. Spatially, they 56
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migrated to form greater density at these edges. Structurally, the vaults relied on each other and the three walls to retain their pure compressive form. The fourteen segmented pieces were also resolved to make a series of five columns that supported the interior and back edge. The overall design drew from the work of engineer/architects such as Frei Otto and Antonio Gaudi, who used hanging chain models to find efficient
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Voussoir Cloud Petal Formation © IwamotoScott Architecture
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forms. Buro Happold used both computational hanging chain models to refine and adjust the profile lines, initially modeled in Rhino as pure catenaries, and form finding programs to determine the purely compressive vault shapes. In this case, however, the structural and material strategies were intentionally confused. Each vault was comprised of a Delaunay tessellation that both capitalized on and confounded the structural logics -- greater cell density of smaller, more connective modules, or petals, ganged together at the column
bases and at the vault edges to form strengthened ribs, while the upper vault shell loosened and gained porosity. At the same time, the petals -- our reconstituted “voussoirs”, typically defined as the wedge shaped masonry blocks that make up an arch -- were here reconsidered, using thin paper material. The three dimensional petals were formed by folding thin wood laminate along curved seams. The curve produced an inflected and dished form that relied on the internal surface tension of the wood and folded
geometry of the flanges to hold its shape. At the same time, in terms of materially, the flanges wanted to bulge out along the curved edge. This is what allowed for the structural porosity within the constraints of sheet material. The flanges of the resulting dimpled, concave petals were packed together as compressive elements and pressed upon each other. This attribute naturally created vaulted forms and led to the overall design. Starting with a material operation of folding using small handmade models to test geometric relationships of 57
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ISAR Voussoir Cloud detail back
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ISAR Voussoir Cloud Installation
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Hanging Chain
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ISAR Voussoir Cloud above
All images Š IwamotoScott Architecture
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bending along a curved seam, the design and construction process that followed focused on calibrating the relationship of digital model to physical corollary through repetitive empirical testing. There are four cell types in Voussoir Cloud with zero, one, two or three curved edges. Each cell behaves in a slightly different manner based on its size, edge conditions and position relative to the overall form. The curvature of each petal -- its dished shape – is dependent upon its adjacent voids. First, the plan curvature at each petal edge is defined by its end points and a set of tangents with neighboring modules based on the centroid of the adjacent void. The sectional deformation of the petal is then proportionally related to this plan curvature. If the flanges of the petal are perpendicular to the original cell surface, the proportion is one to one. At any 58
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other flange angle, the amount the petal dishes in section varies proportionally with the plan curvature at each edge. Because the flange angles are dictated by the normals of the vaults rather than the cell itself, the amount the petal dishes, and therefore its size (the petal shrinks in plan the more it dishes), has a unique geometry that needed to be calibrated to fit into the overall form. To do this, a computational script was developed for the Rhino model that managed the petal edge plan curvature as a function of tangent offset -- the more the offset, the greater the curvature. Though mathematically this proportional relationship of tangent offset to sectional height is non-linear, it is simplified here as a simple percentage. In the design, the petals were defined with less offset and are therefore flattered towards the
base and edges where they gained density and connected to purely triangulated cells, and with greater offset and more curvature at the top to create the dimpled effect on the interior. The Rhinoscript instantiated each of the 2,300 petals according to these criteria. Once the three dimensional petal geometries were digitally modeled, a second batch process was developed to unfold each petal for laser cutting. Finally, the petals were reconstituted by folding along the curved score lines and simply zip-tied together. In the end, Voussoir Cloud attempted to defamiliarize both structure and material to create conflicted readings of normative architectural typologies. It was a light, porous surface made of compressive elements that created an atmosphere with luminous wood pieces and used those to provoke sensorial effects. 59
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No.4 Design/Art
embodying the future Genetic Heirloom & diabetes Export Words: Mariana Pestana
In the current context of design and architecture, technology plays a major role in enabling the process and the formulation of these disciplines. The advances in technological software such as parametrics and other 3D design platforms, as well as machinery like CNC and laser cutting, have helped designers give shape to their projects, visualise them and even produce them. Yet while the progress of technology opens a new world of possibilities, it also reveals a handful of scenarios where ethical questions arise. Where 61
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will the technology lead to? Albeit it enables designers now, will it exclude their role in a future scenario? Are we truly aware of where the increasing availability of information will lead us? Where does it stop? When the design practice becomes interdisciplinary, with designers working outside the boundaries of their discipline and venturing in the arenas of biology or medicine, these questions become even more interesting. The design gains the ability to act as a form of critique; designers become
activists and their projects illustrate ethical concerns of global interest through products, images, objects that, because they are tangible, are impossible to disregard. Speculations are materialised and, suddenly, they become real. To illustrate this, we look at two projects: Whisky Export by James Gilpin and Genetic Heirloom by Revital Cohen. James Gilpin is a designer with an interest in new biomedical technologies, looking at the future of health care. He uses design to discuss issues of
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Gilpin Family Whisky Diabetes Export Whisky from diabetic patients’ urine.
socioeconomic and cultural importance.Through this process of emersion and debate he aims to evoke scenarios of technological implementation in tomorrow’s society. His project ‘Diabetes Export’ looks at both contexts of emerging technologies in medicine and traditional distillery to draw a future scenario where the world of diabetes and whisky meet in a rewarding collaboration for both parts. Playing with the practicalities of medical treatment and the preconceptions of the general public, James Gilpin took his project to the last consequences and created Whisky from diabetic patients’ urine. Large amounts of sugar are excreted on a daily basis by typetwo diabetic patients, especially amongst the upper end of our aging population. As a result, the toilets of diabetic patients often have unusual amounts of buildup in the basin due to rapid mould growth as the high level of sugar in the urine is a nutrient for mould and bacteria. Gilpin suggests that we start utilising our water purification systems to harvest the biological resources that our elderly already process in abundance. Thus, he decided
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to use sugar-heavy urine excreted by diabetic patients for the fermentation of high-end single malt whisky for export. As the whisky market is going faster than any other alcoholic beverage worldwide, why not take advantage of the sharp rise in diabetes happening in the northern hemisphere and capitalize on this resource? Gilpin developed this as his final project at the RCA and it was at the final show that I first came across this wonderful piece of design: Gilpin behind the bar,
very friendly, offering a taste of his new whisky brand. The bottles and their respective labels were carefully designed, inside which different shades of yellow revealed different types of whisky, depending on their provenance. I was unfortunate to let my disgust obstruct me from having a taste but many people around me did and I watched them happily drinking and socialising. A lack of preconceptions allow for better, bigger experiences, that is for sure.
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Revital Cohen is a designer who develops critical objects and provocative scenarios exploring the juxtaposition of the natural with the artificial. Her work spans across various mediums and includes collaborations with scientists, bioethicists and animal breeders. Her recent project, ‘Genetic Heirloom’, looks at emerging technologies in the genetic arena and draws on a near-future scenario where parents are fully aware of their genetic make-up and the calculated risks of passing on undesirable genes or mutations to their children.Drawing 63
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on the consequences that access to genetic information might have in the familiar context where the origin of diseases is directly related to inheritance, Revital Cohen created a genetic ‘Pandora’s Box’. One may choose whether or not to open the gate that triggers their genetic information.
Cohen used wood, glass resin acrylic and precious metals to create a series of speculative design pieces that focus on those questions. Playing with notions of heritage, she decided to use silver and gold, which much like a number of genetic cancers, are traditionally passed down the generations as inheritance.
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Guilt Adjuster. Photo: Gary Hamill
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Guilt Adjuster. Photo: Gary Hamill
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Intervensionist Healer. Photo: Gary Hamill
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Disclosure Case. Photo: Gary Hamill
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All projects funded by a Wellcome Trust Arts Award, in association with the Design Interactions Department at the Royal College of Art
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The objects that comprise the series are completely fictional, however they seem absolutely believable and make us wonder what it would be like to live in a world where access to genetic information is made available and the accompanying implications. Confronted with the pieces, I visualised, for the first time, the
risk and responsibility that might be triggered by the acknowledgement of genetic information, and the psychological consequences that such a scenario might prompt in family relations and personal identity. “I consider the life sciences to be a powerful catalyst for artistic expression as they present new sets
of values, ethics and behaviours... biotechnology and the possibilities it entails motivate me to reassemble my world view.� Revital Cohen
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No.5 Design/Art
designersblock
The Designersblock have long been on the lookout for new, emerging designers. They have selected and brought them to life through their shows, conversations, parties and encounters. We’ve decided to take them on board and invited Bud and Rory to select two designers for each issue. This is their choice!
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To date, Designersblock have produced and curated over 50 design shows in 13 cities in 10 countries with over 2000 exhibitors from 30 nations. These exhibitions showcase all disciplines of design, including furniture, lighting, ceramics, illustration, fashion, textiles, conceptual and products. They feature designers with all levels of experience and from all over the world. “We put together our own projects that involve designers, artists and businesses within our network. We call these projects long tailed because they are layered, they have the capacity to develop over time and are applicable to different environments, scales and cultures. These projects tell the stories that are important to us and the people around us.�
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bud's Choice -
Sputniko!
While it is not unusual for designers and artists to work across multiple disciplines, Anglo Japanese designer Sputniko! takes the idea of working cross-discipline a little further than most, being variously a product designer, a mathematician, a scientist, a musician, an anthropologist exploring gender and cultural issues, as well as a provocateur using music, products and video to explore and manifest her ideas. Sputniko!’s signature piece is probably the ‘Menstruation Machine’ a device that can be worn by a male or a female to simulate the most visible phase of the human female reproductive cycle. Containing 66
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diodes that attach to and agitate the abdomen, as well as a pump that releases fake blood onto the users crotch, the ‘Menstruation Machine’ can be used around the home or on a night out. For me, the fascinating thing about the machine is that it could be a product in its own right or it could be just a prop in the music video Sputniko! made for it. The starting point for one could easily be the other and it really doesn’t matter which one was the root of the other. Similarly, ‘Sushiborg Yukari’ is a lifelike robot that is designed to dispense sushi to order. Sushiborg Yukari wears a specially designed disc and harness that the sushi is
presented on, which also contains a handle that she can pull to release 8 ultra sharp blades to cut off the hands of those trying to steal her sushi. Informed by the tradition of Nyotai Mori, where businessmen eat sushi from the body of a naked woman, but also by the current trend within Japanese robotic manufacturing to create doll-like subservient female robots, ‘Sushiborg Yukari’ posits the idea that both females and robots will one day break free of their programming and act in their own interest. These are typical examples of Sputniko!’s products and approach. The ‘Penis Cybernetique’ is inspired by the Open Prosthetics movement.
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Crowbot, Sputniko
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Attached to a heart monitor, the female can now experience waking up with a hard-on and a body part that is affected by emotion and feeling. Or ‘Crowbot Jenny’ - working with specialists in crow intelligence from Cambridge University, Sputniko! developed a robot that could communicate using the language of crows. Wakki is a wearable armpit monster and musical instrument inspired by using your armpit to make a noise but also by the cultural
ambiguity around female armpit hair. All of these products explore the spaces between and our connections to gender, technology and cultural identity. Europeans and Americans suffer from a weird cultural dissonance with Japan, being both confused and fascinated by both the ancient heritage of the country as well as the 20th century variations of that heritage. We are enchanted by a culture that in the popular imagination has
cafĂŠs where you can pay to stroke cats, streets without house names or numbers, and a country that radically reorganised itself and became one of the most successful economies in the world shortly after experiencing one of the most horrific experiences in human history. This is the space that Sputniko! explores in her work and is for me what makes the work layered, joyous, and very human.
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rory's Choice -
rosemary anrude
This is a story about Kingston, or funky Kingston as we like to call it - Kingston upon Thames not Kingston, Jamaica. They know their culture at Kingston University, always have done - if you don’t believe me, check the track record. My favourite part of the recent student protests came when two hours into the first day, there was next to no coverage on the BBC, so I turned to the twitter feeds (surely the real news now). Whilst rioters on the Southbank were trying to knock off police and Tories at Millbank, somebody tweeted the glorious Balardian spectacle that Kingston University students were marching on the Bentalls Centre, Kingston’s vast shopping mall and occasional suicide spot. 68
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I missed the Kingston private view this summer, probably a good thing judging by the lack of students about when I snuck round very early the morning after. It was tumble weed save for a couple of wan souls I spotted who looked like they might have slept in a bush. There’s a slightly illicit buzz to wandering around an empty campus full of
work that’s been in development for three years and trying to work out what’s been going on without anyone around to tell you. Luckily, when I got to Rosemary Anrude’s space, she had left a couple of big clues in the form of two very thumbed and post-it note marked books sitting on her Soh Cah Toa shelves. The first Species of
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Spaces by Georges Perec, which I’ve never read; the second, Gaston Bachelard’s the Poetics of Space, which I have. The Poetics of Space is a remarkable book about domestic space and the experience of architecture, familiarity, archetypes and emotional attachment. It’s one of those books, as is Perec’s, that by exploring some of the things that we take for granted or simply don’t notice, informs and alters the way that we look at the world. The same goes for Rosemary Anrude’s work. Rosemary Anrude graduated in Product and Furniture Design last summer in 2010. Her
process-driven work is both industrial and ancient. She’s also very interested in dead space. She defines dead space in two ways: either space in which nothing is happening but that is crucial to ambience, or unused, purposeless space. Her Sah Cah Toa shelves are named after the formula students use to learn trigonometry - they work in and make use of the unused triangular spaces that are behind doors. She’s also explored joints, fixings and junctions: how components meet and connect. Fiercely experimental, there’s an understated quietness to this
work, a sympathy with materials, colour and how quite disparate elements can be deconstructed and joined to make sense as an elegant, functional and poetic whole. Initially using thread technology, internal and external with hard woods, she’s taken the process to other materials and objects such as wax candles and has just started experimenting with metal jewellery. Gaston Bachelard and Georges Perec sadly are no longer with us. Rosemary Anrude is alive. Currently, she lives and works in Kingston upon Thames, Middlesex.
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Rosemary Anrude, soh cah toa. Photo: Lauren Bardini. Rosemary Anrude, trestles and stools. Photo: Lauren Bardini.
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No.6 Q&A
Soft Lab
de magazine speaks to Michael Szivos
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Who is SOFTlab? SOFTlab is a NYC-based design studio created in 2005 by Jose Gonzalez and Michael Szivos, shortly after receiving graduate degrees in architecture from Columbia University. The studio has since been involved in the design and production of projects across almost every medium, from digitally fabricated large-scale sculpture, to interactive design, to large-scale digital video installations - with the focus being less on the medium and style and more on ideas. Currently, the studio has 5 employees. In 2010 SOFTlab was awarded the New Practices New York award by the AIA Chapter of New York along with 7 other young studios.
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Describe the philosophy behind the practice. As a studio, SOFTlab, embraces projects that are strange, difficult, blurry, and straddle multiple mediums. The constraints of each project are treated as opportunities that are tested through a collaborative studio environment with the hopes of solving typical problems in new ways, with new tools. Through the studio’s unique blend of backgrounds as designers, artists, architects and educators we are able to approach every project from a fresh perspective to create rich spatial, graphic, interactive and visual experiences. SOFTlab privileges adaptability and infuses every project with the capacity to evolve and grow into something new and unexpected. By mixing research, creativity and technology with a strong desire to make working fun, SOFTlab attempts to create new and unique experiences.
In a recent lecture, you mentioned the hacker under the handle “Captain Crunch” as an influence on your practice. How did a couple of hackers become interested in architectural design? Actually, I would say it was the reverse: a couple of architects became interested in hacking. In architecture school, we learned a lot of different tools. Most are traditionally used for architecture, making drawings, models, renderings, etc. Some are not so traditional in the architecture world, like interactive and video tools. When someone tells us something is impossible, our body temperature rises. We look at the tools we have and how they can be changed or used together to solve that problem. We like to think we won’t take no for an answer from software, we will just change it for our purposes. I guess that’s hacking. But we also believe a process, idea or method can be hacked and re-oriented or re-purposed. By being exposed to a lot of tools and process, it exposes us to methods that we think could be used in another vein of design. What if a space was more like website or vice versa. 71
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All Photo’s: SOFTlab
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The firm’s work has demonstrated the ability to create products out of a combination of advanced coding and binding clips - tell us about your experience merging high and low tech. The studio is very much about finding what is most appropriate for a solution. As designers, it is not just a matter of engineering a solution but telling a story with that solution. We like to combine high and low tech because it allows us to transcend the fetishisation of technology. We are definitely geeks and interested in innovative use of technology but we also find these tools pragmatically valuable. We feel like the use of the tools gets diluted and overlooked if they become part of our mantra. We feel it also limits us as designers if decide that we only use certain tools. We feel the same way about high and low end. We don’t think anything should be privileged but rather than getting rid of one or the other, we would rather mix them making something new.
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You do some very interesting video work - how do you see video playing a role in architecture? We feel that video will definitely become important, but not necessarily universal, in architecture. The fact that new, more flexible means of projecting and screening video are being developed means space will become more mediated. There will no longer be just devices that deliver media but it will become more ubiquitous. Some of our clients are already trying to figure out how this will happen in retail. For certain spaces, it makes sense - rather than remodeling every 3 years, you can simply change out content. It’s also only a matter of time before facades become mediated. We think you will also see real time interactive or informatic services. It won’t be on every building or in every space but it will happen and to a certain degree it might be another option or typology.
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What types of software do you find you work the most with? What are the tech skills you would consider most useful for your work? We use a full range of software from interactive to video to 3D. We probably wouldn’t hire someone who doesn’t have any software knowledge but most important is the ability to use these tools critically and ultimately for design. We are not interested in someone who knows every aspect of a software but can’t design or think critically. At some point, there is going to be a problem in that case, because 1) they will run into a problem and begin to stall because they can’t think it through or 2) they will not develop authorship (and the energy that goes along with that) for the project. In general, everyone in the studio provides a diverse range of skill. It’s just about putting together the right team and having people involved in the part of project in which they are most effective.
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Prototyping seems like an important part of your work - what are your tips / do you have a favorite prototyping story? Honesty is very important to us. There is a tendency to try and make things seem like they will work. This only causes problems down the road. We would rather have all of the positives and negatives listed in the beginning as best we can and then sort out any deal breakers. Everyone does this - it seems to be human nature. So, we are all very critical in a constructive way. There are, of course, a lot of failures and that’s a major part of experimentation. Testing, failing, and learning. Experimentation seems to have become romanticized in design. Most people think it means doing cool work. 75
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No.7 Fashion
Issey Miyake 132.5 Words: Mariana Pestana
Issey Miyake’s work revolves around technology. His studio is a place for creating and producing, where he develops materials and technical research with a team of experts. There, the garments are developed from concept to shape, through a process of intense experimentation and testing. In Miyake’s words, the studio of Shin-Ohasi is not a supplementary facility for design: it is the very core of the design. A Piece of Cloth, Miyake’s original touchstone, entered a new phase with the birth in 1993 of PLEATS PLEASE ISSEY MIYAKE, a mass produced line using polyester that subsequently led to the birth of A-POC in 1996, which used computerized industrial knitting/weaving machines. This process created continuous tubes of fabric within which lied both shape and pattern. The customer would then cut sleeves and skirts exactly to the length he/she wanted. In 2010, Issey Miyake’s touchstone entered a new phase where a piece of cloth is created and only becomes clothing when worn on the body. 132.5 is the first result of the collaboration with Reality Lab, a research team comprised of designers and engineers led by Miyake. 132.5 is
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based on origami and regeneration concepts. Inspired by the work of the computer scientist Jun Mitani, who creates threedimensional structures by folding flat materials, the clothing line is made from recyclable textiles with two dimensional geometrical patterns which fold into astonishing three-dimensional garments such as dresses, pants, shirts and skirts. Folding the worlds of fashion and mathematics together, Miyake’s 132.5 concept consists of a single piece of fabric (1) that is brought to life as a three-dimensional garment (3) and folds into a two dimensional base (2). The number 5 apparently represents the idea that the concept might take on future permutations or, as suggested by Miyake, represents the idea of transcending dimensions or a leap into another world. The garments are made of recycled polyester, using an environmentally-friendly system developed by ECO CIRCLE, that reduces carbon emissions by approximately 80% and allows for unlimited recycling. The recycled polyester fiber used in threads without twists results in a slighty stiff and tensile fabric, ideal for products such as outdoor tents but posing problems to cloth-
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Issey Miyake shop, designed by Tokujin Yoshioka, Tokyo
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132.5 - 21st centry clothing revolution by Issey Miyake
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ing where twisting and weaving become essential. Miyake and his team have worked in developing new materials together with weavers throughout Japan, one of those materials being the one used in 132.5, pleasant for the skin, wrinkle resistant and with the ability to maintain its shape. According to Miyake, it is fundamental today for designers to have an environmental perspective. However it is not enough to use recycled materials just because they’re ecological, one must be practical and use the qualities of the materials to create something appealing. The 132.5 project beautifully opens a whole new path for exploration in materials, their production, use and re-use and proves that environmental awareness is perfectly compatible with astonishing aesthetic quality.
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No.8 Fashion
Yohji Yamamoto at the v&a Words: Mariana Pestana
On a very different note, Yohji Yamamoto’s trademark lies in the application of traditional Japanese techniques to design. Yamamoto’s fabrics are central to his design practice and are a trademark of his work. Born in Tokyo in 1943, Yamamoto set up his own company Y’s Incorporated in1972. From the start of his career, Yamamoto’s work was recognized for challenging the conventions of fashion. The asymmetric cuts and 79
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seemingly unflattering curves of his early work contradicted the close-fitted styles of the catwalks. Yamamoto’s designs have rewritten notions of beauty in fashion and the playful androgyny of his work challenged notions of gender identity. His collections are recognized for subverting gender stereotypes, with women wearing garments traditionally associated with menswear. Materiality is central to Yamamoto’s design practice.
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Images: Yohji Yamamoto Exhibition (c) V&A
Supporting craftspeople in and around Kyoto, his textiles are created to specification often employing traditional Japanese dyeing and embroidery techniques such as Shibori and Yu-zen. The V&A has just opened the first UK solo exhibition celebrating the life and work of Yohji Yamamoto. The installation-based retrospective, curated by Ligaya Salazar, takes place 30 years after his Paris debut and features
over 80 garments spanning Yamamoto’s career. Yamamoto’s visionary designs are exhibited on mannequins amongst the treasures of the V&A. Placed in hidden corners of the Museum, the silhouettes create a direct dialogue between Yamamoto’s work and the different spaces in which they are displayed. Designed by Yamamoto’s longtime collaborator, scenographer and lighting designer Masao Nihei, the main exhibition space evokes the setup of a catwalk.
Structural scaffolding frames the exhibition area and a very bright light is placed above the garments enhancing their colors, materials and their craft quality. All garments are shown on open display, at the same height as the viewer, as to allow the audience to interact with the garments. In the words of Salazar, “you are meeting your other, rather than looking up and behind glass. It’s a very different experience of the clothes”. 79
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Alongside the garments, the exhibition space shows a mixed-media timeline showing Yamamoto’s fashion shows, films, performances, graphics and photographs. Celebrating the collaborative aspect of Yamamoto’s career, the timeline shows partnerships with fashion photographer Nick Knight, graphic designer Peter Saville, art director Marc Ascoli and M/M (Paris), choreographer Pina Bausch and filmmakers Takeshi Kitano and Wim Wenders, amongst many others as to demonstrate the importance of the creative dialogue which flows through his work. As Ligaya Salazar mentions in a recent interview, “Yohji Yamamoto said to me that he always leaves 5-10% of his design unfinished or open. This leaves a small part of his design open to interpretation by the photographer, the press, the customer or the curator. I believe it is this approach that makes his collaborations so interesting.” As part of the retrospective, Yamamoto’s work stretches further across London with exhibitions at the Wapping Project sites, at both Bankside (11 March to 14 May 2011) and Wapping (11 March to 10 July 2011). 80
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Image: Yohji Yamamoto Exhibition (c) V&A
No.9 Guest Feature - Shirley Shen
tools for Play
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One might assume that the trend in design computation is towards the efficient production of increasingly complex forms. But if you ask Kaustuv DeBiswas, a 2011 TED Fellow and PhD candidate in Design and Computational at MIT, he’ll tell you that the trend is to focus on creative platforms rather than the artifact. DeBiswas, co-founder and managing partner of Dplay, a computationally-driven experimental design firm, is 82
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developing an open-source, cloud-based platform that will enable key players to collaborate at the early design phase. The platform, called Sunglass, promises to enhance performance and significantly reduce design cycle time. But Sunglass is not just here to increase productivity. Its main directive is the designer’s creative instinct, which, up until now, was left unacknowledged by computer-aided design software developers. DeBiswas’
desire for a tool that could view forms through different analytical lenses, generate surprising outcomes, and be accessible through an intuitive interface was shaped by his own experience using and developing design tools. As an architect, he realized early on that he did not want to think the way that CAD software wanted him to think. “CAD never surprised me,” he says, “It’s just a documentation tool.” As an early adopter of parametric
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Sunglass Chemical.
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design software, he was frustrated with the amount of language that stood in the way of playful design. While developing a parallel computation link between Generative Components and Ecotect, DeBiswas wondered, why not develop several feedback loops at the same time? Sunglass’s potential application across disciplines is seemingly unlimited. Say a mathematician, a sound artist, and an environmental engineer are all perturbing a space at the same time. Each player develops their own tool or ‘sunglass’ through which they view the space. The mathematician develops a magnetic field sunglass, the sound artist uses a voice-activated sunglass, and the environmental engineer sees the world in terms of energy performance. 83
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Players can adopt sunglasses that others have developed, allowing collaborators to observe disparate phenomena acting at once in space. DeBiswas believes that a platform that speaks the language of disparate professionals must exist in order to engage key influences right from the start. “Freeform structures are not there right now,” he says. “When you talk to structural engineers, they’ll ask, ‘Where is your column? Where is your beam?’ This is a very constrained way of looking at the world. Real-time collaboration will push us out of the confines of normal languages.” Here, DeBiswas touches on another desire of creative professionals: the desire to play together. Although many firms champion ‘interdisciplinary’ and ‘collaborative’ as integral features of their design philosophy, 84
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“language” often gets in the way. Consider the architect, who hands off their design to a number of consultants, each of whom re-describes the model in their own world view. Each respective player pushes other players’ design criteria to the background in order to prioritize their own parameters. A serial process as such means that players take turns rather than interact. One significant drawback of a serial process is that design must be substantially complete before the analysis can occur. However, in Sunglass, because the space is actively analyzing your input with the criteria of your collaborators, design and analysis coincide in real time. It even works with sparse data -- when the model is incomplete. The notion of form-finding as an active process in real-time
stemmed from an encounter with an architecture student at MIT. Jimmy Shen approached DeBiswas with an unusual challenge: he wanted to ‘dance’ his form. The result of Shen and DeBiswas’s collaboration was called Springy Thingy, an applet that generates forms based on the movement of a wand in space. “When you draw a line in CAD, you know where it will be in finite space,” says DeBiswas, “but when you draw a line in Springy Thingy, you have to wait and see what happens. The space is active--there’s gravity--and what you draw will interact with what you draw next.” He adds with audible excitement, “The uncertainty is unsettling.” DeBiswas notes that a field with its own intrinsic logic is common in many artistic processes. In watercolor, for example, as the painter brushes paint over
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a canvas, the physics of the canvas takes over, absorbing and diffusing the paint. The painter must evaluate what happens before making their next move. And sometimes, the unexpected moments are the most rewarding. Just as an artist engages with materials to think about the material itself, DeBiswas hopes this tool will change the nature of forms available to designers’ vocabulary. “It’s a playground. It’s
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not about pre-imagined forms, but the release of expertise. If there is a conversation allowing one to look at space from another person’s point of view, then new shapes will appear.” One could think of Sunglass as the ultimate napkin sketch, where multiple principals can draw at the same time, with the aid of real-time analytical tools. But perhaps more exciting is that Sunglass offers creative thinkers a
way to develop their ideas about form without having to control forms directly. DeBiswas puts it most simply: “A lot of things happen before forms. This is not a modeling program. It’s something designers can think with.” Sunglass is scheduled for initial release in mid 2011.
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No.10 Awards
the restaurant & bar design awards 2011
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A judging panel of top design, lifestyle & hospitality personalities, including Karim Rashid, Fay Maschler, and India Mahdavi, have selected the shortlisted for this year’s Restaurant & Bar Design Awards. 330 entries were submitted from the world’s top architects, interior designers and hospitality operators from the UK and 50 other countries. The winners will be announced at a prestigious awards ceremony held at London’s Canary Wharf - East Wintergarden on 7th July 2011.
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a selection from the 2011 Shortlist
CaVe (australia)/ International restaurant Lead designer koichi takada Design Brief We want to change the way we eat and chat in restaurants. The acoustic quality of restaurants contributes to the comfort and enjoyment of a dining experience. We have experimented with noise levels in relation to the comfort of dining and the ambiance a cave-like environment can create. Design Challenges The timber profiles generate a sound studio atmosphere and a pleasant ‘noise’ of dining conversation, offering more intimacy as well as a visually interesting and complex surrounding. The series of acoustic curvatures were tested and developed with computer modelling. Design results Ever since its opening, the success of the design has been judged by the overwhelming number of customers who have come to enjoy this unique dining experience. The Cave restaurant is more than an interior, it has become a ‘place’ of familiar identity, an address which offers a retreat into ‘nature’ from the urban surroundings. 87
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Inamo St James/ Independent restaurant Lead designer Macaulay Sinclair
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Design Brief We were charged with delivering a 200-cover panAsian restaurant, a separate holding bar, private spaces and physical flexibility. We were asked to create an environment which was visually impressive, stimulating and exciting, while harmoniously integrating Inamo’s interactive ordering technology. St. James had to be striking externally while, internally, create optimum conditions for Inamo’s projection equipment.
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Design Challenges While we were asked to maximise the number of covers in the space, it was imperative that we avoided a grid-like ‘canteen’ layout. The challenge was to evoke a sense of the organic, to create curvature, flow, movement and flexibility into the space while seamlessly connecting Inamo’s trading and dwell spaces and realising commercial performance.
Design results Taking cues from nature’s structure, pattern and composition, we carved circulation routes and layered planes to echo rock striations. Overhead, an inverted ‘Giants Causeway’ incorporates over-table projectors; sculptural red sandstone and earthy rich timbers cover the walls; the frontage is framed by illuminated semi-precious stones; and bamboo canes grow unabated. Rich green and deep red onyx coruscate throughout.
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Design Brief Located in one of the trendiest office buildings in Beirut, Mybar needed to feel sophisticated to attract the business lunch crowd, yet welcoming and edgy enough to attract the evening sushi diner and martini drinker. Two distinct areas were required, one area catering to drinks while the other area for dinner and lunch and neither area could feel segregated from the other.�
Mybar (Lebanon)/ Lighting Lead designer PSLab
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Design Challenges Creating a space that would cater for both drinks and dinner / lunch without ever feeling empty when a particular area was not in use and integrating a form of personalization for each of the 96 different owners. We also had to address a long entrance corridor and the existing two-level space. Design results Architectural elements (the poles) were created that were both functional in their use of tables and visually aesthetic to create a statuesque visual barrier between the dining area and drink area. The contrasting materials were chosen, from the metal cladding wall to the marble under lit bar, to encapsulate the sophisticated and sexy atmosphere of the venue.
PHILIPPE HUREL
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LONDON +44 20 7373 1133 phlondon@philippe-hurel.com 91 www.demagazine.co.uk
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No.11 Guest feature -Sphinx Interiors / CZWG
Virtual environments
Through the wonders of technology and collaborative working, what was only available to the elite is now becoming available to any discerning purchaser or housing provider. These days people do not consider purchasing a package holiday without having seen photographs of the hotel, the 94
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pool, the bedroom and ideally, a view of the sunset and the horizon. In the current difficult economic climate why would anybody entertain the purchase of their largest asset (a property/ home) without gaining a thorough understanding of what it would look like and how it would feel to live there?
Purchasers can visit existing properties but what happens if the property is yet to be built? Sphinx Interiors, a new Interior Design Practice founded by Indira Wisepart, in association with award winning CZWG Architects LLP, has honed a process, using revolutionary new computer software, that
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Finer detail in the bathroom www.sphinxinteriors.com www.czwg.com www.archlinexp.com
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can quickly and economically provide the prospective purchaser with an accurate three dimensional visualization of the interior of any room, flat or house under consideration. The virtual environment accurately simulates the daylight experienced within the apartment by using the development’s orientation, geographical location and a selected time of day. Realistic views through the various
windows can also be simulated. This service is of particular relevance not only to the purchaser but also to the residential developer, where there are numerous flat or house types on offer that cannot be fully represented in a single show suite or adequately described in a sales brochure. Typical options, such as paint colours, floor finishes, ironmongery, light fittings, wall tiling and joinery items such as wardrobes, can instantaneously
be applied to the virtual model to assist the prospective purchasers in the realization of how their new home would actually look and feel. This both assists and expedites their making of these important and difficult decisions. Alterations, such as the removal of a partition wall, can also be made. A variety of standard furnishing options can also be provided and the service can be expanded to provide a bespoke service for a complete and detailed interior design of the purchaser’s new home to reflect their aspirations and personal taste. All that is needed is an accurate floor plan of the apartment and Sphinx Interiors will take care of the rest. The example illustrated here is a three bedroom apartment in central London designed for one of the UK’s leading residential developers. The services can equally be applied to existing properties. 95
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â„–I high Flying hotel
Words: Stuart Blakley
A hotel inspired by the glamour of the golden age of aviation. A hotel inspired by the 57 Bugatti. A hotel inspired by film noir. Enter Hotel Verta. London’s latest addition to high end hospitality takes design seriously. 96
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Located along the Thames in Battersea, Hotel Verta is part of the von Essen group. “We wanted to capture the essence of a time when flying was at its most glamorous – the 1930s and early 40s. Sunderland flying boats, leather caps and suitcases - that sort of thing,” says Creative Director Andrew Onraet. ‘Firsts’ such as transatlantic and round-the-world flights were all the rage in that era. Hotel Verta is a contemporary ‘first’ – it’s the only integrated hotel heliport in Europe. The aviation theme suddenly makes sense. Onraet calls it the city’s “Vertical Gateway”. This theme takes two forms: a propositional language and a photographic language. The objective is to raise the hotel experience to a ‘higher level’, reaching ‘new heights’ and creating ‘uplifting experiences’. A mid 20th century Donovan portrait of an elegant lady standing beside her leather luggage captures the essence. It is updated with strategically placed monochromatic photographs by Angela Cameron and Farah Syed. Artists’ studio Based Upon enlarged an old helicopter flight path map to create a bronze panel which takes pride of place behind the reception desk. Take a closer look and all around are nuances to flying. The swirls in the carpet of the mezzanine Vertilon Bar represent helicopter ripples. A to Z maps folded into paper planes are set in mirrors in the 70 bedrooms. Old luggage tags inspired the design of the menu cards. The dashes of red in the staff uniforms – shoes, ties and cravats – raise a hat to red landing flags. Silver leaf arrows set in the 98
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glazed panels of the ground floor Patrisey Restaurant represent ascent and descent. Even the food service is inspired by aviation. Bedtime treats are labelled ‘Chocs Away’. Business lunches are served on in-flight trays. The seven meeting rooms with panoramic river views are named after code words of the phonetic alphabet which was originally developed by the International Civil Aviation Authority: Alpha, Charlie, Foxtrot and so on. ‘Welcome Aboard’ proclaim the television screens set into the walls outside of the meeting rooms. Highflying and fast driving are both metaphors and muses for the interior design. “If Hotel Verta was a car,” states Onraet, “it would be a 57 Bugatti.” This racing car was the first automobile that could be driven both on roads and in races. He continues, “The Bugatti’s sleek well crafted design and use of high quality materials is what we set out to achieve. Look at the polished plaster walls in the hotel – they will only improve with age.” Full height cream leather headboards in the bedrooms have the luxurious texture of a vintage car interior. Of course, the 57 Bugatti combined classic looks and comfort with the latest technology of the day. Each bedroom is equipped with the latest audiovisual gear all operable from a bedside control panel. There’s even a television in the bathroom, perfect for relaxing in the bath to watch The Big Sleep. In the forecourt, a Bentley, Porsche and Rolls Royce Phan-
tom await guests wishing to travel by car rather than by helicopter. “Perhaps we should have a 1940s racing car as well!” smiles Onraet. He cites film noir as another source of inspiration for Hotel Verta. Hollywood’s classic film noir period was the early 1940s. Unusually, the genre is strongly associated with a visual style, a low key black and white aesthetic. Film noir is rooted in German Expressionism which embraced symbolism and exploited miseen-scène to optimise ambience. Mise-en-scène – the comprehensive composition of a scene to include clothing, lighting, setting and placement of objects – is a concept that is inherent to Hotel
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Verta. Nothing is left to chance not even the lettering. The use of an inverted V for A refers again to ascent and descent. The font? Why, Battersea typeface. “As an architect, I’m involved in all aspects of the hotel,” explains Onraet. “Everything is visual in one way or another.” He continues, “It’s film noir with a contemporary twist. Casablanca is one film that springs to mind.” Directed by Michael Curtiz, this 1942 film features Expressionist lighting and film noir shadowing effects. The use of background as a framing device is a technique Curtiz explored. This translates in Hotel Verta to vistas viewed through the double height reception as stills.
Upstairs, the corridors are theatrically dark with black textured wallpaper on one side and white on the other. Recessed lighting behind architraves on the landing strengthens the cinematic effect. Dramatic lighting deepens the mood of the subterranean spa with its hydro vitality pool. “The hotel is beyond boutique” exclaims Onraet. “Always go for excess, that’s my motto!” Truly, a multifaceted and modern take on classics defines Hotel Verta - in both design and service terms.
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Harmonising Sound & Interior design
Words: Richard Newlove
How does technology fit with interior design? Is it possible to have harmony between the two? We investigate an emerging trend that might have at least some of the answers.
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Even within tough economic times, more and more of us everyday are opting to use modern digital entertainment systems in the form of iPods, iPhones, iPads and a myriad of other multimedia devices. Such devices are often very personal to individuals, and, like the way we decorate our homes, the content reflects the personality of its owner. Accessible 24 hours a day, they are with us on the move, at work, at play and when we are settled comfortably at home. These devices often become an extension of the even more complex home entertainment systems
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available to us in the form of hard disc recorders, media enabled PC’s, and video & audio servers with the potential to store huge quantities of entertainment material and then distribute selected items around the home to any given room at the touch of a button - an instant and convenient source of information, education or relaxation, experienced alone or whilst entertaining. All that technology, however, requires two things: often a video screen but always a sound source of one sort or another. A lot of the reference designs and interiors we see in magazines and
at exhibitions, be it residential or commercial, ignore this increasingly important aspect of living, as in most cases it involves potentially unsightly grilles in the walls or ceilings - something frequently the source of discord between designer and engineer towards the end of projects. Whilst the styling of standalone conventional cone speakers has vastly improved in recent years, they are still very much a visual object and one which inevitable requires wires. However, a new audio technique has appeared over the last fifteen years which reproduces sound in such a way that the technology responsible can be disguised as another everyday object or even embedded completely within walls, ceilings or cabinetry, making it completely invisible in application. Because of its sheer unobtrusiveness, getting knowledge of this product category to the market is challenging. Whilst is has been reliably utilised for ten years, to date, mainly only those in the know have so far accessed what is a stunning concept. The basis of the technology is itself far from new. In essence it goes back to first principles, working in exactly the same way as a natural musical instrument such as the guitar or piano. It creates tiny unseen vibrations across the large surface area which is the body of the instrument, or in this case, the thin, light weight, flat loudspeaker, which today utilises all manner of modern aerospace composite materials, rather than the wooden structures we are familiar with.
Original Art & Prints www.astburygreen.co.uk Astbury Green specialise in original artwork. We offer unique pieces of original art and prints from a collection of emerging and established UK Artists. www.astburygreen.co.uk enquiries@astburygreen.co.uk
All work is available to buy online.
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the rafayel on the Left bank,
Words: Jenna Voigt
It may seem someone made a grievous error in stating the location of a new London boutique hotel. There’s no such thing as a Left Bank along the Thames, certainly not in Wandsworth. 104
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Photo: Rafayel on the Left Bank
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Photo: VDA
Photo: Rafayel on the Left Bank
Photo: Rafayel on the Left Bank
The designers of Iqbal Latif ’s Rafayel on the Left Bank are determined to bring a Parisian atmosphere to the otherwise neglected riparian location. Situated on the South Bank of the Thames, near the London Heliport, the 65-room ‘ecofriendly’ auberge boasts an intelligent room management system that fine-tunes energy use. The Rafayel’s property management system is linked to Micromaster, an in-room control system that allows the hotel to
determine whether or not a guest is actually in their room, rather than simply checked into the property. This gives the hotel the ability to control energy levels based on ‘real-time’ occupancy. VDA UK designed the system to be remotely controllable from an iphone or ipad from anywhere in the world. Rooms are also equipped with PowerTV, which enables guests to adjust room temperature and lighting through the television’s remote control. Further eco-friendly innovations
include LED lighting, rainwater harvesting and a hotel-wide ban on plastic. Architect James Burland designed the curved edifice to allow for sweeping river views, including a 360 degree view of London from the rooftop terrace. Rafayel on the Left Bank will no doubt be the first of many luxury hotels along the ‘Nine Elms corridor,’ as the United States Embassy is moving their operation to Wandsworth in 2017.
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â„–4 Norwegian Epic cruise ship
Words: Carole Houston
An elegant design, in part by cruise line specialists Tillberg Design, the interior scheme throughout the ship is fresh and fun, offering innovative and flexible accommodation for a variety of guests.
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Creating a unique bedside bracket for the suites of Norwegian Epic cruise ship, Chelsom teamed a contemporary chrome LED reading bracket with a stunning shade which stretches soft white PVC across a multi-faceted frame. An internal wrapped cylinder diffuses the light source to provide subtle illumination for these luxury staterooms. Designed in part by Tillberg Design, cruise line specialists, the interior design scheme throughout the ship is fresh and fun, offering innovative and flexible accommodation for a variety of guests. The lighting brief required contemporary fittings throughout the ship which were highly functional yet unique in appearance. Will Chelsom, who spearheads the Chelsom cruise lighting di-
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vision comments, “this bespoke design cleverly blends two of our best selling ranges into a striking fitting which is perfect for this environment. The LED flexi-arm offers excellent reading light; the main part of the fittings is low energy and finished in contemporary chrome and the PVC shade is very easy to maintain.”
Chelsom Limited Tel: 01253 831406 marketing@chelsom.co.uk www.chelsom.co.uk The Ribbon collection from Chelsom featuring stretch PVC fabric in soft white, hand-wrapped around multi-faceted frames in three distinct shapes and various sizes. The light effect is soft and diffused through an internal wrapped cylinder. Available as ceiling fittings with matching wall brackets.
New s / Up da t e Stylish low energy light bulb wins the 2011 Brit Insurance Design of the Year British designer Samuel Wilkinson and product design company Hulger have won the Brit Insurance Design of the Year 2011 for their stunning redesign of the low energy light bulb. Beating over 90 entries to claim the winning title, 2011 Jury Chair Stephen Bayley presented the award at the March 15th ceremony held at the Design Museum. www.designmuseum.org
DesignIT returns this April - The mobile guide to the 50th edition of the Salone del Mobile in Milan, directly on your smartphone After last year’s successful debut, DesignIT is back - the mobile application that lets you find fair exhibitors via any smartphone- iPhone, BlackBerry, HTC, etc. It is practical, easy-to-use, and completely free. Starting in April, by going to the website mobile. designit.it, visitors of the Salone del Mobile in Milan can access a mobile website that allows them to view the guide of the participating exhibitors, either in alphabetical order or divided by the halls: Classic, Design, Modern, or Lighting and Office. Users can also see exactly where a particular company is located at the fair by simply entering in the name in the search box. www.designit.it www.mobile.designit.it
New corporate logo To coincide with the celebration of the Stansted showroom’s 25th anniversary, Leisure Plan have decided to treat themselves to a new wardrobe – in the form of a new corporate logo and a change of house style. The showroom has become the reference centre for all who are involved in commercial or residential design looking for stylish, highly durable outdoor furniture not readily available through traditional high street retail outlets. Three of the world’s leading brands are exclusive to Leisure Plan in the UK: DEDON, Egoparis and Fischer Mobel. www.leisureplan.co.uk
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New s / Up da t e
JTI Clean City Lab: Opening of the exhibition of the Portable Ashtray The opening ceremony of the exhibition of projects submitted to the JTI Clean City Lab International Design Contest was held in April in Milan’s La Triennale. The contest, promoted by JTI – Japan Tobacco International - is dedicated to the design and development of the portable ashtray of the future. Three prestigious international schools of art and design, Milan’s Domus Academy (Milan), London’s Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design and the ECAL- Ecole Cantonale d’Art de Lausanne, participated in the contest. The initiative,
targeted at graphic and industrial design students, started in December 2010: the brief was to design a low cost, smoking related portable object for a cleaner environment. Professors, students and expert designers collaborated to develop over 100 projects combining creativity, aesthetics and ecoresponsibility with the values of JTI, particularly innovation and commitment. 28 of the final projects will be on display in Milan.
Astbury Green Launch www. astburygreen.co.uk - Showcasing Original Artwork by UK Artists Astbury Green has launched its new website www.astburygreen.co.uk featuring exclusive original artwork from a collection of UK Artists. The contemporary website is home to a beautiful compilation of unique pieces of artwork at friendly prices. It also provides the opportunity to purchase prints of the original artwork, available at large volumes for larger interior projects. www.astburygreen.co.uk 114
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Amina’s truly invisible loudspeaker range brings a totally new dimension to whole house entertainment systems. Simply mount into a wall or ceiling and skim over with standard finishing plaster. Once dry, apply your chosen wall covering or paint finish. The result is unparalleled sound quality, evenly distributed throughout your home, totally invisible to you and your guests.
Call or email to receive your free brochure: t:+44 1480 354 390 / e: inspired@amina.co.uk / w: www.amina.co.uk
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equipoise lighting creative lighting for the designed environment Specialist agents B.lux | Bover | Baulmann Equipoise Lighting, Kable House Amber Drive Langley Mill Nottingham NG16 4BE +44 77 70 41 21 63 info@equipoiselighting.co.uk www.equipoiselighting.co.uk
New s / Up da t e
The UK’s only foamcoated furniture company has set a precedent by making CAD (computer assisted design) files available of the furniture in its entire catalogue. sixinch, manufacturers of quirky and original furniture, has produced detailed computer design files for 88 pieces in its standard collection ranges. Furniture such as the funky geometric Bench and baroque-inspired New Classics range have been digitally created to help architects and designers see how the striking furniture can work in their spaces. This service is not widely provided by furniture design and manufacturing companies and only a handful of businesses have a CAD database of their items.
An Decock, managing director of sixinch UK said: “We have created the CAD files to make life easier for our clients. As an architect, I know how important it is to make sure that every element of the project fits together in the early stages. “Because sixinch furniture is so unique and relatively new to the UK market, the CAD files will help designers and architects to understand how it can meet their needs and fit perfectly in any interior or exterior spaces they are creating.” The sixinch CAD database provides accurate layered sectional elevations of all the products in the new 2011 catalogue. sixinch can also digitally create an entire room or building complete with furniture for its clients. Ms Decock continued: “Architects often have existing CAD plans that they can drop our files into but we can also create whole rooms for interior designers and private clients who might not have the expertise to do this themselves.” The majority of sixinch’s collection pieces can also be customised to fit specific dimension requirements. The CAD files can be manipulated to show how the furniture will look if the proportions are altered. sixinch also produces CAD files for all clients requesting bespoke furniture and branded items. All CAD files are available by request – please contact An Decock at info@sixinch.eu. An online library of images and CAD drawings is currently under construction and will be available soon from www.sixinch.eu. 117
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roducts
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Stockholm Design Week OFFECCT
Duo chair by Patrick Norguet www.offecct.se
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Stockholm Design Week Note Design Studio
To create a series of spotlights that minimize the visual expression of technique and instead maximize the aesthetics. www.notedesignstudio.se
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Stockholm Design Week Maria Westerberg
The T-shirt chair, the chair recieved the first prize for the “Green furniture award� www.mariawesterberg.se
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Hugo Passos
The Piet side table has an asymmetrical leg structure in solid walnut with coloured tops in matt lacquer. Exposed joinery between base and top was designed as a key feature, creating honest visual character. www.hugopassos.com
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Grand Sofa by Monica Forster www.offecct.se
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Abici – Serie Stoccolma was designed by Note - a unique Stockholm line for the stylish Italian bicycle manufacture Abici www.notedesignstudio.se
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Milan Furniture Fair Vitra
Vitra has developed the Tip Ton chair in collaboration with the designers Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby www.vitra.com
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The Dune Chair Woodenleg by MonicaForster. www.modusfurniture.co.uk
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Part Sofa by PearsonLloyd. www.modusfurniture.co.uk
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Noughts & Crosses Stools by MichaelSodeau www.modusfurniture.co.uk
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Chairless is a simple tool for sitting – a textile strap joined into a loop, measuring 85 cm in length and 5 cm in width, which can be wrapped around the back and knees in order to stabilise the body and relieve tension, while in a seated position. www.vitra.com 121
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Bristol Sound & Vision JVC
JVC Unveils Their First Consumer Camcorder with Full HD with 3D filming options. The GS-TD1 www.jvc.co.uk
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Ark Angel LSV Megayacht
Sauter Carbon Offset Design presents a Carbon Neutral Emax Megayacht that maximizes ecology, energy, efficiency and economy to achieve a 50 to 100% reduction in fuel consumption and GHG emissions. www.sautercarbonoffsetdesign.com
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A Machine’s Perception door handles
PeLiDesign created a series of 3D printed door handles from stainless steel and titanium by 3D scanning handles and exploiting the errors of the scan-file (as if the scanner’s perception was severely impaired / altered) www.pelidesign.com
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The Æ+Y Mobile Phone by Æsir and Yves Béhar
Æsir, a new Copenhagen-based, design-focused mobile phone company is challenging some of the world’s leading designers to bring fresh thought to mobile phone design. www.aesir-copenhagen.com
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No.12 Feature
Falper - NeW to alchemy design aWard
A new range to Alchemy Design Award is the bathroom furniture from Falper. It consists of washbasins, bathtubs and accessories, designed and created one by one, lacquered and sized, with layouts arranged according to needs. It is the result of sartorial care but with the latest material-processing technology and production methods. Paying attention to sustainability, each panel is certified ecological, the wood finishes are entirely 124
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water-based and all manufacturing waste is recycled. It is the fruit of an Italian company encompassing all the values of a family, whose designers, creators, architects and artisans infuse their own unique identity into each item, an energy that translates into shapes and proportions that make each product an instant classic. It exists in eleven collections, characterised by styles which differ whilst staying 100% Italian.
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It takes the spotlight in any contemporary scene that makes elegance and originality its distinguishing features. The range includes: SCOOP designed by Michael Schmidt; unique components with organic shapes: a perfect balance between functionality and emotion. The Scoop bathtub, already awarded with the Red Dot Design Award in 2007, and the floor base basin, become seductive sculptures for the modern bathroom. GEORGE is a line also designed by Michael Schmidt. Enjoy the luxury of a male collection, an important, majestic project where each material is called to play a key role. The polished steel, the Pietraluce resin and the mirrored surfaces all reflect the imposing nature of this ambiance. COCO, designed by Paola Navone, is luxury interpreted in an all-female form, experienced through a few important elements that stand out for their sophisticated textures, in which black and white exalt elegantly designed objects. It is a collection created for the woman who recognises unique style and wishes to surround herself with items giving character to classic and modern environments and giving rise to timeless refinement.
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inspiration. in london.
The leading event for kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom innovation. kbb London 2011 is a trade event designed specifically for the needs of the retail, contract and design sectors. A unique platform to source product, innovation and inspiration from leading manufacturers and industry suppliers. Register for your FREE ticket now (saving the £30 entry fee) at www.kbb.co.uk Please quote kbb44.
Official Media Partner
In association with
15TH-17TH MAY 2011 EXCEL LONDON, UK WWW.KBB.CO.UK
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TileVision Mirage is an 800 x 600mm sized mirror with built in 19� LCD Digital TV and LED lighting controllable from touch sensitive through glass buttons or full function waterproof remote control. www.tilevision.tv
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Teuco UK Hydroline* represents a world-first (patent pending) being the only totally non-visible yet truly effective hydrotherapy system available in the market today. www.teuco.com
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Azzurra The Pool range from Azzurra expresses the washbasin as a new typology; Pool is squared, metallic, and it rejects the idea of a conventional washbasin that is always set into the standard baths www.alchemyaward.com
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Triflow Concepts Triflow Concepts builds on its design credentials with the arrival of the Triflow Quadro System and the Triflask. www.triflowconcepts.com
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Azzurra Tandem: A cleverly integrated laundry basket! Shown here in pure gloss-white, Tandem measures 42cm across (basin) and is available exclusively through Alchemy Design Award. www.alchemyaward.com 129
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EcobUiLd
Words: Holly Harrington
Just in case you missed it, EcoBuild, the biggest trade fair in sustainable products and methods for the built environment, took place recently at London’s ExCel Centre. Having grown into something of a friendly green giant (apart from the odd non- sustainable products that creep in), all around it remains a good show providing a really interesting series of seminars, lectures, and demonstrations. Of the many talks on offer, interesting topics included ‘feeding cities’ - bringing food production back into the city, the sustainable future of architecture, creating urban landscapes (that age old question of the garden city), reshaping London, the art of place and the place of art and re- interpreting nature. Rowan Moore hosted the Reinterpreting Nature talk, which had Benedetta Tagliabue from EMBT Architects speaking on their philosophy of architecture as landscape, seemingly at this forefront of our current trajectory in architecture- that of an architecture, increasingly evolving from and incorporating its surrounding landscapes. Apart from the host of wonderful freebies each year (don’t lie, you know you love them!), there were some great installations and models to be seen, including an 130
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installation from the Chelsea School of Art and Design. A beautiful sculptural pavilion, consisting of archways woven from willow and recycled speedo swimsuits, allowed visitors to move through the exhibition, entitled ‘Space of Waste’. The living properties of the willow allow the structure to keep growing even after assembling. If you managed to find your way out of Solar Panel land, there were some exciting models exhibited by students of Oxford Brookes University in TRADA’S timber innovation competition. ISOVER also held a competition for students to design an energy efficient skyscraper in New York, in accordance with the Isover Multi-Comfort House
definition. A large model of downtown Manhattan was displayed with individual models and great graphic presentations of each proposal. And there was no way anyone could have missed the large scale installation of ‘NaturalZED’, Bill Dunster’s new house, showing the front line of sustainable homes and construction. Without a doubt, Ecobuild has been successful and is now significantly more commercial than what it used to be……. (how much is it costing to keep all those lights on?), yet it is always worth a visit for the great talks and some truly inventive products to shape our future for the better.
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Spiral © Helen Pradas-Page Photos: Lucy Dawkins
Our stand at the Surface Design show was met with great interest and intrigue by the many visitors that stepped into the spatial experience produced by Helen Pradas-Page’s ‘Spiral’ design. An art piece that partly covered the walls and floor, people said they had seen it from a distance and just had to visit us to get a closer look.
Helen’s three-dimensional art and bespoke surface designs evolve from the accumulation of paper units constructed by hand in her London studio. The paper has a special coating which maintains the structure, rigidity and longevity of each unit piece and gives a glossy and light reflective surface finish. Infinite possibilities exist by varying the scale, Helen’s
unit design and composition of each creation for walls, ceilings, lighting installations and furniture. Helen’s practice explores pattern, form and structure and is both geometric and organic in style. She is inspired by time, accumulation, process and evolution. The pieces work wonderfully with light - we chose the LED modular lighting system, Serpentine, by Radiant Lighting, complemented by flooring from Jaymart and a selection of furniture from sixinch. 131
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Everything from rubber tyres, plastics and even metal can be found in the stunningly beautiful textiles created by Brazilian born Helga Matos. Her fresh and inventive designs are both challenging and original, effortlessly combining an industrial edginess with a three dimensional, light, almost delicate quality. www.helgamatos.com
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The Dreamwall Stand was busy for the full duration of the show, as these products need to be seen and touched to be appreciated. They have a wide range of products that mimic the look and feel of materials such as stone, brick, and slate through to steel, fabrics and laminate. www.dreamwall.co.uk
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Stockholm design Week
Held in icy February, this year’s Stockholm Design Week presented the best in slick new Scandinavian design as usual, plus an extraordinary surprise. Highlights at the trade fair included an armchair made from a single piece of felt at Swedish brand Blå Station, lighting inspired by elastic bands at Zero and a collection of very sensible solutions for bringing plants into the office at Offect. While the Stockholm Furniture Fair’s floor area continues to expand year on year, this time with a new dedicated kitchen and bathroom section, the event remains a manageable size with 134
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Words: Rose Etherington
a relaxed atmosphere that allows visitors and exhibitors time to talk, not just look – apt for this year’s overall theme of ‘meetings’. Aside from the design bars and lounges at every turn, this chilled environment could be due to the number of Stockholmers wandering the aisles. “One thing that’s different about Sweden is that design is much more a part of everyday culture here, it’s more normal,” says designer Tom Dixon, exhibiting at the fair as part of his touring Tom Dixon Roadshow with surface brand Formica. “For Stockholmers the furniture fair is just a nice thing to do on a Saturday,” confirms a
local high school teacher. This is also an environment that’s highly conducive to business, even – unusually – in the Greenhouse exhibition of young designers. Nora Schmidt, one half of one-year-old Berlin studio NOI, came to the Greenhouse to show her collection of storage trestles inspired by Japanese kimono racks. She found the young designers’ showcase more serious than others in Europe: “I had the impression that you meet the manufacturers on eye level, which is probably also due to the Scandianvian mentality,” she says. “It is a very good exchange from both sides - we had really good contacts.” This year’s guest of honour was French designer Arik Levy, who contributed a lounge with
mirrors and screens suspended overhead “so you can pretend to be watching the screens but what you’re actually doing is sleeping,” plus a talk about psychoanalysis and his haircuts. More subtle stars of the show though were Swedish architects Claesson Koivisto Rune, who seemed to have a product on every stand plus a clutch of openings and a new hotel in town. The most magical experience in the city that week was to be found in a little-visited 118 year-old museum of natural history. 20 designers led by Dutchman Fredrik Färg and French designer Emma Marga Blanche collaborated to present their work among taxidermy animals at the Biologiska museum, attracting more visitors
in one week than the institution has seen since Stockholm hosted the General Art and Industrial Exposition of Stockholm of 1897. Curious visitors climbed a double-spiral carved staircase to emerge on circular landings surrounded by a two-storey, 360 degree diorama of stuffed animals and seabirds. The designers had stalked through this bizarre scene, carefully placing clay clocks, mirrored chairs, aqueduct-shaped shelving and glass eyeballs among the long grasses, to the delight of visitors accustomed to consuming design among ordered aisles of slick stands and pristine white gallery walls.
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diar Y The Luminous Interval D.Daskalopoulos Collection Current - 11th September 2011 Guggenheim Museum Bilbao Curated by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Deputy Director and Chief Curator Nancy Spector, and Assistant Curator Katherine Brinson, The Luminous Interval: The D.Daskalopoulos Collection presents the work of more than 30 international artists drawn from the D.Daskalopoulos Collection, one of the world’s most significant private collections of contemporary art.
John Bock, Palms, 2007 D.Daskalopoulos Collection. Photo: Scott Groller, courtesy Klosterfelde, Berlin, and Anton Kern Gallery, New York
www.guggenheim-bilbao.es
Brit Insurance Designs of the Year Current - 7 August 2011 Design Museum Shad Thames, London The Brit Insurance Designs Awards, “the Oscars of the design world,” showcase the most innovative and forward thinking designs from around the world, spanning seven categories: architecture, fashion, furniture, graphics, interactive, product and transport. At the awards ceremony on 15 March, British designer Samuel Wilkinson and product design company Hulger, were announced as the overall winner of the Brit Insurance Design of the Year 2011 for their stunning low energy lightbulb Plumen 001.
This exhibition focuses on Loos’s work in the Czech lands, consisting mainly of residential projects such as the iconic Villa Müller, as well as a number of apartments and interiors which Loos used to exhort his clients to ‘learn to dwell’. The exhibition will also highlight the imaginative furnishings of his buildings, featuring drawings, models, original furniture and glass, never before seen in Britain.
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Learning to Dwell: Adolf Loos in the Czech Lands Current – 3 May 2011 RIBA, 66 Portland Place, London, W1B 1AD
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diar Y Danish Design - I like it! Jasper Morrison Current- 4 September 2011 Designmuseum Danmark The world-famous designer Jasper Morrison has always been fascinated by Danish design. Now he will curate an exhibition on Danish design, handpicked from Design museum Denmark’s rich collections.Danish Design - I like it! He will be creating the exhibition’s interiors with his favourite textile, Hallingdal, which was designed by Nanna Ditzel and produced by Kvadrat in 1965. Fashion Fringe at the Design Museum
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Current -15 May 2011 Fashion designer Corrie Nielsen displays part of her A/W 11 collection in the Design Museum Tank and Atrium to celebrate the launch of this year’s Fashion Fringe competition. Winner of Fashion Fringe in September 2010, Corrie showed her first collection at London Fashion Week in February 2011. The display will highlight how one of her garment’s are conceived and constructed, featuring sketches, patterns and show pieces. www.designmuseum.org
This is Whitechapel Current – 4 September 2011 Whitechapel Gallery, London Much like today, east London in the 1970s was undergoing rapid social and economic change. As the established Jewish community moved away and a south Asian population took their place, the Whitechapel Gallery commissioned leading British photographer Ian Berry, to document this period of transition. His project is brought vividly to life through the Gallery’s archives of original photographs, letters and rarely-seen documents. www.whitechapelgallery.org
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diarY designjunction 12 -17 April 2011 Salone Internazionale del Mobile, Milan, Italy
Milan Furniture Fair 12 -17 April 2011 Milan, Italy Celebrating its 50th birthday, the Milan Furniture Fair , or I Saloni, has themed this year’s event “50 years young” – modest, it is not, but this event doesn’t have to be. No one doubts its continuity 50 more and further. Alongside the usual events Salone Internazionale del Mobile, the International Furnishing Accessories Exhibition, Euroluce / International Lighting Exhibition, SaloneUfficio / International Biennial Workspace Exhibition and SaloneSatellite - the city literally becoming a fairground for creativity and design. With over 2,500 exhibitors in the Furniture Fair along and visitors from across the globe, walking shoes are a must. The amount of events and exhibitions on offer are so dizzying, it will take some serious organization to find all your must-sees but it’s a challenge you should definitely be up for. www.cosmit.it
Designersblock Milano 2011 in Ventura Lambrate 12 -17 April 2011 Light Space, Via Privata Oslavia 8 20134, Milan, Italy Designersblock will be bringing together designers with all levels of experience and from all over the world. A must see. www.verydesignersblock.com
designjunction brings together a powerful line up of Britain’s leading furniture, lighting and accessory brands within the spectacular headquarters of Zegna, the former Riva-Calzoni building. Brands showing include Modus, Benchmark, Race, Innermost, Roll & Hill, Channels, Beau McClellan, Anglepoise, Anything, Melin Tregwynt, Wedgewood and + Stone.
Press Release: February 2011
designjunction - Connecting British design Launching at Salone Internazionale del Mobile, Milan
www.thedesignjunction.co.uk
Opening hours: • Tuesday 12 April 10am – 8pm • Wednesday 13 April 10am – 6pm | Icon & designjunction party (invite only) • Thursday 14 April 10am – 8pm • Friday 15 April 10am – 8pm • Saturday 16 April 10am – 8pm • Sunday 17 April 10am – 4pm For further information visit www.thedesignjunction.co.uk or follow us on twitter at www.twitter.com/_designjunction
Kim Beom: Animalia - Ends -
Notes to Editor
April 22 - June 19, 2011 Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater Los Angeles
designjunction designjunction is an inaugural event initiated by Modus and supported by the UKTI. It aims to connect and promote British designers and manufacturers in the global market. www.thedesignjunction.co.uk UKTI UK Trade & Investment is the government department that helps UK-based companies succeed in the global market. UKTI offers expertise and contacts through its extensive network of specialists in the UK, and the British embassies and other diplomatic offices around the world. www.ukti.gov.uk
Through a wide range of work that spans drawing, sculpture, video and artist books, Seoul-based artist Kim Beom contemplates a world in which perception is radically questioned. His visual practice is characterized by deadpan humor and absurdist propositions that playfully and subversively invert expectations. By suggesting that “what you see” may not be what you see, Kim reveals the tension between internal psychology and external reality, and relates observation and knowledge as states of mind.
For further information or high res images please contact: Jodi Mullen: jodi@circle-pr.com | + 44 (0) 7971 997 730 Deborah Spencer: deborah@spencerprojects.co.uk | + 44 (0) 7887 502 457
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diar Y Anna Lovell & Vicky Davies, Jewellery Show 29 April -30 May 2011 Number Ninety Four London E2 7QB Anna Lovell and Vicky Davies, jewellery designers, showcase their work in Number Ninety Four, Columbia Road for a month. Open Saturdays 10.30 till 5.30 and Sundays 10.30 till 4.30. Weekdays by appointment. www.annalovell.co.uk www.numberninetyfour.co.uk
Interiors UAE 9-11 May 2011 Abu Dhabi, National Exhibition Centre Abu Dhabi once again plays host to Interiors UAE, showcasing international design trends and product innovations in interior design. Highlights from this year’s event include the Young British Design Pavilion, displaying products celebrating Middle Eastern culture, an international product showcase with the latest top launches i-Saloni Milan, Maison et Objet, Interiors UK, IMM Cologne and Stockholm Furniture Fair, the Interiors UAE Student Design Challenge, and Educational Design Seminars. www.interiorsuae.com 140
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Kbb London
ICFF
15 - 17 May 2011 ExCel, London
14 - 17 May 2011 Jacob K Javits Convention Center, New York
Kbb London brings the city a trade event specializing in the kitchens, bedrooms & bathrooms markets. This year’s theme is Innovation, with a show celebrating new products and the latest technology from exhibitors including Abode, April Showers, Edwin Loxley, Euroshowers, The Heating Company, Nobilia, Poggenpohl, Samsung, Scavolini, Steel Cuisine, Triflow Concepts and Waterline. It sees the launch of the kbb London Innovation Awards, recognizing outstanding product innovation in the kitchen, bedroom, bathroom and tile industries and features free seminar sessions running alongside the exhibition. www.kbb.co.uk/kbb-london
Considering by many as the event for contemporary design in North America, the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) exhibits the latest design trends across 13,500 m^2 for interior designers, architects, retailers, designers, manufacturers, reps, distributors, and developers. With over 550 exhibitors from around the world, the show displays contemporary furniture, seating, carpet and flooring, lighting, outdoor furniture, materials, wall coverings, accessories, textiles, and kitchen and bath for both residential and commercial interiors. www.icff.com
The Sleep Conference India
Image: Iglass
12-13 May 2011 Mumbai, India The Sleep Event brings you Sleep India, an India-specific conference with two intensive days of insights, inspiration, case studies and networking on design, architecture and development subjects for the Indian hotel sector. www.thesleepevent.com/india
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diarY Clerkenwell Design Week 24 -26 May 2011 Clerkenwell, London Over just three short days, CDW brings pop up exhibitions, installations, talks, performances, music and workshops to design-centric Clerkenwell. It’s a true celebration offering over 150 events covering all disciplines of design. At an even larger scale than last year, exhibitions will take place in the Farmiloe Building, an office and warehouse space which formerly housed Victorian lead and glass merchants, and the House of Detention, a Victorian prison. Stop by the House of Detention to catch live drawing and workshops by award winning illustrator Lizze Mary Cullen throughout the festival. www.clerkenwelldesignweek.com
Belgrade Design Week
OFFF Barcelona 2011
23 – 28 May 2011 Belgrade, Serbia
9 -11 June 2011 CCCB, Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona
Now in its sixth year, Belgrade design week offers to chance to visit this dynamic capital and experience the creativity on offer. Alongside the Design Week, the FUTURE² conference runs 26-28 May, inviting participants to discuss the ideas, models and frameworks for creative industries moving into the future. This year’s speakers include Israeli designer Arik Levy, Croatian architecture duo Penezic and Rogina, artist Javier Mariscal and furniture designer Stefan Diez. Lectures, works, presentations and exhibitions will all be on offer and be sure not to miss the latenight music festival, “BDW DizajNights”, which runs alongside the Design Week. www.belgradedesignweek.com
OFFF is an entity in continuous transformation, alive and evolutionary. More than a decade ago, it was born as a post-digital culture festival; a meeting place to host contemporary creation through an in depth programme of conferences, workshops and performances by the most relevant artists of our time. These days, OFFF keeps being a reference event throughout the world. A festival hosted in Barcelona, New York, Lisbon and Paris which has featured renowned artists. The festival where a new generation of artists has originated and developed. All of them started attending OFFF as spectators. Today, they take up its main stage. www.offf.ws 141
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STAND-OUT PRODUCTS FOR STAND-OUT STORES Pulse, London is the only UK summer trade show where exciting international brands and homegrown talent offer the very best new product to make your business stand-out.
A visit to Pulse delivers: Targeted buying With 500 hand-picked exhibitors across five easy-to-navigate sections: Gift, Home, Fashion, Bath & Body & Launchpad – Pulse is the simplest and most effective way to find products that will give you stand-out and tempt your customers into buying again and again.
Launchpad A hotbed of creativity featuring 120 new designer-makers who’ll shape retail in the years to come. Shrewd business advice Why spend money on training courses or consultants, when you could be profiting from Pulse’s free business seminars?
Considered ordering The industry’s only summer show enables you to buy ‘smart’, allowing you to adapt your offering to meet customer demand and keep up with the latest trends. Pulse Where smart retailers go to get ahead…
Home Gift
5-7 June 2011 Earls Court London
Fashion Bath & Body Launchpad
For more information visit www.pulse-london.com
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diar Y DMY Berlin 1 - 5 June 2011 Berlin, Germany DMY Berlin is an international platform for contemporary product design, founded in 2003 by a visionary circle of leading creative thinkers from the Berlin design scene. Annually, DMY presents the DMY International Design Festival in Berlin. As a breeding ground for young designers and a unique business platform for professional designers and companies, the festival has organically grown into a key event for contemporary and conceptual design and is the largest of its kind in Germany. www.dmy-berlin.com
Pulse 5 - 7 June 2011 Earls Court, London
The Society of Women Artists Anniversary Exhibition 30 June – 9 July 2011 Mall Galleries, The Mall, London, SW1 In their 150th Annual London Exhibition, the Society of Women Artists will proudly celebrate the formation of their Society enabling many women to exhibit their work in London for the first time. The founders ran the gauntlet of high society’s disapproval, as it was considered scandalous for women to exhibit their art work. This year’s anniversary exhibition will be opened by the Society’s Patron HRH Princess Michael of Kent. On show will be paintings from miniatures to large canvasses plus ceramics, sculptures, etchings, and prints with the majority of works being for sale. here is the opportunity to meet artists, and watch demonstrations during the exhibition in the splendidly refurbished Mall Galleries less than 5 minutes from Trafalgar Square. www.society-women-artists.org.uk
Pulse, the trade show combining UK and international designled new products, including contemporary brands never seen together in the UK, is back this summer in Earls Court, with over 500 hand-selected exhibitors covering Home, Gift, Fashion, Bath & Body and Launchpad (a showing of 120 new designers). The show offers free business seminars and an Eco-Trail, highlighting products identified by TV presenter and environmental champion Oliver Heath as ethical and sustainable.
New Designers is the premiere showcase for the most exciting design graduates as they emerge from the UK’s design courses to start their professional careers in numerous creative industries embracing fashion, interior design, multi-media, furniture, products, architecture, graphics and more. The popular summer event gives a snapshot of the hottest ideas, the latest trends and creative minds as some 3500 dynamic new designers come together and present their impressive work at the Business Design Centre.
www.pulse-london.com
www.newdesigners.com
New Designers 2011 Part 1: 29 June - 2 July 2011 Part 2: 6 July - 9 July 2011 Business Design Centre, London
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diarY
The Home Technology Event
Free Range 2011
28 - 30 June 2011 Excel, London
2 June - 25 July 2011 The Old Truman Brewery 91-95 Brick Lane London, E1
The Home Technology Event is the only dedicated product and training event for smart home innovations. The trade event showcases an ever growing portfolio of products and services for designers, installers, integrators and specifiers of electronic systems in the home. Featuring the latest innovations and technologies in home cinema, audio-video solutions, lighting control, structured wiring, HVAC control, blind and security systems plus the most diverse education and conference programme the industry has to offer. www.hometechnologyevent.com
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The UK’s largest art and design graduate talent exhibition Free Range returns to East London’s Old Truman Brewery in June for an eight-week free showcase of new British art and design talent. Now in its eleventh year, Free Range has established itself as the authoritative identifier and supporter of tomorrow’s best young creative talent. 2011 will be the exhibition’s biggest year yet with over 150 UK arts courses participating. www.free-range.org.uk
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diarY Show RCA 2011 24 June - 3 July 2011 The Royal College of Art, London The Royal College of Art’s 2011 graduate summer shows will take place simultaneously across the College’s two campuses in Battersea and Kensington. Sponsored by The Conran Foundation for the 6th year running, RCA graduate shows offer visitors – some 40,000 of them came through the College’s doors last year – a unique opportunity to experience the very best of emerging contemporary art and design practice. Over 450 art and design postgraduate students will exhibit work of exceptional quality, imagination and technical skill. The exhibitions are free of charge to the public, with much of the work for sale or commission – ranging from paintings to prints, glassware to jewellery and furniture to textiles. www.rca.ac.uk
Restaurant & Bar Design Awards 7th July, 2011 East Wintergarden, Canary Wharf, London The shortlist for the 2011 Restaurant & Bar Design Awards has been selected by a judging panel of top design, lifestyle & hospitality personalities. 330 entries were submitted by leading architects, interior designers and hospitality operators from the UK and 50 other countries. The winners will be announced at an award ceremony and party to be held at the prestigious East Wintergarden, Canary Wharf, London on the 7th July 2011. www.restaurantandbardesignawards.com
Design Tokyo 6 - 8 July 2011 Tokyo Big Sight, JAPAN Design Tokyo is an annual event which gathers the latest design products and leading designers from all over the world. Its first edition ended in July 2010 and welcomed key buyers coming in flocks to find new vendors and see what’s fresh in the design and lifestyle fields. www.designtokyo.jp 145
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Nora Fries Waldekrantz submitted this image. Nora is currently in her second year studying Photography at Cybergymnasiet college in Stockholm Sweden
The photo here has been chosen from the great selection we had submitted for our online photography entry for the winter edition (Places & People: reading de magazine) More images are online www.demagazine.co.uk To submit images for the Spring edition please email photo@demagazine.co.uk 146
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SUITA
Suita Sofa. Developed by Vitra in Switzerland. Design: Antonio Citterio Suita Sofa. Developed by Vitra in Switzerland. Design: Antonio Citterio
Only at authorised Vitra retailers: LIVING SPACE 7-15 Oxford Street Belfast BT1 3LA 02890 244 333 INNES GALLERY 11-13 The Square Hull HU13 OAF 01482 649 271 UTILITY 60 Bold Street Liverpool L1 4EA 0151 708 4192retailers: THE LOLLIPOP SHOPPE Lamb StreetStreet London E1 6EA 020 7655 4540244 ARAM Drury Lane WC2BHull 5SGHU13 020 7557 HEALS 196UTILITY Tottenham Road Only at authorised Vitra LIVING SPACE107-15 Oxford Belfast BT1 3LA 02890 333 STORE INNES110 GALLERY 11-13London The Square OAF7557 01482 649 271 60 Court Bold Street London W1T 7LQ0151 020708 7636 1666 EUROPEAN Margaret Street London W1W 8RSARAM 020 7631 1090110 SKANDIUM Brompton SW3 2EP 020 7584 2066 WORKSPIRIT 37 Liverpool L1 4EA 4192 THE LOLLIPOPDESIGN SHOPPECENTRE 10 Lamb20 Street London E1 6EA 020 7655 4540 STORE Drury Lane247 London WC2BRoad 5SGLondon 020 7557 7557 HEALS 196 Tottenham Court Road Bemondsey London 16 4RN 020 DESIGN 7064 9684 THE CONRAN SHOP 55 Marylebone High Street London 5HS 020 7723 2223 THERoad CONRAN SHOP Fulham Road2066 London SW3 6RD 020 London W1TWall 7LQ West 020 7636 1666SE EUROPEAN CENTRE 20 Margaret Street London W1W 8RS 020 7631 1090W1U SKANDIUM 247 Brompton London SW381 2EP 020 7584 WORKSPIRIT 37 7589 7401 URBANSUITE 2 NewSE George Manchester M4 4AE 0161 SHOP 831 9966 APPLE CASTLE Ashby Northamtonshire NN7 1LF 01234 818 456 ATOMIC Caverton Business ParkSW3 Nottingham Bemondsey Wall West London 16 4RNStreet 020 7064 9684 THE CONRAN 55PINK Marylebone High Street London W1U 5HS 020 7723 2223 THE CONRAN SHOP5 81 Fulham Road London 6RD 020 NG14 6QL 0115 941 5577 NEST 9 Parkway Rise Sheffield S9 4WQ 0114 266 6900 . www.vitra.com Suita Sofa photographed at VitraHaus, Vitra Campus 2010 7589 7401 URBANSUITE 2 New George Street Manchester M4 4AE 0161 831 9966 PINK APPLE CASTLE Ashby Northamtonshire NN7 1LF 01234 818 456 ATOMIC 5 Caverton Business Park Nottingham NG14 6QL 0115 941 5577 NEST 9 Parkway Rise Sheffield S9 4WQ 0114 266 6900. www.vitra.com Suita Sofa photographed at VitraHaus, Vitra Campus 2010