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THE NEXT SPACE ISSUE 144 JAN — FEB 2022

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THE RESILIENT CITY

FRAME AWARDS ’21 WINNERS MAD ARCHITECTS

CONTENTS Floor Knaapen

6 REPORTING Helsinki and Dubai

FROM

11 BUSINESS OF DESIGN From on-air and rural retail to the

Tian Yanfang

Mikhail Loskutov, courtesy of Elena Lokastova

brick-and-mortar return of ghost kitchens

IN PRACTICE

24 INTRODUCING Amsterdam-based

studio S-P-A-C-E Projects

32 WHAT I’VE LEARNED MAD Architects founder Ma Yansong

40 THE CLIENT Polestar’s Fredrika Klarén and Pär Heyden

46 ROCA Mediterranean beaches meet bathroom spaces

32 Frame 144

48 FRAME AWARDS The 2021 winners of the year 104 THE NEXT SPACE Laying the groundwork for the resilient city 116 WORK LAB 118 Is working near home the

next working from home?

136 Designing the future of the

remote-working revolution

Zhang Chao, courtesy of Atelier XI

146 MOVING WALLS Writeable office furniture

Karimoku, Midgard and more

and figures

157 Contents

Courtesy of +Halle

160 IN NUMBERS Rex by Ineke Hans in facts

Tian Khee Siong, courtesy of General Projects

148 MARKET New releases from Arper,

123 Courtesy of Bottega Veneta

for collective innovation

Capri Executive by Piergiorgio Cazzaniga Solid Conference by Estudio Andreu

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Cover Lynk & Co Club by S-P-A-C-E Projects in Berlin, Germany (see page 31) Photo Kasia Gatkowska Lithography Edward de Nijs Printing Grafisch Bedrijf Tuijtel Hardinxveld-Giessendam

Colophon

BUILDING In November 2021, the 26th edition of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, better known as COP26, took place in Glasgow, Scotland. More than 39,000 global citizens registered to attend the event, including representatives from major architecture, planning, engineering and construction firms as well as national architectural bodies such as RIBA and AIA. They were there for a reason. The built environment is responsible for 39 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions. Cities consume almost 80 per cent of the world’s energy. Reports show that efforts made since COP21, despite having led to efficiency gains and increased clean energy technology uptake, will not be sufficient to achieve global climate mitigation ambitions. And with 68 per cent (today 55 per cent) of the world’s population expected to live in urban areas by 2050, it’s likely that the negative impact of the built environment on the climate will only get worse. I’m only talking about the devastating effect of the built environment on climate conditions here. I could add that the spatial design industry is also responsible for 44 per cent of material extractions and that cities produce 70 per cent of global waste. That hundreds of millions have no access to affordable, clean and safe housing, making the spatial design industry far from being inclusive. And let’s face it: this sector is only beginning to become human-centric. It’s clear that our industry needs to change. Prior to COP26, more than 60 of the world’s biggest firms responsible for designing and constructing buildings signed the COP26 1.5°C Communiqué, an open letter to national governments promoting more ambitious, science-based targets for the building sector: 65 per cent emissions reduction by 2030 and zero emissions by 2040. It’s clear that governments need to force our industry to become climate neutral by installing fierce laws and strict regulations. But before

we get there, designers, makers and users of spaces can take the initiative and act, nonetheless. But how? Where to begin? Last summer we decided to launch a think tank on the future of spaces to find some answers. We called the project The Next Space and launched its first edition in October. Cross-sector stakeholders of the spatial design community were invited to listen to experts in climate change, food production, healthcare and community building. Then, attendees were turned into contributors. They embarked on a make-a-thon to co-create a framework for the resilient city. In this issue you can find the results in a white paper that formulates new concepts aimed at increasing human wellbeing while reducing environmental impact. It may come as no surprise that many already familiar words populate the document’s key takeaways. Sharing, co-creation, communities, circularity: we’ve used them frequently over the years, and our community has echoed that we’re on the right path. The next step is to make these beautiful buzz words concrete. This will ultimately lead to a redefinition of the way we design, plan and construct the built environment in such a way that people and the planet can thrive. Stay tuned.

Robert Thiemann Editor in chief

BETTER Editorial

Meet Up Meet Up collection reflects the evolution of the executive space, less and less individual, more and more collaborative, with a newfound vocation for all that is functional and essential.

The elegance of sustainability. We choose to be sustainable, offering transparent product traceability, guaranteeing the origins of the wood used and promoting a virtuous supply chain. www.fantoni.it

BUSINESS OF DESIGN

How jewellery retail is targeting Gen Z. Why ghost kitchens are coming out of the shadows. What the trend towards slow travel means for hotel design. How shopping has gone from in-store and online to on-air. Why retailers are going rural. Business of Design

Mikhail Loskutov, courtesy of Elena Lokastova

Livestreaming has transformed the oncelinear path to purchase

Can jewellery retail court Gen Z? Mikhail Loskutov

Business of Design

OPPOSITE Elena Lokastova’s interior for a small jewellery shop in Moscow is based on the principle of a chamber art gallery.

Gavriil Papadiotis

RIGHT Reflective of the Gen Z-powered mischievous jewellery movement, flamboyant motifs are entering brick-and-mortar retail. The Gavello boutique on the Greek island of Mykonos, for example, was transformed into a 1960s swimming pool, courtesy of Saint of Athens and Dive Architects.

We’re in the midst of a major rebranding of legacy jewellers, as it becomes clear that the classic luxury cues these houses relied on for decades are losing relevance for Generation Z. Along with millennials, these youngsters are predicted to garner more than 60 per cent of the luxury market by 2025, according to Boston Consulting Group. Luxury jewellery veteran Tiffany & Co has recognized this with a slew of initiatives to attract a younger customer base. Its latest campaign, Not Your Mother’s Tiffany, is accompanied by a pop-culture partnership with Beyonce and Jay-Z. The signing of 18-year-old British tennis champion Emma Raducanu as its latest brand ambassador shows how seriously the jeweller is taking its foray into youth culture. While these long-awaited shifts in brand marketing represent progress for the sector, jewellery-retail design is a little further behind in engaging Gen Z shoppers. Indeed, many jewellery retailers have only just grasped the needs of millennial consumers, whose approach to jewellery has been defined by minimal shapes, demi-fine pendants and pared-

back colours – with dashes of the usual millennial pink. Direct-toconsumer brands such as Missoma and Mejuri, as well as strippedback showrooms by architects such as Elena Lokastova, show how the understanding of discreet millennial jewellery has translated into matching spatial design. Gen Z’s approach to accessorizing, however, is a great departure from its predecessor’s notorious minimalism. The loudness of TikTok has contributed to a mischievous jewellery movement, one in which DIY beaded necklaces, men’s charms and chunky bubble rings hark back to the early internet nostalgia of the 1990s and early 2000s. Now, designers are finding ways to incorporate these flamboyant motifs into brickand-mortar retail. For the Saint of Athens brand store, designed in collaboration with Dive Architects, the king of kitsch – Wes Anderson – provided ample inspiration. The Gavello boutique on the Greek island of Mykonos transforms the humble jewellery store into a 1960s swimming pool, using Anderson’s infamous symmetry, pastel hues and carefully

placed props such as beach balls and towel pegs to embody a retro vision of leisure. Beyond the interior design, nostalgic activities can be built into jewellers to lure groups of experience-seeking Gen Z shoppers. Danish jeweller Pandora is doing just this with a number of pop-up stores opening to promote its youth-focused Me range. Open in Dublin and London, the stores feature interactive elements such as a bespoke graffiti wall and gaming arcade. With the brand building its own Pandora Island in Animal Crossing, gaming presents a nostalgia-powered way for jewellery retailers to get even closer to their Gen Z audience – 87 per cent of whom describe themselves as gamers. That social-first ethos will also be central to the way the sector adjusts to changes in coupling rituals that have long been at the core of their business. With the oldest members of this generation starting to approach their thirties, the engagement market – having long abided by heterosexual, romantic traditions – is in dire need of a Gen Z upgrade. ‘Ask yourself: What does gender, race,

diversity and inclusion look like in a 2021 retail world?’ questions Ben Smithee, CEO of The Smithee Group, who notes that the jewellery industry has been homogenous for too long. Now, it’s dealing with a generation among which nearly one-in-five people identify as non-heterosexual. As a result, embedding inclusivity and queerness into the physical shopping environments will be key, and can be achieved by making diversity and implicit bias training compulsory to staff. Additionally, retailers need to rethink their store layouts to cater to Gen Z purchasing behaviours. According to jeweller Michael Kanoff, these young people are descending on independent ring stores armed with screenshots of their desired products, along with a large support network, pointing to the need for comfortable, private hospitality spaces for large groups ‘They don’t come in solo,’ he says. ‘These kids bring their mother, their girlfriend’s friend, their sister. That’s a good thing for us.’ EG

IN PRACTICE

Tian Yanfang

Design an expres co criticism

Kasia Gatkowska, courtesy of S-P-A-C-E Projects

is ssion of onstructive S-P-A-C-E Projects on creating material-driven (brand) experiences. MAD Architects on achieving ‘intimidatingly difficult’ designs. Polestar on striving for sustainability without sacrificing its aesthetic.

S---------------------P-------------------A---------------------C---------------------E Projects INTRODUCING

In Practice

For the Amsterdam store of bicycle brand Veloretti, S-P-A-C-E Projects inverted the relationship of soft products in hard interiors common to fashion stores. PREVIOUS SPREAD Pepijn Smit studied 3D design at ArtEZ University of the Arts in Arnhem, the Netherlands, before starting his career at Piet Hein Eek.

Kasia Gatkowska

In Practice

Pepijn Smit may have founded S-P-A-C-E Projects in Amsterdam just three years ago, but he brought 16 years’ experience across furniture design, fashion retail and branding along with him. Now, working with a few freelancers, he shapes material-rich spaces based on the core values of his clients.

Words Tracey Ingram Portrait Floor Knaapen

What’s at the heart of S-P-A-C-E Projects’ approach?

PEPIJN SMIT: It sounds clichéd, but I still wholeheartedly believe in the power of physical space. I like that you can really inspire, engage and connect people in an interior. The core of what I do comes from the joy of designing spaces. I once read a dictionary definition of the word space as ‘two of more items at a distance from one another’ – I liked that, and it’s why the letters in my studio name are interspersed with hyphens. You start with objects, then assign them a certain shape, colour or material. That’s also what I learned from studying furniture design. But putting two objects in a space gives them a relationship to each other. For commercial projects, the question is how these elements can tell a story or contribute to a brand’s identity or philosophy.

How do you market yourself and the work that you do?

During my years of experience I met a lot of people in different companies, so I had a good network before I went solo. Through that I got my first assignment, for Ace & Tate, by winning a pitch. I thought from then on I’d have to do active acquisition. I tried it, but it’s not my thing and I’m not very good at it. But by showing projects in the right types of magazines and online – Frame has helped a lot with that – I’ve had people coming to me instead. It’s not that projects materialize from thin air. I’m still constantly busy trying to create visibility for the work I’ve done so that people can imagine what I can do for them.

Walk me through your design process.

I always start with the core values of a brand. That leads to a concept, which leads to a

design whose certain shapes, colours and details fit that concept. In that way I’m always creating unique spaces because there’s always a different story to tell. For Fést Amsterdam, I asked how the collection comes together. How do they know this piece of furniture is a Fést piece and that one isn’t? At that time, Fést was guided by intuition, which I thought was great. I always dive into a topic, reading a lot of material that connects to a company’s core values. As an example, during my research for Fést I found a quote from architect Balkrishna Doshi: ‘There is no greater teacher than intuition.’ I decided I wanted to create a space based on intuition, but that’s a really difficult thing to do. My approach was to create lots of different elements in the space that connect with each other in an intuitive way – like words in a poem. Separate things that together tell a story. I called it ‘the poetry of space’, and that’s how I design all Fést interiors.

Were the material choices also guided by intuition? And what’s your approach to materials in general?

Fést has a lot of colourful products so it didn’t need a colourful space. I chose monochromatic materials but knew they shouldn’t be flat. The goal was to create different levels of tactility and softness. Fést also wants to be an inclusive brand, so I chose round, embracing shapes. In general, materiality follows my concept and design. In the Urban Arrow showroom, I could use vibrant colours that connect with the brand because the product itself is black-and-white. Veloretti, on the other hand, is a bicycle brand with a fashion angle. It has a simple design and a fashionable online presence, but I was particularly drawn to the logo on the tubular frame. If you see one driving by, it stands out – like the logo on

Introducing

a pair of Levi’s. But in fashion you generally have soft products shown in hard, metal-filled environments – Acne’s are just one example. Veloretti has metal products, so I wanted to do the opposite. I created a softer environment based on felt tubes, whose shapes reference the bicycle frame. I prefer using real materials instead of things like veneer or plastic. During my studies at art school in Arnhem, I was always experimenting with different materials and trying to discover how you can express their characteristics in certain shapes or forms. How you can let materials create their own shapes – or not. That’s still my focus.

What else makes a S-P-A-C-E Projects project?

I’ve always tried not to have my own handwriting because I want to create a diversity of projects and make something special for each client. In the end, though, you still have your own design values. If I had to name mine, I’d say I have a modernist approach. I don’t overcomplicate anything. I’m essential in the way I design.

You mention values. Where does sustainability fit in?

It’s not my core value to communicate sustainability in a space because it should always be there. It’s one of the pillars. You want to communicate something in a space, to make it functional, and it has to be sustainable.

Are clients pushing for it?

Many brands approach me and say sustainability is important, but it’s always a question of what is sustainable. It’s not just using sustainable materials – that’s a decorative way of seeming sustainable, or ‘sustainability

M WHAT I’VE LEARNED

YANSONG

Yansong is pictured in front of a model of a MAD social housing project in Beijing that will be revealed this year.

In 2004, Ma Yansong founded MAD Architects in Beijing, whose designs over the years have become easily recognizable for their daring, sinuous forms. Since then, MAD has set up offices in Jiaxing, Los Angeles and Rome. Yansong talks about how MAD’s organically shaped buildings are a statement of freedom, what architecture can do to change the way we experience reality, and why the future of contemporary Chinese architecture should excite us all.

As told to Amandas Ong Photos Tian Yanfang

MA YANSONG: I’ve always found myself trying to capture the essence of amorphous shapes and entities in my designs, and am less interested in objects that have a clearly defined sense of geometry. With Hutong Bubble 32, Fake Hills and other projects we’ve worked on, I try my best to transform the space by conveying freedom and the lack of restraint, through the use of indeterminate forms and structures. The shapes that we eventually end up using are probably also influenced by the way I work – I tend to sketch a lot, which makes the designs seem looser and untethered to reality. For me, design is an expression of constructive criticism that arises from an observation of problems within a given space. The more problems you observe, the more abundant the opportunities for you to intervene as an architect. Going back to the Hutong Bubble 32 project, what we did was to introduce an amorphous, reflective shape that is in synergy with Beijing’s traditional hutong homes, while exuding a contemporary feel that is completely nonchalant and not out of place. I think that the process of creation doesn’t have to entail destroying the old – there are so many ways to innovatively engage with tradition. Even before MAD Architects expanded to other cities outside of China, it always had a very vibrant workplace culture. My experience of travelling around the world, delivering lectures and participating in competitions for our early projects showed me that it’s really important to be joined by designers representing plenty of different backgrounds. It was while studying at Yale that I saw how much encouraging diversity of thought could bring value to the creative process. When we decided to expand to Europe and the US,

What I’ve Learned

we did so on the bandwagon of globalization – there was a strong sentiment that many of the problems faced by places scattered across the planet are in fact similar. So, taking on new projects in these cities came very naturally. Over the years, however, my way of understanding globalized design has become more nuanced. Especially in our European and American offices, it’s evident that there’s a lot of unique local flavour that can be adapted to the global stage. With design in LA, I often see traces of its storied cinematic heritage. Likewise, if you walk around Rome, you can’t help but notice how contemporary design seamlessly fits into the built environment, which remains deeply classical and memorializes its ancient past. I think that having the opportunity to work in these cities can only enrich and complexify our designs. We’ve been told that our designs are quite futuristic, and that they often provide a sharp contrast to their surroundings. I’m interested in how design can be used as a vehicle for people to experience space and time differently. Blurring the boundaries between the interior and exterior of a building can elegantly alter an individual’s perception of reality, even drawing them further away from it. Our design for the Cloudscape of Haikou, a library located in Haikou, China, taps into this idea of fluidity. It also sits by the sea, which I think is apt because we think of the latter as timeless, to the point that our awareness of it is dulled. The cavities where light comes into the library are openings – both physically and figuratively – for visitors to wander into a space for imaginative

Since Polestar sales happen exclusively online, its showrooms are places for customers to build a relationship with the brand on their own terms. Its Gothenburg outpost is pictured.

THE CLIENT

Janus van den Eijnden

POLESTAR Fredrika Klarén and Pär Heyden

‘Sustainability – is that really a restriction?’ In Practice

Electric vehicle brand Polestar’s head of sustainability Fredrika Klarén and head of brand Pär Heyden talk about their aesthetic vision, roadblocks to sustainability, and sensibly connecting with art and design.

As told to Polina Bachlakova

PÄR HEYDEN: Polestar is a connotation for guiding people: in Swedish, it means ‘the Northern Star’. One of the core things about the brand is that we’re a fairly tight group of people who keep control of the brand’s expression – whether it’s the writing, visuals or anything else. We want to steer clear of all the lifestyle elements that you see in many other brands, especially Volvo – the brand from which Polestar originates. They’ve transformed themselves into a brand that’s selling the Scandinavian way of living, and they’re doing it beautifully. In contrast, we wanted to create something for all those people who already have a lifestyle. We said: let’s just make the best possible product that we can, be proud of that, and show it to people. And that’s why, even in the copy, it’s quite nerdy all the way down to the focus on the product. We don’t leave it up to agencies and other people to come in and do their take on our brand, it’s really important to us to stay true to ourselves. We spend a lot of time on graphics and photography to make sure that our products are portrayed in the same manner as they’re designed. Our car is minimalist. So, in general, you don’t see many people in our communication. We don’t showcase that successful, happy person holding a bag and their tennis racket, or whatever it might be. We have production teams helping us with films and imagery, and building spaces, prototypes, car models and so on. But we don’t give the creative part away to many others. When we do, we almost always end up in a situation we’re not happy with. We’ve had a couple of ad campaigns, for instance, that we should have just done ourselves. So, we’re probably very difficult to work with. When it comes to our showrooms, or ‘spaces’, we don’t really work with creative partners, either. We have a very strong internal team running our spaces, and our partners help us produce things rather than creatively collaborate. The common words that we think pertain to our brand are minimalism and purity; obviously, there is a Scandinavian heritage in there somewhere. The minimalism in particular is something that we’ve been using all around; it’s a way for us to stand out in a world where everything is becoming louder and louder. If we get the details right and remove all the noise and distractions, we can create something utterly beautiful. And we believe there’s room in the market for that. Aesthetically, we’re aiming pretty high. We spend a ridiculous amount of time designing anything that our customers will see and experience. That’s why we believe that we need to have

partners who understand this: it’s a way for us to communicate our position. So, in 2019, we partnered with Swedish audio company Teenage Engineering to create an installation at Milan Design Week. It was an obvious move for us; we felt that the event is our playing field — and with Teenage Engineering, we’d been exploring different ways of collaborating for a while. In this case, we were toying with different ideas and wondering: how could we join Milan Design Week without showcasing any of our cars? Because I think it feels so weird every time a car company jumps in with these ‘collaborations’, and a car they want to sell. I can see through that move. At Milan Design Week, we just wanted to have some fun and bring smiles to people’s faces. So we created this racetrack where visitors could play or interact with their friends. At the same time, they would affect the installation in terms of lighting, colours and music: we hooked up one of Teenage Engineering’s audio synthesizers to the installation — where one track took care of the beat, and another one of the bass. The installation turned driving into something that’s about more than driving itself. That’s how we see ourselves as a company: we want to make driving fun, and something that you can do guilt-free. The installation was an expression of our own attitude. FREDRIKA KLARÉN: We think that today’s consumer is underestimated. As a brand, we have an affinity for details. You can see it in our design – but it’s something in our culture, too. That’s why we try to educate our consumers in detail. I mean, we’re putting our Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) report out there, and approaching it in a creative way that doesn’t bore people. The installation we created last year with artist Thijs Biersteker at Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum is a perfect example of that. The collaboration came about after we published the LCA for Polestar two years ago. We were very happy that it was well-received in expert circles. But we wanted to find a way to make it more emotional, and connect with consumers. We chased down Thijs because we are driven by the same values: he wants to push the sustainability agenda in his installations, and is a data nerd like us. As a result, he’s created this beautiful installation that taps into the materials that we are using in our cars.In a way, we’re tapping into the open-mindedness people have when they go to a museum — and are almost tricking them into learning about renewable energy and charging.

In Practice

Janus van den Eijnden

As part of Polestar’s partnership with Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum to show how design can contribute to sustainable solutions, artist Thijs Biersteker developed We Harvest Wind, an interactive installation that responds to visitor-controlled propellor fans.

The Client

Anna Huix

José Luis López de Zubiría, courtesy of Ja! Studio

Frame 2021 of year

Awards winners the Ewout Huibers, courtesy of i29

Retail. Hospitality. Work. Institutions. Living. Shows. Executional. After a year of celebrating Interiors of the Month, we’ve worked with a grand jury to distinguish the Frame Awards 2021 Interiors of the Year across these sectors. Over the following pages, discover all the winners – as well as those crowned with Honorary Awards – alongside insights from the jury. Words The Frame Team

SPATIAL AWARDS Retail

SINGLE-BRAND STORE OF THE YEAR

CAMPER STORE MÁLAGA Oficina Penadés MÁLAGA There’s growing consumer demand for retailers to factor in sustainability when designing their store interiors, and footwear brand Camper has clearly taken note. As did our jury. They praised Camper’s Málaga store, conceived by Jorge Penadés of Oficina Penadés, for its resourceful reuse of archived shop fittings – the result of an intriguing design process. Following a visit to the brand’s warehouse in Majorca, which is mainly used as a storage space for old Camper shops that have been refurbished and updated, Penadés decided to temporarily set up shop on site and ‘self-produce the entire shop there’. Surrounded by an archive of custom-made pieces from the likes of Michele De Lucchi, Gaetano Pesce, Ingo Maurer, the Bouroullec brothers and Konstantin Grcic, he

selected three basic elements that now make up the entire store. And it’s this hands-on, inventive approach that scored the project top points. Agata Pilip, store designer at Nike, applauded the adopted ‘reuse, reduce, recycle mantra’. ‘The creative use and repurposing of prefabricated elements allow for flexibility and future-proofing of this design,’ she said. Jury member Jonghwan Baek of WGNB was impressed by how within one space a single joinery detail can be applied to different functions – shelves, display platforms and lighting. Altogether, it’s an ‘example of how limited material use and other constraints can produce a better end project’, explained Valerie Roosma, interior designer and associate at HOK. oficinapenades.com

Frame Awards

‘The Camper store is a really nice example of how to create a retail space that is in touch with the human soul,’ said jury member Florian Seidl, design manager at Lavazza. ‘It resonates with our needs and expresses the identity of the brand.’

José Hevia

POP-UP STORE OF THE YEAR

Courtesy of Bottega Veneta

BOTTEGA VENETA Random Studio

SEOUL To celebrate the launch of Daniel Lee’s AW20 collection for Bottega Veneta in Seoul, Random Studio devised a pop-up experience and store scenography. Inspired by the neighbouring Hyundai Card Music Library, the experience was based on the Acousmonium, a sound-diffusion system pioneered by Francois Bayle in 1974. Random Studio’s rendition was a reflective, blow-up box structure with 24 loudspeakers playing a range of ambient sounds. The installation’s aesthetics returned inside the pop-up store next door, where product displays were fashioned from reflective materials and inflated structures.

‘This is an engaging brand activation point that goes beyond the pure function of selling a product,’ said jury member Sergio Mannino, founder of his namesake studio. ‘It’s visually stunning – and I’m sure it’s a lot better in person.’ Snøhetta director and senior architect Anne-Rachel Schiffman felt the project ‘really plays with the notion of the pop-up – the energy, atmosphere and exuberance – and exceeds in integrating the direction in which the brand wants to go.’

Jury member Venelin Kokalov from Revery Architecture praised Random Studio’s ‘whimsical design’. ‘I love the idea of a literal “pop-up” that can be easily restored and reused.’

random.studio

Retail

SPATIAL AWARDS Hospitality

BAR OF THE YEAR

MOTHER PEARL A Work of Substance

A ‘wonderful little infill’, said jury member Caro Lundin, cofounder and creative director at ARC Club. ‘A simple and surprising project that makes the most of its small footprint.’

HONG KONG Glass and raw materials comprise Mother Pearl, a 33-m2 bubble-tea bar in Hong Kong. Since the site is part of a bustling urban area, A Work of Substance sought to create a momentary respite for customers by identifying the ritualistic aspects of drinking bubble tea, translating them into reflective design elements. ‘Mother Pearl brings the inside outside,’ said jury member and Interstore creative director Nathan Watts. ‘It’s like a piece of jewellery on the street – it transforms the landscape and changes the way you think about kiosk retail.’ Other jurors were impressed by A Work of Substance’s ability to create a huge impact in a tiny space, aided largely by the

Frame Awards

choice of unconventional materials. They also applauded the way the designers ‘translated the brand vision and ethos into the interior design and materials’ (Akanksha Deo Sharma, Ikea designer), ‘the way the light has been used in a very careful way’ (Watts), and the bar’s ‘colours and simplicity’ (Simon Goff, founder and director at Floor_Story). Joe Cheng, chairman at CCD Cheng Chung Design, spoke to the relevance of the project in its location. ‘Hong Kong is a pearly peninsula in the East. The beverage station located on a traditional sloping street uses contrasting but coordinated warm colours and materials to tell the story of the local area.’ aworkofsubstance.com

Amanda Kho

LAYING THE GROUNDWORK FOR THE RESILIENT CITY

Drawing from our inaugural think tank The Next Space, this white paper outlines the roles spatial design plays in advancing self-sustainment, sharing economies and circular networks. What lessons can we learn for developing the resilient city – and what changes can the design industry make right now? Words Lauren Grace Morris The doors of Eindhoven’s DomusDela swung open bright and early on the morning of 21 October 2021 for The Next Space, a partnership with IBA, IMM and Dutch Design Week. We anticipated the day to be full of ideation and action planning surrounding the future, resilient city. Little could we know how far the audience would take that mission. Aligned with four talks about spatial design’s role in environmental responsibility, distributed healthcare, urban agricultural and methods of shared living, the one-day make-a-thon brought together a range of industry stakeholders, from designers and architects to real estate developers and retailers. The motive? To form a framework for spatial design in which people and the planet can thrive. First on stage – while remotely tuned in – was Patrick Frick, lead facilitator of the

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Global Commons Alliance. The team works to create a powerful network of organizations, helping to scale the science-based actions necessary to protect our commons, the cultural and natural resources available to all people. Philips Healthcare senior design director Kurt Ward captured our attention next, discussing how distributed healthcare will impact the way we live, play and work. He envisions adaptive areas in the city with specialized, immediate care, the result being a ‘more empowered community’. Health brought us to another pillar of the programme: food. Eveline van Leeuwen, scientific director at AMS Institute, addressed the question: What will urban agriculture mean for urban planning? To consider food systems in all their complexity and all of the spaces they concern, designers, she explains,

must think about ‘where food is offered and how it impacts the way people make choices’. Carbon Studio founder Pieter Kool wrapped up the day’s talks with insight into what it really means to live in a connected, shared community. A designer and inhabitant of Schoonschip – a ‘floating neighbourhood’ of 30 houseboats in Amsterdam – Kool has first-hand experience navigating life in a socially and ecologically sustainable setting. The make-a-thon sessions that occurred throughout the day wove parallels between each of the speaker’s subjects. It was a time to identify the trends that currently shape spatial design, analyse their role in the future city and scribe tangible steps to achieve the resilient city.

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SPACE. COMMUNITY. CITY. REGION. STATE. NATION. GLOBE. It all starts with a space. Resilient cities strengthen the chain that connects us. Developing them is an iterative process that requires the collaboration of designers, makers and users – the ultimate exercise in co-creation. Me. We. The planet. 107

SELF-SUSTAINMENT EMPOWERING BEHAVIOURAL CHANGE

Courtesy of Philips Healthcare

Philips Healthcare senior design director Kurt Ward envisions adaptive areas within the city to have specialized, immediate care, the result being a ‘more empowered community’. These resilient, safe hubs will have an increasingly important role as our cities bear the brunt of the climate crisis.

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How can the spatial design industry inspire sustainable living at the individual level? Our ecosystems greatly influence the habits and rituals that define our lives, which gives designers the power to facilitate more environmentally and socially proactive behaviour among users. Human-centric design requires that designers have more empathy for and connection to people that they create with – not for. Responsive technology, customization options and accessibility features are all strategies that accommodate the needs and wishes of the individual. Providing access to green space, protective systems and guidelines and neurodiverse solutions are a few of the many ways health and wellness can come to the forefront of the city. The efficacy of these urban improvements relies on the understanding and participation of each user in a community. One of the most echoed notions during the make-a-thons was Kool’s quote: ‘If

you build a community, everybody should have skin in the game.’ ‘If people are only financially involved, you say: “Okay, you can join, you pay and then we’ll do it.” Basically, you’re just giving them an argument to complain,’ he explains. ‘But if you demand that people also put personal time in the project, they go from complainers to ambassadors.’ Tapping into personal responsibility ultimately forges deeper relationships with one’s own space and the other’s part of it. Actively involving people in the design process to develop intuitive, hybrid-use microcosms is one important step towards the resilient city. Current users aren’t the only

people to focus on, however; urban solutions should also look farther ahead, predicting the needs of generations to come and embodying the flexibility needed for future adaptation. Van Leeuwen helps us see this in the context of agriculture: ‘Having food inside the city helps people learn – and care more about – food. Can we collaborate in these spaces to incentivize behavioural change? We can’t have big solutions anymore – it’s not one-size-fits-all. There need to be tailor-made approaches at the spatial, city and regional level.’ And this is true in designing systems across the board, not just when it comes to food or healthcare.

— THE RESILIENT CITY requires empathetic, flexible design solutions for present and future inhabitants. — INDIVIDUALS need to have personal and financial involvement to be fully invested in developing communities. — TRANSPARENCY of city systems – like urban farming – is a fundamental driver of positive reform. The Next Space

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LAB

Courtesy of JAJA Architects and Open Platform

Working where is at the the 15-minu

Jim Stephenson, courtesy of Squire & Partners

close to you live heart of ute city The remote working revolution has left us with choices. While working from home suits some demographics and personalities, we’ve learned that it’s not the solution for everyone. The downtown HQ still has appeal, but soul-sapping commutes are something to which few want to return. Does the solution lie somewhere in between?

Jack Hobhouse

NEIGH BOUR HOOD SPACES

Local co-working is on the rise, thanks to the growth of hybrid work, operator-landlord partnerships and the pandemic renewing our appreciation for community.

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BELOW AND OPPOSITE Developed by British architecture practice Squire & Partners and located next to its Brixton headquarters, Department Store Studios offers flexible workspaces to local businesses and entrepreneurs. In addition, the venture supports the huband-spoke model of regional workspaces acting as satellites to a central HQ. Jim Stephenson

WeWork grew to monumental status by leasing huge amounts of urban floor space and subletting it to its tenants for a profit. But as the pandemic saw those swathes of central office space empty overnight, there is new thinking about how flexible office space is best created. In February 2021, The Wall Street Journal noted more joint ventures between co-working operators and landlords, where risk and revenue are shared. This approach is helping providers open spaces faster and more freely, particularly in locations that are seeing the work-near-home demand. It’s also helping neighbourhood workspace have a more localized and individual feel, with community benefit too. While the major players have so far dominated the urban scene, newcomers are enjoying success in the near-home space, like Perth-based Spacecubed, Common Ground in Malaysia, and London-based start-ups Patch and Spacemade. Demand for near-home spaces saw Spacemade’s members increase 15-fold in the first eight months of 2021, with »

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London locations like The Loft in Queen’s Park and Neighbourhood Works in Hackney in high demand. Cofounder Dan Silverman told PlaceTech: ‘As working behaviours become more varied and increasingly personalised, we are creating individual spaces that offer flexibility and variety with the benefit of access to our growing network of spaces across the UK. Each of our workspaces is shaped by their locality as we truly [believe] there is no longer a one-size-fits-all approach to the office.’ Larger operators are also pivoting to the partnership model. In October 2020 LoopNet reported that the International Workplace Group planned to close 4 per

by access to collaborative networks, since this is what makes a workspace more appealing than their kitchen table. Sharing skills and having support from a group of people with varied experience is an invaluable asset to those just starting out.’ Community values in near-home workspace appeal to those who feel isolated working at home. They enjoy a feeling of belonging that’s incomparable to a big, central office. The users of these spaces typically want to feel like they are contributing to the life of the areas in which they spend time, and neighbourhood spaces are successful where they have some social purpose embedded.

cent of its 3,392 underperforming locations because of the pandemic. It’s now focused on partnering with local property developers to create neighbourhood spots with smaller footprints and capacities, around 40 to 100 desks. The first of these opened at lifestyle centre First Street Napa in California. The next will be Perkins Rowe in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, before expansion to the UK. British architecture practice Squire & Partners took the step of developing its own co-working space – Department Store Studios – adjacent to its headquarters in Brixton, South London. ‘Workspace in neighbourhoods outside of central business areas creates a cost-effective option for start-ups, with the bonus of extending the economic ripple effect to local shops and businesses, and supporting shorter and more sustainable commutes,’ says partner Tim Gledstone. ‘Offices for entrepreneurs should also be led

Department Store Studios has an annual residency programme through which two young local entrepreneurs can access free workspace and mentorship. Expressway in London’s Royal Docks has incubation space for 17 young entrepreneurs, who are guided by the business centre’s main tenants. Expressway is run by creative developer General Projects. Development associate Ben Cross explains: ‘We’re firm believers that a business community and its neighbours should be seen as one and the same. As part of tenants’ leases, they must give time to training school leavers. We expected some pushback, but people actually want to feel like they are making a positive contribution on top of their work lives. Creating social value can be more beneficial to some people than individual wellbeing. I’d like to think that as we move out of the pandemic, we’re more aware of other people’s experiences, and are far more neighbourly.’ »

‘Workspace in neighbourhoods outside of central business areas creates a cost-effective option for start-ups’

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Frame Lab

Tian Khee Siong

Peter Landers

Tian Khee Siong

Expressway in London’s Royal Docks boasts an incubation space for young entrepreneurs, who are guided by the business centre’s main tenants. The building’s central lobby features a healthy café run by local coffee roasters Perky Blenders.

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SPATIAL AWARDS Work CO-WORKING SPACE OF THE YEAR

HET VAKWERKHUIS Vakwerk Architecten

by night. Hana Ahriz, cofounder at Space & Pepper, particularly appreciated this modularity – its ability to transition between working and having fun – while other jurors complemented the project’s accessibility. ‘So many different places have been created in the relatively small space,’ said Nina Sickengam, founder of MOSS. ‘There is something in it for everybody.’ vakwerkarchitecten.nl

‘As we’re closing down public places, hybrid spaces like these become essential to the community’ Caro Lundin, ARC Club

Frame Awards

Boudewijn Bollmann

DELFT ‘This not only serves as an interesting piece of architecture and an interesting co-working space but also as a meeting hub for the neighbourhood and city,’ said jury member Caro Lundin, cofounder and creative director of ARC Club. ‘That really spoke to me.’ The city in question is Delft in the Netherlands, where Vakwerk Architecten used circular principles to transform a century-old listed building into its own office as well as co-working space for other entrepreneurs. Anastasia Karandinou, architect and course director at the University of East London, said she read the project’s dialogue between old and new as ‘a metaphor for collaboration, coexistence and participation between the people who work there, the community and the surrounding area of the city. I was very impressed by the details of how those different elements and spaces come together.’ The flexibility of the 1350-m2 design allows it to become a venue for debates, parties, courses and music and yoga classes

‘A very relevant project for today’s society,’ said jury member Patrick Keane, director at Enter Projects Asia of the ‘inclusive project that has a great conservation – not restoration – aesthetic.’

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MARKET

Courtesy of HeijltjesAkkaya

Rounded and textures valuable

Courtesy of Maharam

shapes touchable are more than ever Furniture fit for alternative workspace futures, designs with soft silhouettes for warm welcomes, and sustainable items that are easy to separate, sort, salvage and ship.

WILKHAHN INSIT SCREEN Wilkhahn has extended its modular bench system Insit, designed by Wolfgang C.R. Mezger, with Insit Screen, a set of panels that facilitate visual and acoustic privacy. Responding to the need for a larger variety of (work) settings, the versatile series comprises stand-alone rear panels, L-shaped corner solutions with side panels, U-shaped screens for stand-alone benches and C-shaped enclosures for two Insit benches facing each other. wilkhahn.com

41ZERO42 PIXEL41 With references as far-reaching as graphic patterns from the 1940s, 1980s video games, techno music equalizers and Russian swimming pools, Pixel41 from 41zero42 encourages the playful integration of colour, both in- and outdoors. Featuring 41 colours, the collection of 11.55 x 11.55-cm tiles offers the opportunity to create monochromatic schemes or bold mosaics. With its irregular borders, slightly rounded edges and intentionally uneven surface, Pixel41 has an artisanal look and feel. 41zero42.com

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+HALLE PICNIC Reminiscent of the classic park table but lending its shape from the primal campfire formation, Form Us With Love’s two-height seating structure Picnic for +Halle aims to forge a community feeling with public space. Due to Covid, ‘we have witnessed the desperate need for togetherness, gatherings, and real-life conversation,’ explains FUWL creative director John Löfgren. ‘That natural sharing instinct is what Picnic manifests.’ plushalle.com

FANTONI MEET UP A brainchild of the Fantoni Research Centre and made using sustainable and recyclable materials, the Meet Up collection of fixed and height-adjustable meeting tables and handle-free, high and low cabinets ‘blur the differences between executive, meeting and operative spaces, consolidating the concept of hybridized spaces’. Reproducing the veining of marble, surfacing comes in two different colourways: Calacatta and Noir. fantoni.it

DE VORM MUTE FRACTION De Vorm’s latest acoustic PET felt panel Mute Fraction consists of five unequal segments, divided by five ribs. Dubbed ‘perfectly proportioned’, its design is based on the plastic number theory – the three-dimensional elaboration of the golden ratio – by Dutch architect Dom Hans van der Laan, and can be applied both horizontally and vertically. devorm.nl

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2010

is the year Ineke Hans designed the recyclable Ahrend 380 chair, the forerunner to Rex, made of two components to allow for easy assembly and disassembly

renowned international museums have asked to add Rex to their collections after the product’s launch at Dutch Design Week 2021. It will also play a role in a travelling expo on plastics by Vitra Design Museum in 2022

TAKE A SEAT (BACK)

Although Ineke Hans designed Rex to last a lifetime, the fully recyclable chair – which is made from nylon recycled from the likes of fishing nets, carpets and office chair components – can be returned at any stage for a partial refund. The product’s manufacturer, Circuform – a new brand that aims to minimize the use of raw materials and to maximize reuse – is responsible for giving Rex a second life. Words Tracey Ingram

billion tonnes is the weight of all plastics produced worldwide thus far, 56% of which was produced in the last 20 years

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is the refund users will receive when returning a Rex chair to a Circuform collection point. Returned deposit chairs are checked, cleaned, repaired if necessary and resold – again with a deposit. Unrepairable chairs are shredded into raw material for new production inekehans.com circuform.com

In Numbers

Annegien van Doorn

10.1

€20