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“The city’s soul is its history; it may have an economic heart, but its soul is where we’ve come from. those people that have worked to build the city to where it is, need to remember.” Kevin Daniels, Daniels Real Estate

Seller reserves the right to change the product offering without notice. Find yourself perfectly at home in one of Seattle’s first neighborhoods. Rooted in history and situated along the tree-lined streets and pocket parks of First Hill. Preserving the land where famed architect Paul Thiry’s office once stood, a community waterfall park will be installed right outside the Graystone doors in his Graystonehonor. is an elegant collection of one-of-a-kind condominium residences with views of the Cascades, Lake Union, Mt. Rainier, Elliot Bay, and the Olympics. The only condominium tower opening next year, this is your opportunity to discover a refined lifestyle that’s a century in the making. NOW SELLING, OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK, 11AM TO 5PM Presentation Gallery | 1317 Madison Street | Seattle, Washington 98104 CONTACT | 206.717.5000 | TheGraystone.com Book a tour with our sales team, today!

10 GRAY XX N O 63-64: DOUBLE ISSUE VANGUARD + REMASTERED INTEL 25. FIRST LOOK A celebration of landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, Chinese fashion designer Guo Pei’s first comprehensive exhibition, new lighting from Lodes, and more. 34. DESIGN DISPATCH Tokyo’s design scene: visions from the East and West. VANGUARD 49. ON THE RISE Brian Peters is scaling his work to an architectural level while retaining the elegant nuances of working with clay. 54. GENESIS Julie Bargmann has spent her career advocating for more ways to safely repurpose toxic sites for community use. 60. FIELD NOTES Saleem Khattak reflects on his path to lighting design. 64. FEATURE: ESSAY Dror Benshetrit’s comprehensive reimagining of the built environment. 70. LIVINGFEATURE:WITH THE LAND A house in the highlands of central Mexico, designed by architects Javier Sánchez and Robert Hutchison, serves as a graceful model for regenerative design. 3433 64

LAST CALL 115. CONCIERGE Exceptional places to dine, shop, and stay, from São Paulo to Reykjavik.

96. Q&A Llisa Demetrios, granddaughter of Ray and Charles Eames, talks about the Eames Institute.

REMASTERED 77. MINIMAL EFFORT Working with a historic house in Denmark, Norm Architects plays with shadow and light.

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ON THE COVER: A look at the top players in Tokyo’s ever-changing design scene includes a look from the Anrealage label’s Autumn/Winter 2022–2023 fashion collection. See page 34.

86. THE MAIN EVENT

128. TRANSPORT The Orient Express trains bring glamour back to railway travel.

102. LANDSCAPE An idyllic sculpture park in the South of France.

104. OBJECTS OF DESIRE GRAY’s picks from this season’s crop of outdoor furniture.

108. GENESIS Wearable statements about sustainable consumption.

Drawing on her experience as an event designer, Gala Magriña transforms a dated family home without the hassle of costly construction.

110. ARCHITECTURE Oppenheim Architecture finds a niche working in Albania.

112. ON THE RISE Canadian furniture manufacturer Stacklab launches a new brand focused on customization. 12877 96

DeputyEDITORIALEditor Rachel Gallaher Copy Editor Christine DeOrio AccountADVERTISINGExecutive Shawn Williams advertising@graymag.com New DevelopmentBusiness John Spear Coffeehouse Media STUDIO G Creative Director Meghan Burger Sr. Digital Content Strategist Brandon Gaston Founder,HEADQUARTERSCEO Shawn Williams Executive Services Manager Tracey Bjerke Administrative Assistant Kendal Sinclair INQUIRIES accounting@graymag.comsubscriptionseventadvertisingeditorsinfo@graymag.com@graymag.com@graymag.coms@graymag.com@graymag.com No. 63-64. Copyright ©2022. Published by GRAY Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited. While every attempt has been made, GRAY cannot guarantee the legality, completeness, or accuracy of the information presented and accepts no warranty or responsibility for sendPOSTMASTERsuch.addresschanges to: GRAY Media, LLC 1709 124th Avenue N.E., #896 Lake Stevens, WA 98258 United StatesPublisher#grayawards#graymagazineFB/graymag@gray_magazine Shawn Williams Subscribe graymag.comat Standard Subscription: $60 Premium Subscription: $250 Patron Sponsor: $1,000 VANGUARD / REMASTERED 22 andthousandsShowroomsofluxurylinescollections seattledesigncenter.com surface collection by mokum Jennifer West showroom

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Lauren Gallow (“Hype Beast,” page 108) is a writer and editor covering architecture and design. She holds a master’s degree in art and architectural history and writes regularly for Interior Design, Dwell, Metropolis, and Cereal. She also serves as the editorial chair of Seattle-based nonprofit ARCADE.

Alma Reyes (“Design Dispatch: Tokyo,” page 34) is an editor and writer based in Tokyo. She holds a bachelor’s degree in interior design from the University of the Philippines and a master’s degree in product design and design management from the Kyoto Institute of Technology.

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Heidi Mitchell (“The Main Event” page 86) is a design writer and editor who has held positions at Ray Gun, Rolling Stone, Travel + Leisure, and Town & Country Travel. Her work has also appeared in Architectural Digest, the New York Post, and the Wall Street Journal.

Dror Benshetrit (“Essay: A Comprehensive Reimagining of the Built Environment,” page 64) is an international activist, designer, artist, and futurist who uses ideas as vehicles for change. Benshetrit takes a holistic, highly collaborative approach that aims to create meaningful connections that improve the well-being of the individual and the world.

Jen Woo (“Coding Ceramics,” page 49) is an Oakland, California-based freelance writer, editor, content creator, and brand strategist, and is the founder of the creative community Rogue Habits. Her work has been published in outlets including Architectural Digest, Dwell, Lonny, 7x7, and SOMA magazine.

Saleem Khattak (“An Enlightened Journey,” page 60) is an award-winning industrial designer and owner and founder of lighting design studio Archilume. A graduate of Emily Carr University of Art + Design, he fosters a studio environment that’s steeped in curiosity and that challenges assumptions. Will Kitchens (“Living With the Land,” page 70) is a design writer and the managing editor of Sharp magazine. Previously, he was a staff writer for Monocle magazine’s Toronto bureau, for which he interviewed architects, profiled creative scenes, and covered the best of Canadian design.

CONTRIBUTORS

Rachel Davies (“Minimal Effort,” page 77) is a culture and design journalist based in Brooklyn, New York. They have written for numerous publications including Vulture, the Wall Street Journal, and Architectural Digest

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babienko ARCHITECTS pllc babienkoarchitects.com ARCHITECTURE + INTERIORS The following design firms are among the best in the world, and are included here on an invite-only basis. We are proud to call them our partners. Consider them first for your next project. To learn more about each firm, visit graymag.com Atelier Drome atelierdrome.com BC&J Architecture bcandj.com Baylis Architects baylisarchitects.com Board & Vellum boardandvellum.com Designs Northwest Architects designsnw.com

Hyde Evans Design hydeevansdesign.com SCOTT | EDWARDS ARCHITECTURE LLP seallp.com Tyler Engle Architects tylerengle.com Uptic Studios upticstudios.com H2D Architects h2darchitects.com First Lamp firstlamp.net Garret Cord Werner Architects & Interior Designers garretcordwerner.com

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A look from Chinese fashion designer Guo Pei’s 2012 Legend of the Dragon collection. Earlier this year, the Legion of Honor museum (part of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco) opened Guo Pei: Couture Fantasy, an exhibition dedicated to the couturier’s work and career. »

ARTISTTHECOURTESYXU,LIANBYPHOTOGRAPHFEDERATION,COUTUREASIAN/PEIGUO©

GRAY 25 New and noteworthy in global design. INTEL

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QUEEN ForCOUTUREOFnearlytwodecades, Chinese fashion designer Guo Pei has been creating fantastical couture garments— many of which take between 3,000 and 10,000 hours to make. On April 16, more than 80 Guo-designed ensembles were put on display in the couturier’s first comprehensive exhibition. Presented by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco at the Legion of Honor museum, Guo Pei: Couture Fantasy showcased the designer’s most important fashion collections, including a handful of runway looks, as well as many designs that have never before been shown to the public. “As a creator and artist, there is no greater honor or privilege than to share my creativity with a wider audience,” Guo says. “I hope that it will bring greater awareness and understanding of my life’s passion, convey Chinese culture and traditions, and show the new face of contemporary China.” »

CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: A look from Guo’s Spring/Summer 2018 Elysium collection. A corseted dress made from pineapple fiber, silk, and wire, from the Fall/ Winter 2018–2019 L’Architecture collection. Shoes made for the Autumn/Winter 2012 Legend of the Dragon show.

GRAY 27 An ensemble from the regal Spring/Summer 2017 Legends collection.ARTISTTHECOURTESYPHOTOGRAPHY,LIANXU©

28 GRAY INTEL LOOKFIRST PARTY IN THE PARK April 26, 2022, marked 200 years since the birth of iconic American landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, a crusader, conservationist, and advocate who championed the concept of public parks in the United States. To mark the anniversary, more than 120 organi zations have come together to launch Olmsted 200: Parks for All People, a yearlong celebration comprising talks, parties, exhibitions, and more. Olmsted’s career spanned more than 50 years, and he designed some of the country’s most beloved parks, including New York’s Central Park and Prospect Park, and the U.S. Capitol Grounds. “Frederick Law Olmsted proffered the idea that landscape architecture could create places that bolster the project of American democracy,” says Sara Zewde, founder of Studio Zewde and assistant professor of practice at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. “As we look at American life today, we see a great need and oppor tunity to build on these original aims of landscape architecture. That’s what Olmsted 200 is all about.” » COURTESY THE BILTMORE COMPANY

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Frederick Law Olmsted designed the grounds at George and Edith Vanderbilt’s Biltmore estate, in Asheville, North Carolina.

firm Cutwork has designed a modular residential studio prototype for developer Bouygues Immobilier’s new shared living brand, set to launch across France in 2023. Called the Polyroom, the prefab unit reimagines a compact, multiuse space by incor porating a bedroom that can be reconfigured to fit a resident’s changing activities and needs. For his design, Cutwork co-founder and architect Antonin Yuji Maeno took inspiration from the Japanese washitsu, a central room in traditional Japanese homes that lacks a single dedicated purpose. In Cutwork’s Polyroom, sliding partitions, built-in storage, and modular, multiuse furniture give residents flexibility to tailor the space to their needs. Additionally, a bed lifts to disappear into the ceiling, providing extra space when needed. The prefab unit will be manufactured in bulk and stacked like LEGO bricks to build new residential blocks, starting in a to-be-determined location in France.

CUTWORKCOURTESYCHÂTEL-INNOCENTI,PIERRECUTWORK;

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ParisSQUADMODarchitecture

wallpapers and fabrics, the British lifestyle brand House of Hackney expanded its offerings this past spring with the launch of its first paint collection, the Art of Nature. Crafted in-house and inspired by the rich palette of shades found around the world in minerals, roots, rocks, berries, and other natural materials, the release included 48 colors, available in two finishes. The formula dries quickly, has a low level of VOCs, and requires just two coats to finish a room. Every can of paint sold will allow House of Hackney to purchase and protect 376 square feet of forest in partnership with the World Land REVIEWPERFORMANCETrust.

The construction of the long-awaited Taipei Performing Arts Center, commissioned by the Taipei City Government in 2009, has been completed early—the opening date is slated for the beginning of August. Designed by Dutch studio OMA and located near Taipei’s Shilin Night Market, the complex includes three theatres connected to a central glass cube that houses lobbies and backstage areas for each venue. Each performance space (one is a sphere and two are rectangles) protrudes from the central cube, creating an eye-catching form that anchors the building in the surrounding neighborhood, which is full of market stalls, shops, and food vendors. A pathway, which runs through the center’s infrastructure and typically hidden production spaces, is lined with windows that provide glimpses of performances, allowing the public to experience the building without a ticket. »

KnownCONNOISSEURSCOLORforitsbold,maximalist

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Listening to Clay: Conversations with Contem porary Japanese Ceramic Artists, released in June by Monacelli, presents conversations with 16 of the most important living Japanese ceramic artists, all of whom have shaped the discipline with their influential work. Ranging in age from 63 to 93, the featured craftspeople have diverse backgrounds, from those born into pottery-making families to the first women admitted to the ceramics department of the Tokyo University of the Arts. Written by Alice North and Halsey North (pioneering collectors and advocates of contemporary Japanese ceramics) and Louise Allison Cort (curator emerita of ceramics at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art), Listening to Clay traces the evolution of the craft in Japan and how the aforemen tioned artists interpret centuries-old practices.

After 56 years of operation out of its Seattle office, the acclaimed international architecture firm Olson Kundig opened its second office in Midtown Manhattan. The office occupies the 10th floor of a 1923 midrise tower. Central to the space is an area known as the Living Room, where a 144-square-foot table, designed by Tom Kundig and fabricated by Canadian company Spearhead, holds court. Built from raw timber offcuts and mounted on wheels, the table includes an integrated turntable and record collection curated by Seattle’s Sub Pop Records. “Opening a New York office space allows us to share a bit of the Pacific Rim and our ‘unstable edge’ mentality with the East Coast, forging new relationships and oppor tunities for collaboration,” says Alan Maskin, co-principal and co-owner of Olson Kundig and design lead for the new office (along with Olson Kundig CEO Hemanshu Parwani).

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COAST TO COAST

HAUANGELAMORITSUGU;MAKITAO El Capitan, 2020, Miwa Kyūsetsu XIII (formerly Kazuhiko), tea bowl, private collection.

TheCONFIDENTIALCLAYbook

DESIGN SOLUTIONS

Opening on July 15, the 23rd Triennale Milano International Exhibition, Unknown Unknowns. An Introduction to Mysteries, will address the urgency of the environmental challenges confronting our planet and the ways in which the global design community can unite to address, solve, and dialogue about them. More than 40 countries will present work from multiple disciplines, including architecture, design, music, science, and education.

MODERN HISTORY

Anna Dumitriu, Alex May, ArchaeaBot: A Post Climate Change, Post Singularity Life-form, 2018-19.

Released through Galerie Philia at this year’s Salone del Mobile, Studiopepe’s first collectible design objects take inspiration from anthropology and archaeology. Unveiled in a large, curated installation titled Temenos, in the derelict 1950s Necchi factory in Milan’s Baranzate district, the collection of sculptural designs includes a monolithic chair, a console, a mirror, among other items. With these new pieces, Studiopepe’s designers also celebrated their admiration for the work of the great designers and artists of the 20th century.

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Francis Kéré, winner of the 2022 Pritzker Archi tecture Prize, will design the display installations for the Triennale’s common areas, as well as the installation Yesterday’s Tomorrow, which brings together the voices of Africa and its diaspora.

EmbraceFEELMATERIALyourCalifornia dreams with the new collaboration between Lawson-Fenning and CB2. Known for modern furniture featuring elegant details and careful craftsmanship, the designer-maker duo Glenn Lawson and Grant Fenning are bringing their West Coast aesthetic to this more-than-50-piece release that includes sofas, chairs, tables, book shelves, lighting, accessories, and more. Featuring a sharp attention to detail and materiality, each new design is an elevated statement with classic midcentury roots.

Unknown Unknowns runs through December 11. —Rachel Gallaher h

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34 GRAY INTEL DISPATCHDESIGN VISIONSDESIGNFROM THE EAST AND WEST. By Alma Reyes

A A look from Japanese fashion label 2023Autumn/WinterAnrealage’s2022–Planetcollection.

GRAY 35 bustling metropolis steeped in some 400 years of history, Tokyo remains an irresistible enigma to many outside of Japan. Once the ancient Edo city that flourished from the Tokugawa reign in 1603 to the end of the Meiji Restoration in 1912, the capital is now infused with a sense of pride in its development of traditional crafts on one hand, and the cultural integration of Western influences on the other. Temple, shrine, and traditional garden architecture strengthen the roots of the city’s historic past, while cosplay street fashion, pop graffiti, and digital and robotic technology push the society toward a new Throughoutera.the 20th century, repeated hardships, both natural and human-caused—the colossal earthquake of 1923, the atrocities of World War II, and the Tohoku tsunami of 2011—have reminded the Japanese people of the fragility and transience of life. For some, the patience and perseverance learned from such events has yielded highquality and refined craftsmanship that fed an already robust and refined design industry. The Japanese proverb “nana korobi ya oki” (which means “fall seven times, get up eight”) is embodied by a culture that tends to think and act collectively, working together to rise after every fall. Yet a new generation has emerged—one with more globally connected and individualistic minds that are developing unique and unconven tional styles in product design, graphic art, fashion, and interiors. Design-forward events including Designart Tokyo, Design Festa, Interior Lifestyle Tokyo, Tokyo International Art Fair, and Fashion Week Tokyo are flourishing, show casing the creativity and innovation of established and emerging talents. Tokyo’s infrastructure is everchanging, with developers and architects constantly adding to the rapidly evolving skyline and inserting green spaces and tech nological advances (for example, Kengo Kuma’s Daikanyamacho Project and the Tokyo Torch Tower by Mitsubishi Jisho Sekkei) that cater to the shifting needs of residents and visitors. The contrasting threads of cultures and ideas—East and West, traditional and modern, homogeneity and individuality, noisy pachinko parlors and silent rock gardens— add to the vibrancy of the Japanese zeitgeist, weaving together to form one of the most exciting modern cities to Althoughwatch.Tokyo’s rich history is integral to what the city has become, we’re looking to a handful of contemporary designers and architects—as well as some hotels, shops, and restaurants to visit—who are shaping the creative soul of Tokyo today, from one of the world’s most renowned architects to an interdisciplinary art collective that works in a digital format.

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TANAKAANREALAGE/MASAYA©SHINNOSUKE;©YOSHIMORI

ABOVE, FROM LEFT: The runway show for Anrealage’s Planet collection took viewers to the moon, with models walking in garments reminiscent of space suits. The label’s Spring/Summer 2022 collection, Dimension, was presented virtually. Designer AnrealageMorinaga,Kunihikowhofoundedin2003.

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WEAR ANREALAGE In fashion’s futuristic scene, Anrealage (a combination of the words “real,” “unreal,” and “age”), launched in 2003, has emerged with a revolutionary approach to apparel ideology, crossing boundaries between real and unreal, and analog and digital platforms. Envisioned by acclaimed designer embodiesMorinaga,Kunihikothebranditsmantra, “God is in the details,” with innovative, technologyinfused runway shows that create an explosive fantasy of intertwined shapes, geometricsilhouettes,patterns, and tantalizing colors. For the Spring/Summer 2021 Home collection, garments were shaped into brightly colored polyhedra meant to function as wearable, tentlike houses. The Spring/ Summer 2022 collection, Dimension, was presented in a virtual space with CG avatar models walking on a glass runway and floating in the air. The Autumn/ Winter 2022–2023 apparel line Planet took viewers to the moon, its optical-white and puffy garments, some literally filled with air, reminiscent of classic space suits. The collection, like all of Morinaga’s work, pushes sartorial boundaries, tapping into a zeitgeist created by the limitless minds of a new generation that are virtually connected to significant changes with in our borderless world. »

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The Dimension collection—its bright, geometric-patterned garments giving a nod to paper folding—was released in both physical and NFT forms.

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In 2017, the New York City Ballet asked her to design costumes for its 2017 Fall Fashion Gala (dancers wore the surrealist results for choreographer Justin Peck’s Pulcinella Variations). The designer’s whimsical streak continues with her Autumn/ Winter 2022–2023 collection, Tsumori’s Kingdom, which depicts a medieval world steeped in fantasy, borrowing motifs from the Louvre Museum, Eiffel Tower, and the fairytale Puss in Boots

KENGAKU;TOMOOKIPHOTOGRAPHY:BNA_WALL,MAGMA,/HARDCOREWATANABE;YUJIPHOTOGRAPHY:INC.,TC,© KENGAKUTOMOOKIPHOTOGRAPHY:BNA_WALL,WATANABE,MAKO/WARSSUSHI

38 GRAY WEAR TSUMORI CHISATO

The Japanese apparel market is considered one of the largest in the world, and consistently makes waves at international runways in Paris, Milan, and New York.

STAY BNA_WALL BnA_WALL—the fourth hotel by Tokyo’s BnA creative collective—is a lodging like no other. Situated in the city’s historic Nihonbashi district, the property is akin to an art gallery, comprising an artist’s studio, caf é, bar and lounge, and 26 guest rooms designed by 14 outstanding Tokyo-based artists or art collaboratives. Here, each guest becomes a patron, as a percentage of every booking is given to the artist(s) behind the selected room. From the HARDCORE GAME ROOM, by creative duo Magma (Jun Sugiyama and Kenichi Miyazawa), which brims with toys and games designed by the artists, to the in-your-face, colorful SUSHI WARS room, by Mako Watanabe, each accommodation is a fantastical escape from everyday life. The futuristic lobby features an impressive 20-foot-tall art mural that is reimagined by a new set of creatives every two months. It serves as a symbol of BnA’s passion for change, and of the collective’s mission to support a younger generation of contemporary Japanese artists. » At BnA_WALL hotel, each room is designed by a different artist or group of artists. The HARDCORE GAME ROOM (shown at top right), by creative duo Magma, features toys and games. The SUSHI WARS room (shown at bottom right), by Mako Watanabe, is a psychedelic dose of color.

Designer Tsumori Chisato has been a household name in contemporary fashion since her early work with Issey Miyake in the 1970s. She debuted her own line in 1990 and started showing her collections in Paris in the early 2000s. Her eye-catching prints are either created in pencil and hand-painted watercolors, or rendered digitally, then made into fabric for pants, dresses, tops, and other women’s garments. The designs draw inspiration from Japanese culture, contemporary art, fantasy, and cats, as well as other animals. Tsumori’s collections are widely recog nized for their nods to manga and bohemian “cuteness.”

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TEAMLAB©TOKYOPLANETSTEAMLAB

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DISPATCHDESIGN EAT VEGAN RAMEN UZU TOKYO

Last autumn, teamLab Planets Tokyo, a dynamic contemporary art museum that utilizes digital technology to create immersive worlds, welcomed the novel dining experience Vegan Ramen UZU Tokyo (a Kyoto location opened in 2020). Featuring art by the interdisciplinary art group teamLab, the restaurant blends gastronomy and digital art in two immersive spaces, Reversible Rotation—Non-Objective Space and Table of Sky and Fire. The former uses Spatial Calligraphy, a process created by teamLab that reconstructs calligraphy in a three-dimensional space. Diners are surrounded by moving images—projected onto mirrored ceilings, floors, and walls—that capture the depth, speed, and power of an artist’s brushstrokes in a way that removes the boundary between the diners and the artwork. In the outdoor Table of Sky and Fire space, a mirrored table reflects the sky and the nearby artwork, Universe of Fire Particles Falling from the Sky. The Tokyo eatery’s menu includes Flower Vegan Ramen, Green Tea Vegan Ramen, and Miso Vegan Ramen, among other varieties, plus a sumptu ous selection of vegan ice cream flavors, from mint cucumber to caramel coconut.

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Considered one of the most important Japanese architects practicing today, Kengo Kuma, founder of Kengo Kuma and Associates, has spent the past three decades reshaping cities with structures that embrace traditional design elements and integrate harmoniously with the environment. Known for buildings such as the Japan National Stadium (designed for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics) and the Daiwa Ubiquitous Computing Research Building, Kuma has worked at residen tial and commercial scales, taking on projects that allow him to reinterpret the tradition of Japanese building through a 21st-century lens. He believes in the totality, and importance, of every detail—the softness and hardness of materials, as well as their smells, textures, and acoustic effects. The secret of his designs, which can be deceptively simplistic, has always been his reverence for materiality and dedication to craftsmanship. Take the Toho Gakuen School of Music’s Munetsugu Hall, completed in March 2021, for which Kuma used CLT hybrid (cedar and cypress) panels to form a folded framework that functions as both the interior architecture and the acoustic reflectors for the concert hall. The wooden louvers on the building’s façade are reminiscent of instrument strings, laid out in a pattern that brings visual rhythm to the hall. Another recent proj ect, the Hisao & Hiroko Taki Plaza at the Tokyo Institute of Technology—designed as a lush, mound-like form that seamlessly integrates with the surrounding landscape— stands out boldly with its roof design composed of stepped plantings and bleachers. The structure resonates with the green slanted wall of the adjacent library, creating a unified green valley that en hances the life and activities of the students. »

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SEE KENGO KUMA

Designed by architect Kengo Kuma, the Hisao & Hiroko Taki Plaza is a popular student hub at the Tokyo Institute of greenery.isTheTechnology.steppedroofplantedwith

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DISPATCHDESIGN SEE YUKO NAGAYAMA In 2002, Yuko Nagayama established her architec tural studio, which debuted with the interior design of Afloat-f, a two-story salon in Tokyo’s spaces.designcharacteristicofcomesthantolivingnaturesizessalon.intothataluminumfeaturesneighborhood.OmotesandoThespacerowsoflargesatellitedishesreflectambientlighttheminimalyetwarmNagayamaemphathecoexistenceofwithpeopleandspaces.Hertendencyadoptneutral,ratherprimary,colorsfromherembraceambiguity,auniqueofJapanesethatyieldsdynamicForexample,awall may be painted to appear grayer when shrouded in shadow and bluer when lit by the sun; or, a structure’s curve may distort its height. One of Nagayama’s most significant projects was Expo 2020 Dubai’s Japan Pavilion, a structure inspired by the theme of “connecting.” For theForMiddleconnectmotifsorigami—withleaves,shapesgratedexterior,three-dimensional,itslatticedthearchitectintetraditionalJapaneseandpatterns—hempformsseeninarabesquetoaestheticallythespiritsoftheEastandJapan.therenovationofcommonareaatthe Tamagawa Takashimaya S.C. Grand Patio shopping center, completed in spring of 2020, Nagayama envisioned a large atrium as an intimate space that can serve as an indoor park or library, providing visitors with opportunities to browse books and view art. More than 600 light bulbs are suspended from the ceiling like a necklace and woven together to create a cloud-like assem blage that blurs the lines between art and design.

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The Japan Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai was designed by architect Yuko Nagayama.

GRAY 43 SHOP DAISUKE KITAGAWA Daisuke

pirkamonrayke, a series of clocks and trays) and evolving tech nologies. One of Design For Industry,’s products is Frame, a smart-mirror with takingtimeThereal-timehigh-resolution,videocapability.devicecancreatealaginareflectionbystillimages, making it possible for a user to easily view the back of the head, which can’t be seen in an ordi nary mirror.

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SHOP ASKWATCH Designed by Kenta Nagai, ASKWATCH—the luxury watch store located in Tokyo’s exudescompact,design.inanddistrict—fusesShinjukutraditionalmodernconceptsaninnovativeretailInsideandout,thetwo-levelshopasenseofbrutalist elegance. The concrete skeleton of the 1970s apartment building was upgraded with kintsugi, the traditional Japanese technique of filling cracks with powdered gold. Beyond the narrow, street-facing façade is a deep, long entrance. This vestibule, finished in blackened steel, is inspired by antechamberstraditional(hazama) found in Shinto shrines. A bed of gravel between the hazama and the retail space expresses the tran quility and rustic beauty closely associated with Japanese gardens. Inside the shop, stainless-steel storage cabinets resemble bank vaults, and rough concrete walls further the industrial aesthetic—an ironic backdrop for shelves of high-end timepieces. h

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A pioneer in the world of 3D-printed ceramics, Brian Peters is one of just a handful of designers working at an architectural scale.

GRAY 49 Design innovations and inspirations around the world. VANGUARD DAYAKMATT

DESIGN DNA RISETHEON 50 GRAY Peters’ Prairie Cord—a site-specific piece that plays with light, shadow, and reflection—was commissioned by the Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison, Wisconsin. PETERSBRIAN CERAMICSCODING An early practitioner in the world of 3D-printed ceramics, Brian Peters is scaling his work to an architectural level while retaining the elegant nuances of working with clay. By Jen Woo

DAYAKMATT GRAY 51 EVERY PART OF ARCHITECT BRIAN PETERS’ CAREER COMES BACK TO THE LONG, LOW LANDSCAPES OF THE MIDWEST, WHERE GILDED FIELDS OF GRASS BILLOW IN THE WIND. During his teenage years in Michigan, Peters first stumbled into the world of design upon entering the Meyer May House, a Prairie-style residence by Frank Lloyd Wright. His visit to that elegant 1909 home—which exemplifies Wright’s approach of rooting architecture in nature—ignited within him a respect for custom design, as well as a fresh perspective on his hometown of Grand Rapids. Wright’s iconic design would come to influence Peters’ career, which today encompasses architecture and art. “I was inspired by the level of crafts manship that went into every detail of the house and how the finishes create a tactile interior experience,” says Peters, who officially launched his namesake studio in Pittsburgh last fall. “Frank Lloyd Wright’s work inspired my interest in studying architectural ornamentation, which led me to study the work of Louis Sullivan when I was living in Chicago, Gaudi and Modernisme when I was in Barcelona, and the Amsterdam School while I was working in the Netherlands. References to this history are embed ded in my work today.”

Peters is among just a handful of designers worldwide working in 3D-printed ceramics for large-scale architectural applications, and his work places him at the intersection of craft and technology. After writing the digital codes for his pieces, he prints them (typically in blocks and tiles), then refines and assembles them by hand, creating intricate sculptures and installations that evince his love of flora with their shapes, patterns, andIntextures.2011,Peters—who earned a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a Master of Advanced Architecture degree from the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia in Barcelona— used his process to create something much larger when he collaborated on the 3D Print Canal House project with Amsterdam-based DUS Architects. To construct it, he helped develop the » Architect and designer Brian Peters in his studio.

Every large-scale project Peters’ studio takes on is customized, and the maker’s touch is present at each step in the process, from writing the fabrication code to hand-trimming, slip-casting, and glazing the compo nents before they go into the kiln. There is uniformity, and yet each block is unique. Look closely at one of Peters’ structures, no matter the size, and you’ll see fingerprints on the blocks. His work has been shown around the world at institutions including the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pennsyl vania and the New Taipei City Yingge Ceramics Museum in Taiwan.

Peters is known for experimenting with pattern tessellation, light, and texture—methods most evident in his Prairie Cord installation at the Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison, Wisconsin. Seemingly perched over the surface of a reflecting pool, the ornately latticed, 3D-printed ceramic arc is reflected by the water to form a cylinder that plays with light and shadow by day and night. The installa tion, in which a series of curves forms an abstract view of the native prairie grass cords, echoes a Frank Lloyd Wright approach to design—nature as the ultimate inspiration—and is a creative nod to Peters’ artistic beginnings. h

Peters elaborates: “I want to show people the power of this new fabrica tion technique, showcasing its ability to produce complex designs, while contrasting it with traditional ceramic production methods.”

FROM TOP: A 3D-printed feature wall that Peters designed for the lobby of the Eighth & Penn development in downtown Pittsburgh. A piece from Peters’ Dyadic series.

PETERSBRIAN

52 GRAY DESIGN DNA RISETHEON world’s first movable 3D-printing pavilion capable of 3D-printing fullscale structures. The following year, he launched his design-and-fabrication concept Building Bytes at Dutch Design Week. Using this award-winning method, Peters produces bricks with complex or impractical forms for use in architectural applications. Although he’s able to harness the precision of tech, Peters isn’t seeking perfection. Instead, he’s interested in translating digital code, custom-built technology, and natural clay into contemporary design. In the past, he used words like “techie” and “startup” to describe his studio; now he embraces a more artistically driven practice, noting in his artist’s statement that “I am fascinated by work that shows evidence of both the artist’s hand and the marks of the tools used.”

PETERSBRIAN

The Carnegie Museum of Art commissioned Brian Peters to create this 3D-printed ceramic screen, titled Aggregation, for its 2019 exhibition Locally Sourced

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54 GRAY DESIGN DNA GENESIS

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THE CLEANUP CRUSADER Fascinated by industrial areas since childhood, landscape architect Julie Bargmann has spent her career advocating for safer, smarter, and more environmentally conscious ways to repurpose toxic sites for community use. By Rachel Gallaher LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT JULIE BARGMANN HAS NEVER BEEN AFRAID TO GET A LITTLE DIRTY. An educator, environmental justice advocate, and thought leader for more than 30 years, the New Jersey native can trace her interest in industrial and toxic waste sites back to child hood. At an age when most children were solely focused on friends and recreational activities, Bargmann was developing an enthusiasm for the landscapes she saw as her family drove along the New Jersey Turnpike. “I was still busy with ballet and doing all of the normal things other kids did,” Bargmann says with a laugh, “but somehow, I was really attracted to these sites. We used to bomb into the city in our station wagon and along the way, we’d see all these refineries and factories and it was a sublime landscape with billowing smoke and flames. I developed a fascination with that, wanting to know how it all worked.”

These childhood impressions would drive Bargmann’s passion for her practice—she founded her landscape architecture firm, D.I.R.T. (Dump It Right There) studio, in 1992—and lead her to become one of the country’s leading advocates for renewing and repurposing contaminated, neglected, and forgotten urban and post-industrial sites. Working against complicated, often nonsensical, legislation and miles of red tape, she has spent the past three decades introducing new approaches (often rooted in »

BARGMANNJULIE

OPPOSITE: Julie Bargmann, the first winner of the Cornelia Hahn ArchitectureInternationalOberlanderLandscapePrize.

She was also taken with the men and women who kept the fires burning. “I remember seeing the workers’ housing in the background of the factories and feeling compelled; feeling empathy toward these landscapes—both as landscapes in and of themselves, and the human landscape that was this incredible sea of humanity hard at work.”

THIS PAGE, FROM TOP: Acid mine drainage (the outflow of acidic water from metal or coal mines), as seen at a site in south western richfromwater’stableaushownpassiveBargmannLandscapePennsylvania.architectJuliecreatedthetreatmentsysteminthisfour-partdepictingacidictransformationtoxicorangetobio-green.

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56 GRAY DESIGN DNA GENESIS

ABOVE: Detroit’s Core City Park is located on the site of a former fire station. The buildings were decommissioned and demolished in 1976, and the plot became an asphalt parking lot. The new corner park designed by Bargmann holds 85 trees in just 8,000 square feet of land, as well as places for people to gather.

ABOVE: Bargmann designed the headquarters for fashion retailer Urban Outfitters at the 1,200-acre redeveloped Philadelphia Navy Yard. Railroad tracks on the site became walking paths.

GRAY 57 regenerative design and ecologically focused research) to reclaiming these sites and turning them into productive parks, nature preserves, and remediation fields without the pressure of economic redevelopment as the only option. “I like to be the champion of the ugly ducklings,” Bargmann says. “They are actually extremelyBargmannbeautiful.”enrolled at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh in 1976; there, she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in sculpture and became enchanted with the city and its industrial past. “I just loved it,” she says, “even though the smell of the steel mills would give me a headache. I went through my black hole period there. I didn’t know what to do with myself, my sculpture had been falling flat, and I was experiencing dismay about the confines of galleries. I think it was something similar to what partic ipants in the Land Art movement experienced when they started to move their work outside of galleries. Then I heard about landscape archi tecture. It combined all my interests: the social aspect, the public aspect, art, and science. It was a time when landscape architecture was getting its design chops.”

After Carnegie Mellon, Bargmann attended the Harvard Graduate School of Design, earning a Master of Landscape Architecture degree; two years after graduating, she became a Fellow in Landscape Architecture at the American Academy in Rome. One of her professors at Harvard, landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh, would prove an influential figure in her career (she started working for his fledgling firm while still in graduate school), encouraging her innovative thinking and passion for ecological“Michaeljustice.cultivated that intuitive way that I wanted to work,” Bargmann says. “It was an intense time, but it was great. I felt like I was shot out of a cannon by the time I graduated. I worked for Michael for a while, and there were little inklings of being interested in former industrial sites. The office was working on a project, Mill Race Park in Columbus, Indiana, and there was an old tannery on the site. It was quiet, but something was stirring in me, saying, ‘Oh, I like these sites, the ones that are not easy and not clean.’” In 1992, Bargmann accepted a teaching position at the University of Minnesota. The school gave her a research grant, and she used the money to develop PROJECT D.I.R.T. (Design Investigations Reclaiming Terrain), the academic precursor to her landscape design studio. “I was like, ‘I don’t know how to do research, I barely read!’” Bargmann says. “But I knew that I wanted to do a road trip—a giant circle around the United States to do field-based research looking at mining sites.” She started taking her students around the country with her, teaching them the importance of doing research, understanding the technologies and engineering behind current and former manufacturing and refining processes, and having empathy and curiosity when approaching the vast environmental, political, and social networks entangled with each site. »

JULIE BARGMANN, D.I.R.T. STUDIO

“I always tell my students to be unafraid and to go out and take risks. We’ll always come and pick you back up.”

58 GRAY “I studied and sometimes literally crawled through mining and manufacturing sites, many of them defunct,” Bargmann notes in an article on the Cultural Landscape Foundation’s website. “I wanted to see how they were being treated, and in most cases, I disagreed with what I witnessed. Restrictive reclamation policies, uninspired remediation practices, and shallow readings of former working sites—I became openly critical of all these things, but I was also inspired by them. They instilled in me the desire to offer design alternatives and led me to create experimental studios. That’s when I started to be angry about how the mines and the people who work there, past and present, were being treated.”

DESIGN DNA GENESIS

Between 1996 and 1998, Bargmann designed a passive water treatment system at an abandoned 40-acre floodplain covered with mining refuse, in western Pennsylvania’s coal country. Called Vintondale Reclamation Park, it picks up the discharge of acid mine drainage before it dumps into the Blackslick Creek and channels it into six pools where limestone, engineered soils, and plants filter and clean the water. The project, which was spotlighted in the New York Times, put her work in the public eye. In addition to numerous parks (Turtle Creek Water Works in Dallas, Phil Hardberger Park Conservatory in San Antonio, and Core City Park in Detroit, among others), Bargmann has worked on housing projects (Caterpillar Forest in Detroit and community housing at the Holy Cross neighborhood in New Orleans), urban regeneration, and what is likely her most known project, the headquarters of contemporary fashion retailer Urban Outfitters, which is based at the 1,200-acre redeveloped Philadelphia Navy Yard. In October 2021, Bargmann received the first Cornelia Hahn Oberlander International Landscape Architecture Prize. Presented by the Cultural Landscape Foundation, the award is meant to “elevate the art and profession of landscape architecture” and serve as a recog nition similar to the Pritzker Prize, the Praemium Imperiale, and other international prizes for architects andForartists.Bargmann, the prize is an honor and an incentive to keep working to change the way we view and interact with the environments around us. She currently teaches at the University of Virginia (a role she has held since 1995) and is consulting on a number of projects, including several parks and revitalization efforts in Detroit in collaboration with the young developer Philip Kafka of Prince Concepts. “He has this mindset that landscape should come first, and he understands the idea of using landscape as the glue for a commu nity,” Bargmann says. It’s the same kind of awareness she sees in many of the students who come through her classroom. Bargmann feels a sense of hope for, and because of, today’s young adults—a cohort that is not only alarmed by the current state of the environment, but is taking steps to combat the damages created by past generations. “I am very proud to have contaminated so many minds,” Bargmann says. “The biggest things I’ve learned in my career are to care and to look carefully—I hope I’ve been able to pass that along.” h

Years of on-site research and interaction with individuals at every level (from miners to real estate developers to the Environmental Protection Agency) have led Bargmann to see her work as collaborative—she often works with former students who have gone on to careers in the field and is open to listening to anyone with a relation ship to the sites she works on.

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ABOVE AND OPPOSITE: At Turtle Creek Water Works in Dallas, Bargmann transformed a site that formerly held a water-supply pumping station into an exploratory garden.

Reflecting on my path to lighting design. By Saleem Khattak

ARCHILUMECOURTESYPETERS;JAYPORTRAIT:

JOURNEY

60 GRAY MY INTRODUCTION TO DESIGN HAPPENED AROUND THE AGE OF 6, thanks to my late uncle who, heavily influenced by modernism, was commissioned by my father to design our family home. I spent countless hours watching him as he sat in our kitchen nook and drafted plans for the house. This was my first exposure to the technical skills of drafting, and it was the small details that caught my attention. I still remember the way my uncle would gently twirl his pencil as he drew a long horizontal line, informing me that the motion “keeps the line consistent in appearance while also keeping the pencil tip sharp.”

I would often accompany him on site visits to the house to see how the construction was progressing. This opened another world, and I stood fascinated, watching the skilled carpenters go over millwork details with my uncle, then get right to work cutting and planing wood for the construction of the house’s front doors. When the project was completed, the workmen told us they had nicknamed it “the glass house” because they had never seen so much glass used in the construction of a residence. I knew from a young age that design was something I wanted to pursue—to use design to engage with people; to create things that would withstand the test of time. I was drawn to the power of design, but I didn’t fully understand the mechanics behind it, or the industry at large. It was while attending the Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver DNA ENLIGHTENED

DESIGN

NOTESFIELD AN

Years before I designed the P1, I sketched a fixture that would solve a major problem with LED technology at that time—it was too bright and could be dangerous to the human eye—by using the principle of total internal reflection, which I had learned about during an optical science workshop in high school. My design, which looked like a high-tech candle, would hold an LED attached to a cylindrical lens to capture and guide light like an optical fiber. This would eliminate the direct glare from the LED and guide the light out of the bottom of the fixture, where it would reflect »

GRAY 61 function where our projects were presented, and we connected after theFourteenceremony.years later, in 2013, I founded my lighting design studio, Archilume. I am an industrial designer driven by the classic indus trial design intent of determining form and function. At Archilume, we’re guided by forward-moving considered design, which ensures that our products are more than passing trends. The quest for integrating new lighting technology is embedded in the ethos of the company. Our inaugural luminaire, the P1 pendant, is a testament to this approach—and to the fact that creativity often leads to designs that must wait for technology to catch up.

The Archilume Alto pendant in black. The P1M pendants are sleek and contemporary and can be combined in infinite configurations, as seen above.

62 GRAY DESIGN DNA NOTESFIELD and transmit off a conical diffuser. This concept eventually became the P1—and it was among the first luminaires to use total internal reflection. Technology had caught up with design, and we could bring the product to market. We’re always proud to bring something new to the industry. We take our time and play with luminaire body types, technologies, and mounting applications that aid in multiple lighting configurations. Just before the COVID-19 pandemic began, we were exploring a smoother, more natural shape for our luminaires. Working with a relatively new organic LED (OLED) technology, which offers a natu rally diffuse human-centric light source (lighting intended to promote well-being by mimicking the natural light that affects circadian rhythms), we created Ovolo—our newest award-winning lighting piece. This pendant’s organic form envelops an OLED light source that emits a full-spectrum light that closely resembles daylight. We debuted the Ovolo at the 2021 International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York, and we attended this year with another new product, the Alto-Flat. This pendant lumi naire shifts Archilume’s design language toward minimalism with a new, flattened lens design that creates a more conical luminaire silhouette. We put 18 months into designing and manufacturing the Alto-Flat, and I can only hope that as we grow and evolve—as a business and a studio of talented designers— that we continue to innovate the possibilities for lighting, both decoratively and technologically, while not forgetting to have fun in the process. At Archilume, we want designers to play with light—it’s an approach that takes me back to the wonder I felt when I first sat with my uncle, watching him move his pencil across paper, using just the right angle, just the right motions, to bring an idea to life. h COURTESY ARCHILUME

SALEEM KHATTAK, ARCHILUME

GRAY 63 “Design is important because it influences our quality of life. Whether it’s used to make an improvement to an existing thing, or to create spaces that help us live better, design informs and influences our lives in ways we may not even recognize.”

THIS PAGE, FROM LEFT: The Ovolo, which debuted at the 2021 International Contempo rary Furniture Fair in New York. A cluster of P1 Aura pendants. OPPOSITE, FROM TOP: With the Configurate modular canopy system, pendants are suspended from individual geometric plates that fit together like tiles. A close-up of the Ovolo fixture.

64 GRAY BENSHETRITDROR A COMPREHENSIVE REIMAGINING OF THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT LABSSUPERNATURECOURTESY

66 GRAY LABSSUPERNATURECOURTESY

My 20-year journey as a designer started with a broken vase (the first commercial collection my studio released was the Vase of Phases for Rosenthal; the vases’ porcelain forms appear to have been crushed) and has led me to many other projects including architecture and urban planning, both of which come with massive planning challenges. Almost five years ago, I stopped to reflect, contemplate my accomplishments, and explore my plan for the future. I found myself asking a very different question than I had in the past. My mindset had shifted from what I wanted to see in the world to what the world needed most from me. The answer came flying out. I sat down and for four days straight, I wrote what I now call the SuperNature Manifesto. In essence, it was a realization that the approach to creating our built environment needs massive change. The future of our homes and communities is dependent on designers changing how we think about, plan, and construct the places where we live, work, and play. »

Currently, I am most excited about my newest venture, SuperNature Labs, an innovative think tank and creative studio that seeks to change the design industry’s approach to designing the built environment. Working with models and processes based on those found in nature, we envision communities designed for the benefit of all life on Earth. As a child in Tel Aviv, Israel, I was always creating. I was interested in art and spent most of my free time drawing or building. I recall imagining things and finding ways to articulate my ideas through different mediums. From puppetry to sculpting to sketching, I always took a cross-disciplinary approach. I enjoyed, and still enjoy, using many tools to facilitate my ideas and thoughts. Early on, I was an introvert. I spent a lot of time alone and would dive into the world of my imagination. It was only in adolescence that I developed a creative social circle in which I began having interesting and creative exchanges with like-minded people my age. After high school, I served in the Israeli army. Something unexpected and necessary happened during my time as a soldier that changed the trajectory of my life. I started applying the same creative thinking that I used in my art to my military duties, but the expression was no longer draw ings and sculptures. Instead, it was tools and models. I quickly realized that I was designing and began seeking to understand what that meant for me professionally.

My first realization was that design is essentially art with function. From then on, I started to explore that idea in terms of my career. I was fascinated by the influence one can have on people’s well-being and quality of life by using creativity to design products, buildings, and land scapes that they use or encounter daily. After the army, I decided to attend the Design Academy Eindhoven in the Netherlands. It was one of the most important choices I have ever made, for it was the place where I found ways to design the things I wanted to see in the world.

AS ANDACTIVIST,FUTURIST,DESIGNER,AARTIST

GRAY 67 with offices in Miami and New York, I often find myself involved in many projects, from product creation and art installation to education about the future of design.

68 GRAY

“I quickly realized that the ubiquitous Cartesian grid system of city planning seems simple and easy to navigate, but it creates a harsh environment of traffic and pedestrian congestion that perpetuates aggressive human behavior.

—Dror Benshetrit, SuperNature Labs

I thought, ‘There must be a different approach; there must be a different typology that we can live in—not just what we are familiar with right now.’”

I quickly realized that the ubiquitous Cartesian grid system of city planning seems simple and easy to navigate, but it creates a harsh environment of traffic and pedestrian congestion that perpetuates aggressive human behavior. I thought, “There must be a different approach; there must be a different typology that we can live in—not just what we are familiar with right now,” and so SuperNature was born. Initially, it started as a labora tory to foster thinking about new ways of planning and creating different environments and experiences. My most significant discovery was that pedestrian streets and buildings do not need to be adjacent or parallel to major roads. Instead, we can use nature’s most common geometry, the arrangement of cells, to stop urban sprawl.

LABSSUPERNATURECOURTESY

The idea is to build high-quality, affordable modular housing that is efficient, biophilic, and scalable. Instead of putting these developments in limiting angular grids, we would arrange them in a cellular format—what we are calling a SuperCell community—that would limit the square footage used for roads and significantly increase the amount of green space for parks, community gardens, and the integration of flora. Imagine if 25 percent of the concrete or asphalt hard scape was replaced with natural soil. Soil is a massive carbon sink and would alleviate flooding by absorbing excess water. In addition, there are many studies that show the health benefits of being physically grounded and putting your bare feet on natural soil. Not only would our communities provide safe, equitable places for people to live, but they would also help combat global warming. We are at a unique moment in time when innovation, technology, and manufacturing capabilities make this kind of reality possible. Improving the quality of human life is equally as important as improving the quality of all life, including the natural environment and its inhabitants. Our goal is ecological harmony, so we can all flourish together. h

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A HOUSE IN THE HIGHLANDS OF CENTRAL MEXICO SERVES AS A GRACEFUL MODEL FOR REGENERATIVE DESIGN. By Will Kitchens LIVING WITH THE LAND NAVARROJAIME The multibuilding Rain Harvest Home, designed by architects Javier Sánchez and Robert Hutchison, is located at Reserva el Peñón, a 450-acre nature reserve in Mexico.

For help, Sánchez enlisted his close friend and frequent collaborator, the Seattle-based Hutchison. What the pair created—the Rain Harvest Home— is not only a paragon of regenerative living in a region where water availability is high yet not locally abundant in some areas (a scarcity partly fueled by rising temperatures and growing populations), but a structure that innovatively engages nature at every turn. “Within this project was the realization [that it’s] not just about conservation of water and energy, but how you make them part of the experience,” Hutchison explains. The pair began with a plan for a deconstructed house; its three pavilions—for living, working, and bathing—are scattered across the property for maximum interaction with the surrounding environment. In fact, more than two-thirds of the living pavilion is covered outdoor living space. In place of walls, thin steel columns support the roof’s perimeter while appearing to tiptoe along the ground. There is no air-conditioning or heating; only a small

BÉJARCÉSAR

The residence has three pavilions—for living, working, and bathing—that blend seamlessly into the surrounding landscape.

72 GRAY wo hours west of Mexico City, high up in the mountains, three dark wooden structures are tucked among shrubbery, fruit trees, and swathes of pine and oak forest. This stretch of land is home to Reserva el Peñón, a 450-acre nature reserve where 80 families live, harvesting rainwater and living lightly on the earth. And this multibuilding residence, designed by architects Javier Sánchez and Robert Hutchison, is among La Reserva’s most ambitious. When Sánchez and his wife, Lorenia, bought a plot of land within the reserve, they had plans for it to become a family getaway. “We were looking for a space that could push us into learning about the environment, food produc tion, water, energy—about building in a different way—mainly because our two daughters are interested in those ideas,” Sánchez says. “So, when I acquired the land, I was already thinking that this house could honor that; that it could speak to [my daughters] and make them proud of what we could accomplish with a house.”

The wish to tread lightly also informed Sánchez and Hutchison’s material choices; the pavilions are made of wood, which is rarely used as a structural material in Mexican architecture. “I’ve been visiting Mexico forever and finally, »

GRAY 73 portion of the house can be sealed off behind sliding doors. Instead, nature filters in and out. Looking east in the morning, one can see the Nevado de Toluca volcano silhouetted as the sun rises behind Connectingit.the main residence to the neigh boring pavilions are pathways that cleverly double as keylines (landscaping features that maximize the beneficial use of water resources), which, along with the property’s flat roofs, channel rainwater into a nearby reservoir. (All of La Reserva’s properties share a reservoir, but the Rain Harvest Home was the first to have its own.) An on-site treatment system makes storm water drinkable. Treated wastewater is used in toilets or to irrigate the property’s orchard and vegetable garden. Together, La Reserva and the Rain Harvest Home collect 30 million gallons of water annually.

The architects also took steps to restore Sánchez’s property’s microclimate—spoiled by previous agricultural activities—by improving the soil’s fertility and ability to withstand erosion and flooding. “We’re trying to create a landscape that will not need water in the dry season,” Sánchez says. “That means having fruit trees that are endemic or shrubs and bushes that grow without help from mankind.” Here, the most important element is not the pavilions—or even the humans occupying them—but nature itself. “The vegetation here is incredible,” Hutchison notes. “The buildings literally disap pear depending on where you’re walking.”

SOLÁRIUSLAIA

On this plot of land high up in the mountains, Sánchez and Hutchison have provided a compelling answer. h

GAMORAFAEL

74 GRAY I was going to build a concrete or masonry house,” Hutchison says. “But then Javier said, ‘These buildings need to be light on the land, and they need to be wood.’” The architects chose wood over the commonly used concrete for good reason: The latter’s carbon footprint is enormous. “This is where the overlap of the Pacific Northwest and Mexico became quite interesting,” Hutchison continues. “Mexico doesn’t have a contemporary building culture related to wood, so how do you create these wood pavilions and make them truly Mexican andUnlikesite-specific?”themain living pavilion, which frames distant views, the bathhouse is surrounded by bushes and shrubs. “The only relationship you have is to the vegetation, to the water, to the sky,” Hutchison says. In many ways, this building is the property’s heart, where water is not only captured and recycled, but celebrated. Its circular cold plunge pool is open to the sky through a cutout in the roof above. During a downpour, rain falls through the opening, forming a circular sheet of water that fills the pool before slowly submerging the surrounding floor. In a heavy rain, moving between baths requires walking through the pooling water. “The best moment is when it’s really raining,” Sánchez says. For both Sánchez and Hutchison, the Rain Harvest Home is not only a replicable model for sustainable living, but it also represents a shift in their understanding of architecture. “When we talk about water, energy, or materials, we’re always talking about how they’re sourced and used,” Sánchez says. “[But] it goes beyond just being more efficient; it’s about celebrating [these resources], and that’s something that can be replicated anywhere. How do you celebrate water? How does water celebrate life?”

THIS PAGE: A ceiling cutout above the bathhouse’s plunge pool opens to the sky, allowing bathers to view the stars at night. OPPOSITE: Sánchez and Hutchison used wood to construct the pavilions because it has a lower carbon footprint and a lighter presence on the landscape than concrete.

www.neilkelly.com866.691.2719 OR CCB# 1663 | WA L&I #NEILKCI 187O2 Visit Our Design Centers: PORTLAND | SEATTLE BEND | EUGENE DESIGN / BUILD REMODELING HANDYMAN SERVICES CUSTOM HOMES COMPLIMENTARY DESIGN CONSULTATION: neilkelly.com/consultation Looking for a space that speaks to you? Talk with us. Want to fall in love with your home all over again? Our accomplished designers and expert craftspeople will transform your vision into a one-of-a-kind space that will inspire you for years to come. Designed for the way you live, and built to last a lifetime. What can we do for your home today?

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Designers and architects redefining the way we approach homes, products, and design education.

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Norm Architects remodeled this 1937 home located just outside of Copenhagen, Denmark. Although the project focused on modernizing the structure, the designers paid homage to its aesthetic roots through materiality.

THIS PAGE AND OPPOSITE: In a home just outside of Copenhagen, Norm Architects paid close attention to both shadow and light during the design phase.

MINIMAL EFFORT Working with a historic house in Denmark, Norm Architects plays with shadow and light.

By Rachel Davies Photographed by Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen

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The Copenhagen-based practice worked on the light-filled four-bedroom home for two-anda-half years, refining a structure that was first built in 1937. When the architecture firm was hired for the project by a family of five back in 2019, the early modernist structure “combined stucco details with clean lines—not daring to devote itself completely to modernism,” says Sofie Thorning, an architect and partner at Norm. “We decided to take away the stucco and other redundancies in order to bring out the streamlined qualities within the structure, allowing the house to finally realize its full minimalist potential.”

But at Norm Architects’ Waterfront House, spare detailing and understated materials ensure that the shadow cast by each furniture piece is just as important as the object’s physical form.

The renovation was undertaken to stylistically clean up the home and to better showcase the structure’s locale—the home faces a marina, and it was important to the homeowners that the landscape serve as a focal point. “The original mullioned windows were replaced with bigger ones with modernist traits, letting in light with out breaking up the great view,” Thorning says. To maximize the waterfront views, several non-load-bearing walls were relocated. “We decided to change the layout of the house so that when you find yourself in the kitchen—the heart of the home—you can look both to the marina and the garden,” Thorning explains. “We let in light from both sides of the home.”

OPPOSITE, FROM TOP: Norm Architects replaced the home’s dated, mullioned windows with new, modern ones to better capitalize on water views. A new marble ledge beneath the fireplace demonstrates an emphasis on sophisticated materiality that’s evident throughout the project.

LIGHT ISN’T AN UNCOMMON THING FOR ARCHITECTS TO CONSIDER WHEN DESIGNING A SPACE, AND YET THE EVOCATIVE NATURE OF SHADOWS IS OFTEN OBSCURED BY EXCESSIVE DECORATION.

“WE DECIDED TO TAKE AWAY THE STUCCO AND OTHER REDUNDANCIES IN ORDER TO BRING OUT THE STREAMLINED QUALITIES WITHIN THE STRUCTURE, ALLOWING THE HOUSE TO FINALLY REALIZE ITS FULL MINIMALIST POTENTIAL.” SOFIE THORNING, NORM ARCHITECTS

THIS PAGE: In the primary bedroom, an Arne Jacobsen Egg chair is one of the few pieces of furniture. Floor-toceiling curtains create a cocoon-like atmosphere. OPPOSITE, FROM TOP: Details were kept minimal throughout the home. Storage in the hallway—crucial for a family of surroundings.seamlesslyfive—blendswithits

Real life is messy and such simplicity is hard won. A properly designed minimalist space doesn’t deny the needs of day-to-day life; it is equipped to serve them. A corridor flanked by a wall of closets and long built-in bench, for example, provides the family of five with an abundance of storage space without sacrificing serenity, even in a hardworking intermediary area. The primary bedroom is another space where real-life needs are balanced with aesthetic integrity. By outfitting the room with only a few pieces of furniture (the bed, an Arne Jacobsen Egg chair, and custom stone nightstands by Norm), and adding pleated floor-to-ceiling curtains to create a cocoon-like atmosphere, the architects doubled down on the minimalism, allowing the homeowners to fully enjoy the serenity it provides. h

The residence is located just outside of Copenhagen, and though the nearby beaches attract locals and tourists alike, the area offers a respite from the bustle of the city. Any opportunity to glimpse the still water or distant boats from the home is a particular joy, and the captivating natural surroundings are reflected in the materials that Norm Architects employed inside.

FROM TOP: Throughout the home, details are minimal, with a focus on layering materials to provide visual impact. Norm didn’t shy away from a dark palette, which, in this bathroom, feels luxurious, not heavy.

To describe the interiors as defined by wood and stone runs the risk of oversimplification—or worse, of leaving the impression that the home’s materials are a bore. To prevent the interior finishes from feeling one-note, the designers employed various varieties of stone throughout the space. Because of alterations in the layout, the existing oak herringbone parquet flooring was replaced, but, as Thorning notes, “we chose to install a similar oak herringbone as an interpre tation of some of the original features.” In the primary bedroom, broad floor-to-ceiling panels are a new addition that better integrates the room’s vanity and wardrobe cabinets with the interiors. Marble appears in eye-catching details including a round-edged kitchen island and marble ledge beneath the living room fire place. As Thorning puts it, the homeowners and the Norm Architects team were aiming for natu ral materials to “[realize] their full potential.”

In the kitchen, a dark Grigio Bellini marble island contrasts with oak flooring—the latter is new, but pays homage to the home’s original herringbone floors.

Drawing on her experience as an event designer, Gala Magriña transforms a dated family home without the hassle of costly construction.

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By Heidi Mitchell Photographed by Joseph Kramm MAIN

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Magriña tries to reuse and recycle furniture and mate rials in all of her projects. “It’s better for the environment,” she says, “and why have the client pay for something new when you can make what already exists work?” For example, this kitchen had a marble-topped island

Pop Modernism. It’s not easy to define, but you’ll know it when you see it. And that style—elegant contemporary furnishings and finishes paired with quirky art and accessories— is on display in a once-dated, colonial-style home in the New York City suburb of Irvington. “The house was very traditional, with grasscloth wallcoverings, horrible hotellobby-like carpet, and tons of wood paneling, though it had been renovated within the past decade,” recalls interior designer Gala Magriña, who uses the term Eclectic Pop Modernism to describe her work. “It was a challenge to reimagine the space without an architect. But, as with most challenging projects, this one came out really freaking cool.” Magriña dusted off skills honed during her previous career as an event designer, from the days before she launched Gala Magriña Designs in 2017. In that former role, she worked with fashion and design brands to transform their retail spaces for events. “I used to walk into a store, and they would say, ‘Fashion week is coming up; what can we do in two months without any serious construction?’ Those barriers push you to get innovative,” she explains. For this four-story, ninebedroom family home, innovation meant keeping the existing layout and built-ins intact, but modernizing the common areas with unusual accessories and an earthy, clay-toned palette. “We like to use these because they are poppy but feel rich,” Magriña says of the accents and colors. “And it worked with the existing finishes.”

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THIS PAGE: In the downstairs office of this 1920s-era home, interior designer Gala Magriña retained the existing dark wood paneling and painted one wall dark green to modernize the room. OPPOSITE, FROM LEFT: The office features layered materials—velvet, wood, and marble—that prevent the space from feeling dated. Quirky details, such as a piece of dog-centric art, bring moments of levity to the project.

GRAY 89 that was in decent shape, so she worked around it. “The original island was painted a greenish color that didn’t go with anything, and it had ceramic tiles on one side that came out of nowhere,” she explains. So, she took those off and painted the island’s base a shade of light blue, “to create a solid, grounding focal point that pops against the white cabinets,” she explains, A new light fixture above the island mimics a dripping candelabra and serves as a conversation-starter. “Together, they completely transformed the space to maximum effect,” the designer says. In the adjacent breakfast nook, a solid wood table and bench, plus an upholstered built-in seating area, warm up the space. Big, colorful moments catch the eye at every turn. In the formal dining room, Magriña painted the ceiling a terra-cotta shade that gives the room a less refined coziness; in the living room, a massive, 118-inch-long »

In the dining room, Magriña painted the ceiling an earthy terra-cotta shade and opted for abstract art over the fireplace. Dining chairs in a mix of materials—rattan and velvet—bring vintage glamour, while a bold, black chandelier adds a hint of rebellion.

The existing kitchen island was refinished, and Magriña painted the base a light blue that stands out against the otherwise white cabinetry. A showstopping chandelier looks like a candelabra dripping wax.

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THIS PAGE: The homeowners requested requested a serene primary bedroom, so Magriña employed soft layers and a dreamy, neutral palette. OPPOSITE: Even the nursery has its dose of whimsy from crocodilethemed artwork hanging above the pink-painted fireplace surround (the fireplace was transformed into a toy shelf). Art at every turn brings personality to the reimagined home.

Upstairs, Magriña was charged with transforming the bedrooms into moments of zen. She took care of that by painting the nursery’s fireplace surround a soft baby pink, and by incorporating earth tones and natural materials into the primary bedrooms. “Bedrooms should be sanctuaries; they shouldn’t have Pelotons or home offices in them,”

celadon sectional is offset by two ochre-toned chairs and groupings of playful accessories: a Roman bust, a marble chess set, a Joan Miró–inspired sculpture. “The living room feels really special,” the owners note. “It’s the perfect mix of laid-back and sophisticated. The artwork and textures are fun and modern, but the room doesn’t feel formal or stuffy.” The same can be said of the foyer, where the grasscloth walls and traditional balustrade were retained, but contemporary art prints and a framed view of the dining room and its signature chandelier create a dazzling visual moment that stops guests in their tracks.

the designer insists. Instead, she chose abstract, organic art, shapely foliage, and statement chandeliers to provide a lively tension with the home’s great old bones, resulting in a decidedly contemporary vibe.

The owners—admitted homebodies—revel in the final outcome. “We always say that our home feels so magical,” they confess, and Magriña takes it as the highest of compliments. “Fusing two completely different styles, colonial and modern, with minimal construction meant we had to focus primarily on furniture, art, color, and décor,” she says. “But somehow, we made them work together.” The owners agree: “It’s truly our happy place.” h “It’s that

The big challenge, Magriña admits, was deciding what to do with one of the home offices, which had wood floors and walls of built-in shelving. “The room felt so heavy, I was really worried about how to make it work,” she recalls. By bringing in a seafoam-colored carpet and painting just one of those masculine wood panels a deep shade of green, she softened the mood. Marble, wood, and velvet now make the office one of the designer’s favorite spots. “It’s that richness bumping up to inviting elements that makes it a happy, welcoming space,” she says of the aesthetic juxtaposition.

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GALA MAGRIÑA, GALA MAGRIÑA DESIGNS

Q&A DESIGN DNA FAMILY MATTERS GRAY talks to Llisa Demetrios, granddaughter of Ray and Charles Eames, about the newly launched Eames Institute. Written and transcribed by Rachel Gallaher 96 GRAY CALCOTTNICHOLAS

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Llisa Demetrios, chief curator of the Eames Institute of Infinite Curiosity.

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Q&A n 1988, after Ray Eames’ death— her husband and collaborator, Charles, had passed a decade earlier—her stepdaughter, Lucia (Charles’ daughter from his first marriage), inherited all of her parents’ belongings. Along with from the usual bequeathed items (furniture, books, art), Lucia suddenly found herself in possession of Ray and Charles’ office and home—and the contents of both. For the Eameses, life itself was an act of design, and over their 30-plus years of marriage, they filled their home and studio with collections that inspired, entertained, informed, and delighted them. From prisms and shells to photographs, magazine clippings, homemade toys, and straw baskets, the agglomeration of objects was a window into the couple’s pursuits and interests.

“After Ray passed, my mother brought everything up to San Francisco,” recalls Lucia’s daughter, Llisa Demetrios, who serves as the chief curator of the newly opened Eames Institute of Infinite Curiosity, a nonprofit organization that aims to bring the lessons of Ray and Charles Eames to future generations of design ers, entrepreneurs, and creatives. “She put it in a warehouse in the Dogpatch [neighborhood], and in the 1990s she worked with architect William Turnbull to build a house and workshop in Petaluma [California] that would become our hub.” Much of the archives ended up at the Eames Ranch (where Llisa grew up and eventually raised her own children), and in the years that followed, it became a creative mecca for architects, craftspeople, and artists who, through word-of-mouth invites, stopped by hoping for a glimpse into the lives of two of the 20th century’s most influential designers. After Lucia’s death in 2014, conversations within the family about how to best continue the preservation of Ray and Charles’ legacy led to the idea of the Eames Institute, which operates separately from the Eames Office (founded by Ray and Charles in 1941) and the Eames Foundation, which maintains the Eames House in Los Angeles. “A lot of this is about setting future generations up for success,” Demetrios says. “There is always a need to encourage curiosity, and this collection does that by demonstrating how Ray and Charles worked and thought, and by showcasing their de sign process. To make that accessible to the public is a way to cultivate and nurture the next generation.” With access to tens of thousands of objects (Demetrios notes that there are still dozens of unopened boxes to sort through), the Eames Institute functions both as an online resource and gallery, with rotating exhibitions. Currently, there are three exhibitions available to view on the website. Exhibit 01 | Before They Were the Eameses focuses on the parallel lives that Ray and Charles lived before joining forces; Exhibit 02 | Plywood During the War examines the couple’s approach to problem-solving to assist the war effort in the 1940s; and Exhibit 03 | Form Follows Formulation tells the story of the design behind the iconic Eames chair. The organi zation hopes to add live events and other programming to its offerings in the Earlierfuture.this year during NYCxDESIGN, GRAY sat down with Demetrios at the flagship Herman Miller showroom, where the Eames Institute teamed up with Brooklynbased Standard Issue Design to create window installations and a display of the archival collection in celebration of the institute’s recent launch. She talked about the size of the collection and the organization’s goals, and shared memories of her late grandparents. Text has been edited for length and clarity. » I

TOP: Architect William Turnbull designed the barn-like complex that houses the Eames Institute, which is headquartered at the Eames Ranch in Petaluma, California. BOTTOM: The institute holds many of the Eames’ original furniture designs.

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onfromanswersdideverythingstartedatheyanswerdidn’tCharlesand[Eames]havethewhenstartedonproblem.Theyfreshwiththeyandletthecomehands-doing.”

—LLISA DEMETRIOS, THE EAMES INSTITUTE DESIGN DNA Q&A

What is the role of the Eames Institute? For me, the most important story of Ray and Charles is their iterative process, and this collection [at the Eames Institute] helps illustrate that. For my mother and me, it was essential that people see how they approached problem-solving [through] design. We shipped 750,000 images to the Library of Congress—Ray and Charles asked us to do that—and as you’re going through everything, at some point you think that there must not be much left, but there was always more! Most museums don’t keep as much 3D material together, but for us it was important to do just that in order to tell the whole story. We wanted to share Ray and Charles’ methods and processes in hopes that other people are inspired by and learn from them. Our favorite moments are those “aha!” moments when someone starts making their

GRAY 101 own connections between things they see in the collection and their own lives or practices. How have you made the institute accessible to people who can’t visit in person? The ranch only holds about 5 percent of the collection. We are opening boxes all the time, inventorying, and then adding items to the [Eames Institute] website. We also offer our special exhibitions digitally—we see the website as a universal tool that allows more people access [to the information]. What is the institute’s mission, aside from showcasing this large archive? At this particular juncture, the Eames Institute is focused on equipping people with lessons from Ray and Charles about materiality, sustainability, mass production, communication, and problem-solving. What a lot of people may not realize is that they were more interested in mending systems than creating new ones. For example, they were not interested in making a chair once— they wanted to produce the system to make 100,000 chairs. When you look beyond furniture design to see how they got there—what criteria and restraints they were working with—then it becomes really excit ing, and we hope that people are inspired by that. What is the most important lesson you have learned from your grandparents? I have a few stories that I love to tell. Once, when I was about 8 years old, I went out to dinner with my grandparents in Venice, [California]. We had borscht. I didn’t know what was in borscht, but I knew that I didn’t like it. Coming home, Charles turns to me and asks, “What did you think about dinner?” and I replied, “I didn’t like it very much.” His response was, “Well, what would you have done differently?” And then we had a discussion about it.

What do you hope visitors will take away from the institute? We hope to ignite the curiosity of every guest who comes to us. We want people to feel empowered and encouraged, not only in their daily lives, but also as they try to solve the challenges that we face today. Design doesn’t always have to be design with a capital D—we’re all designing our lives every single day with every single choice we make. h

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FROM LEFT: During NYCxDESIGN 2022, the Eames Institute teamed up with Brooklyn-based Standard Issue Design to create window installations and a display of the organization’s archival collection. Charles Eames’ passport. Ray Eames’ passport. A full range of work by the Eameses is on display at the Eames Ranch. OPPOSITE BOTTOM: A letter and newspaper clipping sent to Llisa Demitrios from Ray Eames.

He asked me why I thought the chef made borscht that day, and laid out several scenarios that made me think about the situation from a different perspective. Maybe it was someone’s birthday and they had requested it. Maybe they had run out of things at the farmer’s market. I felt very empowered and heard.

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Arik Levy opens an idyllic sculpture park in the South of France. By Rachel Gallaher AFTER SPENDING NEARLY 30 YEARS IN PARIS and helming his studio in the vibrant 20th arrondissement, artist and industrial designer Arik Levy and his wife, artist Zoé Ouvrier, decided to leave the city’s fast pace for a quieter life in the South of France. In 2019, the couple—attracted to the gorgeous natural light and picturesque surroundings of the Cote d’Azur—pur chased an estate in the tiny village of Saint-Paul-de-Vence (Levy retains his studio in Paris). Formerly the residence of prima ballerina Sylvie Guillem, the house features an ex pansive, light-filled rehearsal space now used by Levy and Ouvrier as a studio. Over the next three years, Levy, who has designed products for Vitra, Coalesse, and Forestier, among other brands, transformed the property into a walkable sculpture park that is accessible to the public. “Opening a sculpture park initiates another, deeper level of experience and communication with the collectors and the galleries I work with,” says Levy, who welcomed the first guests in May. “It is a unique opportunity to see the sculptures in the right environment, where they will find gravity and space, and it gives insight into how they will look in their final destinations. They form a fantastic dialogue with their surroundings, amongst the changing seasons and the transitioning sun light from morning to night. It is an extension of my studio, to experiment and further explore my ideas.”

Surrounded by lush gardens of cypresses, fig trees, lavender, and agapanthus, the works on view include several of Levy’s iconic Rock sculptures (including the mirrored RockFormationTower and the more muted, Corten-steel RockFormation Totem), whose stacked forms are reminiscent of giant cut gemstones. Other works include the multipronged, metallic RockGrowth, and RockStoneMesh, which features Levy’s signature geometric shapes constructed with transparent mesh. Levy’s works walk the line between blending seamlessly with their surroundings and standing in bold contrast to them. The resulting tension makes the landscape an active element of the work, rather than mere background. “It’s the magic of reflection and opacity,” Levy explains. “As the viewer interacts with the sculpture and observes this blurring of sculpture and environment, a dialogue is developed. It is not only calling our sense of sight to try and understand what we are looking at, but it also calls [our] sense of the physical and emotional, and possibly our spiritual ‘center.’” h

THIS PAGE, FROM LEFT: Artist Arik Levy stands in the sculpture garden at his home in the South of France. Levy’s CraterCell sculpture. OPPOSITE: RockFormationTower 165 by Arik Levy.

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ABOVE LEFT: Part of Patricia Urquiola’s new Plumón outdoor collection for Kettal, this side table is made using 3D stoneware printing. ABOVE RIGHT: Spanish designer Nani Marquina’s new Tiles rug collection—manufactured using 100-percent recycled PET—is inspired by the square and rectangular shapes found in paved spaces.

104 GRAY PATTERN Whether you’re riding the curves or picking out patterns, this season’s outdoor furniture is all about shape and texture. Keep things low-key by opting for shades of tan and cream, but add interest with architectural forms and layered vignettes. Pieces made with innovative manufacturing methods and materials double as great conversation-starters for those long, hot summer nights. By Rachel Gallaher

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detail on Lazzoni’s Bent sofa is made from solid chestnut wood, a material that is widely available in the Black Sea region where the company is based. »

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TOP: B&B Italia’s Borea sunbed, designed exclusively for the brand by Italian architect Piero Lissoni. Available in two versions, a chaise lounge (seen here) and a sofa, the sunbed brings a hint of midcentury resort glamour.

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ABOVE: Maintaining the organic shapes found in the original Kensaku Oshiro—designed Laplì collection, the new three-piece outdoor offerings from Poltrona Frau (also designed by Oshiro) feature hand-woven polypropylene on an aluminum base.

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TOP: Talenti’s Malè H190 floor lamp, designed by Ludovica + Roberto Palomba and available in two sizes, emits a soft, ethereal glow. ABOVE: Designed by Stefano Boeri Interiors for Unopiù, the Crest outdoor landscape system is a modular furniture collection that includes seats, tables, chaise lounges, and washbasins that can be configured and customized depending on the setting. Crest will be available starting January 2023. h

Breakout star designer Nicole McLaughlin uses her irreverent clothing creations as wearable statements about sustainable consumption. By Lauren Gallow

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Now, McLaughlin is bringing her fashion-forward recycling mentality to the masses, leading upcycling workshops and smartly playing into the world of hype culture, with social media gobbling up her novel fashion creations more quickly than she can crank them out. McLaughlin’s designs function as desirable, eye-catching commodities inside the very culture they seek to critique—their smartypants absurdity forces us to question why we desire so many consumer products in the first place. “There’s a constant need to buy new or resell for relevancy’s sake, and it’s danger ous,” she says. “We need to take a step back. It’s all ‘on trend’ now, but what about the future of everything left over?” h DNA

“The volleyball shoe was a game changer,” she says, referring to an early pair of puffy slippers she made and posted to her Instagram feed. “Taking a single-purpose item and turning it into a shoe unlocked something in my brain. It made me thinkMcLaughlin’sdifferently.”couture sculptures, many of which she creates in collaboration with brands ranging from Arc’teryx to Gucci, ask us to take a closer look at the garments we wear—how they were made, where they came from, and where they will go once discarded. “When you’re tackling a topic as broad as sustainability, you’re trying to find ways to make it more digestible,” she explains. “I’m removing an element of seriousness by injecting humor into my work and opening the door to conversations around consumerism, fast fashion, waste, greenwashing, and so on.”

108 GRAY AT A TIME WHEN OUR LIVES ARE INCREASINGLY DOMINATED BY THE ENDLESS SOCIAL MEDIA SCROLL, artist and designer Nicole McLaughlin has managed to break through the noise. Her cheeky creations, many of which exist in deliciously liminal spaces between fashion and art, function and satire, have caused the fashion world—and the average Instagram user—to do a double take. Whether it’s a pair of sandals crafted from toothpaste tubes, a mit ten made from a hollowed-out loaf of bread, or a Carhartt tool belt bikini, many of McLaughlin’s creations are wearable. Their purpose, however, runs much deeper than physical adornment. “A tennis-ball mitt may not seem functional, but it helps you question what to do with single-pur pose items,” the designer explains. Growing up in New Jersey, McLaughlin was fascinated by the handmade. “My dad was a carpenter, and my mom still works as an interior designer, so they were always really supportive of my crafty explorations,” she says. When McLaughlin landed a design internship at Reebok, which turned into a full-time posi tion as a designer, she found herself neck deep in the world of fashion production—and the shocking amount of waste it yields. “I was constantly grabbing shoes and soles and things that were left over and trying to figure out if I could do something with them,” McLaughlin recalls. After leaving Reebok in 2019 to launch her own practice, she began to think about consumer waste even more broadly.

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GRAY 109 McLaughlin’s designs function as inconsumerwhyforcessmarty-pantsseekthecommoditieseye-catchingdesirable,insideveryculturetheytocritique—theirabsurdityustoquestionwedesiresomanyproductsthefirstplace.

Renderings of the Jali Hotel, designed by Oppenheim Architecture. With careful attention to local architectural styles, the firm designed a serene resort on Albania’s southern coast that thoughtfully reimagines a regional seaside town.

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“That’s how the Jali project started, by [us] learning from these towns,”

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Jali Hotel’s palette of wood, rough concrete, and irregularly shaped stone offers more nods to local villages. The use of stone references the massive masonry walls found in nearby Vuno, while concrete—bush-hammered to create a texture that better reflects the setting Mediterranean sun— was chosen largely because local craftspeople can work with it. “Some private developers said, ‘Why don’t you just bring in Italian tiles?’ But that’s not the point. [It’s] important to keep the work in Albania,” HueslerOppenheim’sexplains.ability to articulate a distinct sense of place has won the firm a full roster of clients. Among other projects underway in the area, the firm is currently at work on a beach club development, a Santoriniesque cliffside resort, and a hospitality project whose use of arches nods to Albania’s Ottoman and Byzantine influences. It’s an opportunity to shape the country’s built environ ment—and at times, daunting too. “[It’s] sometimes overwhelming, yes,” Huesler says. “But we’re aware of the responsibilities that we have. We wanted to find a language that is very Albanian. And I think we found the sweet spot.” h

Oppenheim Architecture finds a niche working in Albania. By Will Kitchens ALBANIA SHARES A BORDER WITH GREECE, A COASTLINE WITH CROATIA, AND A SEA WITH ITALY. Its coast is flanked by azure waters and wooded mountains. In other words, Albania has the makings of a tourist destination—but historically, very few tourists. “The southern coast is so pristine, but nobody stops there,” says Beat Huesler, director of the Basel office of Miami- and Basel-based Oppenheim Architecture, who, with a recent spate of active projects in the Balkan nation, has come to know it well. “There are many Albanians living outside the country. And when they go back, [they] visit their grandparents, but then they go elsewhere for vacation.”

Huesler says. “We went there; we analyzed the proportions and the relationship to the public spaces and how you circulate through the villages and started to interpret [these factors] in a contemporary [way].”

The result is not a single hulking hotel, but 50 low-rise guest houses and apartments that, when completed by 2024, will gently creep up the village’s hillside. In essence, Jali is a reimagined coastal village, shaded by trees and pergolas, and layered with terraces, pools, archways, courtyards, restaurants, and cafes.

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Albania owes its modest tourist economy to a mountain range that impedes access to the southern coast, and to underdeveloped infrastructure— a result of the country’s communist past. But with a tunnel set to cut through the mountains and a new airport expected to open in the city of Vlore, the Albanian Riviera is well positioned to become a hotspot. The danger of such sudden popu larity, however, is that it often leads to rapid, ill-considered development driven by the lure of tourist dollars. “[Albania’s] prime minister said to us at one point, ‘I’m not going to turn this into Spain in the ’70s,’ with those huge hotel bunkers that have a scale that is not of the place,” HueslerOppenheimrecalls.is now working on more than 10 projects along Albania’s southern coast, but the firm’s work in the country began with the stillunder-construction Jali Hotel, which already stands out for its sensitivity to scale and context. A little more than a year ago, Huesler and his team visited the nearby villages of Vuni, Dhermi, and Himara at the request of Albania’s prime minister.

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Canadian furniture manufacturer Stacklab launches a new brand focused on customization. By Rachel Gallaher AFTER NEARLY 10 YEARS in business, Toronto-based multidisciplinary studio Stacklab is letting its customers try their hands at design. Last November, the company debuted a new brand, Stackabl, which offers an easy-to-use online configurator that allows customers to produce furniture out of waste materials including remnant felt, ethically harvested wood, and recycled“You’realuminum.notjustgoing in and designing from scratch,” explains Stacklab founder Jeff Forrest. “Es sentially, you’re editing the pieces using a couple of easy decisions that make it fun. You don’t have to be a designer to use the configurator.” Customers access the configurator tool through Stackabl’s website. Once there, they can choose from 11 different furniture pieces including chairs, a daybed, a stool, and a chaise. Customization options include dimensions, felt colors, leg shape, and more. As a user makes selections, the configurator evaluates and shares, in real time, the available material inventory and the cost of the finished piece. Stackabl debuted, in partnership with Maison Gerard gallery, at New York’s 2021 Salon Art + Design fair with custom pieces from a handful of designers including Champali maud Design, Drake/Anderson, and Laura Kirar. For Stacklab, these inaugural designs demonstrated the configurator’s creative potential. “We hope that this is a way to help people get into the collectible design universe; that it allows them to collect things they are proud of that have generational timelines,” Forrest says. The goal of creating lasting prod ucts is part of Stacklab’s DNA. Since launching the company in 2013, Forrest has prioritized environmental stewardship and the elimination of waste—and not just with a quippy tagline. Over the past decade, the studio has created several furniture systems that incorporate recycled and upcycled materials, and it works closely with regional manufacturers and suppliers to help reuse remnant felt, steel, wood, and decommissioned tooling, clearing up storage space in warehouses and preventing the materials from ending up in landfills. In June, Stackabl introduced its first lighting prototypes at the Salone del Mobile furniture fair in Milan. “If the furniture is our couture offering, then the lighting is readyto-wear,” Forrest says. The four fixture types are made from post-consumer scrap aluminum and remnant felt.

Stackabl enlisted three creatives— artist Sarah Coleman, lighting designer Anthony Frank Keefer, and industrial designer Wisse Trooster— to configure nine pendants for the show. Coming in at a significantly lower price point than the seating, the standard luminaries are priced from $750. The studio hopes to offer more configurable products in the future, but ultimately Forrest sees Stacklab as more than just a furniture brand—it’s a platform for problem-solving that sits at the intersection of design, technology, and circular manufacturing.

“Stacklab is a place where kooky critical thinkers offer design ser vices over a variety of disciplines, categories, and scales,” he says. “Ultimately, we use our products to fund our research so that we can keep thinking of more ideas.” h

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ABOVE: Jeff Forrest, founder of Toronto-based multidisciplinary studio Stacklab, stands in front of a light configured by artist Sarah Coleman for his company’s new brand, Stackabl. INSET: The Madame chaise lounge, designed by Drake/Anderson through Stackabl. OPPOSITE, FROM LEFT: The Querelle club chair designed by Georgis & Mirgorodsky, a dining chair by Laura Kirar, and the Raki corner chair, designed by Alexandra Champalimaud.

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GRAY 115 One more round of inspired design. LAST CALL

PHOTOGRAPHYCHOIYONGJOON

Toronto-based interior design firm Burdifilek designed three retail floors of the Hyundai Seoul department store, as well as the all-white central atrium featuring a 40-foot-tall, sculptural waterfall garden.

Department Store Group has opened the largest department store in Seoul. A multilevel shop ping experience, the Hyundai Seoul offers selections of avant-garde fashion and homewares set against a contemporary backdrop of bright color accents, mirrored surfaces, glass and marble installations, and unique architectural forms. Toronto-based interior design firm Burdifilek designed three of the retail floors, as well as the central atrium. “The intent was to veer away from global retail trends,” says Diego Burdi, co-founder and creative director of Burdifilek. “[We wanted to] design each space to be approachable, while providing visionary design elements that are inspirational and aspirational and that offer a unique cultural experience and a perspective on enhancing common experiences such as shopping.”

PHOTOGRAPHYCHOIYONGJOON

By Rachel Gallaher

Korea’sSEOULHYUNDAIHyundai

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For the second floor, which houses high-end women’s fashion, Burdi and team opted for a soft, white-and-palepink palette that exudes a sense of elegance. The third floor, in contrast, displays edgier brands (many from emerging or young designers), so Burdifilek chose a bold palette of primary colors set against industrial materials.

Exceptional spaces to eat, play, work, and stay.

LuxurySÃOROSEWOODPAULOhotelbrand

Comprising private residences, shops, and entertainment venues housed in elegantly preserved build ings from the early 20th century (all updated with 100-percent locally sourced and upcycled materials), the development is one of the most sus tainable in Brazil and the country’s largest upcycling project.

PAULOSÃOROSEWOODCOURTESY

The newly opened hotel—spear headed by entrepreneur Alexandre Allard, with Pritzker Prize–winning architect Jean Nouvel and designer Philippe Starck heading up the design—features 160 guest rooms and suites (along with an additional 100 private Rosewood suites), six food and beverage concepts, and a Brazilian jazz bar. In Starck’s deft hands, the building—a former maternity ward that had fallen into disrepair since its closure in the 1990s—was trans formed into an aesthetic ode to Brazil. Most of the materials used for the renovation were locally sourced, and Starck worked with 57 Brazilian artists and artisans to produce a permanent collection featuring more than 450 artworks. Taking cues from the hotel’s commitment to sustainability and biodiversity, Nouvel clad the tower’s exterior with a latticed, weatheredsteel façade that’s planted with more than 250 trees and flowers from Brazil’s Mata Atlântica rainforest. »

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Rosewood has opened its first property in South America—and brought along some of the design industry’s top names to complete the project. The Rosewood São Paulo—centrally located near the lively Avenida Paulista in Brazil’s most populous city—sits in the his torical enclave of Cidade Matarazzo.

CONCIERGE THE BOCA RATON In 1926, a 100-room inn opened in the new city of Boca Raton, Florida. Designed by architect Addison Mizner, who modeled the original inn after an 11th-century Spanish convent and furnished the public spaces with his private collection of rare antiques, the property quickly attracted an elite clientele. Many years—and several renovations—later, the Boca Raton resort has come to symbolize the laid-back glamour of a bygone era. Recently, as part of a $200-million revamp, interdisciplinary architecture and design firm Rockwell Group was asked to redesign many of the property’s public spaces, including several new signature restaurants, the Harborside Pool Club, the lobbies for the Tower suites and original Cloister building, the Palm Court lounge, and Tower guest rooms and suites. “The resort has been added on to and renovated in a piecemeal fashion over the decades,” says Shawn Sullivan, a partner at Rockwell Group. “Our goal was to restore the hotel’s original planning by Addison Mizner and reimagine a new guest experi ence. We wanted to provide a fresh point of view while also animating the hotel’s historic splendor nearly 100 years Rockwelllater.”Group stripped back remnants of previous renovations, and used a palette of classic materials— blackened steel, fluted glass, antique mirror, and natural wood—and contemporary furnishings to create a juxtaposition of modern and tradi tional. Details such as the Flamingo Grill’s vintage Murano glass lighting fixture and a custom powder-blue paint used in Sadelle’s restaurant elevate and differentiate various areas of the property. “Each space has its own essence, but subtle, connecting threads tie back to Mizner’s Mediterranean Revival design style,” Sullivan says. “Our design team highlighted historic features and added warmth and modern luxury with a contemporary layer that feels timeless. We also embraced the Floridian indoor-out door ethos throughout, opening up the interiors to the environment and celebrating the lush surroundings.” »

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As part of a $200-million revamp of the Boca Raton resort, architecture and design firm Rockwell Group redesigned many of the property’s public spaces, including the Flamingo Grill.

in May 2022, Hotel Marcel became the first net-zero hotel with Passive House and LEED Platinum certification in the United States. Occupying a long-vacant landmark Marcel Breuer–designed building in New Haven, Connecticut, the 165-room property celebrates the late archi tect’s style with interiors that both complement and contrast with the massive structure. For the public spaces, interiors firm Dutch East Design employed a warm tonal palette that includes travertines, terra-cotta, oak, and bronze, while guest rooms are done up in a darker array of grays, greens, blues, and walnut. “As the steward of both the interior design and branding for Hotel Marcel, we wanted to reintro duce to the public the raw beauty and strength of brutalism, with the building’s architecture leading the narrative,” says Dieter Cartwright, a partner at Dutch East Design. “It was important to create a warm and inviting interior on a human scale and offer a softer juxtaposition to the concrete façade and finishes.”

In the lobby, details including a sunken lounge, custom-designed lights, and patterned textiles all nod to the Bauhaus style. The eighth floor, which retains its original wood paneling, comprises nine suites that once housed the executive offices of the building’s original tenant, the Armstrong Rubber Company.

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UponMARCELHOTELitsopening

“History was crucial in the design and influenced every single compositional choice,” says Silvia Marzani, interior designer at Noa*.

Working with the Cultural Heritage Department of Bolzano, which gave Noa* strict guidelines regarding the interior’s aesthetics—the firm used materials and hues that already existed in the space, such as lightbeige stone and wood—Marzani and team brought the interiors up to code while creating a warm and welcom ing backdrop for diners. The house’s owner, Roswitha Mayr, created the bistro’s 23-foot-long installation of dried local flora, which hangs over the central counter. Marzani notes: “We liked the idea of bringing the world of the South Tyrolean countryside, of the attics where flowers are hung to dry, into the city streets.” »

GRAY 121 TheBOGENnorthern Italian city of Bolzano has a storied past as a trade hub for Italian- and German-speaking merchants dating back to the 13th century. To this day, Via Dr. Joseph Streiter passes through three medieval stone arches. About halfway down the street is a two-story white plaster house with a large arched window in front. Formerly a building where shoemakers, carpenters, carters, and fruit merchants worked in the 19th century, it now houses Bogen, a dreamy, bohemian bistro designed by local firm Network of Architecture (Noa*).

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REYKJAVIKGRAY EDITION Among the newest offerings from Ian Schrager—creator of the PUBLIC and EDITION hospitality brands— is the REYKJAVIK EDITION, a 253-room hotel in Iceland’s capital. Designed by local architecture firm T.ark and New York–based interiors studio Roman and Williams, with guidance from Ian Schrager Company, the hotel embraces a modernist sensibility and highlights IcelandicPerchedtalent.onReykjavik’s Old Harbor, the hotel includes two bars, a signature restaurant and night club, spa, gym, and rooftop social space. Throughout the property, materials such as ash wood, basalt stone, leather, and pale-gray oak provide a minimal and earthy foundation, against which colorful textiles and art are displayed. Pieces from local creatives—wool bed throws by Ístex, ceramics by Guðbjörg Káradóttir, and in-room art by Páll Stefánsson and Ragnar Axelsson— tap into the city’s appreciation for design and craftsmanship, while striking architectural elements in public spaces (coffered ceilings, leather-wrapped columns) under score the brand’s continued dedication to details.

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EX NIHILO

The French fragrance brand Ex Nihilo has made its brick-andmortar debut in the United States with the opening of a blue-hued boutique in Los Angeles. Designed by the company’s Paris-based, in-house design and architecture team, the space combines intense ultramarine details (a modernized nod to the French identity) with gold shelving and accents. A polished concrete floor and exposed ductwork ground the room with an industrial feel, and a custom marble perfume bar at the center of the shop serves as a space for fragrance consultations. “We wanted [this boutique] to be more Californian, taking inspiration from an art gallery more than a classic perfume shop,” says Benoit Verdier, a co-founder of Ex Nihilo. “The aesthetic is very sophisticated and luxe, but twisted with rough ele ments and minimalist design.”

hCLIFFORDMICHAEL

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F A S H I O N VANCOUVER W W W . V A N F A S H I O N W E E K . C O M

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ABOVE: In 2023, the Orient Express La Dolce Vita trains will begin traversing Italy. OPPOSITE: With interiors designed by Dimorestudio, the train cars cross the historic elegance of train travel with the modern conveniences of the 21st century.

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GRAY 129 FOR THE MOST PART, traveling by train is a utilitarian experience. The seats are cramped, meals arrive wrapped in plastic, and overnight accommodations feel akin to summer-camp bunks. We’ve all heard about the storied days of sophisticated railway travel, and in 2023, the French hotel group Accor, in partnership with Italian hospitality group Arsenale, will revive that era of luxury with the debut of the Orient Express La Dolce Vita. With six trains and several itineraries, the tours will travel through 14 regions from northern to southern Italy, and three dedicated journeys will connect Italy to Paris, Istanbul, and Split. Designed by Milan-based Dimorestudio, the trains will pay tribute to “La Dolce Vita,” an iconic period of artistic output in Italy during the 1960s. For the cars’ interiors, which feature bold geometric shapes, layered patterns and textures, and vibrant colors (from purples and oranges to aquamarine, cherry red, and baby blue), Dimorestudio founders Emiliano Salci and Britt Moran took inspiration from the masters of Italian design, including Carlo Scarpa, Gio Ponti, and Ignazio Gardella, as well as prominent artists of the spatialism movement. “The spaces are thoughtfully designed and well-curated without being ostentatious,” Salci and Moran note. “Every element should feel like it has always belonged there, to create a sense of sophisticated depth and visual weights that can be interpreted as layers of exclusiveness. The subtle details complement one another and flow effortlessly.” hDIMORESTUDIOCOURTESY ON RIGHTTHETRACK

Dimorestudio’s designs for the revived Orient Express trains bring glamour back to railway travel. By Rachel Gallaher

A BEGINNINGNEW

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ARCHITECTURE / mwworks PHOTOGRAPHY / Kevin Scott DOWBUILT

GRAY Magazine Double Issue: Vanguard / Remastered

Articles inside

THE HUMAN SIDE OF DESIGN

TRANSPORT

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AGENDA

LIVING WITH THE LAND

BODY OF WORK

ESSAY

FIRST LOOK

GENESIS

ON THE RISE

DESIGN DISPATCH

FIELD NOTES