# 21 living in design
Alistair Trung cuts deep. Syd Ball’s modest Murcutt home. Bangkok family living. Rene Tan re-imagines Bali. Kitchen indulgence. october – december | 2013 AUD$16.95 | NZ$16.95 | USD$17.95 CDN$18.95 | GBP£9.90 | SGD$11.95
# 21 We take so much delight in returning to ‘home sweet home’. Here are some essential elements that help provide both pleasure and meaning for living. 26. design news Check out the latest and greatest contributions to the world of design. 37. SHOWERHEAD Shower me beautiful – here’s a tip on what is turning heads now. 39. INTERIOR FINISHES The insiders’ scoop on flawless finishing touches for interior walls. 41. GRATES Drains that are sharp-edged, mirrorshiny and meticulously detailed.
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43. DARK TO LIGHT Seasonal change, physically representing the passing of time, is a nostalgic, yet beautiful experience.
Often who we are is about where we come from and where we live. In this issue we come to understand how place offers inspiration to individuals and how it has come to influence their livelihoods. 54. SYDNEY BALL One of Australia’s most prominent abstract painters, Syd Ball left the noise of the city to live and work in what now is a famous Glenn Murcuttdesigned house. Paul McGillick discovers that the bush setting gives him the tranquillity he needs and the inspiration he desires. 67. SCOTT WHITTAKER Adelaide boy Scott Whittaker went to Bangkok for two years and is still there twenty two years later. During that time he set up the hugely successful international design practice, dwp. Nikki Busuttil profiles the man behind the story – and his gorgeous house.
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77. ALISTAIR TRUNG Inspired by tribal and monastic cultures, clothing designer Alistair Trung conjures magic in his Sydney studio. Nicky Lobo investigates how he drapes, cuts and slashes to create garments to not just clothe, but also inspire the person who wears them.
87. EIFFEL CHONG Malaysian photographer Eiffel Chong studied both art and design in London. His works explore big concepts – life and death – through big landscapes. Although absent of human form, his photography ironically invokes questions about how we interact with each other and the world.
# 21 Different sorts of families need different solutions to support the many ways in which they live. In this issue we reveal an assortment of homes that show just that. 98. WESTMERE HOUSE Auckland architect, Jane Priest has designed a home which will evolve with her young family. Andrea Stevens visits her harbourside house to discover how Jane has cleverly created a sense of community, both within the house and with its neighbourhood, without any loss of privacy.
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111. TONKAO’S HOUSE The destructive flooding in Bangkok in 2011 gave architect Tonkao Panin the opportunity to explore a new solution for housing an extended family. Pirak Anurakyawachon visits her new compound designed around the old Banyan trees that survived the storm.
136. BALI HOUSE There are never-ending stories, now Singapore architects RT&Q have created a never-ending house which celebrates the cultural traditions of Bali. Paul McGillick reports on a house that defies gravity and where all the spaces flow seamlessly into one another. 151. QUEENSCLIFF HOUSE A seaside house – but not your conventional sea side shack. Mark Scruby visits an example of John Wardle’s architectural artistry which brings a whole new dimension to beachside living on the beautiful Victorian coast.
125. GLEBE HOUSE Nicky Lobo visits a re-worked terrace in inner Sydney where designer Michael Bechara has not only created a showcase for his clients’ impressive art collection, but also provided place to both entertain their friends, and relax from their busy work lives.
#125 Welcome to our new-look section. We delve into one of the busiest rooms of the home – the kitchen – and get acquainted with one of Italy’s best known families. 166. KITCHENS Discover six designs created with both function and good looks, each responding to a specific brief. 179. FAMILY STORY Boffi create kitchens, bathrooms, joinery systems, and empires.
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185. BOOK REVIEW Two masters, in Kerry Hill and Ernesto Bedmar, and 100 contemporary houses. Paul McGillick sees how they intersect.
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Keiichi Tanaka is fascinated with the beauty of functioning objects. “I have always imagined my creations would blend into our day-to-day life,” says Tanaka, “that people would realise the functional beauty of them.” Successfully bridging the gap between handmade charm and refined, contemporary style, Tanaka’s new ceramic tableware collection provides a confidently modern, and honest approach to design. keiichitanaka.com
Light, elegant and refined: these are the qualities of BoConcept’s new CARLTON sofa. Taking us back to the sophisticated style of the 70s, the CARLTON’s thin steel frame expresses a light, minimalistic structure to the comfortable cushions, all expertly crafted to the highest finish. Created by Danish designer Anders Nørgaard, CARLTON will add simple Scandinavian class to any space. anpdesign.dk / boconcept.com.au
Developed by Japanese fashion designer, Issey Miyake, for Italian lighting company Artemide, IN-EI is a unique collection of sustainably designed, foldable lamp designs that play with light and shade in truly interesting ways. Translating as ‘shadow, shade and nuance’, the IN-EI pieces use intricate patterns of layers and folds to create a delicate play of light and dark. Utilising specially fabricated materials derived from recycled PET bottles, this is a design that is innovative in every way. isseymiyake.com / artemide.com.au
1. lightbox
AFTERMATH, with its clean, graphic approach takes an axonometric view of post-WWII Dresden, the German city once known for its baroque city centre. Suitable for both commercial and residential application, Studio Job’s charismatic design has surpassed all conventional ideas about what can be achieved on the loom. Also available as a large-scale wall installation, RUINS, through Maharam Digital Projects, AFTERMATH is certainly one unique textile, characterised by its uncompromising, ornate execution. studiojob.be / kvadratmaharam.com
MOBILE LAUNDRY, by Thai design house Studio 248, is far from your ordinary plastic laundry basket. Created to blend in with the décor of any modern interior, MOBILE LAUNDRY is a piece of furniture entirely of its own, and should be admired for its aesthetic as well as its function. Made from Teak, leather and granite, this is a design that goes beyond mere functionality to a piece that is both unique and refined. Exhibited at this year’s Salone del Mobile in Milan, the young talent of Studio 248 have certainly made their mark on the international design community, and are sure to only go from strength to strength – watch this space. studio248.com
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The TURN AROUND juicer, designed by KiBiSi, combines functionality and style with precise craftsmanship. Its round, sculptural wooden base gives this unique juicer a soft and highly aesthetic expression that is profoundly contemporary in look and functionality. “So, why hide your juicer in the drawer”, asks the Scandinavian designers from KiBiSi, “when the shape allows it to stand on its own?” kibisi.com / muuto.com
Ray and Charles Eames first started experimenting with moulded plywood in the 1940s. But the couple’s famous Moulded Chairs were never made in anything other than fibreglass; the curves of the seat could not be manufactured in wood. Now, 62 years after its initial release, the EAMES MOULDED WOOD CHAIR has conquered the technological divide. Re-issued by Herman Miller in Walnut, White Ash and Rosewood, it now has a new warmth, and a new appeal. hermanmiller.com.au / livingedge.com.au
issue #21 habitusliving.com
Mid-tone Eggshell Acrylic in Mandalay $43.20/L, Porter’s Paints; Paul Kafka bar in Rosewood with leather detailing, $3,700, Collectika; assorted Blow brown vases, from $39, The Country Trader; Planet lamp, $195, Collectika; Kintsugi vessels by Matthew Sheargold in turned timber, concrete and metal stitching, POA, Anomaly; Double Loop mirror by Jonathan Ingram in American Ash and black lacquer, $1,240, Inde; Radius ottomans by Ingram Ko in plywood frame with black glass, travertine and leather surfaces, from $1,200, Inde; Remy shelves in solid Australian Blackbutt, $2,900, Craft Design
Realisation; Rosenthal Studioline Surface vase 30cm, $699, WWRD; artwork by Bianca Chang, Form in white (Double Prism) 2012, paper in perspex box, 16.5x12.5x8cm, $1,200, Brenda May Gallery; packed top coffee table from The Contemporary Collection, $2,450, The Country Trader; Hula stool, $140, Rustix; Samuel Wilkinson for Decode Vessel table/floor light with blown glass shade, $539, ECC; Beni Ouarain hand knot carpet in 100% wool, 425x200, $3,400, Kulchi; Deserter bench, $544, Sounds Like Home; Rubelli Spritz cotton velvet in Verde, POA, South Pacific Fabrics.
1. lightbox
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issue #21 habitusliving.com
2 . portrait
# 55
Music of the Spheres As he turns 80, Sydney Ball is one of the doyens of Australian abstract painting. Paul McGillick reveals the close connection between his work, architecture and where and how he chooses to live. Text Paul McGillick | Photography Paul Lovelace
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2 . portrait
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Of the cloth He’s a philosopher, a collector, a reader, a traveller, and a selfdescribed ‘cutter and a draper’. But what alistair trung is definitely not, as nicky lobo finds out, is a ‘fashion designer’. text nicky lobo | photography rob palmer | portrait sheba williams
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Aged copper, brass & waxed rust ďŹ nishes Chant New Zealand, Brionne France & Fersa Argentina
2 . portrait
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Eiffel Chong The light in EIFFEL CHONG’s photographs evokes the landscapes of the great Dutch masters. His talent is to capture the often-neglected spaces between the private and the public realm. These images portray man as a producer, rather than as a consumer of the world around him. Portrait Waylon ling
issue #21 habitusliving.com
3 . on location
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Street life With a nod to mid-century Modernism, this harbour-side house in AUCKLAND is lightweight, abstract and tuned to its site. ANDREA STEVENS visits architect and owner Jane Priest, of LOCHORE PRIEST ARCHITECTS, to discuss privacy, openness and designing for family life.
text Andrea Stevens | photography Simon Devitt
issue #21 habitusliving.com
O
n this quiet crescent in Westmere, Auckland, architect Jane Priest and partner Darcy Price have built a house for the long-term. With their daughters currently five and seven, they have mapped out how the house might adapt as their children grow, to the day when it is just the two of them again. Multifunctional rooms, sliding doors and screens allow spaces to change use, and connect or be screened. This inherent flexibility is read in its ‘kit-of-parts’ – boxes, panels and louvres coded in white or stained timber – devices that control not just the social environment, but also the weather conditions. For all its flexibility and modern appearance, it is in fact built on the bones of an existing 1940s stucco cottage. They have retained some of the original room layout, and refurbished and extended the original native timber floor, but in all other respects it is a new house. A tracing of the old form is readable in elevation as the base on which the second storey now sits, and in the new stucco wall along the street edge. Retaining the old footprint enabled them to remain close to the eastern boundary and maximise outdoor space on other parts of the site. So from this boundary, they built right across the site to the street boundary – it is a corner site – leaving green space to the north and to the south. The northern yard is elevated above the street with a low retaining wall and hedge that gently layers back, rather than block the road and footpath. “We wanted to be open to the street,” explains Jane. “It is such a great area for kids on their scooters and bikes, that we wanted to connect with that and not create a blind corner.” They experience this sense of community daily as their kids play with friends and neighbours fluidly between the front yard and the footpath. Creating openness, however, meant privacy had to be managed. Jane has done this by layering the house elevation with recesses, overhangs, screens, planting and, somewhat atypical for this style of architecture, a judicious use of glass. This has created an intricate and beautifully modelled building with light and shadow at play internally and externally. Horizontal sliding screens and
previous | An open path to the front door connects the house directly with the street. This gesture is reinforced by landscape designer Patrick Stokes’ low and layered planting. above | The house is stepped down along the eastern boundary. Skylights bring in the morning sun and maintain privacy from the neighbours. below | Large sliding shutters filter light in the living room. Timber is used extensively internally for warmth and texture. opposite | Fixed louvre blades define the boundary between the living and dining rooms. Beyond, a built-in seat is washed in light.
3 . on location
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