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# 30 living in design

rossana Orlandi: first lady of design. 30 x Icons.

Mid-century Modern mecca. The woman behind Le corbusier.

January – March | 2016 AUD$16.95 | NZ$16.95 | USD$17.95 CDN$18.95 | GBP£9.90 | SGD$11.95

# 30 Where to look for inspiration? It can be found all around us – in the things we have, the conversations we engage in and new ideas that spark a revolution.

24. DESIGN NEWS Discover the products we are inspired by: icons in their contemporary forms, objects and furniture with precise linear expressions, bold and beautiful products and something for the outdoors – as well as for the kids.

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34. BOOKS The icon is a somewhat contentious and problematic concept – but we’re up to tackling the tough topics. Mandi Keighran compares three titles that talk about icons in different fields – holding them up against a thriceMichelin-starred sushi chef.

It’s all about adventure this issue and strong, creative women that know what they want – and more importantly, know how to achieve it.

40. CHARLOTTE PERRIAND Designer, modernist, adventurer: meet Charlotte Perriand. She was the woman behind Le Corbusier’s most iconic furniture – yet many don’t know her name. We’re here to remedy this – Stephen Todd charts her journey from eager-eyed graduate to prolific designer up until the age of 98, and a career that involved creating the ‘equipment for living’ for perhaps the most iconic Modernist project of all – the Villa Savoye.

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49. JAPANESE & FINNISH DESIGN What is it about Japanese and Scandinavian design that appeals so strongly to the international community? We all agree that they punch well above their weight when it comes to fashion and product design. Tess Ritchie sets out to investigate what has made them so successful – and discovers some interesting similarities.

57. ROSSANA ORLANDI In Milan, there is a lady that knows what she wants when it comes to design. And very often, she gets it.

We pay homage to the original Design Hunter®, Rossana Orlandi, whose name, gallery and the designers and products she represents, are instantly recognisable, for all the right reasons.

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age of the icon 66. MAKE ME ICONIC What makes something an icon and when does it become one?

Sophie Davies interrogates the concept, drawing in references from ‘starchitects’ to the humble bicycle.

75. PALM SPRINGS Here’s an example of wellpreserved iconic architecture.

But, says Tim Ross, it’s not all as good-looking as it first appears.

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81. 30 X ICONS Enjoy our extended feature on the icons of today. We ask 30 people from the international creative community to nominate what or who they think is an icon and why. The results are far-reaching and wide-ranging – and are sure to inspire.

People across the Region live in very different ways, but we all have something to learn from each other in an architectural and design sense.

114. CUT PAW PAW HOUSE When does a house become an design enthusiast excursion destination? When you give a brief for a unique inside-outside home to Andrew Maynard Architects. Alice Blackwood visits an old Victorian in Melbourne with a very new twist.

128. E-TYPE HOUSE Cascading down a sloped site in Auckland, New Zealand, are three boxes for living with an indoor ‘street’ connecting them.

Richard Naish of RTA Studio was both architect and client of this unconventional family home.

Andrea Stevens reports.

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146. THIRTEENTH BEACH HOUSE Seemingly arising out of the earth, a series of beautifully interlocking forms create this home on the Bellarine Peninsula in Victoria.

Mark Scruby takes a look at this refreshing and clever take on sculptural residential design by Auhaus Architecture.

166. FRANKLIN STUDIO Two artists and an architect are responsible for this compact, yet impactful, studio in Tasmania.

A rigorous and creative design discussion resulted in a beautiful outcome by Room 11 Architects.

178. DOUBLE COURTYARD HOUSE It’s one thing to visit your family – it’s quite another to live with them.

Michelle Bailey looks at a home in Brisbane that has been updated by Architect, Vokes and Peters, to make it workable for three generations.

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Design doyenne She has been described as a ‘fairy godmother’, and says her designers are like family. If so, Rossana oRlandi is the undisputed matriarch of the clan.

We marvel at the inimitable first lady of design.

TexT Nicky Lobo | PhoTograPhy Various

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ossana Orlandi is the woman behind many of the biggest names in contemporary design. In fact, she ‘discovered’ many of them. Piet Hein Eek, Nacho Carbonell, Maarten Baas, Scholten & Baijings, Front Design, Nika Zupanc; they can all attest their entry into the highest echelon of global design to this tiny Italian lady.

Rossana came to the design world via fashion, where she worked for more than 20 years as a spin yarn consultant for high-end labels such as Giorgio Armani and Donna Karan, as well as her own family’s company.

Developing her own private collection of furniture, object and lighting design over some years, she decided in 2002 to share it with the world. And she has continued ever since, with up to 35 designers presented through her brand each year. Their products make up the highly curated collection and the sum equals more than the individual parts.

Together, they represent Rossana’s personal idea of how incredible design and art can be integrated into a way of life. The collection – and the designers who are responsible for them – are the family who give her own brand and identity meaning.

In sourcing, curating and presenting new creative talent, Rossana has become a design icon herself, the image bolstered by her trademark white-rimmed, tinted glasses (which are available through the shop).

But her status as the “authority on cuttingedge design” is much more than an ocular accessory and a knack for buying things. Her relentless research for the ever-changing collection is akin to the passionate explorer.

Intrepidly, she has charted countries and continents, in search for that greatest

treasure – undiscovered design talent whom she might present.

Rossana’s eye is impeccable, seeking out designers and pieces that are truly innovative and not in the ubiquitous use of the word, which is used to describe so many run-ofthe-mill – and frankly boring – products.

Rossana’s pieces are unequivocally revolutionary in concept, process and finish.

Walking through her gallery is like walking through Alice’s Wonderland or Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory – a mixture of whimsy and delight. Take Nacho Carbonell’s Diversity exhibit from 2010 for example, explored a broad array of finishes. Twenty iterations of a slender-legged chair attached to a narrow, covered desk included hair filaments that can be combed and groomed, another in shards of broken glass from used wine bottles, another in a granular concrete coating, thorns, resins and many more.

Spazio Rossana Orlandi, or ‘Rossana Orlandi Space’, has become a representation of the woman herself. Translated, it is not ‘the space of Rossana Orlandi’, rather the space that is Rossana Orlandi. The statement is as strong as her opinion and as specific as her keen eye for design. Opening in 2002 in a former tie factory in the Magenta neighbourhood of Milan, Rossana revolutionised the presentation of the design art pieces for sale and on exhibition. Rather than a typically ostentatious, sterile showroom, the space is set up like rooms of a house, which wrap around a picturesque courtyard.

All at once a showroom, retail store and offices, with the courtyard used for events and meetings, it cannot be defined or pigeonholed.

The activities blend seamlessly without boundary or need for definition.

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WHAT DEFINES ICONIC DESIGN? And what are the pros and cons of putting respected designers, products, brands and buildings on a pedestal? SOpHIE DAvIES explores our love affair with making things iconic‌ TexT SOPHIe DAVIeS | PHOTOgrAPHY VArIOuS

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magine the faces of contemporary starchitects Frank Gehry and Zaha Hadid cheekily blended with traditional religious icons. During a talk entitled Longevity & Icons at August’s Sydney Indesign event, architect Luigi Rosselli showed a slide of the world-famous duo photoshopped so their images morphed into spiritual art. The modern icons were made iconic, literally.

“An icon can be an item of consumption,” said Rosselli, “or in the case of a building or [a piece of] furniture, it can be something that will last much longer and resist the weathering of time. Icons should be more permanent and add to the lives of everyone.” However, Rosselli warned that “employing a starchitect can be a marketing tool for good or bad. This is where icons are changing from a positive sense.” We often look to design to provide inspiration, gurus even, and near-sacred creations, but no one wants to see major names commissioned reductively by rote, like snapping up luxury handbags.

Worse still is slavish adoration of work that parodies greatness – copycat furniture, we’re looking at you!

What makes an icon?

Authenticity is key to defining a true furniture icon, with Australian artist Ken Done stating, “I wouldn’t buy a knock-off. I have to have one of the originals. It’s a fine line – something influenced by icons is different to a complete knock-off. That’s just bizarre.” When replica design stores such as Australia’s Matt Blatt were mentioned, Done exclaimed, “I’m surprised you can do that!” Rip-offs may be a backhanded compliment – the first sign that a design has become iconic is when it is being routinely copied – but the integrity, quality, individuality and craftsmanship of the original cannot be bettered by a fake.

Longevity is important too, with good designs only truly becoming iconic when they pass the acid-test of time.

Meryl Hare, of Sydney interior designers Hare + Klein, asks pertinently, “Will Starck and Urquiola be iconic in years to come?” It’s true of architecture, too. Jørn Utzon may now be a legendary name, but the Sydney Opera

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“While it’s impossible to pinpoint exactly what tips a great design into being an iconic one, our desire for icons risks typecasting design.”

House’s controversial passage from budget-busting zero to architectural hero took years, with much painful critique.

As Frank Gehry noted, “It has been an icon that’s paid off.”

Good looks help when it comes to bagging iconic status – Alberto Korda’s iconic photo of Che Guevara launched a million T-shirts, thanks in no small part to the Cuban revolutionary’s striking face. The Sydney Opera House, too, radiates nautical-chic charisma, but even the ugly – buildings such as Sydney’s Brutalist UTS Tower or London’s Centre Point – can become urban icons, often loved and hated in equal measure. Much of Sydney’s Darling Harbour development, though, is simply bland, boring and underwhelming, a veritable icon-free zone. Head-turning exteriors aside though, surely a true icon needs to work well too, when you’re living in it or using it? Philippe Starck’s Juicy Salif lemon squeezer for Alessi is a megastar design icon, but some users find its ergonomics frustrating.

Classics or clichés So why do we want that marble-icious Eero Saarinen table, curvy Hans J Wegner chair or come-hither Charlotte Perriand chaise-longue? Is it the tactile materials, sensual lines or sculptural forms? The timeless soul of the best design? Or is it just a status symbol of culturally sanctioned good taste? While it’s impossible to pinpoint exactly what tips a great design into being an iconic one, our desire for icons risks typecasting design. We may adore Tom Dixon’s or Moooi’s pendant lights, but when you’ve seen them in a thousand restaurant refits they can suffer from overuse.

It’s not their fault that their designs are so ubiquitous, but familiarity can breed contempt. How do we rate our icons without being reductive?

With everything from online fashion brands (The Iconic) to design stores (Melbourne’s Make Me Iconic) tapping into the idea of turning items into cult icons, are we in danger of overusing the word? Artist Ken Done reckons we’re doing the same with talent. “It’s a bit of a counter to the tall poppy syndrome, where for a long time we wanted everybody in Australia to be equal and all the same. Maybe we’ve gone a bit too far now, when you can have an iconic footballer. Maybe you’ll have an iconic plumber soon, too!”

Architecture also suffers from our urge to embrace big-hitters. Daniel Libeskind’s Jewish Museum Berlin is a powerful icon, but equally – if not more – moving is the less well known Holocaust Memorial by architect Peter Eisenman nearby, a field of abstract concrete stelae. By making icons of headline-grabbing buildings, we may miss out on more subtle spaces elsewhere. Just call it the ‘Gehry Effect’.

Interiors editor and curator Karen McCartney knows a thing or two about iconic architecture, having authored influential tomes 50/60/70 Iconic Australian Houses and 70/80/90 Iconic Australian Houses. “I started working on the Iconic books in 2006 and even back then I realised the term was in danger of being overplayed. It did heighten my awareness of the choices in residential architecture I made for the books and ensured that the architects featured were significant, and this was just one example of their body of work.” McCartney found it a helpful way to draw together stellar examples of Australian architecture. Almost 10 years on, though, she says, “The word has become devalued as it is now even applied to replica Eames furniture. But we tend to do that with some words – we stretch their application until they become a parody of themselves. I still think it is a great descriptor. It just needs to be retired for a while and brought back as and when truly appropriate.”

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previous | ZAHA HADID’S HEYDAR ALIYEV CENTER IS FAST BECOMING ICONIC (PHOTO HUFTON + CROW). STARCHITECT DUO FRANK GEHRY AND HADID ARE GIVEN THE RELIGIOUS ICON TREATMENT (CREATED BY CARL RUTHERFOORD OF LUIGI ROSSELLI ARCHITECTS). opposite | TOM DIXON’S ICONIC COPPER SHADE AND MIRROR BALL PENDANT LIGHTS. above | PETER EISENMAN’S POWERFUL HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL IN BERLIN (© STIFTUNG DENKMAL, PHOTO BY MARKO PRISKE). below | WISHBONE CHAIR DESIGNED BY HANS j. WEGNER FOR CARL HANSEN & SONS, WITH A HAND-WOVEN SEAT CONSISTING OF MORE THAN 120 METRES OF PAPER CORD.

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WING & VINO

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# 30 living in design

Rossana Orlandi: first lady of design. 30 x Icons.

Mid-century Modern mecca. The woman behind Le Corbusier.