Identity | May 2010

The Middle East’s interiors, design & property magazine

identity

Eye candy: a box of art bonbons Hooking up: logging on + tuning in Twist and shout: classics by Paul Smith London, Paris, Milan: exploding with colour

ISSUE EIGHTY YEAR SEVEN MAY 2010 A MOTIVATE PUBLICATION

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Kitchen Designs Llc P.O.BOX 81553 Salahudeen Road Deira - Dubai Tel. 971 - 4 2691003 ayman@kitchendesigns.ae Just for business use: www.scavolini.biz

Pls. download our general catalog from www.scavolini.com

Scavolini S.p.A. 61025 Montelabbate (PU) - Italy Tel. +39 0721443333 Fax: +39 0721443413 contact@scavolini.com www.scavolini.com

For the carcase of the kitchens Scavolini uses only Idroleb: a water repellent V100 panel with the lowest formaldehyde emission, lower than specified on the Japanese standards F**** (4 stars).

System of Quality Management UNI EN ISO 9001

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The “best seller” from Italy

INSIDE

MAY 2010

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Cover: Interior: SpaceSmith.

Photography: Vincent Leroux.

SPACESMITH PHOTOGRAPHY: VINCENT LEROUX

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KATHARINE POOLEY

PAUL SMMITH

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FEATURES

24 Robust sustainability

38 Freedom of choice

The new design scenarios revealed in Milan during the recent 2010 Salone Internazionale del Mobile lead the way to accessible green innovation and a rainbow of colourful interior possibilities.

In designing commercial spaces, practicality rules while the design of private homes can be based on beauty, according to top designer Katharine Pooley, who has done both.

26 Clear blue skies

60 The art of reconstruction

Buildings, boats, bikes, bags, bottles and batteries are all among the newest products developed for creating and conserving energy and recycling waste.

A decorator as passionate about art as her client created a vibrant Parisain setting, as perfect for family living as for admiring the stunning, yet eclectic collection.

32 One of a kind From Heathrow’s Terminal 5 to his Dubai boutiques, Sir Paul Smith describes his “classic with a twist” aesthetics, but with a bit more twist than classic.

May 2010

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Love that Yellow Contemporary, stylish, sleek – the Tailor sofa is a classy addition to any living room. Upholstered in heathered black chambray with ticking stripes of cream and khaki, this sofa makes comfortable look uber-cool.

To turn up the chic in your room, just bring the Tailor in.

Home Furnishings. Housewares. Accessories.

Now open at Mirdif City Centre & Mall of the Emirates.

INSIDE

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DESIGN FORMULA

ISSUE #80

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Obaid Humaid Al Tayer GROUP EDITOR & MANAGING PARTNER

Ian Fairservice GROUP SENIOR EDITOR

Gina Johnson | gina@motivate.ae

POLIFORM

GROUP EDITOR

Catherine Belbin | catherine@motivate.ae FEATURES EDITOR

Dorothy Waldman | dorothy@motivate.ae

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CHIEF SUB-EDITOR

Iain Smith | iains@motivate.ae

Media rooms As connectivity becomes a function as important as sleeping, homes and hotels are adapting their furnishings and configurations to incorporate state-of-the-art electronics, whether you need mobility for anywhere access or prefer a dedicated space, media requirements are a design must today.

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Belinda Igaya | belinda@motivate.ae ART DIRECTOR

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May 2010

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EDITORIAL

Creative plumes

Lars Waldenstrom.

PHOTOGRAPHY: VIKRAM GAWDE

While the international design fraternity drew up plans for alternative exit strategies from the Milan Salone as a volcanic ash cloud created airline chaos across Europe, major real estate players convened in the UAE capital for the annual Cityscape Abu Dhabi exhibition.

Much of the focus of Cityscape was the ambitious 2030 master plan that is well underway and is expected to attract global investment, propelling the nation beyond an oil-based economy. More than 250 exhibitors from over 35 countries took part in the event, which, despite being affected by the travel crisis and the global economy, revealed an optimistic outlook for the future of the property sector.

A Dhs5.4 billion master planned community for UAE nationals was signed with the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council, a part of the Abu Dhabi 2030 plan, with Sorouh Real Estate building 9,000 homes for Emiratis over the next five years as part of the Shamka development. It’s estimated that some 60,000 new homes are required for Emirati families.

Developer Aldar signed a Dhs730 million contract to provide the infrastructure and build 1,000 plus new villas and a school in Al Ain, close to Jebel Hafeet.

The 828-metre high Burj Khalifa and the two square kilometre Downtown Dubai development took top honours at the Cityscape Awards for Real Estate in the Middle East and North Africa. The world’s tallest super-tower won first prize for a built, mixed-use project. Also by Emaar, the Eastern Harbour project in Alexandria, Egypt, won the Best Urban Design and Master Planning award.

Abu Dhabi’s newly opened Yas Hotel, designed by Hani Rashid’s Asymptote, was awarded the Best Commericail, Office, Retail Built Development. The still under construction Yas Island development, complete with Ferrari World Abu Dhabi by Aldar Properties, won Best Commercial Office, Retail, Future Development.

Istanbul’s Loft 1, developed by Akfen Holding, was awarded the Best Residential Built Development for its approach to crafting loft-like duplex spaces.

Unfortunately, the volcano’s flight disruptions also caused the delay of the opulent opening of the world’s first Armani Hotel in Dubai’s iconic Burj Khalifa because many of the handpicked international guests were prevented from flying to the gala ceremony.

However, even a volcano could not put a cloud over the poolside party held at the funky Media One Hotel in Dubai Media City for Lars Waldenstrom, the Swedish furniture executive who is credited with bringing contemporary Scandinavian style interiors to the region. He was the creative genius behind Swedish Design before setting up LW Design Group over a decade ago with Morten Hansen and Jesper Godsk.

Over the past 30 odd years, Waldenstrom has left his mark on many of Dubai’s iconic buildings and venues, from the Creek Golf and Yacht Club, to the Noodle House restaurant, Grosvenor House Hotel and, of course, the establishment of the region’s first Design House where LW has its headquarters.

Recently, LW Design and identity published Design in Dubai – a coffee table compilation of some of the studio’s most dynamic projects over the past 10 years.

Waldenstrom goes into retirement while his team’s order books are brimming with numerous exciting projects from new villas in Emirates Hills to hotels in North Africa and the prestgious Beach Club on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi.

As the volcanic cloud clears, the future is indicating brilliant hues ahead.

Group Editor Catherine Belbin.

Congratulations!

Michael Le, winner of an Esprit rug in id’s March competition.

May 2010

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Robust sustainability Milan vibrated with bright, bold moves for 2010’s interiors as the world’s top designers, architects and manufacturers look forward to a sustainable future with determination and optimism. TEXT: CATHERINE BELBIN

The mood in Milan at this year’s Salone Internazionale del Mobile was as upbeat as it was colourful. The design fraternity is united in their stand that in good times and bad, good design must prevail. However, good design must now delve deeper than the vibrant colours displayed on the stands. Good design must also be sustainable.

“Our industry has undergone a year of reorganisation, restructuring and rethinking,” says Carlo Guglielmi, President of Cosmit, organisers of the annual design event. “The result has been extremely positive.

We have been obliged to think differently and to work in collaboration with others to ensure a united success. We have had to rethink our businesses and to develop new manufacturing systems that are more ecological, that reduce costs while creating furnishings that are more durable and sustainable.”

Sunburst table from Versace Home.

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Designers are facing the challenge to create something better, not merely something new, while continuously improving aesthetics and function – a necessity for inspiring consumption in the current economic atmosphere – and a challenge that creatives are meeting brilliantly.

“We have just come though a world war of sorts, during which time we have undergone a significant realignment of global economies,” says Cavaliere del Lavoro Rosario Messina, President of FederlegnoArredo, the Italian furniture association. “We had years of continuous growth in the furniture sector and then the recession set in. Our challenge now is to overcome this decline in the next five years.”

With the blossoming awareness of the need to be green, the challenge becomes even more complex. “In addition to the economic slump and the huge decline in the US, Russian and Middle Eastern orders, European

TRENDS

Clockwise from top: Ruche sofa by Inga Sempe from Ligne Roset; lounger

by Jaime Hayon for b.d barcelona design; Arabella chair designed by Carlo Giorgetti and Massimo Scolari from Girogetti; Bdlove collection by Ross Lovegrove; Tours bookcase by Pascal Mourgue for Ligne Roset.

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TRENDS

industry has had to cope with new environmental standards set by Brussels.

This has meant, for example, a huge investment in sectors such as lighting, where many of the iconic lamps from companies like FontanaArte are having to be re-engineered to meet stricter standards,” explains Guglielmi, President of FontanaArte, the lighting company established in 1932 by the legendary Gio Ponti.

Meanwhile, Roberto Snaidero, International Relations of FederlegnoArredo, whose family manufacturers the luxury Snaidero kitchen brands, comments that the financial incentives offered in Italy have been successful in encouraging

consumers to upgrade their kitchens and kitchen appliances, thus giving a well-needed boost to the Italian kitchen sector.

This year Eurocucina and the Salone Internazionale del Bagno ran concurrently with the furniture show, exhibiting the latest innovations and improvements that are likely to intice consumers.

Over 10,000 new products were displayed during the Salone this year by over 2,500 exhibitiors over some 209,00 square metres of exhibition space.

Snaidero also observes that great design is no longer an Italian monopoly, acknowledging that there are in fact numerous non-Italian designers now working for Italian companies. “The emphasis is on quality and not nationality, especially in today’s global workplace.”

The office furniture sector has been severely affected by the world situation coupled with strides in the IT sector – making the traditional office workspace almost antiquidated. “People work in a completely different way today and so the furniture requirements have changed dramatically. It has become essential for cabinetmakers to work in tandem with the technology providers to ensure that office spaces offer maximum efficiency,” the organisers agreed. The Office as Creative Hub was a forum presented as a prelude to next year’s Salone Officio that sparked original interpretations of the workspace.

Next year the Salone del Mobile (April 12-17) will celebrate its 50th anniversary as a leading furniture show. “Italy has some of the best craftsmen in the world. As we approach this milestone we are encouraging the youth to pursue the trades of their fathers and forefathers with the establishment of specialised schools, courses and apprenticeships to ensure that we maintain our reputation,” says Messina, owner of the world-renowned bed manufacturer Flou. ID

Top to bottom: Trieste sofa from Baxter’s 2010 collection; Hand blown Murano glass ornamental bottles at Salone del Mobile 2010.

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Clear blue skies From sky to sea, the aim is to re-use, re-charge and re-think sustainability in order to reduce emissions, harness alternate energy sources and create a greener world. TEXT: STEVE HILL

TOWERING ACHIEVEMENT

The Shanghai Tower will be one of the most sustainably advanced tall buildings in the world when complete in 2014, according to architects Gensler.

The 632-metre, 128-storey vertical city features a taper and asymmetry that will significantly reduce wind loads, ensuring a lighter and more efficient structure, with inner and outer facades acting as an envelope to create a natural warming and cooling effect.

The spaces between the two facades create nine atrium sky gardens as the tower is organised into nine cylindrical buildings stacked on top of each other with hotels, cultural venues and an observation deck at the top, offices in the central spaces and an urban market at ground level.

The highest levels of the tower, which will become the world’s second tallest building behind Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, will house 54 vertically-aligned wind turbines, reducing energy consumption, the funnel-shaped roof will harvest rain water while its footprint has been greatly reduced to make room for more green spaces.

This page and opposite: The Shanghai Tower.

The Aircruise.

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ECO

March May 2009 2010

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Clockwise from above: The Plastiki; Full Noon and USBCELL; Onno Sminia and Louis Pierre Geerinckx’s Vrachtfiets.

FULL NOON

Noon Solar bags are stylish and boast impressive sustainable credentials thanks to a paper-thin flexible solar panel that charges an interior battery pack capable of powering a mobile phone or MP3 player.

All the user has to do is point the bag’s solar panel towards the sun to collect usable energy, either when walking, sitting or even while travelling on a train.

Even on cloudy or rainy days, energy is collected through the UV light of the sun and on a bright, sunny day the battery should become fully charged in six to eight hours, longer on a cloudy day.

The bags themselves, produced by the New York-based Chicago Company, are chemical-free and naturally tanned, using vegetable dyes.

They are currently available in Dubai through Ekotribe who also stock Moixa Energy’s award-winning USBCELL. This ingenious battery conveniently plugs into the USB port of a desktop or laptop computer, Playstation or XBOX, and can be recharged hundreds of times, in contrast to alkaline batteries that are simply thrown away when their power is exhausted.

MESSAGE WITH A BOTTLE

The Plastiki, a catamaran made from approximately 12,500 reclaimed plastic bottles, is undertaking an 11,000-nautical mile voyage from San Francisco to Australia to draw attention to the health of the world’s oceans.

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The vessel’s super structure is also composed of srPET, a fully recyclable material, and relies primarily on renewable energy systems for its power.

Plastiki’s crew includes Adventure Ecology founder and environmentalist David de Rothschild, who is attempting to draw attention to the world’s colossal amount of plastic debris by showcasing waste as a valuable resource and demonstrating effective solutions through the design and construction of this unique vessel.

A total of 68 per cent of its buoyancy is provided by using the 12,500 reclaimed plastic bottles while the mast is a reclaimed aluminium irrigation pipe and Plastiki’s sail is handmade from recycled PET cloth.

Secondary bonding is reinforced using a newly developed organic glue made from cashew nuts and sugar cane while further green credentials include the use of solar panels, wind and trailing propeller turbines, bicycle generators and a hydroponic rotating cylinder garden.

WASTE NOT

British Recycled Products develops commercially viable, low carbon, construction products and outdoor furniture made from 100 per cent British recycled waste, concentrating on plastic which is diverted from landfill.

The firm’s range of products include items as diverse as speed ramps for cars, weather-proof fencing, picnic tables, benches, pallets and Hebden 40, eco paving that can be filled with grass or gravel, then driven over, parked on and walked on while allowing rainwater to permeate back into the ground.

TRENDS ECO

Left to right: Hebden 40; Town Town.

ON THE MOVE

Two students at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands have unveiled a new green concept to help people moving house.

Onno Sminia and Louis Pierre Geerinckx felt there had to be a more environmentally friendly alternative to the tried and trusted route of renting a van, which invariably pumps noxious diesel fumes into the atmosphere. And their response was to design an innovative pedal-based solution known as Vrachtfiets (Dutch for cargo bicycle) to help transport items within towns and cities.

It features two sets of pedals – moving, after all, often involves more than one person – and there are plans to add a solar-powered electrical assist to help manage more substantial loads.

The city of Delft has already expressed interest in the low-cost, emission-free invention, which could also easily be used to deliver and move items such as food and any number of different consumer items.

OFFICE SPACE

Austrian architectural firm Coop Himmelb(l)au’s Town Town project has been recognised with a sustainable prize at the 2010 MIPIM Architectural Review Future Project Awards.

The high-rise office scheme, being developed east of Vienna, features an energy active solar-harvesting facade and an integrated wind turbine that will help the building produce more energy than it consumes. Wind flows and the trajectory of the sun have been analysed to help determine the shape

of the building while a photovoltaic laminated façade generates solar energy throughout the day.

Care has also been taken to ensure the building conserves energy, with tilted panels allowing natural light to filter through to the interiors while windows can be opened to ensure office spaces can be naturally ventilated.

ON YOUR BIKE

The Bamboo Bike Studio in Brooklyn, New York, teaches people to make their own bike frame from a renewable, fast-growing material that is seen as a performance-positive alternative to steel, aluminium and carbon fibre.

The studio works with the Columbia University Earth Institute-based Bamboo Bike Project and the Millennium Cities Initiative to offer a two-day course where enthusiasts learn building techniques and, at the end, ride home on their new creation.

Profits from these courses go towards building bamboo bike factories in Kumasi, Ghana, Kisumu in Kenya and the Ecuadorean city of Quito with the aim of addressing international development goals of improving access to transportation and assisting sustainable light-industrial development.

The inspiration for the establishment of the studio was watching Chinese bamboo masters construct natural scaffolding in Hong Kong without using screws or nails.

Bamboo is a grass that grows so quickly – individual stalks can mature in three years – it is widely considered to be a weed, albeit an extremely useful and versatile one. ID

March May 2009 2010

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One of a kind As British designer Sir Paul Smith prepares for the September opening of his latest Dubai boutique, he explains why individuality is so important in design. TEXT: ASHLEE BEARD

The interior of Paul Smith’s Los Angeles store contains part of a genuine interior from a Southern France château.

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PROFILE

If Britain is, as the 18th century moral philosopher Adam Smith once quipped, “a nation that is governed by shopkeepers”, then Sir Paul Smith is the ideal candidate for the forthcoming UK election. Since the opening of his first shop in 1970, the maverick designer has flourished into a worldwide brand, but what is most impressive is the creative energy that the 63-year-old continues to exert through the 26 collections he produces annually and his incredible success, which is based on a desire for individuality in an industry that has fallen victim to global homogenisation.

During the London Design Festival last year, Sir Paul was awarded the London Design Medal for his contribution to creativity. The recognition of a fashion designer for an award that has traditionally been reserved for luminaries of industrial design and architecture should be surprising, but given his incredibly diverse talent, which reaches far beyond impeccable Savile Row tailoring and signature candy striped shirts, Sir Paul has made a formidable contribution to the marriage between fashion and lifestyle. Since creating the Mondo table for Cappellini in 2003, he has designed everything from tableware to bicycles.

Like the famed Italian editor, architect and designer Gio Ponti, of whom Sir Paul is a fan, his appeal is his unorthodox character. “One of the things that was so interesting about Ponti was that he was so difficult to classify. He was a free spirit and approached things with a childlike curiosity,” he says “I’m not comparing myself to the great Ponti, but I always describe myself as having a childlike curiosity, I’m always asking questions and am very curious about things.

I think that Ponti had a very honest curiosity.”

Sir Paul is a likeable man. The Nottingham accent remains, giving a down-to-earth air, as he talks to designers at the Stockholm Furniture Fair, where he was chosen as this year’s Guest of Honour. He switches between careers advisor and classroom clown as he regales the audience with tales of pulling rubber chickens and train sets out of briefcases during meetings, and presents with pride images of a chaotic office brimming with books, boxes and knick knacks that he has accumulated over the years. However, as we speak before he leaves for Paris, it is apparent that while his creativity may be unbridled, his drive and focus is not.

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PHOTOGRAPHY: SANDRO SODANO

PROFILE

Clockwise from above: Paul Smith Globe store within Terminal 5 of London’s Heathrow Airport; Sir Paul Smith; Smith’s latest collaboration is the redesign of Arne Jacobsen’s iconic Cylinda line in celebration of Danish manufacturer Stelton’s 50th anniversary.

Beyond the quirkiness of kaleidoscopic suit lining, or a teacup emblazoned with roses, his foundations are rooted in tradition and quality – “classic with a twist” he suggests. “Because I never trained formally and all my teaching came from my wife Pauline, simplicity was always important for me. The turn of phrase ‘classic with a twist’ came about because I didn’t know how to design clothes that were extravagant in shape or cut, so I used simplicity. Instead, colour, humour and a sense of surprise became important. I like to take classics and imbue them with bold colours,” Sir Paul explains. From pinstripe furnishing fabric for it, to the striking shots of colour applied to Arne Jacobsen classics for Stelton’s new Cylinda collection, he remains true to form.

What also sets Sir Paul apart is that in today’s cookie-cutter society he remains vehemently individual. Forty years on, every element of the Paul Smith empire remains overseen by its founder, from the collections and collaborations, through to the architecture and decoration of each store. In 2007, he was awarded Honorary Fellowship of RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) in recognition of his store designs. Even the exhibitions that take place regularly within various Paul Smith boutiques worldwide are chosen by Sir Paul, who is a keen art aficionado. “I’m passionate about individuality, I always have been.

Among too many magazines, too many restaurants, too many designers, we

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have to find a way to do something that is special and interesting, otherwise we are all the same,” he stresses.

The designer’s Los Angeles store is a classic example. Located on Melrose Avenue, Hollywood’s famous busy east-west thoroughfare, Sir Paul’s challenge when designing the architecture was to create a store that would catch the attention of passing motorists. “I sat in a coffee shop in London, thinking about what to do in Los Angeles, because nobody walks, everybody drives and the roads are really long. I thought about building something that was really distinctive and strong,” he says. The solution? A bright pink box that stands out against the grey blandness of its neighbours.

Sir Paul waited around two decades before he finally acquired his dream retail outlet on Paris’s Rue de Grenelle. “I’d been walking past this empty cafe for the past 20 years and I kept thinking that it would be brilliant to have it as a shop, without doing anything to it. Eventually, after 20 years, the owner finally let me convert it into a shop. It’s so brilliant and charming.” The facade remains unchanged, bearing no evidence of its current proprietor, which Sir Paul admits does not help sales, but he is decidedly non-plussed.

The quaint, eclectic individuality of each shop is charming, of course, but more importantly it gives each its own identity, which Sir Paul believes is vital in

PROFILE

Clockwise from above: The bold exterior of Sir Paul Smith’s LA outpost on Melrose Avenue; clothes from the Spring/Summer 2010 collection; Maharam chair; the interior of the Paris boutique.

a world full of the same stores, same windows and same products, regardless of geography. There are two words that enrage him – corporate rollout. “My motto is ‘think global, act local’. We’ve seen the demise of companies that think that they can just role out the same model all around the world,” he says. “When I opened my Milan store, I remember Giulio Cappellini saying to me: ‘It’s really interesting, because within this triangle of stores, so many big designers have used celebrity architects to create their showrooms, but they don’t reflect the character of the brand. What is interesting about your shop is when you walk in, you know it’s a Paul Smith Shop because it’s full of humour, art and curiosities’.”

So what does Sir Paul have planned for his fourth Dubai store, which will open in The Mall of Emirates this September. He refuses to say, but you can be sure that it too will come with its own individual character and its own unique curios.

Just as Sir Paul’s stores inspired the birth of the concept store in the 1990s, today it is airport shopping that is under scrutiny. When the British Airports Authority approached the designer to open a shop in Heathrow’s Terminal 5, he agreed with one condition – that the store would open on his creative terms. Fitted out with original French chateau doors and filled with an array of novelties that people are more inclined to find at their exotic destination, rather than at duty-free shopping, Sir Paul’s pioneering venture will undoubtedly inspire airport boutiques of the future.

We sit on rose print chairs against a backdrop of floral photographs within the main hall of the Stockholm Furniture Fair. Sir Paul’s eye-catching installation is a vision in pink among the austerity of natural wood and white lacquer.

As he prepares for his departure to Paris to shop for fabrics for his next collection, I ask the man who claims “You can find inspiration in everything, and if you can’t, look again” what had inspired him so far today? “A lot of the Scandinavian designers are introducing a lot more colour than before. In this troubled world, optimism, colour and energy are a nice shot in the arm for us all.” ID

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VIP lounge, Terminal Five, Heathrow Airport.

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PROFILE

When can a designer truly be free in their work? When working for others they always encounter restrictions of some sort. However, as two projects by award-winning, London-based designer Katharine Pooley show, these freedoms and restrictions can be very different depending on whether the project is a private client’s home or a corporation’s public space.

At London’s Heathrow airport, Pooley’s company has designed VIP lounges for Terminals One, Three and Five. She was given the freedom many designers crave, as the airport managers took a hands-off approach, trusting her to create a space suitable for monarchs, presidents, pop icons and ambassadors, without interference. The designer responded by considering not what types of luxuries these people might be used to, but what she wants to find in an airport herself.

She concluded it was a home from home.

“It probably sounds selfish, but I don’t think of them, the people who will use it, I think of me,” she says. “I think: ‘What do I want?’ For me, what is important is a comfortable sofa to sit on, and what is comfortable on the eye. Sofas and soft furnishings soften the design a bit and accessories make it feel more like home.”

Pooley wanted to improve on the types of lounges found at most airports, which she considers dull. She has had plenty of experience of airport lounges – a former banker, the Briton was based in Hong Kong for 14 years, has lived in Bahrain, Vietnam and Singapore, and visited 200 countries.

“When you go to an airport you do feel like you are going to an airport, except for Bangkok and Hong Kong,” she says, “and people are getting tired of going to these grey-looking places, therefore, I wanted to create a very rich style.”

There are plenty of reds, golds, purples and other bright hues mixed with quieter tones of cream, white, brown and beige in her airport lounge designs.

Many surfaces, including the upholstered sofas and armchairs, are glossy to add glamour, and by adding accessories collected from her travels, she has tied in influences from Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. Abstract art, with colours matching the soft furnishings, complete the effect.

The restrictions she faced in designing Heathrow’s VIP lounges were practical. Hardwood furnishings, including tables and sideboards, feature and some walls are wood panelled, because people come and go, day and night, seven days a week, 365 days a year, many stumbling about with bags and

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Top to bottom: Kitchen of a Chelsea flat; VIP lounge, Terminal Five, Heathrow Airport.

laptops, and some spilling the occasional cup of tea. Therefore these spaces need to be hard wearing.

However, when it comes to creating a home for a private client, there are fewer practical restrictions on they types of materials used. “With a private property you have the freedom to make a beautiful design,” Pooley enthuses.

She feels her company has done this in central London, where she and her colleagues designed the interiors of a three bedroom conversion flat in a period building in Chelsea for a young couple. Their flat had been neglected for 30 years and so needed a thorough overhaul, which gave the designers a blank canvas to work with. But while a corporation may be happy to leave the design of its public spaces to the professionals, a private client having their home made over may have a few ideas of their own. It is much more personal, after all, they have to live with the final results.

“With a private client, you are always looking to what the client wants,” Pooley says. However, the client’s brief can sometimes be a starting point not a final vision, as happened with this property. “The client’s brief was for antiques and Swedish, but we have done neither,” the designer says. Indeed, if anything it is English and contemporary.

While the flat’s eventual style evolved over the course of the design process, decisions about its functions remained the same throughout. The owners wanted to fit a considerable amount of usage into their 180 square metres

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PROFILE

Left to right: Lounge of Chelsea flat; VIP lounge, Terminal Five, Heathrow.

home, so the designers worked hard to maximise the available space. Some rooms have dual functions – the kitchen is also the dining room; the master bedroom is also a study; in the hallway two window units overlooking a light-well double as bookshelves; floor-to-ceiling cabinets and wardrobes are integrated into walls throughout the flat to maximise available space; and one of the bedrooms became a gym.

The apartment was an awkward space to work on. Located on the first floor, it is long and narrow, and has no windows along one side. The main source of daylight comes through French windows overlooking Juliet balconies at the front of the property, so much of the kitchen and lounge have abundant natural light.

Deeper inside the flat, it becomes scarce.

To brighten these darker areas, the designers have installed plenty of light fittings and used a light-dark combination in their design to emphasise light. This centres on dark cabinetry complementing light walls and soft furnishings, especially in the lounge and bedrooms. The bathrooms and gym are painted white.

The kitchen is the brightest spot both for light and colour with white cabinets lining three walls. Light green glass wall panels by the work surfaces and polished concrete floors reflect light around the room, a light green, 1.5m-long, silk-bordered Swarovski chandelier hangs above the dining table and arranged around it are chairs upholstered in shades of red, green, blue or yellow.

The hallway has the least amount of natural light. Rows of books on shelves in front of two frosted windows overlook the light-well and reduce the already dim level of light entering the space still further, but their multi-coloured covers do brighten things up a bit. Small Swarovski lights are spaced along one side of the corridor floor, like emergency lights on a passenger plane, and spotlights in the ceiling add further sparkle. Mirrors, white painted walls and bleached hickory flooring complete the package of space and light enhancing design elements.

To make the best of limited space, the narrow lounge is given its own double life. Floor to ceiling cabinetry is fixed to the walls on either side of the room: on one side there is a sliding panel that can be pulled across to reveal a flat screen TV in the middle of the cabinet. The room’s lighting can be altered to suit different moods: it can be kept low by using lights behind the wall cabinetry’s orange, alabaster panels which produces a honeyed glow, or brightened up by using a chandelier and other lights.

“The more freedom artists have to do what they want to do, the more they do what other artists are doing,” American abstract painter Darby Bannard said, while another artist, Christo, said “art is a scream of freedom”. But there are no famous quotes connecting freedom and design.

While artists have the right, possibly the duty, to create stuff that is ‘useless’, designers do not. They have to consider function, and that means other people, practical materials, available spaces, deadlines and budgets. Designers are never meant to be free, but they can turn a prison into a palace, or, at least as Pooley’s work shows, dull and dusty spaces into something a whole lot prettier. ID

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Media relations Shifting consumer attitudes and lifestyles continue to transform home media setups, where complete mobility, state-of-the-art electronics and sleek designs transcend any earlier limitations.

TEXT: LISA VINCENTI

DESIGN FORMULA

CONTENTS: 45 No restraints 46 Movie nights 50 Outside the box office 52 Going mod 56 Mood lighting

London’s Soho Hotel features a private cinema with luxurious leather seating by Poltrona Frau.

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The simple, clean lines of Poliform’s latest wall system offer infinite possibilities.

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MEDIA ROOMS | DESIGN FORMULA

Over the past decade, hotels have proved a barometer for future design directions and trends in the residential market. The style lessons learnt in the hotels guests visited and restaurants they dined in hit home, leading them to introduce this hospitality lifestyle into their private domains, thus the reinvention of the master bedroom as a private sanctuary and the adjacent bathroom’s metamorphosis into a spa-like oasis.

However, when it came to media setups, hotels fell far behind what people were getting used to at home. The media experience at home has become increasingly mobile, inviting and seamless, not only blending in perfectly with the surrounding interior design but also offering homeowners yet another place to unwind. Multipurpose, sleek electronics, modular systems that continue to push the design envelope, revolutionary lighting options, and supremely flexible and comfortable seating prove the hallmarks of what is on the horizon for 2010.

“Post-recession and moving into autumn, we begin to celebrate and take pleasure in the comfort and joy of being at home,” notes UAE-based Shelley Pond, a trend forecaster and interior designer at UK forecast agency Scarlet Opus. “We start seeing our homes in new and exciting ways; an escape from our fast-paced modern lives, a place of different home and entertainment experiences that were once satisfied by going out. With this change in attitude, a growing trend in home cinema and media rooms emerges; extending what we have already seen of hotel and restaurant styling inspiration in bedrooms, home spa and dining-in trends, to other areas within our homes.”

NO RESTRAINTS

A quick look at the iF 2010 gold award winners, a renowned product and graphic design competition that is known for picking up coming trends, makes clear what we can expect from home entrainment equipment. Sophisticated designs are now de rigueur, but the most cutting-edge additions to the market also carry added functionality. Repeat iF gold recipient Apple changed the game for all home electronics, not just computers via the iPhone and iPod, which became models for new innovation. Because of this consumers have come to expect convenience, simplicity and intuitive controls, in addition to smart styling. iF award recipient Loewe’s spectacular Reference home audio setup is an undeniable show stopper. “Once again, a Loewe product has earned itself an iF gold award. Taken on their own, these extremely thin, floor-standing loudspeakers are a total design highlight. In conjunction with the other equipment in the range, they create a really strong impression, one that is unique in the audiovisual market,” write the iF judges of their selection.

But that is only half of the story. The Reference Mediacenter, with its CD/ DVD, iPod/iPhone, internet radio, DVB/FM radio and USB connection, is not just an all-in-one home entertainment system for the living room, it is also the core of the Loewe Multiroom System. The Mediacenter handles audio contents

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This rotatable mirror TV by ad notum pairs flexibility and elegant styling.

in the main room, while the Multiroom System ensures that audio contents can be transmitted freely throughout the home. Likewise, LG’s just-released HB965TZ home theatre system features not only super-slim speakers and a Blu-ray player, but also Wi-Fi connectivity and an iPod or iPhone dock.

“How we access and use media at home has been completely transformed,” says Amir Anwar of Dubai Audio, which carries high-end names like Loewe and Geneva. “Networking has been the single most important factor and requirement in any home media setup. Networks continue to hold the key to driving both expectations and growth in terms of adoption of these newer technologies. Consumer habits are being modified to the point where IT products and traditional media or audiovisual products are converging in terms of expectations and possible functionality.”

MOVIE NIGHTS

Design-driven boutique hotels sparked a new phenomenon in hotel design when they appeared in London and New York in the mid-1980s. These intimate, usually luxurious or quirky, spaces introduced a new level of high style and service to guests. American Ian Schrager, owner of the Morgans Hotel Group, is often credited with founding the boutique hotel, or at least generating the buzz that grabbed the world’s attention, when he transformed the Spanish Renaissance décor of the Executive Hotel into Morgans, a 113-room property dressed in its now signature black-and-white style by Andrée Putman, and recently reworked by her in a Dhs33 million renovation.

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By the time Starwood Hotels introduced its W brand in 1998 to satisfy consumers’ growing appetite for accessible style, a major trend was poised for takeoff. Leap ahead to 2010 and trendy accommodation has become the norm, but with such exposure, design hotels faced a major setback, so how do they continue to offer something fresh to guests? For some, the answer lies in the media and entertainment category, whether that means supplying the basics, offering an extra luxury or showing off the bleeding edge of design.

“For years the technology consumers have had at home has far exceeded what they can access when they check into a hotel,” says Michael Stano from San Francisco’s Joie de Vivre hotel group. “Consumers are using the internet to access more than just email and search content; rather, to access a variety of on-demand, web-based entertainment options such as YouTube, HULU and Netflix. We’re giving them an extremely easy-to-use portal to access all of that in their rooms and leave their laptops at home.”

According to proprietary data just released by iBahn, a digital entertainment and internet solutions provider for the hospitality industry, guests are spending 60 per cent more time on the internet than in earlier years, doing everything from downloading music and videos to reading the news. In addition, based on earlier surveys by Ypartnership, which conducted the survey for iBahn, guests who have a poor online experience at a hotel, will not return.

“Even through the down economy we have continued to invest in the guest experience,” says Chip Conley, Joie de Vivre’s founder and CEO. “This initiative takes guestroom technology far beyond what anyone else we know is doing right now.”

DESIGN FORMULA | MEDIA ROOMS

Top to bottom: This private home theatre by Goldmund features state-of-the-art technology and futuristic pop; MCZ’s new Scenerio mirror TV/fireplace introduces a sophisticated alternative to traditional flat screens.

At the small chain’s Citizen Hotel, the company installed Mac Mini computers with 107 centimetre flat screen televisions, wireless keyboards and streamlined remotes – in addition to having unfettered access to the internet.

Starwood Hotels has just signed a deal with German audio-maker Sonoro to include its stylish Elements radio alarm clock in W Hotels. In addition to its handcrafted wood casing and glossy, lacquered piano finish, Elements features an internet FM radio and iPod docking station. Meanwhile Kempinski hotels has opted for Bang & Olufsen set-ups in many of its properties, some of which include Bose iPod docking stations. For its recently opened accommodations in Croatia, it decked out all rooms with Bang & Olufsen BeoVision televisions. One of the Kempinski Adriatic’s two Presidential suites is equipped with a sprawling BeoVision, two BeoLab 5 loudspeakers, two BeoCenter 2 entertainment centres.

Such in-room features are likely to become the mainstream within the next few years.

Some hotels are entering fresh territory when it comes to the guest entertainment experience and offering visitors a taste of the future. In Las Vegas, the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino’s newly opened Tower Suites, where the owners say “sophistication and fantasy reign supreme”, has taken the media experience to an extreme. In partnership with Skullcandy, a maker of hip audio headphones, the HRH Tower Suites in-room music system lets guest sample a special playlist created by Skullcandy on its Sound Matters Sound Bar, an AMX 30 centimetre touch panel music system with iPod dock that includes over 2,000 HRH-owned songs and playlists.

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DESIGN FORMULA | MEDIA ROOMS

Kempinski Hotel Adriatic decks out its presidential suites with iPod docking stations and Bang & Olufsen’s BeoVision TV/audio system.

But the icing on the cake is the specialty penthouses, which put high-resolution video displays to new uses. In the Provocateur Suite, one of eight themed penthouses, sensors detect when someone lies on the bed, and immediately produces silhouette images elsewhere on the bed. In another suite, a sensor and tracking system projects images directly onto a billiards table, displaying corresponding animation that makes it appear the game is being played on water or fire, among other effects. The Altered States Suite leverages 11 video projectors to create a 360-degree, wraparound interactive video environment influenced by music and motion. As the style of music or the activities of the room’s occupants change, the system intuitively alters the display images to match.

Between the glitz and blare of the Hard Rock and more standard room amenities such as iPod docking stations and computer setups, another generation of boutique hotels are adding a third, more chic layer of invention to capture the attention of the fashionable crowd. In New York, the Tribeca Grand offers a private screening room as well as complete connectivity. The iSuites are fully-loaded with Apple gear including a G5 computer outfitted with film, photo and sound editing software, as well as iSight cameras, a user-friendly video conferencing camera with integrated microphone that will allow guests to have face-to-face chats, and an iPod and Bose SoundDock digital music system.

However, it is the Grand’s private screening room, with seating for 100 that really captures the imagination.

“The Charlotte Street Hotel was the first hotel in London to offer a screening room and it certainly enhanced our guests’ experience,” says Madelein Duxbury

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of the Firmdale group of hotels, which includes Charlotte Street, Covent Garden and Soho hotels in London.

“I have never been to a cinema that I have enjoyed being in – except in the dark. I really wanted to design a cinema that I wanted to sit in when the lights go up,” adds Kit Kemp, co-owner and design director for Firmdale, who introduced Poltrona Frau Italian leather seats in the Firmdale hotel cinemas.

“Having wide, extremely comfortable seats and a lot of leg room makes for a very luxurious experience” OUTSIDE THE BOX OFFICE

For those that can afford a dedicated cinema room, there are now no limitations and some are taking a far less traditional approach to the screening room. Forget the days of rows of individual seats with built in cup holders and red velvet drapes, new personal cinemas are taking inspiration from the major design trends that have swept through design fairs in the past year.

For one private installation underway in St Petersburg, the challenge was to create a screening room based on organic forms and nature. “Entering the room is like experiencing a spacewalk: infinity and the depth of the black sky; clouds of galaxies on dark blue walls; plush white carpet underfoot; and gentle streams soft light,” notes the designer, PIC Gallery in St Petersburg, of the cosmic creation.

With rounded corners and soft edges, the cinema room clearly has taken pointers from the furniture fairs in Paris, Milan and Frankfurt, where more

Media centre by Molteni.

organic and feminine shapes began taking hold, and futuristic statements were cast in a subdued and more inviting note.

With a five-star sound system by Swiss-based Goldmund, the St Petersburg residence includes 46 speakers to completely immerse movie-goers in the experience. Additionally, advances by companies like Goldmund have allowed for increased flexibility and creativity in the design of home media rooms, where furniture and speakers no longer have to be placed in a certain location to achieve optimal sound. This allows designers more leeway in their media room designs and even the furnishings they pick.

Fresh cinema room designs will forgo the classic row of theatre seats, opting for more casual arrangements in their place. For the St Petersburg screening room, contemporary, over-sized round armchairs and oblong sofas comprise the viewing area. The overall effect is cosmic cool. “The light dies away and we are completely plunged into a film atmosphere where only the image and sound exist,” PIC Gallery notes. “Walls disappear, cease to exist and do not distract the attention of a viewer, making him a participant of events, the protagonist. It is a comfortable space-cocoon in which the person is completely immersed in another reality.”

Even if the St Petersburg setup is out of reach, the media room in all homes is undergoing change. “Media rooms are becoming more open and light in their styling, and are therefore much more inviting spaces to spend time in,” says Victoria Redshaw, Scarlet Opus’ founder. “Rather than trying to recreate cinema styling we are seeing a move towards a less gimmicky and certainly less ostentatious styling that is all about coming together and sharing in a comfortable space that is increasingly a hybrid room that houses gaming entertainment as

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well as a home cinema. This is all about simple pleasures made possible via high-tech developments.”

Or imagine the home media room serving as a relaxation lounge like the one conceived by Italy’s International Friends Corporate (IFC) for Salone Internazionale della Piscina last year in Barcelona. The Water Wellness Lounge included a low-table, a few chairs and three large screens: a peaceful atmosphere with the soothing sounds of nature and a changing panoramic view of water, fire, land and air.

GOING MOD

When architect-turned-critic-turned-industrial designer George Nelson dreamed up Storagewall, a new concept for modern living, he created a sensation that landed him in the pages of Architectural Forum magazine and Life magazine in 1945. Herman Miller founder DJ Depree was so impressed by what he read that he paid a visit to Nelson and convinced him to be director of design for the now ubiquitous, mid-century styled Herman Miller furnishings.

Under Nelson’s leadership the company produced designs by heavy-hitters such as Ray and Charles Eames, Harry Bertoia, Richard Schultz, Donald Knorr and Isamu Noguchi.

But it all began with Storagewall. The concept for Storagewall came to Nelson while penning a book, Tomorrow’s House, alongside Henry Wright, in which he proposed the novel idea of the “family room”. Nelson, a multidisciplinary thinker and questioner of the status quo, posed the question “what’s inside the wall?” He began pondering the wall, an unused interior space that could serve

MEDIA ROOMS | DESIGN FORMULA

Meystyle’s just introduced LED wallpaper collection combines LED lights and crystals for a fantastic, atmospheric backdrop.

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Top to bottom: Molteni&C updates its modular 505 wall-system designed by Luca Meda; Philippe Stark makes over the wireless speakers and iPhone docking station with an inventive twist for Zikmu Parrot.

a much more functional purpose. In fact, as post-war consumerism began to surge, people’s homes filled with the clutter of this new prosperity, and Nelson’s creative and non-architectural solution was Storagewall, an oeuvre inspired by the shelving systems found in drugstores, hardware and grocery stores.

Storagewall was a leap forward and organised storage with tube lights, curved corners (for easy cleaning), separated doors, variety in defined spaces and offered a comfortable place for everything. When Nelson joined Depree he was asked to conceive a similar system for Herman Miller and the result was the Comprehensive Storage Solution (CSS). CSS featured tension rods between the floor and ceiling, with no attachment to a wall. Configured with multiple components including shelves, storage cabinets and files that could be used in any part of the house, as well as in offices or at exhibitions.

But CSS did much more than provide a modernist framework to reduce clutter; it provided the first instance of modular design (an approach that divides a system into smaller parts that can be independently created and used in different manners) and a forerunner of “systems” furnishings. Many of the top Italian names (including MisuraEmme, Tissetanta and Lema), have continually pushed the design envelope. In fact, after decades of introducing one ingenious system after another, there seems no end to the infinite possibilities of this old workhorse, which is today essential to the minimalist setting. What’s more, the continuous introduction of new home-entertaining products has produced a new breed of sophisticated models that allow the clutter of audio and visual gear to disappear behind chic sliding doors, or at least hides all the cables and paraphernalia.

At Lema, a designer of furniture systems whose design director is the renowned Piero Lissoni, one of most flexible and popular storage solutions

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Jesper Godsk Creative Partner, LW Design Group

LW Design Group has been at the forefront of hospitality interior design in Dubai for a decade, and this inspiring collection of some of its favourite projects showcases the company’s most renowned and stylish spaces – and the UAE’s voracity for cutting-edge design.

Available at major Gulf bookstores

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PO Box 2331 Dubai UAE Tel +971 4 282 4060 Fax +971 4 282 7898 books@motivate.ae

Top to bottom: With its built-in TV and PC, Hi-Can reworks the traditional canopy bed; LEMA art director PIerro Lissoni interprets the wall system in his signature minimalist style.

is the Selecta, a library of vertical and horizontal panels. Building off one basic structure, a bookcase, it can morph into complex configurations that can serve as room dividers or a wall shelves. Tissetanta’s Acropolis, a new version of which was showcased at this year’s Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan, was designed by Paolo Piva. The fitted wall unit brings out the beauty inherent in its wall-grid structure, an elegant play on geometries and asymmetry. A lighting system can be applied to its compartments while the shelving can be either a wafer thin 2.8 centimetres or a bold, chunky 6 centimetres. Sliding doors, now available in leather and cuoietto finish, offer a refined solution.

The storage wall has come a long way since Nelson and is likely to change even more if 2010’s new offerings are any indicator.

“There is an increasing need for products to adapt and change with our changing lifestyles,” Redshaw says. “Furniture in particular needs to offer versatility and flexibility, and provide solutions to our everyday practical problems, making life easier and supporting our needs, working with us rather than simply being inanimate objects.”

MOOD LIGHTING

Soft technology is another important direction that surfaced during the home fairs earlier this year and its application is ideal for the media room. Forecaster Milou Ket, from APS Media Group, predicted at the end of last year that “soft technology” would be a driving force of interior designs in 2010.

“This young direction in almost acid pastel colours is influenced by the colours of technology, as in a laboratory. White is indispensable in colour combinations to obtain a fresh and clean effect. We see different interpretations: from clean and modern, sometimes even futuristic based on the results of modern technology… The effect of light is very important,” Ket noted. “A soft artificial effect of colours seen through a transparent or translucent synthetic material is the key. Artificial materials such as glass, plastic, Plexiglas, silicone and rubber give such a diffused, yet colourful effect to obtain a modern result.”

In the media room, such mood lighting was once the providence of the entertainment system, where backlit television sets glowed blue, green or red, but techno-infused ambient lighting options have moved well beyond early

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applications. The modular Asami sofa by Italian furniture maker Colico, which can be used outdoors as well, is right on point. It incorporates LED lights into a translucent base and, controlled by a remote, you can change the Asami’s colour as often as you wish, setting the mood as the evening requires.

There are also other innovations, such as LED wallpaper, that began cropping up in special installations such as those created by the German-born artist/ designer Ingo Maurer in 2006-2007, and Dutch designer Jonas Samson, who gained the attention of design blogs with his conceptual LED wallpaper, which he has just begun taking orders for. At British-based Lomox, which expects to be able to sell its LED wallpapers by 2012, the wallpaper, which uses less electricity than conventional lighting, has a chemical coating to produce a glow that mimics natural sunlight and the brightness of the paper can be controlled by a dimmer switch.

Already on the market are visually striking LED wallpapers by Meystyle, which integrates LED lights and crystals into its work. Digital designs are printed onto synthetic fabric for the wallpaper and can be complemented by matching designs for upholstery and cushions.

“The low level lighting adds an aesthetic quality but also provides a spatial marker at night when all other lights are off,” notes Ekaterina Yaschuk, a spatial designer and co-founder of UK-based Meystyle. “The digital prints are futuristic especially in their treatment of colour gradation, but often take the dramatic scale of 1970s interior prints as their starting point. The use of Swarovski crystals accentuates the impact of the LEDs as the two work in harmony to create a dramatic statement.”

Whether for its functional role of infusing a room with a subtle glow or for its aesthetic effect, mood lighting helps create a more soothing atmosphere.

“The home media room satisfies a growing desire to take a step back and take time-out from our intense interactions with the rest of the world,” Redshaw points out. “We anticipate a mental and physical withdrawal into the privacy of our homes to reassess our priorities and enjoy a sense of sanctuary. Essentially we need to take stock and have a ‘time-out’.

“Perhaps most importantly, the media room offers a sense of much needed escapism from the worries and drudgery of everyday life. We can escape to another world within our homes whenever we want with the minimum of effort.” ID

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Design sources apple.com; tel: (04) 434 0440 artcoustic.com; tel: (04) 397 6615 bang-olufsen.com; tel: (04) 342 2344 bose.com; tel: (04) 339 8339 colico.com design-eu.com dubaiaudio.com; tel: (04) 343 1441 hermanmiller.com; tel: (04) 283 3040 ibahn.com; tel: (04) 501 5546 ingo-maurer.com goldmund.com lge.com; tel: (04) 881 2191 loewe-uk.com lomox.co.uk meystyle.com: (04) 397 6615 misuraemme.it parrot.com poliform.it; tel: (04) 334 4611 poltronafrau.it; tel: (02) 635 9393 rochebobois.com; tel: (04) 336 6172 scarletopus.com skullcandy.com tisettanta.com

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For a luxurious statement, Bang & Olufsen’s BeoVision TV and audio collection is now available in gold.

The art of reconstruction New York-based SpaceSmith converted a delapidated dental office into a colourful Parisian pied-à-terre that feeds the occupants’ need to be surrounded by art. TEXT: IAN PHILLIPS PHOTOGRAPHY: VINCENT LEROUX STYLING: CHRISTÈLE AGEORGES

Lving room: Blue and yellow Jesus Soto sculpture Mual Luna, made from metal rods and nylon thread; Metropolitan chair by Jeffrey Bernett for B&B Italia; Omnia Apta sofa by Antonio Citterio for B&B Italia; Ministeel sidetable by Carlo Colombo for Cappellini; purple laquered metal sculpture in niche by Venezuelan artist Rafael Barrios; back wall clad with blackened steel, brick and concrete.

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DESIGN@LARGE

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Left to right: Bedroom artwork by Rafael de Paul; armchair and ottoman

by Antonio Citterio for B&B Italia; light from Flos; freijo wood understairs storage unit.

It was while studying at the New York School of Interior Design that Kosovo-born decorator Violeta Lekutanoy realised just how much art meant to her. “Any time we had to find inspiration,” she recalls, “it came from art, whether it was a colour scheme or something more meaningful.” One of her assignments saw her come up with a design for the apartment of a hypothetical collector and she filled her scheme with provocative works of art, such as a torturous self-portrait by Egon Schiele and a sculpture of an angel wearing a gas mask by John Lekay. “For me,” she says, “the project was heaven.”

Thus, the 37-year-old was in her element when presented with her first job after joining the New York-based architectural practice SpaceSmith. It was to help decorate the Parisian pied-à-terre of a Latin American entrepreneur and epicurean, who not only loves fine wine and dining, but also has a stunning collection of art. Among the works he wanted to integrate into the space were an imposing sculpture by Jesus Soto, paintings by Robert Matta, Francisco Hung and Rafael de Paul, several Boteros and Picassos, a Vik Muniz photo and a shiny sculpture of a huge candy by Laurence Jenkell.

“He loves being surrounded by art and doesn’t treat it as special,” Lekutanoy says. “He just lives with it. Some people are like: ‘Don’t touch!’ but with him, you’re never just an observer. You can hold a Picasso, you can run your fingers through a Soto. You really get to experience art.”

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The project was not SpaceSmith’s first for the man in question. In general, the firm concentrates on commercial work, be they high-end boutiques for the likes of Liz Claiborne and Polo Ralph Lauren, or new offices for the New York City fire department at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. However, they had previously teamed up with Brazilian architect Arthur Casas to work on the same client’s New York residence – an apartment on one of the upper floors of Manhattan’s tallest residential skyscraper, the CitySpire Center on 56th Street. The colour palette there is dominated by soothing neutrals and earth tones.

The Paris flat, meanwhile, is located on one of the French capital’s most elegant shopping streets, Avenue Montaigne. The client apparently bought the 330 square metre duplex sight unseen. It had formerly been home to a dental office. “It was dilapidated,” recalls Michel Franck, SpaceSmith’s managing principal. “It was just a mess.”

There were still dentist’s chairs scattered around and small, dark, dreary rooms and the two levels were connected by just a tiny service staircase.

Working once more with Casas, Franck decided to strip the space back to its bare bones, and this included taking out what was left in terms of historical detailing and mouldings. “They weren’t really elaborate,” Franck notes. “Of course, we could have recreated a traditional décor, but that’s not who the client is. It’s not our aesthetic either.”

DESIGN@LARGE

“I don’t want the Paris apartment to be the same as the New York apartment. It has to be different”

Muai Luna sculpture by Jesus Soto.

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Left to right: Photo by Vik Muniz; freijo wood and leather desk custom designed

by Michel Franck and Violeta Lekutanoy; die-cast aluminium lamp Tab T for Flos by Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby; Lotus desk chair by Jasper Morrison for Cappellini; SpaceSmith’s Managing Principal Michel Franck and decorator Violeta Lekutanoy.

Instead, they opted for a clean, contemporary and understated look. They also aimed to create the largest rooms possible in order to show off the art to its best advantage. Downstairs is an open living room, a kitchen and the master suite. Upstairs is a family room and bedrooms for each of the owner’s three children. Air-conditioning was installed at the behest of the client and the sophisticated lighting system conceived with the help of the New York-based firm Kugler Ning. Otherwise, the brief was relatively simple.

“The owner said: ‘I don’t want the Paris apartment to be the same as the New York apartment. It has to be different’,” Franck says. More than anything, he wanted vibrant colours.

Downstairs, Franck and Lekutanoy had to fight to impose more subdued hues. “It took a bit of convincing the client,” Lekutanoy says. “The art works are so strong and we didn’t want to do anything to distract from them.” Centre stage was already the striking blue and yellow Soto, and in the end the owner agreed, on the condition that the upper level fizzed with colour. A lemon sofa was placed in the family room and the children’s rooms were adorned with flashes of primary hues.

True to form, Lekutanoy developed palettes inspired by different works of art.

An 1840 Turner watercolour entitled Venice at Sunrise from the Hotel Europa, with the Campanile of San Marco provided the starting point for the living room. The tones in the master bedroom come from an Schiele portrait of a

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woman and those upstairs from a still life of apples and pears by Belgian fauvist Rik Wouters. Meanwhile, a rug in one of the children’s rooms was directly influenced by a Mark Rothko painting.

When it came to the furnishings, Franck and Lekutanoy deliberately adapted a low-key approach. A perfect example is the organic dining table, whose top was made from a single slab of acacia wood, which Lekutanoy went to the yard in Brooklyn to handpick herself. Attention was also given to storage. Suitcases can easily be stowed away in flap-down drawers located in the base of custom beds.

Under the stairs is a little cabinet that can be used for housing glasses and drinks.

Throughout, the pair also chose to use a number of luxurious materials.

The handrail of the stairs is clad with shagreen and the floor in the entrance hall is covered with white leather tiles, which contrast with the building’s more traditional public areas. “Rather than walking onto another wood floor or hard surface, I wanted a soft floor that exudes light,” Franck explains. “It’s an element of surprise that takes you into another world.”

As for Lekutanoy, she refers to the project as “an unforgettable experience”.

That said, the last time she went to Paris, she turned up at the flat in the dark and couldn’t remember how the complex lighting system worked. “I was trying to press all these buttons and hit the one that highlights all the works of art,” she remembers. “I turned around and saw this beautiful blue Soto sculpture and I swear, I gasped. It’s so breathtakingly beautiful, I had tears in my eyes.” ID

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Books

idProperty Reverso for Novello

Contents: 68 Ecological design explosion 72 Antennae 74 Portfolio 80 Inch by inch

May 2010

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Ecological design explosion Marco Piva, the prolific Italian architect and industrial designer, speaks to identity about his creative ethos, the growing need for green design and his multitude of projects. TEXT: DOROTHY WALDMAN

Rawdhat Residential Towers â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Abu Dhabi

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INTERNATIONAL | idProperty

May 2010

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Clockwise from left: Altreforme’s Arbat table; Marco Piva; Porto Dubai.

“The aim is to do something, not because it is new, but to do something that is better,” Marco Piva says. “It could be something more efficient, or something with a high level of functionality.”

The internationally renowned Italian architect does not see the value of designing a product merely for the sake of giving it a new shape or to follow a trend. Rather, his philosophy is to design things that are simple, elegant and not linked to a particular fashion. He designs for the long-term. “We have discovered that certain products [we have designed] have been on the market for years. But to do something like this, it takes a big effort, not only from the design point of view, but also from the production point of view. You have to deal with a company and sometimes push them beyond their limits of materials or shapes or production methodology,” Piva says.

The result is that many companies approach him to design for them, making his list of new projects a lengthy compendium of creative thinking. At the recent Salone Milano, his first collaboration with Altreforme was launched at an installation of his creation. The young design company, the brainchild of Valentina Fontana, whose family designs and manufactures aluminium car bodies for brands such as Ferrari and Jaguar, has expanded its award-winning collection, with Piva’s designs of objects fabricated solely from aluminium.

“It is very new,” he says. “We are presenting a full family of objects for the interior – libraries, shelves, tables, chairs, lamps. Everything is made of only one material but with a specific kind of colouring and texture.” The purpose is

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to give a new value to the aluminium that expresses the surface qualities of the metal with a different range of colours that highlight its characteristics rather than covering them.

Additionally, since only one material is used, each piece can be recycled without affecting the environment, a passionate concern of the industrial designer. “There has been a constant evolution of materials. Now there is awareness that we cannot destroy the planet. Products should not be negative to the community in terms of the cost and power needed to manufacture them. You have to be aware of these limits. This is a different ethic in the approach to design,” Piva says. “I don’t think we are going to lose anything in quality of design, In fact, we can achieve more.”

One example of this is another of his projects. “We are using wood in a different way. We are combining materials with a surprise inside,” the designer says. And the surprise inside is a heating mechanism, making it possible to control temperatures up to 40˚C – ideal for spas, floors or seating at sports venues. “Wood is a very natural material so we are only using wood that can be regenerated – nothing exotic. You can use materials that have been used for a 1,000 years, but in a different way. This is a different approach to design,” Piva adds.

Another project that required the development of an innovative production process is the Miss You chair he designed for Pedrali, which is made of moulded bicolour polycarbonate. “It is the first time ever the contemporary combining of two colours in just one material [has been used],” Piva says of the lightweight

INTERNATIONAL | idProperty

Clockwise from left: Altreforme’s Libreria modular system; Miss You chair; wooden radiator.

chair that appears like almost an apparition framed by a coloured ribbon.

He enjoys the challenge of working with light and expanding existing technology, for instance, a new range for Vitrum introduced at the Milan Salone is “glass made with a suspension of silver, which is aimed to kill bacteria”. “It is absolutely cleanable and has an LED light behind so when you are nearby, it lights up,” Piva says.

On the architectural side, he is deeply involved in preparing his native city for the Milan World Exposition 2015. “Many things are happening in Milan. It is like the Dubai of a couple of years ago. Milan has been working a lot with design, and fashion, production and product design, but not so much in architecture.

But now the city is under construction everywhere,” Piva says. “That is positive. There is a changing of attitude. We are open to the idea that different approaches of architecture should be developed.

“The theme of the Exposition is Feeding the Planet, so the idea is to realise a place where all the world can be fed. It sounds a long way from architecture, but it is not. We are working close to the exhibition area on two projects, including one of the most prestigious hotels in Europe, the Excelsior Galia, next to the major railway station in Milan.” Piva adds. It is going to be one huge block.

We are designing it for the future – a combination of a traditional building [which will be restored] and a new one with a contradiction of shapes and materials.”

And, of course, Piva is working on a new concept for the Milan 2015 project.

“It is going to be a glass made, light projection. It will have a huge spa on the top

of it. And in the evening it will present a roof that will be lit up like a collection of diamonds on the top of the building,” he says. “In Milan we like the concept of an aperitif, happy hour and a late dinner, so we thought of the concept of this huge roof open on to the square to gather people.”

And if this were not enough to keep his creative juices flowing, he is also finishing a reconversion project near Venice. “The region said: ‘We don’t want any more shopping malls in the area’, so we transformed it to a mix-use building. There is a residential part of it with fantastic terraces overlooking the land of Treviso. There is a hotel, a little residential hotel. Then there will be a shopping centre and a spa,” Piva says.

He is also designing a football stadium made of glass and, although he will not divulge the club it is for, Piva will say that it will be, “friendly and family oriented, not an ugly, violent place. It is a place you can go and spend time with your family.”

He is involved in numerous projects in the Gulf, including the two glass Rawdhat Residential towers in Abu Dhabi, each consisting of two modern volumes connected to each other as a solid mass, with vertical and horizontal lines, designed to promote individuality and providing social and wellness areas.

Meanwhile, his island development of Porto Dubai is also progressing, as is a major tower project for a Qatari owner.

With so much going on, we can only hope that Piva has the time to relax in what he calls “a magical space related to water” – his new Moove collection of bathroom furniture for Jacuzzi. ID

May 2010

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idProperty | ANTENNAE

In the East it is all boom, boom, boom, while in the West it is all doom, doom, doom. Or is it? Some things are never that simple. TEXT: RICHARD WARREN

CARRY ON AS USUAL

TANTALISING TURKEY UP AND DOWN

It doesn’t matter about Britain’s general election result. Labour, Conservative, hung Parliament, they all add up to the same thing – business as usual in the long term. The housing policies of the major parties are not so far apart to cause major ructions in the property market in the short term either, as nobody wants to replace the concept of homeownership with state-controlled communes.

What’s important is how the economy is managed over the course of the new parliament. Failure to pay off a big chunk of the national debt may lead to a collapse in sterling. If so, this opens up opportunities for overseas-based buyers, because British property prices will be much less expensive.

Equally, if the economy recovers and debts are paid that will bolster the housing market, good news for anyone buying into it early. So, either way, the long term future looks bright for overseas buyers of British homes.

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It’s boom and bust all at once in China. The world’s three fastest growing housing markets are all in the Middle Kingdom, according to Knight Frank. Prices leapt 52 per cent in Shanghai, 47 per cent in Beijing and 40 per cent in Hong Kong in 2009, growth that was way ahead of everywhere else. China’s economic boom is enabling millions of Chinese to get a foot on the property ladder and ongoing migration from the countryside to the cities will ensure demand remains high for years to come, commentators say. But, there is another story – in late 2009 sales of repossessed homes were growing faster in China than anywhere else in the world, as victims of earlier speculative bubbles had properties seized by mortgage lenders. Hong Kong has had many bubbles and is restricting lending to stop another forming – worryingly, prices continue to rise.

The centuries old rivalry between Greece and Turkey has been given an extra tweak. While the Greek economy contracts and the country has its debt rating downgraded to BBB+, the lowest in the EU, so Turkey’s economy expands and its debt rating is raised to BB. That is still below Greece, but the positive momentum means property investors feel more confident about investing in Turkey than in the economically troubled Greece, estate agents say. Istanbul, Europe’s City of Culture 2010, is proving particularly attractive to investors who believe the city’s ongoing problem with not being able to build enough homes for its ever-expanding population means property prices will rise in the years ahead. Estate agency Experience International says the easy availability of mortgage finance to both Turks and foreigners, low interest rates and a stable banking system make Turkey attractive.

BITTER SWEET

HOUSE SWAP

The news from Spain is still pain. It has more repossessed homes for sale than anywhere else in Europe. To put this into its gloomy context, by the end of 2009 Spanish house prices were back down to 2004 levels, the Global Property Guide reports, and they fell another 1.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2010. However, not everyone has lost faith in the potent combination of sun, sand and sangria. US-based Registry Collection, an exchange programme that allows members to use each other’s holiday homes, has linked up with a leisure community near Cadiz, the Arcos Gardens Golf Club and Country Estates, where Novaterra Resorts is building 535 homes. Here, fractional home owners will be allowed to swap time spent at this resort for time at the Registry Collection’s 175 schemes around the world. Prices start at Dhs989,000 for a one-eighth fractional share of a four-bedroom villa at Arcos Gardens.

Already half of homes sold in the United States are repossessions and this proportion looks likely to rise. The London-based Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) says the US would have had the fastest rate of increase in distressed property sales in the world in the first three months of 2010. Specialist property funds are hoovering many of them up in the expectation of selling them for a profit later but they may need to be patient. Rising repossession rates will contribute to US house prices falling five per cent in 2010, consultancy Capital Economics says. However, there is some relief from the misery, The Wealth Report, published by Citi and Knight Frank, says New York has overtaken London to become the world’s most successful city based on economic activity, political power and the role of its media and educational institutions. That must be good news for the Big Apple’s housing market.

MALTESE MAGNET

CAMBODIAN ‘RIVIERA’

From the Pope to punk-rave icons the Prodigy, everyone seems to be heading to Malta these days and second home buyers are arriving, too.

Maltese estate agents say Italians are coming over to buy second homes and South Africans, concerned about security in their home country, want bolt-holes on the island. Malta uses the euro and has been a much easier place for Europeans to buy a home since it joined the EU and now Britons, who became scarce when sterling plummeted against the euro, are trickling back. Website www.maltabuyproperty. co.uk hopes British entrepreneurs will make the island a permanent base to escape Britain’s new, higher 50 per cent income tax rate that compares unfavourably with Malta’s 15 per cent flat rate. The Irish have yet to make a come back, however, because economic troubles at home have sapped their buying power abroad.

Cambodia wants to create Asia’s “first environmentally friendly resort island.” Scott Wilson, a consultancy firm, is carrying out an environmental impact survey on the island of Koh Rong and will develop infrastructure to support tourism development, including an airport and marina. Two golf courses are also planned.

Developer The Royal Group is calling the 80 square kilometre island, which is a boat ride away from the mainland coastal town of Sihanoukville, the “next Asian Riviera.” If and when Cambodia relaxes laws on foreign property ownership this island may become popular with overseas holiday home buyers, because it will only be a three-hour flight from Singapore and Hong Kong. For now, foreigners can only buy land or leasehold property, but a slump in Cambodia’s property market in the last couple of years may persuade the government to open its doors wider to overseas buyers.

RETIREMENT HAVEN

The worst election violence in the country’s history may have preceded this month’s elections in The Philippines, but that has not put off investors from buying into its holiday resorts, including Continent Fairways on Borocay Island.

Demand for second homes in The Philippines is also boosted by an influx of retirees. The Philippine Retirement Authority is expanding its marketing campaign to persuade more foreigners to live out their days in the country where they can enjoy “the good life at an affordable cost.”

Foreign retirees need a deposit of Dhs37,000 and a monthly pension of Dhs3,000 per month, or a Dhs184,000 deposit, to qualify for the scheme.

You do not even need to be “old”, as it is open to anyone aged 35 years and above. The retirement programme has been running for 25 years, so it ought to survive this month’s election result.

May 2010

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Open door policy With new hotels on the horizon and new home completions set to come onto the market, the Middle East continues to attract investment in the real estate and property sectors. TEXT: LYNN DAVIS

Top to bottom: Al Ain Convention Centre; HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE armed forces at Cityscape Abu Dhabi.

AWARD WINNERS

Top honours have been awarded to outstanding projects at the Cityscape Awards for Real Estate in the MENA region. The Yas Hotel in Abu Dhabi, which is wrapped in a cloak of colour-changing LED lights above the F1 race track, captured the prize for the Best Commercial, Office, Retail Built Development. Burj Khalifa and Downtown Dubai by Emaar Properties won the Best Mixed Use Development.

CONVENE IN AL AIN

A natural, sustainable environment with open spaces connected by walkways, car-free areas and a waterway are key elements in the design of the Al Ain Convention Centre District, a Dhs3.5 billion project by the Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company.

Construction has commenced on phase one of the project, which will ultimately include the convention centre, a cultural centre, hotels, commercial and residential buildings and multi-storey car parks, and was designed by architects Shankland Cox. PREMIER EVENT

Ground has been broken at ADNEC’s Capital Centre for Abu Dhabi’s first Premier Inn, a 242-room, Dhs120 million, value hotel, marking the company’s fourth hotel in the region. Darroch Crawford,

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PHOTOGRAPHY: CHRISTOPHER FREDERICK JONES

PORTFOLIO | idProperty

Clockwise from above: Cedre Villas; Eco House; Yas Hotel.

managing director of Premier Inn Middle East, said: “Capital Centre’s excellent infrastructure and proximity to Abu Dhabi’s superb new events facility makes it an ideal location for Premier Inn.”

that will include an athlete’s village, restaurants and retail facilities, as well as a 400-berth marina.

PERMANENT VACATION

STERLING WORK

The Cristal Hotel in Abu Dhabi is now part of the Preferred Hotel Group and is the first hotel in the Middle East to become a member of Sterling Hotels’ Sterling Design group. This is a collection of fashionable boutique hotels around the world that focus on modern and contemporary style, distinctive architecture, bold interiors and state-of-the-art technology.

BEACH BALL

Millennium Hotels and Resorts will operate its first hotel in Oman, a fourstar, 250-room facility being constructed in Musannah, near Muscat, the site of the 2010 Asian Beach Games. The hotel, which will be complete in time for the Games in December, will be part of a one million square metre site

The Emirates Vacation Club is now affiliated with the Interval Leisure Group, a worldwide provider of vacation services. The club’s first phase consists of 32 luxury units in the 48-storey Emirates Grand Hotel. The hotel’s Suites Tower features a rotating glass entrance and hand crafted wooden wall panels in the lobby. “Our vision is to provide an outstanding level of luxury at affordable prices that appeal to consumers from around the world. Our initial primary markets include the Middle East, Europe, and Asia,” said Ashraf El Zarqa, Chief Operating Officer for Emirates Grand.

MOVIE NIGHT

A 105 square metre outdoor screen, composed of 176 individual monitors and framed by a steel structure the size of a tennis court, is now ready to broadcast

May 2010

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idProperty | PORTFOLIO

Emirates vacation club.

movies, major sporting events and other features in The Galleries, the flagship project of Limitless in Dubai. Overlooking a 300-seat, open-air amphitheatre, the huge screen is part of the social centre development of the Plaza, which also features 200 trees, fountains, pools and shaded seating areas.

ECO FRIENDLY

Enviromena Power Systems has won the Sustainable Development of the Environment Award at the Takreem Arab Achivement Awards held in Beirut.

The only UAE company to be selected for an award at the event designs, installs and operates solar power plants, including the Masdar 10 MWSolar Plant, the largest ever constructed in the MENA region. In the past year, it has also received Engineer of the Year at the Construction Week MEP Awards, as well as Power Plant Operator of the Year and Energy Efficiency Awards at the Middle East Power and Water Awards.

LOW IMPACT

Dubai-based facilities management company Farnek Avireal, part of the Khalifa Juma Al Nabooda Group, has partnered with the Swiss company myclimate to help private sector companies reduce their environmental impact. “This initiative complements the Ecological Footprint Programme of the United Arab

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Emirates, the aim of which is to develop environmentally friendly policies, reduce the UAE’s carbon footprint and move towards a sustainable future,” said Marcus Oberlin, general manager of Farnek Avireal Middle East, which has an exclusive five-year licensing agreement to utilise the Green Globe Certification covering tourism properties within 20 different countries throughout the Middle East. Two UAE-based hotels, The Palace The Old Town in Dubai and Miramar Resort in Fujairah, have become the first hotels in the country to sign-up for the internationally recognised sustainability certification.

HILL START

Using 95 per cent of the materials salvaged from the house it was built to replace, and locally sourcing additional needs, the Hill End Ecohouse near Brisbane, Australia, was designed by Riddel Architecture. “We were dedicated to creating the greenest home possible without compromising style,” said Robert Riddel of the three-storey contemporary home that is fully self-sufficient in both water and power. With a six-star energy efficiency rating, the house has a north-facing roof with 3kW photovoltaic panels, which generate 15kWh/day, ample energy for household requirements and rainwater storage that supplies the house and garden. Other green design features include awnings to provide protection from the sun in the summer and concrete floors to capture heat in the winter, vegetated trellis made from recycled timber and open living areas.

idProperty | PORTFOLIO

The Palace Hotel/The Old Town, Dubai.

There is also a monitoring system to measure energy, gas and water usage as well as temperature and humidity.

PROPERTY PRICES

At Cityscape Abu Dhabi, a panel of industry executives concluded that the real estate market is stabilising, identifying the rental sector as having the greatest investment potential. Coinciding with this was the announcement by Abu Dhabi Finance of a special mortgage promotion with interest rates from 5.75 per cent with additional incentives, just in time to entice purchases at this major properties exhibition.

Cedre Villas, a part of the comprehensive mixed-use, 7.2 square metre Dubai Silicon Oasis project, offers more than 1,000 luxury villas, executive villas, twin villas and townhouses in three distinct architectural modes â&#x20AC;&#x201C; modern, traditional and Arabic. The Dhs1.55 billion project was showcased at the Abu Dhabi Cityscape.

Also highlighted at Cityscape was Reem Islandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Marina Square by master developer Tamouh who will commence delivering homes in May. Marina Square encompasses 66 acres with a built-up area of more than 827,000 square metre and will house more than 8,500 residents and provide 6,550 parking bays.

Rents in Abu Dhabi have fallen at least five per cent during the first three months of 2010 and are expected to continue this downward movement as more properties come onto the market, according the Asteco, the largest

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property services company in the UAE. Similarly, villa rents have also declined, especially at the higher end. An estimated 20,000 new homes are expected to be added to the housing supply by the end of this year, many specifically aimed at the rental market.

In Dubai, villa rental rates have remained stable while apartment rates also decreased by five per cent, also largely due to the increased supply. However, some areas such as Downtown Dubai saw increases averaging two per cent.

HOT SPOT

Shorooq Mirdif has been ranked as one of the hippest places to let in Dubai.

The 2,000 family-focused residential units offer green spaces to encourage community life in a serene and secure environment as well as a variety of flats and villas.

MORE TO COME

UK-based architectural company RMJM, whose recent projects include Capital Gate Towers, Marina Heights, the Jewels, the Dubai International Convention Centre and the Gate Precinct of the DIFC, has appointed Nick Haston as CEO for the Middle East and Turkey. Based in Abu Dhabi, he will oversee offices in the UAE, Bahrain and Turkey as well as projects in Yemen, Sudan, Libya, Saudi Arabia and Oman. The architectural and engineering firm first came to the UAE 38 years ago and has played a significant part in the development of the area. ID

l lagranja design

365 days of ideas and passion Feria Hรกbitat Valencia / Spain Trade Fair for Interiors: furniture / decor / home textiles / lighting the contract sector / nude (young talent) / kitchen R, D & i workshops

Inch by inch Europeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first interior design college, the Inchbald School of Design, celebrates its 50th anniversary this academic year. It continues to grow, mirroring the profession it teaches. TEXT: RICHARD WARREN

Staffan Tollard designed interior of a house in England.

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INTERNATIONAL | idProperty

Clockwise from far left: Staffan Tollard, designer and Inchbald alumni; Nina Campbell, designer and Inchbald alumni; Campbell’s Mabel chair.

One of Britain’s most august institutions, the Cavalry and Guards Club, celebrates its 200th anniversary this year. As a home from home for members of the country’s elite army regiments, it is the part of the establishment most able to defend itself in a dark alley. A legacy from the days of debs in ball-gowns and hussars wearing off-the-shoulder braided jackets, the club holds huge aspirational appeal for the traditionally-minded and has quarters to match.

Situated towards the Hyde Park Corner end of Piccadilly, it occupies a city mansion built in 1875, the former home of a 19th century Conservative Party grandee, Sir John Puleston, who was something of an institution himself. His inventory of patrician responsibilities included Constable of Caernarfon Castle and Her Majesty’s Lieutenant of the City of London.

Cavalry officers have gathered in the Palladian splendour of number 127 Piccadilly since 1890. Numbers 125 and 126 were added later, the combined address providing some of London clubland’s most sumptuous surroundings. Therefore it is fitting that another, younger, London institution celebrated its 50th anniversary by holding a reception at the club earlier this year, surrounded by its richly upholstered soft furnishings and oil paintings of the great and the good fighting, because, like the club, the Inchbald School of Design is dedicated to the appreciation of magnificent decoration.

Some commentators say Inchbald is Britain’s top, private interior design college, others consider it the best in Europe.

The school has launched the careers of many successful designers, such as Nina Campbell, Staffan Tollard and Helen Green, while graduates from its garden design course include Marcus Barnett and Philip Nixon.

Twenty staff teach 85 students at the school’s two Belgravia addresses, a big step up from its humble beginnings. Fifty years ago, the first

classes were held in a couple of converted rooms in the home of the school’s founder and principal, Jacqueline Duncan, and her then-husband, interior designer Michael Inchbald.

Inchbald was the first interior design college to be opened outside of the United States, so it’s 50th anniversary is significant for the profession internationally. When Duncan began sharing her knowledge with others she helped lay foundations for interior design’s professional development in Britain.

In the 1950s, ongoing wartime austerity meant interior designers were a rarity, but now London is one of the world’s top design centres. Sixty-two British colleges teach interior design and 1,000 businesses make money from doing it, generating a large share of the Dhs24.6 million earned by the country’s design sector each year.

Alongside quantity has come quality, because interior design has become increasingly sophisticated over the decades. “It’s not all about rugs and tassels,” says Alan Hughes, vice principal at Inchbald.

These days an interior designer needs to be part psychologist, plumber, electrician, architect and lighting designer, and the training at the school reflects this. “The courses are aimed at educating potential designers to a professional standard, so all the practical information you would expect is in the syllabus – lighting, plumbing, built in fitments and so on,” Hughes says. “Students need to learn about space before they think about what to put in it – so structural and spatial issues come top of the list.”

So, if a student wants to put a bath in the centre of a client’s bathroom they must learn how to design the plumbing layout for it, Hughes says. Students are taught to think systematically.

“It’s a threefold method: Survey, Analysis, Design,” he says. “It is about making decisions and processing ideas, not snatching at ideas or ‘things’, to solve a much deeper design problem. We look at why we, as human beings, all respond to certain spatial requirements, and

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idProperty | INTERNATIONAL

Clockwise from above: Jacqueline Duncan, founder and principal, Inchbald School of Design; exterior of school; students working.

yet differ in terms of atmospheres and taste. It is a very wide brief and more complex than prospective students sometimes realise.”

Inchbald teaches a mixture of full-time and part-time diplomas, certificates, masters degrees and short courses, including five online options for distance learners. The college continues to expand, it wants to run more online courses and have them validated as post graduate and masters qualifications. Its conventionally taught courses are validated by the University of Wales.

The college accepts students with no design background for its MA in Architectural Interior Design, a challenge Hughes relishes. These students include former bankers, doctors, lawyers and business people who want to explore their creative side.

“Nobody assumes they are going to be in the same role for all their lives any more,” he says. “Students include high achieving people who may have taken a fairly academic degree, worked for 10 years or so in a profession and then decided to pull out. Successful people travel a lot, see a lot of creative uses of spaces and are stimulated by that.

“Some students find their former professional experiences help them as designers, even though it may not appear obvious how at first. A business person’s understanding of how people’s minds work may help them analyse what a client wants and needs,” Hughes says.

“People tempted to try their hand at interior design need determination, analytical skills and a good grasp of what works visually,” he adds. The world economy has taken a battering in the past couple of years and many of us would assume, rightly, that apparently foppish pursuits like interior design were among the first to be given the boot by budget holders. However, the good times may be returning.

“It is a challenging time but there are jobs out there,” Hughes says. “I think the tide has turned, but certainly big speculative architectural projects are few

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and far between. Residential is more ‘sure’ than commercial, but talking to professionals, they all seem up-beat.”

He also says the college can be useful for networking. “The school can introduce graduates to the movers and shakers in the interior and garden design worlds, and, depending on the final portfolio, students usually move into the profession in junior roles, some senior,” Hughes says.

As a profession, interior designers are directly affected by many of the changes taking place in the world, especially the dwindling availability of space in cities, environmental concerns and technological advances.

New homes are becoming smaller, so designers must work within that constraint, Hughes says. More positively, they ought to design around the needs of the individual, moving away from offering ‘off-the peg designs.

Developments in the types of light fittings available and the different ambiances they create provide exciting opportunities, he says. New lightweight building materials that help sound-proof a property, making redundant monumental structures, are another big technological advance. The trend towards creating energy efficient spaces built and furnished with sustainable materials will continue to grow, Hughes adds.

Competition between interior designers and the colleges that teach them is likely to remain intense, so it seems only fair to mention a few of Inchbald’s rivals. London-based designer Katharine Pooley recommends Chelsea College of Art and Design as a good place to learn the trade. Other London colleges that receive positive mentions are Central St Martins, which will soon relocate from Covent Garden to Kings Cross, and KLC, located at Chelsea Harbour.

The Royal College of Art, The Bartlett School of Architecture and London Metropolitan University are also well regarded. Outside of the capital, designer Carolyn Trevor recommends Nottingham University, and, in the United States, New York’s Parsons College. ID

COULD IT BE YOU?

NOMINATE YOUR EMIRATES WOMAN OF THE YEAR AWARDS 2010 CANDIDATE TODAY The Emirates Woman of the Year Awards 2010 will be the most prestigious and inspiring event held this year. Now is the time to put forward your entrants – women from the UAE who inspire and achieve in all that they do. We aim to recognise and honour mothers, sisters, daughters, friends, colleagues... women who break down barriers, shatter stereotypes and stride forward in a quest to do remarkable things. Nominate today for your chance to win a Philips beauty hamper, including a SalonDry Pro hairdryer, SalonStraight Active Ion Straightner and a Salon Super Stylist hair kit.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.EMIRATESWOMANAWARDS.COM

in association with

Official car sponsor

Sponsor of the Achievers category

On the bright side From floor to ceiling, inside and out, new designs and products continue to colour our lives with vibrant hues. TEXT: ANNA HANSEN

CLEAN CREATIVITY

Exercise your inner artiste with new bathroom collections at Bagno. In addition to singing in the shower, you can create a work of art with Sculpture by VADA, a showerhead comprised of six flexible tentacles that can be sculpted into any shape or position for a fresh look at clean. Or experiment with the Apaiser range of stone composite bathware that injects innovative colours and luxurious textures into the bathroom.

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FORUM

WHIP CREAM

Each season Alessi brings innovative surprises, and its spring collection, Essentiel de patisserie – essentials for the pastry chef – follows this pattern. The range includes a semi-spherical stainless steel mixing bowl with a dual-function whisk and a spatula, which fuses a plastic spoon with a silicone blade, and a concentric ring cake plate to serve the finished masterpiece on. Created by French designer Matali Crasset and Parisian pastry chef Pierre Hermé, these essentials are functionally simple and cheerfully funky in a rainbow of earth tones.

BALANCED MEALS

Seemingly defying the laws of physics, the Legless Table by Driscoll Peter Devins for Devins Design asymmetrically floats in the air, balanced perfectly as a free standing functional art piece with a remote control to adjust the length of the table. Each bespoke table is made to order in northern Italy with customised shape, size, engraving and materials such as marble, glass, wood and stainless steel.

FLOATING FASHION

The first of three mega yachts to be designed by Elie Saab in collaboration with Weyves Couture and Oceanco, the 117-metre ES117 is a reflection of the Lebanese fashion designer’s attention to detail and sense of elegance in the form of a yacht. By introducing high interior ceilings to the yacht industry, Saab has created a feeling of space and refinement. Introduced at the Abu Dhabi Yacht Show, the yacht has two private owner’s suites with 10 guest suites, a swimming pool, theatre, spa, gym, an assortment of water toys signed by Saab and a submarine.

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IN BLOOM

Grow an indoor garden of vibrant blossoms from the original paintings by Jaci Hogan now that they appear on a wide range of homeware accessories including aprons, tablemats, planters and canvas bags. They are now available at Mark Wilkinson, which specialises in furniture for the kitchen and bedroom.

ECO-CLEAN

The simple black and white packaging of the environmentally-friendly specialty fabric care collection The Laundress emphasises the utilitarian function of the product in a sophisticated way, consistent with the quality of the clothing and home linens it was formulated to clean.

COLOURFUL COOKING

From red to aubergine to royal blue, La Cornue is known for its expansive selection of hot colour choices. Fanning the flames of the individually handmade cookers is a new colour of enamel, aquamarine, to bring a fresh look to the Ch창teau 120 Centenaire series, available at Carpe Diem.

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FORUM

WATER CONCEPT

The One Fifty catamaran by Sunreef, the largest of its kind in the world, sails into the future with a unique minimal design concept that provides a full-beam deckhouse which spans the entire width of the vessel, creating a volume of flexible space roomy enough to provide cabins for 12 guests. A sloping deck leading to the cockpit from the aft creates a sleek look while giving the illusion of speed. Interior light is provided through glass ceiling panels during the day and stored solar energy at night. And for an escape from the rigours of life on the sea, there is a small indoor garden for meditation and relaxation.

WORKOUT ON THE NET

The Technogym Run Personal, designed by Antonio Citterio, has eliminated one of the last excuses for avoiding exercise by becoming the first internet treadmill. Integrated VISIOweb technology and the 19-inch display screen make it possible to workout with a friend on the other side of the world, blog and Twitter while improving your cardio. Other exclusive functions include iPod/iPhone connection, an online personal trainer and plug-in capabilities.

VAKKO

TIMELY DESIGN

Seven unique watch collections designed by five luminaries including Hu by Ross Lovegrove, Trapezoid and Twelve by Naoto Fukasawa and Vakko by Harri Koskinen for Issey Miyake, are now available in the UAE through Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons. Each designer created a range of unique timepieces that presents an innovative and contemporary approach to a traditional function, produced by Seiko Instruments.

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FORUM

SIGN OFF

Based on the graphic patterns of television test cards that appeared before and after early television transmissions, maverick British designer Tom Dixon has created a four-piece collection of hand knotted Tibetan wool rugs. Each of the rugs – Beam, Tube, Step and Tile – incorporates the repetition of a geometrical shape – a circle, triangle, square or diamond – and transforms it by the use of colour and natural wool.

Design agenda GulfBID; Bahrain, May 4-6 Madrid International Furniture Exhibition; Madrid, May 4-8 Domotex Middle East; Dubai, May 10-12 International Contemporary Furniture Fair; New York, May 15-18 The Hotel Show; Dubai, May 18-20 Ambiente Italia; Rome, May 22-24 Saudi Luminex 2010; Riyadh, May 24-27 Cityscape Saudi Arabia; Jeddah, June 7-9 American Institute of Architects; Miami, June 10-12 Expo World Middle East; Abu Dhabi, June 14-16 Neocon World Trade Fair 2010; Chicago, June 14-16

THIN ITALIANS

Twelve, designed by Carlo Colombo for Varenna-Poliform, and available in Dubai through Obegi was among the new kitchens launched by 155 exhibitors at the 18th edition of Eurocucina, the biannual kitchen exhibition at the Milan Saloni. The contemporary kitchen is distinguished by a 12 millimetre thick work surface and the absence of handles, functioning instead with an intelligent electronic sensory opening system. A variety of finishes including glossy lacquers and new wood materials such as Spessart Oak, allows for the interpretation of different stylistic values and offers an almost infinite number of customisation options.

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ANTENNAE

Extraordinary plans for the world’s biggest indoor garden in Riyadh, an iconic five-star hotel featuring five arms radiating out from a central core in the Indian town of Karnala and the transformation of a major rail station in England catch the eye. TEXT: STEVE HILL

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1. ALGIERS MODERNIST MARVEL

PHOTOGRAPHY: ZAHA HADID

PHOTOGRAPHY: DENNIS GILBERT

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PHOTOGRAPHY: HENN ARCHITEKTEN

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3. BEIJING CENTRE OF ATTENTION

2. JORDAN

The new British Embassy building, designed

by John McAslan + Partners, is the first major example of modernist architecture in Algiers since Corbusier completed an apartment block in the 1940s. Sustainable design features range from the building’s orientation to reduce excessive solar gain, to the use of highly efficient lighting systems. The exposed concrete structure provides thermalmass to reduce peak-period cooling demands and higher than usual floor-to-ceiling heights allows hot air to stratify, which meant a low-energy under-floor air conditioning system could be used. A green roof covers the building’s ground floor extension and roof-mounted solar panels reduce energy requirements for the heating of water.

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PETRAFIED

Zaha Hadid’s design for the King Abdullah II House of Culture & Art was inspired by the ancient city of Petra. The principle of fluid erosion and carving has been applied to the mass of the building which will feature a 1,600-seat concert theatre, a 400-seat theatre, educational centre, artists’ cafe and galleries.

The interior public foyer space is a continuous, multi-level space that cuts through the building, and connects the north and south side of the valley. The eroded interior surface extends deep into the public plaza as a welcoming gesture, drawing the public into the building.

Henn Architekten has designed a new research and data centre for Taikang Life, one of Chinaís largest private sector insurance companies. An extension is already planned at a later stage of construction to include the corporate headquarters. The new complex will then complete the northern end of the Zhongguancun Research and Development Park. The four-storey buildings are arranged in a line and feature more than 70,000 square metres of floor space. The linear arrangement provides the setting for a series of five courtyards in which Chinese gardens depict the company’s history and express its values. The courtyard at the centre is simultaneously the central entrance area.

5. RIYADH SEED PLANTED

4. BIRMINGHAM GOING FIRST CLASS

DESIGN: ERIK VAN EGERAAT

Birmingham’s New Street railway station is to be transformed into a modern focal point for England’s second city, doubling passenger capacity. Foreign Office Architects’ design is dominated by a stainless steel facade which will conceal the future plant areas on the roof and wrap around the existing car park.

To highlight the four main access points, large eye-shaped media screens, which will broadcast railway information or news and commercials, have been integrated into the façade. The station’s concourse will be three-and-a-half times bigger than at present and will be enclosed by a giant light-filled atrium. Work is due to begin later this year.

British planning and urban design consultancy Barton Willmore has completed its design for the King Abdullah Botanical Gardens, which will be set on a 160-hectare site in the central region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The focal point of the vast scheme will be a 10-hectare building accommodating the world’s largest indoor garden, where visitors will be able to walk among trees, plants and flowers. It is hoped that the botanical gardens will rivals those at Kew and Singapore and become a world-leading focus of mankind’s understanding of the process, consequence and study of climate change, capturing and displaying extraordinary ecotopes from history and from the present day.

6. SAN JOSE

8. BRATISLAVA TAKING OFF

7. KARNALA

Gensler has designed the new central terminal, concourse, parking for 14,000 vehicles and a two-level roadway access system for Norman Y Mineta San Jose International Airport. The design team approached the project from two seemingly disparate design influences. The first was investigating the nature of information technology, which is the fuel in the economic engine of San Jose’s fabled computer-centric Silicon Valley.

The second influence was traditional Latin marketplaces and their handling of light, earth-born materials and light-filtering canopies.

With those influences and an innovative public outreach programme, the concourse was designed as a spacious, sunlit space where passengers can relax and be entertained.

PANORAMIC VIEWS

PARK LIFE

Mumbai firm Planet 3 Studios Architecture has won an invited competition to design the new Panoramic Hotel at nearby Karnala. Local building codes restricted the structure to ground plus one floor, inspiring a thoughtful solution to the client’s desire for an iconic property.

Radiating from a central core with restaurants, spa, health club, café, a large pool and suites on the upper level, five arms extend into the landscape with out-facing rooms on two floors.

Balconies connected with each room have privacy and a unique view of the outdoors while the building skin is engineered in horizontal louvers to moderate the harsh tropical sun.

The Kempinski Hotel River Park, on the banks of the Danube in Bratislava, forms part of a major inner-city redevelopment project by Dutch architect Erick van Egeraat. The eight-floor Kempinski Hotel features 263 guest rooms, a restaurant and bar facilities, meeting rooms and a wellness centre, pool, sport area, relaxation, beauty and treatment zones, while River Park will offer 25,000 square metres of class-A office space, more than 200 luxury apartments and top-segment retailing. Egeraat also designed the River House residential building which hovers over the water, offering spectacular views of the Danube and creating a unique landmark for this new city centre.

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COMPETITION

Win a Geneva Sound system The Geneva Sound System proves that good things come in small packages. The compact Model S iPod dock, radio and alarm clock designed in Switzerland gives symphony hall sound quality from its two 15 watt speakers. From Dubai Audio Center, who has been bringing

entertainment technology and personalised service to the area for almost 20 years, the slick box can be perched on a matt metal base, or placed flat on a shelf â&#x20AC;&#x201C; making a sound and visual statement either way for two identity readers.

Visit motivatepublishing.com/competitions to answer the question below, enter the competition and see full details.

Question: The Geneva Sound System Model S provides great sound for: A. iPods B. yodelling C. mountains

SPONSORED BY:

DUBAIAUDIO.COM TEL: +971 4 343 1441

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Inspirations

BOOKS FCOURTESY KINOKUNIYA DUBAI MALL. PHOTOGRAPHY: NAVEED AHMED

BOOKS

Inspiration is the theme running through this month’s reading selection with a retrospective of one of the greatest architects of our time, books to inspire the creation of personalised living spaces, and a look at aesthetic, functional and industrial spaces.

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THE SOURCE

FACTORY DESIGN

FUMIHIKO MAKI

SIMPLE HOME

MICHAEL FREEMAN

CHRIS VAN UFFELEN

FUMIHIKO MAKI

MARK & SALLY BAILEY

EIGHTBOOKS

BRAUN

PHAIDON

RYLAND PETERS & SMALL

DHS163

DHS293

DHS390

DHS130

Each of the 800 plus photographs featured in this book show a space that has been specifically designed to suit the owner and layout, resulting in a wide variety of solutions for the different functions of the home.

Doorways, staircases, corridors and floors connect – as illustrated by the Pete Oetken-designed staircase on the cover – and while walls, screens, doors, handles, windows and ceilings divide, they can also open up spaces both physically and visually. For example, Jun Tamaki, a Kyoto-based architect, uses white curtains to reconfigure the space of an open-plan home. The dichotomy between open spaces and areas for specific activities is the focus of the Space section, which involves living and dining rooms, quiet spaces, balconies, lighting, play and study rooms and outside areas. Utility spaces – kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms and storage – offer beautiful examples of how the necessities of life can be approached in imaginative ways, like Phytolab by French designer Matall Crasset, which incorporates 100 plants in a bathroom.

Factories are purely functional structures, designed to house defined production processes. The design of such a pragmatic space, often done on a limited budget, presents a challenge to architects. These 70 buildings, all beautifully photographed, transcend the pragmatic box and illustrate how even a factory can be aesthetically pleasing. Featured on the cover, the Inapal Metal Industrial Unit in Portugal, which produces automobile components, was designed by Guedes DeCampos and utilises trapezoidal metal cladding and honey-combed metal sheets, integrating design with function. The semi-circular McLaren Technology Centre in the UK by Foster + Partners overlooks a lake, which is integral to the cooling system, while the Golvis Zero Emissions Factory, designed by Banz + Riecks, specialises in eco-technologies in Germany and has a gross energy demand of zero. Khanna Schultz designed warehouses in India that maximise interior spaces and light by utilising precast materials, exterior textures and numerous windows.

The 1993 Pritzker Prize-winning architect writes about 40 of his key projects and the evolution of his design philosophies, and this runs alongside the essays of three prominent architectural historians about the work of one of the founding members of the Metaboliste. Known for his subtle, but technologically innovative buildings, his works include acoustic design, as in the still-contemporary Kirishima International Concert Hall (Japan, 1994), Kaze-No-Oka Crematorium, which takes advantage of natural light and the surrounding park (Japan, 1997), Hillside Terrance, a multi-phase residential development that evolved over time (Japan, 19691998), the Republic Polytechnic Campus (Singapore, 2007) and the new Novartis Office Building (Switzerland, 2009). He has also been commissioned to design the UN Consolidation Building, which is a slender white, eco-friendly tower that complements the UN building in New York. He is also designing Tower 4 of the World Trade Center redevelopment in New York.

A calm, comfortable home is simple, uncluttered and inspired by nature, according to the design ethos of these authors. This does not have to mean minimalist, but rather that each item should be well-made, well-chosen and appreciated even for the imperfections that come with age and use. Carefully select and display collections, mixing textures and materials to provide interest; deliberately mismatching to provide individuality and a more relaxed elegance. Wood and stone are hard-wearing, rough, tough materials which are capable of standing the test of time, giving them texture and a beauty and patina to be enjoyed, rather than covered up with paint and plaster. Colours should be inspired by nature, rather than trendy colour charts, which along with clean lines and light-filled spaces create a relaxed atmosphere. The photographs of Debi Treloar illustrate the ultimate goal of creating living spaces as a serene and tranquil domestic landscape where you can escape from the more stressful events of the day. ID

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BOOKS AVAILABLE FROM MAJOR UAE BOOKSTORES

“C OM IN G H OM E”

HANDWOVEN OUTDOOR FURNITURE CREATED WITH WEATHER-RESISTANT DEDON FIBER

www.dedon.de/treehouse Nakkash Gallery · Al Garhoud Street · P.O. Box 26767 · Dubai-UAE Tel: 00971 4 2826767 · nakkashg@emirates.net.ae · www.nakkashgallery.com Visit us at the Hotel Show on May 18-20, 2010 at the Resort Experience Hall 7 Stand A 301, Dubai World Trade Exhibition Center.

ICON

Wishbone chair TEXT: STEVE HILL

Hans Wegner designed more than 500 chairs in a lifetime of work, but arguably his most famous and influential creation is the Wishbone or Y Chair, which is also still known by its original designation of CH 24.

Wenger, the son of a shoe maker from southern Denmark, trained as a cabinet maker before becoming an architect. That background, combined with his interest in furniture from China, was to change design history.

His Wishbone, inspired by 19th century portraits of Danish traders sitting in chairs from the Ming and Qing dynasties, is named after the forked uprights that support the curved back. It is viewed as modern yet respectfully traditional, while simultaneously being luxurious but also spartan.

Wegner, who also created the Round Chair famously used in the Kennedy-Nixon presidential debate, was credited with “sanding modernism’s sharp edge and giving aesthetes a comfortable seat” but to

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the many thousands of people who own an original Wishbone, he simply designed a chair that is equally at home in the kitchen, the dining room or even in the bedroom with a jacket draped from the oxbow top rail.

It went on sale in 1950 and has been in production by Carl Hansen & Son ever since. As well as being a huge commercial success, it has also been snapped up by curators and features in the collections of major design museums around the world.

Wegner, along with fellow designers Arne Jacobsen, Poul Kjaerholm and Finn Juhl, put Denmark at the very epicentre of furniture design after the Second World War. And interest in the Wishbone, originally made from Danish hard woods such as oak, ash and beech, shows no signs of abating with the release of 12 new colours to mark its 60th anniversary. ID

Obegi Home Umm Al Sheif Road at Jumeirah Beach Road Umm Suquaim 1st | Dubai tel: +971 (4) -394-8161 Obegi Better Home Jal El Dib | Beirut tel: +961-4-711-623 w w w. o b e g i h o m e . c o m