REPUBLIC - NO.8 Vol. 2/2008 by Republic of Fritz Hansen

NO.8 Vol. 2 / 2008

Inside Milan

New Sofa from Piero Lissoni The Egg at Galleria Carla Sozzani

Art Meets Design | Opera in Oslo | Idyllic Tuscany | New Corso Garibaldi Showroom

The Alphabet Collection Design: Piero Lissoni

editor’s note

NO.8 Vol. 2 / 2008

here are moments in your working life when everything seems to come together, when you intuitively know you’re on the right track and on to something interesting. The last time I felt this way was at the hectic Salone de Mobile furniture fair in Milan. Here Carla Sozzani (owner of 10CorsoComo and Galleria Carla Sozzani) and I had invited guests to attend the world premiere of the artist Tal R’s 50 patchwork versions of Arne Jacobsen’s iconic EggTM. The occasion marked the 50th anniversary of the chair which we’re celebrating this year. I was very proud to hear the many positive reactions to a project that Tal and I had talked about for many months. It has been a challenging and inspiring process to see Fritz Hansen enter the fusion of art and design: not only because of the colourful and lively result in the chairs themselves, but also because through this project we at Fritz Hansen have discovered a new area of potential. That the 50 patchwork chairs are now travelling to exhibitions throughout the world is just the icing on the cake. Talking of the global outlook, I’m happy to report not only an increased interest in Fritz Hansen’s icons and their history, but also an increased demand for our new ideas as well. We can see this in the number of requests from abroad, and in increased sales in both traditional markets such as the US and Europe but also in metropolitan cities such as Singapore, Moscow and Dubai where we’ve opened offices in the last year. National borders no longer dictate how we choose to arrange our environment. It’s now more an individual interpretation of what makes good design. Last but not least it gives me great pleasure to launch our Alphabet sofa designed by Piero Lissoni. Alphabet is a modular sofa characterised by Lissoni’s stringent lines: its seating and back elements generate loads of possible combinations and it is beautiful – I can’t wait to get one in my own living room.

5: Editor’s note Taking a trip to an opening in Milan with CEO Jacob Holm.

6: Icons in black and white Todd Bracher’s T-No. 1 table gets a new look.

8: Snapshot The Egg’s 50th anniversary and a new showroom in Milan.

12: Notes News, books and a guide to Milan’s trattorias.

14: Alphabet: ABC for grown-ups The new modular sofa by Piero Lissoni is inspired by the alphabet.

22: A 200 percent, 21st century event Architecture by Zaha Hadid, jeans by Damien Hirst and a Louis Vuitton window display installation by Olafur Eliasson are just some of the examples of how art and design are coming together.

26: Interior Passion and impressive design in Tuscany.

30: Building up These architecture practices may be small, but their imaginations are big and their projects visionary.

32: Altered Space

Welcome back to Piero – enjoy the magazine.

34: Ten questions Stefano Tagliacarne, the architect behind Fritz Hansen’s new showroom, gives us his take on design classics as well as insider tips on Milan’s secrets.

republic is published by Malling Publications

Anne mie dreves

Cover photography: Ditte Isager

New versions of the elegant lounge chair from jehs+laub.

Jacob Holm CEO & President Fritz Hansen A / S

update

New styles, new uses and a new future in black and white: discover the exciting updates coming to the T-No.1 table and Arne Jacobsen’s iconic Lily and Swan chairs

hen it comes to investing in new office, lounge, showroom or lobby furniture, having a broad selection is crucial. Because customer needs vary over time, Fritz Hansen continually updates its iconic designs to provide the greatest possible choice for dreamers and pragmatists alike. In this latest update we present a powerful black-and-white colour scheme and an increased number of uses for some familiar favourites. Having already earned rave reviews throughout the world, Fritz Hansen’s T-No. 1 table, created by the talented 34-yearold furniture designer Todd Bracher, is sure to make a splash this summer when it gets a new look. With its uncomplicated modernist design, the table is an ideal choice for conference, reception, and office settings; a white lacquer option has been added to the black and chrome frames of the previous collection, and the glass table top now comes with a white lacquer backing too. White not only expresses the contemporary trend of the iPod generation, it also gives the large table a lighter and more feminine feel. The table top is now also available in a wider version. At its original launch in spring, Bracher’s table was paired with Arne Jacobsen’s Oxford chair that was originally designed in 1963 for St Catherine’s College. Bracher, who was an exchange student at the Royal Danish School of Design and profoundly inspired by Danish design traditions, was delighted to see his elegant table flanked by Jacobsen’s iconic slimline chairs. For this new version of the T-No. 1, Fritz Hansen has paired the table with yet another set of iconic Danish chairs to open up a whole new world of uses. Adding wheels to Jacobsen’s Lily chair and an additional eight centi-

metres of height to his iconic Swan lounge chair, takes them beyond the lounge making them perfect for meetings, dining rooms and conferences. The Fritz Hansen design team has also revamped Hans J Wegner’s China chair (1944), which is now available in black ash. The new colour and finish give the chair a more contemporary and dynamic look without compromising its beautiful detailing and unique quality – defining attributes which have seen this chair passed down from generation to generation.

Icons in black and white Egon Gade. Ditte Isager. Alessandro brasile

Far left: T-No.1, TB10A + TB10B in white underlacquered glass, white lacquered aluminium. Above: T-No.1, TB A + TB B in glass, mirror polished aluminium. China chair, 4283 in black coloured ash. Left: Lily, 3218 in black soft leather. T-No.1, TB in walnut, mirror polished aluminium. Right: SwanTM, 3320 in Optical White leather.

Snapshot: milan showroom From left to right: Swans on the wall. Conference room with Todd Bracher’s T-No.1 table and Oxford chairs. The elliptical staircase connecting the ground floor to the first floor. First floor featuring carpets by Carpetreloaded™ and Alphabet sofa on the wall. First floor with the Swantm, the Eggtm and the new Alphabet sofa.

Left: Entrance on Corso Garibaldi 77. Below: 1st floor of the showroom.

New showroom on Corso Garibaldi Arne Jacobsen, Poul Kjærholm and Hans J Wegner have moved to Milan. It proved to be a major draw when Fritz Hansen opened its new showroom in the Northern Italian design metropolis. Milan teems with liveliness during the city’s annual fashion fair. For most visiting participants, it becomes an exercise in the art of squeezing 48 hours out of every day. Therefore it was with a degree of trepidation that Fritz Hansen sent out invitations to the opening of its new showroom, located at number 77 on the fashionable Corso Garibaldi. The scale of attendance was a tribute to the immense interest in Fritz Hansen’s design: nearly everyone with an interest in the design world was present and the showroom was one of the fair’s most popular attractions, with an installation featuring the shells of Series Seven chairs stretching across all three storeys of the building.

With its dazzling showroom, Fritz Hansen aims to highlight the fact that attractive, high-quality furniture is to be seen as a work of art that belongs with architecture, matching the spirit of the times. The showroom, which is to serve as a base for Fritz Hansen’s activities in the Southern European markets, is the result of a fruitful collaboration with architect Stefano Tagliacarne. He has designed a space that exudes an air of quintessential Danish design and, as Fritz Hansen’s CEO Jacob Holm described it “as a place where we can feel at home”. For example, the use of raw wooden beams creates a warm atmosphere despite the uncompromisingly minimalist interior design. “I wanted to create something that was just as simple and timeless as Fritz Hansen’s furniture,” commented Tagliacarne, “without compromising on the sculptural side. One could say that I focused on utilising the space instead of decorating it.”

alessandro brasile

Snapshot: 50th anniversary

Celebrating the EggTM at Galleria Carla Sozzani

At Milan’s international furniture fair earlier this year, Galleria Carla Sozzani exhibited an unconventional meeting of art and design where artist Tal R paid homage to the 50th anniversary Arne Jacobsen’s iconic EggTM

Ever since it first opened 17 years ago, 10CorsoComo – Carla Sozzani’s conceptual boutique in Milan which also houses her art gallery – has proved a place of pilgrimage for design enthusiasts and fastidious fashionistas. Sozzani runs her emporium with a steady hand and visitors can always expect to leave delightfully surprised. In collaboration with the artist Tal R, Fritz Hansen chose to honour 50 years of Arne Jacobsen’s modern furniture classic, the EggTM, at Galleria Carla Sozzani. The unique product of Tal R’s work on 50 of the iconic lounge chairs was exhibited there at a crowded opening during the Milan Furniture Fair. Guests could enjoy Tal’s spectacular patchwork chairs with Freudian names such as Taboo, Angst and Libido. Who would dare to sit

in Oedipus? Interpreting the EggTM through patchwork in order to achieve a distinctive “vernacular” look, the Israeli-born, Copenhagen-based artist travelled to Istanbul, New York, Madrid, provincial towns in Denmark and kibbutzim in Israel in search of second-hand fabrics. The exhibit at 10CorsoComo generated so much attention that Fritz Hansen and Carla Sozzani agreed to send the chairs to Sozzani’s newly opened branch of 10CorsoComo in the South Korean capital Seoul, where they will remain on display throughout the summer.

alessandro brasile

notes

Fritz Hansen around the globe There’s a lot going on in the world of Fritz Hansen – 1958 white SwansTM, sipping beer with designers Todd Bracher and Marc Sadler on Wooster Street and a large Poul Kjærholm exhibition in Madrid

When Milan is about more than just furniture There are plenty of restaurants, coffee shops and speciality stores worthy of recommendation close to Fritz Hansen’s showroom on Corso Garibaldi. The key words here are good craftsmanship, traditions and a special Italian intimacy. The following is a brief guide to some of the absolute highlights of the area.

1958 White Swans

It’s hard to believe that an architect could produce two pieces of such unique and exceptional furniture as Arne Jacobsen did half a century ago. Nonetheless, this is exactly what the Danish architect accomplished back in 1958. The entire world is currently celebrating the Egg, but it will soon be time to celebrate yet another of his popular lounge chairs, the Swan – which like the Egg was originally designed for the SAS Royal Hotel in Copenhagen. In honour of this special anniversary, Fritz Hansen has produced a limited edition of 1,958 of the distinctive curved chairs, featuring white leather upholstery and (just like a real swan) a special anniversary ring around the base of the chair. Keep an eye out for this collector’s item, which will be launched later in 2008.

Italian for beginners and experts In the mind’s eye, the moon rises above laundry hanging between tattered old apartment buildings as the wine flows from classic wicker-wrapped bottles with the sound of distant accordions in the background, and the service is in an Italian tempo: antipasti (appetizer), followed by primi (traditionally pasta or risotto) and secondi (fish or meat). On Milan’s Via Gentilino is the familyowned restaurant Trattoria Madonnina, which was already more than 100 years old when Disney served spaghetti and meatballs on the large screen for Lady and the Tramp in 1955. The features of the menu here are traditional Italian meat dishes such as braised veal, osso buco and the local speciality, cotoletta alla Milanese – breaded veal chops. Trattoria Madonnina is a little way from Fritz Hansen’s showroom, but you can take an enjoyable ride on one of the small, charming orange trams to Corso San Gottardo, where the restaurant is located. 6 via Gentilino, Milan

Trattoria Madonnina

Not just a wine country Even though most people think of quality wines when they think of Northern Italy, there are also very interesting experiences to be had in some of Milan’s beer cellars. La Libera, located on Via Palermo, is just such a place, where simple food is served with history and patina in authentic surroundings that are designed to win over even the most travelled culinary adventurers. The ingredients are the same as in the historic Milan restaurants, but the menu selection is a bit more varied: here you’ll find an array of wonderful pasta dishes with fish, seafood, veal and seasonal vegetables, as well as what many of the local experts call the city’s best pizzas. Via Palermo 21, Milan

Jamaica in Milan Milan has its fashion designers, AC Milan, and Inter. But people often forget the city’s art and literature, even though these things have also flourished in the Northern Italian capital for centuries. For many years, one of the mainstays for intellectuals in the city has been Bar Jamaica. In times of political turmoil, it has served as a refuge for those who viewed the world differently than the majority. Today it is home to a minimalist bar, and although locals and tourists may not discuss politics and literature as much as in the past, all patrons are truly able to enjoy its well-stocked cellar. Via Brera 32, Milan

Event on Wooster Street Earlier this year, Fritz Hansen welcomed designconscious New Yorkers with cold beer and good wine to a presentation of Todd Bracher’s new T-No.1 table and Piero Lissoni’s Alphabet modular sofa. The event took place during the ICFF International Contemporary Furniture Fair and was held in cooperation with lamp manufacturer Foscarini. During the event in the Wooster Street showroom, located in the middle of SoHo, guests could view designer Marc Sadler’s installation of Foscarini’s timeless lamps and speak with both Bracher and Sadler.

It was a major attraction last year when the Danish Museum of Modern Art, Louisiana featured an extensive Poul Kjærholm exhibition. Now the Architecture Foundation museum in Madrid is featuring a display of Kjærholm’s Danish furniture classics throughout the summer. Guests were welcomed at the exhibition’s launch by author Michael Sheridan, who is considered a true Kjærholm expert. In his presentation, Sheridan spoke about the Danish architect’s fascination with the architect Mies van der Rohe and about the role of Kjærholm’s design at the time it was introduced.

La Libera

Keeping it in the family

Kjærholm makes guest visit to Madrid Frederik lindstrøm. Polina Gorokhovskay

Italians follow cycling with roughly the same level passion as Americans follow baseball and Swedes follow hockey. Young and old, rich and poor – everybody in Italy loves cycling. Maybe that’s why the best cycle craftsmanship is also to be found in Italy. On the famous and pleasant Corso Garibaldi in Milan is the cycle shop Rossignoli, where bicycles of unsurpassed quality have been made for more than 100 years. The shop was founded by the cycling fanatic Giorgio Rossignoli; his three sons Ettore, Mario and Ezio eventually took over, and now the third generation peddles everything from racing bikes to laid-back “grandmother” bikes, all from the same original store – and all of it constructed to the highest handmade quality, of course. Corso Garibaldi 65, Milan

Bar Jamaica

collection

Fritz Hansenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new range of sofas is inspired by the alphabet. Highlighting minimalism, well-being and creativity, its stylish design opens up an unlimited array of possible combinations

Alphabet: ABC for grown-ups

collection

ritz Hansen has joined forces with Italian master designer Piero Lissoni to create the Alphabet sofa series â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the conceptual cornerstone of its 2008 collection. This innovative range caters to both playful and creative tastes, as well as to discerning consumers of design classics. At the forefront of international furniture design trends, this collection will capture the imagination and bring out the creative potential of those who buy it. The Alphabet sofa is a classic modular sofa that can be built up from a choice of four different seats, eight different backrests and various corner pieces, armrests and cushions. Inspired by LEGOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s famous building bricks, Piero Lissoni set out to capture the freedom of the creative process. Like the alphabet, the sofa is a

Alphabet in Ducale fabric in grey colours, combined with cushions in Divina Melange.

Ditte Isager

Alphabet, model PL240-2 with cushions in Barry fabric in beige colour. SwanTM in green Divina Melange.

collection powerhouse of expressive potential – the more letters you use, the greater the combinations and nuance of expression. The various structural elements can be picked in a wide range of colours and textiles – seats in one material and backs in another, for example – to suit the tastes of even the most daring consumer. The choice of textiles includes leather, cotton, wool or flax, and, for the less puritanically inclined, cushions can be used to add a personal touch. The Alphabet sofa series is a sign of growing interest within the international design community in lounge environments that accentuate wellness and comfort. Whether at home or in a large corporate lobby, it is increasingly important to convey an aura of relaxation. Contemporary consumers seek refuge in contem-

Back angle of Alphabet in grey Ducale fabrics. Cushion and SwanTM chair in Divina.

Ditte Isager

Alphabet, model PL300-3 in Ducale in two grey colours with cushions in Divina. PK22 in black suede.

collection

Alphabet, Ducale grey fabrics combined with Divina cushions in different colours.

plative environments, in places where they can find peace of mind before immersing themselves in the flux of everyday life. While the Alphabet sofa captures the clean architectural look of Fritz Hansen, it also expresses a soft and informal environment that entices one to kick back and watch a movie, flick through a magazine or simply cuddle up with close friends. Previously, Piero Lissoni, one of the most sought after furniture designers of our time, has worked with the Italian manufacturer of exclusive kitchen and bath elements Boffi, and with a long list of other world-renowned design brands. With Alphabet, he has created a sophisticated and innovative sofa range that combines classic design elements with superior quality and craftsmanship.

A mix of multi-coloured Divina cushions. Alphabet, model PL210-3 in beige Barry fabric with soft-coloured cushions in Divina.

Ditte Isager

Contemporary consumers seek refuge in contemplative environments

Fusion

A 200 percent, 21st century event The cross-fertilisation of design, fashion and contemporary art is more popular and vibrant than ever. Fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld and Danish artists Olafur Eliasson and Tal R are taking the lead in cross-platform collaborations

Steve Double. Virgile Simon Bertrand

“T

his is magical. This is something that hasn’t happened before. This is really a 200 per cent, 21st-century event” – Karl Lagerfeld. Karl Lagerfeld’s enthusiasm for his partnership with star architect Zaha Hadid in building a mobile museum for Chanel shows the degree of emotion that can be stirred up when two leading figures in different creative fields put their heads together. The director of the Danish art museum Louisiana, Poul Erik Tøjner, is a little more subtle but no less enthusiastic about the crossover of design, fashion and art. “For the past decade art has ventured into society and emerged as something entirely accessible rather than demanding,” he says. “Besides breaking down old barriers between the fields of design, fashion and art, it has also made trans-disciplinary collaborations much easier. There’s a greater readiness among artists to enter into these types of partnerships, because they’re much more aware of communicating and branding themselves than they used to be. The idea of collaborating or venturing into other fields is not as distant as it used to be.” With each participant contributing something invaluable to the other,

The Pritzker Prize awarded architect Zaha Hadid’s collaboration with Karl Lagerfeld resulted in a UFO-like museum that is currently touring the world.

Fusion

Fusion “I’ve really enjoyed working with Tal R because it’s so far removed from the conformity of everyday thinking,” Fritz Hansen’s CEO Jacob Holm says of the Danish artist’s interpretation of the EggTM.

The controversial artist Damien Hirst with his take on Levi’s at the New York fashion week, February 2008.

unconventional alliances between fashion designers, furniture industry, architects and visual artists is merely a sign of the times. The 50th anniversary of Arne Jacobsen’s renowned EggTM chair at Fritz Hansen resulted in a surprising collaboration with the Danish artist Tal R. Paying homage to the beautifully curved chair, Tal R upholstered 50 of these timeless pieces in colourful patchwork. “I’ve really enjoyed working with Tal because it’s so far removed from the conformity of everyday thinking. The whole project has been in total disregard of what an artist ‘ought’ to do or what is suitable for a producer of high-quality furniture such as us,” says Fritz Hansen CEO Jacob Holm. After opening the anniversary exhibition in Milan, the 50 chairs are now making their way to exhibitions around the world. “When I think about what we’ve gained from the project I can’t be anything other than satisfied. Besides 50 interesting chairs, Tal’s novel approach has opened our eyes to new ideas. We’ve since reupholstered some of our icons with fur and woven leather for example. That’s the new Fritz Hansen.” Speaking of his collaboration with Fritz Hansen, Tal notes that he “was interested in having this ideal representation of Danish design, the epitome of high culture, meet patchwork, which represents low culture.” Another brand engaging in such a crossover is Chanel, which at the moment is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its iconic quilted 2.55 handbag. Here Karl Lagerfeld, the fashion house’s head of design,

The alliance between fashion and art is not a new phenomenon. Fashion designers like Coco Chanel and Christian Dior were heavily inspired by artists like Jean Cocteau and Christian Bérard.

came up with a great idea: why not build a mobile Chanel museum and send it on a world tour? Better still, why not ask acclaimed Iraqi-born architect Zaha Hadid if she would design the museum? Lagerfeld was elated when Hadid, recipient of the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize for her daring, complex, and futuristic architecture accepted the challenge immediately. The collaboration resulted in the massive Chanel Mobile Art container that the public experienced for the first time in Hong Kong in March. Chanel Mobile Art is a sensually curved, 550 sq m container sporting a biomorphic form that resembles a flying saucer from another galaxy. Hadid was exclusively selected for this project. Lagerfeld considers architecture to be the true art of the 21st century and Hadid to be one of its foremost representatives. Inside its asymmetrical rooms we find an exhibition with artists such as Yoko Ono, Nobuyoshi Araki, Sylvie Fleury, Pierre & Gilles and Sophie Calle, all of whom have reinterpreted the 2.55 handbag. Not unlike Tal’s 50 patchwork Eggs, the Chanel Mobile Art pavilion will travel to Tokyo in May, and later, following a turn in New York City, proceed to London and Moscow before ending up in Paris. Fashion, an industry that thrives on constant change, has seen many interesting fusions with limited editions of everything from sneakers to jewellery made in collaboration with artists, musicians and celebrities. Under license from the Andy Warhol foundation, Levi Strauss & Co recently created Warhol Factory X, a series of Levi 501s with iconic Warhol imagery imprinted in the fabric. Last year, Levi’s went a step further and began working with Damien Hirst, whom Art Review have labelled the most important artist of our time. The controversial Brit is best known for exhibiting a shark in formaldehyde and encrusting a human skull with 8,601 quality diamonds; he’s also the world’s wealthiest contemporary artist. Under the title Warhol Factory X, Levi’s and Hirst created a collection of jeans that were launched at London’s fashionable

Noam Griegst

Gagosian Gallery. It marked a meeting of two of the world’s greatest brands, Levi’s and Hirst. If you happened to be strolling past one of Louis Vuitton’s 364 stores last Christmas, you may have noticed an electronic eye with a purple iris staring from behind the window where monogrammed handbags, scarves and accessories are normally displayed. This was an installation by worldrenowned Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson commissioned by Louis Vuitton. In “Eye See You”, Eliasson explores the relationship between the object and the viewer. On the subject of the project, he says that Louis Vuitton “was very accommodating in the sense that they acknowledged that we were creating a serious work of art”. With his phrasing of “a serious work of art” Eliasson makes clear that the work was created solely on his terms. And then everybody’s happy, including Louis Vuitton. The alliance between fashion and art is not a new phenomenon. Fashion designers like Coco Chanel and Christian Dior were heavily inspired by artists like Jean Cocteau and Christian Bérard. Cocteau said of Coco Chanel that she “worked almost miraculously within fashion according to precepts one should think would be of value only to artists.” Today the alliance between art and fashion is stronger than ever. This is partly attributed to the incredible economic boom contemporary art has enjoyed since the turn of the millennium. As Yves Carcelle, director of Louis Vuitton’s board, said in Time magazine, “Everybody who’s interested in luxury is also interested in contemporary art – even if they’re not collectors.”

And yet in the art world there is a longstanding debate as to whether or not an artist sells out when taking on commercially branded work. So where does one draw the line? The Danish art historian and curator Toke Lykkeberg has thought about this subject a great deal and for him the line is flexible. “It’s all down to Andy Warhol,” he says. “As far back as the 1960s he was never afraid to work commercially, and still he created a name as one of the 20th century’s greatest artists. That is why it’s become legitimate to be commercial.” For artists, commercial collaborations can be a way to reach a broader audience outside galleries and museums. At the same time this development has meant that neither fashion nor art are the domain of particular social groups. The artist is no longer a figure on the fringe of society. Contemporary art is not exclusive, and the difference between an artist, art director and fashion photographer has become less noticeable as they work from the same premises and use the same references. In fact, it’s become expected that creatives will work across genres – and when such collaborations succeed the results are, as Karl Lagerfeld puts it, “a 200 percent, 21st century event”.

interiĂ¸r

interior

A love story Modern furniture design meets rustic charm in a 17th-century Tuscan idyll, where Samina and Andrea demonstrate their flair for personalised interior design

Ditte Isager

ome would have us believe that love stories are a thing of the past, and that modern-day life is gloomier than ever. Happily, there is evidence that love stories are still possible. Take the story of Danish-born Samina and her Italian husband Andrea. They met by chance. She was on summer holiday in Tuscany in 2004, unable to speak a word of Italian and hanging out at a bar. Andrea had barely walked through the door when she fell for him and vice versa. The following year, she left Denmark to live with him in Montemerano, in the southern part of Tuscany, in his house which was built in 1676. And this is where the love story becomes a tale of a young couple designing the home of their dreams. Before meeting Samina, Andrea had spent a couple of years restoring the house according to Italian traditions and primarily using original materials. Samina meanwhile had always had a passion for antiques, art and Danish furniture, such as that of designers like Arne Jacobsen and Poul KjĂŚrholm. Before meeting Andrea, decorating her home had been her hobby, and she had invested in and sold furniture for many years, so it was a bit of a wrench for her to leave her Copenhagen apartment behind and start anew in Tuscany. Her first idea was to pursue a strategy of minimalist decor, but

interior

Ditte Isager

after a few months the house was looking not unlike what she had waved goodbye to in Copenhagen. Andrea’s passion and occupation is restoring antiques, furniture and wooden sculptures. When Samina saw his workshop, she knew that she had found a soulmate for life. His “laboratory” as they call it was a treasure chest, stuffed from floor to ceiling with rustic benches, picture frames, cast iron beds, hand-blown-glass Chianti bottles with their original wicker casing, ladders and tables, all of which had been found by Andrea in the course of his life. The house in Montemerano has become a unique blend of the couple’s tastes: it’s something of a surprise to find the Series Seven chair at a tattered olive table, just as the contrast between the Swan and the bare stone wall makes a stunning impression. The story of Samina and Andrea is truly a romantic meeting of minds on all levels.

wonderkids

Building up

New York abstractions

They may not be household names just yet, but the vision and originality of these cult architectural practices is taking them to bigger adventures in new territories

Architectural firm Asymptote is responsible for the Strata Tower, which will be erected in Dubai.

“An asymptote is a straight line that continually approaches the curve of a mathematical function, as the independent variable comes closer to particular finite numbers or runs up to very high values.” It sounds highly abstract and slightly pretentious – but as the name of a New York-based drawing office maybe that’s very appropriate. So close, and yet still so far away. This practice in New York, which is run by husband and wife Hani Rashid and Lisa Anne Couture, has been criticised as almost too avant-garde to build ordinary residential properties like their current project which, drawing eclectic inspiration from Roy Lichtenstein, Jeff Koons and Olafur Eliasson, is being built on Perry Street in the West Village. In Denmark, Asymptote designed the tent structures for the Århus festival. But it was their proposal for the new World Trade Center which was probably the most controversial of their ideas so far: the buildings were pierced by holes large enough for aircraft to fly right through them! From the moment they were established in 1989, Asymptote achieved an almost cultstatus as art architects; today it boasts a staff of 60 and is geared to much larger projects. And if their ideas are too abstract for New York, they certainly have no problems in Dubai. Take the Strata Tower, with its spiralling glass body and external skeleton of web-like lights. This 40-storey residential high-rise towering 160 metres over the sea is not yet completed, but in 2011 the first fabulously wealthy residents will move in. The building may look like a wild, improbable fantasy, but in a few years’ time it will be a solid architectural fact.

From skateboarding to architecture

The interior of the Opera House is dominated by dark oak tunnels.

The Oslo Opera House with slopes in Italian marble, designed by the Norwegian architectural firm Snøhetta.

The marble mountain by the Oslo fiord Snøhetta is the name of the second-highest mountain in Norway, towering a majestic 2,000 metres above sea level, and perpetually covered with snow. But it’s not that Snøhetta which has got the entire architectural profession talking. The other Snøhetta is a small architectural practice in Oslo. For many years its architects quietly got on with their work. Then suddenly, 14 years ago, polite Norwegian society was seriously shaken when they built the Lillehammer Art Museum, often referred to as “the Grand Piano” because of its shape, in the town which is better known for its ski sports. The structure in untreated larch wood and glass juts out of the mountainside, all bulges and odd angles. “That is not the way we build in Norway,” declared the critics furiously. But triumphant Snøhetta was too busy forging ahead with its big ideas to take much notice of such criticism. It built the spectacular new library in Alexandria in Egypt, which looks like a space capsule that has landed on the Mediterranean coast. The project took 12 years to complete and cost nearly NOK 12 billion – but is now in third place on the Lonely Planet list of the world’s most beautiful buildings. Snøhetta has also won praise for its Cultural Center, an important element of the redevelopment of Ground Zero in New York. When its Oslo Opera House opened this spring, Snøhetta’s architects explained that the building, which is covered in Italian Carrara marble,

was intended to rise from the Oslo fjord like an ice-clad mountain. The result is, arguably, the most ingenious and beautiful opera house in the world – even Utzon’s world-famous effort in may have been eclipsed here. The roof slopes down towards the sea and makes it possible for the orchestra pit and the lower edge of the stage to be below water level. (Allowances have been made for global warming and a three-metre rise in sea level.) The sloping white marble roof is reminiscent of two ski slopes, and the interior feels like being inside an iceberg as one passes a thick wall of ice-green glass. It has been described as more of a sculpture in the landscape than a building. People come from near and far to see this sensation for themselves, and cannot get enough of the physical possibilities it presents: the outside of the roof can be used for skateboarding and sunbathing, and in summer swimmers will be able to dive head first into the Oslo fjord.

Snøhetta. Nina Reistad

The pride of Oslo, Holmenkollen.

It would be interesting to know what Julian de Smedt makes of that roof, what with him being a former skater. In 2006 he and his collaborator of five years, fellow architect Bjarke Ingels, made the decision to close down their company, PLOT, and thus disbanded one of the most popular architectural partnerships in Danish cultural life. The media lost a photogenic subject too. Now De Smedt runs JDS Architects from Vesterbro in Copenhagen, where about 40 staff draft plans and construct models for projects to be built around the world. De Smedt has been invited to China, where his architectural practice has been commissioned to put forward a plan for four million square metres of high-rise residential complexes for the rapidly expanding middle class. He is planning to bring all the qualities of a mixed neighbourhood with everything from single-family houses to a high-rise block with indoor parks and football pitches. French-Belgian De Smedt maintains it was his skateboard that taught him to love the life that goes on between the buildings of a city. “As you skate through the city, you develop a special sense for the way it is organised, because The luminous ski jump by Franco-Belgian architect Julien de Smedt. you do not simply use the streets as a route to get from one place to another,” he once explained. “You follow the natural rhythm of the city and become absorbed into its townscape. As a skater you take the city apart, and as an architect you build it up. Becoming an architect seemed like a good way of repaying my debt to the city, and I hope I can do it in such a way that the new generation of skaters will have even more options than I had myself.” However, before he goes to China, he has to concentrate on Norway. JDS will be in charge of the challenging NOK 500 million task of rebuilding one of Norway’s most iconic structures – the Holmenkollen ski jump, no less. De Smedt and his team have decided to preserve its classic features, and have adorned it with a heated balcony that will be open to the public. This will give visitors a 360-degree view and exactly the same terrifying sensation of height that those about to ski down the slope must feel as they hover dizzily above the fjord and the city of Oslo, with the view of the forests and mountains below them.

space update

pace, the grand lounge entry from 2007 by German design duo jehs+laub, has just been treated to an overhaul, with a new shell surface being added to this elegant lounge chair Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a real challenge, creating an elegant, sophisticated chair that can provide hours of unbridled comfort. But right from its debut, jehs+laubâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Space earned rave reviews for doing just that. In addition to referencing Fritz Hansenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s classic design tradition, the Space chair provides an ultramodern and futuristic look with its sleekly sectioned seating. Thanks to popular demand, the flexible chair was refitted with black rubber lacquer seating. The lacquer is matte and has a characteristically soft texture that complements the chair. Its high quality provides greater resistance to scratches and dents compared to most conventional surface treatments, while the Wafer fabric from Kvadrat introduces a fresh feel to the design. The shell and frame are now available in all white and all black, packing an even greater visual punch. With its futuristic overtones, the all-white

Space has a youthful, dynamic, feminine air that complements its minimalist styling to perfection, while the all-black chair suggests a more classic and exclusive mindset. The lounge table from this collection is now taller with a slimmed-down diameter so that it takes up less space. With its many options and combinations, the new Space collection is even more flexible, making it the perfect choice for all those places where comfort and timeless elegance need to go hand in hand.

Space Altered

Space, the grand lounge entry from 2007 by German design duo jehs+laub just got an overhaul. A new shell surface has been added to this elegant lounge chair

Left: Space tables, JL60 and JL50 in white glass with white base. Above: Space chairs, JL10 in black soft feel lacquer with black Fame and black base. Space table, JL60 in black glass with black base. Right: Space chair, JL10 in white lacquer with white Wafer and white base.

T e n Q u e st i o n s

Like a newborn child

Know the

Stefano Tagliacarne, the architect behind Fritz Hansen’s new showroom on Corso Garibaldi in Milan, talks about how he relates to Danish design icons and gives some personal tips on northern Italy’s design capital

1. What do you want that you don’t already have? Not much… I’m quite happy with what I have. I do wish I could have more time to spend with my family and to travel around with them, though.

6. What is your favourite room at home and why? Definitely the living room, which is open-plan with the kitchen. I like to have people over to my place for dinner. The living room is where all the life and the relationships between people happen!

2. What do you know now that you didn’t know before about Danish design? Lots of stories regarding Fritz Hansen’s furniture has made me admire the genius of designers like Poul Kjærholm and Arne Jacobsen even more. How they took away frills and decoration without renouncing elegance and comfort, for example.

7. What’s an absolute must-see in Milan that we don’t already know about? The secret courtyards and workshops that are opened to the public during the furniture fair show incredible design. Milan is an “inside” city: the facades of buildings are not really friendly or beautiful, but all the interior spaces are like the city and its inhabitants – wanting to show the real and intimate part of themselves.

3. Which of your own projects are you most fond of? The last one, which has just been completed and handed over to the client. Every project is like a newborn baby: you try to do your best, you put so much of yourself into it, you look after it for however long it takes and then finally comes the time when you have to let it go. It’s really difficult to leave it in somebody else’s hands! 4. What is your favourite piece of Fritz Hansen furniture? I’m fond of all the classics, but probably the PK24 in wicker – it’s elegant and yet simple, light and yet solid; it doesn’t have any more detail than is needed, and yet it’s very rich. The Egg also is amazing since it is probably one of the rare examples of a perfectly “useful” sculpture. 5. What is your most distinctive characteristic? Some say it’s a curiosity for new experiences, others the fact that I always try to have fun while I’m working… Certainly I always try to think before doing things and to ask myself what the purpose of something is in order to find the right answers.

shape of things to come

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8. How would you spend a perfect Sunday? With my family and possibly some friends, somewhere away from the city, with everyone together having a good meal… What could be better? 9. What do you most value in your friends? Honesty, sincerity and tolerance. I like people with their own ideas who are open to discuss exactly what they really think, but always respecting others’ opinions with no absolute truths. 10. What’s your state of mind like right now? I’m relaxed, but I’m concerned about what I see around me. People aren’t really using their brains and their values are really poor; there’s not much beyond running after money and goods. And all the worst values of our Western culture have contaminated the world… It’s quite discouraging. But there are also a lot of incredible people and things that make not following the general insanity worthwhile.

alessandro brasile

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The Alphabet Collection Design: Piero Lissoni