Top Grades

story by Dan Rubinstein photos by Floto + Warner

project Adler-Doonan Residence architect Gray Organschi Architecture location Shelter Island, New York

Jonathan Adler and Simon Doonan collaborated with New Haven, Connecticut, firm Gray Organschi on their midcentury-inspired New York vacation home (right). The site-sensitive exterior belies an interior festooned with a kaleidoscopic mix of colors and an array of tactile materials (opposite). The Peter rug, Malibu sofa, and ceramics are Adler’s own designs. The tables, pendant lights, and rocker are vintage. Adler and Doonan used scaffolding from the house’s construction to build the bookshelf.

For design mavericks Jonathan Adler and Simon Doonan, a challenging site that slopes toward the sea yields a unique opportunity to create an intimate and relaxing hideaway.

If personality transforms a house into a home, then

the recently constructed beachside residence of interior-design maven and ceramics luminary Jonathan Adler and his husband, window-dressing legend, creative ambassador-at-large of Barneys New York, and all-around bon vivant Simon Doonan, is one of the greatest residences on New York’s Shelter Island. After spending years in a 1970s A-frame in the area, the creative couple decided to build their firstever ground-up project. “We wanted to crank it up a notch,” says Adler. They knocked down a small cottage on 1.25 acres of beachside land and started anew with the help of Connecticut-based firm Gray Organschi Architecture. “We wanted warm, rustic modernism,” Adler continues. “It’s a little California, a little bit Japanese, and a little bit Swedish.”

The result is a one-story, 2,800-square-foot structure, with four modestly sized bedrooms, a pool, and a variety of private indoor-outdoor spaces, whose exuberance is only surpassed by Adler and Doonan’s own outsize charisma. “It’s located on Gardiners Bay,” says Adler, “facing due east, so the sun rises right outside of our house. It blasts us awake every morning.” It’s all perfectly suited to Adler and Doonan’s lifestyle. “Every day is like a tampon commercial,” says Adler, “whether it’s running on the beach, going for a bike ride, or paddleboarding.”

In the home’s interiors, Adler’s design aesthetic took flight—with a variety of theatrical touches from Doonan. Nearly all the pieces are Adler’s, and the house is a testing ground for objects that might make their way into one of his 26 stores, like the Ravello cocktail table, in the living room, with a turquoiseblue glaze that emulates the ocean. Adler started experimenting with the table’s prototype at the same time that house planning began. “I think that everything I do informs everything else I do,” Adler says. “It all goes into production.” Shots of color from the ’60s and ’70s are everywhere, and certain custom tactile elements add depth and warmth. For example, a seating area in the living room is adjacent to a custom tile wall of Adler’s own design. Exercises in scale— another Adler trait—are evident in an oversize macramé creation by artist and set designer Andy Harman. “I wanted to bring a sense of California craft in but tweak it a little bit,” says Adler. “It’s a super macramé house but done through a trippy contemporary lens.”

Upholstering the walls in neutral grass cloths made the house’s four small bedrooms—one of which is

“There’s no right answer except to play and experiment,” Adler says about furnishing the interior. He reupholstered vintage Warren Platner chairs with velvet from Kravet (above). Drawings by Eva Hesse inspired the custom ceramic wall tile. Adler also created the coffee table, rug, planters, and gold stool. The pendant lamp is from Rewire in Los Angeles and the artwork is by Jean-Pierre Clément.

D

E

F

F H

F G I

C

G B

M A

K J L

Adler-Doonan Residence Floor Plan

A Living Room B Dining Room C Kitchen D Master Bedroom E Master Bathroom F Bedroom G Bathroom H Laundry Room I Porch J Pool K Storage L Pool Pavilion M Entry Court

Andy Harman’s macramé Owl punctuates the living room (top) with a California-craft sensibility while the midnight-blue brick imbues the space with a “GermanBrutalist-1960s kind of feel,” says Adler. “It gives the room a nice architectural gravitas.” Doonan stands next to the front door (right). In the gravel-lined entry court shaded by a Japanese maple tree, furniture from Beall and Bell—an antique shop in Greenport, New York—mixes with Pendant Globes by Primelite Manufacturing (above). Bobo pillows by Adler outfit the banquette, and cedar clads the interior of the seating area. “We have flamboyance, and we’re not inhibited about anything. Gray Organschi gave [the house] that intellectual rigor needed to make it beautiful. We were well matched.”—Resident Simon Doonan

“The vibe feels cozy even though the living room is quite grand,” Adler says. He made the room divider out of concrete and integrated the sofa with the step. Lee Jofa fabric covers the dining chairs and the pendants are vintage.

“We use every square inch of the house with tremendous glee and gusto. It’s California dreaming on the East Coast—that indoor, outdoor vibe. It’s a perfectly livable casual home.” —Resident Jonathan Adler

Adler’s Slate grass cloth, a material he likes because it feels natural, sheathes a guest room’s walls (below). Ravello and Nixon side tables flank the bed, which is covered with Adler’s Alexander duvet. A reissued mirror by renowned metal artist C. Jeré rounds out the eclectic room.

Landscape designer Vickie Cardaro used native grasses and plantings near the swimming pool (opposite). Cushions upholstered in Sunbrella fabric rest atop a Trex deck. The western red cedar ceiling extends through the deep eaves and covered seating area.

used as a gym—extra cozy. Objects and furniture constantly rotate through: “My poor, long-suffering husband never knows what he’s going to come home to,” says Adler. “Even if it works, I always think there’s a better way.” Not to be outdone, Doonan contributed with elements such as a shelving unit for books and ceramics, made from humble recycled-wood planks, and, in the master bedroom, a fiendishly defaced portrait of George Washington, featuring an eyepatched first president. “We didn’t want it to feel modernist-precious,” he says. “It had to feel modernist-boho-chic, like Big Sur.” The relatively small size of the house and the blackpainted exterior are two key facets of the project that make it stand out amongst its neighbors. And why the ominous color? “Painting things black is not an insane, punk rock gesture. It’s actually a very landscape-friendly thing to do. It’s the white houses that are quite jarring on the landscape,” Doonan says.

In keeping with Adler’s kitsch-heavy and ultrafriendly aesthetic, the couple felt it was important for the house’s materials to balance out the austerelooking structure. “People build beautiful, modern houses today, but sometimes they look too precious,” says Doonan. “I like surfaces that use recognizable materials, like Masonite, and mixing them in with Jonathan’s custom tile works and stuff like that. That’s what makes it feel like a beach house and not a bank floating in the middle of a lawn.” Warm but readily available—and therefore economical—red cedar wood is used for the ceiling throughout the house, extending to the cantilevered awnings around the main building and the side of the pool pavilion outdoor seating area. The interior walls are painted, rough-cut pine. “It feels like Fire Island in that sense and cranks up the rustic feel of the house,” Adler says.

The site’s drastic grade change—almost a full story from the front to the back—challenged architect Lisa Gray, but she used this potentially negative trait to her advantage in choreographing the flow through the interior. “They wanted a really big, open space for the living room, but they liked the idea of keeping the level changes, when possible, inside the house,” she says. When visitors arrive, they step down into a courtyard, and when they enter the house, they step down further into the living room. “These gentle level changes make these sequences of indoor and outdoor space feel really, really private,” Gray says.

The rejection of a beachside-cottage look helps the couple feel at home all year long, even in winter, when tampon-commercial activities are difficult. “The sensory deprivation is great,” says Doonan. “It is a bit like The Shining but only in a good way. Hopefully, we won’t turn into Shelley Duvall and Jack Nicholson.”

Slow Build Movement

With a workshop on Mumbai’s rural outskirts and a fleet of artisans who handcraft every detail from scratch, architect Bijoy Jain of Studio Mumbai is raising the bar on Indian design.

text by Kerstin Rose illustration by Elisabeth Moch

One afternoon, on a plot of land 30 min-

utes south of Mumbai, India, architect Bijoy Jain is showing a client around. It is 104 degrees in the shade, and the client, a young IT executive, wears shorts and designer sunglasses. Jain, who often has his best ideas onsite, suddenly stops by a gnarled tree, places his hand on his forehead. “This is where your house will be,” he says. “And I already have an idea...” Then Jain pauses for a long time; the silence begins to make the client nervous. The young executive offers a contribution to the planning of his future home: “You get a fantastic view of the valley from here,” he says cheerfully. Jain gives him a very serious look and says, “No, you will not get that view. The windows will face out onto the mountains.” As a consolation, however, he promises a wooden terrace that the IT executive can step onto whenever he wants to look at the valley.

It’s a typical client meeting. Anyone who commissions Jain to build a house must be willing to compromise.

Jain, 49, sees his projects as attempts to achieve a unity of architecture, interior design, and landscape. In 1995, after six years in the United States and London— studying in St. Louis, Missouri; working at Richard Meier’s office in Los Angeles—he returned to India and established his own architecture firm, Studio Mumbai, and an adjunct campus for living and working in Alibaug, a 40-minute drive and ferry ride

from Mumbai. Because he was unable to find construction firms and suppliers that met his high standards, Jain went out and recruited specialist workers from across India—many from the state of Rajasthan, known for its historic buildings and culture of craftsmanship—and opened his own workshop. Studio Mumbai’s jungle-like compound includes worker homes, Jain’s private residence, and the studio itself, an open structure framed by steel girders and topped with a corrugated iron roof. his staff architects work on their laptops in the open air, brooding over concepts that their boss has drawn in his notebook or visualized at a future construction site, using stones or chalk to sketch at a scale of one to one. Right alongside the architects are workers who handcraft whatever Jain needs for his buildings: windows, walls, furniture, doorknobs, handles. Even the toilet paper holders come from the workshop.

Bijoy Jain’s studio and workshop (above) is in Alibaug, India, 40 minutes outside Mumbai. “Part of the idea of moving to this rural place was to find a way to connect back to the fundamental conditions of rain, soil, our relationship to the trees, and our relationship to the land,” Jain said at a Current Work lecture at the Architectural League of New York in 2011. “It was very intuitive to move away from the city and move to this smaller space.” Models, like the one below, allow Jain to “practice” building the home and to understand the process from a mathematical standpoint.

Although sustainability and ecological awareness are still low priorities in booming India, Jain focuses on “building with nature, using resources sensibly, and achieving the highest possible quality.” Before he sits down to design a house, Jain makes a comprehensive study of its surroundings. he observes the course of the sun, measures the amount of groundwater on the land, and takes into account every tree and hill, every hollow and rock formation. Working this way, he develops a solution for each project. his prizewinning Palmyra house, built in 2007, is set into a grove of coconut palms. Two tall, airy pavilions with floor-to-ceiling louvered walls are sited in a sandy courtyard with a lap pool. “In a dense coconut grove, we only cut down two trees,” Jain explains.

The Palmyra house was built in 2007 as a writer’s retreat outside Mumbai near the Arabian Sea. Although the resident was most interested in the coastal proximity, Jain was drawn to the site’s coconut grove and, after examining the site, carefully slipped the home among the trees, cutting only two down. Palmyra, a local and widely available tree, was used for the home’s louvers.

From the road, the Belavali house, built at the edge of a small farming village in Belavali, India, in 2008, is unassuming. “I wanted the house to blend in with its environment,” Jain says. As in most of his buildings, the walls and floors are sealed and waxed with a coating of cement, chalk, and pigments. They shimmer in a shade of green that corresponds to the color of the mango leaves that press against the home’s windowpanes.

Jain works slowly and steadily; he jokingly describes himself as the slowest architect in India. his last residential building was Copper house II, built in 2010, of native wood and thin sheets of metal. he’s currently planning residential and office towers in Mumbai and China. “Sometimes it takes me a long time to explain my ideas,” he says. “But, at the end of the day, my clients trust me and follow me.”

The Belavali House features walls and floors coated with Jain’s signature plaster, a mix of lime and black granite meant to mimic shadows in a natural gradient. The majority of the furniture in the home, including the pieces in the living room (left), is handmade in Jain’s studio, where he employs skilled craftsmen who are intimately familiar with using local, high-quality materials. Although many of them lack official college degrees, Jain chose them for their unparalleled expertise.

Content originally published in Dwell® Magazine and/or on www.dwell.com, © Dwell Media LLC 2014. Published with permission of Dwell Media LLC. All rights reserved.

Arte di Vivere

Featuring a state-of-the-art bar, and comprehensive library fitted with GF+A Global’s new showroom promises a tile shopping experience like no other.

Story by Asih Jenie

For those who love it, shopping for materials and finishing is a great fun, for others however, it could be a chore, thanks for the sheer number of brands and products. Founded in 2006, GF+A Global is a one-stop source for mosaic and tiles in Singapore, offering wide range of European products for any space both indoor and outdoor. Located in posh River Valley neighbourhood, GF+A Global’s showroom occupies a two-story heritage shophouse, which has undergone an extensive renovation in the beginning of the year. Officially opened mid-March, the new showroom promises a shopping (and browsing) experience like no other. And indeed, afterall few tile shop can offer a library, a state-of-theart bar, and a cuppa on the house. Savvy businessman and founder Andy Lim tells us more.

Tell us about the concept of the new showroom.

Our new showroom concept is based on the philosophy of Arte di Vivere – Italian for the Art of Living. It was inspired by my numerous trips to Milan, the fashion capital of the world. We want our customers to enjoy Arte di Vivere moments and this led us to our extensive revamp of our showroom. Similar to visiting an art museum, our customers can take their time to appreciate our “art pieces”, enjoy a cup of cappuccino while browsing through design magazines at our café-bar and library.

How is the new showroom an improvement of the old one??

It is a definite paradigm shift from the past. I have to admit that the old showroom had a pretty run-of –the –mill concept. It was oriented towards decorations which comprises set ups of a wide range of products - tiles, furniture and other interior decorative items. So our new showroom is a refreshing change within the tiles/ mosaic retail industry in Singapore. We have a Milan-inspired functional bar in the first floor, headed by our chief barista Han whose cappuccino has been ranked as one of the best in town by our visitors. We also have an area dedicated to architects, interior designers and end-buyers on the second floor – the Library. It is a quiet area whereby visitors can relax and browse through design magazines, tiles/ mosaic folders and catalogues to gather ideas for their projects. We’d like to think that, together these two areas turn the showroom into one of the best places to chill and hang out with fellow architects/ interior designers in Singapore!

Why did you choose this particular location in 2006?

It was love at first sight! Unique pre-war architecture and the rich history behind this area, what else can you ask for?

Can you paint a picture of the customer experience from the moment they walk inside?

We want to wow them from the first moment they step inside the

Past the receptionist, A perfectly functional, state-of-the-art bar (opposite)greets customers. A Library in the second floor (left) provide comprehensive collection completed with 3D simulation program. Owner Andy Lim (middle) brings the best tiles and mosaics from Europe to Asia. Floral wall on the side of the entrance (bottom) wows customers since the first moment they walk in.

showroom, with a great example of mosaic artworks on our walls. These artworks will guide them to an equally stunning bar that’s also beautified with mosaic tiles. We have many people asking whether we are a café or bar or an art gallery. We tell them that we do not sell any beverages. However, we do invite some for viewing and some cuppa, on the house. Our product ambassador will be on hand to give our customer the grand tour of our two-storey gallery. Should they want to browse in private, they can just inform our product ambassador and he/she will leave you to admire our tiles. The library on the second floor provides inspirations and creative ideas for your projects. Stocked with books, magazines, and folders on tiles/ mosaic, and a comfy sofa, this library is where they can relax, play with endless possibilities, and see how their ideas simulated in various settings.

Any recent design/technological breakthrough in tiles that you can share with us?

A recent technological breakthrough in tiles sees the stunning combination of two key yet often contradicting features of tiles – size and thickness. From the FMG brand, which belongs to Iris Group, the technological breakthrough resulted in the first pressed technical ceramic slab in a revolutionary slim profile of 6 mm with an impressive surface of 3m x 1.5m by FMG – making it one of the biggest tiles in the market. Thanks to the large surface of the tile, grout lines are minimized which give rise to a unique visual continuity effect to the floor or wall, where the tiles have been installed on. And because its profile is so thin, the tile can be easily cut and used to make furniture or to customise counter tops and backsplash in kitchen. Its lightweight makes it suitable for the marine industry such as flooring of yachts.

GO FIND IT!

GF+A GLObAL

24 Mohamed Sultan Road Singapore 239012 +65 6222 2112 gfaglobal.com

SPECIALTY: European-made tiles and mosaics. TOP SELLING ITEM: 3 x 1.5 meter MAXFINE collection by FMG, near-authentic texture of natural stones without the caring hassles. bEST DEAL: E-wood by Iris provides look of wood with easy maintenance and friendly price tag. COOLEST FIND: Benneti Moss tiles, featuring maintenance-free moss that requires only minimum 50% humidity.

64 Backstory Groundworks Office groundworksoffice.com Carpentry by Bruce Willard, BW Construction bwconstruction.biz Plantings by Jose Henriquez, Jds Garden Services 650-362-4373 Canopy Installation by Bay Area Awning bayareaawning.com Soltis 92 fabric for canopy en.sergeferrari.com Paving stones from Garden Supply Hardscapes gardensupplyhardscapes.com

68 Bask in Nature NPDA studio piriyaprakob.wordpress.com

72 Layers of Tranquility Yoka Sara International yokasara.com

76 Beachy Keen José Roberto Paredes Cincopatasalgato cincopatasalgato.com Claudia & Harry Washington chwashington.com Organika organika.com.sv Ikono chair and Circa tables by The Carrot Concept thecarrotconcept.com Isis fan by Big Ass Fans bigassfans.com Broom chairs by Emeco emeco.net Regatta Mesh Chaise Lounge by Crate & Barrel crateandbarrel.com Bedroom sink by American Standard americanstandard-us.com Ceiling fan by Westinghouse westinghouselighting.com Talis faucet by Hansgrohe hansgrohe-usa.com

80 A Humble Narrative Desadisain desadisain.com 88 Fery Feet Resolution: 4 Architecture re4a.com Landscape design by Reed Hilderbrand reedhilderbrand.com Interiror design by David Bentheim bentheim.co.uk Modular manufacturing by Simplex Modular Homes simplexhomes.com Teak cabinetry by Kountry Kraft kountrykraft.com Ravenna rug by Luke Irwin lukeirwine.com Maxalto sofas, Frank side table, Alcova bed, Paola Piva dining table, and Charles Outdoor sofas by B&B Italia bebitalia.com Steel cube by Modern Industry modernindustrydesign.com Akari Light Sculpture UF4 33N by Isamu Noguchi shop.noguchi.org Twiggy floor lamp by Marc sadler for Foscarini foscarini.com Custom benches by Arnold d’Epagnier of Mission Evolution missionevolution.com Hawaiian koa and wych elm wood supplied by Talarico Hardwoods talaricohardwoods.com Aurea LED pendant lamp by FontanaArte fontanaarte.com Countertops by Caesarstone caesarstoneus.com Wall ovens, induction cooktop, and range hood by Miele mieleusa.com Refrigerator by Sub-Zero subzero-wolf.com Dishwasher, ice machine, and wine cooler by KitchenAid kitchenaid.com Kitchen sink and faucet by Blanco blancoamerica.com Berenice wall lamps by Luceplan luceplanusa.com Cornforth White and Chaleston Gray paint by Farrow & Ball us.farrow-ball.com Vintage pendant lights from Lassco lassco.uk 96 Top Grades Gray Organschi Architecture grayorganschi.com Landscape design by Vickie Cardaro buttercupdesigngroup.com Large Diamond Vintage Morroccan rug by Beni Ourain, Rain Drops mirrorby C. Jere studio, Peter rug, Malibu sofa,Sheepskin rug, Brasilia Arthur throw pillow, Okura planters, Ravello Cocktail table, Hans pedestaltable, Bobo pillows, Reform Temple Screen, Brass Teardrop tables, Cross pillows, Camille dining chairs, Whitaker chair and ottoman, Talitha rug, Large horn sculpture, Alexander bedding, Ravello side table, Nixon end table, Buenos Aires Table Torchiere, and assorted ceramics by Jonathan Adler all from Jonathan Adler jonathanadler.com Velvet fabric in E25810 and E27200 by Kravet kravet.com Diamond Baratta fabric in Luca Blue by Lee Jofa leejofa.com Saarinen Table by Knoll knoll.com Mcrame Owl by Andy Harman andyharman.com Outdoor pendant light by Primelite primelite-mfg.com Decking by Trex trex.com Canvas by Sunbrella sunbrella.com Phonofone II by Science & Sons scienceandsons.com

104 Profile Bijoy Jain, Studio Mumbai studiomumbai.com

108 Design Finder GF+A Global gfaglobal.com

104 Finishing Touch Boy Scouts of America scouting.org Mithun mithun.com Tipping Mar tippingmar.com Axor Hansgrohe hansgrohe-int.com

Bulthaup luxeliving.co.id bulthaup.com

Dedon dedon.de

Grohe Hydrospa hydrospa.co.id

Grohe Spa grohe.com

Haiku haikufan.com

Indobuildtech Expo indobuildtech.com

Nippon Paint Young Designer Award npyda-indonesia.com

The Rugmaker therugmaker.com.sg

TOTO toto.co.id

Scouts’ Honor

The Boy Scouts of America builds a sustainable tree house in West Virginia.

story by Diana Budds photo by Joe Fletcher

In 2013, the Boy Scouts of America

made conservation a stronger focus of the organization by introducing a new sustainability merit badge and opening an educational center in the 10,600-acre Summit Bechtel Reserve in West Virginia. Using the Living Building Challenge as a guide (a rigorous set of construction standards similar to LEED), Seattle-based architecture firm Mithun spearheaded a multidisciplinary team to create a tree house that would turn lessons into an adventure. Sited on a former coal mine, the building features a locally made prefabricated steel megastructure, FSCcertified black locust wood housing, a photovoltaic array, a wind turbine, and a rainwater catchment system. Visitors learn about energy and water conservation as they climb outdoor staircases that lead from the forest floor to the 125-foot-high rooftop rising above the leaf canopy. Brendan Connolly, a partner at Mithun, takes pride in the architectural promenade: “The experience of moving through the trees was more powerful than we imagined,” he says. 

dwell.com/sustainability-tree-house See inside the structure and discover more green features online.

Content originally published in Dwell® Magazine and/or on www.dwell.com, © Dwell Media LLC 2014. Published with permission of Dwell Media LLC. All rights reserved.