AZURE

Every year, we are beyond thrilled with the number of remarkable submissions to the AZ Awards competition. They come in from around the world; some are already familiar to us (we may have even published them in our pages), while others are completely new to our eyes. What impresses most is how each edition of our annual program, now in its 12th year, sees architects and designers reach novel heights in creatively solving problems, with equity, sustainability and community in mind. In 2022, after careful virtual deliberation, our world-renowned jury — which you can read all about on page 60 — has chosen 24 AZ Awards winners and 46 Awards of Merit. These deserving honourees, as well as the People’s Choice favourites, are celebrated in our digital Winners Reveal (go to…

With the advent of work-from-home and flexible hybrid arrangements, employees returning to the office are looking to leave traditional workplace formalities behind in favour of a more relaxed setting that embraces the comforts of home. And, like the happy medium that exists between business formal and smart casual, work environments and the furnishings within them can also be designed to bridge this gap. This challenge was the impetus for Keilhauer’s new Forsi collection, conceived to meet the needs of modern meetings and recently launched at NeoCon 2022. The contract furniture heavyweight turned to its frequent collaborators at design firm EOOS to conceptualize the two-piece collection: a conference table and a chair. Forsi’s name — a portmanteau of the numbers four and six — hints at the ideal number of members in…

New York, New York — the town so nice, they named it twice. Now, the city has gone on to inspire not one but two collaborations between Cassina and Italian-born architect and designer Gaetano Pesce. The first of these, 1980’s Tramonto a New York (or “Sunset in New York”), was a three-seater sofa that placed an orange sunburst-shaped backrest behind a series of skyscraper-like cushions. This year’s follow-up, a polyurethane resin room divider featuring custom brass hinges, adopts a similar composition to its predecessor but pumps up the colour, height and transparency. For Pesce, who operates his studio out of Brooklyn’s Navy Yard, it’s a testament to the timeless charm of Manhattan’s skyline. Then again, nature can make for a nice backdrop, too. In May, Pesce opened “My Dear Mountains,” on view…

Anyone filled with a sense of dread by upcoming teeth cleanings will be happy to learn that a new generation of clinics is looking to help. The team at Antwerp’s Dentology+ recently set out to reframe oral hygiene as a form of self-care, banishing memories of anxious trips to sterile environments by enlisting the “soft minimalism” specialists at Copenhagen studio Norm Architects. “We like things simple, but not so minimal that they become cold and uninviting,” explains Norm Architects partner Sofie Thorning. Here, her firm’s approach sees pared-back rooms enriched by tactile flourishes selected for their calming and comforting properties. The clinic’s two floors express distinct but overlapping identities. The basement, with its low ceiling and sparse natural light, mimics a cavern to evoke feelings of safety and quietude. By contrast, the…

The latest evidence of the Kitchener–Waterloo region’s ongoing tech boom takes the form of a permanent art installation in one of its newest office buildings. Looking to build on the region’s momentum, Perimeter Development Corporation recently commissioned Toronto’s Dubbeldam Architecture + Design to bring something “funky, dynamic and bold” to the lobby of 345 King West. The studio responded with Binary Spectrum, a cloud-like mass of colourful acrylic discs that stream down like computer code. While the futuristic showpiece was initially developed using parametric digital modelling tools, the physical outcome also harks back to Kitchener’s roots as a manufacturing town by tapping into custom fabrication. In total, the piece encompasses 8,000 plastic discs — each cut by the team at Sixpenny Architectural Fabrication and threaded onto one of 650 steel wires that…

At first glance, metal shelving might seem like a surprise coming from Milan’s Formafantasma, which is perhaps best known for its earthy experiments with natural materials. But co-founders Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin are also two of the industry’s biggest bookworms, priding themselves on a research-based approach that often leads to designs accompanied by rich bibliographies. And in the case of T Shelf, there’s a lot more to the design than just its shiny cover. Formafantasma’s commitment to deep investigation was precisely what led Stockholm brand Hem to first approach the studio with an open brief back in 2017. “They weren’t coming only for the aesthetic of our product but for our way of thinking,” says Trimarchi. After identifying shelving as a subject worthy of further study, Formafantasma hit the books, assessing…