Sommaire pour Summer 2023 de Frame

Does this issue look different than all of our previous editions? Some years ago, an avid reader told me that FRAME showcased a very distinctive style. I’d never given any thought to style before, but was told that the designs we published were expressive, bold and colourful. In short: projects that wow. And they were right. In our search for innovation and creativity in spatial design, we’ve always been attracted to rather radical approaches that involve a lot of CMF: colour, material and form (the F actually stands for finish, but form is more appropriate in this context). Let’s call it maximalist design. If you’ve been following us, you’ve surely noticed that we’ve taken a different direction in the last few years. Instead of being interested in ‘what’ and ‘who’,…

How can waste shift into a cycle of circularity, how can we build more hospitable habitats, and how can increased ownership among end users secure a project’s longevity? We put three studios with enticing answers in the spotlight as this issue’s Ones to Watch. FLÉTTA enables the post-reuse potential of materials, AIXOPLUC conceives empathetic spaces considerate of both people and the biosphere, and CAUKIN Courtesy of Caukin practices community engagement to effect real social change.…

Canada, the UK and Indonesia: These are the countries the founding members of London- and Cardiff-based Caukin studio hail from, and that the firm is named after. Joshua Peasley, Harrison Marshall and Harry Thorpe met while studying architecture and it was while working on realizing their first real project – ‘as a group of enthusiastic, naively ambitious students’ – that they experienced the rich exchange of knowledge that comes from working with end users and local materials, logistics and construction approaches. It’s what triggered their continued collaboration, which is defined by an effort to thread a positive social, environmental or economic impact into all of their projects, no matter how charitable or commercial the brief. Making sure a project effects meaningful change starts with a researched understanding of the larger…

‘Our task as architects is not to make the Earth inhabitable – it already is without the interference of architects in particular, and humans in general – but more hospitable,’ says David Tapias Monné, founder of Spanish architecture firm Aixopluc, which is Catalan for shelter. Though Monné doesn’t think human societies are hospitable by nature – ‘they tend to fear and dislike strangers and the “other”’ – he is confident in the role of the architect to make truly empathetic and hospitable spaces for people, while being considerate of the biosphere. To get there, Monné thinks we urgently need to build a more symbiotic – instead of parasitic – relationship with nature, which is why Aixopluc works with what’s on hand, both in terms of materials and skills. In line…

Potato Head operates a creative community in Seminyak on the Indonesian island of Bali and a restaurant-club in Singapore. They’re places where ‘art, music, food, design and wellness come together’, claims Herkarisma, who also oversees the business’s product R&D and provides sustainability advice. The company’s dedication to a comprehensive zero-waste philosophy that covers not just food and beverages but also architecture, interiors and design sets Potato Head apart from most other hospitality providers. ‘We continuously look for ways to reduce waste and consider what it might become,’ adds Herkarisma. Andreu Carulla joins the chat by calling in from Banyoles. The designer heads a studio in the north of Spain and developed the interior and products for Gerona-based Normal, the more reasonably priced sibling of one of the world’s top restaurants:…

Launched this spring, the Transparency collection continues Chemetal’s evolution into thicker metal designs. It began in 2021 with the release of Surface Mode, industrial, black CNC-carved patterns. ‘With Surface Mode, we pushed our metal expertise,’ says Chemetal creative director and president Geoff Schaefer. ‘We loved the idea of using thicker aluminium that, because it has no backing, can be more easily repurposed, reused or recycled.’ The recent addition of a large-bed fibre laser, which can cut designs and shapes out of aluminium panels, enabled Chemetal to go in new directions. The Transparency collection is the result. It features nine designs – from biomorphic to classic, mid-century and futuristic – and eight colour options, including nature-inspired tones like Seafoam and Saffron. Designed by Chemetal’s in-house team of creatives, CAD experts and…

Hailing from a country rich in natural resources, Icelanders Birta Rós Brynjólfsdóttir and Hrefna Sigurðardóttir have founded a product design studio on working with an unnatural resource: waste. ‘We saw that most materials in Iceland are imported and then exported again for recycling,’ says Sigurðardóttir, ‘so we became eager to use the materials here, where they become waste.’ Their collaboration began in 2014 with a project called Haugfé. Named for a word from the Viking age that refers to the practice of burying the deceased with treasured belongings like weapons and jewellery, Haugfé sought to reframe industrial waste in Iceland. They and a friend visited manufacturers and analysed their waste, made the materials available to others, held pop-up material markets and shared their database. ‘Although we had good feedback and…

ON-SITE UPCYCLING Materials upcycled from on-site demolition were used to design the circular office for Japanese studio Nosigner in Yokohama, Japan, which will also house Zenloop, a consulting firm specialized in circular economy transitions that was cofounded by Nosigner. Approximately 1,800 kg of lightweight steel framing was repurposed for ceiling louvres, while recycled industrial aluminium foil and tiles made with waste materials add to the workspace’s circular strides. CLOTHING LOOP Constructed inside Paris’s Grande Halle de La Villette, the set for Marine Serre’s Rising Shelter collection presentation featured three 8-m-tall towers filled with 1,300 kg of used clothing. Matière Noire and Marine Serre’s set designer Remie Brier built the towers using vintage denim, silk scarves and t-shirts, which were returned to the studio post show to be used in future…

40% of global greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings. Of these, approximately 70% are produced by building operations, while the remaining 30% are the result of construction. AVOID BAND-AID SOLUTIONS Companies are asking designers to dream up inventive ways to reuse their waste, but sustainability should start at the root. Designers can act as creative ecoconsultants, analysing a company’s materials and manufacturing processes to identify areas for improvement. Avoiding band-aid solutions also means ensuring that clients and communities have the skills and resources to sustain the spaces and products realized by designers. WORK TRANSDISCIPLINARILY Experienced at mediating between production, industry and the market, designers will play a key role in encouraging the adoption of new materials, but many sustainable solutions will require input from various outside experts. The advancement of biomaterials,…