AZURE

The return to the physical office has been on everyone’s minds since the onset of the pandemic. At Azure, we’ve been collecting and platforming a variety of novel approaches to these communal spaces over the past two years, wondering what the future office would be like. In this issue, we spotlight a trio of exceptional examples in three different types of buildings: a gleaming new glass and steel edifice near Basel (“Changing It Up,” page 72), a multi-floor office literally carved into an existing complex for a tech company in Shenzhen (“Balance Beams,” page 66) and an adapted tobacco pipe factory in London that does double duty as bathroom showroom and co-working space (“Double Feature,” page 60). We also take a look at developments in life sciences laboratories (“Future Labs,” page…

Contract furniture designed for the post-pandemic office has largely focused on the need for flexible and collaborative yet physically distanced spaces. There’s one challenge that’s proven harder to solve, though, and it’s convincing workers that, much like home, the workplace can have its creature comforts. One solution: contract furnishings that maximize everyday ease and mirror the softness of a residential setting. Enter Brig Lounge. New from contract furnishings leader Nienkämper, Brig (pronounced “Breeg”) is a configurable soft-seating system. With generous proportions and luxurious cushions, it captures the warmth of residential seating while delivering the durability required by high-traffic contract spaces. Allowing users to create unique configurations — from a classic lounge chair or a simple modern bench to a high-back sofa that offers a sense of privacy in an open setting —…

Never underestimate the power of a tiny insect. After all, the entire Jurassic Park franchise began with a single amber-trapped mosquito. And now, Vancouver designer Calen Knauf credits the inspiration for his latest piece of furniture to a fly. During a trip to design curator Alice Stori Liechtenstein’s Austrian castle, Knauf noticed a bug forming concentric ripples as it moved across a water-covered table. He later returned to this memory to develop his own petri dish–esque composition, the appropriately named Flywater occasional table. Granted, the design swaps out actual flies for a trio of waxed aluminum legs, each dipped into its own individual puddle of tinted epoxy resin. Once set, these three forms are then immersed in a series of consecutively larger communal puddles, increasing both the tabletop’s thickness and its…

As online spending continues to surge, Hyundai Department Store Group (once owned by the same family as the carmaker) is providing something that digital markets can’t: sensory experiences designed to entice. Commissioned to envision 9,552 square metres across three floors in the retailer’s new Seoul flagship, Toronto interior design firm Burdifilek set out to create what co-founder and creative director Diego Burdi describes as “the essence of interesting retail,” defined by a sense of exploration and discovery. The studio found its inspiration in the surrounding metropolis. Seoul’s pockets of density, broken up by the city’s lush forests and the winding Han River, subtly shaped the store’s individual floor plans and overall layout. In the atrium, pillars hold up floating islands of blooming trees and shrubbery, their green foliage popping against the otherwise…

Taking inspiration from postwar minimalist art, particularly the clean lines and simple yet evocative forms of Donald Judd’s sculptures, Antonio Citterio designed the Groundpiece sofa for Flexform just over 20 years ago as an experiment in “marrying art and cushion.” The result is a timeless piece that challenges the very idea of a couch while maximizing both its artistry and its utility. Much like the work of Judd and his contemporaries, which was not immediately appreciated or understood in the mainstream, Citterio and his team prioritized the introduction of a new way to think about what a couch could be over ensuring the product’s broad appeal. Though they were at first concerned whether the sofa would be marketable because it was both “so simple and so untraditional,” according to the designer,…

In the 1970s, the Cree Nation of Quebec negotiated the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement after the provincial government failed to consult the nation about a hydro-electric development in the Eeyou Istchee territory. It then created the holding company Creeco to invest the financial settlement in a long-term, community-focused economic plan. Its most recent diversification is real estate. This past winter, after an elder from the nearby Kahnawake Mohawk community performed a sunrise ceremony, the Crees broke ground on Odea Montreal. Designed by Douglas Cardinal with Lemay, the mixed-use development will redefine a corner of Old Montreal when it opens in 2024. We caught up with Creeco president Derrick Neeposh to learn how Odea will reflect Cree heritage — and a future of Indigenous self-determination. 1 Support strategic growth When the…