Inhoudsopgave van September - October 2017 - Frame

You feel that something has been lost in the development of self-driving cars? SATOSHI YOSHIIZUMI (TAKT PROJECT): Indeed. We seem to have forgotten that the point of a vehicle is to move. I want to make travel a richer, more enjoyable experience. How? We at Takt Project propose a vehicle whose body is variable in height. The position of the line of sight goes from a ‘usual’ height of about 1 m all the way to 10 m. In terms of size, I imagine the capacity to be similar to that of a passenger car that holds four to five people. What inspired the focus on height? I believe that the level at which we see the world around us has a huge impact on all our senses. When a…

YOSHINO – Community, community, community: Airbnb repeats the word like a mantra when promoting Yoshino Cedar House, its experimental residential project in rural Japan. The narrow, light-filled building – made entirely from local cedar and cypress – is the result of a collaboration by architect Go Hasegawa and Samara, Airbnb’s in-house design studio. Situated on a riverbank in Yoshino, the venture aims to revitalize the dwindling village in Nara Prefecture. Cedar House was first assembled in Tokyo for Kenya Hara’s House Vision exhibition (Frame 113, p. 162), before being relocated 480 km southwest to Yoshino. Hara’s exhibition questioned how housing might address the rural-urban divide, a major problem in Japan. Decades of recession, among other factors, has left provincial settlements depopulated and ageing. The side effects are legion, but one…

STOCKHOLM – Built in the 1970s, the headquarters of a former bank in Stockholm is now a five-star hotel capped with a restaurant that goes by the name Tak (Swedish for ‘roof’). In a complex that includes upscale hotel At Six and a ‘younger’ accommodation, Hobo, Tak welcomes guests with local ingredients and dishes that feature Japanese flavours and cooking techniques. Called in to create an atmosphere befitting the petite plates, Swedish outfit Wingårdhs applied chef Frida Ronge’s restaurant concept to the space. Although sourced locally or inspired by the building, materials and furniture are employed according to ‘Japanese methods’, says Helena Toresson of Wingårdhs. The initial challenge was to partition the vast dining room into smaller, more intimate areas, a task the architects achieved by wrapping tables and sofas…

BEIJING – At the edge of picturesque Houhai Lake, surrounded by historical hutong dwellings – most of which have been owned by the same Chinese families for generations – Vue Beijing combines old and new in a ‘major adaptive-reuse exercise’ that involves a number of existing hutong-style buildings erected in the 1950s. The flagship of Chinese boutique-hotel chain Vue, the project was realized by Singapore studio Ministry of Design (MOD). Conceptualizing and lending form to the venue’s various China-centric attributes – such as the cracked ice-ray latticework found throughout the 10,000-m2 space, a pattern inspired by the time-honoured motif featured on Chinese windows and doors – was easier than might be expected for an outsider, says Colin Seah, MOD’s founder and director. ‘Most of our work is abroad, so we…

HOSPITALITY HAS HAD its foot in the local pool for a while. Forward-thinking hotels started abandoning the cookie-cutter approach some time ago, surpassing their status as a place for tourists to merely rest their heads. Lobbies with hipster coffee on tap began to attract laptop-toting local worker bees to transform once underutilized spaces into buzzing hubs of activity. The idea of hospitality as a conduit for social energy that nourishes the neighbourhood is something we examined back in 2014 (Frame 101). The trend is still alive and kicking – and it’s gone a step further. Hotels and restaurants are striving to be local in every sense of the word, from the food they offer to the plates on which it’s served. From the people who craft the space to the…

Merricks North, AU Merricks North AUSTRALIA IS RIFE WITH hotels and restaurants located on the grounds of its sweeping vineyards. From Margaret River on the West Coast to the Hunter Valley on the East, there are too many wine plantations to count. Mornington Peninsula, around an hour’s drive from Melbourne, is no exception. Despite a high level of competition in the hospitality industry, when entrepreneur Louis Li saw a property for sale on the headland in Merricks North, he immediately recognized its potential. With a background in filmmaking, Li wanted to create a hotel that would offer guests an escape from reality, a place that would invite them to be part of a story. It was this ‘immersive storytelling’ that Li felt could be the hotel’s point of distinction, along…

Changing lifestyles are influencing the design and layout of modern residences. Work is no longer confined to the office, and wellbeing has extended beyond the spa. As a result, concepts of designated spaces are growing outdated. ‘Housing is becoming more hybrid,’ says designer Werner Aisslinger. ‘Private residences are moving more or less towards a studio loft design. Having separate spaces with very distinct functions is no longer viable. Functions overlap. Everything is merging, and it’s affecting both the residential and hospitality scenes.’ He nonetheless stresses that ‘in the last 20 years the bathroom has become less flexible. Everything is connected to the architecture: tubs are built in, and sinks are often part of tiled corners, even though having loose objects that you can move around fits the zeitgeist much more.’…

1 Go Natural Urban and natural influences merge to inform collections that are organic in appearance and endlessly applicable. One example is Grespania’s Katmandu series of porcelain tiles, which the makers call an ‘industrially produced take on cottos’. Thanks to earthy tones and rustic surfaces, each tile seems to have been shaped by the elements. 2 Add Dimensions Dynamic and rhythmic surfaces featuring relief and mosaic-like patterns include Rombini, a chromatic collection of ceramic tiles – Carré, Losange and Triangle – designed by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Mutina. Triangle’s corrugated surface invites an intriguing play of light and shadow. 3 Make It Move The surfaces of certain tiles show that colour is the product of reflection. Mosa’s tiles, which are composed of a multitude of different pigments, vary in…

British-born Amsterdammer VICKY HAMPTON is a writer, a cook and an avid foodie who has lived and worked in the Netherlands since 2006. She focuses on reviewing and recommending Amsterdam restaurants, while doing additional culinary and travel writing. Hampton has written for publications such as The Guardian, The New York Times and the Michelin Guide. You’ll find her website at amsterdamfoodie.nl. On page 164 of this issue, she covers two of Danish restaurant Noma’s pop-up locations. SOPHIE LOVELL writes, edits and works as a creative consultant in the fields of architecture, design and publishing. A regular contributor to Wallpaper*, she has served as the magazine’s German editor since 2000. Lovell has written and edited a number of books, including This Gun Is for Hire: from personal to corporate design projects…

You’ve decided to focus on the ‘hear’ rather than the ‘now’ of future transport . . . PENNY WEBB: Yes. As engines improve and technologies such as maglev [magnetic levitation] become a reality, quieter landscapes form a foreseeable future. The thinking behind car acoustics needs to be changed. Simply engineering an electric car to sound like a car with a traditional engine isn’t the right way to go. What do you propose? A holistic approach to transport design, in which pedestrians are considered as much a part of the experience as drivers are. What’s the next step? We need to create transformable acoustic materials that react to their surroundings yet make as little impact as possible. I’m thinking of a tunable environment in which ambient sound is lowered and directed…

TOKYO – You have a spot in a famous Tokyo department store to promote $3,000 leather bags and only five days to steal the show. For young Japanese architects Shingo Masuda and Katsuhisa Otsubo, a challenging brief from Valextra was an opportunity to depart from the traditionally enclosed spaces of retail’s shop-in-shop concept. Rather than making a conventional pop-up boutique – in a well-defined area where labels are often strictly separated from one another – they wanted a place that would ‘feel and convey the real intentions of the brand’. Masuda speaks of Valextra as a luxury brand that’s proud of its 80-year-long legacy of craftsmanship and simple designs, a back story unlike that of competitive companies whose products relentlessly scream for attention Instead of merely considering how to exhibit…

VIENNA – Slow Graffiti is populated with a rooster, a single galosh, one generic metal folding chair, an upturned umbrella, a table fan, pink Styrofoam packing peanuts spilling from their bag, a large lemon and a stuffed dog, among other eminently ordinary objects. Items are set at lonely distances from one another in a high-ceilinged, 604-m2 room that bristles with slender columns whose smooth surfaces complement walls carpeted in lavender velvet, giving an impression of lush flawlessness. Floor areas are a jigsaw puzzle of shallow shag carpet in fields of pastels that border deep, rusty hues: powder-blue beside burgundy, lemon-yellow and violet, diluted brick-red and an umbrous orange. The oxidized candy land is on show at Secession in Vienna, which presents contemporary art forms in solo and themed exhibitions. Slow…

NEW YORK CITY — Walk through the streets of Manhattan with a born-and-bred New Yorker, and you can expect your companion to grouse about urban gentrification, pointing out the new shops and trendy cafes that occupy what used to be mom-and-pop places. Anel French Cleaners was one such neighbourhood institution. The family-run operation dry-cleaned for '0the Central Park fancy-schmancies' since the 1960s, Robin Saltzman told The New York Times, before the Saltzmans chose to retire and shut up shop. She maintains that the decision wasn't due to rent increases; her father, Leo, bought the plot years ago. In fact, the family still owns and resides in the building, and they selected Aesop as its street-level tenant. The Saltzmans were pleased that we honoured their father’s legacy by restoring the sign…

Singapore, SG Singapore ‘WE DIDN’T WANT The Warehouse Hotel to be Singaporean quirky,’ says Chris Lee, founder and creative director of local agency Asylum, the outfit responsible for the branding and design of the heritage hotel. Sited on the bank of Singapore River, The Warehouse Hotel began in 1895 as a row of three spice-trade godowns, or ‘warehouses’. The port area was once a hub of underground activities such as opium peddling, illegal spirit distillation and secret societies associated with its proximity to the Chinese Protectorate. The establishment of the Warehouse Disco in 1986 closed the chapter on the building’s shady past. It became the nation’s biggest watering hole for the following ten years, and in 2013 authorities gazetted the three iconic godowns for conservation. They make up part of…

An estimated two billion people worldwide are experiencing a scarcity of fresh water, while many of the rest of us waste water unnecessarily. A big part of our daily use of water – and our unsustainable behaviour – takes place in the bathroom. According to Orbital Systems, a Swedish firm whose shower technology recirculates continuously purified water in a closed loop, the conventional shower consumes ‘more water and energy inefficiently’ than any other form of nonindustrial use. The company was founded by Mehrdad Mahdjoubi, who set out to utilize the knowledge he gained while developing water-recycling techniques for NASA’s Mars missions – a collaboration with Lund University – to improve life on earth. Working with investors and board members that include Skype cofounder Niklas Zennström, fashion retailer H&M CEO Karl-Johan…

HELLA HELLA JONGERIUS: ‘I have a great need to lose myself in something. Over the last ten years I’ve focused completely on colour. The more I read and research, the less I know about the subject. I feel like a beginner again, and it feels good. In that sense, colour is a metaphor for life itself. I’ve also started painting recently. Not with the pretence of a visual artist, but as a way to experience how colours blend and what the properties of certain pigments are. Once I’ve become fascinated by a subject, I want to understand it to its core. I become incredibly persistent. That’s why I only work with a few companies – ones that offer me freedom. Innovation is only possible if there is room for serendipity…

CHICAGO – White, frosty, imposing (for numerous reasons) and giving rise to a ‘help, I’m drowning’ cry of despair: the hospital is one of the last public facilities to remain in its ivory tower, despite all efforts to add an air of cheer and optimism. Humanizing a medical institution isn’t easy, though; the hospital is, by definition, a place that you’d rather be ‘out of’ than ‘in’. For those without a choice, there’s hope at the new Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago (formerly the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago), a haven for patients with highly complicated conditions, such as traumatic brain and spinal-cord injuries, stroke, limb loss and cancer. The focus of this 27-storey hospital is ‘patient user experience’, achieved through shared spaces used by patients, doctors and researchers simultaneously. The…

SYDNEY – In recent years, fit-outs in Australia have laboured under a Scandinavian sky. Blonde woods reign underfoot in rooms adorned with furniture by mid-century Danish designers and their modern counterparts. To the relief of parents, the recreational market aimed at kids is noting the appeal of the Northern European aesthetic. Nubo, a play space for children up to the age of ten in Sydney’s Alexandria, utilizes key Scandi design ideologies – functionalism and simplicity – to deliver a calm yet immersive environment for inquisitive minds to explore. It represents the first of its kind in the country. No rainbow appears to have exploded within, splattering primary colours upon walls, plastic furnishings and toys. Quite the contrary: Nubo’s neutral palette – oak flooring paired with soft bouncy rubber inlays, custom-designed…

VALENCIA – In an era of near-total automation that enables us to do ‘just about anything’ online, physical face-to-face interaction is losing ground. But many people still prefer to be assisted by a real person in a real office. So when a utility company asked Fran Silvestre to design a customer-service office, he came up with ‘a space of interaction’ aimed at providing flesh-and-blood visitors with a surprising experience. Entered from a picturesque tree-lined avenue in the 19th-century urban extension of Valencia, Spain, the office occupies a long corridor-like space that spans an entire city block. The elongated interior takes a 45-degree turn midway, coinciding with the perimeter’s triangular shape yet creating awkward geometries that, together with the building’s existing columns, make for poor visibility and confusing orientation. To establish…

BEIJING – The siheyuan, or courtyard house, took root 800 years ago in a budding Beijing. A home with a single entrance, it features discrete single-storey structures that face one or more courtyards. With its back turned to the city outside, each building assumes a sole function. Arch Studio took a 200-m2 replica of a Qing dynasty siheyuan, only a few years old, and gave it a literal twist to layer history with modernity and the man-made with the organic. The result, known as Twisting Courtyard, is as pragmatic as it is poetic. A meandering walkway originates inside the gate to the enclave before gushing out to the courtyard, forming two small hills that extend from the southwest to the northeast corners of the site. Arch Studio’s concept is audacious,…

This book revisits 16 years of Julien De Smedt’s work. The Built section of this book gives an overview of De Smedt’s work seen through the lens of photographer Julien Lanoo. The Unbuilt section is a selective narrative of projects that haven’t made it to the built world. €34 JO NAGASAKA / Schemata Architects Jo Nagasaka’s focus is often drawn to tired, found objects or unused spaces. Through investigations to seek modern solutions and pioneering re-purposing techniques, he manages to transform interiors and breathe life back into objects. This book encapsulates the essence of the studio’s work. €39 HAPPENING 2 Design for Events Happening 2 journeys into the world of event design, vibrantly showcasing over 60 stunning spectacles – from fashion shows to festivals and exhibitions to exclusive product launches…

Tokyo, JP Tokyo TRUNK HOTEL IS AN accommodation with a mission. Assistant general manager Masayuki Kinoshita claims it’s the first hotel based on the concept of ‘socializing’ and ‘local first’, a place where people can ‘easily make substantial contributions to society through their daily lives’. He says the idea for the hotel emerged from Japan’s post-3.11 climate, when ‘people started to value social responsibility more than luxury and materialism’. He notes that many hotel guests ‘think that if they spend millions of yen on a luxury holiday, they might as well spend it for the good of the local community’. Located in Shibuya, Tokyo’s prime gathering place, the 15-room hotel – featuring four banquet rooms, a publicly accessible bar, a restaurant and a private wedding chapel – is an initiative…

Forbes referred to decluttering as a trend that entrepreneurs are breaking their heads to capitalize on. Organizing consultant and author Marie Kondo calls it a life-changing magic trick. As contemporary bathrooms decrease in size, seemingly by the day, decluttering grows in prominence as the kingpin of a popular lifestyle movement, and its reach extends beyond the closet or sink cabinet. Stripping the bathroom to its bare essentials is more than an aesthetic choice. It allows us to create an airier environment while preserving and even optimizing its functionality. Thanks to new technologies, intelligent designs and paper-thin materials such as glazed titanium-steel and high-density extruded polystyrene are making today’s streamlined bathroom furniture more practical and hygienic than ever – and easier to personalize. Brands are rejecting elaborate ornament in favour of…

How is today’s sanitaryware market responding to the rising demand for sustainable products? CARLOS VELAZQUEZ: A growing awareness of our responsibility for the environment is transforming the way we consume and how we build or renovate our houses. In the future, we will advance towards technologies and products that ensure minimum energy consumption and an optimized use of resources, with a focus on best performance and an increasing customization capacity. Consumers will demand clean products that use little or no energy while providing pleasant experiences adapted to individual needs. The bathroom of tomorrow will be efficient, connected and interactive. How is Roca contributing to a more sustainable future? Concern for the environment is part of our DNA. Even in the early days, we were aware of our responsibility towards water,…