Inhoudsopgave van July - August 2016 - Frame

How we work, buy and relax – topics that we at Frame have always found intriguing. We make a magazine for professionals who are engaged in the design of spaces for these public activities. So why an issue of Frame that features housing – a private affair? The answer is simple: we’re exploring a relatively new type of residence that does involve professionals. I’m talking about co-living, also known as shared living, an increasingly commercial version of the often idealistic communes that had their heyday in the 1970s. Today’s co-living complexes start with a developer who commissions a spatial-design expert whose main job is to create amply proportioned communal spaces: from lobby and cinema to spa and roof terrace. The occupant’s private unit often comprises no more than a small…

Frame teams up with Eyes on Talents to highlight award-winning designers. Eyes on Talents is a by-invitation-only online platform used by innovative brands to discover and connect with top creatives from a range of disciplines. frame.eyesontalents.com German product designer Philipp Beisheim pumps fresh air into pop-culture icons Is there such a thing as a universal design language? If so, what does it tell us about the world we live in? PHILIPP BEISHEIM: People have been trying to formulate a universal design language for decades. During the Bauhaus movement, the language of the time expressed concerns of affordability and a push towards mass production – ideas later challenged by postmodernists, who argued that modernist design was boring. When viewed from a contemporary perspective, however, postmodernism lacks the clarity of thought and…

CREATING an unsolicited master plan of New York City, designing a utopia in New Jersey: just two of the projects self-initiated by Adam Frampton’s Only If architecture studio. On a smaller scale, the Manhattan-based outfit recently completed a fashion showroom featuring mirrored, movable modules and a coffee bar that eschews the bulb-lit, white-tiled laboratories of recent years in favour of efficiency, black marble and budget-friendly painted OSB. Frampton earned degrees in architecture and environmental design (with honours) at Princeton University and the University of Colorado Boulder before working in Rotterdam and Hong Kong for OMA; leading projects in China, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and India; and coauthoring a book on Hong Kong urbanism. Registered to practise in both the Netherlands and the US, Frampton opened Only If in…

2009 Moulding Tradition Amsterdam-based Italians Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin devote part of every project to intensive research – probing, exploring and analysing the roots of their subject matter. To do so, they assume the role of botanist, historian, scientist, artisan. It’s a lengthy process that’s often based on materials. Former students at DAE, the pair applied to the school as a duo. Today, it’s their 2009 joint graduation project that Farresin cites as ‘the first time we realized who we were as designers’. Moulding Tradition, a series of ceramic vessels, emerged from research into immigration issues in Caltagirone, a town in Trimarchi’s native Sicily. The project focused on local citizens’ contradictory opinions of the immigration centre there. Unglazed ceramics embellished with Jacquard ribbon, glass and printed paper refer to…

“Sharing becomes a luxury rather than a compromise By 2050, 66 per cent of the world’s population is expected to live in city centres. Future urbanites will require a place to stay, an issue that raises questions about the future of housing and poses a challenge for urban resources. The coming decades are going to see a transformation in the way people live. The traditional house or apartment will no longer serve an evolving citizenry – and, in particular, the segment consisting largely of young professionals who no longer believe in the feasibility or desirability of a private-property ownership model. Known as Generation Rent, they choose convenience and experience over acquisition and investment. Transient and global, their lifestyles ask for a reinterpretation of accommodation typologies. At the same time, new…

IN Willow Project, a book that accompanies a student undertaking of the same name, Thomas Pausz writes that a ‘designer’s appetite for readily available materials provided by industry has made us forget the simple act of looking at the world in its diversity and potential’. The book presents the research and findings of eight recent graduates of the Iceland Academy of the Arts: Birta Rós Brynjólfsdóttir, Björn Steinar Jóhannesson, Emilía Sigurðardóttir, Johanna Seelemann, Kristín Sigurðardóttir, Theodóra Mjöll Skúladóttir Jack, and Védis Pálsdóttir. Working together with three tutors and the Reykjavík Forestry Association, they set out to research and exploit an underestimated resource: the willow, a fast-growing tree that is available in abundance in Iceland. To unleash its potential they used heat and water, nothing else. By boiling, peeling, splitting, burning,…

“Inevitably, we’ll see the best elements of our digital social lives apply to our physical lives, with nontraditional groups sharing spaces Simon Bush-King on shared living, the theme of this issue’s Frame Lab Hailing from New Zealand, architect Simon Bush-King currently runs a small collaborative practice in Amsterdam. While working across the full spectrum of architecture and urban design, he also enjoys writing for magazines and journals. Articles from his hand have appeared in Mark, Interior and Landscape Architecture New Zealand. For the Spaces section of this issue, he visited Issey Miyake’s retrospective at the National Art Center in Tokyo. Dubai’s Rahel Aima is the founding editor of The State, a contributing editor to The New Inquiry and an editorial correspondent for Ibraaz. Her interests lie in non-Western futurity and…

Take a tour of the revamped Julien David shop with the digital magazine Ciguë adopts a gallery-like approach for Julien David’s Harajuku flagship TOKYO — When Parisian studio Ciguë renovated streetwear designer Julien David’s 200-m2 Harajuku flagship, the intention was never for the architecture to steal the show. It was crucial that the store act as a set, allowing the ‘energy and fantasy’ of David’s colourful, textured line of clothing and accessories to take centre stage. Equally important was a fluid concept that permits multiple functions and constant adaptation, an imperative driven by both the pace of the fashion world and David’s own dynamic rhythm of work. Materiality blurs the line between indoors and outdoors. The ridged angles of the raw concrete that adorned the building’s façade were reproduced in…

Bedrooms Co-living means sacrificing personal space for the benefit provided by greater communal areas. Bedrooms at Old Oak average just 10 m2, and monthly rents are around £1,000. AT first glance, the 11-storey complex sandwiched between grey industrial estates and car dealerships in Willesden Green, a suburb of northwest London, seems an unlikely place to discover the future of urban living. Once inside, however, you can wander through a secret yoga garden, lounge on a roof terrace dotted with geodesic domes, and dance the night away in a ‘disco laundrette’ while waiting for your delicates to finish the slow cycle. This may sound like a world willed into being by the man-boy character played by Tom Hanks in the 1980s classic, Big, but it is in fact a flagship co-living…

IN booming international cities, homes amid the inspiring buzz of urban life are in hot demand. As a result, global urbanization has led to soaring house prices – a consequence of the lack of innovative architectural solutions within the residential market. It’s into this discussion that MINI dropped a talking point to explore new ways of living in dense urban hotspots. The resulting project – MINI Living, an installation on show at Milan Design Week – centred on a 30-m2 conceptual apartment, a crucial cog in a micro-community of similar spaces. While the surrounding apartments were merely suggested in Milan, the idea was clear: rooms are able to function both individually and cooperatively, allowing inhabitants to retreat at certain times and, at others, to open their personal worlds to their…

MILAN DESIGN WEEK LAST September, Dutchman Robin Bevers took the reins as CEO of Moooi from company cofounder Casper Vissers. This means that when we meet during Milan Design Week in April, it’s his first time running the show. Bevers speaks directly with visitors dropping by to view Moooi’s presentation, enthusiastically asking Hollanders whether they’re getting kippenvel (Dutch for ‘goose bumps’). He tells me someone even cried when they walked in – happy tears, I presume. It’s evident that Bevers hopes to provoke a strong reaction with the latest display of Moooi’s products. We take a seat among the new offerings to chat about his vision for the company. Apart from hoping to give people goose bumps, what’s your goal for this year’s Salone event – and for the company…

THE design world embraced its inner child at Milan Design Week, as a spate of children’s products were launched. But opinion is divided as to whom the products are targeting. Cybex’s Parents Collection makes its position instantly clear: The child-mobility brand’s design debut is a collaboration with Marcel Wanders for the adult world. ‘We wanted feelings and style to fit seamlessly into the home the parents have already created,’ says Wanders. Kartell went the other way for its first kids’ collection, featuring ‘toys for living’ by Nendo, Philippe Starck, Piero Lissoni and Ferruccio Laviani. Playtime is central to Laviani’s Clip Clap table, which he describes as ‘trying to approach their world more than ours’. Qeeboo’s Rabbit Chair, on the other hand, appeals to children of all ages. Available in adult…

PRESENTED by Varaschin at this year’s Salone del Mobile, Impronta is one of the rare cases in which an iconic design goes from concept to reality. Based on sketches by the late Italian industrial designer Joe Colombo, the chair’s incarnation was sparked by a meeting between Colombo’s former assistant and intellectual heir, Ignazia Favata, and Varaschin’s creative director, Daniele Lo Scalzo Moscheri. ‘After exchanging a few ideas, we decided to propose the production of a few of Joe Colombo’s unrealized designs,’ Favata tells me. Dating from 1954, Impronta is the fruit of Colombo’s early experiments with form. Despite the fact that it was never manufactured, Impronta was well known by those in the industry. ‘The original sketches had already been published,’ says Favata. ‘They were even shown in an exhibition…

20 mm is the thickness of Allmarble outdoor slabs, which come in a standard size of 40 x 120 cm. The collection’s indoor tiles are 9.5 mm thick 10 sizes, which range from 7 x 28 to 60 x 120 cm, have both residential and commercial projects covered 4 finishes – natural, lux, structured and the new ultra-smooth silk – offer distinct tactile and visual effects 7 is the number of marble lookalikes in the Allmarble series, which includes Lasa, Statuario, Raffaello, Altissimo, Travertino, Saint Laurent and Frappuccino 1 hexagonal tile encourages a play on pattern. Mosaics and three-dimensional elements complete the series…

WHEN today’s consumer goes looking for a new kitchen, topping his list of requirements is the best price/quality ratio, which sooner or later leads him to the Swedish furniture chain with a familiar blue and yellow logo. He takes a few days off, starts each morning with a big breakfast and, with a handy father-in-law and a bit of luck, by the end of the week he’s heating a pan of soup on the hob and stacking his used bowl in the dishwasher. On the other hand, if he opts for a serious built-in kitchen, those few days will turn into a year of unpaid leave, and he will have to hire a team of professionals with whom he agrees to meet on a weekly basis. The first consulant is,…

INSPIRED by a compulsion to ‘control my consciousness’, Lisa Park’s performance pieces employ commercial biofeedback tools, such as heart-rate monitors and brainwave headsets. She converts the data into visual and sonic form, producing poetic representations of her inner emotional state, such as the rippling pools of water in Eunoia I and II: ‘Water is a mirror of the self,’ she says. Raised in South Korea, Park studied fine art in California followed by interactive media at NYU in New York, where she lives and works today. In Eunoia I and II, you move water with your mind. How do you work this magic? LISA PARK: In each of the two performances, I use a different commercial brainwave headset with its own software program. It comes with concentration and meditation values,…

TARGETING young urban dwellers in search of flexible living options, designers and brands are unveiling an array of flat-pack furniture. Like DIY pioneer Ikea, companies are capitalizing on the cost-saving benefits of lightweight, easy-to-assemble designs and, at the same time, addressing the needs of millennials who are typically short on space and relatively nomadic. – JS…

ADAPTABLE homes require flexible brands. Just ask Victoria + Albert’s marketing director, Jonathan Carter. In response to consumer demand, the company has added bathroom furniture to its range. ‘People are looking for beautiful high-end products made with traditional materials and techniques,’ says Carter, ‘but in the bathroom these have to be practical too.’ The ethos behind those words led to the Mandello 114 vanity unit, which boasts features that ensure a seamless fit into any home or lifestyle. The piece has adjustable feet for perfect levelling, even on irregular or sloping floors, while removable drawer dividers give users the freedom to customize and reorganize space. ‘You might want to store smaller products on one side and folded towels on the other,’ Carter suggests. A wall-hung version, Mandello 114 Volo, affords…