Design Anthology, Asia Edition #21

I grew up in an idyllically sleepy coastal town in southern Australia, a short walk from a beautiful beach. But from a less-than-perfect childhood was born the want — rather, the need — to make everything around me ‘perfect’, and a love for all things design was born. Despite our closeness to the water, I was one of those weird kids who spent far too many hours inside reading — and drawing and designing my dream home. Though these hermit tendencies persist, so too does my ingrained connection to the ocean, so it should come as no surprise that my idea of a perfect holiday involves a beach. I’m certainly partial to an urban getaway, but as fulfilling as it can be, it’s hardly relaxing. Our annual summer edition has become…

Work Shop, Melbourne Just next door to her eponymous design studio in the inner suburb of Collingwood, acclaimed Melbourne-based interior designer Fiona Lynch has opened a space known simply as Work Shop. Lynch describes the space as a ‘curatorial showcase of experimental design, fine art and objects from leading local and international artists and designers.’ Known for her artistic approach to interior design and her award-winning projects, Lynch says Work Shop is the realisation of a long-held dream, inspired by her early career in fine art. As well as presenting an evolving array of design pieces, Work Shop is also envisioned as a testing ground for Lynch’s interior design practice; an experimental design laboratory without the confines of convention. fionalynch.com.au/workshop…

Aldo Bakker The launch of Dutch designer Aldo Bakker’s Slow Motion collection marks his first solo exhibition with Carpenters Workshop Gallery, New York. The collection and show comprise ten never-before-seen pieces, each an expression of his eternal quest for the perfect object. Gallery co-founder Loic Le Gaillard describes the collection as ‘powerful, elegant and filled with personality.’ According to Le Gaillard, ‘Aldo’s furniture brings a new perspective, not seen before in the design space. These qualities coupled with his impact on the design world make it impossible to not want to represent him.’ The limited-edition pieces are available from Carpenters Workshop Gallery directly. aldobakker.com / carpentersworkshopgallery.com Alexander Lamont Earlier this year, Bangkok-based British designer Alexander Lamont launched Peninsula, a curated collection of furniture and lighting that draws from his meditations on nature and the…

Ando. Complete Works 1975–Today by Philip Jodidio (taschen) At over 700 pages, this tome is the most up-to-date catalogue of the work of Japan’s Tadao Ando, the only architect to have won the Pritzker, Carlsberg, Praemium Imperiale and Kyoto prizes. Following an extended introductory essay by TASCHEN regular and former Connaissance des Arts editor Philip Jodidio is a chronological ordering of 63 projects that form an extraordinary oeuvre. Each project is comprehensively illustrated with an explanatory blurb, hand sketches, architectural drawings and a mix of colour and black-and-white photography. Completing the encyclopaedic treatment is an appendix listing details of each project and including Ando’s biography and achievements. Houses by the Shore: At Home with the Water — River, Lake, Sea by Oscar Riera Ojeda and Byron Hawes (Rizzoli) Houses by the Shore features 35 recently completed…

The region of Brianza is known for its natural beauty: set in the foothills of the Italian Alps, it’s also nearby the gorgeous vistas of Lake Como. But this small area close to Milan is also remarkable for the beauty of its manufactured products. In the early 20th century, Brianza’s carpenters travelled widely in search of high-quality materials, and craft based on these woods — as well as veneer, metal, fabric and more — flourished. In 1959, in the small city of Meda, the Galimberti brothers established a business that drew on this tradition of craft, keeping all manufacturing in-house to tightly control quality. Today, that business is known as Flexform, and 60 years later, it remains family-owned and continues to manufacture its product range in Meda, keeping local artisanry alive…

Amid the slew of hotels and entertainment complexes rising in the reclaimed area south of Roxas Boulevard in Manila, a pre-war mansion has stood its ground for almost a century, surviving both the tragic bombing of Manila and the city’s propensity for demolition in the name of progress. Left abandoned for decades, this grand dame has now been painstakingly and faithfully restored, ready to be reintroduced to society as Palacio de Memoria. The home’s provenance remains a mystery, but it dates back to the 1930s, when Manila was the cosmopolitan Pearl of the Orient and ancestral mansions like these lined the bayside. The building was the area’s lone survivor of the Second World War air raids, and was acquired by affluent surgeon Francisco Villaroman Senior, who added five more floors —…