Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2018 i AZURE

What up-and-coming product designer has caught your eye recently? SAMANTHA TSE Writer, “Michael Anastassiades: Playing by His Own Rules” (page 062) I’m a huge fan of Ini Archibong, the Switzerland-based designer. He’s rolling out the Below the Heavens collection (which includes the Eos Table, pictured) with British furniture brand Sé this year. I’ve seen images of the line and can’t wait to check out the real thing. What was the most memorable part of your assignment? DAVID DICK-AGNEW Writer, “Best Practices” (page 092) Walking through Ontario Place on a cold weekday afternoon, when the Toronto park was completely deserted. Eb Zeidler’s Cinesphere and the pavilions that hover over the water on pilotis still look contemporary after nearly 50 years. The solitude and sun made it the ideal time to interact…

When Assemble won the Turner Prize in 2015, some artists carped about the U.K.’s top visual art award going to a group of architects. But the collective, best known for its low-cost, high-impact urban interventions, is hardly a typical practice. Started in 2011 by 18 twentysomethings with a range of backgrounds, it has been called “the future of progressive architecture” for its collaborative approach to its projects, the biggest of which – the Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art – is set to open soon. Recently, members James Binning and Maria Lisogorskaya spoke to Azure about the sustainability of Assemble’s model, suggesting lessons for firms big and small. 1 Avoid hierarchical thinking. JB: At Assemble, people understand the tasks they’re directly responsible for on a daily basis. There’s also a collective…

“If you had told me two years ago that I’d be doing this, I wouldn’t have believed you,” says Hanae Baruchel, founder of newly fledged Toronto studio Lalaya Design. This past January, Baruchel was at the Interior Design Show to exhibit a selection of her concrete furniture and accessories – a long way off from the non-profit-sector career she was enjoying in the summer of 2015, when a bike accident changed her life. “I hit my head and was unable to do much at all for about two years. I couldn’t work. I couldn’t be in loud spaces. Nothing that required any brain activity. Which is everything.” In search of something she could do that would bring some joy back into her life, she decided to try working with her…

Ever since the launch of Muffins, a lamp that looks a lot like the baked good it’s named after, Lucie Koldova has been on an upswing, establishing herself as one to watch in the lighting world. After living and working in Paris, the Czech native returned to Prague in 2014 to start her own studio – a decision that makes sense, considering her preferred medium is glass. “I understood what a treasure we have here,” she says, referring to the tradition of glass-blowing her home country is renowned for. “I realized I could contribute to that centuries-old legacy.” Her ambition was on full display in Cologne this January. Koldova was selected for Das Haus, the annual installation at IMM in which one designer is invited to realize a full-scale concept…

Mike & Maaike Product History Mike, before co-founding Mike & Maaike in 2005, you had been working at Astro Studios while doing some successful side projects, such as a 14-wheel skateboard concept called Flowboard. What prompted you to strike out on your own? MS: Since school, I’ve tried to be both a designer and an inventor; I like to have ideas on the side. In 2003, my business partner Pieter Schouten and I sold the skateboard company, and the deal was enough to give Maaike and myself a financial cushion. Selling the business showed me that the work I was doing on the side actually had potential. It gave me the confidence to start other things. During those years, you and Maaike had taken on side projects together, as well.…

And the winners are… In January, The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, in Washington, D.C., was named as the Beazley Design of the Year for 2017. The design, led by The Freelon Group and Sir David Adjaye, beat out projects from OMA and Zaha Hadid Architects to take the Architecture award, as well as the overall prize. Winners in other categories include the Nike Pro Hijab and Graviky Lab’s Air-Ink markers, which contain ink made from pollution. See them all at beazley.com British architect Amanda Levete has won the Jane Drew Prize. Levete first gained notice with Future Systems, the Stirling Prize-winning practice she co-founded with Jan Kaplický. Since 2009, she has helmed AL_A, the firm behind the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (MAAT) in…

Wink Light Ever get the feeling you’re being watched? In the case of these whimsical, Spanish-made pendant lights, don’t sweat it: The effect is less Big Brother and more – as their name implies – playful wink. Shown earlier this year at Maison et Objet in Paris, the ceiling fixture is a collaboration between creative consultancy Masquespacio and design brand Houtique, both of Valencia. Ana Hernández, creative director at Masquespacio, says it celebrates the power of observation in the creation of good design. She clearly has the eye of a (neo) surrealist: The pink rayon fringe, suggestive of eyelashes, is Dalí with a postmodern twist. Measuring 15 centimetres long, it dangles from a stainless-steel semi-circle bathed in 18-karat gold and is detachable for cleaning. The thin black cable on which…

Michael Anastassiades is deep in conversation at his North London studio, a space he moved into last August after spending nearly a decade operating out of his own house, which also moonlighted as his brand’s headquarters. He is finishing a Skype call when I walk in. I’m greeted by his assistants and a black Dachshund named Sugi. The building, which dates back to 1902, became an auto repair garage in 1962. Anastassiades acquired it three years ago, turning it into an open-plan atelier, where the still-raw front area is used as a testing ground for products in development, including one of his large-scale mobile lighting fixtures. Further in, the space gives way to a skylit ceiling that floods the interior with natural light. There aren’t many finished products around; his…

1: The only universal museum ever built in the Arab world. 2: Years spent constructing the roof alone. 4: Concrete piers holding it up. 40: Metres above sea level where the dome reaches its peak. 55: Number of individual buildings that make up the museum. 120: Scaffolds used during construction. 565: Dome circumference in metres. 800: Maximum number of workers constructing the dome at the same time. 1,300: Weight of the largest dome “star” in kilograms. 7,850: Stars that form the roof’s eight layers of cladding. 7,300,000: Total weight of the Eiffel Tower in kilograms. 7,500,000: Weight of the dome, in the same measure. 525,000,000: U.S. dollars paid by Abu Dhabi for permission to use the Louvre name. 1,223,050,000: U.S. dollars spent master-planning and building the museum.…

Rei Kawakubo When critics refer to the architectural nature of Rei Kawakubo’s clothing, they’re usually referring to how structured it is. Recently, though, the Comme des Garçons founder took the distinction a step further by covering one of her exactingly constructed jackets – part of the label’s autumn 2018 men’s collection – with a line drawing by Milan-based architect and lecturer Stefan Davidovici. Given that his rendering was speculative, Davidovici never expected it to assume 3D form. But Kawakubo clearly saw its graphic potential, creating a tapestry of jagged angles and jutting planes out of his imaginary edifices – and giving new meaning to the notion of sharp dressing. comme-des-garcons.com Trapez Tiles When it comes to tile shapes, squares and rectangles dominate, while other, more versatile contenders barely register. That’s…

Located off King’s Road in London’s affluent Chelsea district, Duke of York Square was always going to attract top retailers. To entice prospective tenants even more, the developers who repurposed the Georgian-era plaza in the early 2000s offered a range of real estate options, from listed historic buildings to a former school gym with a vaulted ceiling and original arched windows. Aesop, however, wanted more. When it set its sights on the square, the boutique Australian skin-care brand, known for its customized, experiential interiors, decided to push the envelope. To create what is now its largest shop in Great Britain, Aesop turned to Snøhetta, the Norwegian firm responsible for at least half a dozen of the chain’s global flagships. The lead architects, Peter Girgis and Gaute Simonsen, aimed for a…

Geoffrey Lilge stands in his “prototype graveyard,” a jumble of furniture arms and legs in a loft overlooking his shop. The space is cavernous and quiet – with a well-preserved battery of army-green machinery towering over empty welding stations – and reeks of grease. For visitors who have entered the building across a parking lot littered with broken appliances, where pigeons perch on urinals bolted to the charred walls (which were exposed to the Albertan elements after a wicked fire), the sight of Lilge – working alone, sawdust smeared across his navy collared shirt and grey toque – is positively post-apocalyptic. And in a sense, his new contemporary furniture company, Div.12, is picking up after an untimely end. The last time his face graced the cover of Azure, Lilge was…