Innholdsfortegnelse for May/June 2023 i AZURE

From above, it resembles an orchid. At the heart of Vancouver’s VanDusen Botanical Garden, the sinuous visitor centre is a biophilic statement piece, an understated landmark — and paragon of sustainability — that forms a gateway to the grounds. Designed by a team comprising Busby, Perkins + Will along with Sharp & Diamond Landscape Architecture and legendary landscape architect Cornelia Oberlander, the organically inspired structure is topped by a striking living roof, where a wealth of plantings transforms the building itself into an extension of the landscape, welcoming local fauna and promoting biodiversity. For design–build company Architek, which provided design-assist and installation supervision for the building’s complex green roof systems, the project exemplifies both expertise and ethos. At the VanDusen Botanical Garden Visitor Centre and at sites across the country,…

Before a vision could take shape, the site was ravaged. In April 2013, Land Collective won the commission to design Westfield, Indiana’s Grand Junction Plaza, only to see a flood hit Cool Creek and its downtown surroundings two weeks later. For firm principal and lead designer David Rubin, the deluge underscored the importance of a total landscape rethink. Beyond more resilient stormwater infrastructure, the 31,500-square-metre expanse also needed public amenities that would nourish a stronger connection to nature. Bisected by a channelized creek, the lot was a classic “urban leftover” — centrally located, yet with no overarching plan or purpose. “I began to talk about what it means to assemble in a civic setting,” says Rubin, describing the community consultations during the project’s genesis. “What is the identity of this place?”…

In the three short years since founding her eponymous studio, Brooklyn-based designer Madelynn Ringo has carved out a niche for playful, immersive and vividly colourful retail spaces. A young entrepreneur herself, Ringo caters to startups, from those with established e-commerce to emerging brands yet to settle on a logo. “The best pairing is when we have a client that’s disrupting their industry,” she explains. “They’re ready to take risks and see the value of investing in design.” Her holistic approach — which spans from interiors to creative strategy — begins with understanding the client’s mission and message. Ringo imagines this brand story as a sequence of scenes that drives the customer experience, considering not only material elements like light, texture and colour but also sound and the pace at which people…

1 PIRRA LOUNGE Barcelona-based Gemma Bernal designed the Pirra lounge chair with warmth and well-being in mind. The wood frame imparts a sense of calm in clinical environments, and a slight pitch in the seat (with built-in suspension support in the back and seat cushions) ensures comfort during prolonged sitting. arcadiacontract.com 2 RÜHE The multi-range Rühe, by industrial designer Mike Shields, combines durability and cleanability with soft finishes and elegant elements like a welcoming inverted curve in the armrests, natural wood accents and clean-lined profiles. Included in the series are guest, patient and lounge chairs, two- to three-seater sofas and more. allseating.com 3 CORA Slender legs and a minimal profile belie the strength that Cora offers: The five models available have a rigid steel construction that can accommodate larger bodies…

“Nature, technology and human spirit.” These are the three values — according to Maja Bernvill, creative director at Stockholm design firm Specific Generic — that together formed a sort of “mantra” in creating the headquarters of Swiss company On. From its inception as an athletic apparel start-up in 2010 to its present-day status as a global brand with over 600 employees, On has epitomized healthy lifestyle and movement. So for its HQ and flagship retail space in Zurich, Specific Generic, along with Spillmann Echsle Architects and the athletic brand itself, conceived an environment to encourage activity throughout the day; most impressively, the multi-level interior features a circulation-route-as-hiking-trail through various triple-storey “neighbourhoods,” each symbolizing a different aspect of the natural world. From “Earth,” you can ascend via spiral staircases, which get…

Furniture Systems 1 Idro Designed by Castiglia Associati, the Idro collection features drawers with an integrated recessed grip profile for a minimalist expression. The units and cabinets can be customized for size, surface material, washbasin style and more. Materials Lacquered structure Dimensions Multiple Manufacturer Scavolini, scavolini.com 2 Ketho.2 Integrated anthracite handles run horizontally along the fronts of the Ketho.2 series by German industrial designer Christian Werner, accentuating its rectangular volumes. The tall cabinet and multiple vanity options have self-closing drawers and doors and feature efficient organization systems inside. Materials Wood in 15 finishes Dimensions Multiple Manufacturer Duravit, duravit.us 3 Markham With slim horizontal pulls and inlay detailing, the Markham vanity collection has understated sophistication. A clean-lined metal frame elevates the cabinets, which are available with three or six drawers. Materials…

A rising Swedish designer whose work pulls from street culture, fashion and maximalism, Gustav Winsth has been a fan of the VR software Gravity Sketch since he discovered it a few years ago in a video about Adidas sneaker designs. It wasn’t long before Winsth’s digital experiments caught the attention of Scandi furniture brand Lammhults, which recently tapped him for a year-long VR design collaboration. The outcome is the swelling Bloat sofa, a conceptual prototype that made its IRL debut during Stockholm Design Week. Nearly a year in the making, Bloat began with Winsth pinning reference photos to the walls of a virtual workroom in Gravity Sketch. Some images showed Lammhults’ tubular 1968 S70 seating collection, while others featured items of oversized clothing. Based on these initial inspiration shots, Winsth…

Once upon a time, back in 1975, a couple opened a small health food shop in Augsburg, Bavaria, selling nut spreads and muesli made with ingredients grown on their nearby farm. Almost 50 years later, Rapunzel Naturkost now produces everything from canned soybeans to buckwheat cereals, making it one of Europe’s leading organic food manufacturers. The company’s name might call to mind Disney’s Tangled, but it wasn’t the long-haired princess who inspired its branding. Instead, its original namesake is the Rapunzel plant, also known as corn salad or lamb’s lettuce. In the Brothers Grimm version of Rapunzel, the protagonist’s father trades her to an enchantress as payment for stealing these greens to help his ailing wife. That might not be the most savoury of plot points, yet Rapunzel Naturkost has…

The hospital experience needs a complete rethink. Being admitted in the first place disrupts your life (and the lives of your loved ones), taking you away from the comfort of home at your most vulnerable. And the labyrinthine layouts of hospitals are disorienting, even when you’re being navigated by a friendly porter. Most frustrating of all (beyond the scary stuff of IVs, MRIs and other necessary evils) are the long wait times between specialist appointments, which can also prolong the hospital stay. The patient, in other words, is at the mercy of a system of care that, even in advanced medical settings, sometimes seems anathema to healing. What if the whole enterprise were upended? With Bionica, Yunnan Allen and Brian Schaller (senior project architect/team leader and senior project designer/artistic director, respectively)…

The design for the Rosemont Aquatic Centre in Montreal — by Poirier Fontaine Architectes in collaboration with local firms KANVA and Riopel+ Associés Architectes — is all about connections. The most obvious of these are the literal passageways, slated for construction, that will link a historical building at the site (a community complex from 1951) to the new facility, an L-shaped edifice that flanks a corner of the block. The aquatic centre, now open and running, has two public pools — one for families and one for athletic events — and boasts exterior details, like bold horizontal lines and chevron-patterned windows, that reference the art deco–inspired look of its older peer. The interiors of the new aquatic centre offer a similar sense of continuity and interconnectedness. The accents are minimalist —…

When 80 Atlantic Avenue, designed by BDP Quadrangle, first went up in Toronto’s trendy Liberty Village, it was noteworthy for being one of the city’s inaugural examples of mass-timber architecture. Today, however, it’s the main tenant that defines the building, and quite literally: A Universal Music sign adorns the facade. But, more importantly, an ethos of geniality went into creating the conglomerate’s new Canadian headquarters within the five-storey building. “Our goal was to create a sense of place — from what we’ve built inside the stunning, timber-framed walls to what’s around us in the heart of Toronto, a city that drives music and culture,” says Jeffrey Remedios, UMC’s chairman and CEO. Remedios, already well-regarded as a co-founder of influential indie label Arts & Crafts, presented this vision for a head…

Reports of the office tower’s death have been greatly exaggerated. We dispatched documentary photographer Jon Laytner, known for his candid slice-of-life images, to a new generation of corporate headquarters whose success will prove critical to the future of the downtown business district as we know it. What he found was something strangely familiar: desks — ones with people doing actual, focused work at them. Of course, in a modern business environment, desks are just part of the equation, rounded out by dynamic social areas (like the fourth-floor tenant lounge that Gensler designed for CIBC Square, below) or calming wellness amenities (see: the Vitamin D light therapy and sound therapy rooms that HOK envisioned for Boston Consulting Group). But if you thought the individual workstation was destined to disappear altogether, replaced…

Brick, Clay and Wood 1 Terrart 1 2 For Focal on 3rd, a Vancouver mid-rise by Ph5 Architecture, B.C.’s Phoenix Glass pre-assembled NBK’s extruded terracotta tiles into large unitized panels. Featuring two coppery hues chosen to complement a nearby red-brick building, the double-skin cladding is 28 millimetres thick. ​soundsolutions.ca 2 56-DD Seeking to honour the character of Little Italy in its Grand Mulberry project, architect Morris Adjmi worked with Glen-Gery to develop a custom version of its hand-moulded orange-red bricks. Studded bubbles represent the neighbourhood’s traditional tripartite facades in an abstract way. glengery.com 3 Leveche By generating its own preservative oil, the cypress used for reSAWN Timber Co.’s siding withstands the elements to maintain a consistent aesthetic over time. Choose from two grades: one with typical character marks and a…

On a site like this, there’s no use competing with nature. Overlooking a sweeping white beach from the edge of a valley in New Zealand’s Coromandel Peninsula, the aptly named Clifftop House is a secluded three-storey haven that opens onto a vista of sparkling waters, majestic rock faces and lush, vivid greenery. Designed by Ponting Fitzgerald Architects, the tranquil beach home is conceived as a deftly understated private retreat that respectfully celebrates its spectacular setting. But deference is no mean feat. Creating a living space that engages with its milieu required a rigorously thoughtful approach wherein the complex realities and day-to-day demands of family life meet natural splendour. For architect David Ponting, a carefully honed balance between functionality and pared-down, aesthetically pure interiors was top of mind. Throughout the home, simple…

Many architectural scholars will recognize Steelcase’s Racine designs immediately — but they may be surprised by them too. “Our goal is to be responsive to the time, and to the needs of contemporary users,” says Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation president and CEO Stuart Graff, whose team collaborated with the manufacturer on the new collection of chairs, desks and worktables. Each design revisits a historic precedent while also engaging Steelcase’s modern know-how. “This isn’t just a look back,” says the brand’s general manager of partnerships, Meghan Dean, noting that future FLW Foundation collaborations may abandon the archives entirely to present original (yet still Wright-inspired) works. “But the best place to start was back at the beginning of our shared history.” 1939 Wright envisioned the S.C. Johnson Administration building in Racine, Wisconsin,…

With serene, spa-like interiors, the Early Medical Centre is the antithesis of what one often expects when entering a medical facility. And that is the point. Rather than a sterile space void of personality, the Singapore-based screening and preventative healthcare clinic — which blends traditional wellness approaches with advanced scientific technologies and more contemporary treatment methods — desired a setting that promoted transparency and a sensitivity to the patient experience. To translate its concept into physical form, the clinic enlisted Gabriel Tan and his team at local design agency Studio Antimatter, which specializes in interiors that are sensorial and emotional. As this was the first healthcare project for the firm, Tan consulted with multidisciplinary practice FARM, which helped form research surveys and focus groups to identify who exactly uses preventative care…

Designed by architect Alberto Apostoli, the four-piece family from Varaschin is equipped with advanced technology, and its simple forms create a completely immersive and personal experience. The Letto Singolo, an upholstered relaxation bed, can feature an attached elliptical light ring that is made of resin and equipped with RGB colour therapy; the emitted light can be a single colour or transition through an automatic rotation. More than 20 “wellness” fabrics are available for the mattress, and eight finishes are offered for the ring. Supports for the bed include any combination of tubular metal (in nine colours) or resin feet (in the same eight finishes as the light ring), contoured acrylic planks or stone-like tables. A double-bed version is also available.…

Building a house on the cusp of the Arctic Circle presents numerous challenges. With a harsh climate and limited daylight for much of the year, the remote region proves a tough canvas for construction projects. In Boden, Sweden — located about 50 kilometres below the Land of the Midnight Sun — these factors play a role, but ask architect Mårten Claesson, cofounder of Claesson Koivisto Rune Architects, about the biggest constraints on his firm’s recently completed project there and he’ll admit that they were all imposed by humans. “For this house, two things stood out,” Claesson says. “The local regulations stipulated that, while there was an allowance for two-storey buildings, the maximum building height was only 4.2 metres. The house also required a red roof to match the other structures…

As designers experiment with social lounges, wellness spaces and other new antidotes to the post-pandemic slog that many people face as they’re called back in to work, Japanese architect Tomoaki Uno offers a more radical office amenity: a miniature forest. One of his latest projects in suburban Nagoya, Japan, aligns 15 tree trunks in five neat rows (apart from one off-grid outlier) throughout a 120-square-metre, concrete-framed workspace. Filling the room from floor to ceiling, the indoor woodland encourages the mind to roam and dream big. “I like to make architecture that cannot easily be explained in words,” says Uno. Since opening his Nagoya-based practice in 1990, the architect has steadily been building a reputation for his unusual residences — including one that he designed a few years ago for a…