Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 38 i Design Anthology, Asia Pacific Edition

This issue marks ten years of Design Anthology. Ten years! I can’t quite wrap my head around that number. When we started out, it seemed like we were surrounded by naysayers and pessimists. And maybe rightfully so — even back in 2014, starting a new print publication seemed like insanity. It’s been a wild rollercoaster ride, and I want to thank each and every one of you, our readers, for your continued support. As with many endeavours such as this, Design Anthology is absolutely a group effort. While it’s often my name or face that’s associated with the magazine, our small but mighty team is pivotal in making each issue of the magazine our best yet. Every issue is produced in collaboration with an ever-expanding roster of writers, photographers, illustrators…

Vikram Goyal never meant to pursue design, much less make a career out of it. ‘In a way, design found me,’ says the celebrated New Delhi-based designer, who has in the past two decades emerged as an éminence grise in the Indian design world. His oeuvre of brass creations has found resonance on the world stage, speaking to a global audience while echoing and amplifying India’s rich artisanal legacy. An engineer by training, Goyal completed his master’s in economics at Princeton before embarking on a career in finance, first in the US and then in Hong Kong. But in 2000, when the world was on the cusp of a technology, media and telecoms boom, Goyal decided there was no better time to return home to try something new. It was…

Since the Neolithic period, East Asian craftspeople have been covering materials in smooth, shiny lacquer, and the region’s lacquerware objects have traditionally ranged from cosmetics boxes, tables, dinnerware and cabinets to decorative vessels and paintings. The material is derived from the toxic sap of the Toxicodendron vernicifluum, a tree native to China and the Indian subcontinent, and cultivated in China, Japan and Korea. Historically, an artisan would extract the sap, process it and then apply layers of the thick liquid onto a base material such as hemp or wood. Each layer needs to dry before the next is applied, so the process is extremely slow, but once completed and dry, the lacquer is luxuriously smooth and resistant to heat and humidity. Fine decorative lacquerware manufacturing began in China during the…

Almost like a scene from an old painting, Retreat Residence C is a meditative and immersive sanctuary set on a green wedge along the Mornington Peninsula, just south of Melbourne, on a working flower farm. Combining quiet moments of theatre and retreat, here reminders of the past blend seamlessly with the contemporary. ‘The house feels so calming to be in and like it has always been that way,’ says Cassie James-Herrick, director of CJH Studio, who designed the home to be complementary to its farm setting and to embody a softness that connects back to the flowers. ‘We wanted to make sure that the view and location were the focus wherever possible, to ensure the connection to such incredible natural surroundings remained foremost and felt at all times.’James-Herrick’s aim was…

Bijoy Jain’s practice is deeply rooted in the concept of genius loci, the spirit of a place. He carefully considers the unique characteristics of each site, from its geographical location to its cultural heritage, to create buildings that resonate with their surroundings. Emphasising the interplay of light, air and water, he incorporates natural elements to create a harmonious relationship between the built form and the landscape. ‘I use the materials of water, air, light,’ he says. ‘They’re in abundance, available everywhere, and you can tap into them. I truly believe that that’s our materiality.’ Born in Mumbai in 1965, Jain developed a fascination with architecture from a young age. His early exposure to the vibrant cityscape and the rich cultural heritage of India left an indelible mark on his artistic…

WEBSITE Updated throughout the week, our website is an inspiring resource for the best new interiors, architecture, design, travel and art stories design-anthology.com EMAIL The Dispatch is a collection of original stories from our globetrotting team delivered straight to your inbox each month design-anthology.com/dispatch PODCAST Take an international tour with The Design Dialogues as we meet some of the biggest names in design, architecture and interiors design-anthology.com/podcast AWARDS The awards for Asia Pacific’s design community, celebrating high-calibre work by emerging and established designers awards.design-anthology.com EVENTS We bring thought leaders together to explore the future of design and inspire the people making it happen design-anthology.com/events UK EDITION Get to know Europe’s creative community with Design Anthology UK, edited out of London and published by Astrid Media designanthologyuk.com SUBSCRIBE Receive two issues,…

AB Concept: The Art of Timeless Spaces by Henrietta Thompson RIZZOLI As AB Concept approaches its 25th anniversary, this monograph celebrates some of its most recent work. The design firm started by Ed Ng and Terence Ngan in Hong Kong has become known the world over for an approach that privileges being and experience, deftly using light, colour, forms and material to create spaces that stay in the mind. The book covers five themes: Live features homes, Escape hotels, Experience restaurants, Imagine retail experience spaces, and Touch products, giving a representative sample of the firm’s work. The homes showcase its luxury-focused approach and a stylistic range that accounts for locale and client. Hotels and restaurants range as far as Europe and the Middle East and, while AB Concept is less…

In 2013, Malaysian entrepreneur Soon Wei Ee decided to leave his comfortable corporate job and turn his hand to the fading printing company started by his late grandfather. Art Printing Works was established in 1952 and functioned as a successful printing hub from the 60s to the 80s. But with the facilities in disrepair and the business a shadow of its former self, it was time for a new dawn. Drawing inspiration from lifestyle hubs around Asia Pacific, Ee reimagined the compound in Kuala Lumpur’s Bangsar neighbourhood as a ‘creative campus’ — a third space for the next generation, where budding entrepreneurs could kick-start their passion projects. The intrepid scion started small, experimenting with one area of the sizeable plot at a time. One of the first believers in Ee’s…

Designer Amy Lim and photographer Marc Tan’s 1970s walk-up apartment radiates the same serene presence as the languid Katong neighbourhood in which it’s situated. The midday light is lambent, ambient music fills the room and the couple’s outfits are relaxed. The apartment is a haven for these selfdeclared homebodies, both of whom are business owners whose work often demands long hours: Lim is the founder of interior design studio Pupil Office, while Tan is the founder of interior and architecture photography company Studio Periphery. Crafting this home was a labour of love for the pair. Right from the entrance, you’re drawn in by a generous rug and grounded by the low-slung MOGG coffee table. A sense of calm pervades the living room without giving in to tropes of clinical minimalism.…

Soft, sweeping curves and round silhouettes, intentionally devoid of sharp edges or corners, mirror the mountains near this Hong Kong home, designed to provide solace from the city’s busy urban life and serve as a haven after the challenges of the pandemic era. Crafted under the guidance of Kenny Kinugasa-Tsui and Lorène Faure, design directors of Hong Kongbased architecture and interior design studio Bean Buro, the luxury residence is a dream home for the client and her family. The three-level house, which also has a rooftop, is in an upscale development in the New Territories’ Tuen Muen district. Formerly a fishing town, Tuen Muen has since become one of the largest residential areas in the New Territories, favoured for its picturesque views of both land and sea. In the beginning,…

I moved to Bali in the middle of the pandemic after a long Melbourne lockdown. The week I arrived, Indonesia also went into lockdown — but of a different variety, the kind that left my family and me free to explore the de-touristed island paradise mostly unhindered. Our landing pad was a villa located in the village, or desa, of Pererenan, a southern-coast neighbourhood that, unlike its busy neighbour Canggu, had all the characteristics of authentic village life. Incense smoke filled the air, shrines were covered with daily blessings, the traditional kebaya ceremonial dress was commonly seen. At our villa, a joglo built in the traditional Javanese style, we grew vegetables and made a bamboo chicken coop. The quiet streets, where delicate frangipani and hibiscus flowers dropped undisturbed, were the…

Minotti Shenzhen Italian heritage brand Minotti has opened its second flagship store in Shenzhen, the brand’s tenth in China. Marking the fourth flagship in partnership with furniture retailer Domus Tiandi, the Minotti Shenzhen by Domus Tiandi store makes its home in the new Rail In shopping complex. The store has been designed by the brand’s in-house creative studio and reflects Minotti’s stylistic language, with elegant material combinations backgrounding the brand’s most iconic designs. One living area, for example, is outfitted with Rodolfo Dordoni’s Connery modular seating system and GamFratesi’s Fynn armchairs, while another space hosts a display of the Roger modular seating system paired with the Lawson armchairs, also designed by Dordoni. minotti.com Experimental Editions by Origin Made Porto A new initiative by Porto-based craft brand Origin Made, the brainchild…

MORNING David Caon’s mornings, like that of many working parents, are chaotic. ‘We have two small children. We wake up with them, take the dog for a walk and I do some exercise,’ he says. The family makes its home in Castlecrag, an older neighbourhood on Sydney’s lower North Shore that was designed by American architects Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin. After morning duties, Caon picks up a coffee in Northbridge on his way to the studio. ‘That coffee is like my first pause. It really signifies my separation from dad-at-home to getting into the office,’ he says. MID-MORNING Caon’s Paddington studio is the base for three different ventures, all of which the designer has a stake in. Aside from Caon Design Office, there’s Laker, the boutique furniture…

As students at Design Academy Eindhoven, Soowon Chae and Seok-Hyeon Yoon found in each other a kindred, childlike spirit. ‘People used to say we’re like Dumb and Dumber,’ says Chae with a laugh, referring to the 1994 comedy known for the chemistry between the goofy protagonists. The Korean-born designers graduated in 2019 and entered the ‘serious world of art and design’, but after a few years they felt a distinct need to keep their process decidedly less serious. The two friends established their studio The Naive Side in 2023 as a space where they could cast aside practical concerns of being designers and focus on playful exploration. ‘When we decided to work together, we didn’t start with a set goal in mind,’ says Yoon. ‘Instead, we wanted to just focus…

01 Singaporean gender-neutral clothing brand GRAYE advocates for slow living in the modern age, with minimalist apparel ‘designed for versatility and hyper functionality’. Pairing the Kimono Buckle jacket and Inverse Cargo trousers (both in steel) makes for a sharp yet casual set, made more interesting with details like the inset-style side cargo pockets on the legs, adjustable waist strap and buckle and sleeve drawstrings. grayestudio.com 02 Potato Head founder Ronald Akili established Wasted Collective as a sustainability research and development platform dedicated to repurposing waste into beautiful products. The initiative’s latest release is the Earth Shoe 01, produced using Rewalk™ Mold Technology and made from waste reclaimed directly from the shoe production line. The shoe comes in four colourways: Volcanic Black, Sand White, Moss Green and Ash Grey. thewastedco.com 03…

It’s a rare thing to find a large-scale home on one of Melbourne’s inner-city corners, but that’s exactly what architect Charlie Inglis created for his clients. The three-level house pays homage to the contemporary architecture of rural Denmark and provides sanctuary for the couple, who purchased the block to be closer to their adult children and grandchildren. Their straightforward yet considered brief called for a low-maintenance abode that had enough space for when the grandkids visit, made the most of the city views and could be locked up when they travelled overseas. Strong forms, a pared-back aesthetic and handcrafted elements are all Inglis trademarks, and here they give rise to an elegant design that purposely engages the senses and, while being very modern, also evokes the craft of a heritage…