Table of contents for May 2016 in AZURE

MOST ARCHITECTURE remains in use for much longer than it takes to build, but fashion runways, including the one Chanel set up inside the Grand Palais in Paris last January, are in the unusual position of being used for just a few hours. With the UN Climate Change Conference in the capital still fresh in everyone’s mind, creative director Karl Lagerfeld pointed the luxury brand in a more ecologically minded direction, which dovetailed with the Rites of Spring theme that runs through the Spring/Summer 2016 couture collection. While the clothing on parade was undoubtedly chic, featuring classic Chanel lines and the kind of slow-fashion detailing that places it squarely in the high-end market, the materials used to craft these elements were conspicuously inspired by nature, with wood, cork, straw and…

1 LAMPSHOWER BY AXOR The chrome-plated cage of Nendo’s hybrid shower head and lamp contains the spray ring and a light fixture, blending water with light for a stimulating start to the day. hansgrohe-int.com 2 T60 BY VOLA Aarhus Arkitekterne’s sleek hand shower features a simple cylindrical handle and a flat, round head (think mini–rain shower). A water-saving model conserves 4.5 litres per minute. vola.com 3 476 BY RIOBEL This 42-by-56-centimetre rain head shower in stainless steel is accented with two LED strips, for added chromotherapy benefits. A wall-mounted control changes the colour and light intensity. riobel.ca 4 AQUATUNES BY GROHE Developed with tech brand Philips, this wireless speaker streams music via Bluetooth. It mounts to most standard shower arms or rails. grohe.com 5 INVIGORATION SERIES BY KOHLER This collection…

SHENZHEN USED TO BE A TERRIBLE PLACE. Founded as China’s first Special Economic Zone in the early ’80s, and fuelled by cheap labour and a subsidized currency, it quickly grew from a small cluster of fishing villages to a city of more than 12 million. Focused primarily on the blunt economics of making things cheap, its mercurial rise did not lend itself well to great city making. A drive through Shenzhen just a decade ago would reveal an endless array of dusty, half-built streets, shoddy factory dormitories and a seemingly complete absence of culture. Now, more than 30 years later, Shenzhen has matured, and with this some significant virtues are beginning to show. While it still wrestles with problems of growth and social inequity, a vast ecosystem of factories, supply…

MARCEL WANDERS, the prolific Dutch designer known for his puckish collaborations with Moooi, has made the bold assumption with the Kameha Grand hotel on the outskirts of Zurich that businesspeople are, in fact, people. Carrying that thought to its conclusion, he has given guests things to look at, to touch, to play with and simply be delighted by. “The interior design of a hotel is often pushed out of the way, to be inoffensive and unobtrusive,” Wanders says, “but it should be a place that entertains, inspires and surprises.” You’ll find the notion expressed in walls that look so convincingly like chocolate bars that you’re prompted to touch them to see what they’re made of (padded leather); or in the massive pasta dish sculpture, some four metres across, suspended upside…

1 Pontsun by Extremis Origami influenced the folded legs of this expansive dining table. Made of powdercoated or galvanized steel, they support three sizes of hardwood plank tops. extremis.be 2 Sequoia by Roche Bobois Named after the giant redwood, the lasercut top of this lacquered steel cocktail table resembles tree rings. Available in black or white, and as an end or pedestal table. roche-bobois.com 3 Porcini by Dedon These mushroom-shaped garden tables come in four colours and five models, from 41 to 61 centimetres, with two optional bases of solid ceramic or woven fibre. dedon.de 4 Vigor by Royal Botania The square-cut aluminum frames of this picnic set join to the rough teak or mahogany surfaces using dovetails. royalbotania.com 5 Avivo by Forms + Surfaces This table has a powder-coated…

30:30 Book by Meaghan Kombol Phaidon (hardcover, 320 pages) THE INNOVATION-FOCUSED HOOK – 30 well-known landscape architects choose 30 should-be-known practitioners – foregrounds reputation and hints at torch passing. Although it gestures to the future, the book is very much an inspiring snapshot of the past decade and the present moment in landscape architecture. It’s also a robust global survey of the profession’s enduring debates and nascent trends, presented in succinct, jargon-free profiles of the selected, with beautifully reproduced images of recent and future projects that will send you to Google to see more. With 20 countries represented, 30:30’s reach is extensive. Some obvious omissions (was Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, surely Canada’s most renowned landscape architect, invited to participate?) amount to quibbles in such a well-rounded, inclusive survey of firms, and…

SMALL-SCALE LIVING may be poised to reach brave new lengths with Xtend, a mid-size tub prototype that collapses into a seven-kilogram, 8.5-millimetre-thick plate. “The idea was to redefine the bathtub as we know it,” says German designer Carina Deuschl, who exhibited the piece at IMM Cologne’s Pure Talents Contest for emerging designers before taking it to Salone del Mobile in Milan, with an eye to serial production. “The material and the way it handles were all intended to fit the requirements of today’s mobile world.” Xtend’s construction is relatively simple: the rigid exoskeleton is made of carbon fibre cut with high-pressure water jets; this forms a pattern that can be elongated into a network of wavy lines, similar to expanded metal mesh. When extended, the framework encases a triple lining…

Product manufacturing and distribution have shifted dramatically in recent years, opening up endless opportunities for designers to tap new markets, explore unconventional materials – even use their skills for social good. Welcome to the next generation of independent makers Joris Laarman The undisputed leader of the 3-D printing brigade The Joris Laarman Lab in Amsterdam is a blender of materials, new technologies and traditions, all powered by a commitment to originality and, probably most important, a willingness to fail. The designs that emerge from the studio – which is run by the 36-year-old Dutchman and his partner, Anita Star – foretell a future of biologically inspired objects produced by local 3-D printers. We’ve heard this sort of thing before, where we are all destined to become makers of our own…

A SENSE OF PLAYFULNESS PERMEATED the halls of IMM Cologne this past January. The annual furniture fair, the first major expo of the design calendar, seemed full of surprises, even beyond the dynamic installation curated by Sebastian Herkner for Das Haus (see page 98). At the main event and its off-site satellite Design Post – a massive open concept showroom destination just across the street from the show – vibrant hues ruled. In a refreshing departure from the neutrals of the past few years, companies like New Tendency, Montana and Kettal showed rainbow colours in everything from wall shelves to outdoor loungers. If there was a sub-trend, it was marbling and whimsical surface patterns. Pernille Snedker Hansen presented Never the Same Furniture, her technicolour-marbled ash tables; and Pulpo showed off…

1 Harper Lounge Chair by Andrew Richard Designs Resin wicker in six brilliant colour combinations is woven in a detailed triangle pattern. The tub-shaped framework is made of powder-coated aluminum. andrewricharddesigns.com 2 Nolita 3650 by Pedrali This wide-legged lounge chair has a comfortably low backrest, and it’s easy to transport. Made of steel, the stackable armless seat comes with an optional cushion. pedrali.it 3 Kaba by Paola Lenti In two- or three-seater lengths, this sofa by Elia Nedkov features a thin tubular steel frame, with slipcovers in a selection of outdoor fabrics. paolalenti.it 4 Sofa Bellevie by Fermob An open, lightweight aluminum frame gives this debut outdoor sofa versatility. Spanning 160 centimetres wide, it comes in 23 colours, and the machine-washable slipcovers are UV resistant. fermob.com 5 Boxcar by Revolution…

Jane Jacobs and Robert Moses. Fifty years ago, they staged a Wagnerian battle for the soul of New York – one that has transcended city planning to become the stuff of (literal) urban legend. It stands to reason, then, that this tale has been turned into an opera. Set in 1960s New York, A Marvelous Order uses a libretto by Pulitzer Prize winner Tracy K. Smith, music by Judd Greenstein, choreography by Will Rawls and animation by director Joshua Frankel to tell the story of Moses’ redevelopment plans for Lower Manhattan, including Washington Square Park; and of Jacobs’ role in the community effort to push back against the wrecking ball. The origin story of Jacobs, as a character and as a person, is so perfectly legendary that it’s almost a…

OVER 20 YEARS AGO, Montreal embarked on one of its largest reclamation projects ever, transforming 192 hectares of former landfill into an ecological park. Originally a limestone quarry, the Saint-Michel Environmental Complex (CESM) is destined to become the city’s second-largest green space, after Mount Royal, boasting public pathways, an artificial lake, and a cluster of sports and leisure facilities that already includes an indoor skate park and a circus complex. The park’s revitalization of the neighbourhood and its importance as a paragon of sustainable development were celebrated last year with the epic conclusion to a multi-stage architectural competition: the opening of the Soccer Centre at the CESM. The winning scheme, by Saucier + Perrotte Architectes with Vancouver’s HCMA Architecture + Design, evokes the history of the site in a singular…

HOW MANY HOT BUTTONS can one building push? Cute little AMIE (Additive Manufacturing Integrated Energy) may well be setting a record: it’s a prefab, 3-D printed, zero-waste, solar-powered tiny structure. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, it was assembled out of carbon-fibre reinforced plastic by the US Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. It even comes with its own handy 3-D-printed natural gas hybrid vehicle, which wirelessly transmits power as needed. In fact, this is really a story about the symbiotic relationship between car and house; instead of just sitting in the driveway, the car becomes a power plant that supplies the building with energy. It is the apotheosis of the American dream, a country home and SUV in one. While it’s diminutive (at 42 square metres, it accommodates…

Shaping the bathroom’s future, from wellness therapy to cutting-edge design IN FRIHAMNEN, THE FORMER industrial harbour in Gothenburg, Sweden, a polygonal structure clad in corrugated metal juts out of the water like a half-destroyed robot on four legs. The public sauna, by Berlin firm Raumlabor, is a first step in a multi-year revitalization project designed to give the waterfront – all but closed off from the public for years – back to the local inhabitants. “This area will develop into a work-live quarter over the next few years,” says architect Jan Liesegang. “The sauna is intended to make as many people as possible aware of the harbour’s beauty, and to make them care about the place before its future is fully defined.” The sauna sits on stilts, to provide a…

HANNA MARING’S BATHING BIKOU suite at Amsterdam’s Volkshotel is one of nine rooms in the trendy hotel that have been created by different designers, architects – and even the hotel’s own washroom attendant. Each room is unique, but Maring’s is perhaps the most striking. The focal point of the 40-square-metre suite is an ofuro, a traditional cedar tub imported from Japan (and, no, it doesn’t leak). Unlike western tubs, the ofuro is intended for relaxing in rather than bathing, with the sides built straight up instead of at an angle; some are as much as 65 centimetres deep – about 22 centimetres more than standard tubs. “Rather than come up with something crazy, I just thought about the essentials of a hotel room: sleeping, washing and relaxing,” says Maring. “I…

DAS HAUS 2016 Herkner’s vision for the central installation at the Frankfurt furniture fair, broke down barriers. The house was encircled with curtains, giving way to a welcoming, free-flowing environment with no walls. At a time when Germany, and the world, faces societal shifts and an influx of refugees, Herkner asserts that “we need to be open to our new neighbours.” DAS HAUS, THE CENTRAL INSTALLATION at IMM Cologne, almost seemed like an act of defiance. Back in April 2015, when Sebastian Herkner was chosen to design it, he decided to make a statement about openness at a time when Europeans were being called upon to accept Syrian refugees into their collective home. He conceived of the circular “house,” with its many entry points and soft curtains (like a spiral…

FOR MANY YEARS, “CANADIANA“ has almost been a word to be avoided in certain circles. During Toronto Design Week in January, a national aesthetic prevailed, although it no longer relied on such clichés as tree-stump stools and live-edge felled log tables. In their place were sleeker silhouettes and pared-back palettes. For the Studio North display at the Interior Design Show, for instance, Jacob Antoni exhibited Latitude, his off- centre wooden pendant with LED components neatly tucked in a round-cornered frame. While a light made of wood has its rustic charm, Latitude’s lean profile showed off a much more polished use of the material. The piece won the Best Prototype award. Local small-batch studios, including Lightmaker and furniture artisans Coolican & Company, also made good use of such natural resources as…

1 Knit by Ethimo Patrick Norguet’s versatile line brings an indoor sensibility outdoors. His latest piece, an ergonomic and hard-wearing loveseat, combines a woven synthetic fibre with a teak frame. ethimo.com 2 Kumo by Manutti This two-module system is ideal for public spaces or large private settings. The powder- coated aluminum arm- and backrests are removable, and the pieces can be arranged as sofas, loungers, chairs and ottomans. manutti.com, jardindeville.com 3 Ulm by Vondom Made from polyethylene resin, this chair is 100 per cent recyclable. The base can be illuminated using white light or RGB LEDs. Included in the family are a sofa, a daybed, an ottoman and a coffee table. vondom.com 4 Rosalina by Ligne Roset Alice Rosignoli’s slender chair stacks and stores easily. It features a rose-beige cord…