Tabla de contenidos para March - April 2017 en AZURE

FAUST, A LUXURY SHOE STORE in Oslo, gets its name from the legend of a German scholar who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for earthly knowledge and pleasures. Thankfully no such pact is needed to acquire a pair of the brand’s handmade leather shoes, even if stepping into the shop feels decadent to the point of sin. The store, founded by Alvaro Miranda, who comes from a long line of shoemakers, offers both meticulously crafted ready-to-wear shoes and fully custom footwear made with personalized lasts. That personal touch extends to the store’s interior. Architecture firm Snohetta designed the long, narrow and monastic 20-square-metre shop, along with Faust’s pared down brand identity, with striking attention to detail. The store is defined by five vaulted concrete niches that run…

AS WE RELY MORE AND MORE ON TECHNOLOGY, intertwining it with every facet of our lives, are we building an environment that relies less and less on us? This exhibition at the Vitra Design Museum examines the connections between man, machine and design, exploring the various ways robots are creating a smarter, more autonomous world. From factories to retirement homes and even inside our own bodies, the show looks at all the places we find robots in our lives – both today and in the near future. Hello, Robot asks not only how design has shaped interactions between humans and machines, but how it has changed the way we interact with one another. Over 200 objects and installations will be on view, including Musio (far right), a just-launched social robot…

1 ON A PEDESTAL Thanks to its ridged surface, the built-in platform of Val by Konstantin Grcic for Laufen stays semi-dry, making it an ideal perch for soaps. Its circular shape contrasts with the rectangular form of the sink. From $650, laufen.com 2 UNEVEN TERRAIN Different surface levels offer dry islands for accessories in Display, a family of rectangular sinks by GamFratesi for Ceramica Globo. Offset ceramic slabs work as trays for in-sink organization. Price on request, ceramicaglobo.com 3 GO DEEP Stunning in its oddity, the oversized bucket-style Blue Basin by Jee-O plays with unexpected proportions. Made from Dadoquartz, a durable resin and quartz aggregate, the freestanding basin is silky smooth. From $1,200, jee-o.com 4 FULL CIRCLE Perfectly round Coco flares out at the rim, giving it subtle definition. Crafted…

DAYS BEFORE THE INAUGURATION of John Pawson’s latest and most significant project, drills shriek and dollies rumble through a dusty atrium laden with slabs of terrazzo. But Pawson, the unruffled minimalist, hasn’t raised his voice above the din. If he’s nervous about the state of London’s new Design Museum – hanging wires, boxed furniture, empty galleries – he won’t be drawn. Pawson’s Old Etonian inflection is as soft as the grey cashmere pullover he wears with simple cotton trousers and Asics sneakers: demure gentleman up top, practical builder below. “There are enough people worrying about it not to get anxious,” he says with characteristic restraint. The Design Museum, open since last November, finds its home inside the former Commonwealth Institute, a Grade II* listed building in Kensington. Pawson has applied…

THERE’S NO GOING BACK NOW. The widespread shift that has seen the work environment become relaxed, creative and playful has ushered in casual office furniture. At Orgatec in Cologne last October, “casual” was indelibly stitched into the upholstery of every soft seating option. Spread over some 130,000 square metres of floor space, the fair – Europe’s largest biennale of all things office – was so packed with comfort you could easily forget the event was devoted to workspaces. There are two key factors behind this evolution. The first is holistic design, which is now a permanent part of the work-life balance conversation. Sit-stand desks and biophilic features inspiring a connection to nature are now a mainstay for most manufacturers. The other factor is technology. Fewer cables and conduits mean far…

1 Tombolo by Living Divani Referencing traditional crocheting techniques, this rounded armchair is made from extra-thick plastic-laminate threads. The material is affixed to a chrome-finished steel tube frame. Available in bright green or black. livingdivani.it 2 Manta Ray Daybed by Holly Hunt Named for the majestic sea animal, this daybed features a generously wide and deep seat with a durable woven fibre body attached to a bronze or silver powdercoated aluminum frame. hollyhunt.com 3 InOut 852 by Gervasoni Sturdy elastic bands are wrapped around a lacquered aluminum-tube base to make this loveseat by Paola Navone. It’s part of a larger series that includes armchairs, sofas and chaise longues. gervasoni1882.it 4 Wishbone Outdoor Lounge Chair by Roche Bobois Braided nautical cord forms the hammocklike seat of this lounge chair. Shown in…

So So Productions (95 minutes) THIS FILM WILL NOT MAKE YOU HAPPY. And it’s not supposed to, because it’s not about you. The Happy Film sees the prolific graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister turn himself into a design project (again). Known for his provocative and sometimes uncomfortable works – including a promotional poster created from razor blade carvings into the designer’s own body and an announcement featuring a photo of him and his business partner naked – Sagmeister this time sets out to determine if he can train his mind to be happy. Co-directed by Ben Nabors and the late Hillman Curtis, the film follows Sagmeister’s pursuit of happiness with the guidance of psychologist Jonathan Haidt, who helps Sagmeister explore three paths: meditation, therapy and drugs. In Bali, he tries but…

IT’S NOT JUST THE TESLAS, Ubers and Googles of the world that are developing self-driving cars. Almost every automaker, from Acura to Volkswagen, is getting into the game. By 2020, it’s estimated that 10 million autonomous vehicles will be prowling the streets. Cars are changing – so why shouldn’t roads? That is the latest question to be asked at PLP Architecture, and in answer the firm has come up with a rather bold vision. CarTube, a multi-tiered network of tunnels deep under London’s congested streets, envisions driverless vehicles moving at a steady 80 kilometres per hour, linked not by railcar hitches but by digital sensors. The visualization is enough to make a Futurist weep: cars weave seamlessly in, out and through an underground circuit of small-bore tunnels without ever needing…

OF ALL THE COACHES Mikou Studio might have turned to to consult on the design of a local aquatic health centre, a feng shui expert may not have been the most obvious. But the Paris firm, run by sisters Salwa and Selma Mikou, collaborated closely with specialist Laurence Dujardin to create a veritable ode to water and wellness that takes a holistic approach to promoting physical and mental wellbeing. Located in Issy-les-Moulineaux on the outskirts of Paris, Piscine Aquazena features a 25-metre-long lane pool, and two smaller basins for learners and exercise activities. The main hall made of blue-tinted concrete is surrounded by such ancillary spaces as locker rooms, a sauna, squash courts, workout rooms, and a hammam. These are positioned in accordance with the principles of feng shui’s baguas,…

YOU NEVER KNOW what’s around the corner at IIDEXCanada. Something of a building industry free-for-all, the annual show always provides a few surprises, with more than 400 exhibitors promoting products that range from lighting to outdoor furniture and cladding. Among the new faces this year was Quebec City’s Dizal, debuting its digitally printed aluminum siding that convincingly mimics wood. Real wood, also, was present on the show floor. At IIDEX Woodshop, an annual exhibit of prototypes made from ash wood, Toronto industrial designer Mark Pylypczak impressed visitors with his lamp-meets-table, which has a bright red power cord running neatly along a groove in the back of one leg. Miles Keller, also from Toronto, debuted a scaled-down model of his wooden car, which borrows design principles and materials from canoe-building (see…

1 Santorini by Isimar Open triangular legs give this table a unique, graphic appeal. Shown in cool blue, the galvanized steel supports come in 29 fresh colours plus five metal finishes. The 15 tabletop options include three varieties of wood. isimar.es 2 Voxel by Vondom Karim Rashid brings his recognizable, playful touch to this outdoor stacking chair made from polypropylene. The faceted design adds strength and aesthetic appeal. vondom.com 3 Dome by Pedrali Curvaceous lines combine with a punctured polypropylene form in this update of the classic bistro chair. Along with the sunny yellow shown, this stackable seat is available in white, beige, red, black and anthracite grey. pedrali. it 4 Virus by Extremis The compact shape of this picnic table makes it a versatile piece for condo balconies and…

THE YEAR 2016 WAS A GOOD ONE FOR WOOD. T3, short for Timber, Transit and Technology, was touted as the first modern tall wood building in the United States when it opened in Minneapolis last November. Located in the city’s North Loop, just blocks from the Mississippi River, the 20,810-square-metre office was designed by Vancouver’s Michael Green Architecture (MGA) with local office DLR Group to pay homage to neighbouring historic structures through its boxy volume, weathered steel cladding and large windows. Indeed, the building’s open, repetitive floor plates, regular six-by-nine-metre column grid and exposed wood jives with both the turn-ofthe- century warehouse conversions and speculative new-builds. But the fanfare surrounding this otherwise quiet building is due, no doubt, to its ecofriendly timber construction. “Climate change is forcing us to be…

1 SERVING STYLE Wallpepper’s colourful Casablanca plate print, from the Mediterraneo collection, feels extra real in a 3-D embossed version. wallpepper. it 2 SPLINTER EFFECT The glowing motif on this semigloss vinyl paper from Rollout, titled Shattered Light, comes courtesy of Vancouver wood furniture designer Brent Comber. rollout.ca 3 FLOWER POWER Intricate flower arrangements by Ovando are captured by Skot Yobauje Photography for the Élan Vital repeating patterns from Flavor Paper. flavorpaper.com 4 FRENCH CONNECTION Photorealistic fauna is collaged with cartoonish imagery of Parc de Bagatelle in Paris for the Bagatelle Reglisse mural from Christian Lacroix. designersguild.com…

OVER THE PHONE, Sir David Adjaye OBE tells me the story of how the National Museum of African American History and Culture got its distinctive inverted-pyramid shape. The three jagged tiers that make up the building’s stunning profile are actually an ornamental cladding made of bronzed aluminum panels, each sporting a permeable pattern reminiscent of lace. Located at 1400 Constitution Avenue NW and encircled by a manicured lawn, the new museum is neighboured most visibly by the Washington Monument. Its unusual shape, Adjaye explains, is based on the crown of a wooden figure carved by Nigerian sculptor Olowe of Ise, though that won’t be news to those who have followed the origins of the project since the British-Ghanaian architect won the international competition in 2009, heading up a team with…

After nearly a decade of construction, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie has opened, and its interior is as impressive at its facade of more than 1,000 massive slumped-glass panes. Three performance spaces – one equipped with a 4,765-pipe organ – offer a world-class concert experience. But the process of transforming a warehouse on a working harbour into a state-of-the-art venue was not without its pitfalls. Cost overruns placed the project under international scrutiny for years. Jacques Herzog, founding partner of the Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron, talked to Azure about the building and how it fits within the firm’s canon, both present and future. Your earliest buildings are known for their striking forms and material choices. But recent projects offer more complex experiments with space. Has there been a change in how…

ON CHECKING IN at Room Mate Giulia, which opened mere steps from Milan’s Piazza del Duomo, guests are offered a glass of water. While thoughtful, the gesture would not be particularly noteworthy were it not for the fact that the pebbled carafe and turquoise tumbler belong to Patricia Urquiola’s Jellies Family series for Kartell. As the hotel’s architect and interior designer, Urquiola has left her imprint everywhere, from the coat hooks to the tiling. The result: a generously appointed yet budget-friendly property that reflects the city’s blend of industrialism and fashion. Barely a trace of the building’s former life as a bank remains. The lobby feels, more than anything else, like the apartment of a creative intellectual. Panels of dusty pink marble, which give the space a quiet sense of…

DECKING PAVING GREEN WALLS AND ROOFS RECREATIONAL SURFACES…

To look at a 17th-century birch-bark-and-fir canoe is to marvel at a piece of high technology. The design is durable, nimble and impossibly lightweight. Its curvilinear body, tapered at the ends, is perfect for cutting through water. And then there’s the remarkable substance from which the boat is made. Toronto designer Miles Keller likes to imagine how people would react if a company invented wood. “If it didn’t occur naturally, everybody would say, ‘What an incredible composite material.’’’ Two years ago, he set out to build an electric car the way you would a canoe. The result, called Orenda – an Iroquois word denoting spiritual power – is a sleek machine that evokes the character of a low-slung Formula One racer. After the miniature model – made from ash –…