Table of contents for September 2016 in AZURE

IN THE EARLIEST DECADES of the 20th century, the alleyways of San Francisco’s rough South of Market neighbourhood were the sort of territory that made even the hard-boiled gumshoes of Dashiell Hammett’s noirish detective novels uneasy: a noisy skid row of sweatshops and flophouses. While redevelopment plans slowly began to unfold in the 1980s, things really heated up in the mid-90s with the first dot-com bubble, and the arrival of the city’s leading art museum, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. This past May, the district, better known as SoMa, signalled that its gentrification is complete with the opening of the institution’s 10-storey addition, designed by Snøhetta. “In architecture, meaning is not found in things,” says Snøhetta founding partner Craig Dykers, standing in the new building’s sunlit second-floor ticketing…

Cities, at best, are a patchwork of unordered infrastructure, where utilities, services and resources are installed on an as-needed basis. With the advent of smart technology, urban centres with an eye on the future are angling to become far more savvy, connected, efficient and, yes, orderly Sooner than you imagine, you may wake up in a community that feeds and powers itself, and you’re likely to arrive at work in your electric car that can park itself and power up at a charging station, or–even better–feed electricity back to the grid while you get on with your day. Communities, too, will monitor your habits, even your waste, to help you live a healthier, more sustainable life. According to MIT researcher Newsha Ghaeli, who is currently hoping to curb disease and…

DESIGN LOVERS, ONCE AGAIN, flocked to New York in May to get their fix of launches from top furniture brands, and to get a read on which way trends are blowing. WantedDesign Manhattan and Sight Unseen Offsite, especially, are two sprawling exhibitions that have become must-sees for scouting out the next wave of talent. This year, some of the most notable discoveries included: a sofa made from layers of hand-dyed sand (Fernando Mastrangelo); chairs built with slabs of industrial rubber (Wintercheck Factory); 3-D-printed steel bowls (Philippe Malouin for Othr); and a wingback chair sporting upholstery with an optical rhombus pattern (Mac Stopa for Cappellini). One sure take-away is that the lighting fixture has become the most sensational object in a room. LEDs have changed illumination into something that is much…

1 Sola by Avani The cupboards and drawers of Avani’s latest system work with or without surface hardware for a kitchen that’s sleek yet fully functional. Some of the best features of Sola are hidden: interiors that are free of line boring, and sliding islands and cooktop covers that hide functional elements when not in use. LED strips are also integrated to maximize functionality. avanikitchens.com 2 Frame by Snaidero Italian architect Massimo Iosa Ghini was mindful of his impact on the environment when he created this kitchen for Snaidero, which uses minimal raw materials. Frame is an industrial-chic system characterized by brushed stainless-steel scaffolding that supports and frames the cupboards and extractor hood, for a design that is unexpectedly light and airy. snaidero.com 3 Unica by Downsview The transitional look…

ON JUNE 17, some 500 guests filled Evergreen Brick Works, a revitalized former industrial site in Toronto, for Azure’s annual gala celebrating the AZ Awards. Among the revellers were many of this year’s finalists, arriving from around the globe: Halifax, San Francisco, Vienna and Shanghai. One of the evening’s highlights was an interactive light installation by Castor Design, who enveloped a white baby grand with a matrix of fluorescent tubes that pulsed with each note played by pianist Amy Seulky Lee. The musical interlude was followed by the big reveal, as 18 AZ Award winners and as many people’s choice selections were announced. The ceremony included an inspiring address from guest of honour Gaetano Pesce, and each winner took home a unique trophy – a pair of handcrafted pewter letters…

TODAY CLOCK Rather than counting down minutes, this clock shifts perception of time by putting the whole day on display at once. The single hand indicates high noon at the sky-blue top and midnight at the pitch-black bottom. $127, thepresent.today BURBUCAR CAR WASH A glossy coat of bright blue epoxy paint helped Madrid architect Lina Toro transform this 70-metre car wash tunnel into a spa-like oasis. Whimsical waiting areas with transparent hanging chairs and ball-filled kiddie pools were also added. linatoro.com BRAILLE BRICKS These plastic blocks look like Lego, but the bricks’ six-bump grids are modified to form braille letters. The reconfigurable bricks make it fun for children – whether visually impaired or not – to learn to read the characters. braillebricks.com.br ON THE EDGE Sebastian Errazuriz dreamed up this…

JUDGING FROM THE crowded floors of Chicago’s NeoCon Merchandise Mart this past June, the open-plan trend is destined to remain a part of the office landscape for a few more years. Such leading contract brands as Teknion, Steelcase and Allsteel added to their already impressive arsenal of flexible office systems, each introducing series that further accommodate collaborative settings. The emphasis was also on casual, with inviting upholstered armchairs and pouffes (many of them embedded with power charging capabilities) that would look just as sharp in the lobby of a hotel as in break-out spaces and reception areas. Keilhauer’s Hangout collection by EOOS, a six-piece line that includes benches, sofas, ottomans – even a cute “milking” stool named Sip – delighted visitors with the youthful vibe of its bright upholstery and…

PLUS-SIZE VIEWS 1 RECESSED GLASS Swedish manufacturer Hajom’s Step windows and doors are made with a stepped construction that recesses the glass into the framework to create a minimalist, frameless look. hajom.com 2 CURTAIN-WALL LOOK Bringing the look of a curtain wall to mid-rise projects, Kawneer’s MetroView FG 5O1T Window Wall features a slab-to-slab aluminum frame with an integrated edge. kawneer.com 3 LOW PROFILE The pared-back frame profiles of Keller’s triple glazed 4+ Highline from the Minimal Windows series, allow for 98 per cent glass spans measuring up to 18 metres square. kellerag.com 4 GOING BIGGER Marvin Windows and Doors has introduced its Contemporary Studio and Ultimate Casement collections in new larger sizes, up to 2.5 metres in length, to provide uninterrupted, panoramic views. marvin.com SLIDING AND FOLDING DOORS 1…

In the American Midwest, nature giveth and nature taketh away. The agriculture belt roughly overlaps with Tornado Alley, where the storms that vitally nourish regional food production are also likely to spawn crop-devastating twisters – or disappear altogether in times of drought. Yet while the heartland’s fate remains in the hands of the elements, human understanding of that reality is weakening as farming communities hemorrhage population and work becomes increasingly virtual. Springfield, Missouri, embodies these contradictions of modern life. Located in the heart of Tornado Alley and once covered in pasture and timber-rich forest, the Queen City of the Ozarks is better known today for its urban redevelopment projects and healthcare jobs. Upon hearing residents wax nostalgic about Springfield’s agrarian past, artist Matthew Mazzotta created the interactive sculpture Cloud House.…

TAILOR-MADE “This was an obvious one for us to rethink,” says Benjamin Hubert, director of Layer, the London studio known for its human-focused designs. “You constantly see people struggling to get around with wheelchairs.” The human body is not designed to self-propel from a seated position; when a wheelchair isn’t tailored to its user any more precisely than small, medium or large, they cause injuries – repetitive strains, sores, arthritis. “You need something that is more like an extension of your body,” Hubert says. The Go wheelchair, with its made-to-measure, 3-D-printed seat and footrest, is just that – a second skin. PUSH POWER The fitting process is a bit like getting a pair of glasses: a fullbody scan of the user collects data to formulate a biometric prescription that can…

Navy Yards Central Green PHILADELPHIA James Corner Field Operations Redeveloped as a 485-hectare office zone, Philadelphia’s Navy Yards now has a park designed to draw workers away from their desks and into the fresh air. Its two hectares are ringed by a “social track” for walking or running, and, within a network of circular green areas, there are amenities that encour-age group play, including a bocce court, table tennis and TRX training equipment. Lounge spaces, including a tranquil grove filled with bright yellow hammocks, are open invitations to kick back and relax. A spot for food trucks to pull up also adds to the allure of getting outside over lunch rather than remaining stationary at a desk. We called them gardeners. And as we paved paradise, we brought them in…

WHAT IS THE FRONT? Or, where is the front? The curator of the 15th Venice Architecture Biennale, Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena, defines the battle “to improve the quality of the built environment and consequently people’s quality of life,” and in his exhibition, Reporting from the Front, the fronts are many and widely dispersed. To explain his vision, Aravena recounts the story of legendary travel writer Bruce Chatwin’s encounter with German archeologist Maria Reiche in a Peruvian desert. She was carrying an aluminum ladder she was using to study the Nazca lines. From the ground the stones seemed random, but from atop the ladder they revealed the shapes of large-scale plants and animals. Chatwin’s photo of Maria Reiche scrutinizing the horizon from atop the ladder has become the pictogram for this…

APART FROM THE CHIRPING OF CRICKETS, silence prevails at the Sobreiras – Alentejo Country Hotel. This rural resort in Portugal’s verdant Setúbal County, 130 kilometres southeast of Lisbon, lies at the end of a dirt road that winds between cork, oak and olive trees and varied Mediterranean scrub. Clustered along the hillside of a 25-hectare former farm, its 22 pitched-roof rooms and two suites stretch outward in a broken line from the main reception, a lounge area and a swimming pool. The work of Lisbon architect Miguel Correia and his team at FAT (Future Architecture Thinking) the design is intentionally modern and simple. “We wanted to make people feel comfortable,” says project manager André Correia, “but still feel the unpretentious style of the countryside, and of being outside a big…

1 Urban by SieMatic With help from Berlin design studio Kinzo, SieMatic has updated its collection of freestanding elements (including its SieMatic 29 sideboard) for maximum flexibility. Styled with city dwellers in mind, Urban’s refined materials palette can be mixed, matched and rearranged as needed, with a granite herb garden bringing greenery indoors. siematic.com 2 Unit by Cesar Garcia Cumini’s Bauhaus-inspired Unit is less rigid than an installed system, and more functional than a mere piece of furniture: an element to tie the kitchen together. Sitting atop narrow legs, and free from sharp edges, it recalls the adaptability of professional kitchens, and is offered in a wide range of finishes including wood, steel and lacquer. cesar.it 3 Principia by Arclinea Antonio Citterio conceived of Arclinea’s newest system as a merging…

The Little Film Company / Pembridge Pictures (110 minutes) PERCHED ON THE SHORES of the French Riviera sits a striking modernist masterpiece. Its white walls, large windows and flat roof – a prelude to the modernist dwellings that followed – are the work of one of the 20th century’s greatest designers, Irish-born Eileen Gray. Completed in 1929, Gray’s summer escape was called e.1027, and designed specifically for Gray’s on-again, off-again lover, architect Jean Badovici. The seaside abode is central to Mary McGuckian’s The Price of Desire, a docudrama biopic about Gray (played by Orla Brady), her architectural gem, and the tumultuous relationship she had with Swiss architect Le Corbusier (played by Vincent Perez), who defaced the home in what the film suggests is a fit of jealousy. Introduced first as…