If you’re reading this on an Apple device, you’ve probably seen Tim Kobe’s work. He is the founder of Eight Inc, the strategic design firm responsible for creating the Apple Store. Since the first of more than 300 sleek outlets opened in 2001, they have become the US’ most successful retail stores and secured Apple’s seemingly unassailable market leadership.

Apple store

Kobe set up Eight Inc in 1989 as a practice unrestrained by disciplines. The firm has eight studios around the world creating products, spaces and services that improve the businesses of their clients – which include Citibank, Nike and Nokia – and ensure they stand out from the pack. It is this success, anchored by a strong philosophy, that earned Kobe a place on the President’s Design Award 2014 (PDA) panel of jurors.

Apple store, Nagoya

“We believe in the power of creating meaningful human experiences and using that power to impact the end-users of our work,” says Kobe. He adds that Eight Inc has evolved from a multi-disciplinary firm that “reflected traditional disciplines” into one that is “focused on user outcomes”. “For us, the most important projects are those that impact the most people in a positive way, and solve progressively complex problems.”

Apple store, Osaka

One of the recent hits of Eight Inc’s Singapore office was the ‘Smart Banking’ programme it devised for Citibank. The programme involves the makeover of Citibank outlets around the world to include an extensive array of digital technology, such as media walls and touchscreens, that streamlines customers’ interaction with the bank. A new ATM system, dubbed the Virtual Teller Machine, was also piloted as part of the programme. Smart Banking was debuted in a Singapore branch, leading it to become the highest-performing outlet in Citi history.

“We tend to focus on things that will ultimately matter to people,” explains Kobe. “If we can build an experience that builds passion for the brand or the place, we have been successful. The financial outcomes naturally follow.”

Citi Private Bank

Kobe believes that those who have made the greatest contributions to humanity weren’t working in silos but “across disciplines”. And neither is ‘design thinking’ enough; it is a starting point, he says, that has to be executed with finesse. This also means avoiding trends and emulating others. Stray from these practices and a company’s value will increase, he notes.

In fact, ‘value’ will be what Kobe looks out for when judging entries at the PDA. He clarifies, “Today’s buyers are more selective and interested in how a design is addressing larger issues. It is a challenge given that design is a broad term and is in a state of transition.”

Citi Private Bank

In Singapore, where Eight Inc has had a presence for the last five years, design is a burgeoning field that doesn’t yet have an identity of its own, observes Kobe. Which is a good thing.

“I don’t believe places should have a style or design identity,” he contends. “Design is not about a style but a creative pursuit that should resist any intentions to classify it. Great design environments occur when the environment – business or the greater population – and design community elevate the discourse to a level that pushes conventional thinking.”

Citi Private Bank

According to Kobe, the industry here still faces three big challenges: introducing design to the general public; demonstrating how businesses can reap rewards from thoughtful design; and attracting talent who do not fit the mould. Who are curious, “odd by nature” and interested in doing things in an unconventional way. It sounds remarkably similar to another iconoclast with whom Kobe and Eight Inc have shared a long and fruitful relationship: Steve Jobs.

“[Design] is a creative field that must challenge assumptions and question everything to create something new,” Kobe says. “It should not be feared but nurtured.”

Eight Inc
eightinc.com

Sculptural Pebble Bench

Silverlining, a company that creates luxury furniture for super yachts, palaces, and private residences, has had only 30 clients in the last 29 years. The exclusivity points to a portfolio of projects that are bespoke and exquisitely detailed—projects of the best quality in execution. The company’s founder and chairman Mark Boddington says this way of working ensures they exceed every client’s vision and expectations and make the commissioning journey special.

Silverlining has a reputation for creating extraordinary furniture for yachts. Featured here: furniture by Mark Boddington, yacht design by Michael Leach. Photo courtesy of Palladium, Michael Leach Design Ltd

Boddington is the great great grandson of the famous founder of Boddingtons English Beer –Henry Boddington. In school, Boddington discovered that he had the natural talent for furniture making and followed his individual passion and trained with the eminent furniture designer John Makepeace. The budding designer had his first lucky break at 21 when he set up his first workshop on the Grosvenor Estate in Cheshire in 1985, home to the The Duke and Duchess of Westminster, who were about to extensively remodel their home. He was then introduced to their interior designer John Stefanidis and commissions flowed in from Eaton Hall and other English aristocratic families in Britain, USA and Venezuela. Boddington’s second lucky break was when he met Kevin Costner’s architect in 1993. Projects for David Bowie, Madonna and Tom Ford followed. Today Silverlining’s client list reads like the Who’s Who of the world.

Furniture by Mark Boddington, yacht design by Michael Leach. Photo courtesy of Palladium, Michael Leach Design Ltd

Needless to say, there were some incredible projects created. “Recently we were asked to design a 14 metre by 2.5 metre wide table to be made as one structure,” Boddington shares. “In addition the table had to meet stringent fire safety regulations. This led us to turn to the aerospace industry to find a solution for creating a one piece organic design in non-combustible and super light composite materials. The shipping and installation were challenging as the table was so large it had to be lifted into the building before the roof went on. To do this we designed a special weather proof air conditioned shipping and storage container, which was then dismantled 12 months later after the building was finished, leaving the table in place. Over the years we have had some interesting requests including a secret drawer in a desk for a pistol and a dining table strong enough for belly dancers to perform on after dinner!”

Leather salvaged from the ship Metta Catharina

Other past projects saw Silverlining hunt down some of the world’s most unique materials, including a 227-year-old reindeer hide salvaged from the Metta Catharina that sank off Plymouth in 1786, and a 418-year-old brown burr oak from the stately Holker Hall in Cumbria, England.

The making of the Parabolic Cabinet

Creating bespoke projects means knowing a client’s need intimately. This is partly why Silverlining maintains such a small client list. “The process is really a journey of collaboration between client and designer or craftsman,” Boddington shares. “As bespoke furniture mirrors a client’s personality, the starting point is to get to know the client: what is their background, what do they collect, how do they spend time relaxing, do they have children, family history, what drives them, etc. It is also important to understand their vision for the project.”

Parabolic Cabinet

‘We then spend time on inspirational research to stimulate thought and ideas – it is important to show what’s possible and to expand everyone’s minds before choosing a particular direction. Ideas are then presented to the client as hand illustrated sketches with a maquette sample showing the combination of materials such as wood, or a combination of wood and leather, stone, metal, gold leaf, etc. Once the final design, cost and timescale are agreed, the designer, craftsman and project manager then work as a team to oversee engineering, manufacture, finishing and finally naming and dating. They even personally wrap, pack, deliver and install the furniture in the home, office or yacht and finally provide training on how to care for the furniture. In reality it is a very close bond between designer, craftsman and client – one we hope that will last for many generations.”

Collector’s cabinet in stacked leather, Santos rosewood and polished bronze

Indeed, Silverlining has started working with the next generation of clients – children of their earliest clients. They are exploring what Boddington calls ‘21st century craftsmanship’. Much of the work is in reinvention and innovation. “It could be combining centuries old and modern day materials and techniques, such as combining tactile shagreen leather (found on 14th-century Samurai swords) with highly polished moulded carbon fibre composite found in the aerospace industry,” Boddington shares.

Close up of the cabinet

Now, Boddington is in Asia to look for just one or two clients to add to his exclusive list of clientele. Let the search begin!

Silverlining
silverliningfurniture.com

Talenia Phua Gajardo has one simple yet fundamental criteria when appraising art: it has to be visually intuitive. The founder of online gallery The Artling scours Asia to unearth talented artists, educate the public, and promote the industry in the region. “We are on a continuous hunt to bring these artists to light and make their work accessible to the international market,” she says.

Keong Saik Snacks

But she isn’t an artist herself. Rather, the Singaporean-Chilean considers herself an art consultant and designer. In addition to The Artling, Phua Gajardo founded the studio T+ in 2013, where she creates interiors for residences, hotels and F&B joints such as Keong Saik Snacks and 196 Bishopsgate in London. The studio also produces curious furniture pieces that challenge traditional geometries. In fact, it was her work in interior and furniture design that brought her into the fray of art.

Keong Saik Snacks

“The Artling was born through specifying for my interior design and architecture work,” Phua Gajardo reveals. Currently, The Artling stocks more than 5,000 artworks from both emerging and established artists, such as Singapore’s Dju-Lian Chng and South Korea’s Do Ho Suh. Prices range from US$100 to US$10,000.

More than an e-commerce platform, The Artling offers art consultancy services to private and corporate clients. As the multi-hyphenate describes, “Art consultancy within the interior design and architectural context is particularly valuable when working with the specifiers themselves.” It’s also where her design background has lent heft.

Koffie table

After graduating in architecture from Central Saint Martin’s in 2007, Phua Gajardo worked for Zaha Hadid Architects in London. There, she met Camiel Weijenberg, with whom she would set up the furniture and interior design practice MAKEMEI, the predecessor to T+. Where her stint at Zaha Hadid’s office introduced her to the avant-garde, MAKEMEI established that as part of her style.

“Working at Zaha Hadid taught me how spaces are read and designed, the use of materials, complex geometries, and pushing the boundaries of what we believe to be possible or not—even outside of design. It informed my overall attitude towards construction and design,” Phua Gajardo says, adding that her strong aesthetic sense is influenced but not determined by the brief.

RD table

Take for instance Trees, an urban furniture installation that was exhibited as part of Singapore Design Week 2013. Made of Valchromat, an engineered material that mimics wood, the installation takes the form of its namesake: a skeletal canopy provides sunshade for the mushroom-like benches that sprout beneath it. Like her career, Trees occupies the intersection between design, architecture and art.

Tree installation

It’s one of the reasons why Phua Gajardo was picked to be an Ambassador at Singapore Indesign, which this year, will be held on Saturday 4 October. An attendee to previous editions of the event, she is emboldened by its growing popularity and impact on the design industry here.

Tree installation

“These events are very important; they are a great platform for both young and established designers to engage in dialogue, and they also attract some of the top names in design to Singapore,” she notes. And with Phua Gajardo, in art, too.

T+
tplus-design.com

The Artling
theartling.com

Like fine wine, terroir determines the quality of a piece of furniture from Carl Hansen & Søn. The family-run Danish furniture company exclusively uses wood from Denmark, which is made stronger by the Scandinavian nation’s climate: rough, humid and with a lot of salt in the air.

So says Knud Erik Hansen, the third-generation owner and CEO of the 113-year-old firm. Hansen has been at the helm since 2001, and has transformed the company from a domestic to an international one. Today, Carl Hansen’s catalogue of disciplined, natural and wooden furniture is exported across the world. And Hansen is looking to expand his firm’s footprint in this region. His goal is to grow the company by 80% in three years.

Anniversary edition of Hans Wegner’s CH24 ‘Wishbone’ chair in oak and walnut

“Japan is our biggest export market, but Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia are fast-growing countries,” reveals Hansen. “Reception for our furniture has been extremely good. We’re doubling in sales every year.”

Anniversary edition of Hans Wegner’s CH24 ‘Wishbone’ chair in oak and walnut

Despite its expansion, Carl Hansen clings on to its founding principles of sustainability and consummate artisanship. Such as using only 160- to 250-year-old timber sourced from the Danish hinterland. According to Hansen, these trees were originally cultivated back in the 1800s to provide the wood required to build warships. Watertight wood has to be hard and free of knots, so the trees were grown straight and tall while errant branches were regularly trimmed.

“Now that we don’t need ships anymore, we use them for furniture,” chuckles Hansen. “The way they’re planted makes them great for furniture. And because of certain laws in Denmark, we actually plant more trees than we cut them down.”

The making of the Wishbone chair

A large quantity of those felled trees go into making Carl Hansen’s most popular product: the CH24 chair, nicknamed the ‘Wishbone chair’ for its Y-shaped backrest. In fact, the company dedicated one of its four factories to producing it. Modelled after the Ming chair, this dining chair is deceptively simple. It requires more than 100 steps to build one, and its humble hand-woven seat uses more than 120 metres of cord.

The making of the Wishbone chair

The CH24 was designed in 1949 by the late Hans Wegner, Carl Hansen’s most prolific collaborator. But Wegner is part of a problem that Hansen is trying to overcome. Simply put, he isn’t alive anymore. And so are many of Carl Hansen’s designers. “We have the biggest collection of dead architects,” jokes the CEO. “I wanted to make something with an architect who is still around.”

TA001 ‘Dream’ chair by Tadao Ando

So he cast his eye towards Carl Hansen’s biggest overseas market: Japan. And he decided upon Pritzker Prize-winning architect Tadao Ando. His design, the TA001, is a lounge chair whose striking form makes it a statement piece. Entirely composed of sculpted wooden veneers, the chair took Carl Hansen a year and a half to nail the fabrication process.

TA001 ‘Dream’ chair by Tadao Ando

“Ando said when he makes something in concrete, everything has to be in concrete. It’s the same with wood. We told him the chair was going to be very hard to produce because he’s going beyond the limits of bending veneers,” explains Hansen.

As with the CH24, the TA001’s aesthetic simplicity belies its technical specifications. But it’s not just sophisticated machinery that allows Carl Hansen to create these furniture pieces. As Hansen says, you need the best craftspeople who know their way around the material. “Most of the people we employ are carpenters,” he adds. “And they don’t want to work on anything else but wood.”

Carl Hansen & Søn is carried in Singapore by Space Furniture.

# 1 Alberto Perazza
Find him at XTRA
Alberto Perazza is the Co-Managing Director of Magis – the second generation in the family-run Italian design brand. Perazza has maintained Magis’ focus on technology and material as a means of product differentiation. He hosts a Q&A on 3 October (a Singapore Indesign invite-only Fringe Event at XTRA).

#2 Alexander Lorenz
Find him at XTRA
Cologne-based designer Alexander Lorenz created the adjustable office furniture system Kivo for Herman Miller. Hear him share about the design process and his interdisciplinary approach at 11am and 2pm at XTRA.

#3 Gal Tevet
Find him at OM
Tel Aviv-based Gal Tevet Architects designs across the disciplines of urban design, architecture, landscape, interior, furniture, branding and product design. Gain insights into Tevet’s designs for the Entune Living range of furniture at 12pm, 2pm and 4pm at OM.

#4 Janice Feldman
Find her at JANUS et Cie
As astute a businesswoman as she is sensitive a designer, Janice Feldman is the visionary Founder and President of JANUS et Cie. Join the vivacious Feldman for a guided tour of the new JANUS et Cie showroom throughout the day and learn more about the innovative furnishing materials that the brand has pioneered.

#5 Neri&Hu
Find them at DREAM
Lyndon Neri and Rosanna Hu are the founding partners of Neri&Hu Design and Research Office, a multi-disciplinary design practice based in Shanghai. They share their thoughts on their new Neri&Hu Collection for De La Espada on 2 October (a Singapore Indesign invite-only Fringe Event at DREAM).

#6 Patrizia Moroso
Find her at XTRA
Patrizia Moroso is the Creative Director of furniture brand Moroso, which was established by her parents. The creative maverick helms a Q&A session on 3 October (a Singapore Indesign invite-only Fringe Event at XTRA).

#7 Sean Dix
Find him at OM
Architect and product designer Sean Dix runs DIX design|architecture, and focuses on retail and F&B concepts, design direction, interior architecture and furniture design. Hear his ideas behind the Dix Collection at 12pm, 2pm and 4pm at OM.

#8 Silvia Marlia
Find her at OM
Milan-born, Hong Kong-based Silvia Marlia produces children’s furniture and accessories through her brand SAND, which she established in 2012. Catch her presentation at OM at 12pm, 2pm and 4pm.

Pre-registration for Singapore Indesign closes on 29 September, so hurry for a chance to win great prizes. Click here to register.
Registration can also be made on the day of the event, at any of the participation locations.

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I first interviewed Ernesto Gismondi about 23 years ago for Interior Design magazine in the UK, long before I even thought of making a career in the lighting industry. Yet, throughout those years, Gismondi’s company, Artemide of Italy, has remained my favourite lighting manufacturer, for the quality and stylishness of its products – and the risks it sometimes takes in putting quirky (some would say, wildly eccentric) light fittings on to the market. Gismondi, now into his 80s, is still at the helm of the company he founded back in 1960.

Eclisse lamp (1967) by Vico Magistretti

Back then, Gismondi had astutely realised that after 15 years of the Italian post-War industrial miracle, when furniture (and light fittings) were mainly made from wood, in the ‘neo-Liberty’ style of the early 1900s, younger Italian consumers were craving something more contemporary in terms of style, technology and materials. “In 1960, architect Gio Ponti was designing the Pirelli Building in Milan and I asked him if he had found any suitable lights,” Gismondi recalls. “He said ‘there are no good products around – everything dates back to the 1930s.’”

Gismondi got the message. Artemide wasn’t the first Italian company to exploit this gap in the market – Flos and Arteluce had been formed in the 1950s – but it was soon one of the most successful. Right from the beginning, Gismondi turned to the leading designers of the day for his luminaire designs. The first fruit of this policy was Vico Magistretti’s ‘Omega’ lamp in 1961, followed in 1967 by the same designer’s witty bedside lamp, ‘Eclisse’, which won the Compasso d’Oro design prize and is still in production. Throughout the 1960s, the roster of designers working for Artemide represented a ‘Who’s Who’ of Italian design – Mario Bellini, Ettore Sottsass, and Michele de Lucchi for example.

Alfa lamp (1959) by Sergio Mazza

However, it was a German designer, Richard Sapper, who created Artemide’s all-time classic, the ‘Tizio’ table-lamp in 1972, which put the company on the global map. This designer icon is still in large-scale production after more than 40 years – and features in almost every museum design collection in the world. “Sapper had just left Marco Zanuso’s studio at the time and was free to work for us,” says Gismondi. “He brought us the idea and we did the development work.” This is still Artemide’s preferred method of working with designers – and it is particularly important in the age of the LED. “We understand the optical and technical problems to do with LEDs,” Gismondi adds.

Tolomeo Tavolo lamp (1987) by Michele De Lucchi and Giancarlo Fassina

Even before the ‘Tizio’ breakthrough in 1972, Gismondi himself had moved from commissioning to actually designing new luminaires himself. “I wanted to see things from the other side of the table and understand more about the design process,” he explains. “Initially, I didn’t use my own name, I used the name Ernie Urwin on my designs, because I didn’t want to be seen to compete with other designers.” Gismondi’s first product was the simple ‘Sintesi’ uplighter, which was followed by ‘Aton Terra’. Today Gismondi’s designs constitute a substantial part of the Artemide portfolio.

One of the systems that Gismondi pioneered in 2000 was the ‘Metamorfosi’ polychromatic lighting unit, initially using dichroic filters, offering colour-change capability across a number of products within the Artemide range. “We were the first company to do colour-changing,” Gismondi claims, “and the first to recognise that the human being is at the centre of lighting, not the product.” This insight developed into the company’s ‘Human Light’ philosophy, which as well as recognising and working with the emotional impact of light, also encompasses sustainability and energy-efficiency in production.

Artemide headquarters

Artemide had a global turnover of about 140 million euros in 2012, with over 60% of that coming from abroad. Gismondi realised early on that “we were kings in one village and had to export to survive”.

Today Artemide has partners in more than thirty countries and has diversified production out of Italy. “Internationally, we see a very good future in English-speaking India, where we have set up a new outlet,” Gismondi continues. However he is less impressed with the prospects in China, despite having offices in Hong Kong and Shanghai. “There is no design culture there and they don’t respect design – they buy one piece and then they copy it.”

Artemide headquarters

Gismondi still has a majority share-holding with only 35% of the company in the hands of outside investors – and when he retires, he has substantial family back-up. One son runs Nordlight, the company Artemide bought in 2008 to give themselves more LED expertise, and another son is a lawyer with the company. Gismondi’s wife also works as a designer for Artemide.

One key to Artemide’s success is its ruthlessness in pruning products that aren’t doing well enough in the marketplace. Only half-a-dozen products date back to the ‘60s and ‘70s; most products were designed within the last twelve years. This is both a stylistic issue and a result of rapidly changing technologies. On the design side, Artemide’s range of designers has expanded enormously in the last two decades.

In-Ei series of luminaires by Issey Miyake

Artemide still works with the latest generation of top Italian designers, such as Carlotta de Bivalacqua and Michele di Lucchi. However, reflecting the need to create more broadly based designs for international markets, many of its current collaborators are from Europe and further afield – Karim Rashid (Canada), Zaha Hadid (Iraqi-born UK citizen), and Ross Lovegrove (UK). The most recent design collaboration is with Japanese fashion designer Issey Miyake (the ‘In-Ei’ series of luminaires).

As his parting shot, Gismondi underlines his continued ambition for the company in economically parlous times: “I am still interested in making sure that Artemide is around in 100 years… in the current climate only four or five lighting companies will still be making profits. The rest will go under or be bought out.”

Carl Gardner is a lighting designer and former editor of the UK’s Lighting Journal.

The full version of this article was first published in Indesign magazine issue #55.

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The partnership between Alexander Lorenz and Herman Miller appears to be a most unlikely one. Lorenz, who hails from Cologne, Germany, has a background in business administration, and a keen interest in natural science and algorithms. And the only other product he has designed and sold, aside from the now much talked about Kivo office partition system for Herman Miller’s Living Office, is a golf club, done in partnership with a friend while still in school.

But one thing that the young and enterprising Lorenz has – in abundance – is a passion to create. The journey to the final product that is now Kivo was “almost random” Lorenz candidly shares, and began when he went searching for a method to align identical triangles. At first, it was purely an explorative exercise, he says, though it eventually led him to “want to create a physical product”.

With his initial idea being an object for the home, Lorenz started taking his product to a few select customers in a bid to gauge market response and to fine-tune the design. Interestingly, most were interested in them for retail and temporary spaces. Then, sufficiently confident with his creation, he decided to approach Herman Miller with the project.

“I wanted to have a strong partner who would be able to distribute the product worldwide. I felt Herman Miller was the perfect fit… I would say the product perfectly fits with their DNA, and they have also worked with equilateral triangles. There was no excuse not to contact them.”

Kivo, which launched to much fanfare at Singapore Indesign a few weeks ago, is a screening device made of only one type of triangular tile, and users can easily move the modules around to suit their own needs. It’s made of less than five components, but because it is based on a unique algorithmic formula, the permutations are as infinite as the designer’s own imagination. Not only do the felt covers come in a wide range of colours and textures, but Herman Miller also offers additional customisation options for clients looking for something more bespoke.

“The result looks pretty simple, but the manufacturing process is quite complex,” says Lorenz. “Some parts were hard to manufacture… the preheating process of the tiles for instance. We did a lot of prototypes and made mistakes.

“The material mix is quite crucial,” he continues. “The basic material is polyester fibre, [and it is covered by] felt. The good thing about this kind of ‘sandwich material’ is that its sound absorbency is quite efficient.”

“[Additionally], there’s an air pocket in the middle that traps the sound.”

So what’s next for Lorenz? To ride the momentum with a brand new product design project might seem the logical response, given the attention that Kivo is garnering, yet Lorenz is not your typical designer.

While he admits that he’s working on a design project that’s still in “stealth mode” and has nothing to show at this point, he also reveals that he is busy with “some purely digital projects”.

“I fell in love the algorithms [while doing this project]…. The fact that this is a physical product is maybe a coincidence – I was playing around with 3D stuff and it could have been something else, maybe, I don’t know….

“I get the most fun during work while sitting at my computer, developing stuff, which is why I’ve also started with other projects not related to furniture or product design. I just love playing with formulas. And Kivo is the product of playing with formulas…”.

Alexander Lorenz
formkind.de

Kivo by Herman Miller is carried in Singapore at XTRA.

Patrizia Moroso was in town recently to celebrate the opening of the Moroso Showroom at XTRA and to give a talk at the National Design Centre. By the end of her lecture, in which the art director had given her personal account of the history of the brand to an audience of design students, she had said “I want to make something different” four times.

Supernatural by Ross Lovegrove

Moroso titled her talk “Moroso – The Beauty of Design: A Different Approach”. It is clear that the art director places much emphasis on being ‘different’ – a philosophy that she proceeded to illustrate with stories behind key collections, collaborations, and other milestones of the brand.

Victoria and Albert Sofa by Ron Arad

Moroso started the talk with the company’s founding years. “Imagine Italy destroyed,” she offered. “Smokey. After the war. My mum was 18, my dad was 22. It was 1952. It’s about happiness, colours, new shapes, a break from the past.” Observant of the sensibilities and attitudes of the times (a trait befitting the visionary director and talent scout that she is), she gave summaries of the company’s early decades (1950s was about ‘craftsmanship’; the 1960s and 70s were about ‘industry’). Most of her talk centred on events from the 1980s onwards – the years in which she steered the company and (quite inadvertently, as an avid art and culture lover) made it her Moroso – the experimental, the bold, the irreverent, and therefore, the unique and ‘different’ Moroso.

Diatom by Ross Lovegrove

“I was coming from the art world. I asked them not to imagine a single object, but to imagine a new world and relate it with the future,” she said of her relationships with designers. In her talk, she showed drawings such as Massimo Iosa Ghini’s ‘cartoons’ and Marc Newson’s notes side by side the photos of the end design they had inspired. There were all a total of 190 slides in her presentation, and Moroso had lively anecdotes for all of them. There was an interest in presenting original ideas and the discussion behind each end product – revealing Moroso’s personal involvement and appreciation of each creative process, as well as her keenness to inspire an audience with them.

Patrizia Moroso sitting next to Tord Boontje

Moroso also revealed some of her motivations behind taking on unconventional projects, such as her collaboration with Tord Boontje in 2004 and that with Diesel in 2009. On the collaboration with Diesel it was about working with a marketing team that excited her: “It’s totally different to what I was used to – working with a designer, following the designer’s ideas. With the Diesel marketing people, they are studying their clients; the idea comes from market. I love to make things in a different way. I accept it, it’s a new experience.”

Diesel collection for Moroso

Of the Happy Ever After project with Boontje, it was about being able to update William Morris’ ideas in contemporary terms that interested her. She also delighted in giving the design world a shake up: “…that moment in the world, you were not allowed to make one flower in design; not possible, forbidden. So [Boontje] wanted to put flower, in his way. That was for me great, because we could give him the possibility to do it in a great exhibition in Milano. I remember Milano was in shock. Everyone was coming and saying, ‘Oh my god, flowers. Flowers?’ And one year after, the world was full of flowers. Ties, clothes, fabrics, everywhere.”

Clarissa armchair by Patricia Urquiola – design off the runway?

Moroso is not only a patron of the archetypal artist, but indeed is his peer and ally. It became clear in the chronological walk-through how her relationships with designers in particular are long-standing bonds of friendships rather than mere professional contacts. “Finally her,” she says, recalling the time Patricia Urquiola first made waves. “For me, I was so happy. 1989 – we started working together.” Moroso had old behind-the-scenes photographs to show for these stories – many of which depicting herself, sometimes sleeves rolled up, in factories and showrooms working there and there with designers, artists, and architects.

Fjord by Patricia Urquiola

‘”This is the story of our relationships with designers. People who try to change the world in a positive way with intelligence and passion that always move the artists [towards] beauty… We were asking each other, what is new? Where are the new designers? What are the new designs?” Moroso said at one point, driving home the message of making ‘something different’.

Moroso is carried in Singapore at XTRA.

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As founding executive member of the Interior Design Confederation Singapore (IDCS) and having served the the Society of Interior Design Singapore prior, since 1999, before it merged with IDA eight years to form IDCS, George Budiman is no stranger to the ins and outs of the organisation. So when he was elected President last November, he knew exactly the challenges that lay ahead.

Singapore adopts the IFI Declaration. From left: Jeffrey Ho, Executive Director of DesignSingapore Council; George Budiman, President of IDCS; Shashi Caan, President of IFI (2009–2011, 2011-2013) at the ACIA-IDCS Design Summit 2014

That the IDCS Executive Council is made up of volunteers and the association has limited financial resources are some of the challenges he cites. There’s also the fact that each term of presidency is just two years. But this is an IDCS President that is determined to do as much – if not more – than he possibly can in a short span of time.

‘DESIGNpreneur’ speaker Ong Tze Boon at the ACIA-IDCS Design Summit 2014

As founder of award-winning design firm Cynosure Design with offices in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, China, and Hong Kong, Budiman has a good 20 years of experience in the industry, a network that extends beyond Singapore’s shores, and a finger on the pulse of the interior design sectors in countries around the region.

Winners of I-DEA  & Spade Awards at IDCS Design Excellence Awards Ceremony 2014

Budiman has several goals as President of IDCS, but perhaps the most ambitious of all is his desire to build an accreditation programme for Interior Designers in Singapore.

“This is very crucial, and we are working closely with the DesignSingapore Council on this,” says Budiman. “We’ve been learning from our neighbours. We’ve looked around. So far we find that the Australian and UK models are pretty close to what we require locally.”

It’s something that IDCS and the industry have been talking about for years, says Budiman, and the challenges are big, he admits. “With accreditation, designers have to go through a lot of training, and so they must see the value in it.”

IDCS Design Excellence Awards, I-DEA 2012 (corporate, gold), Unilever Asia (MBC) by Brandon Liu, Ong&Ong

But it takes two hands to clap, and key to the success of this initiative lies in evangelising to the consumers. “It needs to be market driven,” says Budiman. “And we’re not just targeting individual consumers. We are targeting big firms, the largest consumers of interior design services. It will take time, but we shouldn’t give up just because it’s going to be a long journey.”

Other goals that Budiman has set forth in his term as President include strengthening the membership of IDCS by a ‘significant margin’, and to promote local talent.

IDCS Design Excellence Awards, I-DEA 2012 (residential, silver), 1919 by Hilary Loh, 2nd Edition

“Eight years ago we didn’t feel the rise of Asia’s largest city – China. But it really does affect us today. In Singapore, we now have more than 50 new competitors in the industry coming from Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen. Some of our prominent real estate clients are employing them.

“To become a liveable city, you attract a lot of expatriates,” he continues. “Big overseas architecture firms that come to Singapore are keen to do both architecture and interior design. So we are facing fierce competition. Local clients have more choices. They say, ‘Do we go to the local talent, or for a similar amount we try out a foreign talent? I don’t mind to try something different’.”

IDCS Design Excellence Awards, I-DEA 2013/14 (retail, gold), Salon by Surrender, Shanghai by Peter Tay Studio

Budiman also says the association wants to create more awareness of the work that they do. “We are no longer a ‘pretty kitten’ hidden in a cage. We used to be that sometimes. It’s about time for us to come out and tell people, ‘We can help you’.”

But that’s not all. Budiman says he plans to launch an initiative to bring “new blood into the council”.

“I always tell my council we need to invite young and emerging talent into our association. They have new and fresh ideas.”

IDCS Design Excellence Awards, I-DEA 2012 (food & beverage, gold) & Best of the Best, Zouk, Velvet Underground by Phillips Connor, DB&B

With just two years and so much on the agenda, how is Budiman going to cover it all?

“When I took up the Presidency, I went about putting different council members in charge of different programmes. I try to run the association like a big corporation, but with a non-profit organisation spirit. I’m not a micro-manager. All my Executive Council Members have the freedom to activate their own resources to do what they them deem fit to the programme.

“I do things very quickly. Sometimes when we organise an event, we take less than 60 days, or even just 40 days. Execution is very important, and I’m glad I have very good team support.”

Interior Design Confederation Singapore
interiordesign.org.sg

Living Divani’s humble beginnings traces back to 1969 when Renata Pozzoli had just completed high school. She took over a small upholstery workshop with merely three employees. In the same year, she married Luigi Bestetti. The couple set to trademark their upholstery system by combining traditional production with refined raw materials.

Extra Soft

As the company developed, Pozzoli had a desire to create a modern and clear identity for Living Divani. This lead her to a strategic meeting with architect Piero Lissoni in 1988. Fresh out of graduation, Lissoni had nothing concrete to sell, except a vision which resonated with the chairwoman immediately.

Family Chair

Lissoni became the designer and art director for Living Divani where the foundation of their collaboration was built based on trust. They have not stopped working together since. Lissoni also designed Living Divani’s 1,670 square metre headquarters in the Italian furniture district, Brianza. The horizontal architecture expresses the company’s spirit and approach to design, bearing qualities of lightness and clean-cut forms.

Lipp

Harmonious proportions and a feeling of understated luxury defines Living Divani’s products. “The collection of Living Divani has common denominators, they are very elegant and refined, but it is the kind of elegance that is never shouting, it is discreet,” shares Pozzoli, whose appearance is reflected similarly.

Extra Wall

The Wall sofa designed by Lissoni in 2002 is characterised by a basic form with unusual volumes and wide platforms, formulating a new concept – elements of the sofa are placed directly on the floor. An organic evolution led to the creation of Extra Wall, a modular and flexible version that allows for multiple configurations across different settings.

Upland

“Another very important characteristic [of Living Divani] is also continuity,” she added, referring to the efforts of enriching their lines by developing them into families of Outdoor and Night collections. Over time, Living Divani created a complete living environment around their trademark upholstery system, designing and producing seats, armchairs, beds, tables, bookcases and carpets.

Off Cut

Pozzoli’s daughter, Carola Bestetti is also a part of the family business. Her work with a new generation of designers such as David Lopez Quincoces, Giopato & Coombes and Singaporean designers Nathan Yong and Studio Juju, opens new roads and also continues her parents’ years of blood, tears and sweat.

Starsky

The design process of Living Divani subscribes to the saying, ‘Less is More’. “In order to achieve the ‘less’, you have to do important studies in terms of functional research and material, which is not always immediate. You run into risks because you do a lot and you are not sure what the market response will be, but we never compromise in terms of design or quality,” affirms Pozzoli. Before heading out of the headquarters, every product is quality controlled by Pozzoli herself.

Frog Lounge

“We think that our products will last, elegance will remain in time. This is proven. We have products that are going to be 20 next year,” Pozzoli shares. As the Frog chair turns 20 in 2015, Living Divani will be inviting students to create their personal interpretations of the iconic lightweight, giving it new life.

Stack Table

When asked about her proudest moment, Pozzoli reveals, emotionally, that every single memory and moment of her career is important. If she had to highlight a significant milestone, it would be the invitation of Living Divani in 2012 to become a member of the prestigious Altagamma, a foundation that gathers the best Italian companies who operate on high-end production, expressing Italian culture and style in all aspects of the business.

Rabbit & the Tortoise Collection

At 67, Pozzoli shows no sign of slowing down – she is in the office before and after her staff. While Living Divani has reached a high level of internationalisation through collaborations with top showrooms around the world, she remains headstrong in her vision. “Every idea can create a new tendency, a new idea of life and mood. We will try to maintain and respect the philosophy of our collections and products by continuing to propose light and easy forms that are elegant and refined,” she concludes.

Living Divani is carried in Singapore at DREAM.

Top image: Fumihiko Sano

The Pool Aoyama by Nobuo Araki / The Archetype

With all eyes on Japan for craftsmanship and design, the country is producing some of the most unique thinking and approaches to architecture by the current generation; the new visionaries of space. In an industry where Japan’s senior architectural leaders retain dominance in terms of workload and the corporate market, there’s an emergence of younger practices that are transforming the current architectural landscape, bridging cultural aspects to retail, commercial space and private residences.

House in Daizawa by Nobuo Araki / The Archetype

With a deeper consideration for the greater landscape and surrounding locale, while retaining traditional Japanese elements that complement contemporary design and lifestyles, four young Tokyo-based practices are standing out from the rest with a clear vision and unconventional approach: Jo Nagasaka / Schemata Architects, Nobuo Araki / The Archetype, Onishi Maki and Hyakuda Yuki / O + H, and Fumihiko Sano / Studio PHENOMENON.

Nobuo Araki

Younger Japanese practices are using a more innovative and creative approach, transforming existing spaces with an emphasis on sustainable yet contemporary design. Nobuo Araki employs a modern sense of cool with partition-less open spaces heavily influenced by natural light, such as private residence ‘House in Daizawa’, or the recently renovated concept store, ‘The Pool Aoyama’, a disused 1970′s private residence swimming pool turned unique retail destination in Tokyo.

Fuji Sangyo by Jo Nagasaka / Schemata Architects

A key difference is the hands-on approach to covering all aspects of spatial design, and questioning the true necessity of design – from the architectural structure, to the functional products and furniture inside, most commonly using the same materials and complementary aesthetic. Product, furniture and lighting design for an interior space is just as important as the exterior, particularly for Jo Nagasaka, resulting in a visually consistent space.

Aesop Ginza by Jo Nagasaka / Schemata Architects

Complemented by a common trend of integrating traditional Japanese materials, an interest to use new technology and materials is emerging, resulting in a unique fusion of traditional elements, ‘tategoshi’ (vertical latticework) or ‘neritsuke’ (thinly shaved bamboo combine with plywood), or Jo Nagasaka’s common pairing of wood and resin for ‘udukuri’ (traditional cypress wood craft technique exposing the grain lines).

House in Okusawa by Jo Nagasaka / Schemata Architects

Jo Nagasaka. Photography: Hiro Shiozaki

Coming from an unconventional background in Japanese ‘sukiya’ carpentry, Fumihiko Sano’s untrained yet skilled knowledge provides a unique advantage. “Not only did it allow me to see a variety of materials and important cultural assets, it also let me undergo many inimitable experiences. For example I learned how strict the apprentice system is, and how it is like to be trained for specific techniques. It enables you to live the experience, beyond academic knowledge.” Pride and nationalism hold strong, as Fumihiko Sano explains the importance “to hold a distinct personality as a Japanese architect, in order to ascertain true cultural identity.”

Enyu-An by Fumihiko Sano / Studio PHENOMENON

Moya Moya by Fumihiko Sano / Studio PHENOMENON

From an existing national architectural enthusiasm, it’s no surprise then that architects today see a new value in an emotionally-driven approach with a strong consideration to be linked naturally with immediate surroundings. A focus on how the design can make them feel comfortable and happy in a space is an integral part in the thought-process asked initially in most briefs. O + H express, “We believe architecture has the power to change people’s lives. We think that creativity is one of the most important things for a home and also the work environment, and we would like to make a space in which people need to use their creative mind and enjoy the space by themselves.”

Onishi Maki and Hyakuda Yuki

Double Helix House by Onishi Maki and Hyakuda Yuki / O + H

The emerging younger generation of Japanese architects continue to challenge with traditional and modern innovations, as Jo Nagasaka explains, “This generation works hard [to be] more creative.” The heavyweights, such as senior architects Kengo Kuma, Toyo Ito or Atelier Bow-Wow, continue to realise larger-scale, more corporate local and international projects. O + H explains there is no competition, “…we are influenced by them very much. As young architects, we think the role of architects is changing and the process of making architecture will become more important. Architecture should not be an exclusive thing which only limited people can understand, but which everyone can enjoy and join in the process.”

Home for all in Higashimatsushima by Onishi Maki and Hyakuda Yuki / O + H

Jo Nagasaka / Schemata Architects
schemata,jp

Nobuo Araki / The Archetype
actp.co.jp

Onishi Maki and Hyakuda Yuki / O + H
onishihyakuda.jp

Fumihiko Sano / Studio PHENOMENON
fumihikosano.jp

Martin Leatham has over 30 year’s professional experience on a wide range of projects within Southeast Asia, Australia and the Middle East, and has worked extensively on the master planning, design and management of large-scale projects within the hospitality, education, commercial, retail, infrastructure, rail transit and airport sectors.

Having previously worked for HBO + EMTB Singapore and RMJM Singapore and Hong Kong, Leatham joins Scott Brownrigg from SRSS Singapore where he was Director responsible for many significant developments across the region. He has project managed multiple design teams across numerous high profile schemes, including the Sutherland Office Campus in Carmona, Philippines, The Hilton Zhengzhou in China, the Mercure Hotel in Sabah, Malaysia and the Sheraton and Luxury Collection in Hainan, China. In addition he was responsible for the master planning and design of a major 600,000sqm mixed-use scheme in Chengdu, Szechuan, China. Martin also led on the preparations to re-masterplan Hong Kong Jockey Club – Happy Valley and Sha Tin Racecourses and club facilities in Hong Kong, and led the design teams for the Dubai Light Rail concepts and the design of 16 MRT stations for the Circle Line in Singapore.

Leatham’s strategic appointment is meant to reinforce Scott Brownrigg’s international expansion strategy and its commitment to further growing business operations within the Southeast Asia region. He will lead and manage the Singapore office, which is currently delivering the University of Reading Malaysia Campus scheme in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, as well as develop and help to deliver the strategic plan for the office; driving growth and business development across the region.

On the appointment, Michael Olliff, Group Managing Director at Scott Brownrigg says, “Martin brings a wealth of regional and international knowledge, design and sector expertise to Scott Brownrigg’s operations within Southeast Asia. His proven and successful track record of winning and designing high profile schemes across the region is invaluable to the growth of the practice and in meeting its strategic business plan.”

Scott Brownrigg
scottbrownrigg.com

Since hitting the scene 38 years ago, Italian furniture house Magis has earned a reputation in the design world as being quite the risk taker and industry maverick. It’s been largely due to the leadership of its founder, Eugenio Perazza, whose deep passion and strong ideas for design as well as fearless undertakings are well documented.

Bombo chair

It would seem then that his only child, Magis’ Co-Managing Director Alberto Perazza would have had quite big footsteps to follow, when he entered the business in 1996. But in speaking with Alberto while he was in town as part of XTRA’s 25th anniversary celebrations, it becomes clear that he brings his own unique strengths to the table.

Bombo stool

In school, Alberto had an interest in economics and no concrete plans to join the family enterprise. Upon graduating from business administration at Università Ca Foscari, Venice, however, he decided to acquire working experience at Magis, and the rest as they say, is history.

Puppy

“I was working in different positions within the company,” he recalls. “I worked in the logistics warehouse [for one], preparing goods and shipments with warehouse staff, and I found it quite interesting. And then I started travelling with my father to meet with the designers and got involved in project development and that was interesting, too.”

“In this business, you get to meet many different and interesting people, and I like that part of the job very much.”

Spun

Today, Alberto’s main responsibilities are in sales, as well as project management – the latter of which he describes as “a crucial part of the business”. “We work with different designers and the process of design is very challenging,” he says.

Zartan Raw

Alberto works hand in hand with his father Eugenio, who at 74 remains very active in the business, particularly in the area of design and project management, which has always been his first love.

“Magis started out of a passion that he [my father] had for design. And he still very much enjoys doing what he does: meeting the designers, briefing them, and being very immersed in the design process.

“And this is probably what the designers like, that we never give them a free hand to design but that we are always also very much involved in the design process. We believe that good design comes about if there is a process of dialogue between the company and the designers. The work of the engineers and the model makers are also very important.”

Bunky from the Me Too Collection

Ask Alberto what it has been like working with his father – who is known for his strong views – and he says that it has been “interesting”.

“I had different ideas maybe at the beginning but today our ideas are closer. My father, of course, has a strong personality. Magis started out with a very strong passion from him. I’m also very passionate myself; everybody who does this job is the same way. I find that my father has very strong, clear ideas. If he has to say something, he says it

“It’s the same with the designers. If my father is not convinced of something, he makes a strong point [about it]. I think that’s good. If he does that, and if we do that, it’s only in the interest of the project because we believe in the project and we want it to be strong.”

Nuovastep

Magis has long pioneered ideas that don’t necessary adhere to traditional market sentiments. Critics first snubbed the foldable stepladder ‘Step’ by Andries and Hiroko van Onck as too mundane an item for the furniture circuit when it launched in 1984, before it caught on like wildfire. More recently in 2003, Magis made the decision to launch Chair_One by Konstantin Grcic even though, as Alberto says, “we knew there was nothing like that out there”. He admits that they were unsure of how it would perform in the market but that they loved the idea behind the die cast aluminium chair, which is made using the least possible material. It took a couple of years, but the chair eventually became one of the company’s many success stories and found its way into the permanent collections of prestigious museums.

Chair_One – concrete

The company’s most recent showing at the Milan Furniture Fair has been “good”, according to Alberto. “We introduced a good number of products – eight to 10. In particular, we got a very interesting response to the new Officina collection designed by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec.” Officina is a series of tables in wrought iron frame with different tabletop options, where the challenge lies in working with an ancient fabrication process and giving it a new modern language.

Officina

From my father I learnt “to believe strongly in what you do, and not to be afraid of your ideas,” say Alberto. “If you believe in them strongly and try to realise them and you fail, then it’s not big problem. There’s always a second time.” And that is doubtlessly the Magis way.

Cyborg

Magis is carried in Singapore at XTRA.

Watch out for a business Q&A with Magis in the Feb/Mar 2015 issue of Cubes Indesign.

From his base in San Francisco where he has practiced for the past 20 years, Steve will direct the firm’s industry recognized consulting practice worldwide, serving clients across the firm’s industry sectors – workplace, institutional, lifestyle, sport and transportation.

Steve specializes in addressing the challenges facing a growing number of corporations and institutions today. HIs portfolio encompasses research and design innovations that improve facility performance, optimize utilization, integrate new technologies and better engage an increasingly multi-generational, multi-regional and mobile employee base.

Ross Donaldson, Managing Director of Woods Bagot said: “Steve is an important addition to our global leadership team – part of an ongoing initiative to increase Woods Bagot’s value to our clients. We’re moving beyond the design and delivery of great projects, to partnering with clients to enhance performance through the entire real estate life cycle – from planning through design and into operation.”

Steve Hargis notes: “The stages upon which we live, work, learn and play are converging, and the consulting practice is key to integrating these stages together into holistic built environments that better serve people and organizations. Through a strategic, collaborative approach, the consulting process helps businesses understand and improve their operations and culture, ultimately increasing profits and making a meaningful impact on all stakeholders.”

Steve’s real estate consulting expertise is informed by over three decades of expertise in the fields of architecture, interior design, project management and product design. He has held architecture, interior and consulting roles in Houston, New York City, Mexico City and San Francisco, working with global clients such as Cisco, Zurich, Yahoo, Microsoft and Shell. Steve is also a veteran contributor to industry organizations, holding both global and local chapter positions at CoreNet, and is a subject matter contributor to the Interdisciplinary Center for Healthy Workplaces at UC Berkeley.

Article courtesy of Woods Bagot
woodsbagot.com

Top image: Almukminin Mosque

Tan Kok Hiang, Principal Director of Forum Architects

Can you share with us your journey as an architect?

I knew I wanted to become an architect at the age of 14. I made boxes out of cardboards which I had collected. I would pay attention to the joints, texture and difference between the interior and exterior, studying how the boxes can be opened and closed. As I grew older, I became interested in actual buildings, and would study books extensively.

Looking back, events in my life have made me think that I was meant to do architecture. In my teens, one of my favourite buildings was the Yale Art and Architecture Building, also known as the Rudolph Hall, designed by Paul Rudolph. I looked for pictures of it everywhere (there was no internet in those days). It fascinated me. Thirty years later, on a work trip to Yale – I was working on the Yale Campus in Singapore – I walked into the Rudolph Hall one evening, just before it closed. I was overwhelmed by a feeling of ‘coming home’, as if I had known the building all my life.

Designing the Assyafaah Mosque was another strange one. In architecture school, my final year thesis was about Islamic architecture. I researched extensively about the meaning and drives behind Islamic architecture. Thirteen years later, I got the opportunity to put everything I learnt in practice. I took part in the design competition for the Assyafaah Mosque and won. It was based on using the arabesque as the essential representation of Islam in the building. I had also bravely dismissed the dome as irrelevant to both the Malay and Muslim culture of Singapore.

(Left) Assyafaah Mosque; (Right) Manila Chancery

At which stage of your creative process do you often feel emotional?

All of it. I remember my first emotional experience. It was seeing three columns and a slab being cast. The three columns immediately conveyed a sense of space and I remember thinking ‘this wasn’t the size of space I drew’. But of course, it was. My training did not allow me the visual accuracy to imagine what I drew. I became disturbed by this and over the years, mindfully trained myself to imagine what I drew, accurately. I dare say I am pretty accurate now in visualising the scale of buildings, although I have yet to test it on an urban level.

I have always embraced the Lamp of Sacrifice and the Lamp of Beauty, although not in the same religious terms that Ruskin first conceived of them. Without love for craft and beauty, architects might as well not exist. Have you ever wondered why Beauty is so important? Beauty gives you relief from negativity. The key here is that architects take on a big role because we build things that people see. Our role is to be the guardian of the built environment.

Cavenagh Apartments

Your conscious approach alludes to Japanese morals. Do you agree with that?

I believe we should go through life conscious of what we do. How does one keep calm in a world full of turmoil, especially in architecture, where you meet over twenty consultants at a time? The only secret is that you are mindful of things.

It struck me one day [during a soul-searching trip] that there was something else I was meant to do with my practice. Something bigger. One of the largest meaning of ‘practice’ is that I have people here: staff who work with me, and the people who come through – I call these ‘holy encounters’. Sometimes they leave but for some reason they always come back and I like that. We tend not to think about it, but these ‘holy encounters’ are not accidents. It [the practice] is about the people. The work was a common thing, a medium that needed perfection to work.

Sentosa Cover Sales Office

What about the changes you have noticed in Singapore, architecturally, over the years?

I used to begrudge the conservativeness of architecture in Singapore, thinking we weren’t courageous enough to try new ideas and forms. Then I looked at other countries, which had been ahead of the curve and maybe gone overboard. Consequently, their architecture have sometimes become wasteful and supercilious, if I can use this word to describe architecture. Singapore’s pace, on the other hand, has been measured and always in consideration of careful use of resources and technology. There has been extensive emphasis on urban planning and less desire for icons. It has not been a whole lot of fun for architects but I think we may need to stay this course for a while.

Temasek Polytechnic

Tan Kok Hiang / Forum Architects
forum-architects.com

Creativity runs in the family for the Singapore-based interior architectural firm LAANK, set up and run by siblings Cherin and Clarence Tan since 2012. A young but flourishing firm, LAANK has already gained recognition in Singapore and beyond with a slew of projects that include lifestyle and hospitality spaces, corporate offices and private residential projects.

Beauty Candy

The home-grown practice started off as a boutique firm, allowing Cherin and Clarence to closely manage and supervise most aspects of the design process, including experiential design, interior architectural works and third party consultancy management. Having previously worked at Asylum and WOW Architects, Cherin oversees the creative direction within the firm, while Clarence puts to use his past work experience as a quantity surveyor, handling all business development at LAANK.

Beauty Candy

LAANK’s meticulous design approach to each project combines spatial and practical functionality with craftsmanship and aesthetics. While Cherin and Clarence do not have a standardised design formula for their projects, they focus on approaching each challenge with a different mind-set, tailoring their design solutions to each project or brand’s unique characteristics.

Beauty Candy

“Our design philosophy sets us apart from other companies; we ensure that each project is unique as we conceptualise the space based on the character of the brand and its products. We take pride in being able to handle every detail and in providing that ‘soft touch’ that often goes beyond the capability of large firms,” says Cherin.

“Aside from understanding the client’s wants and needs together with the operational aspect of how their business works, we delve right down to the DNA of its staff and customers,” she explains. “We try to marry usability, functionality and aesthetics to create beautiful, stylish architectural interiors that give a holistic experience based on the philosophy of developing meticulously-considered designs according to each project’s unique characteristics.”

Fred Perry Penang

LAANK’s detail-oriented design approach has helped the firm to steadily grow its roster of projects, with some recent notables including the Fullerton HealthCare Group Clinic, FP Café by Beauty Candy Apothecary store and rebranding of interiors for select fast food chain brands by Yum SG. With an impressive number of projects in Singapore already under their belt, Cherin and Clarence are setting their sights on expanding their practice regionally, with the recent opening of LAANK’s first office outside of Singapore in Bangkok.

Fred Perry Senayan

“Bangkok is Clarence’s home, which makes it a natural choice for us. Also, Bangkok, with its new pace of economic progression and modernisation, is gaining recognition as a launch pad for businesses into Indo-China and that ideally, would be where we would expand into next,” Cherin explains.

Haig Road walk-up apartment

While it steadily grows its client base, LAANK continues to remain true to the original vision of the firm that prompted the Tan siblings to open their own practice in the first place – to make a difference in the interior design industry. “We seek projects that give us the opportunity to contribute to the industry with something that’s different,” says Cherin, “It’s not so much dependent on the size or type of projects but, more importantly, what we can bring to the table for our clients through our work.”

Haig Road walk-up apartment

LAANK
laank.com.sg

“I always wanted something normal,” says the now 50-year-old Bobby Dekeyser. But normal is a path he was not destined to follow. Born in Leuven to a family of serial entrepreneurs, and raised in Belgium, Austria and Germany, Bobby describes home life as “entertaining chaos”. The family moved frequently, and Bobby attended nine different schools. “I had no idea about what a house was,” he recalls, “because we usually lived in an old factory.”

His mother’s extended family – led by Grandpa Heinrich Hummer, who would later become an entrepreneurial inspiration to Bobby – were in the business of plastics extrusion. Consumed by their work, the family adopted a laissez-faire approach to child rearing. “There was plenty of love, but few rules and no supervision; children were expected to find their own way,” recalls Bobby. As a result, structure and some semblance of ‘family living’ is something he craved from an early age.

Leaf

At 15, Bobby left school to pursue a career in soccer as a professional goalkeeper and, unlike many with the same dream, he succeeded – signing with the prestigious FC Bayern Munich at the age of 19. The team quickly became a kind of surrogate family for Bobby. He explains: “Any sport might have served, but soccer offered an outsider an extra measure of social acceptance. Plus, it was a good way to impress girls,” he quips.

But the fairytale came to an end when, in the summer of 1990, Bobby suffered a crushing facial injury that would force his career to a grinding halt. While in recovery in a hospital bed in Munich, Bobby discovered – in a local paper no less – that his club had replaced him, without so much as a phone call. Angry and unfulfilled, he used his time in hospital to reflect on the direction his life was taking.

Swingrest

Bobby decided he was ready for a new adventure. And so it was that at 26, he founded Dedon, right there in the hospital. It began, as he himself readily admits, not with a plan to make outdoor furniture, but with the vision of “A warm, friendly environment where people enjoyed creating beautiful things together. I wasn’t thinking about being a big business success. I just wanted to have fun with family and friends.” It may sound like a rather unconventional reason for starting a business, but then Bobby has always been rather unconventional.

Dedon factory

After a couple of false starts, a vision emerged of creating furniture for an outdoor living room. First, Bobby and his uncle, Seppi Hummer, engineer and family expert in plastics extrusion, created an ingenious synthetic fibre. It was supple yet strong, natural in appearance yet completely resilient to the elements. When they had developed it to his satisfaction, Bobby went so far as to copyright the formula.

Dedon factory

The next piece of the puzzle fell into place when Bobby attended a furniture exhibition in Cologne and happened upon exquisitely woven furniture exhibited by Manny Climaco, an entrepreneur from Cebu in the Philippines. “What if,” Bobby wondered, “the same weavers who created these pieces were to use Dedon fibre instead of traditional rattan?” Six days later, Bobby was on a plane to the Philippines, a 47-kilogram roll of fibre slung over his shoulder, determined to find out.

Convinced that his new idea held promise, Bobby then re-located his entire family to Cebu, where, for six straight months they lived and worked to bring Dedon to life. When the Dekeysers finally returned to Germany, Dedon was a furniture company.

The weaving process

In 1997, after a number of catastrophes with the rattan frames of the furniture, Bobby switched to hand-moulded aluminium frames, which have become characteristic of the brand today. Shortly after, he met designer Richard Frinier – the ‘king of outdoor furniture’, as he is widely known – who set Bobby on a course toward high-end contemporary design. It was also during these years that Bobby’s sister, Sonja, took on marketing responsibilities, developing the brand image that would put Dedon in a league of its own.

It was also in these years that Hervé Lampert first came into the picture. Hervé was doing an internship at the plastics factory in France where Bobby was extruding Dedon fibre. The two hit it off immediately, and before long, Bobby had convinced the 20-year-old to join him on the Dedon journey.

In 2000, fed up working with the sloppy practices of suppliers in other parts of the Asia Pacific, Bobby and Hervé took matters into their own hands. They established a factory of Dedon’s own in Cebu in the Philippines, the place where the very first Dedon chair had been manufactured back in 1993. Bobby had found the unique culture he was searching for, and here he established the manufacturing headquarters as well as a private luxury island resort for Dedon on Siargo Island.

Dedon Island

For Bobby and Dedon, the region perfectly captures the essence of the brand. Bobby explains: “We have always loved travelling in Asia and working with the wonderful people there, therefore we decided to invest in Hong Kong and the Philippines as well as Indonesia, in terms of showrooms and production facilities and of course our Dedon Island resort. We love the Asian mentality and the creativity and culture.”

More than just a hotel, Dedon Island is a kind of a laboratory for Bobby – an “Outdoor living lab for bringing our barefoot dreams to life”.

Yin Yang

The Yin Yang collection is good example of how Dedon has injected some Southeast Asian flavour into this vision. The concept demonstrates a strong tie to eastern spirituality, and the overall function and aesthetic is typical of traditional ways of ‘family-style’ eastern living. Another of Dedon’s signature pieces, the Nestrest, exemplifies Bobby’s original intention. The hanging lounger is an unusual meeting place and sanctuary – which can be traced back to Bobby’s penchant for “creating atmospheres.”

Nestrest

The global character of the brand, however, is in no small part attributed to Bobby himself, who is “constantly travelling around the world, usually up to ten different countries a month.

No one quite sums up Bobby Dekeyser as well as the man himself. In his 2014 autobiography with Stefan Kruecken titled Not For Sale!, he states: “My story has taken a rather strange and in some places even mad curse – it reveals a life path that should actually be impossible based on school performance and the normal rules of economics. If I had listened to my teachers, financial advisers, and many other doubters and complainers, my story may never have existed.”

Now in its 24th year, Dedon is available in over 80 countries worldwide, and has gone from a staff of three to 3,000. But as proud as he is of all that the company has accomplished, he is prouder still of how they accomplished it – as family and friends, with respect and love and trust, always celebrating life and living. That, to Bobby, is the real Dedon story.

Dedon is carried in Singapore at XTRA.

This article first appeared in Habitus magazine issue 24

Born in Tokyo and raised in Singapore, Malaysia and the US, Ranko Kume joined the Kuala Lumpur team as an Associate and immediately played an important role in engaging with clients and designing solutions to fulfil their needs. The last two years have seen her make vital contributions to a wide range of projects big and small, including for such clients as Google, Nike and Guinness Anchor Berhad.

“It goes deeper than the enjoyment of working on diverse projects; it’s also very rewarding to understand the different working cultures and needs of different companies. That’s the real foundation of delivering workplaces that are unique and effective for the client,” says Kume.

Prior to joining M Moser, Kume earned a BA from Cornell University’s Undergraduate College of Arts & Science before moving to London to gain RIBA I qualification from the Architecture Association School of Architecture. Her subsequent professional career took her to both the UK and Malaysia, where she worked on a series of workplace projects for clients from across the spectrum of business.

M Moser Kuala Lumpur’s previous Head of Office, Adrian Symons, is now in the global role of Director – International Projects, but remains based in Kuala Lumpur and will continue to work closely with Kume and the team.

“One of Adrian’s greatest achievements in his decade as Head of Office was creating an extremely talented, solid team, and real partnerships with clients,” says Kume. “I couldn’t have asked for a better start, and I look forward to continuing his work.”

M Moser Associates
mmoser.com

Top image (left to right): Dennis Huang, Leong Hon Kit and Si Jian Xin

Founded by Si Jian Xin, Dennis Huang and Hon Kit Leong in 2011 as a small design start-up, wynk;collaborative rides on the philosophy of working with others and learning from disciplines like architecture, interior, furniture and graphic design – a decision that has allowed them to win over new clients and to fearlessly tackle new challenges by working with different consultants. The result of the collaborative process is evident in spaces that provide holistic spatial experiences that are fun, functional and aesthetically memorable. We find out more.

Jewel Coffee. Photography: Jovian Lim

How did you start your firm?

We got together a few years ago after working for a few years in our respective offices. We got really tired of the projects that we were doing and we wanted to offer something slightly different from the typical space design studios out there, something more connected and more human centric.

Jewel Coffee. Photography: Jovian Lim

How did your previous professional experiences prepare you for your work at wynk;collaborative?

We have had quite diverse experiences in our previous jobs, dealing with architectural projects from small refurbishments to houses and hotels to huge masterplans, scattered around the world. We have also had experience working in related fields like visual branding and design thinking and innovation consultancy. This had taught us to look beyond the immediate tasks of designing spaces, and consider the design as part of a greater experience, viewed through various perspectives.

48 Niven / Whale and Cloud. Photography: Jovian Lim

You mention collaboration as one of the cornerstones of your firm. What are some of the ways that your team works together to implement this collaborative methodology?

There is no fixed methodology. It’s really an attitude towards design and our relationship with the clients and partners. As our name suggests, it is a collaborative. It is not about creating a certain style and solely designing for the sake of being beautiful and aesthetically pleasing. We try to minimise the hierarchy in projects; there is a constant dialogue involved between us, the clients and our other partners throughout the stages of development. We are not the kind of grand vision designers; we see ourselves playing a leading, mediating and supporting role among the various collaborators at different points in the project. We believe every party is there to make a positive contribution to the project.

Storyteller’s Sanctuary. Photography: CI&A Photography

Your projects range from collaterals to residential and F&B projects. Does your design approach vary based on different types of projects or is there a common thread in every project you take on?

Projects are always rooted in the idea of collaboration regardless of project type and application of combined knowledge of all the parties involved. We won’t claim to be experts in any one type of a project; there is always something to learn from different clients and collaborators. We also try to be hands-on for every project.

Storyteller’s Sanctuary. Photography: CI&A Photography

How do you integrate the elements of function and play into your projects? Why are these elements important to you?

Function and practicality should always come first but that is not to say form is not important. Both elements are integral. Any element is only practical if it is easy and a delight to use. We always try to explore new and fun ways for a typical type of space to be inhabited. On a more surface level, we are also quite fond of using colours and interesting materials to make the spaces we design visually playful.

The office of wynk;collaborative. Photo courtesy of wynk;collaborative

What was your design intent and approach for your own office?

Our office is at Golden Mile Complex. We were really enamoured by the architecture of the building and decided to move here after our lease for the last office ended. The new office is really tiny but matches our need for a small and tight design studio. The primary aim was for the space to be practical and warm, with the ambience of a living room. Materials are simple: grey walls with charcoal floor and some blocks of pegboard. We don’t have fixed workstations per se: the big central worktable serves as a workspace, meeting space and production space. The whole space is accented by a pair of Pablo pendent lights we got from Pomelo.

Standing Sushi Bar. Photography: Jovian Lim

What should we expect next from wynk;collaborative? What projects are you are currently working on?

We are currently working on a café in Singapore called Paddy Hills, a second Standing Sushi Bar and a café in Malaysia. We are also collaborating with Lamitak for Singaplural 2015.

Standing Sushi Bar. Photography: Jovian Lim

wynk;collaborative
wynkcollaborative.com

Top image (left to right): Wong Chiu Man and Maria Warner Wong, founders of WOW

Wong Chiu Man and Maria Warner Wong of WOW have invited me to their home for this interview, and it’s little wonder why. The husband-and-wife team has long been a strong advocate of experiential design – way before the term came into vogue. And really, could there be a better way to experience the design DNA of the multidisciplinary firm than right where the founding partners make their home?

The home of Wong Chiu Man and Maria Warner Wong

For the past 15 years, WOW – which comprises Wow Architects and Warner Wong Design – has been building up a significant body of work across the region, due to the huge demand for their work overseas. Currently, 95 per cent of their projects are done outside Singapore, with China and India making up their largest markets. But ask Chiu Man and Maria about the challenges of working as ‘foreign’ architects overseas, and they are quick to put the notion of being foreign to rest.

Vivanta by Taj, Bangalore

“I think a lot of times clients hire us because they want a different viewpoint, and they find that we bring a unique perspective to the project,” says Maria, who has lived, studied and worked around the world. “What I have tried to develop is a very strong sensory connection to place. It may not only be about understanding the social norms and culture necessarily; it might be a very physical connection to the earth, to the trees, to the environment, to the people, to the customs… The important thing is not whether we are foreign, it’s the deep desire to understand people and places deeply.”

Mandala House, India

“I went to India for the first time in 1978,” Chiu Man chimes in, “even before some of my Indian clients were born. So it doesn’t really matter [where you’re from] I think. What really matters is your methodology, your process and your sensitivity to the local culture.”

Sheraton Hangzhou, China. Photo courtesy of Starwood Hotels & Resorts

On the flip side, Chiu Man says one can also look at the situation from a local perspective and to the number foreign architects who are doing work in Singapore. “Personally I have never had a grudge against these architects coming here. I’ve just a sadness that their best work is not being done here. So when we go overseas, it’s absolutely important for us to really immerse ourselves in the place, and make a difference and a positive contribution to the country.”

Bishopsgate House, Singapore

Maria explains that WOW’s design approach encompasses a broad range of sensory experiences that engage the body, memory and time.

Hilton Bandung, Indonesia

She points to some of the pieces in their living room. “What do you call the sense of remembering my mother’s table which she bought in the 1950s from Mexico, or my parent’s furniture from Peru, or that screen from Bel Air in Beverly Hills which I brought back and rebuilt in parts… it’s a west facing screen and when the sun comes through and glows on those gold and red glass beads you see there it casts a warm golden light, which is what we want you to feel when you come into our home.”

Chiu Man and Maria’s home (detail)

While there is an underlying rigour of modern design to be found in their work, each WOW project is interpreted experientially, rather than through a specific style. “It’s more about creating what makes sense for a particular place and time and program and client set. And that’s what I think makes design connect,” says Chiu Man.

Ion Residence, Singapore (detail)

Late last year, the firm launched their very first monograph entitled “WOW: Experiential Design For A Changing World”, which Maria says “was a long time coming”. The book is a powerful tool to communicate WOW’s 15 years of work beyond the limitations of two-dimensional photography. As Maria points out, it enables the reader to experience the work of WOW through different layers: from photography through to drawings, images of 3D models, text, and even texture. Just as important, the book allows readers to easily compare one project against the other, and appreciate their differences and similarities.

The firm’s first monograph – “WOW: Experiential Design For A Changing World”

“We felt that the book was a great leap in terms of communicating what we do, and a great opportunity to share experiential design. To experience the book is to experience the firm,” says Maria, adding, “I also think one of the progressive things about this book is that it is very much about architecture, interior design and landscape design on any given page; they are integrated and cannot be experienced in the absence of the others.”

Sentosa Cove House, Singapore

Chiu Man and Maria are already planning their next book, explaining that the firm has simply too much work for one publication to cover. Says Maria, “If you look at the book’s Portfolio section, about half are renderings [of work in progress]. Over the next five to ten years you’re going to see some really huge projects being completed.”

Archifest Zero Waste Pavilion, Singapore

Going on to reflect on their 25 years of work in the industry, Maria admits that the profession is one long and continuous process of learning. “I would say it takes 25 years to get good, and what happens between now and 50 years is where it can be potentially great.

“Another reason for the book was to [present] what we had done in the past, and then to move on to do something that’s even more exciting with the confidence that we can do it.”

Photography by Aaron Pocock and WOW Architects

WOW
wow.sg