Archive for February, 2009
Yohji Yamamoto Flagship Store in Paris
A new flagship store by fashion designer Yohi Yamamoto has opened on Rue Cambon in Paris. The new store is the latest in the designer’s “white box” store concept, which mixes retail space with a gallery.
Designed by Sophie Hicks, the store stands out easily but unobtrusively on this typical Parisian 
street.
The original facade has simply been painted white, thus creating a distinct separation from neighbouring buildings while still keeping intact the original features of the premises. Origami like folded Shojigami (japanese screen paper) lines the inside of the entire shop front windows and creates a semi translucent white screen which allows passers by to peep through the openings and see the inside of the space. The design of the interior continues this white scheme; the floors as well as the walls and ceiling are a brilliant white which gives the space an ethereal quality.
Tags: designer, fashion design, interior-design, retail design, store design
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Wallpaper Award
Designed by Vicens+Ramos, the Church of Santa Monica is situated in the town of Rivas-Vaciamadrid, Spain.
Made from a concrete structure clad in Core-ten steel, the building looks more like a space craft than a church. Breaking away from the expected box structure, the church has arms that protrude into different directions and end in large windows.
The interior of the church is in contrast with the busy exterior, a beautifully white and serene, it looks very peaceful and inviting.
Due to the nature of the material used for cladding (Core-Ten), the exterior will change over time, becoming more rusty and developing subtle colour changes.
B3 Designers used the same material for the Carbon Bar entrance door, which was a silvery steel colour when first installed, and turned a beautiful deep rusty colour after a few months.
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Aesop Shop In
Rundle Mall, Adelaide
Aesop have opened another stunning retail branch in a shopping mall in Adelaide.
The centre piece of the interior design scheme is an undulating ceiling made entirely of Aesop’s trademark amber bottles. Another clever aspect of the sheme is that the storage boxes used to transport the ceiling panels were re used as storage units in the shop, thus avoiding excessive waste creation. The ceiling is illuminated from the back and the light is gently diffused by the coloured glass.
The idea of repetition is always a popular interior design trick and was used successfully by B3 Designers in the Carbon Bar and Babel, where hundreds of small mirrors adorn the back bar wall.
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Light Weight
Diesel Denim Gallery outlets in New York and Tokyo serve as both signature boutiques and exhibition spaces for the work of young creatives.
The space has two levels. The first one shows every six months new installations from local artists and the second floor gallery showscases four different artworks a year, also by local artists.
Diesel Denim in Tokyo mixes fashion with the exhibition of a series of installations, such as architect Ayako Maruta’s illuminated arches.
Combining the artist’s work with the fashion collection turns the space into an art object.
Maruta’s illuminated arches floating in midair stop short of the ground and the light gives a tree-dimensional view of the space.
In Interior Design the light is fundamental to create
good spaces. For instance, at Cinnamon Kitchen designed by B3 Designers silver-plated perforated handmade lamps throw shadows on the walls reflected in the mirrors that line the walls shaping geometric shadows everywhere.
Tags: Diesel, exhibition-design, interior-design, shop-design, showroom-design, Tokyo
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TOPSHOP feeds London Fashion Week
Well there is no wastage from TOPSHOP for their excellent pop up lunch box at the London Fashion Week this year which was on from 20th to the 25th of February 2009. Fashion designers, journalist, photographers, general visitors, gate crashers and waif like models could que up to get simple refreshments in this excellent pop up fashion designers tuck shop.
The design created by TOPSHOP is the construction of a shed that you would find in any suburban garden. The shed is made up from recycled waste such as old doors, pieces of ply, corrugated metal, plastic, OSB (oriented strand board) some screws string and no doubt, double sided sticky tape. Signage was created from black spray applied through a cut stencil and randomly applied posters. An interesting combination of materials which is simple in design, fun, eclectic and echo’s the current trend to recycle, recycle, recycle.
As you can see from the photograph when we arrived rather parched and peckish, it was closed. Oh well at least it was something interesting to look at. If you like pop up things then check out our pop up cardboard cafe which we put on during the London Design Festival. The cafe was made from 8000 recyclable cardboard boxes, and we had cup cakes that we gave away.
Tags: contemporary-interior-designers, exhibition-interior-design, exhibition-interior-designer, exhibition-interior-designers, london-fashion-week, pop-up-shop, reclaimed-materials, TOPSHOP
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“We don’t believe in rules”
Roberto Feo and Rosario Hurtado confessed “We’ve always been unruly”.
El Ultimo Grito, the name they are better known from, was founded in 1997 by them in Madrid but since then they have based themselves first in London and nowadays in Berlin.
They characterize their work as a creative studio that has placed it’s focus on design, and the idea the indispensable element of their designs. As they say 
“Inspiration comes from experimenting”.
Working on product, interior, fashion and exhibitions, El Ultimo Grito has collaborated with Bloomberg, Lavazza, Budweiser, Hugo Boss, Wire Works… Rosario is a part-time tutor at Goldsmith University and Roberto at the Royal College of Art in London.
Tags: El-ultimo-grito, eug, exhibition-design, interior-design, london, product-design
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Tokujin Yoshioka’s Waterfall Bar in Tokyo
Situated in private house in Tokyo, the waterfall bar is another example of Yoshioka’s talent and eye for materials.
Covering the facade of the space is the work of Olafur Eliasson, the entire surface is made from what looks like black, shiny crystal which creates shimmering reflections and a deeply textured surface.
On the inside, the main feature of the space is Yoshioka’s 4.2m long solid glass bar top (which weighed 1000kg). The surface of the ba
r top looks slightly rippled and looking at it, one really gets the impression of looking into a pool of water. As with the facade, the play of light and reflections is one of the important features of this piece, with colourful reflections dappling the walls and floor.
Tags: bar-design, colour, Olafur-Eliasson, Tokujin-Yoshioka, Tokyo, Tokyo-bar
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Piazza by Anthony
The latest venture by the Flinn family (known for their flagship restaurant Anthony’s in Leeds) is located at the Corn Exchange in Leeds.
The building, which is Grade I listed, was built in 1861 and is one of Britains finest Victorian buildings. Over the years it has seen a number of different retail uses and even stood empty for a while. So it is wonderful to see that the building has now been restored to its 
former glory to house a Food 
Emporium. The interior design is tasteful and really brings out the beauty and charm of the original scheme.
The Emporium includes a 125 seat brasserie situated in a central opening, a cafe, a lounge bar, private dining rooms, and retail shops. These sound just as inviting as they include: a Bakery, Patisserie, Chocolate Shop, Cheese and Ham Shop and Ingredients Shop. They also feature ‘theatre’ production kitchens where the customer can watch the food being freshly prepared throughout the day. This is a concept B3 Designers have successfully used in the Cinnamon Kitchen, where diners have a large view into the kitchen.
Tags: bakery, cheese-shop, chocolat-shop, Cinnamon-Kitchen, converted-victorian-building, food-empoirum, interior-design, patisserie
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Graphic + Product + Interior DESIGN
Spanish designer and artist Jaime Hayon is rapidly becoming one of the most prestigious designers in the European scene.
Probably, one of the main reasons for his success is that Jaime Hayon has belonged to many different tribes. From his teenage years as a skateboarder in San Diego, to is time at design school in Madrid and his stint at Benetton’s Fabrica design institute, he has found himself in league with groups of talented
people.
Hayon has emerged in the last years as one of the Spanish’s fastest rising industrial designers, from street art to the alternative corporate strategies of Fabrica. In fact, he also has a talent for self-mythologising.
Working on interiors, furniture, tableware and decorative ceramics, he is able to manifest his inimitable form, style and color onto anything
he creates.
Not surprisingly, Hayon’s client list includes Artquitect Edition,
Bisazza, Camper, Swarovski, Metalarte, Baccarat and Lladro.
Tags: contemporary-interior-designers, design, exhibition-design, interior-design, product-design
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Vegetal chair by the
Bouroullec brothers for Vitra.
The latest addition to the Vitra collection by the Bouroullec brothers is the Vegetal chair which will be released in early 2009.The chair is a result of a four year long process which started with a sketch reminiscent of the designers ‘Algues’ collection.
The initial design, which was much more filigree than the end result, had to be altered in order to achieve a design that would be feasible for mass manufacture.
The chair is injection 
moulded in a single operation thus making it a more affordable product.
Even though the design feels quite different from the initial idea ( it looks a lot more abstract and functional than the first models) it is still a refreshing and poetical design which has the typical ‘Bouroullec’ touch. It will be a welcome addition to the portfolio of any interior designer as it is often difficult to find beautiful plastic chairs that are suitable for restaurant interior design as well as outside seating.
Tags: Bouroullec, design, interior-designer, restaurant-interior-design, Vegetal-chair, Vitra
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Yohji Yamamoto Flagship Store in Paris
street.
