Coin Laundry, a lovely neighbourhood cafe in Melbourne, Australia has become a favorite brunch spot among locals. The airy cafe that takes its name from the former function of the space, also kept the original signage, and used it as a basis for its interior design. The most distinctive feature of the space is the rows of tea towels draped along the ceiling with bare light bulbs dangling below. Add to this bentwood chairs, concrete floors and exposed brickwork and you have one cool cafe.
Ex Mauri is an Venetian Osteria in Milan. The warm interior benefits from beautiful exposed brickwork and a charming fire place. The rustic space is complemented with a collection of vintage Italian signage and an eclectic mix of furniture. Light fixtures hang low over tables that are minimally set, creating an intimate atmosphere. Instead of a bar the restaurant has a large cabinet stacked to the brim with bottles of liquor and curios like classic Italian espresso makers. The most unusual aspect of this little restaurant is perhaps the glass ‘porthole’ in the floor that leads to a well-stocked basement wine cellar befitting a classic osteria.
Vanilla is a sweet coffee shop in East Berlin – made even sweeter with a little typography inspired interior by design duo Pandarosa. The pink and blue colour scheme harks back to childhood days spent drooling over the ice-cream counter, while the seamless treatment of signage, logo and wallpaper is a very grown-up attitude to holistic design. The looping ‘l’s of ‘Vanilla’ repeat to make a pattern for the wall behind the counter. Vintage touches in fixtures and fittings add to the retro vibe.
The design is by Ariel Aguilera and Andrea Benyi, whose work has been commissioned by big brands Volkswagen, Lee Jeans and Adidas and can also be seen in Copenhagen’s Hotel Fox.
All hail Plera, the effortlessly elegant pendant lamp from Italian designers Andrea Di Filippo and Enrico Zanolla (better known as DZstudio). The lamp’s name comes from the Italian ‘pleara’ or funnel and it’s this simple upturned shape that gives the product its minimalist beauty and appeal.
Cold and classic porcelain has been chosen to communicate the simplicity of the small suspension lamp’s form, neatly juxtaposed with a wooden rim for a friendly touch of warmth.
Andrea and Enrico formed DZstudio in 2004, having graduated from the University of Architecture of Venice (IUAV) the same year. The studio works in research and design for various fields, such as furnishings, yacht and car design.
Could this be the future of community centres? Open House is a vertical village of haphazardly stacked house shaped rooms recently opened in Anyang, Korea.
Raumlaborkorea, a research and intervention unit of the design group Raumlaborberlin, were invited to design, programme and build this centre as part of ‘Anyang public art project/ A new community in the open city’. Described by it’s designers as a ’social sculpture’, the project aims to knit into the existing urban and social landscape and not only serves the local community but was also built by them!
Two hundred residents of Anyang took part in building workshops and completed the stacked rooms which include a bicycle rent shop, a children’s play pavillion, a community garden and a tea room.
I love this project, Raumlaborkorea have reinvented the architecture associated with community and participation and created a playful and exciting project which also looks great!
Mother, a top British advertising agency based in London, have collaborated and carried out their work around a central table since 1996. Now a much larger company, the working concept has grown to fit the company’s success. Central to Chris Wilkinson Architects’ design of their new office in a 42,000ft2 Shoreditch warehouse, is a staggering 250 feet long concrete table, for up to 200 people to pull up their wheely chairs to.
The inspiration for the concrete table was the iconic 1920’s Giacomo Matte-Trucco roof top race track for Fiat Lingotto in Turin. A 4.2m wide staircase leads up to and becomes the Agency’s feature worktable which cuts dynamically through the building to connect the floors.
50 light fixtures that each span 2.1m act as acoustic baffles over the enormous table. Covered with unique patterns of Marimekko fabric, selected from archive stock in its’ factory in Helsinki, and padded with 75mm of acoustic foam, the harsh acoustics of the factory space have been overcome.
With the rest of the office interior left tastefully neutral and pared-down – the striking fabrics of the lampshades really work hard to grab clients’ attention and draw them into the central space.
Bus-Tops will be a public art installation on the roofs of bus shelters across London, inspiring wonder and creativity in unexpected places. LED panels will become canvases showcasing digital commissions by a range of established artists, as well as allowing Londoners to display their creativity, play games and express what is special about their London.
People will be able to submit and view artwork through a number of mediums including website and mobile applications. Using drawing toolkits, people can create images, text or animations for display on the panels. For those unable to view the roofs of bus shelters, the website will provide live updates of the artwork and the opportunity to construct personal ‘routes’ through the works.
Cutting edge technology will also allow the bus shelters to develop individual personalities, becoming ‘Viziters’ to the city in their own right in the run up to the Games. Over their period of stay, each Bus-Top shelter will develop a unique character through their relationships with each other, members of the public and participating artists.
The canvases will appear on the roofs of bus shelters across London from July 2011.
Milos Mirosavic and Ivana Popovic (otherwise known as im.architecktur) are a pair of Serbian architects that take their coffee seriously. These images are of their BIJOU coffee shop concept, ‘a small and elegant spot for a daily dose of pleasure.’ Designed around notions of jewels and luxury, the bar space is wrapped with metal rods that are covered with tiles intended to ‘flicker like diamonds’ and reflect light over the floor, ceiling and walls.
The concept has won them much accolade and a prize in the ‘Business Premises’ category of the Tile Awards – a Europe-wide design competition aimed at illustrating new, creative and unusual uses of tiles to create ‘unconventional and sensational’ interiors. The competition, addressed to architects and interior designers under the age of 35, was initiated by German architecture magazine AIT to celebrate newcomers in the industry.
Concept image.
The tiles will reflect light on the shop surfaces.
Architectural computation has become increasingly popular in the design of high-tech buildings with interesting shapes; Earl’s Gourmet Grub is a test case of using it on an interior scale as a way of enriching everyday use. Although the design uses very recent technology it fits with the old-world sensibility that that the food inspires.
The artisanal deli that opened in Los Angeles in May 2010 is intended to be a sort of contemporary interior landscape. Inscribed on the West wall is a technologically refined digital pattern, this is an abstraction of a picture of the Alps into a series of pixels. (Check out the drawing at the end to see how they reached the pattern)
The torqued ceiling surfaces act as light canopies that create depth and an airy feeling. These rhythmic undulations have the added function of dividing the space into pockets and add to the dynamic feel of the space.
These extremely contemporary elements are combined with rich materials and colours, so that the space not only evokes a technological look but also the feel of alpine landscapes and Viennese cafes. The resulting space can be described as high-tech picturesque.
Fans of New York’s ‘High Line’ park have some good news to celebrate. The hugely popular urban landscape, designed by architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro in 2009, is due to be extended to twice the length of redundant railway line it currently occupies.
Through a masterful use of detail and materiality, the design pays homage to the signs of decaying industry that surround it. Concrete planks that allow grass to grow in between them are a poignant reminder of nature’s ability to reclaim the man-made and artificial. The new section, designed in collaboration with James Corner Field Operations, will interpret these ideas further and include a dense area of trees and shrubs chosen for their ability to grow in the shade of skyscrapers. A lounging lawn and a sitting area bordered by an empty billboard frame will also enhance the existing design, which elevates visitors above the bustling city below.
The park’s much-anticipated extension is due for completion in Spring 2011.
