Milan 2015: London designer Philippe Malouin has formed a collection of geometric planters in a range of shapes, textures and colours using solid-surface material Caesarstone.

Malouin‘s Caesarstone Movements collection includes cuboid, cylindrical and pyramid-shaped vessels, which have a variety of surface textures, patterns and colours.

“For me the starting point was the exploration of the material, as we tend to start most projects,” said Malouin.

“We therefore focused on spending time in the workshop, except, this was not an ordinary workshop, but a fully equipped solid surface transformation facility,” he added.

Caesarstone is an engineered quartz material that is commonly used to form interior work surfaces.

“Caesarstone is an extremely versatile material that is easy to predict and work with, and it offers a variety of colours and finishes,” said Malouin. “I therefore experimented with a series of techniques and applications ranging from the mundane to the more experimental.”

The planters demonstrate traditional carving techniques such as inlay and marquetry as well as showcasing the variety of colours in the Caesarstone collection, including new hues for 2015.

The collection will be shown at Milan’s Palazzo Serbelloni from 14 to 18 April, during the city’s annual design week, along with a set of eight Caesarstone swings hung from a circular frame – also designed by Malouin.

A twelve-seat version of the swing set was presented at Toronto’s Interior Design Show in January.

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Wooden sculpture with printed eyes

The Salone Internazionale del Mobile was founded in
1961 as a vehicle for promoting Italian furniture and furnishings
exports and soon became the ..

Via an exclusive interview with Chicago Sun-Times urban affairs reporter and assistant city editor Maudlyne Ihejirika, Beverly Johnson has talked for the first substantive time about the aftermath of her recent bombshell Vanity Fair essay, in which she accused Bill Cosby of drugging her.

While Johnson says she was discouraged previously about including Cosby content in her memoir, there will be no such exceptions when The Face That Changed It All finally arrives from Simon & Schuster this summer. A full chapter in the book will be devoted to Cosby:

“I’ve gotten more support than backlash,” Johnson says about the Vanity Fair piece. “I feel proud of helping create this lightning rod for a larger conversation that’s much needed in America — that whole silence on the rape culture that is here.”

Ihejiriki also asked Johnson about her thoughts on Camille Cosby’s recent public stance. The supermodel-turned-businesswoman’s latest comments come on the heels of Chelsea Handler talking to Esquire, for the magazine’s April 2015 cover story, about how she feels she evaded the dark specter of Cosby a decade ago in Atlantic City.

Johnson traveled to Chicago for this weekend’s Black Women’s Expo. Her new OWN reality TV series Beverly’s Full House debuts Tuesday.

Previously on FishbowlNY:
The 12 Days of Cosby
 
[Jacket cover courtesy: Atria Books]

An apartment, community space and shop are accommodated in this skinny building squeezed onto a narrow plot in the South Korean city of Busan by local office JMY Architects (+ slideshow).

The site for the building in Busan’s Daecheong-dong district measures just five metres wide by 12 metres deep, so JMY Architects chose to combine the various functions by stacking them vertically.

By uniting a three-storey apartment with a commercial gallery space used by the owner, the building aims to demonstrate the potential for restricted urban sites to merge accommodation with retail and leisure activities.

“The project promotes space as a medium for urban life, where life expands toward the city and city life merges into one building,” said the architects in a statement.

“It introduces a new possibility for small-scale housing and the expandability of human life as an alternative method for suburban revitalisation, rather than large-scale development projects such as new town developments.”

A key challenge was to incorporate a mixed-use program while meeting regulations governing the need for appropriate distance from neighbouring buildings, as well as the requirement for a direct evacuation route.

Circulation issues are resolved by positioning a staircase at the rear of the building. The stairs are enclosed by concrete walls interrupted by openings that contain metal mesh panels.

The mesh surfaces allow light and air to reach the stairwell, which is just a few inches away from adjacent buildings on three sides.

On the ground floor, a full-height window facing the street displays the interior of the showroom space.

The entrance to the showroom is set back from the pavement below a cantilevered corner of the building.

The first floor accommodates an open-plan space that can be used by the local community. The majority of its glazed end wall is treated with a frosted finish to restrict visibility into the room from the street.

The apartment is located on the upper levels, with the master bedroom suite and small lounge on the third floor; a kitchen, dining and lounge area on the fourth floor; and a guest bedroom at the top.

Both the master bedroom and main living space culminate in glass surfaces, which incorporate doors that open onto sheltered balconies set back from the street-facing elevation.

A staircase connecting the different levels follows the boundary wall and is screened from view by frosted glazing.

A double-height void provides a visual link between the top two floors and enables the glazed end wall to extend upwards and provide better views of the sky.

The same precast concrete panels used in the stairwell are applied throughout the interior and extend onto the balconies.

Photography is by Joonhwan Yoon.

Project credits:

Architects: JMY Architects
Project architect: Jaemin Yoon
Design team: Hyukhyu Shin, Kwangjae Ryu, Minji Kim, Eunji Choi, Yeonjung Lee, Seongmin Lee, Jinsoo Kim
Collaborators: MOA Structure, HL Consulting Engineers, Wookdongbangjae
Construction: CS Construction
Interior construction: Site people
Graphic design: Social Graphics

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retail spaces on a narrow site in Busan appeared first on Dezeen.