Our new Pinterest board showcases the best and most innovative uses of tiles, including MVRDV’s shopping centre that’s covered in hand-glazed iridescent ceramic tiles and a greenery-boosting tile that can collect and manage water. Follow Dezeen on Pinterest ›
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British designer Ben Thompson has combined the grandeur of a Georgian manor with the informality of a modern farmhouse for the interiors of a new hotel in Hampshire, England.
Heckfield Place is an 18th-century country house, renovated to create 44 guest suites, two restaurants, spa facilities and an underground cinema. It sits at the heart of a 430-acre estate, with a farm that produces natural produce for guests and fresh flowers.
A passion project for the Chan family – developers whose portfolio also includes the Standard Chartered Bank Building and the Peak Galleria in Hong Kong – the hotel has been over a decade in the making.
Ben Thompson was brought in to redesign the interiors, after a previous scheme was deemed unsatisfactory and torn out. His brief was to create spaces that respected the history of the building, but that also made guests feel at home.
The result is proving successful so far – the hotel counts Prince Harry and Meghan Markle among its recent guests.
“The overriding message we heard was to sympathetically restore the Georgian building and its original character, which had been lost over the years,” explained Thompson.
“In its heyday, Heckfield was, like many a country home, the height of English hospitality; a retreat where guests were invited to relax and feel at one with their surroundings,” he told Dezeen.
“The challenge was to reinstate that informality within such a grand property, and adapt that hosting spirit to suit modern life.”
Thompson’s strategy was to keep some spaces in the building more traditional, with a few key contemporary pieces offering contrast. Others are more eclectic, showcasing a mix of old and new, rustic and minimal.
“It was fun to play with a layer on top of the restored, historic fabric of the building,” he explained.
“For example, the bedrooms on the upper floors, which were formerly the servants’ quarters, have a slightly more paired-back aesthetic to their architecture, and are furnished with somewhat more humble, naive antiques.”
“Meanwhile, we used modern pieces to mark interventions within the building, rather than feigning traditional relevance.”
Six of the 44 guest rooms are referred to as signature rooms, each with a unique design and colour palette that is developed in response to its position within the house and the view it faces out onto.
The grandest suite is the Long Room, a loft suite featuring an exposed sloping roof with chunky oak trusses. This space culminates in a large balcony offering views out over the lake in the grounds.
“We wanted to highlight its natural autumnal quality, because of its view onto the trees and the ferns in the undergrowth,” explained Thompson.
The Ochre Room contrasts traditional furnishings with a rich yellow colour scheme and a dark brown marble bathroom, while the Panelled Room features light colours and wood-panelled walls.
Some details from these characterful rooms also crop up in the standard suites, for instance, the bespoke cabinets that house drinks and snacks for guests, and the stylish house stationery installed on the desks.
Marle is the main restaurant and breakfast room. With a menu based on the seasonal produce from the farm, the space has a garden aesthetic, with plants hanging from above and surfaces of pale marble.
The second restaurant, Hearth, occupies an old barn. There is also a small cosy bar in the main house, with a fireplace, a disco ball and a statement bar made from polished brass.
“The movement of the sun was important in leading one’s day through the building,” said Thompson. “Whereas the morning room has more reflective, lighter materials, the west-facing sun-setting rooms are slightly darker with more luxurious materials which come into their best at dusk.”
A stone staircase leads down into the basement cinema, where leather seats offer guests a lounge experience.
Beyond the house, the extensive grounds include woodland paths and more formal gardens.
To the north, the farm’s facilities are growing in scale every day, as the team experiment with different crops and biodynamic agricultural methods. Greenhouses are filled with flowers, which are used to decorate the house, and livestock roams freely around generously sized enclosures.
There is also an accompanying events programme, which has seen designers including Sebastian Cox and Kitten Grayson hosting workshops. Upcoming events include a screening of Five Seasons: The Gardens of Piet Oudolf.
“The connection to nature runs throughout the project,” added Thompson. “It’s very much a joined up conversation with what Jane from Fern Verrow has been doing down at the farm to what dulinary director Skye Gyngell is putting on the plate.”
“The importance of bringing the outside inside is a central tenet to the Heckfield story.”
Project credits:
Client: Morningside Group
Architect: Spratley & Partners
Interior design: BWT London
Lighting design: Lighting Design International
Contractor: Operis Construction, Goodman Hichens
Structural engineer: Clegg Associates
M&E: Apex Core
Civil engineering: Cole Easdon
Planning consultant: GL Hearn
Building control: Bureau Veritas
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Mexico City firm Sordo Madaleno Arquitectos has stepped and staggered a series of buildings and terraces to form the sprawling Solaz resort in Los Cabos.
The property sits on 24 acres (9.8 hectares) of rugged waterfront terrain on the Baja Peninsula between Cabo San Lucas and the historic San Jose del Cabo.
“The extraordinary natural surroundings of the peninsula of Baja California with its semi-desert landscape in shades of ocher, contrasting with the deep blue of the Sea of Cortez, provides an ideal selected context for the construction of a new landmark hotel for the country,” the team said in a statement.
The concept aims to integrate the resort’s structures into its surroundings by leveraging “organic forms that refer to the movement of the waves”.
The plot’s steep topography led Sordo Madaleno to create three large curved terraces that cascade down the rocky slope in an east-to-west fashion. They rise in a stepped format, with all-south-facing facilities that overlook the ocean.
Narrow walkways with dense planting allow passage through the terraces, while ensuring privacy to nearby rooms. A beach club and multiple infinity pools are located at the bottom of the hill.
The resort’s principal building resembles three, two-storey blocks stacked on top of each other. These are staggered to display “a great plasticity of form and organic movement”.
This blocks house 115 deluxe rooms, 13 suites, and a presidential apartment. Each room features a private entrance, custom contemporary furnishings, and original Baja-centric art.
Transitions from indoor to outdoor spaces are seamless with floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors, private patios, and outdoor marble showers.
Rooftop gardens landscaped by Gabayet 101 Paisaje exclusively feature desert plants endemic to Baja California, as well as accents of granite, marble, quarry stone, and local Huanacaxtle wood.
Sordo Madaleno commissioned Mexican artist César Lopez Negrete to produce over 400 original sculptures, photography, and hand-crafted furnishings to be scattered across the property. In preparation for the project, Negrete voyaged throughout the Baja peninsula to incorporate the region’s rich heritage into his work.
Also on-site at Solaz is an indigenous artifacts gallery, a 900-square-metre spa, three restaurants, and several open plazas.
Late architect Juan Sordo Madaleno, who is regarded as one of Mexico’s most important architects, founded Sordo Madaleno Arquitectos in 1973.
Madaleno’s son Javier Sordo Madaleno Bringas has run the family firm since 1982. Javier Sordo Madaleno de Haro and Fernando Sordo Madaleno de Haro, who make up the family’s third generation of architects, are also principals.
The studio’s most recent projects is a Mexico City apartment complex featuring zig-zagging terraces, a tower in Guadalajara comprising stacked and offset boxes, and a Massimo Dutti store.
Photography by Rafael Gamo
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You’ve probably heard of or seen a Möbius strip, possibly even in the Avengers Endgame movie. Simply put, it is a loop with a half twist in it. This half twist allows the Möbius to be single sided and single edged. There’s no front or back to the Möbius strip, to the math inclined it is it is non-orientable. The surface you see is both the front AND the back, and if you traversed its surface with a pencil, you will end up where you began. It literally is an infinite loop. The Möbius strip is a fascinating piece of geometry that, given its weird topology, is quite challenging to reproduce. This particular desktop sculpture is made using a complex 5-axis CNC milling machine setup that is capable of carving out the complex Möbius geometry.
This 3D Möbius Strip sculpture comes from AltDynamic, the same guys who brought us the Orbiform and the PentaOrbiform, seemingly impossible pieces of un-spherical geometry that could roll around just like a sphere does, thanks to the fact that they’re constant-width solids. Taking their love for geometry and metal to the next level, AltDynamic decided to pay homage to the Möbius strip… a piece of geometry that they claim has never ever been fully CNC machined in 3D before.
Machined from 6061 aluminum, the Möbius Strip sculpture sports a beautiful satin anodized finish that shines without ever becoming a fingerprint magnet. As a hat-tip to the CNC machined nature of the strip, AltDynamic decided not to buff or sand out the toolpaths, so each Möbius comes with faint microtextured toolpaths which show where the endmill carved away the metal… almost like an artist’s signature. Available in multiple colors, the Möbius Strips makes a striking collectible for people who have a high appreciation for mathematics, geometry, and the junction between science and art!
Designer: AltDynamic
The world’s first fully CNC machined Möbius Strip. A single sided, continuous surface reimagined by AltDynamic. The Möbius strip is known by many names, such as Moebius, Möbius band, infinity ring, Möbius loop, infinity ribbon and many more. Regardless of which name you may know it, the Möbius strip is one of the most famous surfaces in modern mathematics.
After its first documented discovery in the 3rd Century A.D., it fell into relative obscurity. It would take approximately 1,600 years until it was independently mathematically discovered by mathematicians August Möbius in September 1858 and Johann Listing in July 1858. (Interestingly, both students of Carl Gauss, one of the most influential mathematicians.)
Due to its unusual topology, Möbius strips are very hard to fabricate from nearly any method and are typically made by twisting strips of paper. The goal of this Kickstarter is to make the highest quality Möbius ever constructed using 6061 aluminum and modern machining techniques.
The Möbius is a strange shape. It is a one sided, single edged, non-orientable, two-dimensional surface trying to live in our three-dimensional world. A mathematically idealized Möbius strip would have a cross section of no thickness at all, just a line. The front and back blend into one infinitely thin surface. However, in order to exist in the 3D Euclidean space we do, it must have some thickness. In our Möbius, we have designed a golden ratio cross section.
The fascinating property, which made the Möbius surface famous and considered a biblical symbol, is that it is one sided. If you follow the path of the Möbius with your finger, you will arrive at the same spot where you began. Artist M.C. Escher displayed this property in his 1963 piece, Möbius Strip II. Above is an animated version of his original work.
The Möbius falls under the branch of study known as topology and is considered the simplest non-orientable surface. Non-orientability can seem peculiar at first glance, since everything in our world is oriented (can be given a direction). Orientability is the property whereby we can give direction to determine up vs. down. An orientable surface has two sides. We can orient a surface by using the normal unit vector from any point on the surface, and can establish direction by which way the vector points (vectors have magnitude and direction).
As can be seen in the diagram above, the normal vector never lifts from the surface and yet is still able to point in the opposite direction once it has moved all the way around (note it takes two loops for the vector to come back to its original starting point and direction). One point can have two normal vectors, however, the opposite pointing vector never switched to the other side of the surface (there isn’t a 2nd side in this case). This is a violation of orientability. To be oriented, a single point on a surface can have two normal unit vectors pointing away from each other, such as pointing inward and outwards on a sphere, but those vectors should not be on the same side.
To visualize sidedness, consider painting the inside wall of a cylinder red and the outside wall blue. Similarly, try painting a Möbius strip two different colors. On a Möbius , you could only paint with one color since there is just one side.
Left: The earliest known picture of a Mobius Strip, 3rd century Roman mosaic. It is on display in the Glyptothek Museum in Munich. The standing individual is Aeon, Greek god of time.
Möbius strips can be constructed in many designs and variations. Their design takes inspiration from the earliest picture of a Möbius known to exist, the nearly 2,000 year old Roman mosaic shown above.
Unlike many Möbius, our unique version has a uniform twist along its circumference. This allows their design to stand upright if it is on a level surface, otherwise it will roll.
Each ring is approximately 2.5 inches in diameter and .5 inches at the thickest point. Each weighs just under 2 oz., 56g.
In order to fabricate the highest quality Möbius ever constructed, they have decided to Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machine it. The precision and quality from our prior Kickstarter campaigns has been carried over to this one. All Möbius’ are CNC machined from solid blocks of aluminum. They will NOT be casting them!
The surface finish will be satin, and show a subtle textured toolpath. It will hide fingerprints and be easily cleaned with hand soap and water if needed.
The colors available on the Möbius are achieved through anodizing. This creates an extremely strong and durable surface which is corrosion-resistant, scratch-resistant and won’t stain or rub off. Apple uses anodizing on nearly all of their products. We are offering these colors: raw aluminum (silver), red, blue, black, purple and champagne. Even though we are anodizing the part, racking marks from anodizing are virtually eliminated.
Véritable joyau architectural situé sur l’une des rues les plus populaires de Montréal, après plus de deux ans de travaux, la firme NEUF architect(e)s annonce la fin de rénovations importantes.
«Conçu par l’architecte montréalais Edward Maxwell, il avait subi plusieurs modifications et dégradations au fil du temps et se trouvait dans des conditions inadéquates. Le visionnaire hôtelier Jean Salette en a fait l’acquisition en 2016 et a dirigé une équipe de professionnels pour mettre en œuvre l’ambitieux projet dont il rêvait depuis 20 ans : transformer et restaurer cet immeuble historique en un luxueux hôtel boutique munie d’une élégante Brasserie française, tout en conservant son prestige d’origine ainsi que la célèbre bijouterie Birks», indique le communiqué.
Dans un souci de conservation et de pérennité, les vitrines du commerce au rez-de-chaussée ont été restituées dans leurs dimensions originales, les colonnes et les plâtres originaux ont également été rehabilités. Ce bâtiment patrimonial témoin de l’histoire montréalaise et de l’effervescente rue Sainte-Catherine rayonne à nouveau.
Crédit photo: Adrien Williams
This photoset by Australian photographer Tom Ross captures a geometric, concrete research laboratory in Boulder, Colorado, which was designed by architect IM Pei who passed away this week.
Ross, a long-time fan of the late Pritzker Prize-winning architect, ventured to the city’s rural Table Mesa neighbourhood to capture Mesa Lab earlier this year.
“Whenever I travel I do an architecture survey of the area, particularly looking for Pei’s work,” Ross told Dezeen. “Since seeing the JFK Library when I was studying in Boston 10 years ago I’ve been photographing his work.”
Completed in 1961, Pei’s Mesa Laboratory forms part of the National Center for Atmospheric Research on Boulder’s outskirts. It has a dramatic, remote setting located on a hilltop that overlooks a golden valley to the west and south. Forested terrain and the Flatirons, which are massive rock formations, rise in the background.
“Pei’s work is often unmoored from its immediate built environment,” Ross said. “The Mesa Lab is a great example of this.”
“Where an architect might usually be responding to the surrounding buildings, or fabric of the city, here he has to respond to the Flatirons section of the Rockies,” he said.
“Structures created by tectonic plate movement over millions of years, what a site to respond to,” he continued. “Intimidating for an architect surely.”
The Chinese-American architect’s response was to draw on the cliff dwellings that the Ancestral Puebloans built in Mesa Verde national park, in southwest Colorado. Called Cliff Palace, the sprawling ancient village is embedded into the rockface and made of stone and earth to blend in.
Pei followed this by designing Mesa Lab like a miniature neighbourhood, arranged as a series of blocks set out in two clusters.
The structures are formed of concrete that is made from sandstone, and bush-hammered to create rough, striated marks along the surface. The concrete is also tinted pink to pick up on the hues of the sandstone cliff surroundings.
Ross says it gives the impression that the complex has been “carved out of the cliff face”.
“The basic elements Pei has used from the Native American cliff dwellings are really beautiful,” said the photographer. “Towers, curved spaces, and even the square joining to a long vertical line motif expressed in the cutouts and towers can be seen in the original dwellings.”
Ross, who took time out of the trip to Boulder to capture Pei’s laboratory, said he was surprised at the scale of the complex, which totals 22,600 square metres.
“Travelling from Boulder it appears quite small, but once you’re there you feel like an ant,” he said. “Other than the occasional arched cutout there is almost nothing human scale about the building.”
He described the experience of shooting at high altitude as a “photographic dream” due to the quality of sunlight at high altitude. Ross’ images capture the building in dark and light hours, with strong shadows featured in both.
“Like a lot of Pei’s work it has the feeling of a religious building, a building made in worship of something greater,” Ross continued. “Which I love in this context as it is atmospheric science we are worshipping, a worthy idol.”
Ieoh Ming Pei is known for his bold modernist style that experimented with strict geometries and shapes, and a portfolio that comprises museums, libraries and civic centres. His most significant buildings include the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, the glass-and-steel pyramid at the Musée du Louvre in Paris, and Boston’s Kennedy Library.
The architect, who won the Pritzker Prize in 1983, passed away this week aged 102.
A number of architects and critics have paid tribute to him following his death, including Norman Foster who described him as a “true master of monumental modernism”.
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A star-shaped arrangement of gables allows for sweeping views across the surrounding landscape from this house in the village of Radailiai, Lithuania.
Lithuanian studio Implant Architecture designed the house to have no obvious front, with large areas of glazing at each gable’s end giving a different perspective over the landscape.
“Having a full panoramic view, the house was designed without a particularly expressed direction, enabling a 360-degree overview,” said Implant Architecture.
The negative space created by this star shape forms small pockets of semi-private outdoor space between the walls of the house. These become terraces onto which the living space can spill out.
“The standing seam roof creates a graphic pattern emphasising the plasticity and multi-directional nature of the roof,” said the studio.
This roof sits flush with the gables of the house, and to the south this metal surface folds around to become a deep reveal for the high-level window.
Rather than being sheltered by the eaves of the roof, the main entrance to the west sits as though cut-out from one of the building’s gables, the top half of which still hangs above.
The plan, roughly arranged around a bent corridor that curves below the centre of the roof above, has bathrooms at its core surrounded by a series of bedrooms to the north. A looser set of living spaces are on the south side of the house.
A skylight, white walls and a glossy stone floor help brings light into the central corridor, marked by a run of timber doors leading into the bedrooms.
In the living spaces the high roof pitch creates double-height areas, divided by a band of dark wood parquet panelling that runs around the kitchen area.
Above this, a triangular, clerestory-level windows follow the slope of the roof, drawing light into the white-finished upper half of the spaces while preventing overheating from direct sunlight.
The exterior is clad in stained oak boards to give the house a pre-weathered look that’s in keeping with its surroundings.
Stone off-cuts, sourced from a local stone yard, were used to pave an area in front of the main entrance to the house, creating a distinct pattern with a range of colours and textures. The remaining perimeter is surrounded by wooden decking.
Several other houses have been designed to take advantage of Lithuania’s rural landscape.
Last year, Aketuri Architektai completed a timber-clad lakeside retreat, and in 2016 a pair of Lithuanian practices designed houses raised on stilts in Vilnius’s parkland.
Photography by Pvz.
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Tall, skinny houses designed to fit on small, restrictive plots, can be found all over south-east Asia. Here are nine of the best examples from the densely populated neighbourhoods of Seoul and Busan – South Korea‘s two largest cities.
Five-storey House, Seoul, by STPMJ
Five-storey House by STPMJ is topped with a seamlessly swooping roof terrace, giving the building a distinct profile. A provocative take on Seoul’s traditional family homes, the architect has scooped out a ground-floor bay for parking and flattened the top floor to form a terrace.
Perforated brick openings allow light into the nine metre-high rooms, while maintaining the residents’ privacy.
Read more about Five-storey house ›
House for a book publisher, Seoul, by ThePlus Architects
This house in Seoul’s Seogyo-dong district by ThePlus Architects manages to stand out amongst taller neighbouring buildings, despite its tiny six-by-10 metre footprint.
The white concrete home has a volumetric shape that’s been cut away to create recessions and a sloping roof. The tapering roof form has skylights to let light into the narrow building.
Read more about House for a book publisher ›
Guro-dong Mini House, Seoul, by AIN Group
The slender Guro-dong Mini House slots neatly between two existing buildings in Seoul’s Guro district. Measuring only three metres wide and 13 metres long, the house uses split levels and translucent walls to ensure sufficient daylight passes through the interiors.
The larger recession on the ground floor provides a parking space that is sheltered by the cantilevered floors above, while two stepped balconies extrude outwards at the rear of the building.
Read more about Guro-dong Mini House ›
Dongsimwon House, Seoul, by Sosu Architects
This brick-clad multiplex accommodates three generations of a family. Located above a cafe in Mok-dong – an area of Seoul known for older multi-use buildings – the house has an asymmetrical shape that’s in keeping with local vernacular.
The house’s facades are tilted to maximise access to natural light, enhanced by the deep-set windows and perforated screens, which have been punctuated in its uniform brick facade.
Read more about Dongsimwon House ›
Dogok Maximum, Seoul, by Moon Hoon
Built for a photographer’s family, this house is five storeys high when seen from the main road but appears as three storeys from the opposite side. The house doubles as a workspace for the client. The lower floors contain a studio and reception area, with living spaces arranged above.
Moon Hoon used the history of the house’s occupants – a former fortune-teller and shaman – to design the unique pattern of the facades and windows.
Read more about Dogok Maximum ›
Beyond the Screen, Seoul, by OBBA
A stairwell bridges across the two volumes that make up this 14-unit residential block, which occupies a corner plot in Naebalsan-dong.
The shape of the building, which outwardly appears as a single mass, was dictated by local planning regulations. As well as a series of setbacks, the architect has also added a handful of decorative brick screens that prevent viewing into the flats.
Read more about Beyond the Screen ›
Alley’s Adventures in Wonder House, Busan, by Architect K
Architect K looked to refugee dwellings from the Korean war to create this concrete home.
The eight staircases and winding walkways that appear through its interiors lend the project its unusual name.
Read more about Alley’s Adventures in Wonder House ›
Busan Times Building, Busan, by Moon Hoon
Setbacks in this concrete volume create two single-storey flats at ground level, while a small apartment is stacked on the roof – together, they mimic the silhouette of an owl’s head on a plump body. Angular concrete beams that jut out from a bedroom window form the owl’s eyes.
Openings are kept thin but plentiful in the core of the building to offer views to the city landscape. However, there’s a noticeable lack of windows on the western elevation, giving the playful house a fortress-like presence.
Read more about Busan Times Building ›
Eleven floors hide within the intersecting volumes of L House, which sacrifices outdoor space for internal voids and terraces.
An internal wall that reaches up to the top of the house helps separate living spaces. Punctured with different-sized openings, it mirrors the similarly mismatched windows of the brick elevations opposite.
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Twenty-one designers have explored the rituals of the dinner table for an exhibition inside an Austrian castle.
Called Ad Mensam after the Latin for “at the table”, the exhibition explores the table as a place where people gather to share food and have proper conversations.
It is on show at Schloss Hollenegg, a castle on the outskirts of Graz that regularly hosts exhibitions supporting young designers. The 21 projects are on show throughout the castle’s rooms, in site-specific installations.
“We don’t eat only to feed our bodies, we meet around a table as a form of communion with other people,” explained the exhibition’s curator Alice Stori Liechtenstein, who lives at the castle.
Stori Liechtenstein’s daughter is becoming a teenager, and starting to question table manners and why meals are taken at the table. This became the starting point for the show.
“Food is nourishment, and at the same time, an excuse to come together and communicate,” she continued. “The rituals we have created over the centuries are meant to facilitate this communication and provide us with a much needed sense of belonging.”
“The table should be a safe place for everyone. Most of our table manners come from a time when being at the table was still very dangerous as people carried knives, so table manners came about as a way of making everyone feel comfortable and welcome.”
Four of the designers on show – Nel Verbeke, Katie Scott, OS&OOS and Katie Stout – were invited to spend time at the castle last summer. The results of these residencies form their work for the exhibition.
The remaining designers offered non-commissioned pieces with a connection to the central idea for the exhibition.
“They used the opportunity to explore the theme, or present something relating to the theme that they have already produced,” explained Stori Liechtenstein.
English illustrator Scott collaborated with J&L Lobmeyr on a series of glasses to explore the idea of poison. The glasses are etched with images of poisonous plants as well as their antidotes.
“In a medieval castle, the king or the queen was very scared of being poisoned, and that hasn’t really changed. We’re always worried about whether we’re eating the right things,” said Liechtenstein.
“And at the end of the day, our favourite poison is actually alcohol because we have ritualised the way we drink,” she added.
Stout worked with Viennese heritage porcelain brand Augarten on a series of dinner plates around the idea of the imperfect woman.
“She worked on the idea of the perfect woman who has the perfect table settings, the perfect menu, the perfect dinner, but she’s so perfect that she forgets to enjoy the whole experience and actually eat,” explained the curator.
The designer painted the plates herself in Augarten’s factory over the course of two weeks, mixing classical motifs with a humorous edge.
Belgian designer Nel Verbeke‘s work is installed in a room that has never previously been open to the public. The room was restored and repainted.
The artist created the architecture for a tea ceremony, with four marbled alcoves to sit in and a table in the middle that functions as “a sort of altar” for the preparation of the tea.
“There’s a space at the centre of the room where you can sit and meditate, or be at peace with people and be quiet and drink tea, or exchange idea, thoughts and feelings,” said the curator. “It’s a much more meditative piece.”
The chalky surfaces of the alcoves were hand-finished by Antoine architectural finishers in muted tones drawn from the colouring of marble.
OS&OOS designed two metal chairs with high backrests “for the archetypal head of the table”, one representing the male and the other the female.
These were produced by DiSé, a young Italian producer that specialises in the production of custom-made and limited-edition furniture.
“They definitely have their own aesthetic language, but at the same time it fit beautifully with the colour scheme of the castle,” said Stori Liechtenstein.
“Maybe they’re a husband and wife, or two friends or perhaps two enemies on either side of the table, and how might that be a conversation between two people.”
As well as the idea of sitting down together to talk, Stori Liechtenstein wanted to demonstrate the importance of having a seat at the table for everyone.
“Nothing is more essential to our idea of humanism than expanding that table, symbolically and actually, adding extra chairs and places to include everyone in the conversation,” she said.
“The table is a place where you allow different people to have different opinions, and there should always be space at the table for whoever comes along. We should remind ourselves of this every so often.”
Other projects on show include a rounded bench made from two parts, by Commonplace, which can be either a bench with a table or a table with a bench.
It was produced with Logicdata and is presented in a circular room that echoes the shape of the seat.
Work by Crafting Plastics, Dean Brown, James Shaw, Arabeschi di Latte and others are on show around the castle grounds.
Stori Liechtenstein has been presenting exhibitions as part of the Schloss Hollenegg for Design programme since 2015. Previous iterations have revolved around the the ideas of legacy, constant change and slowness.
Ad Mensam runs until 27 May at Schloss Hollenegg, with a programme of roundtable discussions and concerts.
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This week on Dezeen, the world paid tribute to the “incredible life” of Chinese-American architect IM Pei, who passed away on Thursday aged 102.
Referred to by Li Xioadong as “a true master”, Pritzker Prize-winning Pei was known for his bold modernist style, and illustrious portfolio of museums, libraries and civic centres.
Among his most significant works is the iconic glass-and-steel pyramid at the Musée du Louvre in Paris and the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha.
Elsewhere, Danish architect Bjarke Ingels was in the spotlight after he made a cameo appearance in HBO’s fantasy epic Game of Thrones.
Ingels revealed the news on Instagram, where he posted a behind-the-scenes picture of himself in full costume along with personal friend Coster-Waldau, who stars as Jaime Lannister in the hit television show.
In the design world, The Barbican began its exploration of artificial intelligence at the launch of its More Than Human exhibition, which features installations by Es Devlin and Lawrence Lek.
Meanwhile at the V&A, the museum’s latest exhibition named Food: Bigger than the Plate also opened, taking visitors on a tour through of the food cycle from compost to plate.
Architecture news this week included Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s completion of the first section of a giant, looping park, which is set to open in London’s Greenwich this summer.
Studio Libeskind revealed plans to build a museum on a cliff edge in Kenya’s Rift Valley, which will resemble stalagmites and provide an “unprecedented educational and scientific experience”.
In the US, Foster + Partners unveiled visuals of a new mixed-use neighbourhood it has designed for Santa Clara, and Yves Béhar unveiled his proposal for the “world’s first 3D-printed community”.
Mayor Bill de Blasio revealed that the eight Trump Towers in New York were among the “biggest polluters” in the city, and called on Donald Trump to amend the structures to meet new environmental targets.
Dezeen reported on CES’s decision to restore Lora DiCarlo’s sex toy award, four months after it was controversially revoked for being “immoral” and sparked accusations of gender bias in the tech industry.
Piero Gandini resigned as CEO of the lighting brand Flos after 22 years in the role, in light of a clash of views with its new parent company, Design Holding.
This week also marked the opening of the prestigious Venice Art Biennale. Among this year’s national pavilions is Ghana’s earth-lined structure designed by David Adjaye, which references traditional Gurunsi earth houses.
Projects enjoyed by readers this week included the restoration of a medieval Tuscan hamlet, a three-storey nature retreat in Costa Rica and a house in Switzerland with asymmetric gables and angular clay cladding.
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