Hasta La Ideas

Inspired by aeronautical design, Charles Simon’s ‘Mackenzie’ briefcase has been crafted by hand, utilizing some of the world’s finest and most premium materials. Charles G Tremblay and Simon Maltais, ex-aeronautical engineers and the masterminds behind Charles Simon, created this wooden piece making sure to take the utmost care. The design excludes simplicity, with its straight lines taking us to the no-nonsense form factor that a briefcase exemplifies, removing all the unnecessary modern-day additions and mesmerizing us with its truly minimal structure.

To ensure a compact, lightweight and durable body, its structure has been created from carbon fiber and aluminum. The anodized aluminum forms the handle, whereas the carbon fiber makes up the rectangular shell. On the outside, Mackenzie has been adorned with Canadian cherrywood and high-quality leather. The Cherrywood, which might I add truly soothes the eyes is made from rescued timber, from logs that were submerged in Canada’s waterways over a hundred years ago. The leather meanwhile has been sourced from Carriat, a renowned French family-owned tannery that has been providing premium quality leather to brands such as Dior and Hermes for the past 92 years. The interiors of the briefcase have been lined with soft suede-like fabric linings from Alcantara. It has also been equipped with a combination lock, securing your precious belonging.

Available in a variety of colors, though my favorite has to be the beautiful blue which reminds me of ocean waves crashing on the shore on a bright summer day, Mackenzie is ‘made to order’ and what makes the entire experience even more special, is the fact the briefcase will be inscribed with a unique serial number and the owner’s name! I must admit Mackenzie is no ordinary briefcase. Handcrafted with attention to detail, with customization and personalization as the finishing touches, I expect to find it dangling from the fingertips of each every design connoisseur hurrying on their way to work!

Designer: Charles G Tremblay and Simon Maltais of Charles Simon

A rooftop garden and concrete beams filled with green vegetation are among the features of this restaurant in Lima designed by local firm MD 27 Architects.

Statera Restaurant is located on La Mar Avenue in Peru’s capital city, an area that is praised for its gastronomy.

Statera is a Latin word that translates to “equilibrium and balance”, two concepts that influenced the eatery’s minimal design and focus on nature.

“An interior oasis is discovered behind this sculptural entrance that seeks to reflect ‘the balance found in nature through a perfect equilibrium of contrasts’, much like that found in an oasis,” MD 27 Architects said.

Cast concrete and wood front the exterior gives way to mix of texture and materials used throughout the project. Much of the design was influenced by the patterns, forms and vegetation found in the three main regions of Peru: the Coast Line, the Andes Mountains and the Rain Forest.

The team chose the concrete construction enabled the firm to make the most of the small site. Packed within the 300 square metre (3,299 square foot) restaurant is a waiting area, dining room for 25 guests, open kitchen, small bar, wine cellar, two restrooms, rooftop orchard and service area.

“The architectural equilibrium of the project along with the spaciousness and gentle proportions of the interior, are achieved by pushing the structural concrete capacity to its limit,” the team said.

Lush greenery overflows from large containers that double as structural beams, while natural light floods into the space from skylights punctured above.

“The theatrical light effect is achieved through the combination of the sun’s movement throughout the day contrasting with the vegetation boxes that filter and guide the main light coming in,” MD 27 said.

To complement the concrete, the team chose wood and stone that are evocative of textures found in nature. Other features include a row of sink basins formed from rocks and the wood clad exterior that fronts the wine storage room.

A nine-metre long (29.5 foot-long) rectangular block of green marble serves as a counter space for food preparation. It also separates the open kitchen from the main dining room, so diners are able to watch their meal as its made.

Located on the upper level is The Orchard, a rooftop garden where ingredients and spices used by chef Andre Patsias grows.

“Andre’s aim was not only to show his connection to nature through his dishes, but also to have a restaurant where all you can breath is nature, no matter where you rest your sight,” the architects said.

In the rear glass doors open up to a patio with a tree and wall partition that separate the dining space from the restrooms, wine cellar and service areas.

Peruvian studios Ghezzi Novak and Blanco also designed a restaurant in Lima that uses natural materials reflected in the authenticity of the restaurant’s dishes.

Photography is by Renzo Rebagliati.

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A five-sided pyramid with cutouts influenced by constellations was created to pay homage to heroic woman during this year’s Burning Man festival.

Architect John Marx and Brian Poindexter, with San Francisco art collective Playa Muses, built Andromeda Reimagined to subvert the ancient Greek story of Andromeda from a male dominated narrative into a tale of female empowerment.

“By creating Andromeda Reimagined, we wanted to challenge the classical patriarchal Greek myth of Andromeda, wherein a young woman is chained to a rock, left to be devoured by a sea monster that was sent by the Gods to punish her mother for the arrogance of proclaiming her daughter’s beauty,” Marx told Dezeen.

“Within this new narrative, Andromeda saves herself, with the help of her community,” he added. “The ‘rock and chains’ have been morphed into a story of her inner journey to find strength and purpose in a world of chaos and absurdity.”

Painted steel was used to form the pavilion’s main structure, with the decorative detailing provided by CNC-cut plywood. The white screen panels exhibit ornate patterns evocative of stars. Blue, rotary cut fins, that attach to the pyramid’s vertices, resemble the swirling cosmos.

Created for this year’s Burning Man, which took place from 25 August to 2 September, the ornate pavilion comprises a series of simple elements so that it could be easily built by Marx’s nearly all-volunteer team, and easily packed up and transported to the desert site.

“At Burning Man, you are also faced with the slightly daunting task of remote construction,” Marx said. “We had to pack it all into a box truck, and once we were on Playa we could not source anything we forgot to bring … the nearest hardware store is 200 miles away.”

At night a gold lantern, formed from rotary cut plywood, illuminated the structure’s interior and cast whimsical designs onto the desert ground.

Upon entering the structure revellers were met by a plush interior complete with cushions and rugs. Artist Mary Graham created four painting to illustrate Andromeda’s new narrative.

Freedom and Awaken, an eight foot tall (2.4-metre-tall) bronze statue by Mischell Riley, was placed in the centre of the pavilion. Visitors were encouraged to leave their mark by proclaiming their own female heroes using markers that hung from the walls.

Each year architects and designers are tasked to create pavilions to populate the Burning Man’s site in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. Others created for this year’s event included a timber sauna by Finnish studio JKMM and a circular staircase of stepping stones designed by Benjamin Langholz.

“Burning Man, at its most elemental level, provides an opportunity to shift various social norms in unexpected and provocative ways,” said Marx.

“But very rarely, as architects, do we design and build, using our own resources, with a pure sense of contributing to the vibrancy of our communities, where our imagination is only restrained by the amount of time and resources, we are capable of committing.”

Photography is by Hannu Rytky.

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Hundreds of stainless steel drawers line the walls of this cosmetics store in Hong Kong, which has been designed by Aim Architecture to emulate a traditional apothecary.

taking cues from traditional chemists – where medicines were stored in apothecary cabinets made up of small drawers – the store is designed to be a space for exploring and discovering.

The beauty store, which focuses on offering the customer a sensory experience, has been shortlisted for a Dezeen Award in the Retail interior category.

Spread across two floors, the store is located on a winding and narrow Hong Kong street packed with shops, restaurants, and food stalls.

The facade is clad with perforated steel lit by LED tube lighting arranged into an H shape.

The austere stainless steel drawers that line most of the walls were designed to give the space an uncluttered, ordered and calm feel. Subtle signage guides customers to open the drawers, revealing the products inside.

Rough exposed brick walls and concrete ceilings are used throughout the store to create a visual cohesiveness across the two floors.

On the store’s first floor, products are lined up on rubber shelves within stainless steel mirrored cabinets that are suspended from the ceiling.

The mirrored surfaces that reflect the surrounding rough brick walls are intended to make the cabinets almost “disappear” within the space – a trick that the studio said represents how conventional shopping is vanishing from everyday life.

The studio also hopes that the cabinets will create “an intimacy” with the products, placing them straight into the hands of shoppers.

A stainless steel powder room is hidden from view by another mirrored panel. Suspended from the ceiling, the panel leaves just the shoppers’ feet exposed.

AIM architecture, who previously designed the brand’s first bricks and mortar store in Shanghai, said it wanted the store to offer a tangible experience to customers who would ordinarily only experience the brand digitally.

“With this newly opened Hong Kong location, we explored this online/offline duality of the brand even further,” explained the Chinese firm.

“In this era of moments, stories and Taobao sales, culturally, we are at an intersection. Consumers want convenience but crave experience. Online shopping will never lose its allure, but there’s a real challenge for brands to experiment with the dynamics of modern consumption.”

“It’s not even about shopping – because these days, shopping merely is scrolling and clicking, anyway. Instead it’s about discovery,” the studio continued.

“Harmay’s new Hong Kong space is designed for the curious and engaged consumer, and the casual passerby who walks in expecting one thing and finds the unexpected.”

Other projects by AIM Architecture include a spa resort in rural China with a geothermal pool wrapped by a glass walkway, and an office interior in Shanghai with mirrored walls and glass ceilings.

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Copenhagen-based designer Thomas Bentzen has developed a chair to highlight the fluid curves that can be generated using moulded wood veneer, which appears to gently fold over its solid wood frame.

Bentzen designed the Soft Chair for Danish brand Takt using manufacturing methods and materials that have been popular with Scandinavian designers for decades.

The chair has been made from moulded plywood, which is created by glueing together thin pieces of veneer before inserting the layered sheets into a mould and pressing them into the desired shape.

Bentzen wanted to celebrate all of the materials and components used in the Soft Chair’s construction. The curved plywood elements slot onto a simple frame that is held together by exposed metal bolts.

Bentzen’s contemporary take on the moulded wood chair uses the moulding process to shape the seat and backrest, which appear to drape around a frame made from solid ash.

The double curves created during the moulding process help to strengthen the overall construction.

As a result, the Soft Chair “shows an intelligent application of moulded veneer, rendering it like a cloth that surrounds the construction,” said the designer.

Another objective of the project was to make the chair as sustainable as possible. This was achieved by first using only solid wood from FSC-certified suppliers.

The chair is also flat-packed for shipping to minimise the space required and therefore reduce CO2 emissions. Parts can be replaced if they become worn, and the entire chair can be disassembled for recycling at the end of its life.

The ash wood used for the chair features a distinctive grain that showcases the changes in the seasons as the tree grows. It is available with a clear matt lacquer or black lacquer.

The chair is shortlisted in the Seating design category of the Dezeen Awards 2019, alongside another flatpack chair designed for Takt by London studio PearsonLloyd and a 3D-printed concrete bench developed to protect the public from vehicle-led terrorist attacks.

Bentzen’s previous furniture projects include a wooden lounge chair inspired by traditional Scandinavian aesthetics, and a sideboard featuring industrial details influenced by visits to factories.

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