Hasta La Ideas

En Bande Organisée and Julien Dufresne Architecte used pale polished concrete to create the cave-like interiors of French brand Moustache’s Parisian store.

White polished-concrete walls dotted with curved alcoves and ceilings with organically-shaped skylights feature in Moustache‘s recently-opened Paris store.

Located in the city’s Canal Saint Martin district, the 120-square-metre space is the brand’s first ever physical store.

Founded in 2009, Moustache produces design objects, lighting and furniture by designers such as Inga Sempé, Jean-Baptiste Fastrez, Big-Game, Ionna Vautrin and Bertjan Pot.

Moustache founders Stéphane Arriubergé and Massimiliano Iorio asked Paris-based design studio En Bande Organisée and Julien Dufresne Architecte to create a distinctive store interior that allowed products to be the main focus.

The store’s facade has thus been kept deliberately simple. Its large glass window reveals a chalk-white, cave-like interior that looks as if it has been carved out of stone. The brand’s name and logo are engraved into the top of an archway that frames the entrance door.

Inside, furnishings and design objects are displayed along the store’s smooth walls, set within alcoves or placed on top of plinths which curve and blend into the walls and floors.

A carefully designed lighting system ensures that each alcove and plinth is bathed in what Moustache describes as a “solemn, almost mystical light”.

The blue checkout counter has also been cast in polished concrete to fit with the cave-like aesthetic.

Further into the store, a bright-orange system of rails snake across the ceiling, through a door and into a back room.

Here there is a system of hanging swing trays, ladders and panels showcasing the brand’s collections of wallpaper, textiles and statement objects in a moveable display.

There is also a terracotta-coloured shelving system that runs along one wall.

Called Bagou, the design features cast-iron brackets that look like face masks supporting polyethene shelves. The system, which offers numerous configurations, is set to join Moustache’s 2020 collection.

A large, white sliding-door has then been suspended from a rail in the room to take customers through to a dark and intimate alcove that contrasts with the rest of the white store.

Other items on display in the store include design objects that the brand says are never or seldom found in France, as well as rare and precious pieces which have been crafted over the last 30 years.

“Opening a store in town at a time when the internet has started to change the deal in the distribution of consumer goods may seem anachronic,” explained the brand.

“Over the last 10 years, we have observed our users and realised that the nature of the objects we sell requires a special approach and a physical relation,” it continued.

“It also seemed important to provide a place where these objects live and exchange together to form a single harmonious family.”

From January 2020, the store plans to host a cultural event every two weeks, exhibiting the work of designers and artists from all over the world.

Previous creations by Moustache include ceramic plates designed by Constance Guisset that have the illusion of being soft and malleable, and a lamp by Ionna Vautrin that’s based on the lights originally made for passenger cars in France’s SNCF TGV L’Océane trains.

Photography is by Mario Simon Lafleur.

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Ross Lovegrove has designed this year’s Fashion Awards trophy, which consists of a laser-cut DNA double helix that appears to be suspended inside a monolithic crystal.

The Welsh designer was commissioned by the British Fashion Council and Swarovski to create the award, which will be handed out during an awards ceremony in London’s Royal Albert Hall on 2 December.

To create the trophy, 18 different facets are cut into a single piece of crystal to create a towering trapezoid structure, measuring 24 centimetres in height.

The winding, double-helix structure is internally etched into this solid crystal using green-light laser technology.

That means the three-dimensional image is built up by the laser point by point, pulse by pulse, with a system of mirrors positioning the beam in just the right, microscopic place each time.

“The DNA that’s etched into the core of my crystal design reflects the endless creative diversity that can come from a single source,” Lovegrove explained.

“As a designer it’s given me great pleasure to design the 2019 Fashion Awards trophy as I realise the impact that fashion has on many areas of human existence and culture.”

Undulating, interweaving forms are something of a trademark of Lovegrove’s and pop up both in his product designs, for example in the Andromeda light, as well as in his architectural work.

In line with the designer’s focus on sustainability – which recently saw him create a furniture collection for Natuzzi from renewable and recyclable materials – Swarovski’s production process uses a lead-free formula and 70 per cent recycled water.

A third of the energy used in the process also comes from renewable sources, in an environmental strategy that recently earned heiress Nadja Swarovski the Fashion Institute of Technology ‘s Social Impact in Sustainability Award.

Swarovski has a track record of commissioning high-profile designers for the conception of the annual Fashion Awards trophies.

Previous iterations including a shape made up entirely of triangular facets by David Adjaye, John Pawson’s crystal-encased coloured threads and Marc Newson’s honey comb-like structure.

Nominees at the 2019 Fashion Awards include Jacquemus – who recently designed a restaurant in Paris – Prada and Gucci for brand of the year. Contenders for designer of the year include Kim Jones representing Dior Men, and Jonathan Anderson for JW Anderson and Loewe.

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Hunters Point Library in New York’s Long Island City by Steven Holl Architects has been hit with a class action lawsuit for its “total disregard” of people with mobility disabilities.

Non-profit organisation Disability Rights Advocates (DRA) filed the lawsuit today, claiming the library “was designed and built with a total disregard for adults and children with mobility disabilities”.

The building, which opened at Hunters Point, Queens in September, has been the subject of ongoing complaints, with disabled users protesting that three areas of shelving were accessible only via stairs. Books from these sections have since been moved.

Earlier this month, Steven Holl Architects dismissed the issues as “wrinkles”, saying they are “normal” for a project of this size.

Hunters Point Library sued for ADA violations

The lawsuit was filed against Queens Borough Public Library, The Board of Trustees of the Queens Borough Public Library and the City of New York for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which became law in 1992.

The 21-page Hunters Point complaint says the library is “in flagrant contempt” of the act.

“Inaccessible features pervade the new Hunters Point Library, and exclude people with mobility disabilities from a variety of its offerings,” the document continues.

Steven Holl Architects‘ design was criticised when the $41.5 million (£32.2 million) library first opened because it included three terraced levels of books that were only accessible by staircase, meaning they were off limits to visitors that are unable to walk.

Numerous areas off-limits to those with mobility disabilities

Initiated by plaintiffs Tanya Jackson and Center for Independence of the Disabled – New York (CIDNY), the lawsuit lists “numerous” other barriers to those who don’t have full mobility. These include children’s areas with multi-level lounges and meeting spaces, and the top level of the roof terrace.

Other complaints are that “stunning panoramic views” through the large windows are only visible from the staircase; there is one elevator that creates large queues, and doesn’t stop at every level; and the path from the elevator to the main areas is blocked by stroller parking.

“The ADA is not a new requirement, and it is not hard to understand,” said DRA staff attorney Andrea Kozak-Oxnard. “It is baffling that this $41.5 million building is missing these fundamental elements.”

“It’s as though the library didn’t care about these requirements, or worse didn’t even consider the needs of these members of the community,” Kozak-Oxnard added.

“People with disabilities should be able to browse, relax, and enjoy the library just like everyone else.”

Disability Rights Advocates calls for library to address issues

DRA, a non-profit that provides free legal services for those with disabilities, intends the lawsuit to force the library to readdress the building’s layout.

“Hunters Point Library was meant to be a model, a state-of-the-art institution designed to serve the needs of the community,” Michelle Caiola, managing director of litigation at DRA Michelle Caiola added.

“The Library’s total disregard for adults and children with disabilities must be addressed.”

Dezeen contacted Steven Holl Architects for a statement.

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Italian architect Renzo Piano has completed his 565 Broome Soho – a New York condominium development comprising two identical glass towers.

Piano’s firm Renzo Piano Building Workshop (RPBW) has completed the 30-storey residential tower in Lower Manhattan, with interiors by Paris studio Rena Dumas Architecture Interieure (RDAI).

Called 565 Broome Soho, the project occupies a formerly vacant lot on the western edge of Soho – between Broome and Watts Street – and the border of TriBeCa.

It comprises 115 residences – ranging from studios to four-bedroom homes – across the two towers. Both are covered in glass with curved edges that offer views of the surroundings and ample natural light inside.

“For 565 Broome Soho, Renzo Piano set out to create a building that is shaped by light,” said the press statement.

“This vision led him to design conjoined glass structures with curved corners.”

The two structures are joined by a 10-storey podium at the base. The top level of the podium is occupied by a large penthouse unit, with a large private terrace and outdoor swimming pool on the roof.

A 92-foot-tall (28-metre-tall) lounge designed like a conservatory with plants on the walls and three black olive trees is located on the fifth storey.

In total, the amenities occupy 17,000 square feet (1,579 square metres) of 565 Broome Soho. They include a fitness centre, indoor saltwater pool, steam rooms, sauna, children’s playroom, lounge, common laundry room, bicycle storage and an outdoor terrace.

There is also a private gated driveway that leads to an automated parking system with parking spots and electric charging stations, located above ground level and encased in glass.

Units have 10-foot-high (three-metre-high) ceilings and neutral interiors by RDAI with white oak plank floors and white walls. Master bathrooms are clad in Calacatta Caldia marble walls and floors, with white oak vanities.

New York studio March & White has also designed a two-bedroom apartment with pale wood cabinets and furnishings in grey, navy, taupe and cream.

The complex has several recycling schemes for its residents, including composting bins and areas for recycling electronic waste and fabrics, and is expected to become one of the city’s Zero Waste Buildings.

Piano was enlisted to design 565 Broome Soho for real estate firms Bizzi & Partners Development, Aronov Development and Halpern Real Estate Ventures.

First unveiled in early 2016, it marks his first residential building in New York.

The 82-year-old Italian architect, who was awarded the Pritzker Prize in 1998, has completed a number of other buildings in the Manhattan, including The Whitney Museum and The New York Times skyscraper.

He has also built three buildings at the city’s Columbia University  – The Forum auditorium, a medical research centre and an arts and performance venue.

Photography is by Adrian Gaut courtesy of Edge Reps unless stated otherwise.

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New York fashion brand The Arrivals has created a puffer jacket with a Faraday pocket that blocks cellular and GPS signals on smartphones, to encourage wearers to switch off and “reconnect with the outdoors”.

The parka’s chest pocket is lined in a combination of polyester, copper and nickel, and blocks radio-frequency identification (RFID), Near Field Communication (NFC), electromagnetic fields (EMR and EMF) and radiation signals.

The design draws on the Faraday cage, an electromagnetic-proof mesh shield created in 1836 by English scientist Michael Faraday.

After deciding to create apparel that allowed wearers to disconnect, The Arrivals “quickly stumbled” across the Faraday concept when researching anti-conductive technology and the potential for it to be applied to fashion.

“We live in a time where we are more connected to our devices than to the environments we inhabit,” The Arrivals co-founder Jeff Johnson told Dezeen.

“We began conceptualising solutions that would enable users to reconnect with the outdoors by disconnecting from everything else.”

“We quickly stumbled upon a recurring word ‘Faraday’: the last name of Michael Faraday, the 19th-century scientist that developed the Faraday Cage – a physical cage made of anti-conductive materials that blocked all electromagnetic transmission in and out.”

Since its conception, Faraday technology has evolved into woven textiles, allowing The Arrivals to incorporate this technology into the Aer off-the-grid Puffer.

It has also been incorporated into a number of projects that aim to reduce accessibility to tech, including a capsule to combat smartphone addiction, a concept car with an impenetrable private space and a Melbourne installation.

A London exhibition at Somerset House, on view from 31 October 2019 to 23 February 2020, also features a copper blanket that acts as a Faraday Cage to prevent electromagnetic waves that visitors can be wrapped in.

Aer is also designed to encourage wearers to brave the elements, and has a down and feather filling intended to make it warm enough in below-freezing conditions. The parka features a breathable, double-layer fabric and an exterior composed of polyester, polyurethane and elastane, which also is resistant to water and wind.

A cinching hood, microfleece-lined pockets and collar, storm cuffs with thumb loops, and a powder skirt at the bottom are among other cold-weather details.

The coat also includes removable backpack straps for carrying are located inside, and a double zipper with a zipper guard and reflective details.

Aer is available in a range of colours, including navy, tan, black, soft green, lime green and yellow. The latter two are seasonal hues that take cues from a trip to Selfoss, Iceland.

“While there we visited multiple geothermal sites, including the Strokkur Geyser and Namaskard Sulfur pools,” Johnson said. “The environments were both beautiful and completely foreign to us.”

“The elemental palette of muted earth tones punctuated by vibrant geothermal pops of algae and acid became the origin of our 2019 Aer Puffer Collection,” he added.

Aer is available in three cuts, with a cropped version called Aer Alpine, a standard version and a vest.

The Arrivals is a direct-to-consumer fashion brand in New York City, founded by architect Jeff Johnson and entrepreneur Kal Vepuri in 2014.

The brand has created several pop-ups over the years, including this year’s “playful yet performative” weather-themed pop-up in New York’s SoHo neighbourhood, and “alien” retail spaces with metallic and russet surfaces in 2017.

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