Milan 2014: part bookend and part light source, the Ludovica by Italian design studio Zanocchi & Starke combines two pieces of desktop furniture in one minimal package (+ slideshow).
The Ludovica by Zanocchi & Starke comes in two parts. The first is an orange aluminium frame, which on its own serves as a colourful bookend.
One side of the frame slopes from top to bottom giving it a distinctive D-shape. The slope can be used as additional surface for stacking hardcovers.
The second section is a re-chargeable battery powered light encased inside an opaque white plastic box. “We had the inspiration when we lived in Rio de Janeiro,” explained the designers.
“We had an empty house with a library full of books. So we thought about something that could keep the books in order and at the same time ensure a more comfortable ambience.”
The shape of the light mimics that of the frame, allowing it to be wedged inside the aluminium element. Books can then be neatly arranged in the gap below. Alternatively, it can be used as a standalone light source with four hours worth of battery life.
To recharge the light a USB port is hidden on the underside of the opaque box, which can then be plugged into a computer via the matching orange cable.
New York architect Louise Braverman has completed an arts centre in the Portuguese town of Botica dedicated to the work of abstract artist Nadir Afonso, who grew up nearby (+ slideshow).
The Centro de Artes Nadir Afonso was designed by Louise Braverman to reflect its location on the boundary between Botica and the surrounding countryside. Situated next to a major new motorway intersection on the outskirts of the town, the building is separated into two parts, with cultural facilities facing the road and exhibition spaces at the rear.
Glazed walls enclose the corner of the ground floor facing the busy road, offering a welcoming glimpse of an interior that features a photomural of the artist.
A cantilevered roof juts out above the entrance and shelters this corner of the centre, while a rectangular box projecting from the upper section of the facade frames a view through the building.
The ground floor space is filled with colourful furniture that complements enlarged versions of the artist’s sketches, arranged in a continuous band above the glass walls of the reception.
From the lobby, visitors can access a library, a cafeteria, a multi-purpose events room and ground floor exhibition halls at the rear of the building.
The ceiling above the library curves down to accommodate the banked seats of an auditorium above, which can be accessed via a staircase leading up to a balcony.
The portion of the centre containing the galleries is partly embedded in a steeply sloping hillside and is covered in a turfed roof featuring paving arranged to reflect the geometric patterns prevalent in Afonso’s art.
A short flight of steps provides access to the upper storey of centre from the roof garden, while a long staircase along one side of the building enables those passing to catch a glimpse of the art.
This staircase is flanked by a retaining wall constructed using stone salvaged during the site excavation, which can be seen from inside the galleries. These large chunks of stone were laid without mortar using a technique called cyclopean masonry.
“Since the exhibition walls are shorter than the exterior walls, visitors can view the art against a background of the surface of the rustic stone of the recycled cyclopean retaining walls, creating a unique feeling of viewing art within a lavish grotto,” said the architect.
The space between the exhibition halls and the retaining wall enables daylight to reach the interior, but minimises direct sunlight that could damage the artworks.
A gap between the two parts of the building at the base of the staircase can be used as an outdoor dining space for the cafeteria.
Louise Braverman Architect designs Centro de Artes Nadir Afonso, An Art Museum That Links an Emerging Urban Center with its Pastoral Environs
Merging architecture and landscape, the recently completed Centro de Artes Nadir Afonso links an emerging urban centre with its pastoral environs. The 20,000-square-foot single artist museum fuses a light, lucid contemporaneity with the rich materiality and sustainability of Portuguese design to honour one of Portugal’s most beloved native sons, the artist Nadir Afonso (1920-2013).
As well as paying homage to the artist, who formerly practiced architecture with Le Corbusier and Oscar Niemeyer, the Centro, along with the artist’s foundation in nearby Chaves, will serve as an engine driving economic, cultural, and community development in the region. Sliced into a steep hillside, the new museum is divided into two distinct, but connected, parts: a light-filled cultural center looking out upon the intersection of a national highway and City Hall; and, nestled in the back, a vast, below-grade exhibition space topped by a green-roof park.
The Urban Face
In the double-height Entry Hall, a photomural of the artist and a continuous band of his sketches provide punches of bright colour visible from the street. From here, the exhibition hall, outdoor café, children’s library and stairway to the auditorium beckon, as does the exterior auditorium that is designed to encourage informal civic engagement.
The Pastoral Side
Embedded in the hillside below a sustainably planted green roof, the exhibition hall is the heart of the museum. Since the exhibition walls are shorter than the exterior walls, visitors can view the art against a background of the surface of the rustic stone of the recycled cyclopean retaining walls, creating a unique feeling of viewing art within a lavish grotto. While encouraging the perception of an indoor/outdoor layering of space, the proximity of the walls to the interior both blocks degrading direct sunlight and allows indirect daylight to reduce the museum’s carbon footprint. The green roof park, designed in the spirit of Nadir Alonso’s geometric patterns and the tradition of Roberto Burle Marx, also naturally modulates internal temperature while offering aesthetic delight to the community.
Architects: Louise Braverman, Architect Location: Rua Gomes Monteiro, Boticas, Portugal Architect in charge: Louise Braverman Design team: Artur Afonso, John Gillham, Yugi Hsiao, Jing Liu, Snow Liu, Medha Singh Area: 1858 sqm
Local architect: Paulo Pereira Almeida, Arq. Consulting architect: Artur Afonso, Arq. Landscape architect: Maria João Ferreira, Arq. Structural & plumbing engineer: JP Engenharia, Lda. Electrical and mechanical engineer: M &M Engenharia, Lda. Fire safety engineer: Palhas Lourenço, Eng.
Milan 2014: New Zealand design studio Resident will launch its collection of lighting and furniture at the Edit by designjunction exhibition in Milan‘s fashion district on Tuesday (+ slideshow).
Resident‘s collection combines handcrafted techniques with innovative engineering methods, and uses carbon fibre, bronze and glass for the first time.
Resident Parison Pendant by Nat Cheshire
Architect Nat Cheshire has two pieces in the collection, the Parison and Foundry lamps. Parison is a mouth-blown pendant lamp made from a mixture of black and clear glass in an ombre effect.
Resident Parison Pendant by Nat Cheshire
The glass is blown into a digitally faceted cherry-wood mould, designed so that the blower’s breath expires just as the glass reaches the facets, resulting in soft indentations in the bottom of the lamp that create a dappled light effect.
Resident Foundry Floor Lamp by Nat Cheshire
Foundry is a floor lamp that features 22-millimetre aluminium bars that trace the outline of a 1.9-metre-high rectangle.
Resident Fibre Light Bottle by Jamie McLellan
An LED light source projects light down from the top edge and the bottom is weighted with hand-cast bronze that bears the marks of its sand mould. Its top edge is hand polished to reflect the light from above.
Resident Fibre Light Bottle by Jamie McLellan
Jamie McLellan, a former designer at Tom Dixon, has formed the Fibre Light from paper-thin carbon-fibre strips around a central acrylic diffuser.
Resident Fibre Light Funnel by Jamie McLellan and Pick Up Sticks chair by Simon James
The light comes in two forms, the bottle and the funnel, both of which are large and yet lightweight.
Resident Scholar table by Cameron Foggo
The clean-lined Scholar Table by Sydney-based designer Cameron Foggo is constructed from a solid-oak base with a veneer top and its frame packs flat for easy shipment.
Pick Up Sticks chair by Simon James
Simon James, co-founder and creative director of Resident, has designed the Pick Up Sticks chair. The solid oak frame is available in a black stain or natural finish and the upholstered component is produced separately for shorter lead-times.
Pick Up Sticks chair by Simon James
Also by Simon James, the Tangerine Stool is the latest addition to the Tangerine family. The seat-back detail takes into account the fact that stools are often viewed from behind and the robust steel crossbars make this product ideal for contract environments.
Resident Tangerine Stool by Simon James
Resident will be showing the collection at Edit by designjunction, inside the eighteenth-century Palazzo Morando in Milan’s Brera district, open to the public from 9 to 13 April 2014.
Competition: Dezeen has teamed up with publishers Arvinius + Orfeus to give readers the chance to win five monographs of work by Icelandic architect Pálmar Kristmundsson.
Pálmar Kristmundsson Arkitekt follows the career of Pálmar Kristmundsson, who set up the Iceland-based architecture and design studio PK Arkitektar in 1986.
Published by Arvinius + Orfeus, the 240-page book includes a text by the architect himself along with sections by Daniel Golling, Julie Cirelli and Gert Wingårdh.
B20 by PK Arkitektar
The writing is accompanied by images including photographs, drawings, plans and sections.
B20 by PK ArkitektarTurninn by PK Arkitektar
Competition closes 1 May 2014. Five winners will be selected at random and notified by email. Winners’ names will be published in a future edition of our Dezeen Mail newsletter and at the top of this page. Dezeen competitions are international and entries are accepted from readers in any country.
This 3D-printed chaise longue by architect, designer and MIT professor Neri Oxman features 44 different composite materials inside a wooden enclosure, creating a multi-coloured recliner.
The first of two designs to be released by Neri Oxman, Gemini Alpha features a series of synthetic rubber-like nodules in various shades of magenta, yellow and orange in a swooping wooden frame.
“Gemini is about the complex and contradictory relationship between twins,” explained Oxman.
“This is mirrored in the geometrical forms of the two-part chaise and the dualities that drive their formation, such as the combination of natural and synthetic materials.”
The inside of Gemini Alpha is made up of a 3D-printed skin that uses three synthetic rubber-like plastics, combined to create 44 different composites.
This inner skin was produced on Stratasys‘ new Objet400 3D printer, which allows materials and colours to be combined simultaneously.
Each of the materials has a different rigidity and colour, and is arranged to cushion the user. The choice of shapes is also informed by their noise-cancelling properties.
“The chaise is designed to use curved surfaces that tend to reflect the sound inwards,” said Oxman. “The surface structure scatters the sound and reflects it into the 3D-printed skin that absorbs that sound, and creates a quiet and calm environment.”
The outer layer is made from a solid wood shell milled using a CNC machine at Le Laboratoire art and design centre in Paris. It follows the contours of the body, with a deep seat, back rest, and a curving head piece that immerses the user and helps block out sound.
Gemini Alpha was designed in collaboration with W. Craig Carter, professor at MIT‘s Department of Materials Science and Engineering.
It is currently on display at Le Laboratoire and the second piece, Gemini Beta, will be unveiled in September.
News: Danish firm BIG has unveiled plans to install a wooden maze with a concave surface inside the National Building Museum in Washington DC.
BIG, led by architect Bjarke Ingels, will use Baltic birch plywood to build the 18-metre-squared maze in the west court of the National Building Museum‘s Great Hall.
The architect says the structure will borrow forms from mazes throughout history, from ancient Greek labyrinths to European hedge mazes and modern American corn mazes. Starting with a height of five and a half metres, it will gradually diminish towards its centre.
“The concept is simple: as you travel deeper into a maze, your path typically becomes more convoluted,” explained Ingels. “What if we invert this scenario and create a maze that brings clarity and visual understanding upon reaching the heart of the labyrinth?”
“From outside, the maze’s cube-like form hides the final reveal behind its 18-foot-tall walls,” said Ingels. “On the inside, the walls slowly descend towards the centre, which concludes with a grand reveal – a 360 degree understanding of your path in and how to get out.”
The “BIG Maze” will open on 4 July and will remain in place until 1 September. Visitors to the museum’s upper-floor balconies will be offered an aerial view.
Milan 2014: the latest collection from Dutch design brand Moooi, including furniture and lighting by Marcel Wanders and Studio Job, will launch at this year’s Milan design week (+ slideshow).
Cocktail chair by Marcel Wanders
Moooi‘s collection includes products by the brand’s creative director Marcel Wanders, who has designed a range of seating upholstered with bold prints.
Bassotti Sideboards by Marcel Wanders
Other designs by Wanders include tables with marble tops and curving metal feet, a set of dining furniture that comes in solid oak or birch, and colourful lounge chairs that have stumpy wooden feet.
Love Sofa high back by Marcel Wanders
Wanders’ Inkborn table lamp features small bulbs and lampshades on the ends of curling metal tendrils that form a candelabra with a cylindrical marble base.
Inkborn Table Lamp by Marcel Wanders
Dutch collective Studio Job has created a chunky desk with integrated cupboards and a stained oak veneer surface. Other pieces of the desk are available in white or a range of bright colours.
Paper Desk 140 Patchwork by Studio Job
Glass bubbles cover the bulbs on Bertjan Pot‘s Prop lights, which are shaped like disks or oblongs that can by mounted on the wall, suspended from the ceiling or stood on the floor.
Prop Light Floor by Bertjan Pot
Wood-framed cabinets by Kiki van Eijk and Joost van Bleiswijk come in a selection of shapes and sizes, and feature surfaces inlaid with leafy patterns.
Tudor Cupboard by Kiki van Eijk & Joost van Bleiswijk
Two layers of mouth-blown glass form globe-shaped lamps by Scholten and Baijings. The inner layer is patterned with dots or lines, and the pendants feature colourful tops and cords.
The collection will debut at Moooi’s Unexpected Welcome exhibition at Via Savona 56 in Milan’s Tortona district, from 7 to 13 April.
Taffeta Chair Green by Alvin Tjitrowirjo
Here’s some information about the collection from Moooi:
Bassotti Coffee Table by Marcel Wanders
A table for every occasion or a combination of tables placed side by side and onto each other to decorate with elegance, practical sense & a touch of humour. The Bassotti table collection by Marcel Wanders merges the solid grace of marble table tops with the shiny lightness of classically shaped legs.
Bassotti Tables by Marcel Wanders
Bassotti Sideboard by Marcel Wanders
A combination of practical, light wooden compartments and of classically sculptured legs, the Bassotti sideboards by Marcel Wanders embody the perfect storage solution for any home or office environment. Feel free to explore their potential by re-arranging them in different compositions to your hearts content!
Bassotti Table and Sideboards by Marcel Wanders
CANVAS 230*115 and Canvas Footstool by Marcel Wanders
Enjoy the comforts of a cozy lounge & sofa that make you feel like an expert art lover sitting on a canvas of hazy dreams.
Bassotti Tables by Marcel Wanders
Cloud Footstool by Marcel Wanders
Have you ever wished that you could fall into the softness of a white cloud that looks like cotton candy? After a brief reality check this daydream is forgotten, until you catch a glimpse of the Cloud sofa by Marcel Wanders, a composition of rounded shapes & soft white cushions.
Canvas 230 and Canvas footstool by Marcel Wanders
Cocktail Chair by Marcel Wanders
Mix the lightness of your favourite cocktail with the weight of Dutch historical heritage, while comfortably lounging in Marcel Wanders’ Cocktail chair. Its straightforward design is luxuriously enveloped in a stylish signature woven textile, Heritage for cocktail. With its black and white symbols of Dutch legacy, this woven jewel adds a cultural patchwork of photography and graphics to the chair’s instant flair.
Colour Globe by Marcel Wanders
The Colour Globe lamps by Scholten & Baijings inaugurate a new collaboration with Moooi in the name of refinement and transparency. Two layers of fine mouth blown glass run parallel in a rounded embrace of playful details and colourful contrasts that optically blend into each other, generating a dynamic effect. Through the glass layers beats its heart, a bright LED lamp enclosed and protected by an opal shrine.
Colour Globe Blue Dot by Scholten and Baijings
Container Oval 210 by Marcel Wanders
A new versatile family member enters the Container Table series by Marcel Wanders. Available in the same materials & colours as its sibling, it combines soft, rounded shapes with a slender body: a dream of many. Find the perfect Container Table Oval for your needs or those of your home, working area or public space.
Container Oval Top 210 by Marcel Wanders
Container Oval 260 by Marcel Wanders
A new versatile family member enters the Container Table series by Marcel Wanders. Available in the same materials & colours as its sibling, it combines soft, rounded shapes with a slender body: a dream of many. Find the perfect Container Table Oval for your needs or those of your home, working area or public space.
Container Oval Top 260 by Marcel Wanders
Inkborn Table Lamp by Marcel Wanders
Marcel Wanders’ Inkborn table lamp conveys the rounded shapes of traditional chandeliers and encloses the futuristic substance of an electro sandwich. This new family member combines ingenious technology and timeless charm!
Kroon 7 Champagne Glow Matt by Marcel Wanders
A softer version of the Kroon lamp by ZMIK (Matthias Mohr & Rolf Indermühle) in a Golden Glow Matt, brings a touch of sunshine to its star-like design. Its new light (champagne) matt features facilitate the diffusion of a golden glow that adds an intense feeling of warmth and coziness to a very cool design!
Kroon 11 Champagne Glow Matt by Marcel Wanders
A softer version of the Kroon lamp by ZMIK (Matthias Mohr & Rolf Indermühle) in a Golden Glow Matt, brings a touch of sunshine to its star-like design. Its new light (champagne) matt features facilitate the diffusion of a golden glow that adds an intense feeling of warmth and coziness to a very cool design!
L’Afrique Carpet by Marcel Wanders
The print of L’Afrique carpet is familiar and mysterious at the same time. Typical elements of traditional African iconography are swallowed into a dense jungle of foliage becoming iconic, yet outspoken symbols of power. Looking into this fantasy world feels like hiding away behind one of the tribal masks, into the dark, with its intricate ramifications of feelings, fears and longings … a place where anything can happen.
Love Chair by Marcel Wanders
Love Sofa, Love Chair and Love Sofa High Back by Marcel Wanders
Have you ever fallen in love with a chair or on a sofa? Both experiences are possible, even probable while enjoying a romantic dinner for two in the Love chair or cuddling up with your sweetheart in one of the Love sofas by Marcel Wanders. Their cosy, soft and rounded shapes are available in several textile options, including the designers’ tailor made signature textile ‘Plush’, made of a soft, luxurious synthetic fur that looks like the cutest white, fluffy teddy bear. One of the sofas has a higher backrest because, as we know, love comes in all shapes & forms. The intimacy of two people snuggled up together is what truly matters. Whether you are flirting with your beloved or with a box of chocolate, enjoy the sweetness of Love!
Love Sofa by Marcel Wanders
Nest Chair and Nest Sofa by Marcel Wanders
The Nest collection’s linear, clear metal structure lifts the plumpest and softest cushions from the floor, creating a comfy, elevated nest for one or more people. For the lovers of fresh, colourful prints Marcel Wanders has developed two signature textiles with a heart of sunshine: ‘One minute’, with its instant splashes of blue skies, and ‘Flower bits’, with a bloom of flowers and butterflies.
Nest Chair Old Blue by Marcel Wanders
Nut Dining Chair, Nut Lounge Chair and Nut Footstool by Marcel Wanders
Sitting in the warm embrace of the Nut dining and lounge chair by Marcel Wanders you will feel protected and as precious as the most beautiful pearl in the sea. The precious flavour of its design and the rich pattern of its textiles distinguish it from the mass. Its cushions enclose you in the comfortable embrace of Marcel Wander’s signature textile ‘Oil’.
Nest Sofa Flower Bits by Marcel Wanders
Paper Desk 140 and Paper Desk 180 by Studio Job
Have you ever dreamt of a classic-looking desk made of white paper and cardboard? Thinking outside the box, Studio Job makes that crazy idea come true by extending their renowned Paper collection to our studios and working areas with the playful utility of the Paper Desk. Its surface, made of dark stained oak veneer, brings a touch of warmth to an otherwise candid desk.
Nut Lounge Chair Oil with Footstool Oil by Marcel Wanders
Prop Light, Prop Light Wall and Floor, Prop Light Round and Prop Light Round Floor by Bertjan Pot
“We have round lights, we have straight lights. We have them with lights on one side, we have them with lights on two sides. You can hang them high, low, horizontally, vertically or even hang them in an angle. Put them on the floor, hang them on your wall or down from the ceiling. We find it very hard to imagine an interior where this prop is not in place”, Bertjan Pot.
Nut Dining Chair White Leather by Marcel Wanders
Indeed the most versatile lamp ever, the straightforward yet ingenious Prop Light by Bertjan Pot represents the perfect lighting solution for literally any kind of interior. Whether you prop it up against a wall, hang it from a ceiling or place it on a floor, its bubbly form and pure spirit brighten up any kind of environment with a fresh, timeless elegance. Enjoy ethereal spheres of light in your home, at the office or in a public space.
Prop Light Round Double by Bertjan Pot
Salago by Danny Fang
The Salago lamp by Danny Fang is born out of his fascination for the timeless value of mastering a craft in contrasts with the quick pace of mass production. By combining the techniques of Paper Mache and paper pulping he creates a lamp with a strong structure and incredibly light body.
Taffeta Sofa Orange by Alvin Tjitrowirjo
Taffeta Sofa and Chair by Alvin Tjitrowirjo
Inspired by the crafts of traditional Indonesian textile weavers, Alvin Tjitrowirjo’s Taffeta sofa and chair embody the spirit of local craftsmanship applied to decorate sacred places housing important celebratory occasions. Their blown up woven structure adds a playful twist to the softness of the rounded shapes and to the delicate flower & fruit motif of the cushions.
Tapered Table by Moooi Works and Nut Dining Chairs by Marcel Wanders
Tapered Table 190 * 100 and Tapered Table 250 * 100 by Moooi Works
If you are looking for an elegant, fine table to lighten up your dining room but don’t want to give up the warm appearance of wood, this is the table for you! Around its tapered wooden surface you can entertain your friends in style, enjoy a family dinner or check your e-mail while savoring a drink. Although delicate and light legged, its structure of solid oak will support any amount of treasures you can possibly think of.
Tapered Table White Washed by Moooi Works
Tudor by Joost van Bleiswijk & Kiki van Eijk
Tudor Cupboard
The Tudor Cupboard is the perfect grand space to store your good tableware, shiny glassware and all sorts of curiosities or clothing. With all the grace of its tall and dignified appearance, it will protect precious treasures and great memories with the constancy and devotion of a loyal friend.
Tudor Buffet
The Tudor Buffet is the ideal decorative sideboard that you can trust with your dearest belongings and cherished family board games. At the same time it will support and emphasize a beautiful lamp or a bouquet of flowers with the strength of solid wood & the gracefulness of woven textiles.
Tudor Low Cupboard
The Tudor Cabinet is the smallest member of the Tudor family but no less in value or strength. Your old typewriter or beloved leather bag will make themselves at home in its cozy compartments, where you can also conceal unfinished paperwork or an eccentric garden gnome…
Valentine Table Lamp by Marcel Wanders
Valentine Table Lamp by Marcel Wanders
After the sparkling excitement of Valentine & Valentine Baby, please meet the new family member: Valentine Table Lamp. Love at first sight is guaranteed with its warm glow of its florid heart. “A magic mirror and the power of crystals transform a simple shell into an endless light bouquet of flowers” – Marcel Wanders.
Zio Collection by Marcel Wanders
Zio Dining Chair
Dining at home acquires a whole new meaning with the classic elegance and contemporary comfort of the Zio dining chair by Marcel Wanders. Sitting in its solid, sculptured wooden structure and soft cushioned body makes you feel immediately at ease, ready for an exquisite meal and a sharp conversation!
Zio Lounge Chair and footstool by Marcel Wanders
Zio Lounge Chair and Footstool
Lean back, close your eyes, relax your arms on the smooth armrests and grant yourself the time to drift your imagination away, beyond your surroundings, into the street, beyond the starry night. Living your fantasies is easy while cosily sitting in the solid softness of Marcel Wanders’ Zio lounge chair!
Zio Coffee Tabl by Marcel Wanders
Zio Coffee Table
The perfect living room mates any time of the day. Marcel Wanders’ Zio coffee tables bring a touch of playful elegance to your afternoons, either entertaining friends or while enjoying a quick coffee on a busy day. Their rounded silhouette and sharp looks come in two sizes, so that you can find the right fit for any space!
Zio Dining Table by Marcel Wanders
Zio Dining Table
In most households the table is the central piece of the dining room, the heart around which families gather, entertain and relax. Many special memories revolve around its steady presence. With their graceful look and refined details, the Zio tables by Marcel Wanders bring a touch of style to any moment.
Zio Buffet by Marcel Wanders
Zio Buffet
The perfect place to store away serious paperwork, endearing photographs and pieces of past memories, the Zio buffet by Marcel Wanders conveys a solid, classy appearance with a touch of playfulness. Trust it with anything: it will protect your finest treasures and support flower vases or car keys with dignity.
Architect and photographer Marc Gerritsen designed this house for himself on a Thai island, with an skeleton-like structure that frames sea views (+ slideshow).
Nestled into a hillside amidst the nature reserves of Koh Samui, Naked House gives Marc Gerritsen an escape from his busy city life, which sees him travel frequently between Taiwan and other Asian countries.
“Life in Taipei is very hectic, and I needed a place to escape. I really wanted a quiet area and a fantastic view,” said Gerritsen. “The house was a return to the basic values in life: good clean air, wide-open space, quiet solitude.”
The five-storey house is formed of a series of levels that cascade down the hillside, protruding like the tiers of a staircase.
Gerritsen chose very basic materials to emphasise the location and view. The base of the house is concrete, while a galvanised steel frame rests on top to contain the two upper floors.
“There are no embellishments. The focus is on the space rather than the materials,” said the architect.
An open-plan living space occupies the ground floor, fronted by wooden-framed windows that slide back to overhang the facade. These windows open the space out to a large terrace with wooden decking, a tiled swimming pool and concrete planting boxes.
The living space contains a simple kitchen with low-level cupboards on one side, a seating area on the other, and a dining area sandwiched in between. There is also a patio shaded by the flat steel roof canopy.
An exterior concrete staircase leads up to a master bedroom, which perches at the top of the house. This is a self-contained structure that also features sliding windows, balcony and an over-hanging roof.
An open-air en suite sits alongside the bedroom, offering panoramic views of the surroundings from the bath and shower.
Another staircase wraps around the outside of the house, tracing the curve of the hillside from the living space down to floors below.
An exposed room with a swinging sofa occupies the space below the deck, along with a steam room.
The next floor down contains two symmetrical bedrooms, where large sliding wooden doors reveal huge bowl-like baths, while the final floor houses houses an office and a maid’s room.
Here’s a description from Marc Gerritsen:
The Naked House
The main thing about this location is the expanse of the surroundings and the quietness. Life in Taipei is very hectic, and I needed a place to escape. I really wanted a quiet area and a fantastic view. Having an open plan living room, with doors that can totally slide away, which look out at the pool and the ocean – that’s something I’d been thinking about for a long time. With this plot, I was able to put the pieces of the puzzle together. The house was a return to the basic values in life: good clean air, wide-open space, quiet solitude. With these basic values you can be in a space that is uncluttered, and your mind can become still. That’s also the reason behind the very basic materials that I have used: concrete, wood, steel and glass. There are no embellishments. The focus is on the space rather than the materials.
I originally planned three stories: two bedrooms on the bottom; the pool, living area and kitchen on the middle level; and an office on top. But I’ve added a bathroom on the living room level, a laundry room and pantry. I wanted a simple kitchen, with no overhead cupboards or tall fridge, so the pantry is good for storage. I added a freestanding open-air bathroom, as the top room became a magnificent master bedroom, which needed an en-suite.
The tank and plant room became a large open room with a swing bed, underneath the deck I added a steam room, and the space below the bedrooms now houses an office and maid’s room. So it ended up being five stories – the result of a work in progress.
My work over the last few years as an architectural and interior photographer has taught me what not to do. Looking at all the incredibly fine detailed properties I photographed in Asia. I thought: “Is this really necessary to be comfortable? If I walk on a concrete floor or if I walk on a marble floor, is it going to make my living experience so much better?” No. You just need a floor to walk on. I am interested in a return to basics, in a luxury monastic way of living.
Big-Game‘s Castor Low Chair for Karimoku New Standard adds to the Castor family previously created by the studio, which all use Japanese oak.
“Karimoku New Standard’s know-how in woodworking combines skilled craftsmen with cutting edge technology,” the studio told Dezeen. “They have achieved the slim armrest using very precise joinery work, milling and sanding, and have given it a great finish that ages well. After all, it’s a part that you’re always touching or rubbing against when you’re sitting on an armchair.”
The Castor references ergonomics of chairs found in traditional Swiss cafes, including the low seat with a wide backrest.
The chair joins a collection that comprises a bench, a shelf, stackable stools and seats, as well as dining tables. It is available in natural oak, grey, black and green.
The piece will be on show as part of Karimoku New Standard’s exhibition during the Salone del Mobile in Milan.
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