Hasta La Ideas

Volcanic stone walls feature a geometric pattern of copper-leaf triangles inside this restaurant and nightclub on the banks of the Seine river in Paris (+ slideshow).

Mexico City architects Emmanuel Picault and Ludwig Godfrey collaborated with Paris architect Nicolas Sisto to insert the Nüba nightclub on the upper level of a shopping centre and exhibition hall near Austerlizt station.

The project is inspired by Mexican architecture and materials. “Living in Mexico City for a few years, this project of Nüba brought us back home to Paris through our adopted country Mexico,” said Godfrey and Picault, who both grew up in France.

The trio shipped five tonnes of volcanic stone from Veracruz to Le Havre to build the interior then applied 300 square metres of copper leaf from Santa Clara Del Cobre across the ceiling.

These materials helped to create a dark and shadowy interior with simple undertones of brown, grey and gold, illuminated by low lights and the reflection of the copper-leaf detailing.

The tessellated wall patterns are complemented by triangular cornices. “Simple and sharp geometry is the defining aesthetic of this project, reinforced by the use of the best Mexican handcraft, a tribute to this country,” the architects added.

The space operates as a restaurant during the day, transforming into a concert hall and club at night.

A kitchen and bar area are positioned at the rear of the space, with the restaurant area off to one side. A dancing area with a raised, wooden stage and small backstage area leads out onto a large outdoor bar and terrace.

Small wooden stools are positioned along the front of the bar and grouped together with tables in the restaurant.

Nüba is on top of DOCKS en Seine, a combined exhibition hall, shopping centre, fashion school and restaurant designed by French architects Jakob + Macfarlane. See more images of the building in our previous story »

Picault and Godfrey also completed a textured timber pyramid nightclub in Mexico City.

Other bars and nightclubs we’ve featured include a club and penthouse with chunky black trees, also in Paris, a nightclub in a converted car park near Stockholm and a timber pavilion club on Fire Island, New York. See more bars »

Photography is by Nicolas Sisto.

Here’s a project description from the architects:

Nüba Club

The Franco-Mexicans architects Emmanuel Picault, Ludwig Godefroy and Nicolas Sisto have just completed a new restaurant/club in Paris, called the Nüba. Located on the rooftops of Paris, right in the city centre, in the recently revitalised neighbourhood of gare d’ Austerlizt, the generous 1400sqm space is widely open on the river Seine.

This project is the story of a voyage.The journey of Lionel Bensemoun, owner of Le Baron (Paris, New York, London, Tokyo), with the purpose of giving a party in Mexico City made happened our first encounter with him.Living in Mexico City since a few years, this project of Nüba brought us back home to Paris, through our adopted country, Mexico.

According to the genesis of the project, we decided to flight a project from Mexico to Paris. Using Mexican references and materials, we landed a temple on top of the French capital, a revisited one, fit to host a music consecration.

Simple and sharp geometry is defining the aesthetic of the project, reinforced by the use of the best mexican handcraft, a tribute to this country.

Among all materials, the most significant we shipped were, 5 tons of volcanic stones from Veracruz to Le Havre, as well as 200 sqm of leather from Leon Guanajuato to cover the walls, and 300 sqm of Santa Clara Del Cobre copper leaf for the ceiling.

With the help of our friend and ally, architect Nicolas Sisto, we managed to gather together all the materials in Mexico and rebuild the project in Paris, on the rooftop of the cité de la mode et du design, built by architects Jakob & Macfarlane.

Restaurant during the day, and concert hall and club at night, the space is centred around a large terrace providing a fluent and festive runaround for the clients, passing from one interest spot to another, from the inner bar to the outdoor one, enjoying this way either the outdoor DJ set on the terrace, the one inside or maybe the band playing live music on the stage.

Architecture: Emmanuel Picault (Mexico), Ludwig Godefroy (Mexico), Nicolas Sisto (Paris)
Conceptual team: Lionel Bensemoun, Jean Marie Tassy, Gael Personnaz, Emmanuel Picault, Ludwig Godefroy, Nicolas Sisto
Industrial design: Atelier Antoine Daniel, Emmanuel Picault, Ludwig Godefroy
Advisors: Helena Ich&Kar
Administration in Mexico: Roberto Ayala
Administration in Paris: Alice Stahl
Interior finishing: Aaron Yepez, Jose Luis Madrigal
Construction: Josue Caniah (JRC)

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Godefroy and Nicolas Sisto appeared first on Dezeen.

Cacti, gravel, concrete floors and a wooden bridge feature in this Brussels fashion boutique by JDS Architects (+ slideshow).

Danish architect Julien De Smedt of JDS Architects created the raw industrial interior for the two-storey Siblingsfactory shop, which opened last week in Belgium’s capital city. The store sells clothing and accessories for men and women, vintage furniture and a selection of homeware, plus the design team has also created a small magazine library where customers can sit down and have a cup of tea.

Raw concrete and white painted walls surround the retail space. A fibreboard footbridge spans diagonally across the double-height store entrance, while rows of thin cacti are planted in gravel along the edge of the mezzanine.

The ground floor features rows of clothing rails and a long wooden reception desk. Box-like shelves are hidden under a staircase and display products such as lamps and footstools.

Two white shelves are fixed to the concrete wall behind the reception desk and used to display accessories such as bags.

On the second floor there additional clothing rails and a selection of furniture pieces, including a bookshelf made from five stacked wooden boxes.

The architects positioned vintage furniture pieces around the store, alongside new products designed by Julien De Smedt and lamps by French lighting designer Marine Breynaert.

Siblingsfactory opened last week to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of clothing label Le Mont St Michel. Other brands on sale include A Peace Treaty and Studio Nicholson, and the store plans to donate a portion of its annual profits to children’s charity Afghanistan Demain.

Last week De Smedt launched Makers With Agendas – a new design brand with products ranging from solutions to natural disasters to coat hooks and tea sets. Dezeen editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs spoke to De Smedt ahead of the launch. Read the full interview »

See more retail design »
See more interiors »

Photographs are by Nico Neefs, courtesy JDS Architects.

Here’s a project description:

SiblingsFactory concept store

A concept store of 230m2 invented by the Belgian architect Julien De Smedt, pleasant and welcoming, ideal for beauty, quality and excellence in the heart of the Dansaert district in Brussels.

In Siblingsfactory one finds a coherent and intelligent mix of fashion, design and contemporary art. One can enjoy a sophisticated selection of fashion and accessories for men and women, exhibitions, vintage furniture and design, a cup of tea and a library with art magazines.

To realise the project, co-founders Aymeric Watine and Marie de Moussac worked closely with the JDSA architects and its founder Julien De Smedt. The agency consists of young architects and designers who are known for projects such as the ski jump in Oslo and their collaboration with Muuto.

About Aymeric Watine:

After his studies at the Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne (ECSCP), Aymeric worked for several French fashion houses.

About Marie de Moussac:

She studied communications at the EFAP (Ecole Française des Attachés de Presse et des Professionnels de la Communication). Marie then spent eight years working at a communication agency in Paris as a project manager. Marie is passionate about contemporary art and design and has a thorough knowledge of the art market.

In 2007, she works for an advertising agency in Kabul in Afghanistan and met Mehrangais Ehsan, founder of the association Afghanistan Demain, which aims to get children off the street and into school. A portion of the proceeds from the new Siblingsfactory concept store will be donated to the charity.

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JDS Architects appeared first on Dezeen.

The entire contents of this shop and cafe in Vienna can be hidden away behind a grid of white ceramic tiles.

Designed by Lukas Galehr of architecture collective MadameMohr, the Super Mari’ shop combines an Italian food store with a coffee shop and late-night bar, so its contents change depending on the time of day.

“The client asked for a space which was flexible and able to transform from a simple bar to a mini-market without much effort,” the architect told Dezeen.

Products ranging from pasta to washing powder are displayed within recesses in the tiled white walls, but can be screened behind panels that fold or slide across in front. These panels are also covered with tiles, disguising the locations of the display areas.

“In the closing hours most often the entire interior is closed so that only the tiles are visible, which gives the impression of an emptied-out swimming pool or a butcher’s shop,” said Galehr.

Paper shopping bags are patterned with the same grid and even the cover for the coffee machine looks like a tile-clad block.

Black tiles cover the floor, contrasting with the white walls, while monochrome pendant lights hang down from the high ceiling.

Lukas Galehr also recently completed a pizzeria with a spinning oven shaped like a giant disco ball.

Other interesting interiors from Vienna include a bar with a faceted ceiling of upside-down peaks and an office with a slide for Microsoft.

See more architecture and interiors in Vienna »
See more shops on Dezeen »

Photography is by Jorit Aust.

Here’s some text written by Lukas Galehr:

Super Mari’

Super Mari’ is a very small Italian Café-Bar-Market in the heart of Vienna’s second district, designed by the young architects collaborative MadameMohr.

The client asked for a space which was flexible being able to transform for instance from a simple bar to a mini-market without much effort. A second request was that there should not be any fancy designer furniture nor any modern patterns or materials which would give the impression of something new and stylish.

The result is a space completely covered in black and white 10x10cm glazed tiles. All furniture are built in closets with intricate swivel mechanisms that allow the owner to change the line of goods in just seconds. All the appliances and bar utensils hide behind rotary-slide doors which are also covered with tiles on the outside.

In the early hours of the day when people are on their way to work they drop by just for a quick coffee and a Cornetto and a spremuta, while in the afternoon the range of goods expands from coffee beans to pasta and even washing powder. Most products are imported from Italy such as passalacqua coffee and pasta from vero lucano. In the late afternoon and evening the space transforms again to the bar where people have a quick aperitivo before they head to one of the numerous nearby restaurants. Many come back after dinner since the true espresso only tastes right at the bar.

In the closing hours most often the entire interior is closed so only the tiles are visible which gives the impression of an emptied out swimming pool or a butcher’s shop. Only insiders and regulars are not irritated by the always changing configurations of the shelves.

Location: Vienna, Austria
Client: Maria Fuchs
Space: 33m²

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Lukas Galehr appeared first on Dezeen.

Are even tinier apartments the answer to better accommodating the emerging housing needs of major cities? An exhibition at the Museum of City of New York suggests as much, and the “live smarter and smaller” theme seems to be resonating—the popular show on new housing models has been extended to September 15. We asked writer Nancy Lazarus to head over to the museum’s fully built “micro unit” and make herself at home.

About thirty curious visitors filed into a 325-square-foot full-scale studio apartment model on a recent Friday afternoon. The occasion wasn’t a real estate open house, but a chance to experience a highly touted micro-unit called “The Launch Pad.”

The furnished model (pictured above) serves as the centerpiece of “Making Room: New Models for Housing New Yorkers,” an exhibition on view through September 15 at the Museum of the City of New York. Amie Gross Architects and interior designer Pierluigi Colombo, founder of Resource Furniture, collaborated on the unit’s design.

Architectural models and design solutions from New York and selected cities worldwide are also showcased. These coincide with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s initiative to offer more affordable, though smaller-scale, housing options for the growing ranks of single city residents.

An open ambience prevailed inside the micro-unit, not claustrophobia, as skeptical attendees may have expected. They soon learned key elements for optimizing space from Jeffrey Phillip, an organizing pro who specializes in blending style and efficiency.

“We all struggle with living in small spaces, but small spaces are also grand spaces,” Phillip said. He showed visuals to illustrate the advice he offers to space-challenged clients. While a few concepts were conventional, others were counterintuitive. Some mini spaces benefit more from design makeovers.
continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

A combined bookshelf and staircase creates a small library with interchangeable shelving at this apartment in the Ukraine by architect Alex Bykov (+ slideshow).

Architect Alex Bykov renovated the Kiev apartment’s interior around the owner’s request for a library, raising it on a small podium in one corner of the living room to maximise storage space.

The apartment only has two doors separating rooms, as each space flows into the next in a looping arrangement.

“The concept of movement appears through the spatial design areas such as the bedroom, the lounge, the library and the bathroom surrounding the kitchen – the historical symbol of the family’s heart,” said architect Alex Bykov.

“You can move from one room to another in an interrupted circle, since the spaces flow smoothly into each other,” he added.

Bykov shifted the doorways back to their original positions, after discovering they had been previously blocked, and retained the existing brickwork.

The exposed pastel-coloured bricks line the interior walls, and are joined by decorative lamps by fellow Ukrainian designers Anna Poppvych and Vasyliy Butenko and low-hung ceiling lamps by Artemide.

Polished timber floorboards are laid throughout the flat, while new partitions and the library are built from chunky chipboard panels. All the furniture is designed and built by the architect.

A skylight is positioned above the bathroom and is screened by wooden louvres that filter light into the room.

We’ve featured a few apartments on Dezeen recently with combined bookshelves and staircases. Others include an old laundry space in Barcelona, a loft conversion in north London and a house with a wooden slide slotted into a staircase and bookshelf in South Korea.

See more combined bookshelves and staircases »
See more apartment interiors »

Here’s a description from the architect:

Usually they say that the successful interior is a beneficial combination of environmentally friendly contemporary decorative materials, design furniture, sanitary equipment and home appliances. Nevertheless, the interior of an apartment located in the heart of Kiev’s historical district has a much more valuable treasure – an idea.

A young creative couple had been looking for an architect, when their designer friend recommended them Alex Bykov. The couple was preparing for a wedding and decided to spend their honeymoon in the renewed apartment.

After a fruitful discussion of suggestions and proposals the concept of “constant motion” was born. Furthermore the concept became the main vector of planning design and stylistic solutions of the interior.

The concept of movement appears through spacial design areas such as the bedroom, the lounge, the library and the bathroom surrounding the kitchen, the historical symbol of the “family’s heart”. So you can move from one room to another in an uninterrupted circle, since the spaces flow smoothly into each other.

The windows face to the south-east side ,which is why the living room and the bedroom are filled with an early morning’s golden shine. The interior has a cosy warm colouring due to the pastel brick walls, the natural texture of wood and soft furniture.

During the process of dismantling it was discovered that the doorways had previously been blocked . Alex decided to shift the doorways by using the original bricks with an authentic early 20th century mark. The brick was bought from junkmen and carefully laid into the living room wall.

The built-in library – a primary wish of the couple, was designed to house the family library. The library has a podium, which was designed to provide more space for storage. It was decided to make two types of shelves for the library; thus this flexible solution gives an opportunity to change the geometric pattern of shelves in the future.

Alex also designed all the furniture and prepared individual work drawings. The woodwork was made from low cost materials. Artificial lighting is dim, warm and comfortable.

Decorative lamps are by Ukrainian designers Anna Popovych and Vasyliy Butenko; the ceiling lamps, which were presented to the newly-weds by close friends as a wedding gift, are by ‘Artemide’.

Bespoke wrought-iron products also immediately grab attention: the legs for the coffee and dining tables, a mirror in the bedroom, a sleeve for the kitchen hood and a window.

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by Alex Bykov appeared first on Dezeen.