Hasta La Ideas

Japanese studio Noiz Architects has created a colourless clubhouse in China with patterned walls, a jumble of doorways and a chandelier that mimics a starry sky.

Designed to house the events and meetings of a private Chinese company, the Zhengzhou Clubhouse is a two-storey building with a triangular plan that centres around a double-height atrium.

Surfaces and objects throughout the building are finished in shades of white, cream and grey. The only splashes of colour come from golden door handles and the occasional painting.

“To make a contrast with the busy building exterior and surroundings, we decided to make the interior palette as colourless as possible,” says Noiz Architects.

A series of meeting rooms, dining areas and guest bedrooms wrap the central atrium, where an LED chandelier made from scores of glass beads hangs down from the centre of the ceiling.

A selection of differently styled doorways lead through to each of these rooms and are intended to reference both historic and contemporary architecture from the west as well as the east. Some appear as three-dimensional forms, while others are created from printed outlines.

“These images are intentionally treated as ‘fake’ information, and randomly mixed as 2D and 3D representations to provoke a unique experience between material and information, real and fake,” says the studio.

Behind the doors, every room is surrounded by curved walls with a variety of textured wallpapers.

Other additions include bespoke furniture pieces, from a smoothly curving bench to a glass table with its base shaped like  a cluster of little trees.

Photography is by Kyle Yu.

Here’s some text from the architects:

Zhengzhou Clubhouse

A large private company based in China commissioned noiz to design a special clubhouse near their headquarters in Zhengzhou. The required program include VIP reception, meeting, dining, and recreational areas, as well as private suites for the owner and for guests of the company.

The unique triangular shape of the existing floor plan and its core distribution restricted the design and functional layout, making it difficult to distribute rooms within a standard grid-geometry. Noiz decided to make the new plan as free-form as possible to flexibly accommodate the existing structure and requirement changes during the design period.

To make a contrast with the busy building exterior and surroundings, we decided to make the interior palette as colourless as possible, making everything white to remove the sense of weight and ‘busy-ness” of the outside. However, within this all-white palette, we introduced a vivid variety of materiality and texture to express variation in space and atmosphere.

Each room has a unique form, and each is given a different texture and pattern within the white palette. We carefully cataloged multiple material options for all surfaces – floor, wall, ceiling, furniture – and coordinated them while considering the various scales and functions of each room.

The largest room is the main hall, with its double-height atrium; it doubles as a reception area and an event space. We treated the surface of the lower level ceiling as an upside-down landscape that flows continuously towards a large opening in the centre, like a hole in a golf course, deliberately punching through an uneven surface. A special LED chandelier installed at the upper level maintains a continuous flow to the lower level ceiling.

We also introduced a set of gate/threshold using images of historic and contemporary styles throughout the rooms, compiled from various Eastern and Western references, in order to establish an off-beat sensibility and focal points in the overall space. These images are intentionally treated as ‘fake’ information, and randomly mixed as 2D and 3D representations to provoke a unique experience between material and information, real and fake.

Location: Zhenzhou, China
Client: Union Investment
Design: Aug. 2011–Nov. 2011
Construction: Nov. 2011–May. 2012
Building Type: Clubhouse (Interior)

Floor Area: 1,700 sqm
Construction Cost: About 2M USD (13M RMB)
Contractor: KeRui construction company
Furniture Manufacturer: Shanghai Fulin Funiture Company
Chandelier Maker: Fany-Mini Lighiting Company
Mechanical Engineering and Plumbing and Structural Engineering: TSC Engineers
Construction Management: People Tech Consulting

The post Zhengzhou Clubhouse
by Noiz Architects appeared first on Dezeen.

French designer Emmanuelle Moureaux has fitted out a Japanese spectacle shop with modular boxes in her signature colour blocks.

Located in the Mitsui Outlet Park in Iruma city near Tokyo, the Zoff eyewear shop by Emmanuelle Moureaux features identical rectangular units that have been stacked up to create display tables and counters, or mounted on the wall at various heights to form shelves.

Each one is coated in different hues, which Moureaux says represent “different snapshots from our daily lives, such as the magenta and yellow spreading endlessly in the field of tulips, the pale blue from the crystal clear lake, and the pink petals of cherry blossoms swaying in the wind.”

Two central display tables are made of more blocks in neutral tones and can be reconfigured as required.

Emmanuelle Moureaux has worked in Tokyo since 1996 and her work typically features repetitive elements in an assortment of bright, clear colours. She’s previously applied the style to a bank, a wedding dress and a stool with a transparent seat. See all our stories about design by Emmanuelle Moureaux.

We’ve also featured a former gallery in Paris that’s been converted into an optician’s shop, plus 3D-printed glasses by Ron Arad and others made of water buffalo horn. See all our stories about spectacles and shades.

Photos are by Daisuke Shima/Nacasa & Partners.

Here’s some more information from the designer:

Renewal project for the eyewear shop Zoff opened in the outlet shopping center -Mitsui Outlet Park Iruma.

The blue sky between buildings, the pockets of green in the park on the street corner, and the colorful glittering neon at night. These are what we capture during our everyday life in cities. Travelling also gives us different snapshots from our daily lives, such as the magenta and yellow spreading endlessly in the field of tulips, the pale blue from the crystal clear lake, and the pink petals of cherry blossoms swaying in the wind. These sceneries from our experience are captured into rectangular frame, and then rhythmically spread in the space to create a joyful and heartwarming store.

The captured pieces are modularized into blocks of 800mm x 160mm. These modules are then used to design displays, fixtures and mirrors.

Different heights of these rectangular blocks create rhythm in the space which gives a sense of playfulness. This changes the ordinary way of shop displays, which are often too systematic. The design has focused on flexibility, such as the movable display blocks, with the exception of wall mounted display, and the colors representing sceneries can be changed along with the seasons.

The post Zoff eyewear shop by
Emmanuelle Moureaux appeared first on Dezeen.

Raw concrete and colourful fabrics are combined in this fashion store in Dubai by London designers Studio Toogood (+ slideshow).

Studio Toogood designed the boutique for Dubai fashion brand Mahani, introducing cast-concrete and monolithic forms intended as “an antidote” to the glamourous opulence of shops elsewhere in the Emirates.

Richly coloured drapes divide the space, while stools designed by Faye Toogood are upholstered in bright satin, providing relief from the plain concrete surfaces.

Garments can be hung from simple black railings that run along the perimeter of the store or suspended from discrete hooks that protrude from the walls.

Bespoke pieces of furniture constructed from metal mesh are used to display items such as shoes and jewellery.

A concrete catwalk spans the length of the store, providing opportunities for fashion shows and events, while white animal sculptures are dotted around the edges of the space.

A chandelier made from bare light bulbs hangs from the ceiling. Elsewhere, angled spotlights are combined with suspended strip lights to add to the store’s raw aesthetic.

The final addition is an in-store bakery serving tea, coffee and desserts made by food design collective Arabeschi di Latte, who Studio Toogood previously collaborated with on an installation where participants were served black food at midnight in a darkened apartment.

Other projects we’ve featured by Studio Toogood include a bar where guests selected wine by smelling scented totem poles and an installation featuring boxes decorated with multi-coloured electrical tape.

See all our stories about Studio Toogood »
See more retail interiors »

Here’s a description from Studio Toogood:

Studio Toogood’s design for the new Mahani – Dubai’s first concept store – is an antidote to the polished slickness of modern retail in the Emirates.

The walls and fittings of the store – which opened in May 2013 – are cast in raw concrete, creating a neutral, Modernist-inspired environment to showcase the fashion-forward collections on sale.

The ascetic qualities of the space are offset by subtle touches of femininity, including richly coloured drapes and satin upholstery on bespoke pieces designed by Faye Toogood; meanwhile, a series of animal sculptures add a playful element.

Mahani’s in-store “bakery” serves tea, coffee and sweet treats by food designers Arabeschi di Latte, while a dedicated catwalk area running the length of the boutique allows for exclusive shows by cutting-edge and emerging designers.

The interplay of Studio Toogood’s monolithic modern interior with the soft femininity of the directional clothes makes Mahani an exciting, exclusive and distinctive new fashion destination in Dubai.

The post Mahani by
Studio Toogood appeared first on Dezeen.

The crew at mediabistroTV took their cameras inside the multiple-floored space occupied by Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal in Midtown Manhattan’s News Corporation building.

Hosted by Wendy Bounds,Wall Street Journal editor and host of WSJ’s video offering “Lunch Break,” the guys were greeted by one of the legendary standing receptionists, got as close to a Pulitzer Prize as they’re ever going to get, took a color-toned glimpse into the paper’s past with wall sized silkscreens of old newsroom photos and managed not to end up as gossip fodder on the twitter page of the lobby’s chandelier.

You can view our other MediabistroTV productions on our YouTube Channel.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

The curved plasterwork of typical Mediterranean architecture influenced the smooth white interior of this store for skin and haircare brand Aesop in London’s Covent Garden.

Aesop Covent Garden is the fifth store by French studio Ciguë. The team designed shelves and surfaces with naturally chamfered edges, just like in the old houses of Greece, Spain and Italy.

“We did a residential project for a family in Paris and the staircase was in traditional plaster,” designer Hugo Haas told Dezeen. “I thought this finish would make a really beautiful concept for Aesop.”

The shelves are loosely laid out in seven different zones, for displaying each of Aesop’s product ranges, while the sink and countertop run along one wall.

The floor is covered with hexagonal green tiles that are engraved with geometric patterns. “We wanted something in contrast, to find a balance,” said Haas.

This hexagonal motif is also picked up elsewhere, including on the perforations in the sink’s plughole.

“It’s possible you don’t notice it, and it’s ok,” said Haas, “but I like the feeling when you notice it. It was all about developing a formal language.”

A custom-made lamp is suspended from the ceiling, built using industrial fixtures from the 1920s, while plants frame an extra window at the rear of the space.

Ciguë’s past projects for Aesop include a Paris store where items are displayed on rows of hand-made iron nails and a north London shop modelled on a 1930s medical laboratory. See more design by Ciguë »

Dezeen interviewed Aesop founder Dennis Paphitis last year about why no two stores have the same design. “I was horrified at the thought of a soulless chain,” he said.

Other Aesop stores have been designed by well-known architects and designers, from Japanese architect Jo Nagasaka to London designer Ilse Crawford and American architect William O’Brien Jr. See more Aesop stores on Dezeen »

Here’s some more information from Aesop:

Aesop opens in Covent Garden

A hand-crafted space that honours the art of plastering

London recently welcomed its sixth Aesop signature store, in Covent Garden.

This fresh collaboration with Parisian architects Ciguë began with four key design references: a Virginia Woolf quote, a Francis Bacon painting, a Henry Moore sculpture, and an excerpt from Beauty and the Beast. These inspired a space that eloquently expresses the brand, just as it embodies Ciguë’s philosophy: ‘We are very curious about history, and very attentive to transformations. We look out for old know-how and poetry in functionality.’

The brilliantly whitewashed walls reflect abundant natural light, which warms during the afternoon in step with neighbouring pubs. Exposed copper plumbing and light fixtures offer utilitarian adornment. A floor of engraved green cement tiles pays homage to the area’s Italianate piazza – London’s first open square, constructed in the seventeenth century. The colour is replicated in lush vegetation which climbs the walls from an interior window box, complementing the neighbouring gardens of Saint Paul’s Church.

The post Aesop Covent Garden
by Ciguë appeared first on Dezeen.