Hasta La Ideas

Casa Lever is a feast for the senses. Tucked inside Gordon Bunshaft‘s eternally modern Lever House in midtown Manhattan, the restaurant features a beehive-gone-nautical interior dreamed up by Marc Newson, a fit-for-Fellini brand identity by Matteo Bologna and the gang at Mucca Design (don’t miss the wine list, studded with lovely and informative maps!), and, for dessert, a mind-blowing gianduia that suggests Nutella as reimagined by a band of pastry-loving cherubs. And then there are the Warhols.

Thanks to a lending arrangement with Lever House owner Aby Rosen and his Lever House Art Collection, Casa Lever patrons dine with a wall of Warhol portraits: a pair of Hitchcock profiles here, twin Jerry Halls there, the sassy Aretha that covered Ms. Franklin’s eponymous 1986 album–and proved to be Warhol’s last work–eyeing the exit. It’s always fun to play a round of “Which would you like to own?” while waiting for your ravioli di brasoto (or your third gianduia, as the case may be) to arrive, in which case one’s eyes are inevitably pulled to the rear of the restaurant, where the elevated private dining room–aglow with the best Warhols of the bunch–floats behind a Newsonian trapezoid of glass. Until recently, that’s where they kept the pair of pastel Dennis Hoppers from 1971, which stared down a couple of Giorgio Armani portraits in which the blue-eyed designer resembles a debonair Siberian husky.

As of today, there’s a new girl in town: Judy Garland. The recently acquired Judys (above), made by Warhol in 1978 and circa 1979, debuted today in the private dining room. They are best admired in the company of a newly created “Judy Garland” cocktail. Casa Lever “mixologist” Cristina Bini‘s commemorative blend of bourbon whisky, barolo chinato, mint essence, and absinthe is sure to take you somewhere over the rainbow in no time. “Edie [Sedgwick] and Judy had something in common–a way of getting everyone totally involved in their problems. When you were around them, you forgot you had problems of your own, you got so involved in theirs,” Warhol once said. “They had dramas going right around the clock, and everybody loved to help them through it all. Their problems made them even more attractive.”

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The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is set to reopen next week following a ten-year restoration and extension programme led by Spanish office Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos (+ slideshow).

Above: the Atrium, photographed by Pedro Pegenaute

Working alongside French architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte and restoration architect Van Hoogevest, Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos has overhauled the interior of the historic arts and crafts museum, which was designed by architect Pierre Cuypers in the late nineteenth century. As well as restoring galleries to their original configuration, the architects have created a new entrance hall and added a pavilion to showcase Asian artworks.

Above: the Atrium, photographed by Pedro Pegenaute

The entrance hall, named the Atrium, replaces a series of gallery extensions in the museum’s two inner courtyards.

Above: the Atrium, photographed by Pedro Pegenaute

A rib-vaulted passageway divided the space in two, so the architects have lowered the floor to create an underground zone linking the two sides from underneath. As the main route through the building, this passageway was then reconnected to the hall with a set of new staircases.

Above: the passageway, photographed by Pedro Pegenaute

The architects have installed a new glass roof to enclose the grand triple-height court, filled with natural light. Polished Portuguese stone covers the floor, while two rectangular chandelier-like structures are suspended overhead on each side.

Above: Gallery of Honour, photographed by Iwan Baan

Elsewhere in the museum, lowered ceilings and half-storeys have been removed to rationalise the layout of the Rijksmuseum‘s 80 galleries, which have been completely reorganised. Only Rembrandt’s seventeenth-century painting The Night Watch remains in its original position, in the dedicated Night Watch Gallery.

Above: Rijksmuseum, photographed by Iwan Baan

New display areas are designed by Jean-Michel Wilmotte to look invisible where possible and include cases made from anti-reflective glass and simple rectangular plinths. Walls are finished in five different shades of grey, in line with Cuypers’ original palette.

Above: The Night Watch Gallery, photographed by Iwan Baan

Under the supervision of Van Hoogevest, the terrazzo floor has been restored in the Great Hall, while additional ornaments have been revitalised in the Gallery of Honour and within the stairwells.

Above: 17th Century Gallery, photographed by Iwan Baan

The new Asian Pavilion is located to the south of the building and features walls of stone and glass. It is surrounded by water and sits within redesigned gardens by Dutch landscape architects Copijn Landschapsarchitecten.

Above: 17th Century Gallery, photographed by Iwan Baan

A number of historic museums have been given a facelift in recent years. Also in Amsterdam, Benthem Crouwel Architects recently added a sink-like extension to the Stedelijk Museum, while David Chipperfield won the Mies van der Rohe Award for his 2009 renovation of the Neues Museum in Berlin. See more museums on Dezeen.

Above: 20th Century Gallery, photographed by Iwan Baan

Here’s some more information about the opening:

Rijksmuseum to open following ten-year transformation

The Rijksmuseum will open on 13 April 2013, following a ten-year transformation. Never before has a national museum undergone such a complete transformation of both its building and the presentation of its collection.

Spanish architecture firm Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos has spectacularly transformed the 19th-century building into a museum for the 21st century, with a bright and spacious entrance, a new Asian Pavilion and beautifully restored galleries. Under the guidance of restoration architect Van Hoogevest, the lavish decoration scheme of Pierre Cuypers, the original architect of the museum, has been fully reconstructed in a number of the museum’s key spaces. Parisian architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte designed the new interior of the galleries, fusing 19th-century grandeur with modern design.

The presentation of the Rijksmuseum’s world-famous collection is also new. For the very first time, visitors can follow a chronological journey through the collection, and experience the sense of beauty and time this offers. In a sequence of 80 galleries, 8,000 objects tell the story of 800 years of Dutch art and history. Only Rembrandt’s masterpiece The Night Watch will be returning to its original position.

The renovation and opening of the Rijksmuseum is made possible by founder Philips and main sponsors BankGiro Lottery, ING and KPN. The restoration of the Cuypers colours is made possible by AKZONobel/Sikkens.

Above: 18th Century Gallery, photographed by Iwan Baan

Journey through time, from the Middle Ages to Mondrian

The new presentation of the Rijksmuseum collection is a journey through Dutch art and history from the Middle Ages and Renaissance until the 20th century. The story of the Netherlands has been set in an international context and is told chronologically across four separate floors. Paintings, prints, drawings, photographs, silver, porcelain, delftware, furniture, jewellery, arms, fashion and objects from Dutch history will be presented together for the very first time.

More than 30 galleries are dedicated to the glory of the Golden Age, when the young mercantile republic led the world in trade, science, military exploits and the arts. At the heart of the museum will be the magnificently restored Gallery of Honour, presenting world-famous masterpieces by Vermeer, Rembrandt, Frans Hals and Jan Steen. The Gallery of Honour leads visitors to the dedicated space that architect Cuypers created for Rembrandt’s The Night Watch in the late 19th century, and where this huge masterpiece can once again be admired.

New to the presentation are the 20th century galleries. Paintings, furniture, photography, film and an aeroplane paint a picture of Dutch culture from the last century.

Above: 18th Century Gallery, photographed by Iwan Baan

Special Collections

The Special Collections are also displayed separately for the first time. Here, visitors will be able to discover famous and unexpected objects from the applied arts, science and national history, such as ship and navy models, musical instruments, and an armoury.

Above: Cuypers Library, photographed by Iwan Baan

New acquisitions and restorations

With the support of businesses, funds and private donors, hundreds of new objects and works of art have been acquired over the last ten years, of which more than 100 will be showcased in the museum when it reopens. The Rijksmuseum was also able to carefully study and restore almost the entire collection of works featured in the new presentation. Highlights among the new acquisitions include:

The ‘Golden Bend’ in the Herengracht (1671-72) by Gerrit Berckheyde, one of the highlights of the Dutch landscape genre from the Golden Age. Acquired with the support of Royal Dutch Shell, the National Art Collections Fund foundation and the BankGiro Lottery.

The Burgomaster of Delft and his Daughter (1655) by Jan Steen, one of the masterpieces of the 17th century collection. Acquired with the support of the BankGiro Lottery, The Mondrian Fund, VSB, Vereniging Rembrandt and National Art Collections Fund foundation.

A rare white armchair (1923) by Dutch designer and architect Gerrit Rietveld. With the support of the BankGiro Lottery Fund.

Two-metre high wooden sculptures of celestial warriors from Japan, temple guardians from the 14th century. With the support of the BankGiro Lottery Fund, the M.J. Drabbe Fund, The Mondrian Foundation and Vereniging Rembrandt.

Above: Great Hall, photographed by Jannes Linders

Cuypers for the 21st century

The main building of the Rijksmuseum has undergone a spectacular transformation. The lead architect for the renovation was Seville-based architecture firm Cruz y Ortiz. They based their ideas on the original design by Pierre Cuypers, the 19th-century architect of the museum. Under the motto Cuypers for the 21st century, and in close collaboration with Dutch restoration architect Van Hoogevest, the architects have turned the 19th-century national monument into a modern museum for the 21st century, restoring and introducing light and space. Cruz y Ortiz have opened up the previously converted inner courtyards into an impressive glass-covered new entrance hall, known as the Atrium. The original, richly decorated walls and ceilings have been revealed again in a number of places under the guidance of architect Van Hoogevest. The French architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte, known for his work in the Louvre, is responsible for the design of the Rijksmuseum galleries. He has designed elegant display cases, plinths, lighting and furniture, and has selected an interior colour scheme inspired by Pierre Cuypers’ palette for the building.

Above: Gallery of Honour, photographed by Iwan Baan

The new Asian Pavilion

Surrounded by water, the new Asian Pavilion is made from Portuguese stone and glass, and is characterised by many oblique surfaces and unusual sightlines. It houses the museum’s rich collection of Asian art from China, Japan, Indonesia, India, Vietnam and Thailand, dating from 2000 B.C. to 2000 A.D. A total of approximately 350 objects will be on display.

New “outdoor museum”

Based on Cuypers’ 1901 design, the Rijksmuseum gardens’ new layout was created by Dutch garden and landscape architecture firm Copijn. The gardens feature several of the original formal garden styles, as well as classical statues, and fragments and ornaments of historic buildings. A fountain, a water artwork designed by Jeppe Hein, a 19th-century greenhouse with ‘forgotten’ vegetables, and a children’s garden with playground equipment by Dutch designer Aldo van Eyck will soon be added to this “outdoor museum”. A Henry Moore exhibition will open in the new gardens on 21 June 2013, the first in a series of international sculpture exhibitions to be held each year.

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and Jean-Michel Wilmotte appeared first on Dezeen.

This movie tours the interior of New York penthouse apartment Skyhouse, which contains a quadruple-height living room, columns with climbing treads and a tubular steel slide that plunges down from the attic.

Architect David Hotson and interior designer Ghislaine Viñas collaborated on the renovation, which involved restructuring the uppermost storeys of a late nineteenth century tower in lower Manhattan to accommodate a family residence.

The movie shows how the rooms of the apartment are connected to one another with indoor balconies and a faceted stairwell, but that residents can also climb up one of the existing steel columns or glide down using the two-stage slide.

The apartment was completed earlier this year – see more images of Skyhouse in our earlier story or see more buildings with indoor slides.

The movie was produced by Build Pictures. Still photography is by David Hotson.

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and Ghislaine Viñas appeared first on Dezeen.

Japanese architect Jo Nagasaka has stripped an office in south-west Tokyo back to the concrete to create a fashion boutique that looks more like an abandoned warehouse for Japanese brand EEL (+ slideshow).

Nagasaka, of Schemata Architecture Office, explains that he associates garments with uncomfortable warmth, so wanted to design a cool interior that counteracts this feeling. “I wanted to make the background as calm as possible,” he explains.

Rather than adding new elements to the space, most of the renovation involved peeling away unnecessary layers and sanding down rough surfaces.

“Our construction process was mostly subtraction,” he says. “We intend to leave this space somewhat incomplete and when clothes are set in place it will be complete.”

The architects removed the carpet of the old office and sanded down the exposed floor to create a smooth surface. They also pulled down a suspended ceiling to reveal lighting fixtures, electric cables and ventilation pipes.

Bookshelves and large boxes made from lauan plywood are scattered around the room as display areas for folded garments and accessories. Other hang from welded stainless-steel racks or from cables strung across the ceiling.

A wall of concrete blocks separates the shop floor from storage areas at the back, while a glass partition creates a small meeting room to one side.

Jo Nagasaka launched Schemata Architecture Office in 1998 and has since worked on a number of shop interiors, as well as residential projects, office interiors and furniture design. Past projects include Paco, a house contained in a three metre cube, and the Tokyo flagship for fashion brand Takeo Kikuchi. See more design by Schemata Architecture Office on Dezeen.

Photography is by Takumi Ota.

Here’s a project description from Jo Nagasaka:

EEL Nakameguro

Creating a sense of ‘incompleteness’ was the key to our design. In my mind clothes are associated with warmth of human body, sometimes that feeling gets too intense and uncomfortably hot. This is why I wanted to make the background as calm as possible.

We intend to leave this space somewhat incomplete and when clothes are set in place it will be complete. So our construction process was mostly ‘subtraction’, that is, dismantling, peeling, and scraping unnecessary layers, except for a few ‘additional’ elements.

The site was formerly used as office space. For the floor, we peeled off the existing carpet and sanded exposed mortar undercoat thoroughly to make it perfectly horizontal and ‘super-flat’.

As a result we created unique random mosaic pattern. In some places aggregates are revealed, and in other places finer particles cover up the surface.

We also removed all the finishing materials – paint, baseboard, insulation etc. – from walls and ceiling, and hidden surface of concrete that is unfinished and not ready for public viewing is now exposed. By reversing the construction process, a state of ‘incompleteness’ reappears.

Display fixtures are also constructed halfway and left at a state of ‘incompleteness’. Stainless steel mirror and frame are welded for assembly and we left the weld joint unpolished, so it creates interesting patterns on the surface.

Hanging racks are made of anti-corrosive coated steel pipes. Surface coating is removed at joints then they are welded together. And we erase burnt traces of welding but leave steel surface unpainted.

Wooden boxes, used as display base, are made of lauan wood. It is a kind wood usually used for underlay, but we leave it unpainted. These unfinished elements reinforce our design concept of ‘incompleteness’.

Other elements are added to this space: glass partition wall, fitting room, concrete block masonry wall separating shop and back room, and a thick steel tension cable that is used to hang clothes, lighting fixtures and electrical wiring for lighting. When the final design element clothes are displayed, the space is complete.

Title: EEL Nakameguro
Architects: Jo Nagasaka／Schemata Architects
Address: Higashiyama Meguro, Tokyo
Usage: Apparel shop

Construction: TANK
Floor area: 123m²
Structure: RC
Completion: 02/2013

Above: floor plan – click for larger image

Above: ceiling plan – click for larger image

Above: section A-A’ – click for larger image

Above: section B-B’ – click for larger image

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Schemata Architecture Office appeared first on Dezeen.

Architects Francesco Di Gregorio and Karin Matz used spotty tiles, blue rope and pine to convert the hayloft of an old thatched farmhouse into an apartment on the small island of Föhr in Germany (+ slideshow).

The clients had already been living on the floor below but wanted to convert the attic to make room for their growing family, so the architects were brought into turn the old storage area into a liveable space with two additional bedrooms.

Francesco Di Gregorio and Karin Matz, who combined their studios in 2011, were keen to incorporate the Friesian heritage of the island into the interior. “The space is very much influenced by the place – its history, traditions and nature,” Matz told Dezeen.

She continued: “In the traditional houses at least one wall in the dining rooms would be covered in patterned tiles, as a way of showing wealth. Since we wanted to bring light into the house, we thought that tiles would be a great reflective material and at the same time something so present in all Friesan houses.”

The architects thus lined selected walls with over 3000 ceramic tiles. Each tile has an hole drilled into its centre, revealing the bright blue adhesive behind and creating a grid of pale blue polkadots.

“We never aimed to make the space feel modern,” added Matz, “but being an attic space we had the possibility to give the client an additional space which was very different from the old flat they have below.”

Blue cables suspended between the floor and ceiling form a balustrade around a staircase leading up from the ground floor.

Once inside, residents are faced with a long L-shaped living and dining room, with bedrooms and a kitchen lined up at the back.

Pale pine boards are used for flooring and kitchen furniture, plus more pine lines the walls of the bedrooms, where is has been painted in a vivid shade of turquoise.

Other recently completed apartments include a London residence where a staircase merges with a kitchen counter and a 1970s-inspired beach apartment in France. See more apartment design on Dezeen.

Photography is by Francesco Di Gregorio.

Here’s some extra information from the architects:

Föhr

The project is located on Föhr, a small island in the North Sea. In the village of Alkersum, inside a former hay storage of a traditional farmhouse, we redefine the whole space with a wood structure covered by 3,200 tiles, each with a hand-made circular hole, 500 mt of polypropylene blue rope and treated pine wood.

Due to its geographical location, Föhr is very much in the hands of natural forces. The area has a big tide. When the water is low you walk over to other islands. It is a flat island where 60% of the island is under sea level. To protect the island man made grass-walls surrounds half of the island. Still, every autumn when the big storm-floods arrive, the island go on alert. 1634 an enormous flood erased most of the houses on the island and reshaped the map. It is a though climate for permanent inhabitants; at the same time the island changes completely in the summer months when the population raise from 8500 to 40,000 due to tourism.

Föhr is an island belonging to Germany but first and foremost to Nordfriesland. The Friesians have their own language and culture. In the 17th century a school of navigation was founded on Föhr and many people became sea captains sailing on Asia and North America. Sailing on other countries brought back the tradition of ceramics and tiles from Asia. Being rich was to have as many painted Friesian tiles as possible on your dining room walls.

Wood used inside was painted in Friesian colors, which are different nuances of blue-green. Beds were traditionally in bed-boxes. Houses were always in brick with thatched roofs. The rooms were small, dark and all the same size.

The space as been re-opened by taking down all dividing walls except for the ones surrounding the bathroom. A new volume is added which becomes the central wall going through and unifying the space.

It is covered in ceramic tile with a simple pattern given by the blue cement holding them. Light is brought through the reflective ceramics and the translucent doors. Threads frame the staircase creating a transparent threshold. The bedrooms are dark bed-boxes, private like nests.

Often you only realize after what it is that you have done; we returned in the summer and we realize what we had build. A stranded ship.

Year: 2012
Client: Private
Location: Alkersum – Föhr – Germany
Project: Francesco Di Gregorio & Karin Matz

Construction: NCE Bygg AB
Electrician: Jörg Kottke dba Elektro Kottke
Plants: Heizungsbau Domeyer
Built area: 85 sqm
Status: Built

Above: floor plan – click for larger image

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and Francesco Di Gregorio appeared first on Dezeen.