Hasta La Ideas

Norm Architects of Denmark used industrial pendant lights, woollen blankets and reclaimed wood to create rustic Scandinavian dining rooms at Höst, a new restaurant in Copenhagen.

Norm Architects collaborated with Danish designers Menu to create the spaces for restaurant brand Cofoco, which has nine other restaurants in the city, each with a unique design and menu.

For Höst, the designers tried to combine traditional Scandinavian cosiness with minimalism, incorporating weathered materials such as recycled wooden planks and pallets.

“The theme has been to transform the feeling of eating outside on a Scandinavian farmyard in rural settings to an urban and more minimalist indoor context,” Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen told Dezeen.

Wooden shelving units screen a private dining area at the back of the restaurant, while reclaimed windows salvaged from an old hospital line the edge of a conservatory.

Dining areas also occupy the basement, where vintage wooden chopping boards hang from the walls and high-back chairs offer more comfortable seating.

The designers created a collection of tableware especially for the restaurant, which includes basic white plates and dishes, alongside blue and grey pieces and slabs of granite.

“We tried to see if we could find a balance where the interior, the dinnerware and the food told the same story, without it being too old-fashioned or too much of a theatrical backdrop,” said Bjerre-Poulsen.

Stools designed by Norm Architects for &tradition sit beside the bar, while small pendant lights are clustered together to create a chandelier in the stairwell.

See also: our recent feature about Copenhagen eatery Noma, the best restaurant in the world, as well as two restaurants at Grand Hotel Stockholm in Sweden by Ilse Crawford.

See more restaurant and bar interiors »

Photography is by Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen.

Here’s some information from Norm Architects:

Höst and New Norm Dinnerware – a symbiotic relation of contrasts Norm Architects and Danish designhouse Menu have joined forces with Copenhagen restaurateurs Cofoco, to create a distinctly urban restaurant with obvious romantic and rural references. Höst is an embodiment of the clash between romanticism and modernity.

A space of multiple stories intertwining and correlating to form an inspirational and aesthetic universe for all senses. An obvious and reoccurring characteristic of both concept and cooperation is the juxtaposition of elements. Höst is rustic gone simplistic. Rural gone urban. Past gone contemporary.

The classic virtues of Nordic cooking have found its contemporary counterpart at Höst. In the kitchen traditional ingredients are combined with the visions characterizing New Nordic Cuisine. And in the restaurant loads of green plants, woollen blankets and the warmth of used wooden planks soften and complement the tight no-nonsense architectural aesthetic so distinct for Norm.

Furthermore, Norm has ventured into sustainable interior design by implementing details such as cut-up Euro-pallets, vintage lamps and even windows from an old hospital. Norm and Menu have designed and produced New Norm Dinnerware exclusively for Höst, and if you dig deep you will find a hidden world of Scandinavian taste. On several levels modernity and interaction become evident in New Norm Dinnerware.

The multitude of parts, materials and colors provides numerous possibilities and expressions, and when you flip over certain parts, you will find an entry to www.newnorm.dk, an online inspirational universe of everything distinctly Scandinavian – from moods and designs to produce and recipes. The juxtapositions found throughout Höst and New Norm Dinnerware serve as the foundation for a symbiotic relation that comes to define what is “New Nordic”: A timeless aesthetic rooted in traditions and driven forward by visions.

The post Höst by Norm Architects
and Menu appeared first on Dezeen.

No, this isn’t the cockpit of the Starship Enterprise, but it is a space-age looking, futuristic vision of the modern kitchen that utilizes the extraordinary properties of HI-MACS acrylic stone. The smooth, 100% non-porous surface is ideal for use in the kitchen. Easy to clean, hygienic and extremely resistant to heat and chemicals, it’s especially suitable for food handling.

Kook Kitchen – The exclusive concept of this kitchen is distinguished by sinuous silhouettes and an entirely innovative ergonomic design, which was made possible due to the unique properties of HI-MACS which proved essential to facilitate the shape and functional requirements of the fab kitchen. The worktop used in the Kook model, which is more than 90 cm deep, allows an improved layout of the hob and sink zones, as well as making it more user-friendly. The starring role of the ambitious project by Karim Rashid, aside from the latest-generation acrylic stone, is light, with LEDs arranged underneath the worktop, which highlight the magenta coloured aluminium groove. There are also LEDs inside the wall unit which illuminate the edge of the glass, giving the kitchen a dramatic appearance.

Karan Kitchen – The concept of Karan on the other hand, is based on an island, with a tapered silhouette, which encourages conviviality. When not in use, the mixer tap and LED light withdraw into the worktop. The simple addition of a multi-purpose chopping board which fits over the sink creates a handy dining area. Soft curves continue on the kitchen’s wall-mounted unit. An opening with rounded edges provides a space for cooking and food preparation within the unit. Owing to the excellent thermoformability properties of HI-MACS®, which make it possible to form the material into an infinite range of shapes, and realise any designer’s dream. Aran Cucine was able to produce, thanks to Karim Rashid’s visionary idea, two exclusive concepts featuring a soft and fluid design, of extraordinary beauty, whilst still adhering to hygiene and production issues.

Designer: Karim Rashid for Aran Cucine

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Yanko Design
Timeless Designs – Explore wonderful concepts from around the world!
Yanko Design Store – We are about more than just concepts. See what’s hot at the YD Store!
(2 Seamless Kitchens by Karim was originally posted on Yanko Design)

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1. Seamless Modularity in a Table
2. Seamless Wear of the Future
3. Seamless Bathroom Concept

Translucent polycarbonate sheets screen off the kitchen and office of this baking school in Seoul (+ slideshow).

Una’s Kitchen is a baking studio in Chungdamdong, Seoul, that offers classes taught by the owner and chef, Una.

South Korean interior designers Nordic Bros. Design Community used double layers of polycarbonate fixed to thin black frames to screen off the kitchen and office while allowing light to penetrate the room.

The angular table stretching across the teaching area is over four metres long and only one centimetre thick, and has a shiny gold tabletop.

Above the table are hanging pendant lamps made from black top hats.

Earlier this year we featured a high-tech cooking workshop in Spain for a Michelin-starred chef and a culinary centre in San Sebastián with metallic gold facades.

Polycarbonate walls have also appeared in a number of projects we’ve featured lately, including a house in Japan with an upper storey made of polycarbonate sheds and an elevated extension to an indoor running track at a gym in the Czech Republic.

See all our stories about interiors »
See all our stories from South Korea »

Photographs are by Nordic Bros. Design Community

Here’s some more information from the architects:

Baking studio Una’s Kitchen is located in Chungdamdong, Seoul, as a contemporary space based on black and white. The owner/chef planned the space to share tasty food with beloved people and the space is full of the client’s emotion entirely.

The 70 sq m space is not only divided into kitchen, office and studio but also connected by the transparent Double-Wall Polycarbonate. The boomerang-formed studio table(to a thickness of a centimetre, 4.2 metres long in length) located in centre of studio is based on black and white with the classic colour, gold.

Una’s Kitchen, based on black, white and gold, shows canvas and object including the intention of owner/chef, majoring in sculpture from art school in Hongik University and the space designer.

Location: 62-3 3F Nao Bldg.,Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Client: Una’s Kitchen
Architect: Nordic Bros. Design Community | Shin Yong-Hwan

Use: Baking Studio
Design Period: 2012. 9. 28 – 10. 13
Construction period: 2012. 11.17 – 26
Size: 70 sq m

The post Una’s Kitchen by
Nordic Bros. Design Community appeared first on Dezeen.

Cornices are commonly used to decorate the junctions between walls and ceilings, but at the new Boston shop for skin and haircare brand Aesop, cornices cover the walls and form shelves for the brand’s signature brown bottles.

Designed by architect and university professor William O’Brien Jr, the Aesop Newbury Street’s interior was inspired by the nineteenth century ornamental architecture that originated in Paris and is common in the neighbourhood.

The oak mouldings are arranged in horizontal rows across each of the walls, as well as along the edges of the counter.

“The display shelves are formed through the accumulation of several different custom crown mouldings to produce an unexpected texture, one that defamiliarises the moulding and transforms its role from an architectural element that conventionally highlights edges to an element that produces a rich and varied surface texture,” explained O’Brien Jr.

A staircase leads down into the store from the entrance and features a wrought iron balustrade with an oak handrail.

Like all of Aesop’s stores, a wash basin is included, while reclaimed oak covers the floors.

Aesop regularly commissions designers to come up with unique concepts for its stores. Others we’ve featured recently include a London shop modelled on a medical laboratory and a Paris shop with iron nails for shelves.

See all our stories about Aesop »

Here’s some more information from Aesop:

Aesop takes pleasure in announcing the opening of its first Boston signature store at 172 Newbury Street, Back Bay. Nineteenth-century planners fashioned this borough to be the ‘ornament of the city’, inspired and influenced by Hausmann’s redesign of Paris. The impressive architectural legacy is richly reinterpreted in the new store.

For the interior, William O’Brien Jr., Assistant Professor of Architecture at Boston’s MIT School of Architecture, recast several historic design elements deeply characteristic of the area. The space is dressed in a combination of new and reclaimed antique white oak – the former used for highly articulated display shelves, the latter for flooring. The ingeniously conceived shelving is formed through the accumulation of several different custom crown moldings – a shift from colonial ornamentation to contemporary functionality that defamiliarises and transforms, producing a rich and varied surface texture.

The entry stair presents a delicate balustrade of wrought iron bars topped by an ornamental white oak rail that effects a second form of defamiliarisation – here, as a tactile experience. As its profile twists on descent, the rail announces via the hand a gentle transition from the exterior bustle of Newbury Street to a calming and intimate environment that characterises the spirit of Aesop.

The post Aesop Newbury Street
by William O’Brien Jr. appeared first on Dezeen.

An ancient Chinese courtyard garden tucked away in the hutongs of Beijing provides the setting for seasonal installations at curated design shop WUHAO.

Founder and curator Isabelle Pascal, who discovered the run-down complex and renovated the buildings and gardens in 2010, told Dezeen that she developed the idea and the space “to give young designers and brands a platform” to present their work.

The concept of the shop and installations centres around the five Chinese elements: wood, fire, earth, metal and water.

Each of these elements is associated with a season, so the space is transformed every three months to provide a fresh setting and the opportunity to showcase new and different designs.

Spring is associated with wood, summer is symbolised by fire, autumn is represented by metal and winter relates to water, whereas earth signifies the transition periods between the seasons.

The metamorphosis is most apparent in the entrance space, which is completely overhauled with different colours, materials and products to embody the current season and element.

From the entrance pavilion, a circular opening leads through to a terraced garden where furniture and other weather-resistant designs are displayed.

The garden is flanked to the east and west by showrooms in traditional brick buildings, which house collections by designers.

The main pavilion to the north of the garden contains an archaic, semi-enclosed bed at the core of the complex, which is also redecorated each season and is used to display featured designers’ work.

Collections on show include Naihan Li’s crates that fold-out to become furniture, which we featured as part of our Beijing Design Week 2011 coverage.

WUHAO created a pop-up teahouse for Beijing Design Week 2011 wherevisitors were served tea at a heat-sensitive colour-changing table – read our story about it here.

See all our stories about retail »
See all our stories about Beijing »

Here is some more information from WUHAO:

“5 elements – 4 seasons – 1 collection”
Retail – Events – Cross Branding – Limited Editions

Born from Isabelle Pascal’s enthusiasm for the “5 elements” of Chinese philosophy, as well as the energy found in the Chinese creative scene, WUHAO is a holistic project that mixes design, fashion, products, visions and insights. A young, fresh-thinking platform, it aims to showcase and foster the most talented and eco-conscious designers, brands and talents from China and abroad.

Created in spring 2010 in the heart of Beijing, WUHAO recently celebrated its second-year cycle. It is situated between Houhai Lake and Lama Temple, and is a quick walk from bustling Nanluoguxiang – in a unique, peaceful atmosphere.

As a young company, WUHAO is constantly involved in retail, events, cross branding and limited edition work including nurturing six young, upcoming Chinese designers (Xiao Tianyu, Su Chunrong, Zheng Haichen, Wang Kaichuan, Wang Hao, Zhang Cheng) and providing them with the opportunity to showcase their talent to the world. These designers’ works are now available as part of WUHAO’s collection.

Hidden beyond the red doors of Mao’er Hutong 35, Wuhao Curated-Shop Beijing is WUHAO’s first temporary display box. Each season, there are eye-catching installations and new displays for a unique selection of products. It is always striving to provide guests with a unique experience.

Catering to an eclectic community of both Chinese and foreign, global and local, WUHAO holds a contemporary vision of the traditional Chinese garden and has been quoted by Wallpaper* magazine as one of the “20 terrific reasons to visit China”. Starting with only 15 designers in 2010, WUHAO today is now working with a growing network of over 100 Chinese and international creatives.

Moved by its inner dynamic, WUHAO traveled in 2011 to Milan Furniture Fair with designers Xiao Tianyu and Wang Hao, accepted more and more invitations to develop partnerships, and teamed up with young talents such as Huo Yi Jin to create exclusive products. WUHAO’s Dunhuang-inspired wallpaper – a long-term collaboration with Nick Wu – was awarded ‘Best Wall Covering Design’ by ELLE Decoration’s International Design Awards China.

WUHAO also set up site-specific installations with designers Li Nai Han, INNOVO/PINWU and MPMP, developed side car moto tours with Beijing Sideways and emerged via pop up projects.

A notable example is WUHAO @ The Teahouse, created especially for Beijing Design Week 2011 in partnership with Tranquil Tuesdays. The temporary Dashilar space was featured in more than 65 media outlets, providing a new opportunity to spread WUHAO’s unique spirit from the walls of the Chinese garden to the design world. With 2 years of existence, 2 cycles, 8 installations, WUHAO less secret but still exclusive is now ready with its partners to broaden horizons and embark on new adventures.

The post WUHAO Curated Shop
by Isabelle Pascal appeared first on Dezeen.