Hasta La Ideas

Italian architect Andrea Paoletti has completed the interior of a workspace in Rovereto, Italy, that’s shared by entrepreneurs from a variety of fields.

Paoletti retained the white wooden ceilings and brick walls of the former gallery, adding second hand and custom-made scrap wood furniture by Rossoscuro Design and Lab Enredadera.

A lounge and meeting room are located beneath brick arches in the basement.

The Hub Rovereto is part of a social enterprise that spans 25 cities around the world, providing work spaces, facilities and connections between entrepreneurs.

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Photographs are by Francesco Pernigo.

The following information is from the architect:

The Hub Rovereto by Andrea Paoletti/UUUSHH

The Hub offers inspired places for meeting, working, learning, creating, and connecting. For their Headquarters in Rovereto, architect Andrea Paoletti/UUUSHH transformed an art gallery into an unique space that combines the best design and functional elements of a member’s club, an innovation agency, a serviced office, and a think-tank, creating a distinct kind of innovation environment.

The Hub Rovereto reflects invention, innovation, and entrepreneurship. The architect remained sensitive to the building’s historical architecture and overlaid contrasting aesthetics. The white wooden ceiling and the rustic brick walls were the base to create new inspiring spaces. Mixed work-stations gather people in new fluid configurations with an essential quality to let ideas flow.

Space can be a tool to fuel the creative process by encouraging and discouraging specific behaviors/actions and by creating venues for emotional expression and physical negotiation – the space is designed to build excitement for members and inspire creativity in their work.

The Hub is a timeshare workspace that can be converted into a social and cultural meeting area. To design the space, the architect used a method called Co-Design to define the multifarious and participatory approach. This approach acknowledges complexity and seeks not to simplify process and outcome but to explore the set of unpredictable and surprising ideas that emerge from combining different inputs.

One feature that unfolded was the strong focus on making people the center of the physical space. The living room was placed in the window to facilitate a visual connection between inside and outside arousing passers-by’s curiousity and inviting them to enter, while more informal meeting areas were incorporated through out the space.

An artistic installation displaying the member’s pictures and profiles frames the entrance. Visitors and members are guided into the space by evocative phrases written on the perimeter walls. Furniture and space design plays a critical (underlying) role in determining how people behave and can have a hugely positive effect on encouraging collaboration. The architect created modular tables to provide flexibility for a variety activities. They can easily be moved to create a larger conference room or a projection area or worked on as individual desks. The table is the tool which expresses the office’s versatility.

The rest of the furniture is recycled, reused and re-invented. Wooden fruit crates, symbol of the large fruit production of the region, have been repurposed as drawers, stools, supports, and coffee tables. A rural brick wall staircase descends into the basement. Here the designers Rossoscuro Design and Lab Enredadera were guided to create a collection of furniture using scrap wood, reclaimed chairs, and recycled textiles for the meeting room and lounge area.

These reinvented new shapes create a kaleidoscopic environment where people can relax in the wonder or be invigorated by the charming chaos. There is a strong relationship between the architect and craftsman, a constant dialogue between the vision and materials to build a more complex, sophisticated, rich and fun cosmos. Each design shows its paradoxical features, combining technique, manual skill, and invention.

Project Name: The Hub Rovereto
Architect: Andrea Paoletti | UUUSHH
Client: The Hub Trentino
Location: Via Valbusa Grande, 2 38068 Rovereto Trento
Gross Area: 160 sqm
Year of Construction: 2010-11

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MiNO by Antonio Ravalli Architetti	Interno Giorno by Teka Studio	No Picnic by Elding Oscarson

With its circular perforations, this staircase in a Budapest house by Croatian architect Biljana Jovanovic resembles a wedge of Swiss cheese.

Aptly named Emmental Stairs, it is located at the centre of the house and hovers just above the floor in the ground floor living room.

Treads are set at alternating angles to relieve the necessary steep incline of the staircase.

Photography is by Gerardo Altemir.

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Here is a description from the designer:

Emmental Stairs

The Emmental stairs was designed for a young creative family with an equisite design taste and an eye for details, and their two children. They were just starting the refurbishment of their apartment and wanted interior stairs that would harmonize with the historic ambiance of the apartment and their aesthetic requirements, but also add an extra touch to their living space.

Since it is centrally located in the apartment, it inevitably had to be treated as the focal points of the space. Its suspended encasement divides living room from dining room and kitchen. It provides certain level of intimacy without isolating these spaces. The circular perforations on the sides let the sunlight seep through, creating surfaces that change the dynamics of the whole interior. The motif for circles was inspired by large windows that another focus point of the apartment. As they remind a lot of holes in cheese, the project was named Emmental Stairs.

Apart from being used for its original function, this “object” features a playful touch for children as well. It is used as an inspirational toy, that boosts their imagination and develops their creativity. Due to technical restraints the slope of the stairs had to be kept quite steep. This was somewhat eased through usage of angled treads that complements the visual effect of the stairs. About designer: Croatian architect and designer living and working in Budapest, HungaryLocation: Budapest, Hungary

Year of completion: 2011
Designer: Biljana Jovanović
Construction: Gergő Markó

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Paris apartment by MAAJ Architectes	Origami Stair by Bell Phillips	House Antero de Quental by Manuel Maia Gomes

Alessi launches its Milan flagship designed by Martí Guixé

For 24 years the house of Alessi in Milan was the store on Corso Matteotti, originally designed by Ettore Sottsass and later renovated by Atelier Mendini. Nevertheless, last week Alessi opened a totally new store conceived by design star Martí Guixé.

The project follows the collaborations for the Shop Museum in Paris and the recent experience of their exhibition at the Triennale Design Museum. Just a short walk from Montenapoleone, the store is located in via Manzoni, close to the metro station La Scala Theatre and the beautiful Poldi Pezzoli Museum.

Divided into four different sections, the space includes a large entrance overlooking Via Manzoni and an area called Museum to display the most sculptural objects in a gallery-like setting. A retail section is reminiscent of the old space, though turned upside down, and “Wunderkammer” hosts new collections and curiosities. Each section has its own strong character, with different lighting systems custom-designed by Guixé himself and produced by Danese.

The predominant colors are glossy red, shiny white and grey, while the materials are mainly aluminum, ceramic, resins and wood. The result is a perfect mixture of Alessi spirit and a design gallery.

In this Dezeen movie London interior designer Linda Morey Smith, one of the judges of the Inside awards, talks about designing the headquarters of drinks brand Red Bull. Watch the movie »

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This Melbourne cafe by French designer Sasufi features a 12 metre-long wall covered in timber offcuts.

Tabletops at the Slowpoke Cafe are made from recycling floorboards and other furniture was sourced from local flea markets.

Wider blocks protruding from the wooden wall above each table create shelves for condiments.

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The following information is from Sasufi:

Slowpoke Cafe by Sasufi

Anne-Sophie Poirier is a French born and Melbourne based designer working under the name of Sasufi. She has recently completed the interior design and identity for Slowpoke Espresso, a café located in one of Melbourne’s most popular suburb, Fitzroy.

The budget being very small, it was a challenge to give the space a cozy feel and a strong identity while not having much money to do so.

The 12 meters long feature wall was created from timber offcuts collected from a variety of local furniture makers who use recycled timber themselves.

The variety of timbers species enhances the depth and warmth of the wall, giving a homely feel to the room.

The clean white walls also give the timber elements more prominence in the space.

Every so often a shelf comes out of the wall to display sugar bowls and salt above the tables.

Most building materials (tiles, lamp shades, street sign etc…) were gathered from local flea  markets.

The tables are made of recycled timber floors.

The sign is lite from the inside by a torch lamp that is charged by a connected solar panel sitting on the top of the recycled wooden tool box.

The business cards are made from recycled packaging cardboards, hand cut and then stamped.

The café serves quality organic food and coffee with a smile.

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Hatched by Outofstock	MS café by Wunderteam	Corso Place Franz Liszt by Robert Stadler