August 2022 Archives - Interior Design https://interiordesign.net/issues/august-2022/ The leading authority for the Architecture & Design community Tue, 09 Aug 2022 21:03:46 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.0.1 https://interiordesign.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/ID_favicon.png August 2022 Archives - Interior Design https://interiordesign.net/issues/august-2022/ 32 32 4 Sensorial Retail Locales Around the Globe https://interiordesign.net/projects/retail-design-around-the-globe/ Wed, 03 Aug 2022 18:04:26 +0000 https://interiordesign.net/?post_type=id_project&p=199437 These four futuristic stores from around the globe show that modern clothing retailers are not looking back.

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shiny chrome accents are throughout the Hug concept store in Chengdu, China by Atmosphere Architects
Photography by Chuan He / Here Space.

4 Sensorial Retail Locales Around the Globe

These four futuristic stores from around the globe show that modern clothing retailers are not looking back.

David Chipperfield Architects

Akris, Washington

The prototype of the Swiss fashion brand’s new store concept, this 2,300-square-foot boutique references Bruno Munari’s tensile spatial structures to reduce all display elements to the minimum. Ergo, a system of taut cables supports shelves and hangers so that the clothing and accessories appear to be magically suspended within a neutral architectural box of maple paneling and limestone flooring.

ROOI Design & Research

KIKS Beijing

For the redesign of the 1,300-square-foot multibrand streetwear store, physical and conceptual coherence was introduced with a solar system–like layout that emphasizes the retailer’s gravitational pull on producers and consumers alike. A central architectural element comprising monolithic curved walls clad in green marble or stainless steel is encircled by hanging clothes racks, shoe display cases, and moveable partitions like planets orbiting the KIKS sun.

Carolina Maluhy + Partners

Cris Barros, Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Marking a 15-year-plus relationship between the Brazilian fashion brand and the London and São Paulo–based designer, the 4,300-square-foot boutique features sinuous curves, natural materials, a creamy palette, and such handmade pieces as the wooden totems on which Frida Não Late’s ceramic sculptures display jewelry. Generously scaled portals connect the four rooms, which include a soaring space with a pebble-lined pool and a luminous cupola ceiling.

Atmosphere Architects

Hug concept store, Chengdu, China

For this fashion retailer, which offers a curated collection of independent designers from around the world, an avant-garde yet neutral environment illuminated by shadowless backlit ceilings — think 2001: A Space Odyssey — puts focus on the clothing. Curved elements, geometric grids overhead, and pops of fluorescent color, including the brand’s trademark blue, offset the extensive use of shiny chrome and silver surfaces.

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Chris Bogia’s Candle Sculpture Illuminates Fishers Island, New York https://interiordesign.net/designwire/chris-bogia-sculpture-fishers-island/ Wed, 03 Aug 2022 17:57:18 +0000 https://interiordesign.net/?post_type=id_news&p=199564 Candle, a sculptural installation by mixed-media artist Chris Bogia, is on display on New York's Fishers Island.

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At dusk the “flame” is lit by an internal LED.
At dusk the “flame” is lit by an internal LED. Photo courtesy of Lighthouse Works.

Chris Bogia’s Candle Sculpture Illuminates Fishers Island, New York

Shag carpet, Atari, floral wallpaper, West German pottery, embroidery. These are among the varied influences that have shaped Chris Bogia’s mixed-media sculptures, which masterfully meld the approachable and homespun with a Scandinavian-esque sleekness. Bogia, who recently proclaimed, “I love interiors!” and worked for Todd Oldham during college, is also the cofounder of Fire Island Artist Residency, off Long Island’s southern shore, an experience that may have contributed to his latest installation on another islet—and his first outdoors: Candle on Fishers Island, about 5 miles east of the Connecticut coast.

Bogia was awarded the annual public-art commission from Lighthouse Works, a nonprofit organization celebrating its 10th anniversary that’s devoted to encouraging artist development and Fishers’s year-round cultural enrichment. “In my research, I thought about mid-Atlantic summer communities and their homes clad in shingles and shutters. One of the shutters I discovered had a small cut-out of a candle, which inspired me to think of the candle as a sculpture,” explains the artist. He scaled that motif way up, chose a palette that evokes “the faded colors of well-loved beachwear,” and had it fabricated in aluminum. He then fitted the shaft with an LED so the “flame” is illuminated at night, like a lighthouse.

Bogia grew up in Wilmington, DE, and earned his MFA from Yale in New Haven, CT, but has otherwise spent his adulthood in New York City. He graduated from NYU, where he currently teaches sculpture, has his studio in the South Bronx, and is represented by Mrs., the Queens gallery that just hosted his second solo show. A few blocks north, he’s part of a group exhibition at Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art & Storytelling through August 20. Farther afield, his work is on display at Wasserman Projects in Detroit, also through August 20, and he is currently preparing for a show opening September 3 at Perrotin gallery in Paris.

Commissioned by Lighthouse Works on New York’s Fishers Island, Chris Bogia’s Candle is 13 feet tall
Commissioned by Lighthouse Works on New York’s Fishers Island, Chris Bogia’s Candle is 13 feet tall, made of polyurethane-coated aluminum by Versteeg Art Fabricators, and up through December 15. Photography courtesy of Chris Bogia, Lighthouse Works, and Mrs.
At dusk the “flame” is lit by an internal LED.
At dusk the “flame” is lit by an internal LED. Photography courtesy of Lighthouse Works.
Lantern, 2022, in aluminum, zinc, and glass, is another of Bogia’s outdoor sculptures
Lantern, 2022, in aluminum, zinc, and glass, is another of Bogia’s outdoor sculptures. It was featured in his solo show this summer at Mrs., the Queens gallery that represents him. Photography courtesy of Chris Bogia and Mrs.
His Floating City, 2022, in MDF, lacquer, and painted burlap.
His Floating City, 2022, in MDF, lacquer, and painted burlap. Photography courtesy of Chris Bogia and Mrs.
Bogia’s pieces at the Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art & Storytelling
Bogia’s pieces at the Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art & Storytelling in New York include (in foreground) The Decorator, 2016, in wood, yarn, paint, lacquer, veneer, steal, grass cloth wallpaper, jute rug, and vases; (on the wall) Meditation on a Jonathan Adler Pillow, 2007, in yarn on wood and plastic; and (in background) Big Bonsai, 2019, in wood, steel, plastic, grass cloth wallpaper, lacquer, and jute rug. Photography courtesy of Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art & Storytelling, Mrs., and Timothy Lee Photographers.
His Sun Standers, 2017, in yarn on wood, lacquer, veneer, steel, grass cloth wallpaper, jute rug, vase, and fresh flowers
His Sun Standers, 2017, in yarn on wood, lacquer, veneer, steel, grass cloth wallpaper, jute rug, vase, and fresh flowers is at Wasserman Projects in Detroit. Photography courtesy of Wasserman Projects, Mrs., and PD Rearick.

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Lake Flato Architects and Looney & Associates Head Back to School for This Austin Center https://interiordesign.net/projects/lake-flato-architects-looney-associates-austin/ Wed, 03 Aug 2022 17:52:53 +0000 https://interiordesign.net/?post_type=id_project&p=199422 To build leadership skills in Texas educators, the Holdsworth Center in Austin by Lake Flato Architects and Looney & Associates, arrives.

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an amphitheater with limestone-block seating and a stage
The amphitheater, outfitted with limestone-block seating and a stage with a steel-pipe and wood canopy, is used for classes and private events. Photography by Peter Molick.

Lake Flato Architects and Looney & Associates Head Back to School for This Austin Center

In the 38 years since Interior Design Hall of Fame members David Lake and Ted Flato founded Lake Flato Architects, the practice has tackled every type of project under the Texas sun and beyond. Hotels and restaurants, schools and libraries, museums, a courthouse, wineries, and cool, enviable houses, invariably tied to the land. Yet the Holdsworth Center, a 173,000-square-foot, 15-building compound on 44 acres beside Lake Austin, was like nothing in the studio’s firmament.

“The center is dedicated to developing excellence in leadership for principals and superintendents in the Texas public school system,” explains Lake, who led the project with firm partner Chris Krajcer. It’s part conference center, part hospitality facility, and part educational institution, yet also much more. “There’s nothing like it in the U.S.,” Lake acknowledges. In good part, that’s because there is no one like its benefactor, Charles Butt, CEO of his family-owned H-E-B supermarket chain with some 300 stores throughout the Lone Star State and Mexico. Long passionate about public education, due in good part to his mother, Mary Elizabeth, a teacher and an advocate for social justice, the philanthropist named the center after her.

“It’s complicated,” Krajcer says when asked how Holdsworth works. Representatives from the state’s school districts come to the retreat for a period of time to share ideas and glean knowledge from world-class consultants across business and educational arenas, all in the service of learning about “leadership in anything,” Lake continues. “But we had to figure out what that meant.”

trees hang over a boathouse on a dock
A boathouse serves as a combination classroom and social hub at the Holdsworth Center, an educational-leadership development organization in Austin, Texas, by Lake Flato Architects and Looney & Associates. Photography by Peter Molick.

So, challenge number one was that the project had no program. Research in its development included visits to similarly uncorseted organizations, the Aspen Institute among them. “But they were built over time,” Krajcer notes. “This was built in one fell swoop,” including infrastructure for the grounds. The second challenge? Holdsworth, which had been operating in various places throughout Texas since its 2017 founding, had no site. For 2½ years, Lake, together with Butt, combed some 25 potential Austin locations, until they found the lakeside property.

The site obtained, the architects embarked on a year of programming and design followed by two of construction, all of which cost roughly $200 million. As for buildings and their typ­ologies, the team determined the following: four three-level hotel structures with 45 keys each; a trio of casitas, each containing two apartments to house VIP lecturers and families during their sabbaticals; and a two-level boathouse, with a screened alfresco classroom on the bottom and a social-breakout terrace on top. The V-shape main building, aka the Learning Center, has a full roster of function areas spanning two floors. Classrooms and seminar spaces occupy both, while the ground floor houses reception with a cozy library on one side. On the other, a pre-function zone inspired by hospitality design includes a standout bar capped by a wavy hemlock canopy and a servery with seating (there’s a commercial kitchen in the back). All this is prologue to a vast event-dining space—dynamic, with a shaped ceiling and skylights, it can be divided in two.

Open-sided boardwalks and bridges link the various classrooms.
Open-sided boardwalks and bridges link the various classrooms.

Also populating the site are an amphitheater for outdoor classes, an administrative building, and a fitness center. And what campus doesn’t have its own favorite bar? At Holdsworth, it’s Charlies’ Place, another freestanding building. The structures, which are interwoven with groves of heritage pecans and planted courtyards, “turn and tilt to the views,” Krajcer says. All are linked by open paths and boardwalks—indoor-outdoor connection is key to the campus experience, so there’s nary an enclosed corridor in sight.

As different as the buildings are in terms of purpose, they speak a common vernacular rooted in the Texas Hill Country. The language translates to exposed framing, shady overhangs, long porches, ceiling fans, asymmetrical gables reminiscent of barn structures, and a palette of wood and stone. Douglas fir forms roof decks while beams are cedar. Porch decking is Kebony, sustainably sourced Monterey pine that’s had a bio-based liquid added to make it strong and rot-resistant. The live-edge reception desk is pecan from a tree felled locally. Local, too, is the limestone, quarried in Sisterdale, about 90 minutes away. “It’s an old stone that doesn’t feel precious,” Lake notes.

Although Lake Flato has an interiors studio, Holdsworth’s scope was too extensive for in-house completion. Jim Looney, CEO of his namesake Dallas firm, was the architects’ natural choice for FF&E. “We had just finished the Lodge at Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores, Alabama,” Looney says, referring to the two firms’ first collaborative project. His bailiwick here was social hubs and hotel rooms, the latter being standard size and square, so beds could be oriented to views. “Exterior materials found their way into the rooms,” he continues, “and our colors and tones supported the outdoor vistas.” Inviting as the rooms are, they’re designed to encourage guests to favor lounges with screened-in porches at the end of each floor. The scheme reinforces Holdsworth’s philosophy of constant mixing and mingling. Or, as Looney says, “There’s a higher purpose than just putting heads in beds.”

the Lake Austin shoreline
While the 15-building campus encompasses 44 acres, most structures are clustered near Lake Austin’s shoreline, with four hotel-like facilities on far right. Photography by Peter Molick.
an amphitheater with limestone-block seating and a stage
The amphitheater, outfitted with limestone-block seating and a stage with a steel-pipe and wood canopy, is used for classes and private events. Photography by Peter Molick.

Main reception has a custom desk of live-edge pecan and blackened steel with leather inserts backed by a hemlock-slat partition.
Main reception has a custom desk of live-edge pecan and blackened steel with leather inserts backed by a hemlock-slat partition.
Art over­looks custom banquettes and tables and Patricia Urquiola’s Mathilda chairs in the pre-function area of the main building
Art selected by Holdsworth Center founder Charles Butt’s personal curator overlooks custom banquettes and tables and Patricia Urquiola’s Mathilda chairs in the pre-function area of the main building, aka the Learning Center.
The multifunction dining-seminar space has a ceiling and walls of hemlock slats, interspersed with broad swaths of glass.
The multifunction dining-seminar space has a ceiling and walls of hemlock slats, interspersed with broad swaths of glass.
patrons sit at a bar
Matthew Hilton’s Profile barstools pull up to the pre-function bar, which incorporates a flamed-granite countertop, leather face, and blackened-steel base.
staff work at repurposed communal tables beneath clerestory windows
On the second floor of the administration building, staff work at repurposed communal tables beneath clerestory windows.
The building’s atrium features a massive wall of locally sourced limestone topped by a skylight opposite a staircase in painted steel and Douglas fir.
The building’s atrium features a massive wall of locally sourced limestone topped by a skylight opposite a staircase in painted steel and Douglas fir.

A trio of casitas
A trio of casitas, each housing two apartments for visiting lecturers and their families, is set amidst groves of heritage pecans. Photography by Peter Molick.
the hotel guest room with pecan paneling
Hotel guest rooms have pecan paneling and custom furnishings, light fixtures, and bed throws.
teak chairs and a table sit on the porch at the end of the hotel floor
Porches at the end of each hotel floor host Christophe Delcourt’s teak Spin chairs and Peninsula table surrounded by welded-wire fences, known locally as hog panels.
PROJECT TEAM
lake flato architects: matthew morris; graham beach; daniel mowery; justin garrison; margaux palmer; casey nelson; daniel lazarine; anne herndon; cole major; clay cottingham; jaechang ko; zeke jones; Abheek Sarkar
looney & associates: mark cary; julianne cary; brian belcher; david m. rogers; jenna higginbotham
ten eyck landscape architects: landscape consultant
architectural engineers collaborative: structural engineer
isec: millwork
the beck group: general contractor
integral group: MEP
PRODUCT SOURCES
FROM FRONT
armtrend: custom banquettes (pre-function)
moroso: side chairs
shawn austin: custom tables
composition hospitality: custom lounge chair
through design within reach: stools (bar)
edelman: face upholstery
zia tile: backsplash tile
light annex: custom sconce (guest room)
bryan ashley: custom headboard
montague: custom nightstand
richloom: custom bed throw
sutherland: chairs, table (porch)

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A Tiny Concrete Structure by Bobby Niven Offers Writer Residencies in Scotland https://interiordesign.net/designwire/bobby-niven-scotland/ Wed, 03 Aug 2022 17:36:03 +0000 https://interiordesign.net/?post_type=id_news&p=199558 Bobby Niven creates an installation on the grounds of Scotland's Arbroath Abbey that doubles as a writing residency.

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the one-room interior of the Scriptorium
The one-room interior, which will host writer residencies and workshops, has engineered-oak flooring, a stove, and 8-foot-long oak wall sculptures derived from historic depictions of scribes using both arms.

A Tiny Concrete Structure by Bobby Niven Offers Writer Residencies in Scotland

Bobby Niven is an artist’s artist. A sculptor who’s had solo shows throughout the U.K. and Canada, he also devotes part of his practice to the Bothy Project, a network of simple shelters he’s designed across Scotland, each a unique response to the surrounding landscape and an invitation to artists to retreat in them off-grid. So, when it came time to commemorate the 700th anniversary of the Declaration of Arbroath, a document listed by UNESCO on the Memory of the World register that essentially called for freedom from English claims of sovereignty over Scotland, with a small building devoted to creativity on the grounds of the 12th-century Arbroath Abbey, Niven was selected for the commission. “The history includes monks who could transcribe and illustrate documents, even bound manuscripts into books, in the abbey’s scriptorium. The ability to read, write, and convey information and document history was as powerful then as it is today. I sought to reflect that activity in the structure’s interior,” he says.

Prefabricated off-site, the 160-square-foot installation, called The New Scriptorium, was trucked to the 3 ½-acre grounds, sited so that it’s generous window frames picturesque abbey views. Mounted on some interior walls are long limblike sculptures in colors inspired by those in medieval manuscripts. Their embrace, the bright of the skylight, and the warmth of the woodburning stove should help to inspire writers during their one-month residency.

the oak frame of the Scriptorium is clad in concrete panels
The New Scriptorium is a two-year-long installation by sculptor Bobby Niven on the grounds of Scotland’s Arbroath Abbey. Prefabricated, its oak frame is clad in concrete panels.
the one-room interior of the Scriptorium
The one-room interior, which will host writer residencies and workshops, has engineered-oak flooring, a stove, and 8-foot-long oak wall sculptures derived from historic depictions of scribes using both arms.
The structure was lifted by crane onto the abbey grounds
Web Exclusive Image: The structure was lifted by crane onto the abbey grounds. Photo by Neil Hanna.

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CLB Architects Creates an Accessible, Arboreal Retreat in New York https://interiordesign.net/designwire/clb-architects-creates-an-accessible-arboreal-retreat-in-new-york/ Wed, 03 Aug 2022 17:30:44 +0000 https://interiordesign.net/?post_type=id_news&p=199526 CLB Architects combined weathering steel, reclaimed timber, and plant life into an accessible arboreal retreat in New York.

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The centerpiece was a 20-foot-tall, certified organic London planetree
Image courtesy of Andres Orozco.

CLB Architects Creates an Accessible, Arboreal Retreat in New York

CLB Architects combined weathering steel, reclaimed timber, and plant life into an accessible arboreal retreat in New York.

Archicad drawings of FILTER, the temporary in­stallation that Wyoming-based CLB Architects created for the 2022 edition of NYCxDESIGN’s Design Pavilion
Rendering courtesy of CLB Architects.
Archicad drawings of FILTER, the temporary in­stallation that Wyoming-based CLB Architects created for the 2022 edition of NYCxDESIGN’s Design Pavilion
Rendering courtesy of CLB Architects.
Archicad drawings of FILTER, the temporary in­stallation that Wyoming-based CLB Architects created for the 2022 edition of NYCxDESIGN’s Design Pavilion
Rendering courtesy of CLB Architects.

Archicad drawings of FILTER, the temporary in­stallation that Wyoming-based CLB Architects created for the 2022 edition of NYCxDESIGN’s Design Pavilion, were used to de­ter­mine how pre-assembled pieces could be easily com­bined into a self-supporting structure that resembled the rugged landscape of the firm’s home state.

The Times Square billboards provided lighting during building, which began at 11 p.m. due to municipal regulations.
Image courtesy of Kevin Scott.

The Times Square billboards provided lighting during building, which began at 11 p.m. due to municipal regulations.

Battling torrential rain throughout the 46-hour process, the construction team built the installation using a tele­handler and a basket crane.
Image courtesy of Kevin Scott.

Battling torrential rain throughout the 46-hour process, the construction team built the installation using a tele­handler and a basket crane.

The structure’s ½-inch-thick steel plates, hot-rolled to resemble folded paper
Image courtesy of Kevin Scott.

The structure’s ½-inch-thick steel plates, hot-rolled to resemble folded paper, will weather to reflect their journey from a Colorado factory to New York (where the salty sea air accelerates patina), and, once NYCxDesign concluded in May, back west to their permanent site as a public sculpture at the head­quarters of fabricator EMIT in Sheridan, Wyoming.

FILTER in Times Square
Image courtesy of Andres Orozco.

FILTER was ADA–approved thanks to its two accessible reclaimed-larch ramps, which were specifically designed so guardrails were not necessary.

The centerpiece was a 20-foot-tall, certified organic London planetree
Image courtesy of Andres Orozco.

The centerpiece was a 20-foot-tall, certified organic London planetree, selected for its resilience in urban environments, grown at Raemelton Farm in Adamstown, Maryland, and trucked to the site.

The tree sat in a basin of hot-rolled weathering steel at the center of the 24-foot-diameter pavilion
Image courtesy of Leonid Furmansky.

The tree sat in a basin of hot-rolled weathering steel at the center of the 24-foot-diameter pavilion, where the floor and built-in benches were made from reclaimed glulam fir and larch.

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Jennifer Kolstad and Ghafari Associates Propel the Ford Experience Center in Michigan into the Future https://interiordesign.net/projects/jennifer-kolstad-ghafari-associates-ford-experience-center-michigan/ Wed, 03 Aug 2022 17:26:07 +0000 https://interiordesign.net/?post_type=id_project&p=199298 In-house design director Jennifer Kolstad works with Ghafari Associates in devising the Ford Experience Center in Dearborn, Michigan.

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the Mustang Mach E GT 2022 in the center of the room with a glass mezzanine
The acoustical-plaster ceiling conceals mechanical diffusers, while the glass mezzanine balustrade’s etched vinyl film gets washed with color from LEDs below.

Jennifer Kolstad and Ghafari Associates Propel the Ford Experience Center in Michigan into the Future

Ford Motor Company was founded in 1903 and today is one of the biggest car companies in the world. Despite its long history, Ford is focused squarely on the future, developing new technologies like smart infrastructure and self-driving vehicles. Yet for over 20 years, the main events facility at its headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan, was a dark and uninviting concrete structure. Company executives sought to reimagine it as a cutting-edge “front door” to the 600-acre campus, which itself is being overhauled under a master plan by Snøhetta. They turned to Jennifer Kolstad, the in-house global design and brand director, and her 20-person team to renovate the 1998 building and transform it into the Ford Experience Center, or FXC.

Ford’s leaders envisioned the FXC as a dynamic hospitality-inspired hub for employees, car dealers, and major customers. It would have flexible event spaces, conference rooms, a café, and hot-desking, plus an on-site design lab where employees could work with clients like the City of Los Angeles to customize and prototype police vehicles. The FXC is also meant to reflect a new company-wide emphasis on innovation and collaboration. Positioned across the street from the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation, the FXC symbolizes “Ford future facing Ford past,” Kolstad notes. Her design encompasses aspects of both.

An electric Mustang Mach E GT 2022 stands on a turntable integrated into the central forum’s terrazzo floor at the Ford Experience Center
An electric Mustang Mach E GT 2022 stands on a turntable integrated into the central forum’s terrazzo floor at the Ford Experience Center in Dearborn, Michigan, a renovation project by Ford Environments, the in-house team led by global design and brand director Jennifer Kolstad, and Ghafari Associates.

Kolstad worked on the 95,000-square-foot project with Ghafari Associates, which served as the architect of record but also designed major elements of the interior and helped with the selection of furnishings. Together, the two teams completely transformed the existing two-story building, keeping only its structure and oval shape. “Even though the space is similar to what it was, an event center, we had to take it to the next level,” architect and Ghafari director of design Andrew Cottrell recalls. The goal was to create an environment that felt open and transparent. “Ford wishes to be the most trusted company in the world, and architecture can help that along,” Kolstad adds.

To start, the concrete walls were out. Ford and Ghafari re-skinned the facade with electrochromic glass that brings ample light to the interior but can also tint for shade. Kolstad, who was a principal at HKS before joining Ford in 2019, brought a focus on wellness and human-centered design to the project. She incorporated two green walls in the café, called the Hive, and ensured that even enclosed rooms have natural light and views of the surrounding lawns. She also integrated the building into the landscape: Terraces allow for events to flow outdoors, and the central corridor aligns with the front door of the Henry Ford Museum.

a custom rug patterned with deconstructed ovals derived from Ford’s logo in the welcome lounge
The long Common bench by Naoto Fukasawa and Hlynur Atlason’s swiveling Lina chairs stand on a custom rug patterned with deconstructed ovals derived from Ford’s logo in the welcome lounge.

The FXC showcases the future of automobiles, but it’s grounded in Ford’s history. “The building speaks to the legacy of the company through its use of museum-quality materials,” Kolstad explains. “If the foundation is solid and well-executed, the brand can breathe and take on its own life.” In the central forum, polished white-terrazzo flooring and oak stadium seating form a timeless backdrop for what is in fact a high-tech, production-ready space. At the touch of a button, the lighting can change to suit a cocktail party, presentation, or launch event, and cars rotate on a turntable in the floor. Overhead, a sculpted white ceiling of acoustical plaster conceals lighting and mechanical systems, with cuts that mirror the lines in the terrazzo floor. “We had to coordinate myriad things to make the ceiling look seamless,” Cottrell says.

Like the building, the forum is the shape of the Ford logo: an oval. “You won’t see the logo anywhere, but you’re literally inside the Ford oval,” Kolstad says. “The space tells the company’s story in a subtle, sophisticated way.” Ovals appear in the symbol of the Hive, making the shape of a bee, and in custom lighting fixtures, while velvet in the brand’s deep blue upholsters the café’s banquettes. Covers of retro Ford Life magazines hang in phone booths, and broken ovals appear in the pattern of blue vinyl wallcovering. Kolstad’s team also deconstructed the oval to make a camouflagelike pattern for blue-and-white area rugs. All furnishings, materials, and finishes demonstrate a new palette that will be used in Ford showrooms and offices worldwide, including the nearby workplace by Snøhetta now under construction.

Though Kolstad describes the FXC as an “immersive brand experience,” you won’t find a Ford sign at reception. Instead, there’s a mirrored acrylic work by Detroit artist Tiff Massey, one of several in her team’s DEI-focused art program for the project. Inspired by traditional American quilts, it’s composed of seven designs—representing each of Ford’s company truths—laser-cut onto 90 tiles. An asymmetrical solid-walnut desk in front of it, designed by Ghafari, looks like a sculpture that alludes to movement. Elsewhere, three abstract artworks by Los Angeles artist Robert Moreland refer to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the French car race that Ford won in the late 1960’s. With the FXC, it’s leading again as a cool, tech-savvy company.

English-oak veneering backs velvet-upholstered banquettes in the Hive café.
English-oak veneering backs velvet-upholstered banquettes in the Hive café.
a gold and white sculpture above a blue sofa
Also commissioned, sculptor Robert Moreland’s racetrack-inspired piece hangs above an Arc sofa by Hallgeir Homstvedt in a break-out area.
a green wall next to a kitchen and lounge area
A green wall adjoins the Hive, also shaped after the Ford logo, as are the custom pendant fixtures above the Ponder stools by Eoos.
Ghafari’s custom walnut desk and Quilt Series at the reception area
Ghafari’s custom walnut desk and Quilt Series, a commissioned work by Black interdisciplinary artist Tiff Massey, greet visitors at reception.
Crosshatch chairs in the innovation room
Eoos also designed the Crosshatch chairs in the innovation room.
the event area with white-oak stadium seating
With white-oak stadium seating and production-ready lighting, the double-height forum, also oval in shape, hosts presentations and launch events.
Beverly Fishman artworks
Beverly Fishman artworks enliven a col­lab­oration room.
Archival covers of Ford Life magazine hang on custom vinyl wallcovering in a phone booth.
Archival covers of Ford Life magazine hang on custom vinyl wallcovering in a phone booth.
the Mustang Mach E GT 2022 in the center of the room with a glass mezzanine
The acoustical-plaster ceiling conceals mechanical diffusers, while the glass mezzanine balustrade’s etched vinyl film gets washed with color from LEDs below.
Opposite another Moreland, a custom CNC-cut pattern of fractured ovals forms the 3-D MDF wall of the grand hall stair.
Opposite another Moreland, a custom CNC-cut pattern of fractured ovals forms the 3-D MDF wall of the grand hall stair.
PROJECT TEAM
ford environments: julia calabrese; rachael smith; chris small; don zvoch
ghafari associates: michael krebs; brittnee shaw; angela cwayna; joseph kim; delbert dee; justin finkbeiner; stephanie hrit; jennifer hatheway; katy rupp; steve lian; yuqi pan; bruce coburn; justine lim; karan panchal; ali zorkot; christopher olech; ryan raymond; cynthia harman-jones; kristina allder
illuminart: lighting consultant
farmboy: art consultant, custom wallcovering
denn-co construction; ganas; navy island: woodwork
devon industrial group: general contractor
PRODUCT SOURCES
FROM FRONT
tacchini: benches (forum)
viccarbe: benches (lounge)
dwr: chairs
bernhardt; designtex: banquette fabric (café)
Coalesse: tables (café), chair (phone booth)
geiger: chairs (café, innovation)
Stellar Works: sofas (break-out, collaboration, grand hall)
carnegie: wallcovering (break-out)
stua: coffee table
zauben: green wall (café)
preciosa: custom pendant fixtures
keilhauer: stools
Tarkett: carpet (phone booth)
Humanscale: lamp
Blu Dot: tables (innovation, grand hall)
restoration hardware: lamp (grand hall)
THROUGHOUT
michielutti brothers: flooring
shaw contract: custom rugs
benjamin moore & co.: paint

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BuzziSpace Unveils a Lighting Fixture in the Shape of a Potato Chip https://interiordesign.net/products/buzzispace-lighting-fixture-acoustic-solutions/ Wed, 03 Aug 2022 13:38:37 +0000 https://interiordesign.net/?post_type=id_product&p=199509 BuzziSpace introduces a pendant, BuzziChip, and an acoustic application, BuzziPleat Edel Long, to bring style and function to the office.

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BuzziPleat Edel Long.
BuzziPleat Edel Long.

BuzziSpace Unveils a Lighting Fixture in the Shape of a Potato Chip

No sad desk salads here. Acoustics-product company BuzziSpace introduces BuzziChip, a pendant fixture that takes its shape from the curvature of that popular office snack: a Pringles potato chip. It’s 2½-inch thickness means maximum noise control while the small but powerful LED emits a soft glow. Also new is BuzziPleat Edel Long, a rectangular form of the company’s sartorial Pleat series. It can be wall-mounted or suspended from the ceiling and is particularly attractive staggered at different heights. The hand-pleated folds trap low and mid tones and help to halt sound waves bouncing around on hard sufaces.

BuzziChip.
BuzziChip.
A closeup of BuzziPleat Edel Long
BuzziPleat Edel Long.
BuzziPleat Edel Long.

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Wood-Skin Envisions Architectural Panels as Origami https://interiordesign.net/products/wood-skin-envisions-architectural-panels-as-origami/ Wed, 03 Aug 2022 13:25:45 +0000 https://interiordesign.net/?post_type=id_product&p=199513 The geomteries of origami inspires Wood-Skin's 3-D boards with acoustic properties built inside square or rectangular frames.

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Wood-Skin for Carnegie Fabrics

Wood-Skin Envisions Architectural Panels as Origami

Fold panels by Milanese company Wood-Skin (sold through Carnegie in North America) are 3-D boards with acoustic properties built inside square or rectangular frames. Think of them as akin to pop-up children’s books. Through digital software, a complex surface is tessellated. The surface then ships flat to site, where it is folded back into its rigid 3-D shape and secured to its frame. The designs are inspired by the geometries of origami and there are 10 materials to choose from, including veneered or plain plywood, bamboo, and colored MDF. Due to Fold being the most standardized of all the company’s offerings, installation is usually a DIY project. Through Carnegie.

The Fold Wood-Skin for Carnegie Fabrics
Fold.
Wood-Skin for Carnegie Fabrics

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Randi Renate Creates a Permanent Installation in Elizabethtown, New York https://interiordesign.net/designwire/randi-renate-installation-elizabethtown-new-york/ Wed, 03 Aug 2022 13:04:57 +0000 https://interiordesign.net/?post_type=id_news&p=199292 Inspired by the area's High Peaks, Randi Renate creates a spherical permanent installation on the grounds of the Adirondack History Museum.

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a man walks down the circular structure by Randi Renate

Randi Renate Creates a Permanent Installation in Elizabethtown, New York

Hiking the High Peaks region in New York’s Adirondack Mountains during the pandemic lockdown, Randi Renate was struck by the enveloping cerulean sky. It inspired the artist to create blue is the atmospheric refraction I see you through, a permanent installation now on the grounds of the Adirondack History Museum in Elizabethtown. Among the other influences on the 14-foot-tall, spherical structure are Renate’s studies in biology and oceanography, her myriad readings on distance, subjectivity, and connection, and Bluets, Maggie Nelson’s book-length ode to the color.

Renate began the sculpture by crafting a ceramic model, and then visiting the museum to pitch it to director Aurora McCaffrey, who not only agreed to host the independent project but also helped the artist successfully apply for a community grant from the New York State Council on the Arts. Those funds were supplemented by private donations, plus an estimated 1,500 hours’ worth of work contributed by several of Renate’s artist friends.

The wood rowboats found on the region’s lakes informed the work’s plank-on-frame construction, which is built from locally sourced Adirondack white cedar. Thin strips of the same timber were stack-laminated to make handrails for a pair of curving staircases cut deep into either half of the sphere, which is finished in celestial-blue casein paint. Visitors climb the steps in unison to meet at the top of the piece. “They’re encompassed by the walls, slowly disappearing within the sculpture on the sixth or seventh step,” Renate explains. And when they reach the summit, Hurricane Mountain, the closest peak, appears on the horizon.

the round exterior of the circular structure by Randi Renate
a man walks down the circular structure by Randi Renate

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Aidlin Darling Design and Susan Marinello Interiors Team Up on This Modern Office in Seattle https://interiordesign.net/projects/aidlin-darling-design-susan-marinello-interiors-modern-office/ Wed, 03 Aug 2022 13:01:16 +0000 https://interiordesign.net/?post_type=id_project&p=199275 Aidlin Darling Design crafts a new sheltered on-campus environment for Expedia Group's staff to work and gather but also retreat.

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the building's stone walls run at an angle with the glass walls of the building
The building’s riprap-stone walls are an extension of the 800-foot-long landscape walls defining the southwestern edge of the 40-acre campus.

Aidlin Darling Design and Susan Marinello Interiors Team Up on This Modern Office in Seattle

For Expedia Group, travel is a way of life. When the tech company, which includes Expedia.com along with Vrbo, Orbitz, Travelocity, and hundreds more travel aggregator sites, took over a 40-acre waterfront campus along Seattle’s Elliott Bay in 2015, a central aim was to help employees experience the physical and mental benefits of travel, without leaving the office. “With all the acreage in hand, our goal was to create a destination on the grounds—sort of an on-site ‘offsite,’” Expedia’s director of real estate Josh Khanna says. In 2017, Aidlin Darling Design, known for their intimately crafted residences and commercial interiors, won the bid to create a new sheltered on-campus environment for staff to work and gather but also retreat.

Called the Prow, the single-story, 3,700-square-foot building is a deliberate departure from the multistory steel, glass, and concrete structures of the main campus. “Expedia’s leadership group was in tune with creating a full-body, sensorial workplace,” begins Joshua Aidlin, principal and cofounder, with David Darling, of ADD. “The ethos of Seattle is outdoor-focused and athletic, and Expedia embraced that.” The common end for this ancillary structure was a biophilic sanctuary that celebrates the landscape in both form and function.

A 50-foot cantilevered roof caps the Prow, a new building by Aidlin Darling Design and Susan Marinello Interiors
A 50-foot cantilevered roof caps the Prow, a new building by Aidlin Darling Design and Susan Marinello Interiors for both meetings and quiet time on the Seattle campus of Expedia Group.

Nestled into the southernmost edge of campus closest to the waterfront, the Prow is sited several hundred feet from Expedia’s primary work spaces. In contrast to the slick industrial language of those buildings, the volume emphasizes natural materials like stone and wood, helping it knit into the surroundings. “We didn’t want to block the view of the bay from the offices, so we needed to create a structure that was hidden in plain sight,” Aidlin explains. For his team, which was co-led by senior associate Adam Rouse, the solution was a building that is of the landscape in every sense.

Appearing to grow from the earth, the Prow’s stone-formed walls angle down into the ground plane to connect seamlessly with the existing riprap-stone walls delineating the campus border. It gracefully merges into the ziggurat-shape grass terraces defining this portion of the grounds, part of a larger campus master plan by Surfacedesign. Indigenous grasses planted here continue uninterrupted along the roof of the Prow. “It’s meant to be a diamond in the rough—intentionally organic, intentionally hidden,” Aidlin notes. “There’s an element of discovery because it presents as a landscape rather than a building.”

indoor-outdoor spaces encourage exploration in Expedia Group’s modern office

Expedians who make the open-air trek to the Prow—often braving the ubiquitous Pacific Northwest rain—are rewarded with a cozy hideaway that feels more woodland cabin than workplace. That’s thanks to president and principal design director Susan Marinello and senior design associate Louisa Chang of Susan Marinello Interiors, which evoked a relaxed, residential environment where employees can enjoy a moment of quiet contemplation in softly upholstered furnishings aside a glowing fireplace. “Expedia offers a window to the world, so our concept reflects those collective travel experiences by curating items from across the globe,” Marinello says of the many art-inspired furnishings, crafted by makers from locales as far flung as India and Brazil. The showstopper is the 20-person conference table, which contains no screws and was custom-built from a pair of book-matched black walnut slabs by George Nakashima Woodworkers, the company founded by the famed late Seattle furniture designer. Employees can reserve the table for larger meetings away from the hustle and bustle of the main office. (The Prow also accommodates events with a catering kitchen tucked into a corner.)

Mount Rainier is seen in the distance over the roof's grass
With Mount Rainier in the distance, the roof is planted with indigenous grasses, its shape inspired by the natural and industrial forms visible from Elliott Bay, home to the Port of Seattle, one of the country’s busiest ports.

A set of sliding panels in a floor-to-ceiling glass wall opens to the outdoors, allowing those meetings to spill out to an elevated deck with views of Mount Rainier in the distance and bikes and Segways zooming by on the Elliott Bay Trail below. Since the building fronts a city park and is visible from boats in the water, ADD considered its appearance from all directions. “The building takes the landscape and covers itself with it like a blanket, while presenting a crystalline-inspired window to the public,” Rouse says.

The Prow is a study in contrasts, with the grounded, stone walls and green roof nestling into the earth just as it appears to take flight at the opposite end. There, the sharply pointed roof that cantilevers out 50 feet lifts off above the deck, taking the form of an airplane wing or, as the building’s namesake suggests, a ship’s bow. “The site experiences so many modes of transportation: trains, planes, automobiles, scooters, bikes, boats, so the structure is meant to inspire the concept of motion and flight,” says Aidlin, referencing the travel-centric ethos of Expedia.

Ultimately, this notion of grounded aspiration informs how this unconventional office space shifts the mindset of Expedians, breaking up routines and inspiring new forms of interaction. “They have to go out into nature and experience the elements to access the Prow,” Chang says. “It physically and emotionally transports them.” At a moment when the world is returning to the office, the project signals a new mode of workplace connection that’s taking flight.

the building's stone walls run at an angle with the glass walls of the building
The building’s riprap-stone walls are an extension of the 800-foot-long landscape walls defining the southwestern edge of the 40-acre campus.
a gate framed and topped by geometrically shaped Cor-Ten steel
The Prow establishes a new entry point for the campus from the south, with a gate framed and topped by geometrically shaped Cor-Ten steel.

a closer look at the design details throughout

The sharply angled roof of aluminum and Douglas fir resembles a floating wing
The sharply angled roof of aluminum and Douglas fir resembles a floating wing, nodding to Expedia’s emphasis on travel.
a fire-it sits in front of the angled end of the building on its deck
An ipe deck extends off the lounge, its recessed propane firepit encircled by carved wood stools from Washington designer Meyer Wells.
a public waterfront bike path and walking trail runs along the front of the building
The building fronts a public waterfront bike path and walking trail, adjacent to the Elliott Bay fishing pier.
an angled building is illuminated by hidden linear LEDs
Although the tip of the roof, which is illuminated by hidden linear LEDs, rises to 26 feet, the building’s overall profile is low so as not to block the bay views from other campus buildings.
the conference room of Expedia
Anchoring the conference area in between a ceiling and floor of locally sourced Douglas fir is a custom, 12-foot-long black-walnut table by George Nakashima Woodworkers that can be extended to 17 feet to accommodate large board meetings.
a living-room style lounge with a large glass wall
A Playa sectional by Holly Hunt, Thayer Coggin’s shearling-covered Roger lounge chairs, and a table by Dan Pollock, who hand-carves his pieces from wooden stumps found in Southern California, compose the living room–style lounge.
a black and white bathroom with angled tiles
The project’s abstraction on geometric forms and angles continues in the all-gender ceramic-tiled restrooms, which feature high-efficiency fixtures.
a stone wall overlooks a sitting area with a wing chair
Reading and reflection can take place by the gas fireplace, accompanied by a custom flamed black granite hearth, A. Rudin’s 861 wing chair, and Alessandra Delgado’s Rotula floor lamp.
PROJECT TEAM
Aidlin Darling Design: david darling, faia; ryan hughes; luis sabatar musa; laing chung; kent chiang; tony schonhardt
Susan Marinello Interiors: dena mammano
ZGF: Campus Architect
surfacedesign: landscape architect
fisher marantz stone: lighting consultant
KPFF: structural engineer, civil engineer
wsp: MEP
js perrott: woodwork, stonework
gly construction: general contractor
PRODUCT SOURCES
FROM FRONT
george nakashima woodworkers: custom table (conference area)
vaughan benz: custom chairs
Maharam: chair fabric
advanced ironworks: custom fence (entry)
driscoll robbins fine carpets: rug (lounge)
Holly Hunt: sectional
misia paris; zak + fox: sectional fabrics
thayer coggin: chairs
douglass leather: chair upholstery
DeMuro Das: bench
dan pollock: custom table
uchytil’s custom woodworking: custom console
alessandra delgado design: lamps (lounge, reading area)
daltile: tile (rest­room)
zurn: toilet
rockwood: door pull
Janus et Cie: table (deck)
triconfort: chairs
meyer wells: stools
ak47 design: firepit
montigo: fireplace (reading area)
a. rudin: chair
bernhardt textiles: chair fabric
THROUGHOUT
creoworks: custom ceiling system
brandsen floors: flooring
lucifer lighting company; luminii: lighting
Arcadia: storefront windows
phoenix panels: exterior metal paneling
hartung: glazing
columbia green technologies: green roof system
benjamin moore & co.: paint

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