Table of contents for INDESIGN #67 - Design Appetite in INDESIGN

Is it just us, or is ‘consuming’ not quite what it used to be? Our collective appetite for personalising everything we own and customising every experience we have has just exploded, and with it, our expectation that services and spaces should operate in an agile, intuitive manner – no less than precisely how we want them to. Disruptive hotel and travel platforms like Airbnb, TripAdvisor and Expedia, as well as the more culinary side of hospitality 2.0 (think foodora and Deliveroo), are challenging the old systems and building in new structures of expectation among consumers. It’s a paradigm shift that’s precipitated a complete rethink in how we design space, products, service and experience. And it’s given our industry plenty of food for thought. In this edition of Indesign: the design…

Like any fine art, you need the right tools. World-class violinists use Stradivarius. The International fashion elite wears Prada. Olympians compete in Nike. And the globe’s best chef’s? They use Dekton by Cosentino. The common factor between these highly respected brands is the ultimate balance they strike between form and function – and that is the purest mission of design. Having found this perfect nexus between beauty and usablilty, it’s no surprise that this year, the Cosentino Group sponsors the World’s 50 Best Restaurants with the Dekton ultra-compact surface. Held recently in New York’s prestigious Cipriani Club on Wall Street, Cosentino Group’s Santiago Alfonso spoke at the ceremony to the world’s most prestigious chefs: “Thanks to their technical and aesthetic features, many of the chefs included on the World’s 50…

Curved surfaces are an essential part of modern design. Staron® Solid Surfaces have been designed for broad application, across commercial and residential projects alike. With a silk-like finish and a range of over 80 colours, Staron® is both aesthetically charming, and functionally pleasing. One of the advantages of Staron® is that it can be moulded and curved to fit into any design or existing structure through an advanced thermoforming process. This process allows three-dimensional designs to come to life; virtually any shape can be formed with Staron®. This creative process of design can result in endless interesting design possibilities. Wall panels can be curved, benchtops can join inconspicuously around soft curves, and custom design vanities can be a feature with smooth rounded designs. Create unique curved bowls, vases or make…

Skateboarding around sprawling, anonymous urban plazas like Sydney’s Circular Quay as a teenager fuelled Emilio Fuscaldo’s love of philosophy and big, international cities. A shy kid whose family moved 11 times before he finished high school, Fuscaldo spent his early years either people watching or with his nose in a book. He developed a head full of questions, and a fascination with the way urban environments influenced human behaviour. Sydney’s city-fringe beaches were a case-in-point. “You’re taking your clothes off and swimming in the water, but if you walk two metres away from that edge suddenly you’ve got all your clothes on again,” he says. Fuscaldo studied philosophy at university and travelled widely before settling on architecture as a “robust … concrete” way to try to influence people’s behaviour for…

When Australian brothers Tull and Josh Price were looking to establish Feit, their small, handmade leather shoe brand, in New York City, they knew a brick-and-mortar store would have to offer something distinctive. The city has a justified reputation for retail, with destination, concept and flagship stores of every size representing every conceivable product and brand from around the world, challenging any notion of online shopping’s supremacy. Feit calls itself a ‘neo-luxury’ label, a term coined to describe an approach that prioritises quality and sustainability over mass production. The minimal shoes, each made from a single piece of leather, are free of visual noise like overt branding, and come in a neutral, natural palette of mostly whites, greys, tans or black. The team had already worked with Jordana Maisie, another…

“The provision of strong social spaces and various collaborative settings is especially attractive to young graduates, who are bringing new ways of working with them, as they move from university into the workforce,” says Woods Bagot’s Brittany Pearce. When Is A Stair Significant? Woods Bagot’s design team architect Willy Hoogeveen led the design and construction of the central stair. Its landings and runs each sit at different points to heighten the sense of movement, while its soffit is clean. The underside’s only embellishment is a bordering strip of white LED that accentuates the structure’s dynamic form. Each design feature of the staircase adds to its function as a social connector, ultimately adding a sense of wayfinding and even placemaking in the vastness of the interior that otherwise, simply wouldn’t exist.…

“Indesign is a professional resource for the design curious. We look for the point and purpose of everything in design and architecture; exploring why, how and what we do. Indesign is the only place you’ll find clever, provocative (and a little bit cheeky) conversation on our industry. Indesign is by and for creative professionals – both aspiring and established – hungry to continue exploring the ideas that inform the best projects, products and icons the world has to offer.” Indesign Media Asia Pacific Chairman/Publisher, Raj Nandan. We INspireWe INviteWe INvestigateWe INformWe INvolveWe INfluenceWe INfuriateWe INvoke thought WE ARE INDESIGNWE LOVE BEING INDESIGNWE ARE FOR EVERYONE IN(TO)DESIGN Are you IN?…

When TV dinners came into popularity in the 1950s, eating at the dining table suddenly seemed terribly passé. Well, to Martí Guixé’s way of thinking, eating off any kind of surface – whether that be table, tray, or even one’s own lap – is still awfully conventional. In fact, he asserts, it’s completely old hat. Guixé is a food designer, which, he is quick to qualify, makes him an ex-designer. But, what’s an ex-designer? Back in the 1990s when Guixé first started out, design occurred within a set of very clear-cut parameters. Furniture, lighting and objects fell under the design umbrella, but something as visceral as food was, back then, considered an artistic pursuit. Not in Guixé’s mind. Food was a context, which he could design in to. “Design was,…

One of the great fine dining institutions in New York closed this year after more than 50 years of business. The Four Seasons ended with an auction of all items, from the Brno Chairs to the ash trays and everything else that wasn’t bolted down in the amazing Phillip Johnson interior in the Seagram building on Park Avenue. This venue represented the epitome of fine dining and power lunching in the city that transformed the former and invented the latter. Whether you see it as a sign of the times or a tragic loss of a of mid-century design icon, it’s closure speaks of much more than a changing demographic. Food is a number of things to us. Sometimes it’s fuel, consumed with little thought other than to satisfy a…

How ‘Well’ Does It Rate? According to the Bates Smart Wellbeing Design Index, which defines the built environment factors that influence wellbeing and assigns performance measures, Gandel House at Emmy Monash Aged-Care achieves a score of nine or 10 out of 10 across 12 factors. These factors include physical health, social health, cognitive health, psychological health and personal safety. Community-based organisation Emmy Monash Aged-Care commissioned Bates Smart to bring their experience in healthcare, residential and hospitality design to create “superior” residential aged-care for Melbourne’s Jewish community. “Our biggest driving desire was to de-institutionalise the clinical nature of the functional requirements of an aged-care facility,” says Bates Smart’s interior design director, Jeffery Copolov. That started by orientating the building to allow natural light penetration deep into the “figure of eight plan”,…

Christchurch is poised to reinvent bus travel in New Zealand with a new state-of-the-art central interchange. Designed by Architectus, the building transforms how buses move through a station by using a central traffic island and bus bays arrayed like a fan. This centralised parking means one large passenger hall can operate to serve all commuter needs. For young and old, a whole new level of comfort and safety are now possible, increasing the ease and attraction of bus travel. As one of the first anchor projects to be built after Christchurch’s devastating February 2011 earthquake, the city needed an inspiring solution that could help revitalise the city centre. Located near the retail core, the innovation precinct, adjacent to the new Justice Precinct, and close to the future stadium, it plays…

Lonely Planet was in expansionist mode last time it moved office 13 years ago. Staff numbers at the Melbourne headquarters of the global travel guide publishing phenomenon were swelling with each ambitious foray into new media and markets, and the sprawling multi-storey office Lonely Planet carved from an old Footscray factory was designed to accommodate not only an in-house café, gym and rooftop garden but room for future growth. Travel long enough, though, and you’re bound to hit turbulence. For Lonely Planet that came in the form of a strengthening Australian dollar, challenges to print publishing by digital media, the sale of the company by founders Tony and Maureen Wheeler to BBC Worldwide, the devastating effects of the global financial crisis on business and travel worldwide, and the BBC’s highly…

Garden State Hotel Architect Technē Architecture + Interior Design Builder Schiavello Structural Engineer Robert Bird Group Project Manager SEMZ Property Group Building Surveyor Gardner Group Services Engineer WSP Group Landscaping Ayus Botanical Stylist Eleisha Gray Total Floor Area 1945 sqm Duration 14 months Technē Architecture + Interior Design techne.com.au Lighting Lighting throughout, Light Project, Artefact Industries, Douglas & Bec. Finishes Metal cladding, Lysaght. Timber lining boards, dining timber, Market Timbers. Bar and bistro carpet, Rugs Carpet + Design. Carpet tiles, Interface. Lobby floor tiles, Signorino. WC floor tiles, Classic Ceramics. Engineered floorboards, Eco Timber Group. Vinyl flooring in bars, Forbo Flooring Systems. Tactile surface indicators, Tred FX. Brick walls, Krause Bricks. Courtyard tiles, Cerdomus. WC tiles, Johnson Tiles. Wall plastic, Ampelite. Glass bricks, Glass Brick Shop. Coloured glass inserts, Mitchell…

“Don’t change something just for the sake of changing it, because often the good will get thrown out with the bad. The thing is to keep the intrinsic function of the [products] and not hide it behind a gimmick.” Mark Best. Today’s hospitality culture is very different to what it was 20, 10 or even five years ago. Once upon a time, all restaurants and cafés had to do was offer a nice meal, but expectations have shifted. Good food simply isn’t enough anymore, as the emphasis now lies on the overall dining experience. Patrons want added value; that little something extra – and they want it to be memorable, or better yet, Instagramable. This isn’t unwelcome news for product and interior designers who have risen to the challenge to…

Subscribe to Indesign and get 5 issues for the price of 4! ($55). Join the global design gang at www.indesignlive.com/subscribe Indesign looks for the point and purpose of everything in design – exploring what we do, how we do it, and why. Indesign is the only place you’ll find conversations on the design industry that is clever, provocative, insightful, and just a bit cheeky. Indesign is for creative professionals – aspiring and established – hungry to continue the ideas that inform the best projects, products and people.…

A hostess enters the room, where 20 diners sit around a communal table. “The next dish is going to be a little late,” she says. “The chefs are still trying to catch the duck.” There’s some laughter, and then the sound of a duck quacking comes over a loudspeaker. The sound gets louder and more frantic before, suddenly, there’s the sound of a cleaver coming down. Then silence. Within seconds, it goes from a funny situation to a violent one. The plate arrives soon after – a dish titled, “Every act of creation is first an act of destruction” (a quote from Picasso) that makes use of every part of the duck, including breast, leg and liver. “The idea is to draw people’s attention to respecting the animal,” says Jozef…

Heidi Smith believes the biggest mistake a designer can make is assuming they know the solution before they design the workplace. The Melbourne-based partner at Gray Puksand has spent the past 12 years specialising in workspace strategy and knows a thing or two about designing environments that enhance employees’ experience. For Smith, adopting a ‘people matter’ design approach is necessary in delivering actual workplace change. “Designers who only react to the latest hottest strategy without taking the time to get to know their clients may ultimately only be designing pretty spaces,” she explains. “But unless those spaces provide for the client’s needs, they can’t and shouldn't be considered successful.” Adopting people-focused design strategies is integral to realising a responsive workplace. And insight into the client’s needs is only gained through…

This side of the new century, our shifting lifestyles, played out in the concrete jungles of our capital cities, has bred a new brand of beer o’clock. But just how ‘refreshing’ is it? “The brief was always to embody the idea of the traditional pub. Whether that’s abstract or literal… it needed to be accessible and egalitarian, have a front bar, beer garden or courtyard, provide intimacy and variety.” Justin Northrop, director, Technē. Watering hole, restaurant, hotel, post office – even general store – the Australian Pub grew from the ground up in Australia’s colonial-era goldfields. It was the backbone of every rural community. Among the dense inner-city thoroughfares of our country’s capital cities, the pub continues to provide that essential six o’clock solace (back in the day, the ‘six…

“There were so many different aspects of their business that we had to pull together; at the same time, making a strong impression for their customers, being respectful to the building and giving it character.” Having to marry different needs and purposes within one space is never a simple task. Now, more than ever, it falls to interior designers and architects to play corporate psychiatrist in the physical realm, uniting previously disparate functions into one functional space. SJB Interiors had to do exactly this, bringing together the 200 staff of party and event hire company, Harry The Hirer, Melbourne. The designers were tasked with creating a showroom, warehouse and offices within their existing headquarters. “It was really challenging,” explains SJB Interiors director, Ljiljana Gazevic. “There were so many different aspects…

“The Business School is a new chapter in the university’s ongoing push to revolutionise its teaching/learning amenities by creating a mix of individual work spaces, collaborative hubs and areas for team-based activity,” writes Paul McGillick. While responding to the complex curvilinearity of the building’s exterior, the staircase also draws natural light into the central atrium and the surrounding floor space. These days it is accepted wisdom that the built environment is crucial to the productivity, efficiency and creativity of any business. As more and more companies, especially commercial enterprises, convert to customised, flexible (agile) workplaces, they typically need a carefully thought-out change management programme to help staff make the most of their new work environment. So, wouldn’t it be helpful if staff were introduced to such environments as part of…

A few months ago, a new hotel opened in the Swiss Alps. I’d have said it opened its doors, but there were none. Nor walls, nor ceiling nor toilet amenities. Perched atop a rocky outcrop almost 2,000 metres above sea level in the Graubünden mountains, the one plush, butler-serviced double bed is the latest incarnation of the Null Stern (No Star) approach to hôtelerie. Operationally problematic since inherently dependent on clement weather, it is perhaps best considered more statement than somewhere meant to stay. Its Null Stern predecessor, a converted nuclear bunker in Teufen conceived by artists Frank and Patrik Riklin of Atelier für Sonderaufgaben (Workshop for Special Functions) was quickly turned into a museum. Disruptive, the No Star installations highlight the current crisis of faith in the once worshiped…

Probably best recognised for the 1995 top 10 hit It’s Oh So Quiet, Björk’s music navigates countless influences, genres and mediums. She won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in a Motion Picture in 2001, and the Swedish Polar Music Prize in 2010. Music accolades aside, Björk has also been regularly praised for art direction, performance, costume, cinematography, graphics, boundary crossing, animation and special effects. A willingness to tread new ground and to understand creative expression as a broad, undefined cosmos has always set her well apart – and perhaps there is something to learn from her reckless abandon. Welcome to the Björk universe. In Sydney earlier this year for Björk Digital, a world premier virtual reality experience and curated program of extensive video work spanning her 24-year career,…