This interview was conducted by Metropolis as part of its NeoCon 50 retrospective series as told to Avinash Rajagopal.
Continue reading Designer Todd Bracher on How American Design is Different from the European Scene
Welcome to the Impact of Design Series. This section of the website is dedicated to highlighting projects that use evidence-based design to improve the quality of the human experience. The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) believes that design impacts lives, and collaborates with others to promote the value of interior design. These select projects support this mission and have gone through pre- and post-occupancy research to educate designers and clients on the power of design.
The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. School houses three schools on one campus: the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Preschool, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. School, and the Putnam Avenue Upper School (PAUS). The project was complicated by its small and irregular site; the large and complex program accommodating 840 children from preschool to 8th grade; robust after school programs; and an array of engaged stakeholders.
EXPLORE THE PROJECT
In May 2016, ASID moved in to their new association headquarters in downtown Washington, D.C. The primary goal was to create a space that supported health, wellness, and the well-being of employees, which would improve the organization’s productivity, engagement, and retention. ASID represents the design industry through cross-functional and interdisciplinary relationships among designers of all specialties, and among design practitioners, students, manufacturers, and suppliers.
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Over the last decade, there has been a renewed awareness in the role of designed natural environments and health. This becomes extremely important in environments like healthcare facilities, where patients’ physical or psychological well-being is impaired. As Roger Ulrich documented in his paper, “Health benefits of gardens in hospitals” in 2002, “three to five minutes in nature or viewing natural scenery can help patients in hospitals recover faster by reducing the physiological indicators of stress, improving mood and aiding in healing.” The healthcare community is looking at adopting integrated care systems in which outdoor healing and therapeutic gardens are an essential complement to the indoor treatments.
As designers, we have a huge responsibility to deliver high-quality environments that facilitate the connection between people and place and improve people’s physical, psychological, and social well-being. Our London landscape team is committed to responding to these pressing issues and has been closely working with clients to deliver holistic and integrated care systems. Recently, we put all this thinking into practice, helping Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice to design the outdoor environment for their new facility in North London.
Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice. Horticultural Garden. Image © Gensler & Luxigon.
Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice: healing through nature
The proposed landscape design for the hospice aims to create a safe and restorative environment where children with life-threatening conditions and their families can find some respite from the stressful clinical environment, while improving their physical and spiritual well-being. Our design is based on the principles that have been proven successful in these type of environments:
Design will act as a key feature, creating a pleasant and calming environment, providing play areas, and linking the mood inside to the green belt surroundings, taking advantage of the benefits that an immersive nature experience can provide.
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Contract signings to purchase previously owned U.S. homes unexpectedly declined in April, underscoring the housing market’s challenge centered around a persistent inventory shortage, according to data released Thursday from the National Association of Realtors in Washington.
HIGHLIGHTS OF PENDING HOME SALES (APRIL) |
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The latest results show home sales may struggle to gain much traction in coming months. A limited number of for-sale properties is keeping prices elevated at a time when mortgage rates have climbed to an almost seven-year high. Such headwinds make home ownership more difficult for some prospective buyers. Nonetheless, a healthy job market and lower taxes are expected to underpin housing demand. Data released last week showed existing-home sales fell in April to a three-month low.
“The unfortunate reality for many home shoppers is that reaching the market will remain challenging if supply stays at these dire levels,” Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said in a statement.
At the same time, “demand for buying a home is very robust,” Yun said. “Listings are typically going under contract in under a month, and instances of multiple offers are increasingly common and pushing prices higher.”
— With assistance by Chris Middleton
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While not overwhelming, particular palm motifs consistently poked their head out from around booths during this year’s HD Expo, mirroring the notifications we receive in the form of press releases: palm fronds, abstracted and repeating, have continued to be used in the industry, particularly in the hospitality market.
Updated to match current trends, the use of palms has a very direct relation to the historic use of pineapples in American design. But why does the now-somewhat-kitschy use of pineapples and other lush tropical vegetation continue to be prevalent in American design, and what does it mean for contemporary interiors?
Interestingly, pineapples are one of the design staples brought over to the colonies from England. The fruit is said to have been brought back to Europe during Christopher Columbus’ second voyage, and its many versions–from candied to jam–became a must-have in the upper echelons of society. However, access to raw and unprocessed pineapple was a luxury even those at the top of the class structure could hardly get ahold of.
Transporting the fruit in time meant it had to be shipped on the quickest boats in the fleet, and few were able to make it before turning. Therefore, it became a status symbol to be able to have the fresh fruit. Even King Charles II commissioned a portrait with a pineapple in-hand. While transportation became easier along the North American seaboard as the colonies expanded, pineapples were still a costly commodity; they quickly became a preferred high-society hostess gift, thereby cementing its on-going legacy as a symbol of hospitality.
While pineapple motifs are still used, they somewhat lost their luster in the mid-20th century when technology and materiality allowed them to be incorporated into the growing middle class through goods like wallpaper and clothing textiles. The fruit took off in popular culture, due heavily to Hawai’i becoming a state on August 21, 1959. In the same ways that America saw Egyptian motifs in the 1920s after the discovery of King Tut or Japanese-influenced design in the mid-19th century, the welcoming of Hawai’i to the United States became exoticized.
Today, information can be easily found on the history of pineapple motifs in interior design, but for the most part, their use has continued more often because of the mid-20th-century inspiration. Ask an interior designer why they’ve chosen to use tropical foliage or a manufacturer why it’s entered their line, and the answers are typically in response to the fun aesthetic and relaxing aura pineapple and palms give off.
It’s an easy connection to say that pineapple icons evolved into the use of other tropical plants in decor, but I believe we can take it one step further to interweave the current importance of health and wellness into the reemergence of tropical prints.
As clients and end-users become more familiar with biomimicry and biophilic design, interior designers are searching for ways to bring nature indoors. With nature-inspired design on the rise, florals were reintroduced into interiors, but while pineapples mostly harken back to images of a 50’s father in a Hawaiian t-shirt next to the grill in a newly-developed suburb, florals have a tradition of easily crossing the line into appearing matronly (most likely due to gender bias, but that topic deserves its own article). Companies such as Tarkett have been able to release floral products in recent years, but they come alongside more abstracted designs to tone down the flower patterns.
PALM MOTIFS & FLOWERSWorking with flowers, and working with flowers well is a special skill few possess.
Tropical motifs, however, haven’t had the same type of gender bias that flowers have. The historical tie-in to hospitality may not be as direct as it was in the past, but the image of palms, pineapples, and birds of paradise still inspire the feeling of luxury, relaxation, and getting away from it all. Eliciting these emotions while also pulling in biophilic design principals packages the whole aesthetic into the perfect “Wish you were here!” statement.
Two notable instances during the HD Expo show were the use of more mid-century design and repeat by Innovations, and an abstracted block-print-like design by Fil Doux. In particular, these two examples show the main ways in which interior designers are using tropical greenery: in traditional, realistic ways (Innovations), or by breaking down the pattern to only its geometric elements (Fil Doux).
Designers can expect to continue to see pineapples, palms, and more tropically-integrated products in the coming years. While they may not take center-stage or be the highlight of the collection, they will continue to emerge.
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I’m often asked for my definition of “good design.” Like design itself, the answer to that question changes constantly. When I first started in this industry 30 years ago, good design was all about efficiency—getting function out of a space by arranging its occupants in tidy, reproducible patterns. When tech came along with its “question everything” culture, good design became more focused on meeting individual needs—the need for comfort, for self-expression, for really good coffee somewhere nearby.
Today, I think good design has evolved into a broader concept of community, an environment that functions as a healthy and meaningful ecosystem. Through all these definitions one thing has remained constant: good design is authentic. If that sounds like Dieter Rams’ 11th principle, it’s probably because it grows from the same roots that sprouted Dieter’s other 10—humility and integrity. Everyone recognizes and responds to quality. You don’t have to have a maker’s temperament to feel the value in something that was lovingly crafted and put together with pride.
As a designer of workplaces and, more recently, of workplace furniture, I have come to understand the impact subtle interactions with texture have on the way we feel about our day—the sound a knuckle rapped on solid wood makes, the depth of color in a true ceramic tile, the subtle message of reassurance we get from settling onto real leather. These are pleasures available only in the original.
More Community Design: Advocacy in Design
For that reason, I always encourage clients to use authentic Herman Miller or Knoll products. These iconic designs are timeless because the tradition of quality they represent never expires. That quality should not be undermined with fakes. I am also on the lookout for new artisans and authentic manufacturers—the Charles and Ray Eames of the future. The design industry has created a highly receptive market for companies and individuals dedicated to creating and distributing original work.
O+A is always happy when we can specify products from MASH Studios or Dsegnare. Even happier when we can work with those fine craftsmen and women to make custom items for our custom interiors. When I was partnering with Kimball Office on the design for my multi-functional workstation, Canopy, I realized a truly successful product encompassed all of the definitions of good design—it was efficient, it met the user’s individual needs, it contributed to the healthy ecosystem of the workplace. To touch all those bases, to make something that will evolve alongside the changing values of accelerating times, it is necessary to slow down and do the careful, attentive work that only comes from original effort.
You can’t knock off quality. Knock your knuckles on a table to hear why.
Primo Orpilla is the co‐founder of Studio O+A, a multi-disciplinary San Francisco design firm that has changed the way we think about work and workplace. Recently named Global Chair for Student Experience at the International Interior Design Association, Primo’s new focus is empowering the next generation of designers. In 2016, O+A won the Cooper Hewitt Design Award for Interior Design. In 2017, FRAME Publishers released a comprehensive retrospective of the firm’s work: “Studio O+A: Twelve True Tales of Workplace Design.”
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There are certain attributes of a profession and one has to catch hold of them in order to work efficiently and grow in that business.I share my experience as an interior designer, a profession of great esthetic value and charm.
1- The Art of Listening
I start my work by listening. Interior design is about expressing ideas in a visual and experiential way. At the beginning, before any proposal or suggestion, I firstly listen carefully to find out what the client’s vision is. Sometimes, it is not clearly defined, but through discussion and getting to know a little more about them, their way of life, it is easier to craft a framework for a narrative.
Listening is also about having all our senses open and being receptive to inspiration around us.
Recently I was on the Adriatic Riviera, for a hotel renovation that is on the water. While walking with the client to get a feel for the upcoming project, I paused and listened to the sounds of the gentle waves against the rocks. It was the lulling, dreamy and calming sound of the sea, that I have taken with me as a memory to recreate on the mood board.
2- The Ability to Observe
Next step is looking, seeing beauty, identifying key elements that become part of the design story. The world around us is rich with examples of good design, showcases of craftsmanship, and moments of exquisite inspiration. Extracting details and inspiration from our surroundings, like choosing an antique piece and updating it for a contemporary use is something I find as the most enjoyable part of the interior design process.
3- The Interface with Architecture
A sense of place and respect for the architectural envelope is a pillar of interior design. Interior design embraces location, and should be a natural progression of the architecture it is set within. The best projects I have worked on are the ones where interior design and architecture have overlapped seamlessly, from floor transition to harmonious material palettes, all the way to a great result, where people don’t talk about it as a space but more like an experience that has left a memory.
4- Functionality
I am a believer of ‘If it doesn’t work, don’t do it’. Function comes before form, so for an interior design that stands the test of time, it should have purpose. …to paraphrase Adolf Loos’s ‘ornament is crime’ thesis on design, I believe that beauty for the sake of superficial decoration is harmful and waters down a strong concept.
5- A Question of Scale
Studying scale and seeking the right proportions is fundamental to interior design. Grandeur, luxury, intimacy are abstract notions that take form by how we apply scale or with which materials we choose to work with. High ceilings give a sense of space and airiness to a room. Human scale is important to make us feel comfortable and cosy. Large floorboards from mature oak trees, where you can ‘read’ grain are more luxurious than thin strips of wood on a floor for example. A wall of large bookmatched slabs of a veiny stone is always more grand than regular tiles. The choices we make, when it comes to scale, are imperative for the end result.
6-Balance and Contrast
A sense of balance and harmony is my ultimate quest when designing a space. I use layering to achieve balance and harmony. The could be a ‘tone on tone’ scheme with one accent strong colour or a material palette that combines smooth , polished textures with more natural, stripped down surfaces.
Natural materials are always best and at the top of my preferences list. Knowing the properties of each material is essential. Wool is naturally fire retardant, a very important property for commercial spaces. Silk breathes and is cool in the summer as well as warm in winter. Colour may fade however if used in a room with direct sunlight. Ceramics are so versatile. I personally love the relief ceramic tiles, and like using them in unexpected ways, like on table tops in a restaurant or to add ‘ movement’ and interest on the front of a cocktail bar counter. Contrast adds drama. Playing with light and dark adds interest. Sometimes it is about creating a sequence and transition from a dark space to a lighter one.
7-Maximising Potential
You can apply this rule in many things in life. In interior design it means making the most of what you have. Planning a bathroom to be as efficient as possible, or creating flexibility in a hotel lobby to be used by different people in many ways. In small bedrooms, using a writing table by the bed, means a bedside surface doubles up as a desk, bringing down the number of furniture in the room and making it feel spacious without compromising function. If there is a window with great views, it is about choosing to have a comfortable armchair there and creating a ‘relaxation’ moment. The art of interior design combines knowledge from different fields, the ability to discover opportunities and convert a given space into a truly memorable experience. Ultimately, interior design is a step towards creating a better world, starting from our surroundings.
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Continue reading Seven Learnings to Abide by in the Interior Design Sector
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, 20 April 2018 – Interior design isn’t just about placing a few pieces of furniture in a room – there needs to be enough space to move around comfortably. The proportions of a room in relation to the pieces in it make a person feel either comfortable or unsettled. According to Gestalt Psychology[i], although the human eyes take in separate pieces of information, the brain merges those pieces into a singular, simpler pattern that’s recognisable. This means that a room is seen as a whole before details begin to emerge. Balanced or symmetrical designs are easier for the brain to recognise and are therefore perceived to be more comfortable.
Take a ride through four international sneaker environments.
1. Firm: Sid Lee Architecture
Project: Adidas x Concepts, the Sanctuary
Site: Boston
Standout: A temple aesthetic pervades the basement space, courtesy of steel doors water-jet cut in a Celtic pattern, tinted-glass portals, and interactive mirror displays by sculptor Jordan Söderberg Mills.
2. Firm: Slade Architecture
Project: Flight Club
Site: Los Angeles
Standout: For its West Coast expansion, the kicks mecca continues the gallerylike vibe established in the Manhattan store via a simple palette of sealed concrete, perforated sanded aluminum, and raw plywood.
3. Firm: Checkland Kindleysides
Project: Hogan
Site: Milan
Standout: Inspired by the dynamic bronze sculptures of early 20th–century artist Umberto Boccioni, hot-rolled steel plinths are tilted and stacked.
4. Firm: Flip Ziedses Des Plantes
Project: “FZDP x Filling Pieces”
Site: Paris
Standout: Design firm and footwear brand, both Dutch, teamed up for a fashion week exhibition, in which 150 concrete pillars and “botanical clouds” nodded to the label’s inspiration from architecture, nature, and urban culture.
Brand-new lighting, wall covering, and furnishings not to be missed at ICFF 2018. Register today using promo code “idmag” to receive complimentary fair badges for industry professionals.
