Architecture/Design
Architect Deborah Berke talks about her new book, and a London designer's recycled furniture causes a stir in Austria and Norway.
Q&A
Deborah Berke
Architect
New York
Deborah Berke, the architect’s self-titled first book, will be released on 4 November and is published by Yale University Press. Berke is known for her vernacular approach to residential and public buildings.
What made you write this book?
No one understands the way we convey ideas, as an architectural project unfolds. We made a graph of each project’s note cards and used them as dividers. Including the design process was important.
Do you have a favourite project?
Peter Halley’s house has a stark melancholy and graphic composition that is exactly what the landscape called for.
Next project?
Repurposing Manhattan’s PS 122.
Next book?
On the workplace – the last moment of authenticity.
dberke.com
Made in: Switzerland
Sense of shelf
Perfection in furniture design
Focus on craft
When it comes to shelving, you can trust the Swiss. Lehni was founded in 1928 in Dübendorf, and today Ursula Menet runs the firm with her brother Heinz Lehni. She says the Swiss tradition of first-class precision influences everything they do. Designs from the likes of Frédéric Dedelley and Donald Judd are pressed carefully and stamped into shape from anodised or crude aluminium plates – a technique that revolutionised furniture design over 40 years ago and one that Lehni has since perfected.
lehni.com
Fjord focus
Living in a box in Norway
Norwegian firm, Brendeland & Kristoffersen, has made the most of a tight spot with this compact home in Trondheim. The wooden box-like structure is crafted in spruce and appears to hover on a glass base – it’s a striking design that stands out in the suburbs. “It’s become something of a local attraction,” says co-founder Geir Brendeland. A roof-top terrace looks out to the surrounding fjord and forest.
bkark.no
Wood picker
Fresh design talent from the UK
Amy Hunting, a young London-based designer, gathered off-cuts of untreated wood from factories around Denmark to create this pendant light. Her “Patchwork” collection, still just prototypes, also includes a chair and bookcase. Manufacturers, start dialling.
amyhunting.com
