The Monocle Minute
On Design

This week we admire the tactile qualities of Peter Zumthor’s architectural models, explore the new Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education and Innovation (pictured) in New York, sit down with the duo behind Norwegian firm Snøhetta – who we named architects of the year in 2023’s Monocle Design Awards – and plenty more. First, here’s Grace Charlton on paying closer attention to the details.

Swiss architect Peter Zumthor (pictured, below), who turned 80 in April, is celebrated for his timeless buildings, for which he received the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2009. Now his models are on show at an exhibition at one of his creations, the Werkraum Haus. Opened in 2013, the building, in Austria’s Bregenz Forest in Andelsbuch, houses an association of craftsmen from various trades and was designed to encourage cross-disciplinary co-operation. Like the Werkraum Haus, which Zumthor conceived and built with local artisans, the Architectural Models from the Atelier Peter Zumthor exhibition celebrates the symbiosis between architecture and craftsmanship.

Curated by Finnish architect and exhibition designer Hannele Grönlund in collaboration with Zumthor, the show runs until 16 September and features 40 working models from Atelier Peter Zumthor, including some that have never been publicly exhibited before. Zumthor’s models give visitors a sense of the projects’ materiality and texture: in an era of computer-assisted design and digital imagery, they feel satisfyingly tangible and real.
werkraum.at

In New York’s Upper West Side the American Museum of Natural History has unveiled its new Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education and Innovation, a striking building designed by US architecture firm Studio Gang. It features a new entrance on its west side and an undulating façade with fritted glass, and is clad in Milford pink granite that evokes the kinds of geological layering found in nature. The interiors, meanwhile, include a grand atrium and swooping corridors finished with shotcrete (liquid concrete sprayed through nozzles onto structural metal), creating a cave-like ambience.

The new structure was built to host exhibitions that emphasise links between natural history and scientific discoveries. The visitor experience is enhanced by the 33 passageways that cut across the four-block campus – a welcome navigational aid, given that the museum consists of 10 buildings that have been added and combined over nearly 150 years. “It aims to draw everyone in, people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities, to share the excitement of learning about the natural world,” says Jeanne Gang, founding principal and partner of Studio Gang. “It’s designed to invite exploration and discovery that are not only emblematic of science but also such a big part of being human.”
studiogang.com

The annual Monocle Design Awards, published in this month’s issue of the magazine, names one design studio as architects of the year. The recipient in 2023 is Snøhetta, which earned the prize by establishing a model for what a contemporary architecture studio should be. Over the past year, co-founders Craig Dykers and Kjetil Traedal Thorsen have led their team, which is based in Oslo and New York, on projects ranging from product design and graphics to architecture for retailers such as Holzweiler and high-rise developers in Manhattan. We spoke to the duo to find out more about their approach.

You’ve long worked across a range of disciplines. Why?
Dykers: In the early days, I’m not sure that we had a specific plan but we definitely had a spirit. We were full of energy and wanted to experiment. It was about exploring the world around us. We started by trying to bring together the professions of architecture and landscape architecture, then began including others, such as interior architecture, as we moved forwards. Today, we’re all from different cultures and backgrounds, trying to come together.

Thorsen: It was about climbing the mountain from as many sides, with as many professions and personalities, as possible.

Your work isn’t overly prescriptive and leaves room for people to inhabit them. Why is that important?
Thorsen: Our projects are not complete in themselves. They’re samples of possible futures and not the answer to everything. They present an opening for rethinking, redesigning and redoing.

Dykers: It used to be that, if you were a designer, you could engineer everything in the project that you were working on. A living room, for example, would be engineered so that where everyone should sit, what their posture should be and how they should face other people were all predetermined. In reality, a nice living room allows for change. It gets a little messy.

What’s next for Snøhetta?
Dykers: Almost from the very beginning, we’ve been both global and local. We are constantly trying to see how we can evolve that way of thinking. So in addition to working across disciplines – landscape design, interior architecture and architecture – we also have different countries and cultures represented in our teams, with a breadth of interests that are interconnected.

Thorsen: We also aim to maintain our dialogue between the analogue and the digital. Workshops are still important for everything from prototyping to making models and testing out materials.

For more outstanding designers, pick up a copy of our May issue, which features the third-annual Monocle Design Awards.

In the 1960s, French fashion designer Pierre Cardin started selling avant-garde furniture made from Plexiglass. But credit for the pieces should go to little-known designer Boris Tabacoff, who was among the first to use the hard, transparent plastic in furniture. Other companies also produced Tabacoff’s designs, such as this plush Sphere chair, made by French firm Mobilier Modulaire Moderne in 1971. It’s highly coveted today by those in the know.

Tabacoff was a Bulgarian designer who settled in Paris after the Second World War and initially worked as a sculptor. He achieved more success when he turned to furniture, pairing futuristic Plexiglass forms with luxurious bouclé pillows. Because its production was highly limited – only 50 were supposedly made – the Sphere now fetches more than many sculptures do. A re-edition might finally give Tabacoff the artistic recognition that he deserves.

Sardinia-based design brand Pretziada was co-founded by US-born Kyre Chenven and Milan native Ivano Atzori. The duo, who come from set design and contemporary art backgrounds respectively, moved to the Italian island in 2016 to work with artisans and help to resuscitate local craft traditions. The brand’s Accanta table collection was designed by Maddalena Casadei and made by family-owned timber workshop Falegnameria Pisu. “Maddalena has a strong relationship with Sardinia, having spent time on and around it as a sailor,” says Chenven. “The tables are her way of giving back – a homage to the island.”

A trio of versatile tables in natural Sardinian cork, the collection is based on the idea of a banchittu, a stool-cum-table that is commonly used in the countryside for workers’ lunches. And while the Accanta collection can serve the same purpose today, we’d recommend finding a home for it next to a comfy sofa or cosy bed.
pretziada.com

Kenzo Tange’s modernist takes on traditional Japanese design made him a giant of postwar architecture. Those who want a deeper understanding of the Osaka-born architect, who won the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1987, would do well to turn to Tange by Tange, available from Tokyo’s Toto Publishing.

Across its 252-pages, readers are taken into Tange’s world, with essays by the architect printed alongside 35mm photographs that he took during the initial part of his career as he began to receive major commissions. We’re treated to musings and images of works that inspired him, such as the Katsura Imperial Villa from the early 17th century, and reflections on his own works, including the Kagawa Prefectural Government Office from 1958. It’s a publication that allows readers to see through Tange’s eyes just as he begins to develop a distinctive style.
toto.com