The Monocle Minute
On Design

This week, we marvel at the stunning reinvention of an art museum in Arkansas (pictured), bask in the light of an inventive German lamp, commute to a playfully designed London office with sci-fi touches and more. But first, Nic Monisse shares some wisdom gleaned from a jam-packed month.

When London-based digital agency Midnight invited design practice Studio Jey to create a new workspace, the latter’s co-founders, Jess Murphy and Josie de Guzman, were surprised. They didn’t expect the brief. “Given that Midnight’s work is mostly on computers, there was little need for storage and other functional aspects of a workplace,” says Murphy. “It was more about getting people back into the office by creating a nice environment in a great neighbourhood that employees want to spend time in.”

The open-plan space feels equal parts organic and angular, furnished with metallic, modular furniture by companies such as Vitra and USM. “We filled the interior with plants, which contrast with the metal,” says De Guzman. The team took inspiration from retrofuturism and 1980s sci-fi films. “We wanted to take something from their world of technology and use it in our design language,” says De Guzman.
studio-jey.co

The $155m (€143m) renovation of the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts in Little Rock has been nominated for a Mipim Award. The project by Chicago-based Studio Gang turned a previously handsome but unassuming museum into an exciting cultural destination that mixes striking contemporary design with original art deco features from 1937.

The museum’s signature element is its new roof: a flowing concrete form combining previously separate buildings into one expansive structure. The redesign embraces the building’s surroundings, with a glass curtain wall providing views of Little Rock’s MacArthur Park. It also invites passers-by into a space that features galleries, an art school, a children’s theatre, a museum shop and gathering spots. The result is a shining example of how thoughtful design can embrace dualities: the past and present, landscape and architecture, rarefied culture and a sense of community. And it shows how a thoughtful approach can help to elevate cultural institutions and put them on the map. The winners of the Mipim Awards, which celebrate outstanding property projects worldwide, will be announced at a ceremony at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes on 14 March.
studiogang.com; mipim.com

Olivier Roset is the fifth-generation co-CEO of Ligne Roset, a furniture manufacturer that has been based in the French town of Bugey since 1860. The company is celebrated for collaborations including the Togo sofa, made with Michel Ducaroy in 1973, and the Pukka collection, created with Canadian studio Yabu Pushelberg in 2021. Roset tells us about how the company prizes those who share its commitment to craftsmanship and design.

What does it mean to run a family business?
It’s about knowing our needs. We have the right to create what we want and can take our time with things. We can also make decisions really quickly. We might make mistakes with some products and it’s important to remain humble about that. But we never make a mistake in our relationships with designers. Those bonds are lasting and add to the overall story of our brand.

What is the Ligne Roset style?
We make modern products that rediscover the traditional French aesthetic. It’s important to launch them at the right time and at the right price. We want people to look at our furniture and immediately see that it’s by us. That’s when you know that you have created a timeless brand.

How do you build longevity into your designs?
Through quality. It’s crucial when we’re talking about sustainability because if you have something that’s high quality, you’ll keep it for years. Many of our employees are from the same village as our factory. Some have been working for us for more than 30 years. So the team is dedicated to creating a good product. And we like long-term partnerships with designers – that way, we get to know each other. They become our friends. We work together to create something really personal.

For more from Olivier Roset, tune in to this week’s episode of ‘Monocle on Design’.

Munich-based designer Jan Roth came up with this light more than 50 years ago in an effort to make something entirely unique. “At the time, I was carving bamboo sticks to make flutes,” he says. “I needed a bright light.” Roth cut a piece of a steel bar, clipped an electric cord to a thin rod and hung a lampshade that he repurposed from a torch. He showed the prototype to friend and fellow lighting designer Ingo Maurer, who came up with the name Grasl – Bavarian dialect for a straw of grass – and put it into production at his Munich workshop.

The Grasl came in two variants: a more polished version with brass detailing and the everyman’s model named Grasl Vulgaris, which Roth prefers. Over the course of nearly 50 years, Ingo Maurer sold thousands of Grasls but production came to a stop when Maurer died in 2019. The slender design can still be spotted in many homes and shop windows in Munich, proving that Roth’s quick fix was an inspired and bright idea.

With 156 typefaces across 832 pages – numbers proudly displayed on its cover – Shoplifters 10: New Type Design Vol 2 is nothing if not thorough. Conceived by US publisher and design practice Actual Source, the publication aims to showcase all that is new and noteworthy in contemporary type design.

Inside, you’ll find alphabetical presentations of the selected typefaces, from Advocate, which riffs on the letterforms of a vintage IBM typewriter, to Daria Petrova’s Zloy, inspired by the Russian word for “angry”, “wicked” or “evil”. These are analysed in detail, making Shoplifters 10 an essential resource for designers seeking guidance or inspiration. “For this second volume, we tried to highlight physical or ‘non-digital’ typeface design through our various editorial pieces,” says designer JP Haynie, co-founder of Actual Source. “Our interview with third-generation letterer and stone carver Nick Benson is a particular favourite.”
actualsource.org

Founded in Murano, lighting brand Foscarini has been illuminating the world since 1981, drawing on the artisanal glass-blowing skills that the Venetian island is celebrated for. The late Italian master Rodolfo Dordoni, who began working with the brand in 1990, designed its latest release: the Chapeaux collection of table lamps. The body of the lamps is made out of Pyrex, which widens like a funnel at both of its ends. This allows the hat-shaped luminaire to diffuse its light throughout the room seamlessly.

There are three “hat” options, including a minimalist metal version – ideal for a workspace setting. The bone-china lampshade provides a gentle glow for a more intimate, homely atmosphere, while the third option – with a diffuser coated in blown glass – pays homage to the brand’s history. This playful range of personality within a single design attests to the continuing relevance of Dordoni’s creative vision and his legacy. Hats off.
foscarini.com