The Monocle Minute
On Design

This week we sample the architectural delights of Aspen’s newest Thai restaurant, take a wander through Kengo Kuma’s blockbuster renovation of Lisbon’s Centro de Arte Moderna Gulbenkian (pictured), discuss the importance of re-greening cities with Danish landscape architect Rasmus Astrup and plenty more. But first, key takeaways from Orgatec.

It’s no secret that times have been tough for the office-furniture sector, with half-empty workplaces still cluttering many cities. But Orgatec, the industry’s biggest global trade fair which is taking place in Köln this week, might just present some solutions to help buck this trend. While furniture and interior improvements need to work in tandem with increased amenity, proximity to other services and an engaged workforce, it can also be a motivating factor in enticing people back to the office. Here are three outstanding contributions from Orgatec, which might go some way to helping this cause.

Comfort is (not always) king
In Orgatec’s sea of task chairs, it is a relief to spot a normal seat that has not sacrificed all style at the altar of ergonomics. Swedish brand Blå Station’s new armchair Able is a lightweight, angular number made with canvas stretched across a metal frame and optional castor wheels. Dutch brand Arco also showcased its Gudmundur Ludvik-designed collection, Close+ (pictured, bottom), whose curving, upholstered backs show that office chairs can be cosy. But the award for best office-lobby statement piece goes to a design that you can’t even sit on: a lounger with a seat made from strips of bent wood veneer. The prototype is shown by Danish Design Makers, a collective of creatives who present their ideas in the hopes of finding a manufacturer.

New horizons
The warm, orange glow emanating from the booth of Grau spells a new dawn for office lighting. The German company has overhauled its product line so that even its office-oriented products, including the best-selling floor lamp Team, come with a warm-light setting. The German brand recently introduced Sunset Dimming, a calming fire-orange light setting available on its portable lights. “We sell a lot of these lamps for offices,” says Grau’s export manager, Stéphane Alvarez. “You can adjust them for different modes of working.” This novel LED technology offers hope that the era of headache-inducing office spaces will finally come to an end.

Pod proliferation
The hottest product category at Orgatec is one that didn’t exist 10 years ago: the soundproof cabin that enables phone calls and meetings in open-plan offices. One of the fair’s busiest stands belongs to Finnish brand Framery (pictured, top), where visitors are queuing up to try the glass-walled booths. “In 2014 we were the only ones on the market,” says founder Samu Hällfors. “Now we have 200 competitors.” So far, Framery has produced more than 100,000 of these so-called “pods”, which range in size from the single-occupancy phone booth to the spacious meeting room. Their popularity is a sign that the evolution of workplace design is close to coming full circle – the logical next step being, of course, an office with actual walls.

Stella Roos is Monocle’s design correspondent. For more news and analysis,subscribe to Monocle today.

The US resort town of Aspen has a new Thai-fusion restaurant – though the mixing of influences is in the design of the space rather than its cuisine (which is straight-up modern Thai). Sway Aspen’s inviting interiors are the handiwork of the Texas-based Michael Hsu Office of Architecture (MHOA), which previously worked on Sway’s flagship restaurant in Austin. The design takes its cues both from Thailand’s decorative traditions and from the aesthetics of the Rocky Mountains, with plenty of teak fittings, gentle lighting and plush banquettes.

The restaurant’s interiors have a warm materiality and tonality: think brass details, leather seats, clay plaster and cotton lamps made from Thai mulberry paper. “It’s a carefully designed space but not too precious,” says Michael Hsu, founder of MHOA. “It’s warm and intimate and the type of place you want to gather and relax with friends for a great meal after a day on the slopes.” Come winter, we’re sure this new addition to Aspen will sway many.
hsuoffice.com; aspen.swaythai.com

The newly renovated Centro de Arte Moderna Gulbenkian (CAM) has been an instant hit. Crowds have poured into the museum near Lisbon’s historic centre to see exhibitions featuring works by Portuguese visual artist Leonor Antunes and Japanese sound designer Yasuhiro Morinaga. The centrepiece of architect Kengo Kuma’s redesign is a curved ceramic-and-timber canopy that stretches across the building’s exterior, creating a transitional space between inside and out.

The concrete-and-glass museum’s “floating” roof is supported by slender steel beams and provides shade as well as a dramatic flourish. Kuma also added additional exhibition spaces in which to showcase more of the almost 12,000 or so artworks in CAM’s collection. Landscape architect Vladimir Djurovic oversaw the new garden; inspired by the idea of an urban forest, it features a circular pond flanked by steel benches and trees.
gulbenkian.pt; kkaa.co.jp; vladimirdjurovic.com

Rasmus Astrup is the design principal and partner at Danish studio SLA. A specialist in sustainable landscape architecture, Astrup is currently working on innovative projects on several continents, including the framework plan for Toronto’s 210-hectare Downsview development and Earl’s Court in London. He recently participated in The Monocle Quality of Life Conference in Istanbul, where he shared his thoughts on balancing architecture with nature.

What does a holistic approach to building a city look like?
At our studio, we try to be part of something bigger. I’m a landscape architect and have a colleague who is a philosopher, and another who is a biologist. We also have an anthropologist, a planner and an architect. Making and shaping cities is so complex that if you don’t approach it with a diversity of perspectives, you won’t be able to solve problems.

At SLA, you work at the intersection of the city and nature. What does that mean?
What we’re trying to do as urban designers is enhance people’s quality of life. That’s challenging because you need to work on multiple levels: political, design and financial. You shouldn’t have to escape the city to connect with nature. Lots of people do so on the weekend but I question why you should need to. Every nation’s culture is linked to its nature and that should be reflected in its cities. In Abu Dhabi, for example, we introduced local species to a park to help lower temperatures and reduce water consumption.

How crucial are green spaces to urban environments?
Outdoor spaces affect the way you behave. When you meet people in an environment where you’re welcomed, with trees that cast cooling shadows over a beautiful landscape, you feel nice. That can act as a social glue, giving you a sense of belonging. It changes your physical behaviour, which in turn affects your mindset. You’re more likely to say “hi” to your neighbour or ask someone, “How are you today?” It influences your wellbeing and that of those you share the city with.

For more from The Monocle Quality of Life Conference, tune in to‘Monocle on Design’.

This wooden stool by celebrated Italian-born Brazilian architect Lina Bo Bardi is a rarity: it was only ever produced for her best-known project, the SESC Pompéia in São Paulo. In the 1980s, Bo Bardi converted a former drum factory into a vast sports and cultural centre, and shocked Brazilians by leaving the concrete structure entirely raw and exposed. The chunky pine chairs furnishing the library must also have flummoxed early visitors, who were used to modernist furniture crafted from precious hardwoods. But some 40 years later, the library is still furnished with the original stools and often packed with Paulistanos studying, reading, chatting or playing chess.

After decades of heavy use, the Pompéia chairs prove that pine’s natural grain only looks better with time. Today the world has caught up with Bo Bardi’s appreciation of common materials. Pine was long considered fit only for paper pulp or construction. But young companies such as Vaarnii in Finland and Frama in Denmark are now offering pine furniture that celebrates the timber’s natural irregularities. Maybe the time is finally right for Bo Bardi’s democratic and sustainable design to be put into wider production.

Astep’s new Nox lamp combines playful forms with practical portability. Comprising a tubular aluminium body, a hand-blown opaline glass bulb and a simple, elegant handle, it can be carried and placed wherever light is needed. Its luminosity can be adjusted thanks to a touch-control dimmer, allowing it to provide calming mood lighting or more focused illumination for reading when placed beside a bed or on a side table. The outcome? A luminaire that shines just right wherever it’s placed.
astep.design

For more unexpected design ideas, pick up a copy of Monocle’sOctober issue, which is out now.

Sydneysiders Lauren Camilleri and Sophia Kaplan’s new book, Outside In, celebrates 20 nature-inspired interiors from across the globe. Published by Smith Streets Books, it’s a visual directory not only of the homes and their architects but also of the plants that feature in the properties – something that’s all too often overlooked in design publications.

By putting the emphasis on nature and greenery, Outside In examines the curation of plants in every house, ranging from indoor potted plants to a weeping fig in a courtyard. With its lush photography of residences in countries from Australia to Japan, Outside In is an inspiring resource for any landscape architect or gardener.
smithstreetbooks.com