Issues

Appetite for construction: The pioneering engineer, Hanif Kara

Behind every great architect is a great engineer. A case in point is Hanif Kara, who has been integral to gravity-defying works for the best part of four decades. He arrived in the UK as a teenager with limited English skills, following his family’s expulsion from Uganda. After initially failing to secure a university place, he accepted a job as a steel fabricator and took night classes. He later enrolled at Salford University, graduating in 1982 with a degree in civil engineering. In 1996 he co-founded design-led engineering firm AKT and has since gone on to become an engineer of choice for starchitects, working with the likes of Zaha Hadid and David Chipperfield.

More recently, he has overseen the completion of Oxford University’s Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities with Hopkins Architects, where Monocle meets him.

What role can engineers play in delivering a better-built environment?
Historically, engineers have just waited until everyone has had their say – architects, developers and so on – before doing the numbers and making the building stand up. Now, that single-disciplinary approach to current global crises won’t work. Historically, those who built did everything, acting as client, designer and constructor. We’re going to have to get out of our silos and find trans-disciplinary solutions.

How can we break out of these silos?
Technology can unite disciplines. It can explain the mess we are in, in terms of environmental and economic crisis, but it can also be the means by which we might escape. We can use it to sensitively add to existing structures and build new ones.

How can designers work to deliver on this?
The professional rules of conduct are out of the window. We must arm ourselves with technology but moral and critical thinking too. We need to understand science and the humanities. The planet is everyone’s client and the quality of life of all people must be the driving force.
akt-uk.com

Cape Town’s Hoi P’loy lets you build your own perfect lighting

South Africa has long been notorious for its frequent power cuts – so the idea of a Cape Town-based studio finding success by producing lighting might seem a little ironic. “Initially, Hoi P’loy wasn’t meant to be a lighting brand,” says Ploy Phiromnam, who co-founded the company with Guy van der Walt in 2013, originally as a lifestyle company. “At the time, Cape Town lacked attainable design. So we had a desire to make things both beautiful and accessible.” Lighting, they decided, was a good place to start.

The initial concept was straightforward: to put together a modular collection so that consumers could pick and choose parts to create their own bespoke illuminations. However, Hoi P’loy’s initial ambition to ensure that some of their pieces were locally produced complicated matters, with light bulbs and fabric cables needing to be imported. So they partnered with international suppliers to create a custom collection, while producing some elements on home soil.

The duo continued to import but also produce elements in South Africa, establishing a factory workshop (equipped with solar energy, in case the power goes out) that is now located in Cape Town’s industrial Salt River neighbourhood. From here, Hoi P’loy works with international manufacturers but also produces a wide range of pieces, such as brass screws and enamel plates, all with a commitment to craftsmanship and quality, and the idea that customers should be able to construct their own lighting configurations.

Hoi P’loy is also finding new ways to experiment with technology, including the 3D printing of components. “What’s nice about it is that the materials are more cost-effective, so we can create products at a more accessible price,” says Van der Walt.

Though 3D printers are now an important part of the production process, the duo have no intention of straying from human craft. “It’s great working with people locally,” says Van der Walt. “You get to build relationships with them.”

The advantages, he says, are twofold: turnaround times tend to be quicker and it helps South Africa’s craftspeople to stay in business. The brand can also work with these producers in a very hands-on way, talking through ideas or solving problems together.

New to the range are handles and stationery but Hoi P’loy still follows that same guiding light – and its plan is to never stray far from what it does well. “It’s not groundbreaking design,” says Phiromnam. “Rather, it’s all about the desire to make things that are good and simple.”
hoiploy.com

Hida Sangyo unveils a beautiful renovation of Yuhokan Hida Gallery, Japan

Japan’s mountainous Hida region has a woodworking tradition that dates back 1,300 years. Its master carpenters constructed some of the country’s oldest temples and shrines. Founded just over a century ago, furniture firm Hida Sangyo continues this tradition. It initially made bentwood furniture but is now working to bring the region’s rich heritage into the modern era. A fine example of this is the recent renovation of its Yuhokan Hida Gallery, an exhibition space in Takayama City.

“Yuhokan was established to fulfil Hida Sangyo’s ambition of making this region the hallowed ground of woodworking,” says Teruhiko Nakagawa, the executive director of the company’s design division. Tokyo-based architect Yoshifumi Nakamura was tasked with renewing the space. “I was aware of Nakamura’s deep knowledge of woodworking and his many years spent documenting Japan’s disappearing handcrafts,” says Nakagawa. “So I asked him to help realise our dream.”

The architect brought furniture designer Makoto Koizumi, a former pupil, on board and they set about a full-scale renovation. Beyond the aluminium-framed entrance, the interiors make use of Hida Sangyo’s furniture and compressed cedar panels. There are handcrafted wooden stair rails, glass doors with igusa (rush grass) details and butterfly-shaped joints on a walnut-wood counter. The ground-floor shop stocks the company’s wares, as well as wood-fired ceramics by Shigeyoshi Morioka and dyed textiles by Yumi Ishikita. There’s also a tool section and staff offer guidance on care and maintenance, aiming to address declining access to woodworking equipment and know-how. Exhibitions and talks are held in the gallery upstairs, while the café serves Japanese dishes prepared with regional produce.

Yuhokan’s location in Takayama City – a popular tourist destination – helps it to nurture a deep appreciation of the area and its craftsmanship among visitors from far and wide. “Our aim is to present the beautiful woodworking of Japan and the tools and craftspeople involved in its production,” says Nakagawa. “It’s also about conveying that Hida is a place where Japanese culture and traditions live on.”
hidasangyo.com

Mallorca’s furniture scene is being injected with tropical modernism by Adriane Escarfullery

It’s all coming together for Dominican-born furniture designer Adriane Escarfullery – but it has been a rather epic journey to get here. The 35-year-old has had to overcome many setbacks and teach himself not only to design his large, full-bodied chairs (think tropical modernism mixed with the aesthetics of Børge Mogensen, the Danish designer of the famous Spanish Chair) but also to make them by hand and market them too.

We find him in his studio in a central residential neighbourhood of Palma, Mallorca. His regal chairs are on display on the ground floor, while in the basement workshop there are piles of leather that he is arduously stitching to use as upholstery, prototypes for new sofas and a photography set-up (with which he is shooting images for his website). “I am a designer but I have had to become a builder too,” he says as he guides Monocle around his workspace.

Until a few months ago, Escarfullery was running the entire operation from a co-working space, trying not to infuriate the other tenants with his banging and sawing. But then came a dream commission to work with celebrated architecture company Ohlab on Terreno Barrio, an upcoming hotel in the city. “It has changed my life,” he says.

Escarfullery’s family – his mother and stepfather, along with four of his many brothers – moved to the island when he was 16 years old. It was here that he went to design school, before heading to Lyon in France, where he worked at an architecture firm that made furniture. He had also previously studied in London in 2014.

“I did a lot of things wrong in the beginning,” he says. “I found a carpenter to make my first prototype but, because I didn’t know how to brief him properly, I had to wait three months. Then, when I attached the seat, it was so horrible and really uncomfortable.”

Escarfullery then employed a different carpenter, who took his money and vanished. In the end, it took him 18 months just to have a single prototype made that he was happy with. Luckily, he now has carpenters who he can rely on. Today his line-up includes the chunky Fee Fi Fo Fum chair, which is made from recycled wood and was inspired by the 1947 Walt Disney film Fun and Fancy Free. Then there’s the stocky Elef, with rope seating and a wide backrest whose shape was influenced by “the ears of an elephant”.

The Ohlab commission promises to put Escarfullery’s work in front of a far wider audience. No matter what happens next, one thing is sacrosanct to him. “I want to have the time to enjoy Sunday lunch with my mum,” he says.
adrianescarfullery.com

‘Architecture can heal.’ Rebuilding power in Oslo

Today, when it comes to the design of parliaments and bureaucratic headquarters, democratic governments across the globe face the dual challenge of balancing transparency with security and public access with safety. For design firm Nordic Office of Architecture (NOA), those considerations were certainly front of mind with its work on the recently completed New Government Quarter in Oslo, made in collaboration with Haptic Architects. The commission to rethink the precinct followed the 2011 terrorist attacks that rocked the country and damaged several buildings at this site, the home of Norway’s ministries and the prime minister’s office.

“In prime minister Jens Stoltenberg’s speech just a couple of days after the attack, he said: ‘We will never give up our values. Our response is more democracy, more openness and more humanity. But never naivety,’” says NOA’s founding partner and head of design, Gudmund Stokke. “As the years have gone by, those words have become more important.”

It’s an outlook that’s also reflected in NOA’s design for the quarter, which is anchored by five new structures and two refurbished buildings. A highlight is the new A-block, where a glass pyramid-like structure creates a 51-metre-high atrium that will serve as the stage for the government to greet foreign dignitaries. Towering over it is an art piece, made of Nordic birch, by Outi Pieski, celebrating indigenous Sámi history. Another space of architectural significance is Høyblokken, a brutalist high-rise built in 1958. It took the brunt of the bomb blast in 2011 but has been repaired, along with the Picasso murals adorning its walls.

Surrounding these structures are a host of passageways previously closed to the public for security reasons, while a square and new park provide spaces for gatherings and community. Norwegian craft and materiality are also championed on site. “We worked with Norwegian boat builders to shape the double-curved surfaces made out of wood,” says Knut Hovland, NOA’s design director.

The result is a master plan that connects the physical seat of power with the people it serves. “Architecture can heal,” says Stokke. “When the campus is completed, alongside all the urban spaces, it will be a nice, human, open and friendly place. That’s how you meet evil.” It’s also how you design a generous yet safe government quarter.
nordicarch.com

Nada Debs’s Dubai design outpost merges studio and shop in a beautiful, luminous space

A design brand’s studio should reflect its ethos. Particularly when the space in question also functions as a shop, offering a point of contact with the public. Nada Debs fulfils that brief at her new outpost in Dubai.

“We’ve fused together our studio space and boutique, helping us deliver on our main mission of supporting craftsmen in Lebanon and the Middle East,” says Debs, who meets Monocle at her new outpost at The Yard at Alserkal Avenue, a hub of design, art and creativity. “We realised that the only way we could deliver on this vision was to open a boutique to create demand for the craftsmen’s work. But at the same time, a lot of our clients are interior designers, so we needed a studio space to show bigger pieces, samples and materials and to collaborate on craft.”

The opening is a significant milestone for Debs’s namesake brand. It’s her first place outside Beirut and comes at a time when her son, Tamer Khatib, has joined as managing director. It is split over two levels. The ground-floor boutique feels homely, with wood panelling and screens and poured terrazzo flooring providing the backdrop for home accessories and furniture. A curved staircase leads to the second-floor studio, which has an industrial vibe. The contrasting aesthetics represent Debs’s design ethos, also reflected in two circular windows illuminating the second floor.

“The circles are an important motif because the brand’s always been about duality,” says Debs, who was raised in Japan. “Today, we’re between Beirut and Dubai, a mother-son duo, and are balancing commercial in the boutique with artistic in the studio space. We want to show that we all have these dualities in us and that they can work nicely together.
nadadebs.com

Behind a Mayfair shopfront, Automat is reviving the speakeasy

A good speakeasy is difficult to come by but, done well, the format can still enrapture, with nondescript doors leading to dimly lit hideaways with a hint of Prohibition-era secrecy and decadence. You’ll find (or might easily miss) one such venue on Mayfair’s Mount Street.

Automat is technically a reboot: until 2012, there was another nearby under different management. It is now concealed behind leather goods shop Tanner Krolle (look for the knowing security guard and the wooden door). Inside, you can choose from a streamlined menu of comforting Anglo-American classics, including a toastie of gooey cheddar coddled between crustless white slices with a little truffle on top. There’s also chicken pie, burgers and New York-style cheesecake. Guests can enjoy martinis while congratulating themselves on getting a table.

The concept is a nod to the American automat, a precursor to vending machines that offered hot meals to workers for a nickel – though sadly the old prices haven’t survived the update. The idea was a byword for technological efficiency in the US in the early 1900s, when its high sales volume and low running costs (without any waiting staff to pay) seemed set to change the way people dined out.

Mercifully, this contemporary take does have waiters. There’s also something thrilling about the mood. The other key ingredient of a good speakeasy? A sense of discretion – so don’t tell too many people about this one.
automatdining.com

How Tokyo’s Teddy Brown elevates the humble hamburger

How can you improve the humble hamburger? Few have answered this question as convincingly as Teddy Brown in Tokyo’s Hiroo district. But before you marvel at the menu, take a moment to appreciate owner Takahiro Oya’s choice of oak furniture, marble tabletops, psychedelic glass lampshades and exposed pebble araidashi-poured floor.

Oya and his team make their 160g patties daily with kuroge Wagyu (Japanese black) beef shank and belly. The buns – whose resemblance to brown teddy bears inspired the shop’s name – contain mashed potatoes, a little organic cane sugar from the island of Tanegashima and are topped with onions that take hours to caramelise. Cheddar and Grana Padano bring the cheese factor, the bacon is home-smoked and the fries are cut, steamed and twice-cooked in rice oil.

Serving burgers with sauces that contain no additives or preservatives is a top priority for Oya, which is why the staff spend hours making every condiment from scratch, including the ketchup, mayonnaise, teriyaki sauce, “bacon jam” and sauce aurore (bechamel and tomatoes). “I’ve eaten at a lot of burger shops for research and often felt heavy afterwards,” says Oya. “Using better sauces and condiments can make a big difference.” Being a stickler for ingredients is also a savvy strategy for surviving in Tokyo’s hypercompetitive market of more than 1,400 shops, diners, bistros and fast-food restaurants serving burgers. 

Before opening Teddy Brown last April, Oya spent 18 years launching and overseeing 20 restaurants and learning how to draw out the best qualities of Wagyu. But he’s still refining his recipe and not averse to temporarily removing burgers from the menu that he feels could use adjustments or improvements. “Wagyu has a distinctive sweetness and aroma, and a lot of moisture. You have to remove the excess moisture,” he says. “Making a tasty burger takes effort. You can’t just fry it and add cheese like you would do with US-raised beef.”
5-1-18 Hiroo, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

‘Architecture should be equally functional and beautiful’: Matt Goodman’s thoughtful approach to beachside builds

Like doctors, lawyers and teachers, the best architects have strong principles and a sense of integrity. That’s exactly what imbues the work of Matt Goodman (and why he’s being commissioned by those in the know across Australia). With work that spans offices to apartments, the Melbourne-based architect’s ethos – one that’s about respecting existing conditions, context and craftsmanship – is consistent across his portfolio. “As a studio, we care about context and enjoy the process of crafting buildings,” says Goodman. “It’s about being collaborative and solving design problems. We bring simplicity to complex briefs. Wherever possible we use natural materials and a limited palette to create refined designs.”

It’s an approach that’s best imbued in his residential work, which frequently draws upon cultural traditions and the landscapes in which it is embedded. “For the house at Anglesea we kept the soul of its mid-century origins intact,” says Goodman of the beach house that he renovated on Australia’s south coast. The home was sensitively rebuilt, maintaining the original L-shaped layout, allowing the living space to flow into the garden where existing native trees connect the space with the verdant landscape beyond. Brick rendered in an earthy colour and blackbutt-timber ceilings further enhance this natural atmosphere. “Every decision respected its character, while bringing it up to modern standards,” he adds.

A similar approach can also be found in Goodman’s work on the Olive Street Cabin in the coastal town of Separation Creek. The project is a contemporary take on 1950s and 1960s Australian beach cabins, which populated the country’s coastlines following the Second World War. An iconic but increasingly rare form of architecture, such structures hold a place in the national consciousness: the skillion roofs, pared-back fibre-cement façades and simple floor plans represented the bare-boned nature of coastal life.

“The project started with the idea of doing something simple, marrying the character of Separation Creek,” says Goodman. “It’s true to the area’s history.” And, true to his word, Goodman’s design blurs the indoors and outdoors, encouraging easy beachside living. Its compact layout feels generous, with external spaces flowing easily into the living area and kitchen, which is connected to the dining space by a custom stepped bench. Residents are also invited to connect with the environment beyond thanks to large windows with frameless details that make the glass appear to float, dissolving the barrier between home and landscape.

Far from being stuck in the past, however, Goodman has introduced architectural innovations that respond to the changing climate. “It’s robust and bushfire-safe,” he says, explaining that sliding corrugated-aluminium doors ensure it shuts up tightly, protecting it from the elements. This means that its owners can be assured of security when they aren’t holidaying in the residence – representative of Goodman’s ethos, one that balances aesthetics and operation. “Architecture,” he adds, “should be equally functional and beautiful.”
mgao.com.au

Helsinki’s urban oasis: Iittala Brings the Finnish sauna into the city at Bob W Kamppi

What should a traditional Finnish sauna look like in an urban context, where it serves as a city sanctuary rather than a lakeside escape? That’s the question that Iittala is exploring with its new lounge on the top floor of Bob W Kamppi, a 1970s Helsinki office-building-turned-hotel. The heritage brand worked with Helsinki-based studio Koko3 to transform the space into a contemporary wellness hub. 

Called Iittala Sauna Lounge, it pays tribute to the building’s original structure and is characterised by bare concrete walls, tiles and copper, typical of late-modernist design. “We wanted to keep that brutalist roughness and strong character visible,” says Koko3’s Mari Relander. “The question was what to pair it with – something equally grounded in Finnish design but with a new voice and warmth.” The answer came in the form of solid pine furniture from local brand Vaarnii, whose heavy timber chairs and tables are designed to patina gently with use – a practical consideration, Relander notes, since guests move through the lounge fresh out of the sauna. “It’s meant to be a lived-in space,” she says. “People come in hot, barefoot, carrying water. The materials need to handle that. They’ll only get better over time.”

Relander and her team added warmth to the space with additional furnishings: a soft, textured Koti sofa by Stockholm-based brand Hem, handwoven Finnish wool rugs by Woven Works and classic Paavo Tynell lamps, which were originally designed for holiday resort Aulanko and have now been reissued by Danish firm Gubi. These subdued elements are meant to ease the transition from the heat of the sauna to the calm of the lounge. The adjoining terrace acts as a modern equivalent of the lakeside deck, offering a place to cool off. “The cooling space is always part of the sauna ritual,” says Relander. “Here it just happens to be in the city, not by a lake.”

Throughout the lounge, Iittala’s glassware and ceramics play a starring role, from Alvar Aalto classics and Tapio Wirkkala’s iconic Ultima Thule collection to new Solare vases. The collaboration signals a shift for the design house, which wants its pieces to be used beyond the domestic sphere. “This was a perfect fit for our mission, which is to inspire creativity and community by connecting people to innovative, purposeful and iconic designs in every room of the house,” says Iittala’s vice-president, Tove Westermarck.

True to its setting in a city-centre hotel, the Iittala Sauna Lounge embraces its inherent dualities: it is both raw and refined, communal and private, and nostalgic yet forward-looking. It’s not about replicating the forest sauna experience; it’s about extending the rhythms of Finnish tradition and social life into the fabric of the city. And perhaps that’s the point. Unlike what some locals believe, the urban sauna isn’t a contradiction but an evolution – a reminder that even in the heart of a busy capital, Helsinki’s people still find a way to pause, sweat and reflect.
iittala.com; bobw.co