est magazine is a global design resource curating the best in architecture, design, interiors and products. Uniting the creative talents of architects, designers, photographers, stylists, writers and tastemakers, est inspires exceptional living.
I’m writing this letter from Copenhagen, fresh off the back of the city’s design festival, 3daysofdesign. For the three light-filled days, I visited the city’s different design districts to see how the theme Keep it Real was interpreted, most notably through the reissue of era-defining furniture. One such rerelease is the 1974 modular Elogio sofa by the husband-and-wife studio of Tobia and Afra Scarpa. Set to be relaunched by GUBI later this year, I had the rare privilege of hearing from Tobia Scarpa firsthand about how the design pays tribute—Elogio, meaning to honour or praise in Italian—to the beauty of everyday domestic life. The festival’s call for individual expression finds new relevance in this issue, particularly through the ten global projects that balance abstraction with resonant materials in our special…
Dan Preston Dan Preston is an Australian photographer and videographer drawn to documenting the built environment and art objects. He aims to tell authentic visual stories that capture artists and architects’ aspirations and final forms, revealing their intentions in his photographic process and cinematic aesthetic. For this issue, Preston films Babylon in Sydney’s Avalon—the home of creatives Fiona Spence and Morris Lyda, designed in close collaboration with Casey Brown Architecture. @danpreston_1 Pauline Gouablin Pauline Gouablin is a photographer based in Paris. After studying Art History and Philosophy, and graduating from ENS Louis-Lumière, she developed a documentary and portrait practice centred on people who think and make. She collaborates with contemporary artists, creative craftsmen, and musicians to capture a spontaneous dialogue between people and their work. In this issue, she captures…
LOCATION Stockholm, Sweden What does a home with a naturally ‘social’ character look like? Stockholm-based design studio Halleroed has created an exemplar for Acne Studios brand manager, Pontus Björkman and his family. Reflecting the clients’ outgoing personalities and love for entertaining family and friends, the project embodies a balance of domestic functionality and engaging spatial dynamics. Located in a nature reserve ten minutes out of Stockholm’s city centre, the home echoes the natural grace of its Nordic surroundings, while inspiring personal creative expression throughout its interior spaces. A sense of effortless sophistication is a hallmark of Halleroed’s architectural projects. Integrating harmoniously into the surrounding landscape of natural rocks and native pine trees, its façade features rough-sawn pine planks treated with natural pine tar and defined by a uniform warm brown…
yolo by Pattern Gadigal Country/Sydney, Australia “Petite home, grand life!” is the energy, Pattern director Lily Goodwin says, who, alongside director Josh Cain, has infused the interiors with colour, tactility and delightful forms that elevate the everyday. Aptly titled yolo, the designers have reimagined an inner-city Sydney terrace as a vibrant, joy-filled home that embraces spatial freedom over suburban sprawl. At its heart is a thoughtfully reconfigured kitchen and living zone that challenges expectations of scale and form, creating a liberated space that is compact yet expressive. A floating stainless steel island bench sits atop a cylindrical timber burl leg. Pops of colour, youthful curves, and a timber “runway” plinth for storage all speak to a radical redesign. This home is a manifesto for living differently, proving that great design…
"We selected the Schock sinks for their unique non-metallic finish. We were looking for a product to blend and compliment the natural tones of the travertine benchtop rather than contrast."- Marijne Vogel, Studio 11:11 Founder and Director Crafted from durable granite composite, Schock sinks are designed to meet the demands of modern living, combining resilience with refined aesthetic appeal. In Melbourne-based Studio 11:11’s Nareeb House, each element is thoughtfully curated to support a warm, understated palette—including the kitchen and pantry sinks. Designed to blend seamlessly with the travertine benchtop, the design team chose Schock’s granite composite sinks for their tonal harmony and tactile presence. “We selected the Schock sinks for their unique non-metallic finish,” says Studio 11:11 co-founder and director Marijne Vogel. “We were looking for a product to complement…
LOCATION Garigal and Caregal Country/Avalon, Sydney Accessing Babylon involves two routes—one for the energetic, which is to climb over a hundred sandstone steps guided by the ebb and flow of a balustrade fashioned from ribbons of steel. The other, for the lazy or the heavily burdened, is a slow cable car ride, swaying over native vegetation, which provides the opportunity to marvel at the building during the ascent. Sometimes a house is protected by a series of difficult factors. In this instance, not only was access challenging, but the general state of disrepair of the house itself would have daunted most prospective buyers. Built between 1952 and 1958, the original house was designed by architect Edwin Kingsbury and named Götterdämmerung, in reference to the final cycle of Wagner’s Ring Cycle…
