Innholdsfortegnelse for Oct 2019 i OBJEKT South Africa

They form a unique duo in an international world where nature, art and technology meet. They developed an intriguing language based on the question ‘who are we’: what bridge between nature, light and electronics can stimulate the human feelings? “What nature means for us and how is technology changing our lives. That’s what it’s all about in our works.” Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta have acclaimed world-wide fame with Studio Drift and their artworks and installations, shown in galleries and museums and desired by collectors. The evolution of Studio Drift actually begins when Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta meet as students at the Design Academy in the Dutch city of Eindhoven. They soon found out that art is their focus and that the art that they have in mind must…

Enter the Conundrum house and studio in Aspen, Colorado. Inspired by recollections of an earlier modernism and specifically by detailing in the early houses of Kahn, Schindler and especially Aalto’s Villa Mariea, Madderlake Designs created the house as a work of art. It is a functional abode with equal consideration given to the play of light, and the flow of space, to the abstraction and celebration of form and surface. It was designed simply and cleanly relying on the natural qualities of the materials themselves and the feel throughout of the workman’s hand. The Conundrum house endeavoured to create a home of human scale that speaks to comfort and everyday livability, eschewing a grandiosity pervasive in the region. A relaxing mountain retreat with a separate work studio commissioned by a…

The 19-story residential condominium building is located at 111 Central Park North on the northwest corner of Lenox Avenue and consists of 48 apartments. It was designed by Hillier Architecture and SCLE Architects and developed by the Athena Group.The blue-glass-clad building is surrounded by balconies, it has a 41-car garage, community facilities, a fitness centre and a party room. It has a courtyard garden entrance and the lobby with Pennsylvania blue-stone walls. Founded in the 17th century as a Dutch outpost, Harlem developed into a farming village, a revolutionary battlefield, a resort town, a commuter town, a ghetto, and a centre of African-American culture. It has always been a turbulent part of New York City over the centuries. Modern jazz with the Cotton Club as one of the incubation centres…

At Owl Creek a single shared, stand-alone home was built for two families. Additionally, a collection of lodge-like communal areas are clustered together, creating a space that is both intimate and open. The architects: “The strict height limitation and slope constrained by the site turned into our advantage by anchoring the structure into the landforms. The structure frames powerful views through two principal façades, maximising the visual connection to the landscape at every angle. The design of the frame and form allowed for efficiencies and functional benefits, including a triangular structural steel frame with car decking to minimise costs through prefabrication, and a roof slope to move water and snow downslope.” Natural light was an important starting point of the design process. Every effort was made to minimise visual separation…

The transparent house was created for a technology wizard, who approaches design issues from both left and right sides of his brain. The open spaces of the building’s interior allow for fluid transitions between living, working, art collecting, and play areas. Flooded with natural light, the living space above overlooks the two-story workspace and garage below, with a glass-floored walkway leading to the bedroom and bathroom and a private courtyard on the second level. The interiors were designed by Maryika Byskiniewicz of Spaces. The house itself was designed by RHO Architects. The house is located in the city of Seattle, Washington State, USA and locally know as the DMG House. It has the industrial chic look with an interior bathed in natural light. One of the most exciting elements was…

“Furniture should blend into the surroundings. I want tables and chairs to be light and delicate. Elegant pieces that are content to play a supporting role and never attempt to steal the spotlight. The starring roles are performed by the human body or by the food or drinks we place on the table. To respect and complement these living entities, I want furniture to be as understated as possible.” Kengo Kuma, the unique Japanese architect independently designs almost all of the furniture to accompany his architecture. Historically, the greatest architects like Frank Lloyd Wright, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Le Corbusier, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Alvar Aalto, have comprehensively designed buildings, interiors and furniture all together. In this modern era, Kengo Kuma also aims to design his furniture from scratch,…

The villa dates back to 1844, located in Albignasego, is a stone throw away of the ancient Italian city of Padua. In former days it was used by a noble family to control the surrounding land. Beginning of the 21th century, the Bottacin family decided to buy and to restore it.That complete restoration process was guided by Elena Bulatova and Vittorio Bottacin, who established their international interior design studio and general contracting firm in the reborn Villa Studiolo now surrounded by fields of roses. The Villa Studiolo shines, like a phoenix arisen from the ashes. When the Bottacin´s bought it at the beginning of the 21st century, it was a shadow of its earlier, glorious incarnation. A mess according to Vittorio Bottacin and Elena Bulatova, who took it upon themselves…

Miguel Cardoso Arqtuiteco was responsible for the restoration of the old villa and preserving the original architectural details of its luxurious history. The architect also designed the new extension of the hotel. The new interiors were designed by Nini Andrade Silva combining the classical romanticism with the designer’s unique style of ‘minimalism’ with clean, organic forms in a contemporary context. Surrounded by beautiful gardens and regally set on one of the finest avenues in Porto’s Foz do Douro, Vila Foz Hotel & Spa now offers a transformative experience that mirrors its own transformation from an Old World manor house to an intimate, contemporary boutique experience. The Vila Foz Hotel & Spa’s now merges the refinement of more than a century of history and the romantic-inspired metamorphosis that reflects the constructive…

They are the authors of this apartment that has something indefinable that can only be found in spaces with history and personality with an original and renewed twist inspired by The Art Deco period. Ceilings of three-and-a-half-metres-high, wooden floors and mouldings are some of the details that provided a noble charm to this flat. The design combined different high-quality materials, natural woods, porcelain tiles and Neolith®. These elements provided elegant and distinguished finishes to each corner of the home. The Valgreen team respected the original details by making them look spectacular. The glass walls, the main elements, were designed especially for this project. Most of them are placed in the central hall stretching out to the kitchen and the small office. The designers took their inspiration from the light screens…

The new Toyota Supra has been conceived as a sports car in its purest form and the fifth generation is the first global GR model from Toyota Gazoo Racing. The new Supra has been designed without compromise and driving enthusiasts getting behind the wheel of this iconic nameplate for the first time can expect an exhilarating blend of power, agility and precision handling. Toyota Gazoo Racing was instrumental in honing the new sports car’s performance, working extensively on the famous Nürburgring Nordschleife and surrounding roads in Germany to achieve the most agile, stable and rewarding handling possible. Further extensive testing was carried out on roads around the world, thereby ensuring that Supra is equally capable on South Africa’s diverse road network. Before production could begin, Chief Engineer Tetsuya Tada insisted…

A world of seating elements, that probably is a good way to describe the vast landscape of sofas and chairs presented every year during the Salone del Mobile Milano, the leading furniture and interior design fair in the world.This is the place where prominent brands and designers show their latest models and collections. For some, technology and innovation are the main driving forces, for others, it’s the creativity that works in unison with craftsmanship. They all have their own story whether it is shape, materials or colours, they all try to create coherent collections in their appropriate surroundings. In a time where nature plays an ever-increasing role, is it not surprising that complete woods were planted in stands that look more like a condominium or villa. OBJEKT International hunted in…

From the road, the house looks like a modest contemporary cottage. It consists of four large interconnected modules with several offset façades reminiscent of a farm, with a central courtyard and outbuildings. Nestled in the vales of the Eastern Townships of Montreal, Canada, near the Vermont border, Abercorn Chalet is the brainchild of Laurent Guez, designer and partner at the Canadian design firm Tux Creative. He developed his vision for the project with architect Guillaume Kukucka. Inspired by architecture, functionality, suspense novels, stories, and Escher’s drawings of improbable constructions, he reconciled lightness and humour with rigour and rationality. With his Montreal-based team at Tux, Abercorn Chalet was Laurent Guez attempt to create a unique living experience through architecture, embodying contrasts of harmony, open spaces and cosy areas: a place where…

Originally built in the 1960s, the Stuart Silk Architects team was asked to update a mid-century modern house without sacrificing its charm. Situated in Rancho Mirage on a site perched on a plateau above CoachellaValley, the rugged, inhospitable Santa Rosa Mountains rise immediately from the back yard. Bighorn sheep can often be seen wandering on the rocks above. The owner’s goals were to create an open and light-filled home that maximised the views of the Coachella Valley below and the Santa Rosa. They wanted to create a fluid connection between the indoor rooms and the outdoor terraces. The horizontal lines and the flat roof home was built in the sixties of last century in the style of the new Californian modernism, that left so many famous creations. The 590-square-metre house…