Innehållsförteckning för Issue 72 September 2020 från Artichoke

The relationship between client and designer can make or break a project. A successful working partnership is founded on trust, communication and respect – and it is these characteristics that often lead to the best work. As designers, it is your responsibility to show the value that good design can bring, while working within the constraints and business prerogatives set out by your clients. Listening, understanding and engaging not only helps projects go more smoothly, but makes for lasting business relationships. For Melbourne-based studio Carr, the Norton Rose Fulbright Sydney office (page 78) marks its thirteenth time working for the law firm over 19 years. Over this period, Carr has become acutely familiar with its client’s aspirations, working styles and evolution, and the communication process between designer and client has…

When Chadstone Shopping Centre was envisaged as a groundbreaking suburban retail hub 60 years ago, its site in Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs was still a paddock, accessible only by cars. Today, Vicinity Centres, the owner of the huge retail complex, remains focused on innovating physical retail spaces, but with quite a different outlook to the days when cars were at the heart of masterplanning. The Link is a street for pedestrians. It “stitches restaurants, retail, the hotel and other future use within this huge site,” explains project leader Jacob Alsop of the Sydney-, London-and Hong Kong-based firm Make Architects. Situated between the reclaimed edge of a multi-level car park and an existing building, the pedestrian walk rises three levels and spans 110 metres to connect the retail centre, the recently completed…

The Stables Bar by State of Kin Housed in one of Perth’s original nineteenth century horse stables, The Stables Bar on Hay Street has become a popular venue since its opening in 2013. Local practice State of Kin was commissioned to design the venue’s next evolution: a smaller, more intimate offering that established a street frontage for the venue. The clients wanted to create a different identity for the new space, while still referencing the existing bar and historic character of the buildings. Inspired by original photographs of the stables and facade, the State of Kin team, headed by Alessandra Salomone, created a modern interpretation of the building’s historical aesthetic. Internally, terrazzo flooring complements a rich, tonal colour palette applied to sculptural forms and clean lines. Delicate feature pendants are…

One of the questions I’ve asked myself often is “Why do architects wear black?”. Cordula Rau’s amusing book of the same title (Springer Verlag, 2008) asked architects to reflect on this very question with a variety of candid responses ranging from the existential to the absurd. Sitting in one of the ochre-toned meeting rooms at SJB’s Surry Hills office, I ask director Adam Haddow the same question about architectural offices: “Why are they always white?”. Responding as Konstantin Grcic did to Rau’s question, Haddow laughs and says, “I don’t know!”. The reason I posed this question to Haddow was that on a cold rainy day, the warmth and joy of the colour-filled SJB offices couldn’t have been a more positive and welcoming environment. Trying to dig a little deeper I…

Marcus Baumgart is a designer and writer, and a founding director of Baumgart Clark Architects with long-time collaborator John A. Clark. You can read about their adventures at www.help.design. Prior (page 44) Peter Bennetts is a Melbourne-based globe-roaming architectural photographer whose work appears in internationally acclaimed publications. The Link at Chadstone (page 16) Sing d’Arcy is a senior lecturer in the interior architecture program at the University of New South Wales. Sing has published in the area of architectural and design history, and the history of Sydney interiors. SJB Sydney Studio (page 88) Thomas Daniell is professor of Architectural History, Theory, and Criticism at Kyoto University, Japan. His most recent book is An Anatomy of Influence. Aman Kyoto (page 102) Ying-Lan Dann is an RMIT Interior Design Industry Fellow within…

Darling Square is the most recent piece in the New South Wales state government’s $4 billion-dollar redevelopment of Darling Harbour. Located on the edge of Chinatown on the southern side of the harbour, the centrepiece of the project is the Darling Exchange, a circular building by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma and Associates. In 2017, Anthony Gill Architects (AGA) was one of three practices invited by developer Lendlease to pitch for the design of the market hall that would occupy the ground floor of Kuma’s Darling Exchange. The brief suggested that some tenants might be grocers, florists or bakers, while others would serve food and be open for breakfast or dinner, with an overlap during the day. Flexibility would be key to allow some outlets to shut while others remained open.…

Creating a strong design duo can be as hard as it is powerful, and doing that long-distance takes the challenge to the next level. But design duo Dale Hardiman and Adam Lynch, co-founders of Dowel Jones, make it look effortless with their combined passion for simple shapes, made to perform. Highly collaborative, keenly attuned to the local, and more transparent than ever before, Dowel Jones is a progressive furniture and lighting studio, unafraid to explore new methods to make progress within the industry, as seen through the engaging work they do. Having met at university, this driven duo founded their furniture company when they were only 20 and 22 years old. Their playful approach is, in their own words, “anything but ordinary,” bringing a strong sense of community to their…

Jiwan Restaurant, National Museum of Qatar by Koichi Takada Architects Sitting on the fourth floor of the National Museum of Qatar, Jiwan by Sydney’s Koichi Takada Architects is an immersive restaurant designed to take guests on a sensory journey through Qatar’s heritage and unique landscape. Every element of the restaurant’s design takes inspiration from the Qatari Bedouin heritage and traditions linked to the sea –fishing, pearl diving and old wooden sailing dhows. The carpet fades from a deep aquamarine blue to a lighter desert sand, inspired by the Qatari Inland Sea, Khor Al Adaid. More than four million Swarovski glass beads are suspended from the ceiling, gently dancing above the dining area, shimmering with light and giving the illusion of dining under the water. “The design takes you on a…

The Ceto collection by Ross Gardam Ross Gardam’s Ceto lighting collection is evocative of ripples on the surface of the ocean. The unique rippled glass of the sculptural luminaires was developed through experimentation with traditional optic glassblowing techniques. The ripples are on the inner side of the shade while the external shape remains smooth. The various configurations of the Ceto light – chandelier, floor lamp, wall lighting and pendant – share a delicate balance between the organic glass elements and the machined aluminium components. Ross Gardam — rossgardam.com.au Kun Design Lotus planters from Domo The latest pieces from the Kun Design range feature symmetrical and striking designs, mixed with bold colours and luxurious materials. Inspired by nature and life, the latest collection, Lotus, plays on these associations with quirky designs…

Long a welcome convenience, online shopping became something of a necessity in 2020 – the year that “social distancing” was etched into our everyday lexicon. For a great portion of this year, and more than ever, we have double-clicked our way through virtual “shopfronts” and conscientiously waited for packages to land on doorsteps by contactless delivery. Now, as we shimmy forth from the comfort and monotony of our domestic chrysalids and re-enter society, many of us want, or even crave, more from our shopping experience than the sensation of harsh blue light on the eyes and unrelenting scrolls of the fingertips. Such sensuousness is at the design heart of Lee Mathews’ latest store by Fiona Lynch. Located on leafy James Street in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley, this new Queensland home for…

Through a lengthy briefing process, Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) and Carr – who have worked together for more than sixteen years – developed a concept for a warm and inviting environment for a new era of work, taking a more relaxed design approach while still acknowledging the professional atmosphere necessary for a legal practice. This change in approach is something that is being introduced across NRF offices nationwide, with a new Melbourne office – due to be completed mid-2020 – adopting similar qualities. Ten thousand square metres in size, the Sydney office avoids corporate austerity, instead opting for an earthy palette of materials inspired by the history of its location, in the heart of Martin Place. Research into the site’s heritage uncovered neighbouring sandstone quarries worked by convicts and a…

Aman Kyoto sits within 3.2 hectares of secluded forest, softly illuminated by sunlight through overhead foliage and low-lying mist, silent except for birdsong, mountain streams and the occasional frog croak echoing in the stone wells and culverts. And, of course, your own footsteps on the stone paths, along which you encounter huge, moss-covered boulders embedded in the undulating ground, or flat clearings defined by geometric patterns of gravel and stone paving. Indeed, traditional Japanese stroll gardens are designed so as to balance natural serendipity and artificial precision. Every detail is considered, every sightline composed. As you walk, the elements of the garden are revealed, concealed, then revealed again from different angles and in different relationships. Each step produces a new vista. It’s impossible, if not meaningless, to separate the human…