Innehållsförteckning för Issue 39 från Design Anthology, Asia Pacific Edition

Picture a table in a kitchen, a dining room, a studio — or on a snow-flecked mountainside, next to the fast flow of a river, immersed in the rainbow-bright shades of a flower field. A table is often at the centre of many human activities — family meals, conversations with friends, the act of creating — whether it’s sitting inside a building or outside surrounded by nature. Conceptual new Japanese furniture brand Centre taps into this idea with the creation of a contemporary table for modern times that’s designed to be used freely in any environment, indoors or out. Minimalist in form, lightweight in structure and timeless in look, the brand’s debut piece is designed and made in Japan, each table individually crafted by specialist artisans in Shizuoka, Tokyo and…

Morning ‘I’m often still sleeping upstairs when my staff arrive at the studio downstairs,’ says Naoto Fukasawa with a smile. Here, within the clean lines of a white building with cut-out windows and an olive tree on the front lawn, home and work function in harmony. Dreamt up over three years during the pandemic, the structure, designed by Fukasawa and built by Takenaka Corporation, sits along a scenic cherry tree-fringed river. ‘The first thing I do when I wake up is look at the treetops. Designing a house, I always prioritise seeing green from the windows,’ he says. Next, he makes his bed, a low-lying B&B Italia Siena of his own design. ‘The B&B staff taught me how to make a bed beautifully,’ he says. The workday proper begins at…

COPENHAGEN Bella Grande The Bella Grande is a new property from Copenhagen Food Collective (Cofoca), adding to its award-winning sister property the Coco Hotel and 18 restaurants spread across the city. Set in a 125-year-old building, the five-storey hotel has been designed by local studio Tonen. Guests can expect a mid-century Italian influence and a considered combination of vintage and modern. While public areas get a bold colour treatment, the 109 rooms and suites, some with private outdoor spaces and connecting rooms, have a sense of muted sophistication. Ground-floor courtyard restaurant Donna is a vibrant spot for Italian-inspired fare, and a cocktail lounge, gym and bike rental round out the offering for leisure travellers, with meeting and conference facilities catering to the business guest. FLORENCE The Hoxton The Hoxton is…

When Andrew Swallow began building his family’s new Bali home, the first thing he did was plant native bodhi, gatep and pule trees onsite. The simple yet profound decision exemplifies his design ethos: architecture must integrate into its local context — in this case, nature. Set in the Tumbak Bayuh neighbourhood near the island’s south-western coast, the home is sheathed in greenery: giant ferns, monstera and hart’s-tongue ferns flourish alongside lush trees and a stream, with terraced fields in the distance. ‘It feels like you’re in old Bali,’ says Swallow. ‘It’s a residential zone, and local Balinese people still live here along with expats.’ A former chef and co-founder of Mixt — the US salad chain focused on locally grown seasonal produce — Swallow has long incorporated ecological intentionality into…

When it comes to multi-year home renovation projects, the scope and scale of the work evolve as the family’s needs change. What was once a priority may shift to become secondary, and a previously negligible element may suddenly become an important requirement. Such was the case with this expansive Bangkok family residence that Studio Daminato was tasked with reimagining back in 2016. ‘It’s been an organic growth of spaces being altered, attached and extended since we began,’ says creative director Albano Daminato of the process since that first commission. From the outset, the clients were committed to preserving the original structure, a collection of spaces with their own architectural language that Daminato needed to bring together, both physically and aesthetically. In this structure, which would become the main wing, the…

Chinese artist-designer Jiang Qiong Er is known in the luxury industry for the way she seamlessly merges tradition and modernity. She was born into a creative Shanghai family — her grandfather was the celebrated painter Jiang Xuanyi and her architect father Xing Tonghe designed the Shanghai Museum, among other high-profile projects — and this rich heritage profoundly influenced a career that has seen her both perpetuating and reinventing centuries-old Chinese crafts. Jiang launched Shang Xia, the world’s first modern Chinese luxury lifestyle house, in 2009 in collaboration with French luxury giant Hermès. It represents a bold reimagining of furniture, homeware and fashion proudly made in China, thanks to a high-end craft ecosystem of master artisans from across the country that took Jiang years to develop. The brand showcases traditional Chinese…

Architectural surface specialist Cosentino has launched two new collections, Le Chic Bohème by Silestone® XM and Dekton Pietra Edition, continuing the brand’s mission to produce sustainable, durable, and innovative surfaces that seamlessly blend into and enhance any contemporary space, whether indoors or out. Inspired by the sophistication and bohemian flair of the French capital, Le Chic Bohème’s four new colours are distinguished by their unique shades, veining and patterns. The rich green Jardin Emerald has a sophisticated pattern of gold and metallic veins and black and cream colour notes; the warm white background of the Rivière Rose is detailed with taupe and pale pink; the earthy Château Brown gets metallic, copper and bronze veining; and the bright cream Blanc Élysèe is embellished with delicate gold, grey and copper veining. More…

A long drive along Australia’s Victorian coastline A reveals a jumble of beach houses, from humble surf shacks to palatial properties. Initially designed as seasonal accommodations rather than permanent residences, many have remained in the same families for generations. And as Melbourne’s city limits sprawl ever outward, rural locations have become increasingly attractive and viable bases for a comfortably remote workforce. The modern beach house is evolving to suit, offering a home for all seasons for families seeking a change. Originally built in the early 1990s by the client’s parents, Sorrento House is one such home — a three-storey beach house in its namesake suburb on the Mornington Peninsula, artfully reimagined by Melbourne-based practice Hecker Guthrie. ‘We wanted to honour the best aspects of the house and celebrate the client’s…

For centuries, Bangkok’s commuters relied on the city’s khlongs, the network of natural and artificial canals that wound through the heart of the metropolis. But even then, traffic was inescapable, intensified by the vibrant chaos of floating markets. CharoenKrung, the first modern, paved road, was completed in 1864 primarily to cater to foreign residents, starting an era of road-centric city expansion. In the following century, a maze of thanon (main roads), soi (side streets) and alleyways emerged, accompanied by unique modes of transportation tailored to their limited capacity. These include tuk-tuks, a variety of songthaew shared vehicles and motorcycle taxis, the latter ideal for navigating the ever-worsening car gridlocks. Today, the city’s residents are ferried through its commercial centre on massive, elevated tracks reminiscent of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. The Bangkok…

Tucked away in Seoul’s Mangwon neighbourhood, furniture brand Dozamm’s showroom presents a collection of plywood items characterised by simple, modular designs and subtle nods to Korean heritage. Founder Jeongheah Yi established the practice in 2016, focusing on unique furniture making methods. ‘I wanted to create furniture with a sense of female empowerment,’ she says. Her techniques de-emphasise physical strength and are inherently woman-centred. ‘Since most of our users are women and children, it seemed fitting for women to do the work.’ In a workshop across the Han River, Yi works with an all-female team of artisans trained in-house. ‘I only work on the designs by myself — the rest we do together, one step at a time, without any division of labour,’ she explains. The process starts with gathering requests…

In Mongolia, it takes just five hours to travel centuries back in time. That’s how long it took me to drive west from the country’s capital, Ulaanbaatar, to the central Orkhon Valley, where I woke up one morning last summer to the sound of a hundred tiny hooves trampling the grass around the felt walls of my ger, the Mongolian yurt that was my room for a week. The candle on my bedside table — there was no electricity — had burnt to a stub. My phone’s battery had drained, the result of fruitless attempts at picking up service. As I opened the door, I came eye to beady eye with a goat whose herd speckled the hillside in a bleating crowd of black, brown and cream. I sat there,…

Singaporean studio Hock Hoon started out as a carpentry workshop established by Chin Hok Ng. In 2019, his interior designer son Ci En joined, rebranding the business together with his partner, studio creative director and FF&E director Xin Hui Soh, and recently renaming it Sohen Studio. The studio now combines craft and design, and this three-bedroom Housing Development Board flat is an excellent example. The home had the typical constraints of pint-sized public housing in dense cities such as Singapore, Hong Kong or Tokyo, so it was apt when the owners expressed a desire for their home to reflect elements of Japanese culture. ‘The owner runs a Japanese restaurant. As a chef, he enjoys cooking for his friends and he and his wife love to host, but they didn’t want…

Time’s up, TeamLab. The Tokyo-bound tourist has something new in their sights, and it’s neither cultural nor kawaii. Recently, a friend visiting from abroad had one simple request for her itinerary: could I please show her the toilets? In a short time, a series of public bathrooms designed by some of the world’s best architects has found cult-like status amongst urbanists, architects and influencers alike. The 2023 film Perfect Days even cast the toilets as one of its key characters, bringing the project — spearheaded by entrepreneur Koji Yanai and funded by the Nippon Foundation — to global audiences. In 2022, a fault emerged in Shigeru Ban’s Tomei toilets that stopped the coloured glass from turning completely opaque when the door was locked, leaving users exposed. The facility was promptly…