Innehållsförteckning för Habitus #39 - Icons från Habitus

Where does our fascination with fame come from? And why, in this century and the latter half of last, has it become such a dirty word? In the past, historic figures – celebrities of their day – received their status for their contribution to society. They were pioneers, leaders, explorers, philosophers, mathematicians and scientists. Welcome to the 21st century. The social media phenomenon has given us access to the rest of the world and suddenly it’s easier than ever to build your profile and spread your message – whatever that message may be. Social media ‘influencers’, ill-advised yet strongly opinionated business leaders, misguided actors and actresses, and others of their ilk have cheapened what it means to be recognised. In this issue, we want to celebrate the icons of our…

Buried within a soft, undulating hill on Naoshima, a small art island in the Seto Inland Sea, sits the Chichu Art Museum by architect Tadao Ando. But quite unlike the Guggenheim museums by Frank Lloyd Wright in New York City and Frank Gehry in Bilbao, Spain, Tadao’s geometric design of Chichu is submerged. The subterranean museum made from cast concrete is positioned to channel light from voids and apertures in the hillside above. This immersive space, which elevates the visitor’s experience to a ritualistic or spiritual rite of passage, is a hallmark of Tadao’s conceptual approach. Chichu transforms the concept of an art museum to that of a meditative crypt – inverting the iconic value of a museum into a solemn and dignified shrine. Inspired by nature and sunlight, Tadao…

As the last of the new residents moved into their PopovBass designed apartments in the repurposed Griffiths Teas building last December, they joined the swelling ranks of a new breed of urban dweller. People who value quality housing but eschew even near-flung suburbia, who relish the clamour of city dwelling, thrive on the buzz of funky bars (and perhaps the occasional drunk) on their doorsteps. Well-travelled folk with unencumbered budgets; nomadic romantics keen to create a little bit of New York or Paris back home. They are also, perhaps without realising it, members of what might be thought of as the Cornerstone Club. Helmed by former electrical contractor Michael Grant from its seaside offices on the northern beaches, Cornerstone Property Group has nurtured some of Sydney’s most distinguished urban renewal…

How many homes have you lived in? Can you count them on one hand, or do you need two? Sharon and Bob need three. In 30 years of marriage, the couple have called 15 different residences their home across four different countries – Australia, Scotland, England, and the Netherlands. A nomadic lifestyle is truly the signifier of the 21st Century – there’s something to be said for not being tied to one spot: it’s liberating. Interestingly, it’s exactly the opposite that brings joy and excitement to Sharon and Bob when you mention their current residence, Doorzien House in Sydney’s Kirribilli. “This is their forever house now,” says Melonie Bayl-Smith, Director of Bijl Architecture. First-time clients, now friends of Bijl Architecture, Sharon and Bob were attracted to Melonie’s confidence and strong…

Credit must go to the early designers and builders of Queensland’s quintessential offering to the architectural archives, particularly in its capital, Brisbane, where old city suburbs rise and dip haphazardly on topographically tricky terrain. The archetypal ‘Queenslander’ is essentially a timber and tin box on stumps. It’s an enduring design and dream build on flat ground – but a lesson in ingenuity on a block like this one, where only the entry meets the earth. Securing one of these original inner city centenarians could be considered equal parts privilege and curse. And those tasked with adapting them for modern life without destroying their charms might feel the same way. Owners Matthew and Caroline, a pair of physicians who work in nearby city hospitals, were drawn to its lofty position and…

Temperature Design When Temperature Design informed us that Henry Tadros, great grandson of ercol’s founder, Lucian Ercolani, was coming out to Australian shores to speak about the iconic British furniture company’s design origins and future, we couldn’t wait to get on board. Deputy Editor Holly Cunneen hosted a casual Q&A seminar at the gallery space .M Contemporary in Woollahra, Sydney, amongst an audience of architects, designers, and design enthusiasts. Habitus Living habitusliving.com Temperature Design temperaturedesign.com.au…

BELINDA AUCOTT THE QUIET ICON #52 “Increasingly I feel Australia is known for pioneering cross collaborations in art and design,” says Belinda Aucott, a design journalist and media consultant whose career has seen her active across France, Italy, the UK, and of course her native Australia. Suitably, it’s international collaboration that helps drive her work, such as with the Danish Agency for Culture on the 40 year celebration for the design of the Sydney Opera House. IANTEH NOT JUST A RESORT #175 Photographer Ian Teh has earned international acclaim for his photography work documenting evolving cityscapes and changing lives. The publisher of three monographs, Ian’s work is part of the permanent collection at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Hood Museum…

Romance was where it all began for Vince Lim and Elaine Lu. They met while studying architecture at Cornell University, New York, and they’re now partners in work as well as in life, having established multidisciplinary design studio Lim + Lu in Hong Kong in 2015. “We didn’t know each other’s design aesthetic prior to working together,” says Vince. “We started dating and then down the road, we said. We should do something together. Which could have been risky, but it worked out nicely.” So nicely, in fact, that in 2017 Maison & Objet named their studio one of five winners of the trade fair’s Rising Asian Talents award. Their star has risen rapidly, especially so considering they only arrived back in Hong Kong and set up Lim + Lu…

The turn of the twentieth century was a time of rapid change in the western world and architecture in particular felt the effects. New materials and construction techniques were inciting an entirely new type of architecture in Europe and North America. Long, straight lines of glass and steel, coupled with previously unfathomable shapes of formed concrete. This pared back approach was quickly coined as Modernist. A new age had dawned and every architect of the day was clambering to make a statement – Gropius, Mies van der Rohe, Breuer, Lloyd Wright… the list goes on. The International Style has been a point of reference for many architects – from Bauhaus through to late Modernism, many have strived to reach the same level of purpose and functionality. That stripping back of…

What would you consider to be the biggest trend in fashion right now? I’d argue it to be a sustainable and ethical practice – and what a great trend. But in 2007, when Wellington-based Gosia Piatek begun her sustainable, ethically minded fashion label Kowtow, it wasn’t as ‘on-trend’ as it is today to pursue the conscious angle. So although that was a big part of Kowtow’s core DNA, it wasn’t necessarily the way in which Gosia communicated the label. Fast-forward a decade, and how the tables have turned. Suddenly it’s all anyone wants to hear about and new players in the market have positioned themselves accordingly. There’s an audience who connect with Kowtow through a shared philosophy, and an audience who connect with the brand on a visual level; sometimes…

Penelope Seidler is not the kind of great woman to have ever stood behind a great man. Throughout their almost five decades of married life, the architect and noted patron of the arts stood firmly beside her husband – the feisty Austrian-born modernist, Harry Seidler. Penelope was 19 and studying at the University of Sydney when she met the celebrated young architect in 1959. A year later, on her twentieth birthday and at the end of her second year at college, they married. Seidler was thirty-five. “I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life but when I married Harry I knew I didn’t want to just be an architect’s wife,” she says today, at home in the cool concrete interior of the house the couple designed…

Siglap Plain ARCHITECT Hyla Architects Hyla Architects (65) 6324 2488 hyla.com.sg FINISHES Bianco Venatino marble in living and dining room. American Red Oak flooring in bedrooms. Facebrick bricks from Wienerberger. Custom made concrete block. FIXED & FITTED Oven, microwave, dishwasher, cooktop and laundry from Bosch. Refrigerator from Samsung. Integrated Fridge from Fisher & Paykel. Bathroom fixtures from JEE-O, Duravit and Hansgrohe. H-Series ceiling fans from Haiku. Custom made joinery and wardrobes. Doorzien House ARCHITECT Bijl Architecture PROJECT ARCHITECTS Melonie Bayl-Smith, Andrew Lee, Giles Gibbins BUILDER Skope Constructions STRUCTURAL ENGINEER Cantilever Engineers JOINERY JP Finsbury BIJL ARCHITECTURE (612) 9958 7950 bijlarchitecture.com.au FURNITURE Sky Natura dining table and Elephant Slide dining chairs from Fanuli in dining area. Boss Ottoman, Boss armchair and Frankie sofa from Fanuli in living area. HAY About a…