A Compact 65m2 Apartment in Kiev Separated by Blue Curtains

A young couple in Kiev, Ukraine, enlisted the help of ater.architects to renovate their 65m2 apartment with a dysfunctional layout. To utilize the space better, walls were removed leaving only the bedroom and bathroom as separate rooms. In place of the walls, vibrant cobalt blue curtains were installed creating dramatic backdrops and adjustable division as needed. The result is the EGR apartment, complete with a limited mix of furnishings and bold accent colors.

The kitchen is finished out with black lower cabinets and counters balanced with oak veneer elements for a cozier feel. The black ceramic tiles used as a backsplash are flanked with pink seams that complement the base of the kitchen table.

The living room feels bright and airy with a powder pink sofa resting in front of a blue curtain. A single chair and coffee table round out the furniture with a Flos 265 wall sconce suspended overhead.

A corner of the apartment is set aside for the homeowner to create electronic music.

Photos by Alexey Yanchenkov.

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Bell Canyon Residence: A Ranch in California Where the Garden Is King

Hsu McCullough’s newest project is a lush house at the edge of the canyon in Ventura County, affectionally named Bell Canyon Residence. Even though the property spreads over one acre of space, the abundant nature – mature trees, sprawling lawns, and flowering gardens – give it a sense of natural cohesion.

In this setting exists a modern 4,000-square-foot ranch house, a recording studio, and a swimming pool and spa. The home is configured in an L-shape with a living room, a long kitchen, and a dining room that form what the architects call the “Great Room,” with sliding glass doors to frame the outside gardens and mountain outcrops.

The outdoor garden is a romantic setting for adults to lounge in and also serves as a play area for children. The first thing you’ll notice as you approach the house is the long horizontal frontage and a wood-clad entrance door. From a foyer with low ceilings, you proceed to Great Room with 18-foot-long, triangular-shaped clerestory windows, and then take a 60-foot-long central passage to reach the private bedroom suites.

The Master Suite opens to a yard via a set of sliding glass windows and has individual walk-in closets, a large open shower with a shower garden, and electromagnetic privacy glass so the glass can alternate between clear and opaque with the flick of a switch. There’s also a kid’s bedroom and a guest suite that looks onto the outdoor courtyard.

Photos by Dan Arnold.

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SOFTlab Creates a Copper Crystalline Structure to Greet Visitors

New York City based SOFTlab has imagined some pretty incredible installations the last few years, all merging experimentation, technology, and creativity. Their latest project, Grotta Aeris, falls right in line and this time, the design studio created a crystalline, copper-clad structure in Raleigh, North Carolina, that greets visitors in a newly renovated lobby designed by Gensler.

WATCH:

The structure, which is clad in copper-finished composite panels, looks as if it grows out from the elevator bank in an organic shape inspired by the crystalline growth of natural elements. Traditionally, copper grows in a structured manor until it reaches something in its environment that makes it change its pattern.

The piece frames the open entry from the floor, up the wall, and onto the ceiling where it easily could have felt overbearing in the space. To make it feel lighter, they backlit the structure with a subtly changing animation that can be seen through the seams. The changes in light give the geometric piece life, as if a chemical reaction was slowly happening.

From Mike Szivos, founder and director of SOFTlab:

While the piece appears to grow out from the elevator core, it is the reflective surface of the copper panels that actually brings in the activity of the lobby and context, collapsing the surrounding activity into an unexpected three-dimensional kaleidoscopic image of the piece’s surroundings.

Photos by Alan Tansey.

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A’ Design Awards & Competition – Call for Entries

The following post is brought to you by A’ Design Award and Competition. Our partners are hand-picked by the Design Milk team because they represent the best in design.

The A’ Design Awards and Competition is currently open for submissions but you have to hurry, the deadline is February 28, 2020 and the results will be announced on April 15, 2020. If you have a design you think is worthy of winning, enter today!

The A’ Design Award is a prestigious design competition that includes a wide range of design categories (100+!) under which to enter your design, including furniture, homewares, architecture, fashion, travel, interiors, and so much more. It’s well worth it to take the time to submit your design as you will receive a free preliminary evaluation of your design. Then, your submission is judged by an esteemed international jury panel of scholars, professionals, and members of the design industry.

If you are announced a winner, the benefits are vast and invaluable. Not only do you receive an award trophy, you’ll also get extensive global press communicated to magazines and blogs, inclusion in designer rankings and world design rankings, job leads, certificates and badges, and more. See here for all the benefits – you’ll be hard pressed to find other competitions that have such a grand prize.

Here are some of our favorite past winners, each under a different design category:

Pictured above: Fei River Central Smart Garden Library Library by GEEDESIGN

Mountain Bench Chair by Yi Feng

A Cup of Life Multifunctional Coffe Cup by Miki Kawamura

Moods Desk Table Lamp by Francesco Cappuccio

Lizi Building block by Li Xu

Image credit: Ye Mao/Shi Fang Studio

Tangxing No.5 Residential House by Saiwen Liu

The Barisieur Tea & Coffee Brewing Alarm Clock by Joshua Renouf

Science is O2 Student Workbook by Jaehun Kim and Hannah Park

Abstract Compositions Artwork by Nestor Ramos Martinez

Image credit: Bent René Synnevåg

Fogo Island Shed Hotel Dining Room by Todd Saunders

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Camille Walala Designs a Colorful House with LEGO That’s Every Kid’s Fantasy

Artist Camille Walala was invited by LEGO to create a public art installation in London and tasked with bringing the toy brand’s new 2D tiles, LEGO DOTS, to life. The five-room interactive HOUSE OF DOTS is made from shipping containers and over 2 million LEGO DOTS, all coming together in Walala’s bold signature style.

Walala’s vision fills every room with bold colors and graphic patterns that make this house every kid’s dream. Add LEGO to the and it’s the perfect fantasy… for color-loving adults too! Each of the room’s details are finished off with a variety of LEGO DOTS that elevate each design, from the frames, rugs, furniture, and walls.

Walala says:

It’s a joy to create a fun space where kids and adults can spontaneously express their creativity, make something beautiful and show off who they are. HOUSE OF DOTS captures all the exuberance and playfulness that people know me for, with something extra special: the chance to let your imagination go wild and create your own work of art. Oh, and a slide.

Photo courtesy of Getty

Photo courtesy of Dunja Opalko

Visitors to the HOUSE OF DOTS, which just wrapped up its week-long stay, were encouraged to create their own patterns, and bracelets.

Photo courtesy of Getty

LEGO DOTS will be launching on March 1st, 2020, with wearables and decor available.

Photos by Tekla Severin, unless otherwise noted.

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Art Deco Hotel Imperator Re-Opens in Nîmes After Renovation

The luxury hotel group, Maison Albar Hotels, has reopened Hotel Imperator on Nîmes’ town center’s most stylish square, in the South of France, after an intensive 20-month renovation project involving hundreds of craftspeople. The hotel originally opened in 1929 and was built in an Art Deco style typical of the era by Compagnie des Wagons-lit – the train company behind the Orient Express – with the launch of the Paris-Lyon-Marseille railway line.

“Our challenge with this project was to magnify the Art Deco spirit, preserve the soul of this mythical building while giving it liveliness and modernizing the offering,” says Marcelo Joulia, the French-Argentinean founder of Naço Achitectures, the firm behind the renovation, and himself a local resident. “This project was fascinating, and I personally chose certain details: the wall and suspension lamps, the limestone of the region whose whiteness and compliments the Mediterranean luminosity.”

“On this project, and for all Naço projects, putting spaces into perspective and different arrangements of light was essential. For the Imperator, the creation of the ‘continuous perspective’ was possible thanks to the huge, 4.3x3m, sliding glass panels along the cloister that generate progressive perspective depths – an incredible and unique work that we thought unachievable.”

The five-star boutique hotel now offers 53 rooms, a spa, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, three restaurants, eight villas, a hammam, a jacuzzi, a barbershop, a training room, and 200 square meters of meeting rooms – entirely conceived by Marcelo Joulia, “to revive the glorious past of this building.”

During their research, Naço Achitectures found original postcards, on which the old logo could be seen. It set the tone for the design, its large O and geometric shape becoming one of the visual components of the new interior decoration and being integrated into the designs of carpets, bedroom walls, and even the security guard’s uniforms.

The original 1930s caged elevator, antique chandeliers, grand staircase, and restored arches – witnesses to the hotels’ glory days – remain faithful to its memory, a subtle reminder of the past, which runs through the restoration.

The hotel entrance heralds a grand decoration composed of wood and natural stone, expanding surfaces with large old-fashioned mirrors, and transparency with open windows to enjoy the brightness of spaces such as the bar, brasserie, and lobby.

The reception and seminar areas overlook the garden, where pathways have been remodeled and planting embellished. Drystone walls, pavilions and bodegas, fountains, hidden courtyards, paths and passages, and old trees – including the symbolic tree of the hotel, the Ginkgo Biloba – conspire to make The Imperator’s 1020-square-meter garden a veritable oasis of peace and sunshine.

In each of the bedrooms (which are named after illustrious former occupants such as Ava Gardner, Jean Cocteau, Ernest Hemingway, Salvador Dali, Picasso, and Cocteau), Joulia has paired neutral colors, such as the beige and white used on the velvet armchairs, with brighter pops, seen in the leather headboards and carpets. Visitors can choose between a view of Place Aristide Briand or the tranquil hotel garden.

The bedrooms and bathrooms are separated by a porthole-shaped sliding mirror, to bring a sense of the nautical. Bathrooms are fully-clad with natural stone and both spaces feature accents of indulgent materials such as brass and marble.

Works by various artists populate the spaces: Guy Bareff’s works of earthenware, Jean-Pierre Formica’s sculptures, lanterns from the designer Marco Marino, sofas by the artist Thierry Carretero, fabric paintings by Claude Viala, the ceramic tiles of Anna Maria Vasco, and the sculptures of 36 recyclab. In each room, a drawing by Marcelo Joulia records the transformation that it has undergone.

What: Hotel Imperator
Where: 15 Rue Gaston Boissier, Nimes, France, 30000
How much: From $109 per night
Highlights: Original 1929 Art Deco façade offset by striking modern interior
Design draw: Carré d’Art, Nîmes’ contemporary art museum, with a glass façade designed by Lord Norman Foster, is right opposite.
Book it: Hotel Imperator

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New MoMA Flagship Store Boasts a Two-Story Bookshelf with 2,000 Books

New York City’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) expanded last year. Director, Glenn D. Lowry, said at the time, “The real value of this expansion is not more space, but space that allows us to rethink the experience of art in the Museum,” and that philosophy extends to the retail experience too. A new double-height store within the MoMA’s lobby designed by architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro, in collaboration with Gensler and Lumsden Design, features the blackened steel and oak floors cut across the grain seen in the Museum’s expansion project. The new store stocks not only a comprehensive selection of art-reproduction products and design objects inspired by the Museum’s collection, but also a 30-foot feature wall comprising 2,000 art publications reflecting MoMA’s curatorial vision. Many are limited runs and from independent publishers, designed to feed the imaginations of visitors long after they have left the museum’s galleries. We caught up with MoMa’s director of merchandising, Emmanuel Plat, to find out more.

Why did you pick this city/neighborhood/storefront?

The new double-height store is located in the lobby of The Museum of Modern Art, inviting Museum visitors to head down the stairs and make the flagship Museum Store part of their experience at MoMA.

View of West Connector from 53rd Street | Photo courtesy of Diller Scofidio + Renfro

Where did you get the name for the store?

The ‘Museum Store at MoMA’ is the flagship and primary store in the Museum. The name clearly states what it is, differentiating it from the other two MoMA Design Store locations in New York City.

Photo courtesy of MoMA Design Store

Has it changed much since it opened? How?

Shortly after the Museum originally opened in 1929, postcards, art reproductions and holiday cards were available for purchase in the Museum’s lobby, before expanding into a more holistic approach offering good design. In 1932, MoMA was the first art museum to establish a curatorial department dedicated to architecture and design, and by the mid-twentieth century, it was playing a leading role in defining and promoting the values of ‘good design’, which the MoMA Design Store continues to champion. Our selection process is like no other, and has evolved over time to include a set of eight criteria, ensuring everything selected fits into this category of ‘good design’. Today, the MoMA Design Store continues to expand our offering in the new location with an emphasis on books.

Photo courtesy of MoMA Design Store

What’s one of the challenges you have with the business?

In order to create a connection to the new museum galleries, the architects had to relocate the store from the ground floor to the lower level. To overcome that, they created a double-height ceiling space, so the store feels very integrated into the architecture of the museum. As visitors walk by, either from the street or within the museum, they get a full 360-degree look at the store from above, drawing them in. The 30-foot wall of modern and contemporary art books at the heart of the store reaches up into the lobby and attracts visitors to check out the assortment of good design below. As customers walk down the stairs, they enter the store right in the middle, allowing them to see the majority of the space and our unique range at first glance.

Photo courtesy of MoMA Design Store

What other stores have you worked in before opening this one?

I joined MoMA in 2012 after a 19-year career in merchandising, marketing, and administration with the Conran Group. Hired in 1992 as a department manager for the first Conran Shop in Paris, I was later tapped up to manage the launch of The Conran Shop in Manhattan in 1999. From 2004–2011, I served as president of the Conran Group’s U.S. operations, and built its e-commerce presence.

What’s your favorite item in the store right now?

There are so many! I bought my son the Centaur Smart Chess Set for Christmas. It enables single players to compete against a computer that adapts to their skill level. It is pretty innovative and a great way to improve your game.

Centaur Smart Chess Set | Photo courtesy of MoMA Design Store

What is this season’s theme/inspiration/story?

Giving the gift of good design is for everyone – and our product range reflects the best gifts for everyone on your list. We have something for the art lover, techie, host and hostess, kids and more – and of course a little something for yourself.

Are you carrying any new products and/or undiscovered gems you’re particularly excited about?

We have recently released the Intelino Smart Train Set. This advanced robotic system promotes STEM learning for kids of all ages and they have so much fun while playing with it. We have also got a selection of products featuring some of Keith Haring’s most well-known works, including a decorative chess set for kids and adults alike, a wooden domino set and a 500-piece puzzle, that we’re all pretty excited about.

Keith Haring Chess Set | Photo courtesy of MoMA Design Store

What’s been a consistent best seller?

This year we’ve introduced a new collection of planters that have been surprisingly successful, called Wet Pots. We discovered them during a recent trip to Sweden and they consist of a terracotta planter encased in a hand-blown glass vessel. The plant only absorbs the water it needs through the terracotta pot wall making it pretty much self-watering and therefore easy for anyone to use.

Wet Pots | Photo courtesy of MoMA Design Store

Does the store have its own line? If not, any plans for it in the future?

In addition to scouring the globe to find the best in design, we develop and manufacture some of our own exclusive products as part of our MoMA wholesale business. We are committed to bringing good design to everyone, so we’re really happy to be able to share our discoveries with more people through our wholesale program.

Any special events/exhibits/pop ups/collaborations coming up?

We have just launched The Record Shop Pop-Up at the MoMA Design Store in Soho, celebrating the harmonious intersection of two distinct art forms—music and design—as a reflection of 20th century pop culture. The pop-up has more than 45 LPs featured in the museum collection for the cover art, as well as concert posters, books exploring the connection between music and cover art and a collection of record players, speakers and headphones. In addition, Brooklyn-based Earwax Records, Williamsburg’s oldest record shop, is offering a selection of vintage records.

Photo courtesy of MoMA Design Store

Do you have anything from the store in your own home?

I do! I have the Panton Chairs in white in my dining room. They were the world’s first moulded plastic chair when they were created by Danish designer Verner Panton in the 1960s and they bring me great joy every day.

What’s next for you and your store?

The new Spring Collection – we have some great new products including a Uri Lamp, Scribit, Kid’s Champion Hoodies and more.

Photo courtesy of MoMA Design Store

What’s one lesson you’ve learned since opening your store?

It is important to experiment and observe how consumers respond. Stay attuned to the market and adapt accordingly.

If you could give one piece of advice to someone who wants to follow a similar path to yours, what would it be?

Stay true to your heart. Enthusiasm is contagious! I absolutely love my job and I have been very fortunate to work with very talented and passionate people.

Photo courtesy of MoMA Design Store

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A Bright Cave-Like Home in the Old City of Jerusalem

The grounds of the Old City of Jerusalem can be tricky for contemporary architects. For one, the foundation of the Old City is made up of ruins, vaults, and rubble that can date up to a thousand years of age. Houses also sometimes span multiple street levels and are built over layers of precious archaeology.

Architect Shlomit Mamon Zaresky was tasked with restoring a single family vacation home in the Old City that takes up two different street levels and is approximately 400 years old. The original building had some striking peculiarities: the entrance to the building, for example, sinks slightly lower than the upper street level, with a set of stairs leading into an internal courtyard. From there, the back of the building rises over a story high and reveals the building’s most prominent feature: the famous Cardo, the main street between Damascus Gate and Zion Gate, which existed in the first centuries AD and which was discovered underneath the house in the 1970s.

With a lowered courtyard, cross-vaulted ceilings, and sparse light, the architect’s program evokes the feeling of being in a protected, intimate cave.

To give the house a modern interior, some of the walls were peeled and exposed while others were reinforced to create a contrasting architectural language. The resultant space is airy, calm and feels like a breath of fresh air in the Old City.

Photos by Gideon Levin.

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Ace Hotel Kyoto Is Perfect for Design Travelers Seeking Elevated, yet Unfussy Accommodations

Japanese architect Kengo Kuma’s imprint is subtle but evident across the latest Ace Hotel destination located in the historic and former capital of Japan, Kyoto. The new 213 room hotel is a part new, part historic structure co-designed by Kuma within the former confines of the Kyoto Central Telephone Company originally designed by architect Tetsuro Yoshida, arriving ahead of this year’s 2020 Tokyo Olympics for design aficionados.

I intended to design a ‘Cultural Catalyst’ for various people to visit and create a seamless relationship with Kyoto’s community.

— Kengo Kuma, Principal, Kengo Kuma and Associates

The hallmarks of the relaxed air Ace Hotels offers guests make a surprisingly natural partner to Kuma’s affinity for simple, honest surfaces – an effect further harmonized by the contributions of award-winning and longtime Ace partner, Commune Design.

The contemporary, yet warmly executed use of materiality of wood throughout references Japan’s characteristic respect for unfussy natural surfaces, offering guests a stay unencumbered by formality.

The proximity of a verdant garden courtyard, accompanied with additional features such as an art gallery and event spaces decorated with works in collaboration with local artists further underscores the tranquil modernity offered. A cafe and three stand-alone restaurants are also available on site for guests to enjoy during their stay.

Ace Hotel Group Chief Brand Officer and Partner, Kelly Sawdon, describes the new Kyoto hotel as a natural extension of the city itself, one inspiring “countless artists, designers, musicians, filmmakers and poets”, envisioned to represent the confluence of creativity “for locals and travelers” alike.

The property offers eight tiers of rooms, starting from a Standard King room with king size bed, window seats, Japanese soaking tub, separate shower, a Tivoli radio, and turntable with a small collection of vinyl on hand, onwards up to the spacious Ace Suites, offering a king bed or two double beds with a separate dining, bar and living area, double vanity, Japanese soaking tub, and a separate shower.

Those seeking a more historic experience can choose to stay within one of the Tatami Suites, giving guests the opportunity to enjoy a night’s rest upon four tatami futons, while also having access to double vanities, a turntable, Japanese soaking tub, separate shower, and a bar.

There’s no doubt the Ace Hotel Kyoto will immediately become an architectural flame for moths of global design, with reservations now available for stays beginning on April 16th, 2020.

What: Ace Hotel Kyoto
Where: 245-2 Aneyakojidori Higashinotoin-nishiiru Kurumayacho, Nagagyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan 604-8185
How much: From $400
Highlights: Rooms offer guests access to their own Japanese soaking tub and original art from local Japanese artists impart the hotel with regional flavor across every grade of room.
Design draw: The tasteful contemporary interpretation of a ryokan experience as envisioned by architect Kengo Kuma and decorated with interior details by Commune Design should offer an utmost satisfying experience for the design traveler seeking elevated, yet unfussy accommodations in Japan’s historic capital.
Book it: Ace Hotel Kyoto

Photos courtesy of Ace Hotel Group.

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Bridge House Runs Over a Natural Stream in Los Angeles

It’s not every day that you get a plot of land with a natural stream running through it, especially in Los Angeles. When architect Dan Brunn of Dan Brunn Architecture saw the brook cutting across his plot, he decided to rise above it. The result – a culmination of 2 years of Brunn’s work – is a visionary, 4,500-square-foot home called the Bridge House, that bridges over a natural stream.

The wide, horizontal volume stretches 210 feet across the grounds and has a minimalist design that uses light and space to its advantage. Dan Brunn curated a list of brands he wanted to work with on the house, from the likes of Benjamin Moore, BMW, Bosch, Caeserstone, Concrete Collaburative, Eero, Legrand, MODAA, Savant, Yamaha, and more.

Several of these brands, such as Yamaha and Bosch, will be hosting activations to bring this house to life – their way. The property will also host art exhibits and a temporary show during Frieze LA.

Inside, Bridge House contains a living room, a dining room, a kitchen, a master suite, three bedrooms, a terrace powder room, a garage, a pool, and a pool house. Brunn leveraged on the river and used it as a natural divider to separate public and private spaces in the residence.

Brunn cites early modernists Pierre Koenig, Mies van der Rohe, and Craig Ellwood as inspiration. It’s easy to see their influence too: with simplistic aesthetic elements of mid-century modern architecture, manifesting as clean lines and clearly delineated spaces.

Photos by Brandon Shigeta.

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