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DISCOVER THE GALAXY S8 IN MILAN

To celebrate the design of the Galaxy S8, Samsung has commissioned Zaha Hadid Architects and acclaimed digital art collective Universal Everything to create an immersive, interactive installation. The exhibition runs from 4-9 April during Milan Design Week.

The most important date in the design calendar, Milan Design Week sees over 300,000 visitors from all parts of the world, descend on the city for more than 1,000 events, product launches, talks and workshops. It’s busy, buzzy and bursting with trends that will come to define the year ahead.

An overhead view of the Samsung installation

Taking inspiration from the Galaxy S8’s seamless curved design, the award-winning studio of the late architect Zaha Hadid, famed for creating dynamic show-stopping structures, has created a completely bespoke interior. Meanwhile collaborators Universal Everything, who’ve worked with everyone from Chanel to Radiohead, has developed a mesmerizing interactive digital installation including create-your-own avatars that bring to life the Galaxy design philosophy. Be sure to pop along and join in the fun.     

The exhibition UNCONFINED: The New Galaxy S8 Design is at BASE, Via Tortona 54, Milan 20144, from 4-9 April, 10am-9pm.

samsung.com

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A DESIGN BOLTHOLE IN BERGEN

In Norway’s second city a former refugee shelter and care home has been lovingly re-imagined as a boutique hotel filled with fabulous mid-century and contemporary furniture and accessories. From Josef Frank to Konstantin Grcic, over 36 designers have pieces featured including the Bouroullec brothers and their pioneering Serif TV. We can’t wait to check-in.

Villa Terminus with its distinctive steeply pitched roofline was originally built in 1770 in the Late Baroque architectural style. The project to restore it is the work of architecture and design practice Claesson Koivisto Rune who’ve worked their magic on everything from art galleries and spas, to fashion stores and log cabins. They’re no slouches at product design either.

The starting point for the interior scheme was the art of Danish painter Vilhelm Hammershøi. The influence of the artist’s scenes of serene, almost empty rooms in muted tones, and a limited palette can be seen throughout the spaces from the breakfast room to the whisky bar.

Collaborating with design dealer Thomas Ekström of Stockholmmodern, helped to create a meaningful meld of new and old. Architect Eero Koivisto said “the mix-up of time fitted us well since we were neither recreating the antiquarian nor building a contemporary statement. By choosing elements of furniture, fittings and colours from different eras – an ancient finish, a mid-century modern vintage accessory here, a contemporary piece of furniture there – the concept of time has surprisingly vanished”.

Leather chairs add a rich hit of colour to the library. No lending ticket required.

The literary theme continues in the cosy 18 bedrooms. Each room is dedicated to a West Norwegian author and features a selection of books specially selected by Bergen Public Library.

That’s our next weekend break sorted.

https://www.villaterminus.no

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SERIF AT MAISON OBJET

Paris’s twice-yearly design fair Maison Objet is one of the most important dates on the interior style calendar. A hotbed for trends, talents and predictions for what our living spaces will look like in the year to come, it’s a natural home for the Serif TV.

Keep reading

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SAMSUNG LAUNCH THE FRAME BY YVES BÉHAR

“In our smaller homes and apartments, when a television is off, its black square takes up valuable real estate”, says Yves Béhar. The acclaimed Swiss designer is continuing Samsung’s investigation into the place of the television in our homes with the launch of The Frame.

Conceived to make the most of your wall space The Frame is a flat ultra HD screen, that will go practically anywhere thanks to its Invisible Connection (a single, discreet cable system that avoids the usual jumble of wires) and No Gap Wall-mount. Customisable magnetic veneer frames can be easily attached for it to blend seamlessly into the walls. But there’s much more to Behar’s multi-tasker than meets the eye. The magic begins when the television is turned off and the screen moves into ‘Art Mode’. Here a curated collection of 100 art works brings a virtual art gallery into your home.

The word ‘curated’ may be much mis-used these days, but for The Frame, Samsung has consulted with independent art expert Elise Van Middelem who’s sourced a global line-up of prize-winning, museum-quality creators including Korean artist Bohnchang Koo and Nigerian ruby onyinyechi amanze. “I was immediately attracted by the possibility of demystifying the art experience” says Elise who believes that “The Frame has the potential to change our perception of viewing art: how it is approached, collected and displayed”. Works are arranged under themes from ‘action’ to ‘architecture’ and appear on screen as though framed by paper mounts, realistically rendered in high definition.

The innovative low energy display also has built-in sensors and mirrors that detect lighting and movement in the room. These adjust the backlighting on the screen to make the art look totally real from day to night – and save power too, turning the screen off when no one is in the room. Between making your TV more useful and art more accessible, we reckon this screen’s a multi-media masterpiece.

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PAOLOZZI AT THE WHITECHAPEL

Often called the godfather of British pop art, Eduardo Paolozzi gets a long overdue retrospective at London’s Whitechapel Gallery. The artist who died 12 years ago, had a career spanning five decades, from concrete sculptures and Mickey Mouse meets Mondrian tapestries to iconic Tube station tiling.

(Images from top) The Whitworth Tapestry, 1967 Courtesy The Whitworth, University of Manchester. Fun Fair, 1947. Courtesy Government Art Collection. All images ©Trustees of the Paolozzi Foundation, licensed by DACS.

After studying art in Edinburgh and London, Paolozzi moved to Paris in 1947, where he met and was inspired by leading figures of the avant-garde including Giacometti, Arp and Leger.  A fascination with primitive art and anthropology is seen in this early collage work, with figures that look like African nail-riven fetish figures.

Cocktail Dress for Horrockses Fashions, 1953. Photograph by Norwyn Ltd. Courtesy the Harris Museum & Art Gallery, Preston.

A pioneer of collage, Paolozzi was seldom without a pair of scissors at hand, to cut out and reassemble patterns, shapes and objects that intrigued him. He delighted in the energy of juxtaposing images from nature to machines and applied this approach beyond the picture frame into textiles, tapestries, ceramics, book covers, record sleeves, films and sculpture.

Diana as a Engine 1, 1963-6. Courtesy British Council Collection.

Eduardo’s voracious appetite for American popular culture, from sci-fi comics to colourful, brash advertising came to life in his tower scuptures from the early 1960s. The mythically named ‘Diana as an Engine 1’ is a retrofuturistic assemblage that’s part fire hydrant, part Dalek, dolled up in a funfair palette.

“Never one to be told what to do, Paolozzi broke all conventions of art and consistently reinvented himself and his work”, says curator Daniel F. Herrmann “and at times the inventiveness is overwhelming”.

Wittgenstein in New York (from the As is When portfolio), 1965. Courtesy Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art.

An ingenious but irreverent printmaker, Paolozzi really hit his stride with his print portfolios. The first, his ‘As Is When’ collection, combined collaged elements with zingy pop patterns and a punchy palette, but was inspired by his hero, philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. It’s this experimental mix of the high and lowbrow that makes his work so relevant to today’s artists.

Tottenham Court Road Underground Station. Courtesy Transport for London.

If you can’t make it to London before the show ends, you can always view one of Paolozzi’s most iconic works along the station platforms at Tottenham Court Road Underground Station. The glass mosaics originally installed in 1986 were recently restored, capturing the colour, creativity and energy of his signature scheme and the streets above, which inspired them.

The exhibition continues until 14 May.

http://www.whitechapelgallery.org

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SIX STEPS TO SPRING STYLE AT HEAL’S

Longer days and shorter nights can mean only one thing. Spring is in the air. Time to shed the winter layers and spruce up your home with new season looks. We dropped in on our friends at Heal’s, to discover their key pieces to embrace vernal style.

1. If there’s one shade you need this spring it’s green. Not the drab khakis of recent seasons, but bold zingy, life-affirming shades that look as fresh as the new shoots popping up in your garden. The Wallis sofa by British designer Russell Pinch does verdant with verve.

2. Get beach ready with the nautical stripes of the Indigo Rain crockery collection for 1882 Ltd. Designed by interiors visionary Faye Toogood (her installations at Milan Design Week are legendary), the bold, brush-like stripes are her unique take on classic English blue and cream Delftware. Instant coastal style however far you are from the sea.

3. Sorted out your new season wardrobe yet? Invest in a full-length mirror to get a real feel for whether you can pull off that Vetements hoodie. An elegantly, handcrafted piece of furniture, the Iona Cheval Floor Mirror will also help to maximise all that sunlight (when it comes) and brighten up your space.

4. Pump up the pattern with artist Susi Bellamy’s new colourful cushions. Based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Susi begins by creating hand marbled paper art. This traditional craft process involves floating inks on water and then carefully laying a sheet of paper on the surface to absorb the pattern. The resulting unique impression is then digitally printed onto velvet. NB Velvet is still hot for spring.

5. Our favourite find at Heal’s is their new Fabian collection of lighting. Decidedly 1970s in attitude, the monochrome lights are a winning combination of sandblasted black metal and solid opal glass metal diffuser. Better yet the floor lamp is designed so that each sphere rotates, meaning that you can create your own configuration to suit your mood.

6. Grab a fistful of tulips and arrange artfully in Heal’s Copper & Smoke vase. The vogue for all things metallic shows no sign of stopping and the glaze here includes a mix of 24-carat gold for extra lustre. Teamed with the smoky finish of the mouth-blown glass you’ve basically got two trends in one.

heals.com

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AESOP’S WORLD OF INTERIORS

For thirty years, Aesop has been making skin, body and hair care products in their signature minimal packaging. But beyond the bottles, tubes and jars they’ve also worked with a distinguished roster of architects and designers to create a striking portfolio of unique stores that are bursting with inspired materials and details.

Bringing the outside in: Westmount, Montreal, Canada.

Designed in collaboration with Quebecois architect Alain Carle, Aesop’s first Montreal store (pictured above) features a cluster of three locally sourced birch tree trunks. Left in their natural state – peeling bark included – the timber is installed from floor-to-ceiling, practically growing out of the floating floorboards. They add an organic texture to a highly ordered space.

Recycling the news: Nolita, NYC, USA.

The saying goes that “today’s news is tomorrow’s chip paper”, but for Tacklebox architect Jeremy Barbour, 2,800 reclaimed copies of the New York Times are both structure and decoration for this diminutive store. The sheets were cut into 400,000 strips, then stacked and bound together to create bricks of paper. These line the walls and create the bodies for the joinery. The ragged edges of the newspapers create a subtle pattern, which will transform from grey to a sepia yellow shade as the sheets age with time.

Fibreglass fantasies: James Street, Brisbane, Australia.

This building within a building takes its style cues from the sinuous sculptures of Anish Kapoor and the surfboard culture of Queensland. A collaboration with Rodney Eggleston of March Studio, the inside/outside space makes full use of fibreglass’s capabilities for creating curves and filtering light. We love the way that the external wooden skeleton frame is used as additional shelving for products.

A passion for parquet: Saint-Honoré, Paris, France.

Visit any of the grand apartments and elegant salons of the historic heart of Paris and you’re sure to pace upon floors of perfect parquet. Aesop pay tribute to the geometry (and luxury) of hand-crafted wooden mosaic flooring by filling their space from top to bottom with 3,500 boards of imported Victorian ash. Intricately arranged to create a dynamic display, every piece is positioned to showcase the intricate nap and grain of the timber.

The way of the Samurai: Fukoaka, Fukuoka-shi, Japan.

How do you apply the philosophy and craftsmanship of the Samurai order to a beauty store? For Japanese studio SIMPLICITY, the clue’s in their name. Pared back to an almost ascetic degree, their space is designed with a rugged palette of materials: oxidised metal, black stone and concrete, teamed with a ruthless symmetry. In the centre of the room, two monolithic polished steel sinks reference the glint of the Samurai’s katana blade. Austerity has never looked so appealing.

Cardboard chic: Downtown LA, Los Angeles, USA.

Architectural firm Brooks + Scarpa are more used to designing award-winning art museums, high schools and gyms. For Aesop’s store in the historic theatre district of South Broadway, they went beyond the bricks and mortar to explore the design possibilities of the cardboard tube. In a nod to the bolts of fabric to be found in the area’s fashion houses and costume shops, they took the tubes and created undulating walls, minimal chandeliers and simple counters. Cardboard’s neutral colour adds easy warmth.

Going nuts for coconut: Millenia Walk, Singapore, Singapore.

Our very favourite Aesop has sadly closed but we couldn’t bear to omit it. Why? Because the primary material that March Studio used to create this store was the coconut husk. The ceiling-wide installation consisted of 30 kilometres of it. Each individual strand was cut to the same length and hung from an intricate grid. Meanwhile ropes made from husk were coiled around columns and pedestals. Widely used throughout the region, here the humble husk becomes both architecture and sculpture.

http://www.aesop.com

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BOUROULLEC BROTHERS JUDGE DESIGN AWARDS

Back in 2016, brothers Rowan and Erwan Bouroullec bagged not one but two Wallpaper* Design Awards. As well as winning the much-coveted Designer of the Year Award, they took home the Best Domestic Design for the Serif TV. This year, the tables were turned and the brothers were part of the judging panel.

Fellow judges were artist Tom Sachs, architect Amanda Levete, actor-director Laetitia Casta and artist-designer Ramdane Touhami. The eclectic panel was matched by an equally diverse shortlist that ranged from Stelton coffee sets and Wary Meyers soaps to the city of Shenzken. The brothers, pictured above with this year’s Best Domestic Design winner the AK70 music player by Astell and Kern, were impressed by its perceived longevity. Its reassuring weight and clever oblique angle design teamed with the latest digital tech inside suggest that there’s still a place for a dedicated music player in our lives. (Photograph: Alexandre Guirkinger)

Designer of the Year was awarded to Jasper Morrison. In a 30-year career, the champion of functional but minimal furniture has also turned his hand to toasters for Muji and mobile phones for Samsung. Most recently he created the Bankside seating range (pictured above) for Tate Modern’s members’ room - and designed his first kitchen for Schiffini. “He’s really looking at a lot of the world”, said Erwan “he’s not a creator, he’s more”.

Blowing our minds in the Best New Private House category was winner Konieczny’s Ark. Created by architectural practice KWK Promes in Southern Poland, the angular concrete construction, looks like a boat listing on a wave of countryside. That distinctive tilt is not just for dramatic effect, but maximises the view and allows ground water to flow underneath. (Photograph: Jakub Certowicz)

Moving on from the tactic of exiting through the gift shop, museums have been getting in on the act of hosting dining destinations too. Best New Restaurant award winner, Odette is on the ground floor of Singapore’s landmark National Gallery. Conceived by London-based Universal Design Studio, the room is a calming palette of pale pinks and white, teamed with terrazzo, marble, brass and wood finishes. (Photograph: Jovian Lim)

An equally sensitive use of materials can be found at the winner of Best New Public Building. Designed by Hiroshi Sambuichi, the Naoshima Hall in Japan uses hinoki cypress and handmade washi paper throughout its interiors. Outside its distinctive roof is a modern take on the traditional irimoya hip-and-gable roof. The open top allows air to circulate through the building keeping the rooms below cooler during the hot summer months. Japanese architects “have got their own way of playing with light, thickness and material” said Ronan. (Photograph: Shigeo Ogawa)

For a full list of this year’s Wallpaper* Design Awards winners, visit: wallpaper.com/design-awards/2017  

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ELIASSON AT THE LEEUM

On a chilly Saturday afternoon in Seoul, we popped into Leeum, the Samsung Museum of Art to see their survey exhibition of Olafur Eliasson. The Danish-Icelandic artist is infamous for challenging notions of what art can be, creating pseudo-natural phenomena via visual tricks and illusions. So while the snowflakes fell outside, in the upstairs gallery it was raining!

Eliasson’s affinity with nature has seen him re-create a giant, glowing sun for the Weather Project in Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall, dye rivers green, and transplant stony river-beds into gleaming gallery spaces. At the Leeum, he completely covers a wall with reindeer moss lichen. As the lichen dries it shrinks and fades but when watered it springs back to life, changing colour and emits a pungent odour. On the surface the work is a calming pattern of organic textures but beneath it’s in a constant state of subtle flux.

There’s real joy in the simplicity of so many of Olafur’s ideas. From the wildly veering ‘Ventilator’ (an electric fan dangles from the ceiling erratically propelling itself in all directions - we couldn’t help ducking every time it swung by) to ‘Your Unpredictable Sameness’ that uses lights on motorised pendulums to create woozy shadows of yourself as if on-board a ship in heavy seas.

Keen on the presence and interaction of his audience, you might say that Olafur’s a master of Instagram. The show was buzzing with visitors taking selfies against the knowingly titled ‘Less Ego Wall’ and creating their own #Ihavethisthingwithfloors in a room tiled in four different types of volcanic rock that create a disconcerting 3-d effect.

However the biggest wows of the day were both aqua-based. The does-what-it-says-on-the-tin, ‘Reversed Waterfall’ may be a clever trick, but unlike your average illusionist, Eliasson allows you in on the secret by leaving its working parts visible. The strange magic continued upstairs where a fine mist falls in a black room and multiple spotlights create an eerie rainbow effect. The sight of so many gallery-goers with umbrellas aloft was a sight to behold.

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IN CONVERSATION WITH MICHEL ROSET

Three things you need to know about Ligne Roset. One, they’re a family run furniture brand who’ve been in business for over 150 years. Two, they still develop and make all of their products in Briord in France. And three, they’re one of the chic-est interiors companies we know.

Beginning in 1860 as a wood processing company, Antoine Roset’s company made umbrellas, walking sticks and chair frames. By the 1950s they’d moved into contract furniture for schools and offices, finally entering the domestic interior business in the 1960s. They quickly found their feet collaborating with established and up-and-coming designers, resulting in their most iconic piece Michel Ducaroy’s Togo sofa. Launched in 1973 over 1.2 million Togos have since been sold.

Always leading on innovation they’ve worked with everyone from the Bouroullec brothers, Pierre Paulin, and Pascal Mourgue to Didier Gomez and Inga Sempé. Ahead of launching their new collections at Masion Objets in Paris, we caught up with creative director Michel Roset:

1. How do you choose the designers that you work with?

This is a good question, but not so easy to answer! Ligne Roset is renowned for working with so many talented designers. We’ve been doing it for more than 50 years now and these relationships are not about trends or who is trendy – instead they are the very essence of what we do. Our global presence along with our sister brand Cinna’s competition for young designers attract a lot of collaborative propositions. However the ones that we choose are the result of our emotional and aesthetic affinities with the designers, recognition of their talent and spotting innovative concepts and products. (pictured above: Ondule lamp by Chape&Mache)

2. The Bouroullec brothers have created three collections for Ligne Roset. How has that relationship evolved?

I’ve known Ronan Bouroullec since he finished his studies at the Arts Decoratifs! It must be about 20 years ago when we produced a vase that he had designed. Our professional and personal relationship has gone from strength to strength, with some memorable highlights like the launch of both the Facet and Ploum seating collections. By coincidence or maybe fate, our collaboration with Inga Sempé (Ronan’s wife) on many projects including the Moel and Ruché collections have brought us even closer together. (pictured above: Clouds wall hanging by Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec)

3. If you could collaborate with a designer that's no longer alive, who would you ask, and why?

We are the first manufacturer for Pierre Paulin’s (1927-2009) furniture designs. Although the collaboration began when he was part of this world, it continues today through our work with his wife Maia and son Benjamin. We also celebrate the memory of a great designer and dear friend Pascal Mourgue (1943-2014). Pascal was an artist who lit up our collections with his unique vision of modern lifestyles. He rose above trends and reinterpreted ways of living with great poetry and humour. (pictured above: Les Oiseaux vase by Pascal Mourgue)

4. What are the trends that we should be looking out for in 2017?

We’re focussing more on noble materials such as solid woods and velvets.  In our 2017 collection we’ve also put a lot of work into textiles and the development of ever more sophisticated technical tools. The latter allowed us to create innovative sawing techniques for our sofas Cover 1 and Cover 2 designed by Marie-Christine Dorner and the Grand Chelem by Didier Gomez. At Ligne Roset our craftsmanship and manufacturing know-how allows us to continuously innovate and produce unique designs, which are contemporary, significant and most importantly comfortable! (pictured above: Grand Chelem sofa by Didier Gomez, pictured below: Cover 2 sofa by Marie-Christine Dorner).

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TRAVEL WITH SERIF: CEREAL X BRUTON

You’ll find the historic town of Bruton nestled among the gentle hills of Somerset. The River Brue quietly meanders through its picturesque centre past the medieval Church of St Mary. The serene landscape paints a vivid picture of classic English countryside; think brushes of weathered hedgerows, swathes of dew-drenched fields and a rolling patchwork of moss, juniper, and pine greens.

The town’s narrow streets are lined with well-preserved shop fronts and trim stucco and stone terraced houses. In the distance, local landmark the Dovecote glows in the early morning haze. This 16th century limestone tower cuts an imposing, solitary figure on the hillside watching over the community below.

On the high street is the aptly named At the Chapel: a restored chapel that’s now a hotel, restaurant, bar, bakery and wine shop. 

In the eight tranquil bedrooms, simplicity prevails and the focus is on comfort, quality and an effortless style. Colours and forms coexist as a flowing symmetrical composition with every element of the space engaged in a quiet, purposeful conversation – even the lime green chairs speak to the neutral white walls and wooden bones of the interior.

After a hearty lunch in the restaurant, why not while away an hour at nearby boutique Caro. Filled with covetable and affordable objects from around the world, it also stocks a winning range of niche fragrances and beauty products from the likes of Haeckels, Aesop and Laboratory Perfumes.

The striking emerald tiles of the exterior set a bold, confident tone that resonates throughout the design of the entire space. Order a cappuccino from their café while browsing an edit of chic books and magazines.

Should you only have time for one stop in Bruton, make it leading international art gallery Hauser & Wirth. Housed in a beautifully restored 18th century farm, here past and present sit in perfect unison: the weathered sandstone of the former cow sheds provide the backdrop for cutting-edge exhibitions and installations by A-list artists including Louise Bourgeois, Martin Creed and Phyllida Barlow. The gallery’s next show opening on 19 January includes iconic bronzes by Elisabeth Frink and multi-media works by Djordje Ozbolt.

Once you’ve explored Piet Oudolf’s landscaped gardens and the Radić pavilion (which some of you may remember as the Serpentine Pavilion back in the summer of 2014) grab a table at onsite bar and grill Roth. Friendly staff are on hand to guide you through the locally sourced menu. Open six days a week, it’s the perfect way to round off your weekend in the English countryside.

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SERIF AT MAISON OBJET

Paris’s twice-yearly design fair Maison Objet is one of the most important dates on the interior style calendar. A hotbed for trends, talents and predictions for what our living spaces will look like in the year to come, it’s a natural home for the Serif TV.

Not content with just being an exhibitor, this season the most stylish telly played a starring role as an Associated Partner, popping up throughout the fair. At visitor hubs, the generous 40inch monitor was used to display key announcements, events and visitor information.

For those seeking to rest their feet (it’s hard work hunting down the best new design) the Serif was also installed in the Tesla lounge, holding its own among the directional stand architecture and Noé Duchaufour Lawrance’s Borghese sofa.

We were especially excited to be part of Studio Swine’s stand as part of the Rising Talent UK exhibition. RCA graduates Azusa Murakami and Alexander Groves joined forces as Super Wide Interdisciplinary New Explorers in 2011 and are renowned for their innovative use of materials including human hair, ocean plastic and aluminium foam. They’re definitely ones to watch.

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ON THE SHELF WITH SERIF

Serif TV’s innovative frame design means that it is perfect for perching on shelves throughout your home. Its more compact sizes options - including the cute 24” mini - are ideal space saving solutions for modern urban living. An integrated Bluetooth speaker makes it a multi-tasking marvel, saving you even more valuable room.

We’ve put colour back into the spotlight with a palette of dark blue, white and red (pictured), conceived to complement your interior. Easy to accessorise, Serif TV is designed to become part of your furniture rather than just a box.  

Working from home? Slip Serif on a shelf and use it as a computer monitor. Talk about mixing business with pleasure.  

Keep the kids happy with their own mini Serif TV for the bedroom. Just make sure that they’ve finished their homework first.

Proving that bigger is not always better; Serif is for people who love the look of their homes as much as they like to watch TV. It’s a harmonious balance between technology and interiors.

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ZAHA HADID IN LONDON

Less than a year after star architect Zaha Hadid sadly passed away, London’s Serpentine Gallery is celebrating her dynamic career and restless creativity with an exhibition of early paintings, drawing and sketchbooks. The show, first conceived with Hadid herself, shows the roots of her iconic visual language. We popped in for a look.

Pictured above: Metropolis, 2014 (acrylic on canvas) 

The Serpentine’s Sackler Gallery is an appropriate setting for Zaha’s show as it was her architectural practice that transformed this former gunpowder store into a vital new gallery space - and added the distinctive, swooping conservatory. But her links to the Serpentine date back even further than that as Hadid also designed the first ever Serpentine Pavilion back in 2000.

(left) Confetti: Suprematist Snowstorm, 1983 (right) BlueSlabs, 1983

Zaha’s paintings began as a way of visualising her architectural ideas not just for individual buildings but entire imaginary cityscapes. Stylistically inspired by Russian constructivist art, shapes are shattered and splintered creating cascades of coloured shards that have a dizzying 3-D like effect. Despite looking like early digital renderings, these works were created long before such technologies took hold in art. In the same way that her architecture was about collaboration, Hadid’s paintings involved a team of assistants meticulously transferring and tracing shapes before finally painting onto the canvas.

We loved seeing her never before exhibited notebooks. A true insight into the inner workings of the artist’s mind, Zaha was famous for never going anywhere without her notebook and was constantly to be found sketching even during meetings, interviews and dinners.

(left, top) Blue Beam, 1988 (bottom) Aerial Perspective, 1988

(right, top) Hommage a Verner Panton, 1990 (bottom) Blue and Green Scrapers, 1990 

From stations, schools and swimming pools to galleries and ski jumps, Zaha Hadid’s architectural practice has realised 56 projects in 45 cities around the world with many more still in the pipeline. We wish we could travel the world to see them all but in the meantime this fascinating exhibition of rarely seen work is an excellent primer.

Exhibition continues until 12 February. Free.

http://www.serpentinegalleries.org

All photography: Zaha Hadid, Installation views, Serpentine Sackler Gallery, London (8 December 2016 – 12 February 2017)

© Zaha Hadid Foundation. Image © 2016 Hugo Glendinning

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HYPEBEAST: AT HOME WITH THE SARTORIALIST

Street style photographer, Scott Schuman aka The Sartorialist has been connecting fashion with everyday life for over 10 years.  He’s shot ad campaigns for Burberry, Absolut and Nespresso, and even modelled in one for Gap. At the last count he’d published three books and his iconic images are in the collection of the V&A. Our friends at Hypebeast popped by his New York apartment for a chat.   

“My place is not perfectly done but it’s me”

For a man who is constantly on the move, Scott’s Greenwich Village apartment is a relaxed, casual refuge filled with mementoes and memories of his travels. A lover of old-school Italian style, Mister Schuman mixes it up with modern pieces and technology like Samsung’s Serif TV.

An aged leather chesterfield sofa is teamed with design classics like Alvar Aalto’s Stool 60 for Artek and Richard Sapper’s iconic Tizio lamp for Artemide. Exposed brick walls, wide wooden floorboards and scaffolding-inspired bookcases (groaning with a library of books we’d love to get lost in) add an industrial feel in keeping with the history of the area.

Watch Scott here

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NOW & THEN IN RENNES

In celebration of Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec’s twenty years in design, the city of Rennes hosted four exhibitions of their pioneering work. The five-month long show examined different aspects of the pair’s output from products and prototypes to proposals for urban projects.

The main show at contemporary art museum Frac Bretagne, explored the brothers creative collaborations with a veritable who’s who of international product manufacturing from Alessi, Magis and Kvadrat, to Vitra, Hay and Samsung. Demonstrating their willingness to experiment well outside of their furniture comfort zone, the brothers exhibited rugs, vases and even jewellery.

First shown at Tel Aviv’s Museum of Art, a striking installation of ’17 Screens’ explored different approaches to dividing up and separating spaces via the use of modular wall systems. A far cry from the traditional room divider, these screens were made from a diverse mix of materials including aluminium, ceramic and even reconfigured tree branches.

More organic themes and environmental concerns came under the spotlight at Rennes’ Les Champs Libres. This part of the exhibition explored the brothers’ ideas around urban development and public spaces. Their so-called ‘rêveries urbaines’, blurred the boundaries between dreams and realistic proposals for ways to make our urban spaces better. Through a whimsical collection of twenty set-like models they showed their ambitions to venture beyond interiors.

And finally, in the courtyard of the local government building they erected their kiosk – part mini pavilion, part super-cool shed. It can be assembled in just three hours and easily moved from one location to another. It surely will not be long before Ronan and Erwan realise their first fully-fledged building.

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IN CONVERSATION WITH ROLF HAY

Established in 2002, Danish design brand Hay is the champion of accessible and directional furniture and accessories. Their cool, clean aesthetic has been a huge hit, from Sydney to Seoul, putting Denmark firmly back on the design map. Keen on collaborations they’ve worked with award-winning designers including Doshi Levien, Scholten & Baijings and SerifTV designers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec.

The Bouroullecs have created three collections for Hay, commencing in 2012 with the Copenhague collection. The desks, tables and chairs were designed in response to a commission from the faculty of humanities at Københaven Universitet in Copenhagen to make furniture for the building that was as welcoming as it was functional. We wish we could study there!

Three years later, the brothers designed their first range of outdoor furniture. The elegant but tough Palissade collection had the Bouroullec trademark unfussy style. Distinctive but not showy, the collection gave patios and balconies a much needed makeover.

Most recently the Bouroullecs re-wrote the rulebook with their revolutionary flat-packed and self-assembly Can sofas and chairs. Customisable (and so much easier to get through your front door) the collection made its debut during Milan Design Week this year.

In a break from his busy schedule we caught up with co-founder Rolf Hay:

1 How do you choose the designers that you work with - and do you have a wish list of designers that you dream of collaborating with?

Often we like to work with designers we have a strong connection with or with whom we admire. Designers like Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec and Stefan Diez we admired before we started working together. But for us it has always been about the products and making a great product.  We are not interested in where designers come from, we are interested in what they create. The personal connection has always been important to us, we have to get along well.

2 The Bouroullecs have designed three collections for Hay. How has that relationship grown or changed over the years?

When we started there was no one I wanted to work with more in the industry than Ronan and Erwan. They gave us the chance to work together in a very early stage in our company and they always believed in what we together were doing. I consider them a close partner and designers I am always happy to talk with and be around.

3 Your Mini Market concept has made Hay even more accessible and affordable. Could you tell us about one your favourite objects in the collection?

There is not one product I like more than the other. But the shelving system, which is the inventory for the HAY Mini Market, is a product we developed over many years together with designer Stefan Diez and we are extremely pleased with the outcome. I delivered the frame and Mette (Hay’s co-founder and curator of Mini Market) delivers the content.

4 We’ve noticed that Hay is becoming increasingly colourful. How do you use colour in your own home?

We’ve always been interested in colour and how it affects a product and people, but we consider each product individually. Our home is very much the same way.

Find more fabulous furniture and accessories from Hay here