To Designers, With Love

By Stacy Straczynski, Associate Editor

With Valentine’s Day quickly approaching, it’s a perfect time to revisit some of the top romance-inspiring designs from around the world. Whether you’re looking to take your sweetheart to a sexy resort for a weekend getaway or enjoy a quiet dinner for two—or even if you’re single and on the prowl—these top destination designs are sure to get your libido pumping.

The in Poznan, Poland centers itself on the suave inspirations of jazz music--literally. The jazz club and restaurant, designed by designed by Ewelina Jankowska, features a bright red piano at the heart of its interior that gives life to the seductively smoky room, outfitted with natural stone walls, copper tones, and plush sofa seating that creates the perfect space to snuggle up with your date and enjoy the sounds of passionate improvisation.

Nothing speaks to romance more than a blatant sexual innuendo. Ultra, a Toronto restaurant hotspot that recently received a redesign by 2010 Interiors Awards winner Munge Leung Design Associates, boasts walls adorned with cocks (roosters, that is—get your minds out of the gutter!), which Munge Leung managing partner Alessandro Munge told Contract can be interpreted in many ways. Overall the space screams provacative luxury, perfect for the man looking to really strut his stuff on the dating scene. 

There’s nothing like a trip to the great “indoors” to inspire love. Guests at the Four Seasons, Jackson Hole, with interior design by Brayton Hughes, can experience all the natural beauty found outdoors through the casual, yet elegant design detail metaphors. High-trussed ceilings and large-framed widows take advantage of the natural mountain views, while zigzag patterns and natural elements incorporate river scenery into every corner. The hotel was rated by Travel + Leisure readers as one of the top romantic destinations--probably due to its status as the perfect cuddle zone.

  

While many people have experimented with interplays between sex and food, Toronto’s Mildred Temple Kitchen, designed by Brian Brownlie of du Toit Architects,  is taking this naturally-found relationship a bound beyond oysters and chocolate by encouraging its diners to “get it on” in one of its modernly-styled bathrooms. So once you’ve finished entrees in the chic dining room, featuring classic ivory-colored seating and large floor-to-ceiling windows, be sure to leave room for “dessert.” 

 
What better place to walk on the wild side of romance than in Sin City? The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, designed by Mark Zeff of Zeff Designs, boast trendsetting towers that feature a rock n’ roll atmosphere with dark purple, black and brown interiors for lavishly sexy sophistication. Add in the room service menu that includes selections of lingerie and other adult items for late night fun and its no wonder guests will want to skip the craps table in exchange for a night in.

What designs and destinations have insired romance for you? Share them with us by commenting below.

On the Cutting Edge of Spanish Architecture

By Adam Figman, Editorial Intern
 
Earlier today I attended “Architecture From Spain,” a look at the state and plans for evolution of Spanish architecture, specifically in the Castilla y León region of Northern Spain. The event took place in Tafel Hall at the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, a large white room filled with natural light that poured in through the street-side windows.
 
AIA Executive Director Rick Bell kicked the day off with an introduction, during which he outlined the goal of the day’s seminars: to contribute to an understanding of the world via a knowledge of the materials we have and the way people construct things. Bell explained that research done on the computer or design done in a studio is not sufficient to fully comprehend the ways architects build the things they do. 
 
Bell went on to praise the work that’s been done in the Castilla y León region, and then had a moment of pride when he talked about the sustainability and green-ness of the building we were all sitting in.  Apparently, the New York AIA chapter is one of only a few buildings in the city powered by geothermal wells--two provide the institute’s energy in this case. This set forth the beginning of a trend on green architecture and sustainable development that consistently reappeared all day.
 
The first speaker was Mr. Juan I. Barroso, the head of the Department of Culture and Tourism of the Castilla y León government.  Barroso provided a plethora of information about the region of Spain for which he works, setting up the context for those who followed him.  Castilla y León, I learned, is spread over 36,600 square miles and contains 2,500,000 inhabitants. This leads to a very low population density, with only 70 people per square mile (the European average is 260).  These people are concentrated mostly in small towns, leaving vast countryside wide open throughout the area.
 
He also touched on the history of the vicinity. Interestingly, Castilla y León was subject to stints of Roman and Muslim rule in centuries past, the latter of which led to some pretty cool cultural integration.  Twelve Gothic cathedrals can be found in the region, and lots of movable works of art and contemporary architecture can be found, as well.
 
After Mr. Barroso’s history and cultural lesson, Mr. David Camara, president of Unex – Area Contract, took the stage. Camara’s position puts him charge of hospitality equipment, interior design, and home equipment, and he stressed the forward progress of the habitat industry in retail, which includes manufacturing fabrics, lighting, flooring decoration, and more.
 
Camara says restaurants are working to assist people with handicaps.  He also laid out all of the details that his work includes, such as “styles” (contemporary, modern, classical), “range” (high and medium-high products), and the ecological materials used (words, glass, ceramics, aluminum).  Quality service is key, says Camara, and he finds it important that the habitat and contract market in Castilla y León specializes itself so it can continue to increase in importance.  He stood behind the notion that the materials manufactured are qualified to meet the American demand, and that they offer a unique value option for architectural interior design projects throughout Europe.
 
Following Mr. Camara was Mrs. Sonia Para, who taught me everything I learned and then forgot in Introduction to Environmental Studies. Mrs. Para, a fourth generation stone business family member, sped through slides overflowing with science terms and descriptions of the different rock types offered in Northern Spain, which include sandstone, limestone, quartzite, marble and granite. She ended her seminar with a focus on (not surprisingly) sustainability, providing a scientific definition of the term and explaining that both a Life Cycle Assessment and Environmental Audit are now requirements for building in Castilla y León.
 
A pair of Spanish architects wrapped up the day, as they discussed a few projects they were completing. Mr. Miguel A. Alonso led off, and talked about the National Museum of Energy that he was working on in Ponferrada, Spain. The museum will celebrate the mining heritage or the area, while using the area’s natural elements as a thematic park. Solar power and biomass were used as energy sources, and a green covering and a solar skylight will also minimize the need for a powerful heating system. “The building is not trying to be a building with an exhibition inside, but a building that is an exhibition in itself,” he says. Mr. Rufino J. Hernandez concluded the day by talking about some projects he was working on, with pictures to accompany his explanations.

Overall, it was definitely an interesting event, even if the thick Spanish accents made it difficult for me to understand more than a sentence or two at a time. 

March of the Mannequins

By Stacy Straczynski, Associate Editor

I saw on the evening news yesterday a crazy story about how one NY commuter devised quite an ingenious way to slip into the carpool-only lane so he could bypass the morning rush hour traffic. The woman dressed up a store mannequin, complete with sunglasses, and placed "her" in the passenger seat to serve as her plus-one. While her ploy didn't work (the cop did a double take and subsequently pulled the her over, hitting the woman with a $135 fine), you have to give that lady a few kudos for creativity.

In light of this "mannequin caper," I want to take a moment and look at some innovative mannequin designs. One design that came to mind was the new MY department store, designed by London-based retail design and display company SFD. The store, which opened in September of last year, focused on visual merchandising and used mannequins as part of the up-scale look and feel of the store.

Below, find additional images (more at Contract magazine) from the new Tesco "MY" brand store. (Photos courtesy of SFD)

High-quality finishes compliment the store design and maximize the initial visual impact for the consumer.

The color theme continues in-store with key mannequins highlighted in eye-catching colors where appropriate.

Bespoke Lingerie mannequins provided an elegant and modern approach to lingerie display, with unique metallic finishes.

The continuation of the wedge theme across the key mannequins, including the childrens range, ensures a cohesive visual approach.

--Photos and captions, Nielsen Business Media

Sounding Off on Loud Restaurant Design

By Stacy Straczynski, Associate Editor

Last week, Contract magazine held its annual Interiors Awards dinner at Abe & Arthur’s, a new hip restaurant in the meat packing district of Manhattan. And while the food was great, and the interior design exceptionally swank, the landslide complaint was the noise.

The echoing conversations milled with the music and clatter from the hopping bar downstairs overwhelmed the space so you couldn’t hear what the person next to you was saying! My night was spent yelling into people’s ears to be understood, and my voice was so hoarse the next day that I had to skip out on my usual Friday night rock band lead singer antics and play bass.

While my discomfort with the poor acoustics was echoed by some of the other designers at the event, an article at NYTimes.com today says that we’ll have to get used to the noise—the poor acoustics were most likely designed on purpose.

Get ready everyone: noise is the new black. Many upscale restaurants are now playing with acoustics (high ceilings, hardwood floors, exposed beams, open kitchens, etc.) and incorporating a dose of din into building design. Even luxury, five-star dining establishments are doing away with traditional table cloths, soft carpeting, and curtains to let the sound reverberate more freely.

This irks me to no end. When I go out to eat, whether it’s a top-notch place like the Belmont or a quick-stop at my local diner, I’m going there to not only enjoy a non-microwavable meal, but also to converse with whomever is with me. And with at least 98 percent of my friends and family members now texting each other rather than calling, those moments of human interaction where I get to hear an actual voice seem even more precious.

I don’t see how increased noise could be a boon to restaurants anyway—all it does is frazzle guests and make the dining experience more about trying to hear than about savoring the cuisine. But then again, increased appetite is a direct response to increased stress levels. (Why else would I have been compelled last night to down an entire bag of Chinese fried wontons after my significant other and I had an argument?) Forget cutting edge design—it’s all just a ploy to drive up food bills in a bad economy.

Salvaged Sustainability

By Stacy Straczynski, Associate Editor

Everyone’s eyes seem to be green these days—and it’s not from envy. Sustainability is the word, and I’m sure the media has already covered almost every possible angle to greenwash us by now. (Quite frankly, I’m a bit jaded by it all myself.) But this one story that came across my desk about a start-up retail design studio in East London really caught my eye due to its innovation and feel-good vibes.

When it formed during the middle of the credit crunch last January, Campaign didn’t have extra dollars to spend on fancy high-end worktables for is small staff of five—four employees and a “designated mascot” pug named Effie. Rather than shell out cash it didn’t have, the company used its creative juices to rethink the traditional worktable (pictured right). The employees went to the streets of its surrounding metro area and reclaimed any type of abandoned furniture they could find, searching street corners, dumpsters, etc. Tables, chairs, cabinets, and even lamps were fair game. Once collected, the team gave the pieces a white finish to revitalize its appearance, compiled an interesting arrangement, and then bolted them together to create one single, albeit unique, piece of office furniture.

The Alchemy Table, as it’s now called by Campaign, has grown with the company over the last year. As more staff members joined the team, each have made some sort of contribution to the “work of art.” The homespun project is now not only a success in recycling, but can be interpreted as a symbol of successful teamwork and group collaboration.

AFH Responds to Haiti Disaster

Architecture for Humanity, the not-for-profit organization that responds to catastrophic humanitarian disaster with long-term design solutions, is responding to Tuesday’s devastating earthquake in Haiti, which has left widespread destruction and thousands dead according to official estimates. In an email blast, AFH executive director Cameron Sinclair said, “We have launched an appeal for supplying construction and design professionals and supporting earthquake resistant housing and community structures.” AFH does not provide emergency services to disaster-ridden areas, but focuses instead on housing displaced persons in the long-term, and rebuilding safer and stronger buildings.

For more information on Architecture for Humanitiy’s activities in Haiti, or to donate money or volunteer to participate in future rebuilding efforts, visit http://www.architectureforhumanity.org/

 

A New Year at Contract

By Stacy Straczynski, associate editor, Contract Magazine

Happy 2010! It’s been quite the whirlwind here at Contract as I join the editorial team as the new associate editor. (And what a great year to become part of the team—Contract is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year!)

Currently, I am working hard to get my feet wet and help my fellow editors close up a very exciting Jan/Feb issue that highlights the winners of Contract’s 31st annual Interiors Awards. While I can’t give my congratulations to the winners just yet (I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise for all our subscribers!), I can say that I am already in awe at the great innovations and achievements these wining companies and projects represent. I look forward to officially introducing myself to many of you at our Interiors Awards Breakfast coming up at the end of this month.

I also look forward to learning more about this aesthetically fascinating and competitive industry, as I begin to cover news and product releases. One of the first items I had the privilege to write up was the debut of the Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai, designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM). Magnificent to behold, the eye-catching tower, which combines the perfect mix of modern high-rise with traditional Islamic culture and design, is now the tallest building in the world. Keep an eye out for my upcoming Q&A with SOM lead architect George Efstathiou, posting later this week.

In the coming days and weeks, feel free to reach out to inform me of product releases and news directly at sstraczynski@contractmagazine.com -- or even just to introduce yourself. Let’s make 2010 our best year yet!

What’s Love Got to do With It?

In his new book, Confessions of a Radical Industrialist: Profits, People, Purpose—Doing Business By Respecting the Earth, published by St. Martin’s Press, Interface CEO Ray Anderson presents his argument and process for transforming Interface Inc. from a typical petroleum-intensive corporation of the 21^st century into an organization on course to achieve a zero carbon footprint by the year 2020. Many of us connected with the commercial A&D community are familiar with this goal, Mission Zero, from Anderson’s many public appearances at NeoCon^®, Greenbuild, and other industry events. But many of us may not be as familiar with its origins and implementation. 

Influenced by the brilliant book The Ecology of Commerce by environmentally-minded entrepreneur Paul Hawken, Anderson committed to transforming the carpet company he had founded in 1973 into a model of sustainability for the future. The process began in 1994, and has continued on pace ever since, sometimes slowed (but never stopped) by global economic realities and buoyed all along by a critical alignment in corporate culture from Anderson’s office right down to the factory floor. (In a humorous anecdote, Anderson tells the story of how one skeptical executive from another corporation, by the end of a visit to Interface for a lesson in sustainable industry, described that culture as nothing short of love.)

In Anderson’s view, the path to true sustainability—defined by the author as the continued healthy, balanced existence into the indefinite future of the biosphere (nature) and the technosphere (industry) on this thin shell (Earth)—lies in the rethinking of our entire industrial system, which is currently in the “iron grip” of the environmental impact equation that emerged from the first Industrial Revolution: Environmental Impact = Population x Affluence x Tehnology (I = P x  A x T). In this equation, the T represents current technologies that are fossil fuel-driven, focused on labor productivity, abusive, wasteful, and extract from the earth without giving back. “This made sense 300 years ago when people were scarce and nature was bountiful,” says Anderson.

 He goes on to say that this equation is deeply problematic, and underscores a flawed economic system where the gap between what we have and what we want defines all economic progress. It ignores the consequences of its actions. In the second Industrial Revolution—no time like the present—the environmental impact equation should look more like this: I = P x A / T₂, where T represents technologies that are renewable, cyclical, benign, solar/hydrogen-driven, emulate nature, and focus on resource productivity.

This new equation is obtainable if the corporation of the future adheres to the seven faces of “Mt. Sustainability”: eliminate waste; benign emissions; renewable energy; close the loop; use resource-efficient transportation; sensitize stakeholders (culture shift); and redefine commerce. In practicing what he preaches, Anderson’s own company, Interface, has cut greenhouse gas emissions by 82 percent; cut fossil fuel consumption by 60 percent; cut waste by 66 percent; cut water use by 75 percent; and increased sales by 66 percent, doubled earnings, and raised profit margins all since 1994—the example he uses to assert that the sustainable corporation of the future is indeed within reach. Anderson’s prediction is that the typical corporation of today “will become the proverbial fish out of water.”

It took 10 years of convincing, but Wall Street finally grasped Anderson’s unwavering intentions to build a green manufacturer—an important milestone in the aforementioned culture shift. And eventually, says Anderson, the environmental impact should resemble something more like I = P x A / T₂  x H, where H represents Happiness. The ideal sustainable world, he says, will defy today’s capitalistic principles of “more is better,” and instead be defined by “more happiness with less stuff.”

Click here for a video clip of Ray Anderson talking about his radical industrialist principles.

"Collaborate 'Til It Hurts"

Our July issue it out now, with this year's Guest Editor issue being helmed not by an individual, but by a bevy of talented minds at HOK across the country. It seems appropriate, then, that the theme of the issue is collaboration. Taking the advice of their guest editorial—Collaborate 'til it hurts—to heart, we packed in a lineup that includes looks at collaboration through the lenses of a new university in Saudi Arabia; AmeriCares; the prestigious commission of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC; landscape architecture; and, of course not least, Cirque du Soleil, whose well-known performers grace this month's cover.

In fact, we collaborated so much, the issue continues with a selection of extra goodies online. And so, after you've devoured the July print issue, log on to check out the following bonus features:

Resources: Building on Hope

Creatives living with HIV find meaningful employment and a supportive outlet for their talents at New York's Alpha Workshops

Green: Green Building Goes Global

As the international community embraces sustainability, a common goal has engendered an uncommon level of cooperation

Essay: On the Landscape

Artist Olafur Eliasson learns to collaborate with man and nature, as he creates his most noteworthy works

Practice: Project Management

Complexity in Simplicity

Critique: The Power of Collaborative Design

Solving today's complex problems takes a lot more than a single perspective

LMNOP draws a crowd at Knoll

Last night, New York-based professional development group LMNOP held its latest gathering for displaced A&D folk at Knoll's Manhattan showroom. There was a lot of energy and it was great to see so many people connecting. However, behind all the smiles remained the fact that many, if not the vast majority of the attendance, were talented-yet-unemployed creatives (or, as noted above, "displaced"). 

Nonetheless, the crowd seemed upbeat, milling among the Knoll classics on display and munching on a bevy of hors d'oeuvres. And, on the upside, I did meet a couple of folks who had recently taken on new positions and jobs - perhaps (and hopefully) a sign of bright things to come to the industry as a whole?

For those unfamiliar with LMNOP, the group was founded in February 2009 by Jennifer Graham, a director at MMoser in New York, and Stephanie Chiuminatto, an interior designer. The goal: to provide personal, professional development to members of the A&D community through training, mentoring and networking activities. It started with a small group that casually got together during one of the AIA's "Not Business As Usual" luncheons and has exploded from there. Membership, however, is limited, to allow members to connect to each other on a more in-depth level. Interested in learning more? Their calendar lists upcoming events, while their site has more info about the group as a whole.