PERFAL04 Inside

innovation
prevails
IIDA’s Decade of Design Awards
PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVID WHITTAKER/© II BY IV DESIGN ASSOCIATES INC.
IIDA’s Decade of Design Awards prove that
even in turmoil, designers bring clarity
and reflect the times. BY KIM LANDE
RAIN, TORONTO, CANADA
16
fa l l 2 0 0 4
w w w. i i da . o r g
IT’S BEEN A GOOD 10 YEARS. FROM 1994 TO 2004, STAGGERING SOCIETAL
changes affected how people viewed the places they worked, played and
lived. The Internet-driven economy set sail, and interiors mirrored the irreverent, imagination-fueled thoughtfulness of the culture. Designers integrated
people and technology into everyday life as never before.
Then, the wind was sucked out of the dot-com sails and the economy plummeted. A new economic conservatism settled in, and designers responded with
conscientious originality. When terrorists struck, designers replied with mindfulness and simplicity, finding comfort in the classics.
In every era, two things are certain in design: Nothing matters more than
the people inside the buildings, and in soaring highs and plunging lows,
innovation is the only constant.
IIDA, sponsor Permagrain and publishing partner Contract Magazine celebrate this decade of innovation and its 10-year anniversary with the Decade
of Design Awards. Ten outstanding interior design projects illustrate the best
of the decade, and Perspective profiles the winners, including their creative
inspiration in years past.
fa l l 2 004
17
ULTIMO BOUTIQUE, SAN FRANCISCO: This space is all about
showmanship. The backdrop: bold, red walls shrouded in luminous light, contrasted by water white mirror panels and custom
walnut furniture. The stage: A series of flexible bluestone platforms and walnut trapeze bars floating throughout the two-floor
atrium to spotlight Ultimo’s luxury ready-to-wear collections.
PARK AVENUE APARTMENT, NEW YORK: An inspired milieu for
the owners’ vintage and contemporary photography collection, the
residence is composed of courtyard-like living spaces counterbalanced with black volumes of ribbon mahogany and honed Arria
limestone floors. The bathroom volumes leave little to the imagination — glass enclosures that go from translucent to opaque with
the flick of a switch.
YEAR: 1997
PROJECT: ULTIMO BOUTIQUE, SAN FRANCISCO
SWISS RE FINANCIAL SERVICES: The Swiss-based corporate office’s design foundation is the application of dramatic materials into
crisp, grid-like structures. A perfect example: the conference center, with floating walls of radiant glass block that appear to intersect
with beech wood panels and envelop the room, but never touch.
As designer of Swiss Re Financial Services, Brinkmann
BEST OF COMPETITION
PROJECT: SWISS RE FINANCIAL SERVICES, NEW YORK
applied his love of geometry with striking form, enhancing
YEAR: 1 9 9 7
rather than modifying the angles of the building. He did
FIRM: GENSLER
that by spending equal time exacting the ceilings and
walls as choosing materials or drawing elevations. Suffused
DON BRINKMANN, DESIGN DIRECTOR, GENSLER
with bold lines and clever detailing, the evocative space
The late Don Brinkmann was celebrated at Gensler for
is serene and light, yet fervent at the same time. This was
his ability to think in three-dimensional forms. “Don
Don Brinkmann’s signature.
was able to see the whole volume of the space and
18
“He studied the module of materials and space and
every plane. He would develop a design in his head and
integrated them into one unified vocabulary, always work-
then refine it, with beautifully executed hand sketches,”
ing closely with the requirements and clear understand-
says Robin Klehr Avia, FIIDA, Managing Principal at
ing of, and strong respect for the client concerns,” Avia
Gensler New York.
says. “He took a true architectural approach to design.”
fa l l 2 0 0 4
w w w. i i da . o r g
GABELLINI ASSOCIATES PHOTOGRAPHY BY PAUL WARCHOL PHOTOGRAPHY INC.
FIRM: GABELLINI ASSOCIATES
YEAR: 1998
PROJECT: PARK AVENUE APARTMENT, NEW YORK
FIRM: GABELLINI ASSOCIATES
YEAR: 2002
PROJECT: JIL SANDER BOUTIQUE AND
SHOWROOM, LONDON
FIRM: GABELLINI ASSOCIATES
MICHAEL GABELLINI, DESIGN PARTNER,
GABELLINI ASSOCIATES
Thinking about interior space as theater is inherent in
Michael Gabellini’s design sensibility. For him, buildings are flexible backdrops of form, function, lifestyle
and luxury. “Luxury equals comfort, and comfort means
JIL SANDER BOUTIQUE AND SHOWROOM, LONDON:
Formerly the 18th century residence of the Earl of Darnley and
later the Royal Bank of Scotland, the boutique celebrates the past
with a refreshing take on modernism. Expertly restored coffered
ceilings and glowing domed skylights give the space a feeling of
weightlessness. Floating curved walls divide the grand space
into product groups, combining light with functionality.
pleasure,” Gabellini says.
For example, Gabellini thinks of Ultimo Boutique San
Francisco as an Alice in Wonderland-like journey within
a red chinoiserie box in which geometric components
fa l l 2 004
19
É NEW YORK: Bold colors, forms and wit merge to solidify this virtual banking business in bricks and mortar. Every
ING DIRECT CAFE,
design element expresses the client’s brand identity with attitude, from the orange palette to the environmental graphics, retail design and
high-tech media.
layer space in a taut interplay of form and function. These
YEAR: 1998
components act as display stages for Ultimo’s signature
PROJECT: INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT FIRM, CHICAGO
ready-to-wear collection.
FIRM: VOA ASSOCIATES
“Ultimo is a space that celebrates the notion of craft and
technology coming together, operating like a flexible the-
NICK LUZIETTI, IIDA, AIA, DESIGN PRINCIPAL,
ater for the environment and its continued evolution. It’s
VOA ASSOCIATES
purely about opulence and reveling in pleasure,” he says.
When Nick Luzietti cooks, he doesn’t follow a recipe.
The winner of three Decade of Design Awards, Gabellini’s
winning entries are light, air and sound controlled like
a theatrical set to create different emotional states.
Gabellini’s theatrical tendency also translates into the
INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT FIRM, CHICAGO: Unexpected
horizontal planes — dropped paper-like ceilings intersecting at
different levels and continuous carpet patterns — create a space
that’s open and flowing. Rich woods, marble and steel combine in
this Zen-like space to celebrate the honesty of the materials with
quiet vitality.
“You have to add things and taste along the way until
it’s great,” he says.
Luzietti applies the thinking of chefs, filmmakers and
painters to design, though he believes the industry
only residential space cited among the award winners. The
struggles with rules. “Guidelines cheat you out of the
Park Avenue Apartment required intense examination of
spirit of it. We have to go from a static process to really
emotion and function in an everyday living space.
getting the soul and vitality of a space,” he says.
“We thought about how we could pull away from the
VOA’s interior reflects Luzietti’s examination of
energy of an urban environment, and, in this little wedge
spaces within spaces. He realized he could break up
in urban New York, create something that relaxes, excites
the long, narrow office by looking at horizontal planes
and animates our client.”
differently and creating a series of interconnecting
fa l l 2 004
21
social gathering places; and “nodes” connect customers
to ING Direct. The cleverness of their approach is in
their subliminal strategies to make the environment
functional and dynamic.
“I think we can connect with people emotionally,
even without them understanding how the space
works,” Bricker says. “Certain strategic aspects are distilled into architectural expression. It’s an interdisciplinary approach.”
The result is design bungee jumping – a solidification of a virtual bank that is irreverent, a bit risky and
happens to be a café. “It takes a person with faith in
cyberspace to do business with a virtual bank,” Bricker
says. “There’s a trust factor there, and we had to suggest
stability in the design execution.”
Wang adds: “We did this by making the space a destination with the synergy and excitement of the brand.”
NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE TRADING FLOOR EXPANSION, NEW YORK: This iconic space has a buzz all its own.
Orthagonally organized, it’s designed to elastically change with the
flow and needs of the people. Removable ergonomic equipment
makes the interaction between people and technology seamless.
YEAR: 2000
PROJECT: NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE TRADING
FLOOR EXPANSION, NEW YORK
FIRM: SKIDMORE, OWINGS & MERRILL LLP
DEUTSCH INC., LOS ANGELES: An old 100,000 square-foot
factory is transformed into a stellar work space. The creativemeets-industrial environment is complete with think pods, custom
workstations of plumber’s pipe and “speed” rail, and an orangeonly palette, aside from the blue runway lights that line its streetlike corridors.
STEPHEN APKING, AIA, DESIGN PARTNER,
rooms. “Constant ceiling heights weren’t going to work
SKIDMORE, OWNINGS & MERRIL
YEAR: 2001
anymore,” he says.
Even though the New York Stock Exchange has defined
PROJECT: DEUTSCH INC., LOS ANGELES
itself as a technology company, Stephen Apking sees
FIRM: FREDERIC SCHWARTZ ARCHITECTS
Luzietti’s solution was to create paper-thin ceilings,
dropped by wire, connecting and overlapping at different
things differently. To him, it’s a technology company
junctures. Many people said it wasn’t possible, but
interacting with people as its foundation.
Luzietti triumphed. “Techniques have to be a slave to
SCHWARTZ ARCHITECTS
the bigger idea. You have to go after those big ideas to
technology, it’s still all about people and their relationships
Frederic Schwartz has no pretenses about his design of
achieve the dream.”
and trust on the floor,” Apking says. In the process of
Deutsch Inc. “It has extreme clarity of organization and
design, Apking and team looked intensely at how peo-
materials. The environment resonates because it’s straight-
ple utilized technology necessary for stock trading.
forward and caring without being pretentious,” he says.
INFUZE TEAHOUSE, VANCOUVER, B.C., CANADA: A stark
white canvas is the setting for colorful teas that are house specialties. Guests are greeted by an educational wall, then led to the
main counter where tea is brewed skillfully. The bulk of the materials are painted white drywall, formed in blocks, contrasted by solid
block laminate.
YEAR: 2 0 0 0
Then, they strategized how to facilitate them efficiently.
But its honesty is what’s so unexpected. Rather than
PROJECT: ING DIRECT CAFÉ, NEW YORK
For instance, rather than looking up at television moni-
trying to make the expansive space smaller and more
PROJECT: INFUZE TEAHOUSE,
FIRM: GENSLER NEW YORK
tors mounted on the ceiling, the team designed note-
intimate, Schwartz recognized and celebrated the interi-
VANCOUVER, B.C., CANADA
books that people could use, then push away when they
or’s largeness by bringing in natural light and keeping
FIRM: SEETON SHINKEWSKI DESIGN GROUP LTD.
didn’t need them.
it completely open. Staff members can see from one end
JOHN BRICKER, DESIGN PRINCIPAL, AND PETER WANG,
“There’s a place for technology in the world. And it’s
AIA, DESIGN DIRECTOR
22
The client still is always right. “No matter what the
FREDERIC SCHWARTZ, PRINCIPAL, FREDERIC
of the building to the other with a 180-degree turn.
YEAR: 2002
KEATH SEETON, BID, RID, PRINCIPAL, JULIE
When John Bricker, Peter Wang and the Gensler team
important to develop new ways of programming these
conceived of ING Direct Café, they adopted an interest-
issues in a three-dimensional environment. With greater
“This is a manifestation of out-of-the-box grounded, not
RID, PROJECT DESIGNERS
ing design vocabulary in the process. “Ribbon” elements
understanding of how people use technology, we can all
out-of-the box-crazy, because no matter what, you still have
Modern designers often take pride in creating an interior
symbolize organization; “cubes” are inherent in all
design spaces that are truly more supportive.”
to create environments people can think and work in.”
brand for a product. Keath Seeton, Julie Campbell and
fa l l 2 0 0 4
w w w. i i da . o r g
“Thinking out of the box is one thing,” Schwartz says.
CAMPBELL, DID, AND BETH DREVER,
fa l l 2 004
23
PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVID WHITTAKER/© II BY IV DESIGN ASSOCIATES INC.
RAIN, TORONTO, CANADA: A former women’s prison turned chic dining destination, the environment is drenched with wetness. Walls of
shiny pebbles, glass and lacquered brick are illuminated by sensual washes of light. Furnishings include black vinyl chairs and a round
feather settee covered in slick clear vinyl.
Beth Drever twisted that notion when designing the
YEAR: 2001
interior of Infuze Teahouse. “In this case, rather than
PROJECT: RAIN, TORONTO, CANADA
the brand making the product, the product makes the
FIRM: II BY IV DESIGN ASSOCIATES INC.
brand,” Campbell says.
The team showed deliberate restraint in its design,
intentionally simplifying the white interiors to push
II BY IV DESIGN ASSOCIATES
the brilliant green, red and orange teas into the fore-
Sometimes design is suggested, rather than bluntly artic-
ground. “Sometimes the simplest solution is the
ulated. Dan Menchions is a champion of insinuating
best, most functional way to go,” Seeton says. “We
imagery and texture without pretension. “You can create
applied form, function and emotion to create a
a certain ambiance without in-your-face details,” he says.
With Rain, he and fellow Design Principal Keith
memorable experience.”
Notably, the three were able to reconcile bud-
Rushbrook, IIDA, celebrated water’s ripples, textures and
getary limitations placed by the client. They learned
feelings, from gentle mists to riotous downpours. They
to utilize moody lighting in silent collaboration with
achieved the artful integration of attitude, mystery and drama.
simple, inexpensive materials to create an Eastern-
“In my years of experience, I’ve learned that when materials are minimal, the design will become secondary to the
inspired atmosphere.
“Good design doesn’t have to be costly,” Campbell
24
DAN MENCHIONS, IIDA, PRINCIPAL DESIGNER,
food or product,” Menchions says. “We took a raw box with-
says. “Especially with the right process and right materials,
out a series of repetitive details and made it into something
success does not equal expensive.”
futuristic, but classic. It will never feel dated or trendy.”
fa l l 2 0 0 4
w w w. i i da . o r g