Design Anthology Asia Edition 2022

Flooded with natural light, the living space features a mix of Brazilian furniture pieces, including the Rio chaise by Oscar Niemeyer, the Ipanema lounge armchair by Jorge Zalszupin and the Hauner sofa by Sergio Rodrigues 101







Previous page This page Surrounded by artworks, the In the double-height living dining space revolves around a room, seating arrangements are table and chair set from Ceccotti assembled around the LOB coffee Collezioni, with the Cloud table by Christophe Delcourt and pendant from Apparatus Studio the Quadrado coffee table by adding a touch of lightness Marcio Kogan 105



Facing page To lighten the volume of the staircase, its original dark timber cladding was replaced with matt white paint, creating a modern contrast with the internal threads and risers in sandblasted oak and the new leather handrail This page 0U[OLJVYYPKVYVU[OLZLJVUKÅVVY the Esgrimas console by Agrippa stands against curved sandblasted oak wall panelling, with a piece from Dawn Ng’s Clocks series completing the composition 107

Textured details in a palette of natural materials, such as rattan wallpaper, sandblasted oak, Italian terrazzo, burnished brass and custom tan leather add depth to the interiors, complemented by art and objets 108



HOME / MILAN Past, Present & Future



HOME / MILAN I ntentional, minimal, serene. The Milan Goto and Naldi chose to maintain the original Text home of Japanese designer Tsukasa Goto layout, which places the spacious living room at Rossella E and Italian architect Elena Naldi is a perfect the centre of the house. Some of the features Frigerio reflection of the owners themselves. that were conceived when the apartment was built, such as beds shaped out of concrete and a Images Built in the early 1970s on the northern edge of doorless main bedroom, were maintained, while Nathalie Krag / Milan’s centre, the Brutalist high-rise building elements of Japanese design were integrated into Living Inside was designed by Gabriele D’Alì and Giacomo each room, not least the myriad pieces designed Scarpini and sits atop a villa that had originally by Goto himself. Previous page and been conceived by Scarpini for his parents. In facing page their original project, Scarpini and D’Alì brought The home overlooks the treetops in the park Designer Tsukasa friends together to create living spaces that acted that surrounds the building, so nature can be Goto and architect as empty ‘containers’ to be filled with the energy seen from most areas. Parquet flooring and a Elena Naldi’s of their distinct private lives, while also catalysing quiet, neutral colour palette background the Milanese apartment close-knit relationships between the inhabitants items designed and produced by Goto as well as is in a Brutalist block through the building’s layout and structure. other carefully selected pieces that work with the originally designed Then, as now, the ‘villa with overlapping tower’, minimal aesthetic. ‘Each product I designed was by Gabriele D’Alì as it came to be known by locals, was D’Alì and created based on the materials and the product’s and Giacomo Scarpini’s answer to increasingly fragmented, function, reflecting our desire to only have Scarpini in the 70s. frenetic and isolated big-city life. things that are essential to our lives,’ he says. It’s Inside, the couple’s a philosophy that is evident in everything from home embodies their Inside Goto and Naldi’s home today, natural the pared-down kitchen stools by Alvar Aalto to rich Japanese and light streams in through floor-to-ceiling the table centrepiece Goto made from discarded Italian heritage windows, enveloping the space with a luminous pieces of marble. calm. The space had been left standing open for years, and new life was breathed into it when the Above all, the couple think of their home as couple moved in seven years ago. ‘When we first a nest from which their two young daughters, walked into the apartment, I was immediately Agata and Anita, can always see nature. The struck by how much natural light there was. space embodies the values they seek to impart We connected almost instantly with the space to their offspring and celebrates the rich because of its light,’ Naldi recalls. ’And now that heritage of their Japanese and Italian roots. we live in it, light is a constant throughout our Respectful of the building’s past and of its day, from morning until night. It’s almost as architects’ intentions, the home is a haven that though it fuels the light of our family, glowing invites repose, reflection and a respect for what from the inside out like a paper lantern.’ is and will be. 112



This page, top Goto and Naldi maintained the apartment’s original layout so the spacious living room remains at the centre of the home, overlooking the treetops in the park that surrounds the building This page, bottom Goto’s designs and experiments dot the home Facing page In the living room, a plush sofa by Damian Williamson for Zanotta contrasts with Goto’s travertine and wood So table for Elements Optimal and cement vases 114



9LÅLJ[PUN[OLJV\\WSL»Z1HWHULZL and Italian roots, the living space was kept minimal and functional, with Michael Anastassiades’s String Light Cone from Flos and seating by Arne Jacobsen and Alvar Aalto mixing with trinkets and objets collected over the years 116





Timeless pieces like the LC1 armchair by Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand for Cassina and Alvar Aalto’s Stool 60 for Artek work with [OLWHYX\\L[ÅVVYPUNHUKUL\\[YHSJVSV\\Y palette to create a very Milanese feel 119



The daughters’ bedroom is characterised by soft tones and textures and crafted details such as a salon wall and a pair of Japanese cypress containers designed by Goto 121



In the serene main bedroom, the delicate Gatto table lamp by Achille & Pier Giacomo Castiglioni and Akari table lamp by Isamu Noguchi offset the austerity of the white walls and concrete bed 123



HOME / SHANGHAI A Peek Inside

HOME / SHANGHAI O n the first floor of a decaying Art Deco as well as the ageing window frames and rough Text high-rise in Shanghai’s former French concrete columns Shen chose to leave exposed. Tomás Pinheiro Concession, architect He Shen and his wife A dark metal frame runs along the apartment, a found a home. ‘What immediately struck me detail that gives it a modern touch. Images were the thick hundred-year-old windows along Hao Chen the quiet road. They felt like an extension of the The decor is a charming mishmash of late 19th- apartment, connecting the private living space century and mid-century European pieces and Previous page and with its urban surroundings,’ Shen says. Though more peculiar designs, such as a vintage 1960s facing page in poor shape and subdivided into smaller German sofa with floral fabric and Marcel In a 1920s Art Deco units, the apartment’s initial layout was almost Wanders’s ingenious Zeppelin chandelier for high-rise in the heart intact. ‘The original design from 1928 had social FLOS. Artworks include whimsical sculptures, of Shanghai’s former entertainment at its core and the apartment was a collection of prints and photographs, and French Concession, spacious enough to receive guests, following paintings by the architect’s father. the home of architect the trend for luxury condos of the same period He Shen retains in major cities,’ he explains. The apartment’s With pale green tatami mats on a platform and its original layout, living, dining and bedroom areas were already the marked absence of furniture, the bedroom tastefully enhanced connected via spaces defined by movable has a more minimalist, Zen aesthetic. ‘I didn’t with contemporary partitions and a long corridor, and Shen says he want a bed to occupy the core of the room, so ÅHPY;OL^PUKV^Z wanted to maintain this feature ‘while adding a I extended the wooden ceiling to the position for example, were contemporary spatial experience to it all’. of the original bed, to spatially define the preserved with environment without using furniture,’ Shen their century-old Shen kept the apartment’s circular flow but explains. ‘The bedroom then becomes a space for iron frames and integrated the once-closed kitchen and corridor, spiritual relaxation rather than just a night’s rest.’ contemporised with forming a more spacious open kitchen that oak blinds that match permeates all rooms except the main bedroom. The study doubles as a guestroom, and there’s the bookcases and The new partitions sit within light oak an iron wood-burning stove whose flames can suspended ceiling bookcases, and he took the open concept to the be seen across the apartment. ‘The apartment extreme with a loft-style bathroom that extends feels like a cabin in a forest, especially in winter to both the bedroom and living room, albeit still when you look outside and see the bare branches with the option of sliding doors and walls. The of the sycamore trees. My cat seems to love it,’ effect reveals the entire order of the apartment Shen says. ‘Since we’re only on the first floor, we from any room at one glance, exuding a sense of can observe life in the streets, and at the same sequence and harmony. As with the bookcases, time, people on the street may inadvertently see smooth oak on the blinds, doors and suspended us through these old windows and take a peek ceilings counterbalances the micro-cement walls, inside, imagining our lives in this apartment.’ 126



;OLHWHY[TLU[PZÄSSLK^P[OHTP_ of late 19th- and mid-century European pieces, with intriguing items like a 1960s vintage German ZVMHHUKHÅVVYSHTWKLZPNULKI` Shen himself 128



Shen incorporated moving walls, doors and partitions inspired by traditional Japanese architecture ZVOLJHUJVUÄN\\YL[OLZWHJLHUK create more privacy when needed 130



This page The architect conserved the VYPNPUHSJPYJ\\SHYÅV^VM[OL apartment but integrated the once closed off kitchen and corridor to make an open kitchen and dining area that connects to most of the rooms Next page In the dining room, a Finn Juhl table and vintage Nordic dining chairs sit under Marcel Wanders’s ethereal Zeppelin chandelier pendant from Flos 132







The interconnected spaces are partitioned with sliding doors that sit within light oak bookcases, the perspectives creating a cinematic effect intended to reference the SH[L1HWHULZLKPYLJ[VY@HZ\\QPY



The main bedroom is devoid of any furniture, designed as much for spiritual relaxation as for a night’s rest, though the pale green tatami mats and suspended timber ceiling give a sense of order to the space 138



HOME / NAKHON PATHOM The House Near the Temple



HOME / NAKHON PATHOM T he ideal home is a place of peace and refuge, The temple, of course, was a key jumping-off Text a haven from the outside world, a space point for Rirermvanich. Inspired by the Thai Uracha where you feel most at ease.This was a key precept sala, an open pavilion often used as a shaded Chaiyapinunt for the team at Bangkok-based architectural gathering place, the designers mapped out a design studio Physicalist when they undertook floor plan: five villas centred around a lush Images the creation of what would become known as courtyard. On the ground floor sit the living and Soopakorn Baan Klai Wat, or ‘the house near the temple’. dining area, kitchen, study and meditation room, Srisakul and parents’ bedroom. The top floor houses Located an hour outside Bangkok in the city of three bedrooms separated into two wings: a Previous page Nakhon Pathom, Baan Klai Wat was significant main bedroom on the east side and two guest Immersed in the lush for its owners even before the project’s inception. bedrooms opposite. From a bird’s-eye view, the landscape of Nakhon The clients, a married couple who both work structure is a perfect square. Pathom, footsteps in design, wanted a weekend retreat near the away from a Buddhist Buddhist temple to which they have close ties: It was clear from the start that nature had temple, this home the husband’s parents are frequent visitors, and to play a prominent role in the home. To designed by Bangkok- he himself was ordained as a monk there many eliminate the boundaries between inside and based Physicalist was years ago. It was therefore crucial for the house outside, vertical structures were limited to each imagined to echo the to mirror the meaningful and spiritual aspects of corner of the house, opening the ground floor spiritual aspect of its its location. up completely towards the central courtyard. location Small moments of communion with nature To fully convey their intentions for the space, the were integrated into the floor plan itself: to This page owners sent a 13-page design brief to Physicalist move from one room to another, one must step :LLTPUNS`ÅVH[PUN founder Karjvit Rirermvanich. The document outside, passing through shaded walkways that IL[^LLU[OLÅVYHHUK included exercises for Rirermvanich to complete, line the perimeter of the garden. To further the sky, the house from enjoying a cup of tea while watching immerse the home in its natural surroundings, was conceived to let YouTube videos about Japanese arts and culture to pocket courtyards were added in each corner of nature shine through taking a quiet walk — or ‘meditative observation’, the structure. by erasing the as the clients put it — through the temple. boundaries between ‘I see this house as a frame,’ Rirermvanich says. the interiors and the ‘Working with clients with a design background, ‘The spirit of it lies in its attempt to be less than environment I believe, led to a stronger collaboration,’ itself, to not show too much of itself. We wanted Rirermvanich says. ‘They were very clear from the architecture to remain minimal so that the the start about what they were looking for and surrounding nature could shine through. From helped provide a lot of detail to turn the concept the outside, it’s barely visible, but once you walk into reality.’ in, it opens up into a sacred, tropical haven.’ 142



This page Vertical structures were limited to each corner of the house, with full-length ZSPKPUN^PUKV^ZVWLUPUN[OLNYV\\UKÅVVY to the central courtyard Facing page Though the house is the epitome of calm and stillness, the interiors add a layer of personality and life to the space, making it a relaxing and comfortable weekend getaway to escape Bangkok’s busy lifestyle 144





Facing page This page Organised around the leafy In the study and meditation room, an Eames-designed dining table and JV\\Y[`HYK[OLNYV\\UKÅVVYOV\\ZLZ chairs form a minimal sitting nook the living and dining area, the kitchen, the study and meditation room, and the parents’ bedroom 147