Design Anthology I33 2022_downmagaz.net

DOSSIER / STORE, BANGKOK In Full Colour 49

DOSSIER / STORE, BANGKOK Text Max Crosbie-Jones Images Matthew Gordon A mong Thailand’s legions of talented illustrators, Pomme Chan is a lodestar known for her vivid colour schemes, enticing flora and fauna motifs and surreal trompe l'oeil landscapes. Since she returned to Bangkok from the UK in 2014, she and her Happy People Studio team have worked on ad campaigns for the likes of Sony, MTV, Volkswagen, Nike and Topshop, as well as a long list of local clients. Over the past couple of years, Chan’s hand- drawn or digitally rendered work has begun to make its way into homes too. In 2020, she decided to put her training in interior design to use by founding home decor brand Swoon. ‘My world is 2D,’ she says. ‘While I graduated in interior design, I’d never done it before. I jumped straight into graphic design and then illustration, so  this  experience has been like revisiting my childhood dream.’ Since the brand’s inception, Swoon products — from tiger-shaped carpets to statement prints, from lobster motif plates to a Bangkok-themed toile wallpaper — have been emerging at a steady clip. While Swoon’s website captures something of the brand’s playful sensibility, a new three-storey showroom in Bangkok’s vibrant Sukhumvit district, P Palladio, offers a tactile and eclectic funhouse vibe that feels even more in line with Chan’s world-conjuring illustrations. The store also adds a new element to the mix: woodwork. Offering bespoke interior design services, P Palladio is a collaboration with family-run J. Timber, a Thai company that has specialised in wood flooring for more than 50 years but recently spotted potential for a new collaboration. ‘Since I began to take over J. Timber from my parents three years ago, I thought it would be interesting to see Pomme’s designs on wood,’says P Palladio co-founder and production director Ploy Jindachot. ‘You already have a material that has value and brings you closer to nature, but a little dash of art really brings it to life.’ 50

DOSSIER / STORE, BANGKOK Previous page This page Conceptualised by interior design ([77HSSHKPV[OLUL^)HUNRVR studio Sari Smit, the three-storey showroom of home decor brand showroom has a delightfully Swoon, Pomme Chan brings her tactile, playful atmosphere vibrant illustrations to the world of that encourages creativity, woodcraft by collaborating with especially when customers begin family-run Thai company J. Timber customising their own designs In the P Palladio store, a timber counter island is emblematic of this new synergy: its sides have been milled using a CNC machine into a tableau of lions, palm trees, flamingos and pineapples. Elsewhere in the showroom, which was conceptualised by interior design studio Sari Smit, Swoon illustrations pop against J. Timber’s neutral wall panelling or on refined wood cabinets, chairs, trays and trunks. The top floor is designed like a child’s playroom, and encapsulates the interplay of wood craft and graphics P Palladio plans to offer. Here the natural white finish of a cushioned climbing zone is complemented by a calming blue crane- patterned wallpaper. ‘This is our palace for the imagination,’ says Chan. ‘We want ideas to start here and then to take them much further.’ Everything is customisable, adds Jindachot. ‘For example, we have our own wallpaper designs, so you can re-scale it, you can change the colours, you can blow up features to make them bigger or repeat patterns,’ she explains. ‘To me, that’s an advantage.’ Looking to the future, the focus is on producing Swoon collections and on making inroads internationally. ‘What I’m most proud of is that our team is all Thai. We use Thai craft and collaborate with Thai designers,’ says Chan. ‘Our work is different from the original craft you usually see when travelling around Thailand,’ Jindachot adds. ‘We modernise it and interpret it in our own creative way.’ 51

STYLE Fashion design and culture

With his eponymous label, Manila-based designer Joseph Bagasáo represents a generation of designers striving to create space for Filipino brands on a global scale Image by Regine David

STYLE / EDITOR’S PICKS IN THE SUMMERTIME Longer days and warmer 01 weather call for light, Hong Kong brand 2°EAST’s watches are ethically versatile pieces produced from sustainable materials like recycled plastic or vegetable-tanned leather straps and robust sapphire Edited by crystal faces. Our favourite is the timeless monochrome Simone Schultz Black NATO with a contrasting white strap woven from 100 per cent RePET recycled plastic bottles. 2degreeseast.com 02 Sunki is a low-impact but high-attitude fashion and lifestyle brand from Manila, founded by four friends with a shared passion for mindful consumption and easy-to- wear garments. For long summer days that turn nocturnal, we love the Knitty Gritty cropped tank and Knitty Gritty lounge pants set, both made from deadstock cotton knit. sunki-label.com 03 Days in the sun call for a statement hat that makes any outfit. Indonesian social enterprise and sustainable brand Handep works with local artisans and smallholders to produce crafts, bags, accessories and home decor. The Bulat is one of the brand’s signature pieces, handcrafted in all-natural rattan and inspired by those worn by Dayak farmers. handep.co 04 Based in Jaipur, designer Chinar Farooqui’s fashion and home textiles label Injiri combines traditional Indian weaving techniques with contemporary designs. The spring Taan Baan collection celebrates the change of season with brightly coloured pieces made with organic cotton by age-old handloom processes. injiri.co.in 54

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STYLE / PROFILE FASHION 56

FAITHFUL

STYLE / PROFILE Text Images Sandra Tan Regine David T o a young Joseph Bagasáo growing up in Turning away from a fetishised Western ideal the Philippine province of Nueva Ecija, of high-end luxury, today’s Filipino fashion the glittering allure of a fashion career seemed devotee takes a more individualist approach. a faraway pipe dream. Spurred on by early On the ground, the zeitgeist is shifting from exposure to FashionTV as a fourth-grader, big names towards independent labels like and the influence of his elegant grandmother’s Bagasáo. ‘My clientele tends to mix brands and custom-made clothing, the budding designer make it very personal,’ he says. ‘Most are very began sketching in high school, creating dresses independent thinkers and quite influential in for his mother and sister. ‘As a kid, I wasn’t the their own circles — and I don’t mean necessarily most outgoing. Fashion made me feel like I was just on social media. They may be very low-key expressing things I didn’t say, through design,’ and discreet, but they all have a strong sense of he explains. themselves. They know what they like.’ To appease his parents, Bagasáo abandoned As the global conversation on heritage, creative aspirations at college to complete a representation and identity deepens, Bagasáo’s psychology degree, though his passion never effortless garments resonate with discerning wavered. With the help of a friend in the consumers seeking out local brands that better industry, he landed an internship with an express their own story. ‘I think my generation established designer; this new mentor persuaded of designers is really trying to create a space for the Bagasáos to allow their son to pursue Filipino brands on a global scale. We’re working fashion. Vindicating this decision, he was hard to address ethical consumption, striving for awarded Designer of the Year at graduation, quality and authenticity so that we can elevate soon followed by the honour of being named one Filipino work in a lasting way,’ he says. of Preview magazine’s Emerging Talents. This led to a fateful meeting with Josie Natori, the Key to achieving this vision is a consciously famed Filipino-American designer stocked at humanist approach to the work, evident in the Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdales and Neiman value Bagasáo places on his team of skilled Marcus in New York. She invited Bagasáo makers. While similar work may be revered on board as an embroidery designer, where he in the high-end fashion ateliers of Europe, worked and learned the ropes of business for in the Philippines, sewing or embroidering three years. is a minimum-wage job. Bagasáo is working to change this, adamant that the team is both ‘My journey is all about a leap of faith. I’ve never treated and paid fairly, and above all, clear about known how I might jump into the next phase,’ the value they bring to the brand. ‘I want to the designer says. ‘There was a point at Natori become a Filipino brand on an international where I felt I was becoming too comfortable scale, rather than a brand that only nods to its — that I was beginning to lose the dream of culture,’ he says. ‘It creates a different mentality, creating for myself. So, I took another leap of and the work shifts when you proudly identify faith and started my own brand.’ with your heritage.’ 58

STYLE / PROFILE Previous page and this page Filipino designer Joseph Bagasáo (left) makes clothing for people who have a strong sense of personal style, his work resonating with those who champion local brands. For his Spring/Summer 2022 collection, Bagasáo drew inspiration from the colours of Marrakech markets, pristine seascapes and country homes, resulting in intriguing garments that evoke a relaxed femininity, lightness and freedom 59

WANDERLUST Designer destinations

:\\USPNO[ÄS[LYZ[OYV\\NOPUJLUZLZTVRLPUZPKL[OL:O^LKHNVU7HNVKH the most sacred Buddhist pagoda in Myanmar Image by Simon J Nicol



WANDERLUST / PHOTO ESSAY, YANGON BLOOD, DR E A MS & GOLD In Myanmar’s storied former capital, built, civic and spiritual history can be found at every turn Text Images Joe Cummings Simon J Nicol 63

WANDERLUST / PHOTO ESSAY, YANGON Previous page Yangon is home to a rich tapestry of heritage and contemporary innovation that gives it its unique urban culture. In this image, a monsoon lashes the streets near the WVW\\SHY)VN`VRL(\\UN:HU4HYRL[ Facing page Designed by Dutch architect Joseph Cuypers and completed in 1899, St Mary's Cathedral is Myanmar’s largest T he cityscape of Yangon represents a vivid blend In all of Southeast Asia, Yangon boasts the highest number of traditional Myanmar, British colonial heritage of colonial-era buildings, including hundreds of late and contemporary innovation in the arts, resulting in a 19th- and early 20th-century structures the British built unique and unparalleled urban culture. The skyline of in Victorian, Queen Anne, neoclassical, Art Deco and the country’s former capital and international gateway is British Burmese styles. The most impressive survivor today pierced by the gleaming spires of Buddhist stupas clad in is The Secretariat, a massive brick Victorian monument layers of hand-pounded gold, while the downtown district inaugurated in 1905. Inspired by trends from Calcutta, along the Yangon River is filled with historic heritage architect Henry Hoyne-Fox spared no effort in sourcing architecture, charming tea shops and colourful markets the best materials: steel beams were imported from supported by a multicultural, multilingual community of Scotland and the roof tiles are from Marseille. After the Burmese, Chinese, Indian and Persian descendants as well military coup of 1962, the building fell into disuse and was as minorities from the border regions. closed to the public until 2011, when a restoration project launched to convert the historic building into offices, retail Yet Yangon is a fragile city, battered frequently by space and a museum. natural disasters such as the 2008 Cyclone Nargis and political violence such as that following the 2021 military One of Yangon’s best-restored colonial-era buildings, the coup. Conflicts between old and new politics, as well Strand Hotel faces the Yangon River in the centre of town. as between conservation and economic growth, apply Built in 1901 by British entrepreneur John Darwood and constant pressure on the former capital’s rich architectural acquired soon after by two of the Sarkies brothers, four legacy. Thankfully, Yangon’s municipal government still Armenians responsible for some of the most famous hotels recognises the Yangon City Heritage List, which confers in Southeast Asia, The Strand soon became known as protection from demolition or modification on hundreds the premier hotel in the city, thanks in part to its prime of historical buildings, mostly temples, churches, mosques location for arrivals by sea. After Myanmar regained its and other religious structures, as well as schools, hotels independence,the hotel was neglected until an international and government buildings from the British colonial era. A luxury hotel group restored and reopened it in the 1990s. recent decree forbids demolition of buildings dating back 50 years or more. Several historic apartments in Yangon’s downtown area have recently undergone renovation for use as homes and Easily the most iconic monument in the city is Shwedagon rentals. One such renovation, on Maha Bandula Road Pagoda. Built on a hill and visible from almost anywhere in near Bogalay Zay, is the magnificent 1928 HA Soorty Yangon, the 112-metre-tall stupa soars over the cityscape, Mansions, which once housed the Chilean Consulate, the holiest of Buddhist monuments and an enduring where 22-year-old poet-diplomat Pablo Neruda worked symbol of the city. Adorned with 27 tonnes of gold leaf for eighteen months as a junior official. The city left a and thousands of precious stones, the stupa is surrounded lasting impression on the young man. ‘I came late to by a hive of pavilions, pilgrim shelters and smaller stupas Rangoon,’ he wrote. ‘Everything was already there — a city that form a virtual city, abuzz with worship day and night. of blood, dreams and gold.’ 64





Travelling on the Yangon Circular Railway, a 46-kilometre commuter rail network that serves the Yangon metropolitan area, provides a snapshot of life in the city 67

This page (JYHM[ZTHUJHY]LZHZ[H[\\L[[LH[ )VN`VRL4HYRL[HTHQVY[V\\YPZ[ attraction known for its colonial- era architecture and cobblestone streets Facing page The gold-encrusted Sule Pagoda — built more than 2,500 years ago, according to legend — is located in the heart of the city and remains a hub for public life and a popular site for pro-democracy demonstrations 68



This page (]LUKVYWYLWHYLZIL[LSX\\PKZH popular chewing mix made from areca nuts, slaked lime and, often, tobacco Facing page ([YHKLYZOPLSKZ[OLSH[LHM[LYUVVU sun on the street market stretching along the Strand Hotel, which faces the Yangon River in the centre of town 70



This page Connecting Yangon to the Gulf of 4HY[HIHUPU[OL(UKHTHU:LH[OL Yangon River plays a critical role in Myanmar’s economy Facing page In the streets of Yangon, young Buddhist nuns smile as they leave school for the day 72



Built in 1914 in central Yangon, the historic and now defunct Bank of Bengal — which became part of the Imperial Bank of India in 1921 — cuts a mesmerising silhouette 74



WANDERLUST / OPENINGS NEW HOTELS +V^U[V^U3(7YVWLY Image by The Ingalls 76

WANDERLUST / OPENINGS 01 04 The Madrid EDITION Downtown L.A. Proper — Madrid — Los Angeles Located in the heart of the Spanish capital, The Madrid The latest Proper property makes its home in a landmark EDITION has been designed by visionary British architect 1920s building in the heart of Downtown LA’s South Park John Pawson and Paris-based François Champsaur as a District. Acclaimed American designer Kelly Wearstler has luxurious new offering with impeccable attention to detail. applied vintage details tempered with modern influences Pawson’s serene design sensitivities and Champsaur’s to the 148 rooms, all of which have a distinctly residential originality mesh to create thoughtful spaces, including 200 feel, and the lounges and restaurants. The design combines guestrooms and suites, two restaurants, three unique bar 1920s elements with Spanish, Portuguese, Mexican and concepts, a breathtaking rooftop pool overlooking the city, Moroccan design references, with bespoke details to be and a wellness and spa facility, all showcasing that heady found everywhere. And when you’re ready to leave the mix of creativity and innovation we’ve come to associate hotel, Proper is within walking distance to key cultural, with EDITION. shopping and drinking and dining spots. 02 05 Château de Fiac Cap Karoso — Tarn — Sumba With its carefully curated furniture, textiles and art, On the stunning Indonesian island paradise of Sumba, boutique hotel Château de Fiac is a petite accommodation Cap Karoso is a serene escape founded by French couple bursting with exquisite features courtesy of interior Fabrice and Evguenia Ivara, who fell in love with the island designer Alexis Dupont. Located near Toulouse, its and established the hotel with the goal of protecting its 14 rooms and suites take their design inspiration from natural treasures and respectfully sharing them with like- different themes — ‘forest and nature’, ‘body perception’, minded explorers. Interiors by Jakarta-based Bitte Design ‘the portrait’ — and underlying these concepts is a family Studio draw on modern French influences combined with home atmosphere where vintage and contemporary mix. Sumbanese antiques and contemporary Indonesian art. The hotel’s owner, an intrepid collector, was drawn to the Social spaces include a beach club, open-air cinema, pool extravagance of 17th-century travel while maintaining a area and yoga platform, and the Cap Karoso Farm provides sense of joie de vivre, qualities found throughout the space fresh produce for the restaurant and will soon have an and its whimsical details. agriculture school, artist ateliers and a Kid’s Club. 03 06 The Standard, Bangkok Mahanakhon Rosewood Villa Magna — Bangkok — Madrid Situated in Bangkok’s central business district, between Refurbished by Melbourne’s BAR Studio to become a the Sathon and Silom corridors, and in close proximity Rosewood Hotel & Resort, Madrid’s Villa Magna has a to the cultural attractions and creativity of the city’s Old new look for its 154 guestrooms and suites and luxurious Town,The Standard, Bangkok Mahanakhon brings design, public areas. The Australian firm’s first European project entertainment, culinary offerings, retail and wellness draws inspiration from the iconic status of both the Villa together under one roof, with interiors by Spanish artist Magna and its Salamanca district location. The renovation and designer Jaime Hayon. Standout features include updates the experience of this legendary hotel by building an outdoor terrace pool, the first Thailand outpost of on this original spirit and nostalgia while inserting acclaimed restaurant Mott 32, and, naturally, the vibrancy contemporary elements that sit in harmony with the past, of Hayon’s design. such as the all-season atrium courtyard restaurant and a cosy new pavilion lounge, to suit contemporary travellers and locals alike. 77

VERNISSAGE News from the art world

)HUNRVR»ZUL^S`YLI\\PS[1PT;OVTWZVU(Y[*LU[LYYLVWLULKPU^P[OHUL_OPIP[PVUZOV^JHZPUN multimedia works by 14 artists, including an installation by Parinot Kunakornwong Image by Kornthanat Pipat

VERNISSAGE / ART FAIR, SEOUL Art & Seoul Set to take place in early September this year, the inaugural edition of Frieze :LV\\STHYRZ[OLPU[LYUH[PVUHSHY[MHPY»ZKLI\\[PU(ZPHHUKOPNOSPNO[Z[OL:V\\[O 2VYLHUJHWP[HS»ZLTLYNLUJLHZHTHQVYPU[LYUH[PVUHSTHYRL[JLU[YL Image by Jeremy Smart 80

VERNISSAGE / ART FAIR, SEOUL Text Christina Ko R umours had been swirling for months before May — everyone wants to see art in person and connect on a 2021, when international art fair Frieze finally human level,’ says Lee. confirmed that it would be launching a new edition — its first in Asia — in Seoul, with the inaugural event set to That said, with travel still somewhat hampered in several take place in early September 2022 alongside Kiaf SEOUL, key markets — most notably in nearby China, the world’s Korea’s leading international art fair that has been running second-largest art market by value — digital initiatives for two decades. are still of paramount importance. ‘More than anything, we learnt the importance of continually adapting the fair The official announcement was something of a foregone model in response to participants’ needs,’ says Lee. ‘For conclusion by that point, given several key indicators that Frieze New York in May, we partnered with Vortic, a already pointed to the South Korean capital as the next leading virtual and augmented reality platform, which used Asian hub for global art collectors — chief among them immersive technology to create virtual 3D viewing spaces the arrival of international blue-chip galleries, including across the Frieze Viewing Room platform.’ Similarly, Lee the likes of Thaddaeus Ropac, KÖNIG and Gladstone, with says, Frieze Seoul will have its own virtual viewing room to early adopters Lehmann Maupin and Pace upgrading run alongside the in-person fair. their spaces, the latter taking on a new gallery almost ten times the acreage of its predecessor. Earlier this year, For those who are able to make it in person, the fair will Seoul’s Galleries Art Fair also reported record sales and take place at COEX in the Gangnam district, with a mix of attendance. international and Asian representation that, Lee says, ‘will look to represent the cultural context of the city’. Besides In its first run, Frieze Seoul will feature around 100 galleries the main contemporary art and Masters exhibits, Frieze with a focus on contemporary art and a Frieze Masters Seoul will also host a Focus Asia section, shining a spotlight section for older works. Leading the fair as its director is on what Lee calls ‘the region’s most exciting young spaces’. Patrick Lee, a veteran who left his post as executive director Though Frieze will share the COEX venue and fair dates of Gallery Hyundai to take up the position. ‘It’s a really with KIAF, what’s more exciting, perhaps, is the flurry of exciting time for Seoul,’ he says. ‘While the city has always activity sure to be sparked in the rest of the city, much as been an important hub for art and culture in Asia, we’re now the arrivals of Frieze and Art Basel in other cities have seeing it emerge as a major international market centre.’ spurred satellite events hosted by galleries, institutions, luxury brands and hospitality venues. ‘Running alongside And there’s also a much more human reason for the one another, we hope Frieze Seoul and KIAF will create an excitement surrounding this splashy arrival. ‘Following exceptional week of cultural activity extending beyond the the pandemic, we’re also seeing a huge amount of interest two fairs and across the city’s museums, galleries and art from both galleries and visitors in being part of fairs again spaces,’ says Lee. 81

VERNISSAGE / ART SCENE, THAILAND Creative Forces



Previous page In Thailand, privately funded art spaces SPRL)HUNRVR»Z1PT;OVTWZVU(Y[*LU[LY 1;(*WSH`HRL`YVSLPUZOHWPUN[OL country’s blooming artistic landscape. -\\[\\YL;LUZL[OLJLU[YL»ZÄYZ[L_OPIP[PVU after its reopening in 2021, showcased multimedia works by 14 artists, including Vacharanont Sinvaravatn (pictured) Image by Kornthanat Pipat This page, top ;OLUL^S`YLI\\PS[1;(*HJ[ZHZHIYPKNL between local and international artists, curators and collectors Images by John Clewley This page, middle ;OPZ`LHY[OL)HUNRVR(Y[)PLUUHSL^PSS feature the works of more than 60 artists including Chinese artist Xu Zhen and (TLYPJHUHY[PZ[2LUULK`@HURV Xu Zhen, Hello, 2018–2019. Image courtesy of the artist and MadeIn Company (left) Kennedy Yanko, Gussie, December 2020. Paint skin, metal, 100 x 61 x 53 cm. Image by Martin Parsekian (right) This page, bottom 4(0,30,HUL^PUKLWLUKLU[HY[ZWHJLPU Khon Kaen, brings art to a larger audience in northern Thailand with events like the 2021 S.O.E. Our City Old Town festival, which saw contemporary art works installed across the Mueang Kao area Image courtesy of S.O.E. Our City Old Town 84

VERNISSAGE / ART SCENE, THAILAND Text T he newly rebuilt Jim Thompson Art Marina Abramović and emerging local talents. Payal Uttam Center (JTAC) in Bangkok is adorned with Among the most interesting Thai artists on multicoloured ribbons of metal mesh woven view will be Saratta Cheungsatiansup — aka into the building’s facade that filter in light and Uninspired by Current Events — who creates add a sense of drama to the minimalist building. satirical computer graphic works tackling ‘It’s actually a very cheap material but it doesn’t political issues. Poshyananda says that artists like look that way. In Thailand, we’re used to making Cheungsatiansup who question the authorities something out of nothing,’ says JTAC’s artistic once went underground, but they’re now director Dr Gridthiya Gaweewong with a smile. resurfacing. ‘Artists here have learned to adapt In many senses, her words ring true for the Thai to government censorship and the continuous contemporary art scene. Despite lacking in art disruption in Thai politics with riots and infrastructure and governmental support, it has demonstrations. They have to struggle but as a emerged as one of Southeast Asia’s most exciting result they’ve become imaginative and creative.’ art hubs. While Bangkok continues to be an important In lieu of public museums, privately funded art hub, recent years have seen a mushrooming spaces like JTAC, which reopened in late 2021, of independent art spaces and artist-led festivals are continuing to play a major role in the artistic across the country. In 2018 in the north-eastern landscape. Gaweewong describes the centre as province of Isan, for instance, art curator and a living room of sorts for international artists, critic Thanom Chapakdee banded together with curators and collectors coming to Bangkok. a group of artists — without informing officials ‘We’ve been a kind of bridge between the local — to launch the Khon Kaen Manifesto, a and international worlds, but now we also subversive art festival. The event, which features wanted to be more inclusive,’ she says. She sees politically charged installations and performance the centre’s new building as a classroom too work, is known for taking place in unexpected — a space where visitors can learn from film venues ranging from a derelict office building to programmes, interdisciplinary performances, an abandoned nightclub. lectures and workshops. Alongside showcasing leading contemporary Thai artists in dialogue In late 2020,prominent Bangkok-based collector with international names, their exhibitions Eric Bunnag Booth — whose family founded the also revisit history. The current exhibition, for MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum, a private instance, features little-known prints by avant- art museum in Chiang Mai — opened a new garde European war photographer and political space called MAIELIE in Khon Kaen. ‘There’s a activist Germaine Luise Krull, who did a stint in movement here that’s developing quite fast,’ says Bangkok after the Second World War. Booth of the region’s active art scene. He opened MAIELIE in a bustling urban area with the aim This October, JTAC will be among the key of making art, both from the region and beyond, venues of a new performance and video accessible to a larger audience outside Bangkok. festival called Ghost:2561 organised by leading Thai multimedia artist Korakrit Arunanondchai, MAIELIE’s current exhibition features Tada which will take place in venues across the city. Hengsapkul, a Thai artist known for his ‘Today, Thai artists feel there are different arenas trenchant images and video works exploring where they can show their work where it’s not ideas of repression, freedom and the struggle always so elitist,’ says Apinan Poshanyanda, for social agency in Thailand. ‘The more horrible chief executive and artistic director of the the political and social situation in the country, Bangkok Art Biennale which opens in the same the more artists want to express themselves, month. ‘The Thai art scene is evolving — it’s especially in the last two or three years,’ says more stimulating now with many more choices Gaweewong in praise of the explosion of than before.’ creativity in Thailand as well as the growing appetite for contemporary art. Booth echoes The biennale aims to integrate contemporary this sentiment, and says he sees momentum art into the fabric of the city by placing more gathering. ‘Artists are taking this opportunity than 200 works in temples and heritage sites as to talk about their history and culture. Even well as art spaces and other locations. Under the with the pandemic, no matter if it’s good times theme Chaos : Calm, the festival will feature or bad they’re always active and working hard more than 60 artists including international —  it’s exciting to see what’s happening across heavyweights like Serbian performance artist the country.’ 85

HOME Timeless spaces

4HYY`PUNUH[\\YLHUKJVU[LTWVYHY`KLZPNU[OPZI\\UNHSV^I`7HYR(ZZVJPH[LZHUKSHUKZJHWL designers Salad Dressing was conceived as a multigenerational home for four families Image by Khoo Guo Jie

HOME / HONG KONG Private Retreat



HOME / HONG KONG H idden away in a lush country park with The home’s curved staircases and arched Text sea views, Kaye Dong’s home feels like hallways are inspired by the city’s juxtaposition Faye Bradley a meditative retreat. It’s just as well, given that of fast-paced urbanity and rugged nature, while the founder of multidisciplinary firm The Good the subdued material and colour palettes feature Images Studio is also the visionary behind wellness earthy hues that complement the furnishings. Edmon Leong brand The New Moon. Dong says she intends Dong chose eco-friendly Marmorino Venetian her home, curated by the studio’s interior design plaster for the walls, and flooring of oak and Previous page and team, to be a place that ‘encourages mindful stone to add warmth; linear patterns and a sense facing page living with a diverse but harmonious balance of depth are created by lacquered battening, Entrepreneur Kaye of seamless spaces’. She shares the three-storey Japanese ceramic finger tiles and fluted glass. Dong’s coastal home house with her husband, two daughters, two is both a sanctuary foster children, two dogs,  a cat, a bird and a But it’s the airy six-metre-high living room that and a tasteful turtle, so it needs to be a sanctuary for all. undoubtedly takes centre stage: this vast, fluid representation of space links to the dining room and outdoor The Good Studio The house, which is oriented to capture the terrace, the latter affording the home ample founder’s sensibilities. sunrise and sunset, is part of a low-rise residential ocean views. There’s no television in sight, just The six-metre- community in Hong Kong’s New Territories. a fireplace beside the curved four-metre Jardan high living room Dong wanted to perfect the spatial flow to sofa, upholstered in Kvadrat/Raf Simons fabric. is the centre of the feel hospitable and social, and without the Overhead is a striking pendant designed by home, its volumes compartmentalisation typical of Hong Kong Formafantasma for Flos, which Dong describes emphasised by the properties, which she says ‘can sometimes make as ‘something unexpected and architectural that striking pendant by a home feel disconnected’. It took ten months to draws the eye up but is a world away from a Formafantasma for reconfigure the original layout to include wide traditional chandelier’. Flos hanging over the spaces and fully retractable doors for open-plan space living. ‘The layout is more dynamic — it suits Dong also highlights the master bedroom as the various activities of our growing family and one of her favourite rooms in the home. It’s maintains a smooth sense of connectivity,’she says. where she meditates every morning as the sunlight streams in. Spanning the entire upper The Australian-born entrepreneur sourced floor, it’s a generous, uncluttered composition of much of the furniture from her homeland — bedroom, bathroom, hidden study and walk-in mainly custom and designer pieces from craft wardrobe. ‘The sensuous curves flow and soften workshops like Future Collective and Zuster — the interconnected spaces,’ she says, adding but also from travels abroad. Many of the objects that the striking panoramic views support her the family has collected over the years are now daily rituals. ‘I love that our home enables us to displayed in the custom marble wall unit. connect better with ourselves and one another.’ 90



Connected to the living room, the dining area is furnished with a table by The Good Studio and chairs by Simon James for New Zealand brand Resident. In the background, the custom marble wall unit holds ceramics, crystal singing bowls and other items collected over years of travelling 92



In the sunny living room, a set of marble nesting tables designed by The Good Studio sits between the sofa by Jardan, upholstered in Kvadrat/Raf Simons fabric, and Faye Toogood’s Roly-Poly chair 94



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Stretching along an entire side of the living room, French doors open up onto the terrace and THQLZ[PJVJLHU]PL^Z 98