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CategoriesArchitecture

Wavy Balconies With Overhanging Plants Are A Design Feature On This Apartment Building

By Zarkon Group,
A modern building with curved balconies and overhanging plants.

Architecture firm K.A Studio has designed the remodel of an apartment building in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, that included the addition of green space.

A modern building with curved balconies and overhanging plants.

In an area filled with concrete and hard lines, this updated apartment building, which is now used for staycations, has been designed as an oasis in the city, with the curved balconies creating a soft edge on the facade.

A modern building with curved balconies and overhanging plants.

Overhanging plants cascade down the side of the building, while taller plants add different layers and grow up between the voids created by the balconies.

A modern building with curved balconies and overhanging plants.

The underside of the balconies is lined with wood, adding to the natural look of the building.

The underside of these balconies is lined with wood, adding to the natural look of the building.

At night, uplighting creates shadows on the balconies above.

At night, uplighting creates shadows on the balconies above.
A modern building with curved balconies and overhanging plants.

The balconies overlook a pool that’s located on the ground floor and has curves that mimic the exterior of the building.

A curved swimming pool complements the curved balconies above.
A curved swimming pool complements the curved balconies above.
A curved swimming pool complements the curved balconies above.
A modern building with curved balconies and overhanging plants.

Throughout the building materials like woods, local split stones, concrete, terrazzo, and rattan are featured.

The interior of this building features materials like woods, local split stones, concrete, terrazzo, and rattan.

Bright hallways with lighting embedded in the concrete floors, and in the ceiling, guide guests to their private apartments.

Bright hallways with lighting embedded in the concrete floors, and in the ceiling, guides guests to their private apartments.

The apartments are minimal in their design, with simple wood furniture in the living room, and a kitchenette.

A minimalist apartment interior with LED lighting and a small living room.
A minimalist apartment interior with LED lighting, a small living room, and kitchenette.

In the bedroom, a horizontal wood accent above the bed hides LED Lighting, which also complements the lighting on the opposite wall. There’s also a floating wood desk that lines the wall, and a sliding door opens to a balcony.

In this bedroom, a horizontal wood accent above the bed hides LED Lighting, which also complements the lighting on the opposite wall.
A floating wood desk.
Photograph: Hiroyuki Oki | Architects: K.A Studio | Lead Architects: Doan Quoc Khanh | Design team: Dang Anh Khoa, Hoang Anh Dung, Tran Quoc Nhat, Le Duc Duy | Construction: La Maison Du K

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Get listed in Dezeen's digital guide for Stockholm Design Week 2023
CategoriesInterior Design

Get listed in Dezeen’s digital guide for Stockholm Design Week 2023

By Zarkon Group,

Are you putting on an exhibition, talk or other event in Stockholm next month? Get your event listed in our digital guide to Stockholm Design Week on Dezeen Events Guide, which will highlight the key events taking place from 6 to 12 February 2023.

Stockholm Design Week hosts hundreds of events, including exhibitions, open showrooms, talks and parties, as well as the trade show Stockholm Furniture Fair.

Dezeen’s guide, which will be published a week ahead of the design week, will provide visitors with all the key information about the festival with listings for the must-see events.

The Stockholm Design Week guide follows on from the success of our digital guides to Milan design week and London Design Festival last year, which received over 60,000 page views combined. In total, Dezeen Events Guide received over 400,000 page views in 2022.

To be considered for inclusion in the guide, email [email protected]. Events will be selected by the Dezeen team to ensure that the best events are included.

Get listed in Dezeen’s digital Stockholm guide

Dezeen offers standard, enhanced and featured listings in its Stockholm guide.

Standard listing: For only £100, you can feature your event name, date and location details plus a website link. These listings will also feature up to 50 words of text about the event.

Enhanced listing: For £150, you can include all of the above plus an image at the top of the listing’s page and an image in the listing preview on the Stockholm guide page. These listings can also feature up to 100 words of text about the event.

Featured listing: For £300, your listing will feature everything as part of an enhanced listing plus inclusion in the featured events carousel and accompanying posts on Dezeen Events Guide social media channels. These listings can also feature up to 150 words of text about the event and can include commercial information and additional links to website pages such as ticket sales, newsletter signups etc.

For more information about partnering with us to help amplify your event, contact the team at [email protected].

About Dezeen Events Guide

Dezeen Events Guide lists events across the globe, which can be filtered by location and type.

Events taking place later in the year include Nomad St Moritz 2023, Venice Architecture Biennale 2023 and Design Shanghai 2023.

The illustration is by Rima Sabina Aouf.

Reference

Sakuragicho Residence by Akira Koyama + KEY OPERATION INC. / ARCHITECTS
CategoriesSustainable News

33 Trailblazing Firms Leading the Globe Into a New Era of Architectural Design

By Zarkon Group,

Architizer’s A+Awards Best Firm categories allow design firms of all sizes to showcase their practice and vie for the title of “World’s Best Architecture Firm”. Start an A+Firm Award Application today. 

Poised at the forefront of contemporary architecture, the following list of A+Award-winning practices features the firms behind some of the world’s most ground-breaking projects from the past 10 years. As winners of the Best Firm Categories, each office was judged based on the strength of their portfolios. Whether small or large in number, their trailblazing teams are producing considered, dynamic designs that push the bounds of traditional typologies and point the industry in exciting new directions for the future.

Start A+Awards Submission

The judging criteria for the A+Firm Awards program have been carefully formulated to cover a broad range of qualities, allowing jurors to come to a fair decision on which firms are delivering excellence in their respective fields. These standards are embodied by all of the winners on this list, many of whom share a holistic and socially engaged approach to design. Through their architectural work, these practices propose innovative solutions to complex local challenges while remaining cognizant of the global landscape. To this end, their portfolios articulate eloquent responses to the changing needs of the modern world, mindful of climate change, sustainability and inclusivity. Spread across six continents, these pioneering architecture and design practices around the world are ones to watch in 2023…

Best Firms In Asia

Akira Koyama + KEY OPERATION INC. / ARCHITECTS

Jury Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best in Asia

Sakuragicho Residence by Akira Koyama + KEY OPERATION INC. / ARCHITECTSGoshikidai Forest Cemetery by Akira Koyama + KEY OPERATION INC. / ARCHITECTSFirm Location: Tokyo, Japan
Pictured Projects: Sakuragicho Residence, Yokohama, Japan ; Goshikidai Forest Cemetery, Kimino, Japan

Simplicity and innovation define the work of this Tokyo-based architectural firm. By balancing their clients’ needs with environmental, cultural and historic factors, they devise refined, forward-thinking solutions for every element of the design process, from building materials and construction methods to spatial organization.

Their expansive portfolio establishes them as accomplished all-rounders, spanning residential blocks, luxury penthouses, commercial spaces, medical buildings and even a striking contemporary cemetery.

KRIS YAO | ARTECH

Popular Choice Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best in Asia

Palace Museum, Southern Branch by KRIS YAO | ARTECHWuzhen Theater by KRIS YAO | ARTECHFirm Location: Taipei, Taiwan (Headquarters, with offices elsewhere)
Pictured Projects: Palace Museum, Southern Branch, Chiayi City, Taiwan ; Wuzhen Theater, Zhejiang, China

With offices in Taipei and Shanghai, KRIS YAO | ARTECH was founded in 1985 and demonstrates an impressive mastery over an array of architectural typologies, ranging from commercial, cultural and educational spaces to residential and spiritual buildings.

The practice’s design philosophy balances a commitment to cutting-edge technology with an emphasis on emotive architectural schemes that harmonize with their environmental and cultural surroundings.

Best Firms In Australasia

Fearon Hay Architects

Jury Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best in Australasia
Jury Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Medium Firm (11-49 employees)

Bishop Selwyn Chapel by Fearon Hay ArchitectsFaraday Street Studio by Fearon Hay ArchitectsFirm Location: Auckland, New Zealand (Headquarters, with offices elsewhere)
Pictured Projects: Bishop Selwyn Chapel, Auckland, New Zealand ; Faraday Street Studio, Auckland, New Zealand

Fusing creativity, design excellence and a sensitive consideration of place, Fearon Hay Architects’ team of experienced professionals tackles a diversity of projects across the world.

From their studios in Auckland and Los Angeles, they mastermind remarkable architectural responses to a wide scope of briefs encompassing hospitality, office and urban spaces, as well as private dwellings and religious structures.

Cumulus Studio

Popular Choice Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best in Australasia

Devil's Corner Cellar Door by Cumulus StudioCradle Mountain Visitor Centre by Cumulus StudioFirm Location: Tasmania, Australia (Headquarters, with offices elsewhere)
Pictured Projects: Devil’s Corner Cellar Door, Apslawn, Australia ; Cradle Mountain Visitor Centre Tasmania, Australia

Collaboration is at the heart of this Australian architecture and interior design studio, which has offices in Hobart, Launceston, Melbourne and Adelaide. The practice’s architects, designers and operations team work collectively to explore the potential of each design, whether commercial or residential, contemplating its context and considering overlooked architectural perspectives.

This emphasis on open dialogue among the team, their clients, stakeholders and the community results in pioneering, inclusive designs that are respectful to all.

Best Firms In Central & South America

Studio MK27

Jury Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best in Central & South America

Jungle House by Studio MK27Cultura Bookstore by Studio MK27Firm Location: São Paulo, Brazil
Pictured Projects: Jungle House, Guarujá, Brazil ; Cultura Bookstore, São Paulo, Brazil

Headquartered in vibrant São Paulo, Studio MK27 pays homage to Brazilian modernism, while reimagining this revered architectural movement through a contemporary lens. For the award-winning firm, formal simplicity and attention to detail are paramount, an acuteness that’s reflected in their exacting portfolio.

The practice’s defining projects span dynamic residential schemes that respect Brazil’s natural topography and striking commercial spaces, including bars, bookshops and vineyards, that offer an immersive architectural experience.

FGMF

Popular Choice Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best in Central & South America

Casa Sombrero by FGMFFEED Meat Market by FGMF
Firm Location: São Paulo, Brazil
Pictured Projects: Casa Sombrero, Campinas, Brazil ; FEED Meat Market, São Paulo, Brazil

Driven by a belief that architecture should reflect life and embrace plurality, heterogeneity and dynamism, this Brazilian practice is at the forefront of contemporary architecture. Their designs explore the connection between the built environment and its surroundings, utilizing state-of-the-art materials and construction techniques.

Ranging from an upscale meat market to a public school and a remarkable rooftop condo, their varied portfolio is united by a distinctive architectural voice, establishing them among the best architecture firms around the world.

Best Firms in Europe

Mecanoo

Jury Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best in Europe

World Port Centre Rotterdam by MecanooNatural History Museum Abu Dhabi by MecanooFirm Location: Delft, Netherlands (Headquarters, with offices elsewhere)
Pictured Projects: World Port Centre, Rotterdam, Netherlands ; Natural History Museum, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Dutch architecture firm Mecanoo was founded in 1984 and has an exceptional collection of forward-thinking projects under their belt. The practice’s schemes are shaped by the trifactor of people, place and purpose. This guiding philosophy considers the client and user’s requirements, the physical and cultural environment and the present and future functions of a building.

Sustainability is a key consideration in the fabric of their designs, along with an emphasis on flexible spaces that can shift and evolve to accommodate changing needs in an increasingly unpredictable world.

Roark Studio

Popular Choice Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best in Europe

Nowe Kolibki by Roark StudioPier of the Future by Roark StudioFirm Location: Sopot, Poland
Pictured Projects: Nowe Kolibki, Gdynia, Poland ; Pier of the Future, Gdynia, Poland (Concept)

This innovative Poland-based architecture studio works across a diverse range of typologies, from public piers, community spaces and educational buildings to multi-unit residential developments.

The firm’s holistic projects are informed by the tenets of neuroarchitecture, imbuing their designs with emotive value and prioritizing the health and well-being of those who inhabit the structures and their wider urban locales.

Best Firms in North America

MGA | MICHAEL GREEN ARCHITECTURE

Jury Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best in North America

Oregon State University Forest Science Complex by MGA | MICHAEL GREEN ARCHITECTURECatalyst Building by MGA | MICHAEL GREEN ARCHITECTUREFirm Location: Vancouver, Canada
Pictured Projects: Oregon State University Forest Science Complex, Covallis, Oregon ; Catalyst Building, Spokane, Washington

Innovators in the field of sustainable design, MGA | MICHAEL GREEN ARCHITECTURE are lauded for their carbon-neutral buildings and pioneering timber construction techniques. Climate change and social change are key drivers that underlie their impressive portfolio, which has been recognized for a number of prestigious awards.

The Vancouver-based practice tackles a broad spectrum of projects across varying scales, including boutique interiors, architectural marquees, housing developments and large institutional buildings across Canada and beyond.

Montalba Architects

Popular Choice Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best in North America

Vertical Courtyard House by Montalba Architects, Inc.LR2 House by Montalba Architects, Inc.Firm Location: Los Angeles, California (Headquarters, with offices elsewhere)
Pictured Projects: Vertical Courtyard House, Santa Monica, California ; LR2 House, Pasadena, California

They may be headquartered in Los Angeles, but this international practice has an impressive reach, with a portfolio of work stretching from the United States to Europe and the Middle East.

Encompassing commercial and residential spheres, their humanist approach to architectural design not only places special emphasis on the site requirements and clients’ needs, but also on the wider context beyond the development’s walls. The result is bold, socially conscious buildings that positively contribute to the built landscape.

Best Firm in Middle East & Africa

Studio Toggle

Jury Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best in the Middle East & Africa
Popular Choice Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Young Firm

Ternion by Studio ToggleEdges Al Barouk by Studio ToggleFirm Location: Salmiya, Kuwait (Headquarters, with offices elsewhere)
Pictured Projects: Ternion, Hawalli Governorate, Kuwait ; Edges Al Barouk, Salmiya, Kuwait

With far-reaching expertise across commercial, residential, public and hospitality architecture, as well as interior design, Studio Toggle’s approach is shaped by their commitment to logic and problem-solving. However, their precise and considered schemes also embrace the unexpected.

Founded in 2012 and based in Kuwait City and Porto, the firm’s impactful portfolio of projects is defined by a careful balance of antitheses. Their philosophy is that form follows function, simplicity is complex and even chaos can be organized.

HQ Architects

Popular Choice Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best in the Middle East & Africa

Fein 1 Central by HQ Architects
Bus Terminal Petach Tikva by HQ ArchitectsFirm Location: Tel Aviv, Israel
Pictured Projects: Fein 1 Central, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel ; Bus Terminal Petach Tikva, Israel (Concept)

Based in Tel Aviv, HQ Architects revel in challenging tradition. Interrogating and reimagining conventional typologies, their subversive stance leads to surprising structures and urban spaces that push the boundaries of modern architecture in Israel and beyond.

While their perspective is playful, the 35-strong team is dedicated to delivering quality designs, an assurance that’s upheld by rigorous technical expertise and creative building solutions.

Best Interior Design Firms

Fyra

Jury Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Interior Design Firm

Bardem by FyraNew Nordic School by the Sea by FyraFirm Location: Helsinki, Finland
Pictured Projects: Bardem, Helsinki, Finland ; New Nordic School by the Sea, Helsinki, Finland

Founded back in 2010, this Helsinki-based interior design agency creates bespoke, immersive spaces where people and community take center stage. Fyra’s striking projects embody the values of their clients while bringing their own distinct perspective to each design.

Their varied portfolio extends across office, retail, hotel, restaurant and educational environments, as well as a range of cross-sectional ventures. The company’s bold, decisive schemes are underpinned by a commitment to sustainability and a strong emphasis on cooperation between the team and the businesses and individuals they work with.

PANORAMA Design Group

Popular Choice Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Interior Design Firm

KidsWinshare Plus by PANORAMA Design GroupOneJee Hotel by PANORAMA Design GroupFirm Location: Hong Kong, China
Pictured Projects: KidsWinshare Plus, Chengdu, China ; OneJee Hotel, Shenzhen, China

Spatial storytelling is at the forefront of this playful interior design practice. Headquartered in Hong Kong and with offices across China, the firm has extensive experience curating projects for the hospitality, retail and wellness industries, as well as vibrant child-friendly spaces.

Revising conventional typologies, PANORAMA Design Group balances locational and economic factors with their signature vibrant style to conjure up unique and unconventional schemes for every size and function of space.

Best Landscape Design Firms

TROP

Jury Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Landscape Design Firm

Under the Ficus Shade by TROPBotanica Khao Yai by TROPFirm Location: Bangkok, Thailand
Pictured Projects: Under the Ficus Shade : Garden for Ad Lib Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand ; Botanica Khao Yai, Pak Chong, Thailand

This architectural landscape design studio has been innovating remarkable projects across Asia since 2007. TROP’s pioneering portfolio ranges from design-forward public parks to biophilic hotels, commercial spaces and installations, along with residences rooted in organic materials and natural topography.

The firm believes the design process is as vital as the design itself. To this end, their team of designers and construction supervisors foster close relationships with each client, articulating complex projects from inception to realization.

ASPECT Studios

Popular Choice Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Landscape Design Firm

The Urban Gallery at Hyperlane by ASPECT StudiosPrahran Square by ASPECT StudiosFirm Location: Melbourne, Australia (Headquarters, with offices elsewhere)
Pictured Projects: The Urban Gallery at Hyperlane, Chengdu, China ; Prahran Square, Melbourne, Australia

Encompassing an international team of landscape architects, urban designers and strategists, ASPECT Studios prides themselves on designing projects that benefit the community and the natural environment.

Their specialism is crafting intuitive public spaces and using their profound understanding of this typology — its uses and tension points — to inform their creative and technical processes. The result is memorable landscape design projects that fuse function and fun, dynamic architecture across public parks, plazas, coastal walkways and busy city streets.

Best Large Firms

Zaha Hadid Architects

Jury Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Large Firm (50+ employees)

Zhuhai Jinwan Civic Art Centre by Zaha Hadid ArchitectsKing Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Centre by Zaha Hadid ArchitectsFirm Location: London, United Kingdom (Headquarters, with offices elsewhere)
Pictured Projects: Zhuhai Jinwan Civic Art Centre, Zhuhai, China ; King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Centre (KAPSARC), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Known the world over, the extensive portfolio of Zaha Hadid Architects extends across the globe, broaching every architectural sector, including commercial, corporate, residential, educational and cultural buildings.

Their distinctive futuristic aesthetic is immediately recognizable, defined by curvaceous volumes, organic forms, undulating lines, severe angles and stark materials, including concrete, glass and steel. The firm’s ground-breaking designs are at once bold and dramatic, and acutely responsive to the surrounding environment.

Killa Design

Popular Choice Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Large Firm (50+ employees)

Museum of the Future by Killa DesignBoutique Resort by Killa DesignFirm Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Pictured Projects: Museum of the Future, Dubai, United Arab Emirates ; Boutique Resort, Oman (Concept)

Located in Dubai, Killa Design seeks to shrug off architectural methodologies of the past and tackle each project as a new opportunity for innovation. Sustainability and contextual sensitivity are at the heart of the firm’s designs, which negotiate social and environmental responsibilities with an uncompromising commitment to high-quality constructions.

Dedicated to creating spaces that enrich the user experience, their areas of expertise span hospitality, corporate and residential, as well as museums, cultural buildings, urban design and master planning projects.

Best Medium Firms

Duvall Decker

Popular Choice Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Medium Firm (11-49 employees)

New U.S. Courthouse by Duvall DeckerThe Selah House by Duvall DeckerFirm Location: Jacksonville, Mississippi
Pictured Projects: New U.S. Courthouse, Greenville, Mississippi ; The Selah House, Malvern, Pennsylvania

Founded in 1998, Duvall Decker is committed to creating exceptional spaces that promote the well-being of those who inhabit them and improve the quality of the built environment.

Combining design acumen with technical expertise, their talented team works across an array of typologies, from residential and interior projects to educational, religious, commercial and municipal structures, as well as master plans. No matter their client’s needs or budget, the firm’s goal is to deliver architecture that endures in both material and memory.

Best Small Firms

Chiangmai Life Architects

Jury Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Small Firm (1-10 employees)

Panyaden Secondary School by Chaingmai Life ArchitectsBamboo Sports Hall at Panyaden International School by Chaingmai Life ArchitectsFirm Location: Chiang Mai, Thailand
Pictured Projects: Panyaden Secondary School, Chiang Mai, Thailand ; Bamboo Sports Hall at Panyaden International School, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Northern Thailand-based Chiangmai Life Architects are striving to bring organic sustainable design into the 21st century. Championing bamboo and earth, the firm creates striking architectural buildings fit for modern life, including residences, schools and meditation centers.

Their portfolio pays homage to natural construction materials, from rammed-earth buildings to exquisitely intricate bamboo roof structures. These sustainable resources are paired with cutting-edge technology to help combat issues such as pollution, as well as ensuring projects have a minimal carbon footprint.

The Design Institute Of Landscape & Architecture China Academy Of Art CO.,LTD

Popular Choice Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Small Firm (1-10 employees)
Popular Choice Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Cultural Firm

Boat Rooms on the Fuchun River by The Design Institute of Landscape & Architecture China Academy of ArtCity Lounge of Zhongshan Road by The Design Institute of Landscape & Architecture China Academy of ArtFirm Location: Hangzhou, China
Pictured Projects: Boat Rooms on the Fuchun River, Hangzhou, China ; City Lounge of Zhongshan Road, Jiaxing, China

From orchestrating the master plan of a village to delivering exceptional residences, renovation projects and stand-out hospitality spaces across China, this architecture firm has overseen a varied collection of schemes across a range of sectors.

Headquartered in Hangzhou in the east of China, the practice delivers structures that harmonize with both the natural and built environment. Inspiration is sought from the surrounding landscapes as well as traditional Chinese vernacular architecture, which is elevated by modern construction techniques.

Best Sustainable Firms

The Miller Hull Partnership

Jury Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Sustainable Firm

The Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design by The Miller Hull PartnershipLoom House by The Miller Hull PartnershipFirm Location: Seattle, Washington (Headquarters, with offices elsewhere)
Pictured Projects: The Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design, Atlanta, Georgia ; Loom House, Bainbridge Island, Washington

Sustainable architecture is a key tenet of The Miller Hull Partnership’s mission statement. With studios in Seattle and San Diego, the pioneering firm seeks to understand the power of nature through their work, embracing passive systems and locally sourced materials in their projects.

Connection with the natural world is central to the practice’s architectural process, whether it’s applied across domestic, educational or civic contexts. Paired with an emphasis on cooperation and problem-solving, they deliver innovative and unexpected spaces that serve occupants and the wider environment.

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)

Popular Choice Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Sustainable Firm

Wild Mile by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)Shenzhen Rural Commercial Bank Headquarters by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)Firm Location: New York City, New York (Headquarters, with offices elsewhere)
Pictured Projects: Wild Mile, Chicago, Illinois (Concept) ; Shenzhen Rural Commercial Bank Headquarters, Shenzhen, China

Across a diverse portfolio that encompasses a floating eco-park, transport terminals, cultural hubs, commercial towers and refined residences, plus a cathedral and even a naval training base, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) establish themselves as impressive all-rounders.

Sustainable strategies are part of the firm’s architectural DNA, seen through the inclusion of powerful insulation, glazing, energy-efficient lighting and biophilic solutions. The masterminds behind an array of environmentally advanced structures and developments, their projects are designed to adapt to future changes in the ways we live, work and communicate, resulting in remarkable spaces that are built to endure.

Best Young Firms

Jonathan Burlow

Jury Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Young Firm

Over the Edge by Jonathan BurlowOver the Edge by Jonathan BurlowFirm Location: Folkstone, United Kingdom
Pictured Project: Over the Edge, Kent, United Kingdom

Founded in 2018, this emerging practice is already making waves on the architectural landscape. The firm’s design philosophy is anchored by a commitment to both problem-solving and exceptional artistry, ensuring a harmonious balance between these dual priorities.

The studio is based in Kent, however, the founder’s diverse cultural background informs the company’s unique architectural perspective. Consequently, the team celebrates and experiments with global notions of place, society and convention across their broad scope of projects.

Best Young Interior Design Firms

L&M Design Lab

Jury Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Young Interior Design Firm

Mirror Bridge by L&M Design Lab Wondering in the woods by L&M Design Lab Firm Location: Shanghai, China (Headquarters, with offices elsewhere)
Pictured Projects: Mirror Bridge, Shanghai, China ; Wandering in the woods, Xiamen, China

L&M Design Lab was named after the firm’s guiding mantra: logic is magic. Their team channels their creativity and curiosity into innovative, purposeful designs that offer exciting new iterations of conventional typologies.

Specializing in architectural, interior and urban design, the practice was founded in 2013 in Shanghai. The firm has since brought their dynamic viewpoint to bear on a range of built environments, from residential spaces to stand-out commercial offices and playful educational structures.

WIT Design & Research

Popular Choice Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Young Interior Design Firm

Dong Fureng House Museum by WIT Design & ResearchJetlag Books Pop-up Store by WIT Design & ResearchFirm Location: Beijing, China
Pictured Projects: Dong Fureng House Museum, China ; Jetlag Books Pop-up Store, Beijing, China

This Beijing-based firm was started in 2015 and already has an impressive catalog of projects to show. WIT Design & Research demonstrates a masterful command over spatial design, incorporating a nuanced understanding of architecture and interior art to produce exceptional schemes.

Whether handling the sensitive renovation of a historic listed building or designing a futuristic installation for the retail sphere, they showcase a deft negotiation of materials.

Best Commercial Firms

X+LIVING

Jury Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Commercial Firm

Deji Plaza Phase I, Floor 6 Washroom by X+LIVINGNew Century Magic Hotel by X+LIVINGFirm Location: Shanghai, China
Pictured Projects: Deji Plaza Phase I, Floor 6 Washroom, Nanjing, China ; New Century Magic Hotel, Huzhou, China

Leaders in commercial design, X+LIVING rips up the rule book on spatial archetypes with their theatrical and experimental approach. Graphic lines, bold geometries and Escher-inspired aesthetics set their vibrant portfolio apart from the crowd. The result is deeply immersive spaces imbued with a whimsical sense of wonder.

While creativity and storytelling may be at the forefront of the firm’s practice, they’re matched with a staunch commitment to utility, delivering an artful combination of functionality and fancifulness.

Various Associates

Popular Choice Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Commercial Firm

SND Taikoo Li Qiantan by Various Associates HAYDON Shanghai by Various Associates Firm Location: Shenzhen, China
Pictured Projects: SND Taikoo Li Qiantan, Beijing, China ; HAYDON Shanghai, Shanghai China

With a distinguished portfolio encompassing a variety of high-end projects, from boutique hotels, restaurants and retail schemes, to offices, installations and exhibition spaces, Various Associates brings a holistic perspective to commercial design.

Their projects demonstrate a mindful consideration of both spatial practicalities and brand values, while respecting wider locational context. By translating elements of environmental and cultural histories into the vernacular of modern architecture, the firm creates landmark schemes that respond to their surroundings while furthering the narrative in radical ways.

Best Cultural Firms

Tabanlioglu Architects

Jury Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Cultural Firm

Ataturk Cultural Center by Tabanlioglu Architects Dakar Congress Center by Tabanlioglu Architects Firm Location: Istanbul, Turkey (Headquarters, with offices elsewhere)
Pictured Projects: Ataturk Cultural Center, Istanbul, Turkey ; Dakar Congress Center, Dakar, Senegal

Headquartered in Istanbul but with studios in Dubai, Doha and New York City, Tabanlioglu Architects has an impressive international reach. While the firm may have a global presence, they react to the social and physical landscapes of each project individually, ensuring that they add value to the surrounding localities.

Their portfolio includes a diversity of important public, cultural and municipal buildings, including community centers, shopping centers, a library and even an airport terminal. The practice’s visionary approach doesn’t sacrifice sustainability in the name of style either, with a vehement emphasis on sustainable practices.

Best Public Projects Firms

NADAAA

Jury Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Public Projects Firm

Adams Street Branch Library by NADAAAMelbourne School of Design, University of Melbourne by NADAAAFirm Location: Boston, Massachusetts (Headquarters, with offices elsewhere)
Pictured Projects: Adams Street Branch Library, Boston, Massachusetts ; Melbourne School of Design, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

Innovation is at the center of this Boston-based design firm. Steeped in a collaborative culture, the practice challenges the norms of the construction industry and devises new ways to build across projects of all scales, from public infrastructure ventures to bespoke fixtures and furnishings.

While their work bridges different industrial spheres, they’ve masterminded a succession of remarkable public schemes. The firm’s research-driven designs are ever cognizant of the end user, oriented to accommodate community dialogues and motivate public participation in the public realm.

SBM Studio

Popular Choice Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Public Projects Firm

Sarzhyn Yar by SBM StudioHouse in Kharkiv by SBM StudioFirm Location: Kharkiv, Ukraine
Pictured Projects: Sarzhyn Yar, Kharkiv, Ukraine ; House in Kharkiv, Kharkiv, Ukraine

The connection between people and the landscapes they inhabit, whether cultural, social or environmental, is key to the work of SBM Studio. Encouraging this discourse through architecture and landscape design, the firm creates meaningful spaces, reinforced by cutting-edge technology and construction techniques.

While they have extensive experience working across the commercial and residential sectors, the dynamic practice has been shifting its gaze to public projects, endeavoring to improve the built environment and punctuate city topographies with communal natural spaces.

Best Residential Firms

PETITDIDIERPRIOUX

Jury Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Residential Firm

Athletes’ Village Olympic Games 2024 by PETITDIDIERPRIOUX152 Housing Units by PETITDIDIERPRIOUXFirm Location: Paris, France
Pictured Projects: Athletes’ Village Olympic Games 2024, L’lle-Saint-Denis, France ; 152 Housing Units, Villeurbanne, France

Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Paris, PETITDIDIERPRIOUX has built up an impressive portfolio across public and private typologies. Their scope includes new multi-unit residences, office buildings, public developments and renovation projects across France and beyond.

Notably, the 35-strong team is designing a number of residential buildings for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games athletes’ village. Still under construction, the ambitious project has been devised with adaptability in mind. Following the Olympics, the structures will be repurposed as public housing and assimilated into the city’s established landscape.

Sanjay Puri Architects

Popular Choice Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Residential Firm

Studios 90 by Sanjay Puri ArchitectsNirvana 63 by Sanjay Puri ArchitectsFirm Location: Mumbai, India
Pictured Projects: Studios 90, Kodla, India ; The Street, Mathura, India

Sustainability and respect for the local environment inform the design ethos of this Mumbai-based firm. Sanjay Puri Architects delivers pioneering spaces and structures that exist in harmony with their surroundings. Consequently, their projects offer creative responses to contextual challenges, addressing hot climates with innovative architectural solutions and construction methods.

Founded in 1992, the practice’s catalog of work is wide-ranging, spanning master planning projects, schools, hospitality buildings, retail and office structures and ambitious multi-unit housing developments, all executed with an unwavering commitment to energy efficiency.

Architizer’s A+Awards Best Firm categories allow design firms of all sizes to showcase their practice and vie for the title of “World’s Best Architecture Firm”. Start an A+Firm Award Application today. 

Enter the A+Awards

Reference

Designers people in front of projected image
CategoriesSustainable News

Three Swiss design brands present sustainable products in San Francisco

By Zarkon Group,

Promotion: a fashion label, packaging designer and coffee roastery are three brands from Switzerland taking part in the Swiss Design Accelerator Program in San Francisco, USA.

The three studios – YVY, Paula Cermeño León and Mikafi – represent innovative design practices emerging from Switzerland.

Recognised at the international event for their pioneering attitude to the design, the three brands aim to have sustainability and circular economic values at the forefront of their creative processes.

Designers people in front of projected image
The designers exhibiting their brands in San Francisco (above) and work by Paula Cermeño León (top). Photo by Myleen Hollero for Swissnex in San Francisco

YVY is a fashion label founded by designer Yvonne Reichmuth in 2015, which designs and manufactures leather goods in Zurich.

The brand produces ready-to-wear accessories such as wallets, belts, jewellery and hats in addition to bespoke harnesses and clothing, which are predominantly made from leather.

A designer wearing suit and leather harness
YVY designs and manufactures leather goods

The brand has clothed notable celebrities such as Kristen Stewart, Billie Eilish, Madonna, Lady Gaga, Troye Sivan, Taylor Swift and Camila Cabello among others.

YVY does not release seasonal collections, instead it creates carry-over pieces that aim to reduce material waste and allow designs to be continuously refined.

Two people with coffee machine
Mikafi designs pioneering the coffee roasting process

The leather is sourced from byproducts of the food industry, with the brand also offering non-animal alternatives on a case-by-case basis to cater to all client requirements.

The leather follows traditional processing techniques and uses vegetable tanning methods to make the material safe for both those handling it during the manufacturing process and for the planet.

Person wearing leather harness
The brand uses traditional leather treatment methods

Mikafi designs fully automated coffee roasting systems that are made up of both hardware and software that work in tandem to reduce the impact of coffee making on the environment.

The brand’s tabletop mini roasting appliance called MCR 1 allows coffee beans to be roasted on demand, which reduces overproduction and waste, and being electrically powered makes the machine more environmentally viable than traditional gas-powered roasters.

Two people with coffee machine
Mikafi is pioneering the coffee roasting process

MCR 1 is still in its testing phase, and has been designed for use in commercial hospitality settings such as bakeries, cafes and restaurants.

It is made up of a chamber containing coffee beans on the top, with a large circular window below that shows the roasting process happening inside.

Coffee machine with large circular window on worktop
MCR 1 is still in its testing phase, and has been designed for use in commercial hospitality settings such as bakeries, cafes and restaurants.

It is made up of a chamber containing coffee beans on the top, with a large circular window below that shows the roasting process happening inside.

Mikafi’s digital platform manages the process of the coffee beans from farm to cup, and aims to open up channels of communication between farmers, hospitality venues and consumers.

“The concept is thought to foster a fairer and more direct trade between the coffee farmer and the consumer, and most of all to strengthen the taste experience of the latter,” said Mikafi.

Coffee machine with large circular window on worktop
MCR 1 has a large window so users can observe the roasting process happening

Paula Cermeño León is a designer who specialises in creating sustainable packaging as well as personal care products informed by the importance of circularity and the benefits of working with plants.

She combines her design skills, which she developed during her studies at ECAL in Switzerland, with expertise from professionals who work closely with plants, including botanists, biologists, artists and engineers.

Photograph of product wrapped in dried leaves
Paula Cermeño León used natural waste material for packaging incense

Among León’s designs is a proposed alternative to conventional packaging for Peruvian brand Misha Rastrera, which makes Palo Santo incense.

As opposed to using conventional plastic film packaging, León chose to use surplus corn husks produced during farming to make packaging that is sustainable and compostable.

Photograph of neutral coloured skincare items on white background
The face mask must be wetted before use

Other eco-based products by León include self-care items, such as the face mask set from her Herbier Project, which is made from plant fibres that can be distributed dry and rehydrated when ready to use.

Her Refined Remedies collection of medicinal products for minor wounds and menstrual pain are also infused with plant extracts and present a contemporary take on herbal remedies.

Hand smoothing patch onto arm on yellow background
Remedies are used for minor ailments

The Swiss Design Accelerator program is the result of collaboration between Swiss Art Council, Pro Helvetia, under the label Design Switzerland, and Swissnex in San Francisco, an initiative by Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation, connecting “Switzerland, North America and the world in science, education, innovation and the arts”.

The program aims to build connections and international visibility for emerging Swiss designers and brands in the design industries.

The program ran from 7 November to 13 November 2022 and was held at Swissnex’s space at Pier 17 in San Francisco.

Partnership content

This article was written by Dezeen for Swissnex as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

Reference

Salvador Dalí's Mae West Lips sofa on display in the exhibition
CategoriesInterior Design

Design Museum exhibition explores “surrealism and why it matters now”

By Zarkon Group,

Curator Kathryn Johnson explains the story behind surrealism and its impact on design in this video Dezeen produced for the Design Museum about its latest exhibition.

Titled Objects of Desire: Surrealism and Design 1924 – Today, the exhibition features almost 350 surrealist objects spanning fashion, furniture and film.

The exhibition, which was curated by Johnson, explores the conception of the surrealist movement in the 1920s and the impact it has had on the design world ever since.

Salvador Dalí's Mae West Lips sofa on display in the exhibition
The exhibition features nearly 350 pieces of art, design, photography, fashion and film

It features some of the most recognised surrealist paintings and sculptures, including pieces by Salvador Dalí, Man Ray and Leonora Carrington, as well as work from contemporary artists and designers such as Dior and Björk.

“Surrealism was born out of the horrors of the first world war, in a period of conflict and uncertainty, and it was a creative response to that chaos,” Johnson said in the video.

“It saw in the fracturing of the world an opportunity to shake things up, to do things differently, to think differently, and to acknowledge the subconscious and its importance for our everyday lives.”

Chairs, sofas, red curtains and other objects displayed within the exhibition
The exhibition explores the beginnings of the surrealist movement in the 1920s

The exhibition explores surrealism’s impact on contemporary design, with nearly a third of the objects on show dating from the past 50 years.

“We want to start a conversation about what surrealism is and why it matters now,” Johnson said.

The name of the exhibition references the importance of the concept of desire within the movement. In the video, Johnson explained that the surrealist movement began with poetry, with French poet and author André Breton penning the first surrealist manifesto.

Breton described desire as “being the sole motivating force in the world” and “the only master humans should recognise.”

Visitors viewing surrealist artwork displayed in the exhibition
The exhibition’s name refers to the importance of the concept of desire within the movement

The exhibition is segmented into four themes. It begins with an introduction to surrealism from the 1920s and explores the influence of the movement on everyday objects, as well as its pivotal role in the evolution of design throughout the twentieth century.

Another part of the exhibition explores surrealism and interior design, since early protagonists of the movement were interested in capturing the aura or mystery of everyday household objects.

Objects on display include Marcel Duchamp’s Porte-Bouteilles, a sculpture made from bottle racks, and Man Ray’s Cadeau/Audace, a traditional flat iron with a single row of 14 nails.

Close up of the Horse Lamp created by design studio Front in the exhibition
Early surrealists were interested in capturing the mystery of ordinary household objects

The exhibition moves along to the 1940s, where designers started using surrealist art for ideas to create surprising and humorous objects. Items borne from this include Sella by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni and Jasper Morrison’s Handlebar Table.

A key section of the exhibition includes a spotlight on surrealism’s significance in the UK, documenting the partnership between Salvador Dalí and the British poet and art patron Edward James, whose collaboration resulted in some of the most notable works of surrealism such as the Mae West Lips sofas and the Lobster Telephone.

Salvador Dalí's Lobster Telephone
The exhibition features a number of pieces by Dalí including the Lobster Telephone

Another section of the exhibition examines surrealism and the body in relation to the human form, sexuality and desire.

Included in this section are Sarah Lucas’ Cigarette Tits, in which the language of tabloids is used to expose stereotypes of female sexuality, and Najla el Zein’s Hay, which highlights the sensory pleasures provided by everyday materials.

Photographs, vintage magazine covers and fashion items are on display to show the impact of surrealism on the fashion industry starting from the 1930s.

Visitors looking at four mannequins wearing fashion inspired by surrealism
The exhibition features fashion and objects exploring the human form, sexuality and desire

According to Johnson, “surrealism attracted more women than any other movement since romanticism.” As a result, she wanted to ensure there was a wide representation of female artists and designers in the exhibition.

“I think that was partly because of concerns about the body, about sexuality, and how the domestic were key themes of surrealism from the beginning,” she said.

“But those themes were approached in a very original and critical way by the women associated with the movement – some of whom would not have considered themselves surrealists but were in dialogue with those ideas.”

A chair with a bra upholstered to the backrest
Surrealism attracted more women than any other movement since romanticism, according to Johnson

The final section of the exhibition looks at the surrealist preoccupation with challenging the creative process itself and how this resulted in original works of art and design.

According to Johnson, contemporary designers are still using ideas from early surrealism, such as welcoming chance into the creative process, or using techniques like automatism.

“The surrealists try to write and draw without thinking, and we see in the exhibitions and studies where they are drawing in an automatic way. But now, of course, contemporary designers have other tools to use to try and bypass the known and the conventional,” Johnson said.

Visitors looking at a surrealist light sculpture
The exhibition is on show at the Design Museum until 19 February 2023

An example of this in the exhibition is Sketch Chair by design studio Front, which was produced using motion capture technology to translate the movement of drawing in mid-air into a 3D-printed form.

“The surrealists knew that changing the mind would change the material world and we’re now at this frightening but thrilling juncture where we’re creating a computerised intelligence that can be creative,” Johnson said.

Objects of Desire: Surrealism and Design 1924 – Today opened at the Design Museum on 14 October 2022 and is on show until 19 February 2o23.

Tickets are available at designmuseum.org/surrealism.

Partnership content

This video was produced by Dezeen for Design Museum as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen’s partnership content here.

Reference

Bringing the Outside In: Using Biophilic Design Principles to Transform Commercial Interiors
CategoriesArchitecture

Bringing the Outside In: Using Biophilic Design Principles to Transform Commercial Interiors

By Zarkon Group,

Modernism was all about clean lines, raw surfaces, and celebrating the uncompromising rationality of the machine. The vision of LeCorbusier was revolutionary in its time, and caught on in ways he would likely not have expected. Today, most of the public spaces we move through, from offices and schools to hospitals and transport hubs, owe something to the modern movement and its penchant for no-frills design.

Not everyone is happy with this state of affairs. Today, there is a renewed interest in the textures, patterns, and curves, the very features of classical architecture that modernists once avoided. Design-thinkers have learned that natural forms, from the vein patterns in leaves to the curves of the human body, are based on fractals rather than grids. As human beings, we find fractals pleasing to the eye and emotionally restorative. Right angles, in contrast, are harsh and even exhausting. This is why so many people describe modern spaces as feeling grim, sterile, or anxiety provoking.

Wall art by Inpro

For architects that are looking to warm a space with natural forms, bringing in some of that fractal energy people literally crave, the experts at Inpro are providing new, high-tech solutions. They create high-end, digital artwork optimized for spaces such as offices, schools, hospitals and more, bringing vitality to spaces that would otherwise be merely functional 

Through their critical design research into art and biophilia, and from the inspiration that guides it, Inpro is looking to make art “work” for the occupants in any commercial building. How art, working through digital imagery or printed on an architectural product, can bring a brand, an idea or even a feeling to life.

Nick Cotter, Creative Director at Inpro, says: “The right image can have a calming effect, especially in healthcare environments where patients might be experiencing anxiety, fear or pain. Images of nature offer serenity in an otherwise sterile space, while bright and colorful artwork can stimulate interest and put smiles on faces.” Studies have shown that looking at images of nature is healing, much like spending time in nature. Art, then, is a crucial component of any healthcare space. 

As the company explains in their Imaging Products brochure, “North Americans spend nearly 90% of their time indoors. . . Whether it be promoting healing in healthcare, productivity in office environments, stimulating creativity in education, triggering brand recognition in hospitality or reinforcing positive transactions in retail and restaurant, the use of imagery, pattern and color can have an influence. . . these influences are seen even in our sleep, diet and mood.”

Inpro offers six product types for people looking to bring art and photo prints into their office, including Aspex® Printed Wall Protection, a printed, protective wallcovering that can be applied directly to the wall at virtually any size, and printed wall art, which hangs on the wall just like a painting. The brand also produces printed signage, which allows art to be integrated in creative ways throughout the space, durable wall panels that can be used in high traffic spaces like elevator interiors, and printed window shades, which can turn any office into a room with a view. Made from fiberglass, polyester, vinyl, and acrylic, these high-tech Solar Shades help to block glare and unwanted heat while still allowing a degree of natural light.

Elevator interior with prestige gold trim and Aspex panels showcasing local artwork.

Each of these products is durable and super high resolution. Furthermore, they are fully customizable. Inpro works with clients to select imagery suited to their brand. If no stock images fit the bill, the brand can help facilitate collaborations between clients and local artists to curate unique artwork for their space. In 2023, Inpro is also launching curated art galleries that can be printed on products based on moods, including categories like “comfort”, “focus”, “restore”, “inspire” and “energize”.

 The key is to think about your design needs, choose a theme, and stick to it. Like a real natural landscape, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and artworks function better when they are placed in harmonious relation to one another. Through the careful selection of Inpro products, shades can be integrated with wall coverings, art, and signage, creating a fully integrated space.

Personalized dorm room window shades by Inpro

“Adding imagery throughout your spaces brings continuity throughout your building and how people experience it,” Dan Roller, Product Manager at Inpro, explains. “For example, use an overall nature theme and create variations on each floor to help people remember different locations and change up the scenery.” This type of cohesiveness will strengthen your brand, whatever industry you are in, and elevate the experience of clients or other visitors to your professional space.

If biophilia isn’t your thing, Inpro can also create graphics that have a more streamlined, minimalist look. The key thing to remember is that with new digital imaging and printing techniques, the possibilities are endless when it comes to wall coverings. One is not limited to solid colors or patterned wallpaper. Any image you can think of can find a place on your walls, your signs or your window treatments.

Coordinated window shades and wall art by Inpro

Art is no longer something that hangs on the wall – an ornament for spectators to gaze at – but something that is ultimately functional, helping spaces work better for everyone. This sounds like something even LeCorbusier would approve of.

To learn more about Inpro’s extensive range of architectural products, check out their website and their brand profile on Architizer, or download their visual inspiration guide here.

Reference

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group
CategoriesArchitecture

Vermilion Zhou Design Group Transforms ‘green massage’ into an Alice in Wonderland-Inspired Fantasy Forest

By Zarkon Group,

 

‘green massage’ Shanghai Madang Road store – Entering ‘green massage’ Madang Road, is like entering the “Rabbit Hole” in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Inspired by the Mad Hatter’s quote “There is a place. Like no place on Earth. A land full of wonder, mystery…”, your reality shrinks and shifts as you enter this fantasy forest. The process gradually disconnects your tired body from reality.

Architizer chatted with Creative Director Kuang Ming(Ray) Chou and Lighting Design Director Vera Chu at Vermilion Zhou Design Group to learn more about this project.

Architizer: This project won in the 10th Annual A+Awards! What do you believe are the standout components that made your project win?

Kuang Ming(Ray) Chou & Vera Chu: Massage services are very common in China, but the experience space always looks similar. We tried to jump from the typical oriental design and based on the brand thinking, with a new way to give the consumer a different atmosphere to experience massage service in every “green massage” space. In the end, to relax and treat every tired body and soul.

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

What was the greatest design challenge you faced during the project, and how did you navigate it?

“green massage” is a chain brand based in Shanghai that has many experience spaces, some being very close to each other. The client’s demand was to keep the same brand DNA and exploring new customers.

“green massage” Madang Road is located in “THE ROOF”, the architecture was designed by Jean Nouvel, and the architecture attracts many people who visit. But “green massage” is on the second underground floor, we have to stand out to attract consumers. That’s why we create the “rabbit hole” entrance. “Curiosity”, and “exploratory” to the new consumers, also a freshness to members.

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

What drove the selection of materials used in the project?

“green massage” is on the second underground floor so the humidity is a problem, and also fire prevention is what we are concerned about. And we still want guests to feel relaxed in the whole environment, so the material must be the sense of soft, even visual.

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

What is your favorite detail in the project and why?

The rippling shape of the ceiling in the reception area, which seems the story’s preface, leads people to enter the story.

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

In what ways did you collaborate with others, and were there any team members or skills that were essential in bringing this Award winning project to life?

We intend to create a fantasy space based on our concept, so we choose “Nan Paper Art” as our collaborator. The paper material gives a soft sense that can fit our design and also can be malleable to make a huge size floral garden.

And this is the first time that their creations added lighting design, for them that’s a new inspiration, and for us is a great experience to enrich the whole design.

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

Were any parts of the project dramatically altered from conception to construction, and if so, why?

Even though not everything is so satisfactory from conception to construction, embracing change and figuring out the solution is the designer’s mission. Finally, we are so lucky to have good results.

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

How have your clients responded to the finished project?

In the beginning, the client has their concern, but eventually, they trust our profession. The result shows the consumers, the actual space users had very good feedback and increased the business.

What key lesson did you learn in the process of conceiving the project?

We have to believe what we do, dig into who is the actual user in every space then provide their actual need.

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

How do you believe this project represents you or your firm as a whole?

The design concept is the matter, every design is a new breakthrough, to observe, find out the key problem then solve them. The lighting design in this project was involved in the very early design phase, and it become the key design tone.

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

© Vermilion Zhou Design Group

Team Members

Creative Director｜Kuang Ming(Ray) Chou, Interior Design｜Garvin Hung, Yue Hu, Reykia Feng, Chang Song Li, Yu Xuan Li, Ming Rui Gao, Lighting Design｜Vera Chu, Chia Huang Liao, FF&E Design｜Wan Lu Yang, Video｜Ming Shi, Ting Ho, Photographer｜Yunpu Cai,

Consultants

Nan Paper Art

For more on ‘green massage’ Shanghai Madang Road store, please visit the in-depth project page on Architizer.

‘green massage’ Shanghai Madang Road store Gallery

Reference

The A+List: 196 Architecture and Design Firms to Watch
CategoriesArchitecture

The A+List: 196 Architecture and Design Firms to Watch

By Zarkon Group,

Architizer’s global architectural awards program, the 11th Annual A+Awards, is now accepting submissions, with a Main Entry Deadline of December 16th this year. As well as celebrating some of the most innovative, recently-completed projects around the globe, the A+Awards also serve as an incredible indicator of which designers will be at the forefront of innovation in the coming year.

In recognition of this fact, Architizer is delighted to present the fourth edition of the coveted A+List, an annual run-down of every firm that scooped an A+Award and A+Firm Award in the previous season. The A+List forms a comprehensive guide to the world’s best architecture firms and is refreshed each year based on the results of the annual A+Awards program. You can see last season’s A+List here.

The A+List is arranged alphabetically, with more information available by clicking on the link to each firm’s profile. We’ve also picked out a selection of featured firms, providing some extra background on their A+Award triumphs.

Get Your Firm On the Next A+List

If you missed entering last season’s program and would like to secure your position on the next A+List, we encourage you to enter your firm’s recent projects in the 11th Annual A+Awards. Every winner features in this definitive directory of high-quality firms, and will also see their work published in a stunning, hardbound compendium on the World’s Best Architecture, as well as gaining continual publicity through our year-round global celebration of design.

Begin A+Awards Submission

Without further ado, explore the work of each of these immensely talented firms below, and good luck with your submissions to this year’s program!

The Fourth Annual A+List

314 Architecture Studio
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Unbuilt Hospitality

35-51 ARCHITECTURE Office
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Private House (L 4000-6000 sq ft)

5+design
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Shopping Center

9M Design
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards,Multi-Unit Housing – High Rise (16+ Floors)

AB design studio
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Private House (M 2000-4000 sq ft)

Adjaye Associates
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Libraries

AECOM
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Unbuilt Sports & Recreation

Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Pavilions

Mission Possible: The ‘UN’ Opportunity Pavilion by AGi architects, Dubai, United Arab Emirates | Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Pavilions

With offices in Kuwait and Madrid, AGi architects is a truly international studio with a multidisciplinary focus. Joaquín Pérez-Goicoechea and Nasser B. Abulhasan first met during their studies and later founded the studio, whose team now comprises more than 50 professionals. AGi’s architecture is based on four founding pillars: innovation, an inherent life component, ecological and social interventions and research. The diversity of their output is exemplified by their two most recent A+Awards-recognized projects: The ‘UN’ Opportunity Pavilion in Dubai, a floating canopy that brings to life the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), and Trazas de Pontevedra, a landscape intervention that reinterprets ancient Galician-Roman settlements.

AIDIA STUDIO
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Unbuilt Transportation

AKA – Apostolou Colakis architects
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Color

Akira Koyama + KEY OPERATION INC. / ARCHITECTS
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Firm in Asia

AL_A
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Community Centers

Alibi Studio
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Light

APPAREIL Architecture
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Residential Interiors (<3000 sq ft)

archi5
Jury & Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Primary & High Schools

Architectural Association (AA) School of Architecture
Emergent Technologies & Design (EmTech) Post-Graduate Programme
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Collaboration

ArchSD
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Landscape
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Joy

Architectural Design and Research Institute of Tsinghua University
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Environment

ARCity Office
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Government & Civic Buildings

asap/ adam sokol architecture practice
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Workspace

ASPECT Studios
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Landscape Design Firm

Atelje Ostan Pavlin (Aleksander Ostan and Natasa Pavlin)
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards,Transportation Infrastructure

ATRIUM studio
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Unbuilt Transportation

Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Private Garden

Xiaoyunlu 8, MAHA Residential Park by Ballistic Architecture Machine (BAM), Beijing, China | Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Private Garden

As a locally grown design firm with offices Beijing and Shanghai, Ballistic Architecture Machine (BAM) is somewhat of an anomaly. Founded by foreigners in 2007, the design practice rose to prominence as it navigated the changing contemporary Chinese metropolis and rising technological innovations, and the firm became well versed in the ins and outs of breakneck urbanization. These experiences were formative and instilled the firm with the conviction that as societal views of nature are change, architecture must imagine new ways of inspiring healthy relationships with the environment.

Bando x Seidel Meersseman – BxSM
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Showrooms

Barker Associates Architecture Office
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Learning
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Educational Interiors

Bates Smart
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Unbuilt Commercial

BDP Quadrangle 
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Stairs

BERKTOLD WEBER Architekten
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Private House (S 1000-2000 sq ft)

Bernardes Arquitetura
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Private House (XL >6000 sq ft)

BKVV Architects
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +For Good

Büro Ziyu Zhuang
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Facades
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Metal

Candida Tabet Arquitetura
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Multi-Unit Housing – Low Rise (1-4 Floors)

CEBRA architecture
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Urban and Masterplan

Chiangmai Life Architects
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Small Firm (1-10 Employees)

Christensen & Co Architects
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Community Centers

CO Architects
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Higher Education & Research Facilities

Featured Firm: Cobe

Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Transportation Infrastructure

Ultra-Fast Charging Stations by Cobe, Fredericia, Denmark | Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Transportation Infrastructure

Architects today are all well aware that the building and construction sector are are massive contributors to the world’s CO2 emissions, and the Danish firm Cobe has been on the vanguard of those studios who have shaped their practice around challenging this status quo. Though the studio recognizes that no new build is 100% sustainable, they strive to transform these commissions into resilient, long-term buildings and landscapes. By championing innovative aesthetics and intrinsic beauty, Cobe aims to empower and engage inhabitants, inspiring better habits and behaviors from the larger community.

Concentrico
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Retail

Cristina Menezes Arquitetura
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Private House (XS <1000 sq ft)

Crossboundaries
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Community

Cumulus
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Firm in Australasia

Daniel Joseph Chenin
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Private House (XL >6000 sq ft)
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Residential Interiors (>3000 sq ft)

DOMANI Architectural Concepts
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Adaptive Reuse

Dreyfuss + Blackford Architecture
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Preservation

Dubbeldam Architecture + Design
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Renovation
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Stairs

Duvall Decker Architects
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Medium Firm (11-49 employees)
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Affordable Housing

Ema Peter Photography
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Photography & Video

ENOTA
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Unbuilt Sports & Recreation

EQ Office
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Workspace

Estudio Santiago Fernández
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Multi Unit Housing – Low Rise (1-4 Floors)

Extended Play Lab
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Prefab

Façade Architecture
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Unbuilt – Private House (S <3000 sq ft)

Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Medium Firm (11-49 Employees)
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Firm in Australasia

Faraday Street Studio by Fearon Hay Architects, Auckland, New Zealand

Fearon Hay Architects is a design-led studio that excels at designing buildings that thoughtfully reflect their site and place. Founded in Auckland in 1998, over twenty years later the firm has grown to encompass a studio in Los Angeles as well. From office and workplace design to complex heritage environments to public work within the urban realm or wider landscape, Fearon Hay approaches every project with an inventive sense of creativity, as is reflected in the diversity of forms, materials and typologies in their portfolio.

Félix Michaud － Photographie
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Photography & Video

FGMF
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Firm in Central & South America

FRANKLIN AZZI ARCHITECTURE
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Unbuilt Cultural

Future Simple Studio
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Apartment

fws_work
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Apartment

FXCollaborative Architects
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Office – High Rise (16+ Floors)

Fyra
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Interior Design Firm

General Architecture Collaborative
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Community
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +For Good

Gensler
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Commercial Interiors (<25,000 sq ft)

Geoffrey Nees
Jury & Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Art

Geza Architettura
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Mixed Use (L >25,000 sq ft)

Gisele Borges Arquitetura
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Metal

GOA (Group of Architects)
Jury & Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Restaurants (L >1000 sq ft)

GRAAM
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Office – Mid Rise (5-15 Floors)

Gustavo Penna Architects and Associates
Jury & Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Factories & Warehouses

Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Higher Education & Research Facilities

Nicol Building, Sprott School of Business by Hariri Pontarini Architects, Ottawa, Canada | Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Higher Education & Research Facilities

The Canadian firm Hariri Pontarini Architects has carved out a name for themselves on the global stage by creating exceptional, complex projects as well as cultural landmarks. With a team of 85 professional and technical staff, the firm has won over 60 national and international awards, and currently has nearly 50 institutional, cultural a mixed-use projects on the docket. In particular, the firm’s illustrious portfolio includes a number of outstanding academic buildings that are on the forefront of university campus architecture today.

Hawkins\Brown
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Unbuilt Commercial

Heatherwick Studio
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Public Parks & Green Spaces

Henriquez Partners Architects
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Multi Unit Housing – High Rise (16+ Floors)
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Unbuilt – Multi-Unit Housing (L >10 Floors)

HIBINOSEKKEI + Youji no Shiro + KIDS DESIGN LABO
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Kindergartens

Hooba Design
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Office – Mid Rise (5-15 Floors)

Hopkins Architects
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Gyms & Recreation Centers

HQ Architects
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best in the Middle East & Africa

ICON
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +New Technology
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Experimental Design

Idaho Design Build
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Collaboration

INFINITIVE ARCHITECTURE
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Coworking Space

iraisynn attinom
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Unbuilt Hospitality

James Corner Field Operations
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Urban Transformation
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Public Parks & Green Spaces

JC Architecture
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Transport Interiors

JENSEN Architects
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Residential Additions

Jí ARCHITECTS
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Stone

Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Showrooms

Ghost Hangar by John Grable Architects, TX, United States | Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Showrooms

John Grable Architects was founded in 2005 by the eponymous designer who sought to combine his love of craft with an appreciation of technology. Fas forward to the present, and this approach has proved fruitful: the high-performance design firm’s trademark is creating buildings with expressive architectural details that celebrate building materials and the construction trades. While the buildings that John Grable and his team of skilled staff produce may recall the sound building practices of the past, they are achieved by integrating complex building and information management systems and software. This is combined with an approach to the construction process as a continuous dialogue with contractors and the trades that allows the firm continuously modify their designs.

Jonathan Burlow Architects
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Young Firm

JSa Arquitectura
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Small Projects

JUNSEKINO Architect and Design
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Office – Low Rise (1-4 Floors)

KANVA
Jury & Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Museum

Kengo Kuma & Associates
Jury & Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Art

Khmaladze Architects
Jury & Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Pop-Ups & Temporary

Killa Design
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Large Firm (50+ employees)

Klein Dytham architecture
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Branding

Koichi Takada Architects
Jury & Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Multi Unit Housing – Mid Rise (5-15 Floors)

Konstantin Arkitekter
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Pavilions

KRIS YAO | ARTECH
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Firm in Asia

Krueck Sexton Partners
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Commercial Interiors (>25,000 sq ft.)

L&M Design Lab
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Young Interior Design Firm

LIGHTING DESIGN INSTITUTE of UAD
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Light

line+
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Landscape
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Unbuilt – Private House (L >3000 sq ft)

Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Wood
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Branding

Timber Bridge in Gulou Waterfront by LUO studio, Jiangmen, China | Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Wood

Glancing through LUO studio’s oeuvre, it is immediately clear that the firm champions a spirit of craftsmanship and the principle of caring for nature in all of their work. This firm’s attention to craft and mastery of structural language is evident; their buildings speak with intricate syntax that is elegant but boldly expressed. It’s no wonder, then, that the studio’s found Mr. Luo Yujie also teaches a course in Construction Basics in the School of Architecture at Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA). With a creative approach, the firm demonstrates a strong commitment to creating more durable, friendly and quality spaces.

MAD Architects
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Stadium & Arena

MADO ARCHITECTS
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Unbuilt – Private House (L >3000 sq ft)

Marble Fairbanks
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Libraries

Mario Cucinella Architects
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Religious Buildings & Memorials

Mark Cavagnero Associates
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Hospitals & Healthcare Centers

MARS Studio
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Bars & Wineries
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Bars & Wineries

MAYU architects
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Adaptive Reuse

Mecanoo
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Firm in Europe

MGA | Michael Green Architecture
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best North America

Mikkelsen Architects
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Hospitals & Healthcare Centers

Mix Architecture
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Environment

Montalba Architects
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Firm in North America

Montforthaus Feldkirch GmbH
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Cultural & Expo Centers

Moriyama & Teshima Architects and Smoke Architecture
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Unbuilt Institutional

Murray Legge Architecture
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Private House (S 1000-2000 sq ft)
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Residential Additions

Featured Firm: MVRDV

Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Gallery & Exhibition Spaces

Depot Boijmans van Beuningen by MVRDV, Rotterdam, Netherlands | Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Gallery & Exhibition Spaces

For nearly 30 years, MVRDV has been providing solutions to contemporary architectural and urban issues, with their reach extending from their home base in Rotterdam to all regions of the world. Their collaborative, research-based design method harnesses the full power of their 250-person strong team, which includes architects, designers, urbanists and official in-house BREEAM and LEED assessors, and involves rigorous technical and creative investigation. The often iconic results represent true outside-the-box thinking that challenges established building typologies and reveal new possibilities for our cities and landscapes.

NADAAA
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Public Projects Firm
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Mixed Use (L >25,000 sq ft)

Neri&Hu Design and Research Office
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Private House (M 2000-4000 sq ft)
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Preservation

NZI Architectes
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Affordable Design

ORG Permanent Modernity
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Unbuilt Landscape

OYTT Design
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Restaurants (S <1000 sq ft)

Panorama Design Group
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Interior Design Firm

Peter Pichler Architecture
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Private House (L 4000-6000 sq ft)

PETITDIDIERPRIOUX Architectes
2022 A+Awards Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Residential Firm

PH Alpha Design Limited
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Shopping Center

Plan Architect
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Affordable Housing

PLP Architecture
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Stone

QINGMO Architects
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Unbuilt Cultural
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Mixed Use (S <25,000 sq ft)

querkraft architects zt gmbh
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards,Architecture +Sustainability
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Retail

RDG Planning & Design
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Stairs

Rhotenberry Wellen Architects
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Gyms & Recreation Centers

Featured Firm: RIOS

Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Health

Lawrence J. Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine by RIOS, Los Angeles, CA, United States | Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Health

RIOS is an international design collective with interdisciplinarity at its heart. From architecture to urban and landscape planning to graphic, interior, exhibit and product design, by blurring the boundaries of traditional distinct disciplines within the profession, Rios’ diverse team amplifies the impact of design. The resulting integrated and comprehensive solutions are irreversibly connected to the narrative of place and the complex order of human culture, creating solutions that are joyful, authentic, and unexpected.

RJRX Urban Planning & Design Consultants
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Unbuilt Masterplan

Roark Studio
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Firm in Europe
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Multi Unit Housing – Low Rise (1-4 Floors)

Robert Hutchison Architecture
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Small Projects

Rogers Partners Architects + Urban Designers
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Government & Civic Buildings

ruanxiaozhou design studio
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Facades

Salem Architecture
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Unbuilt – Multi-Unit Housing (S <10 Floors)

Sanjay Puri Architects
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Residential Firm
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Color

SBM studio
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Public Projects Firm

Shanghai TIANHUA Urban Planning & Design
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Urban and Masterplan

Shomali Design [Yaser Rashid Shomali & Yasin Rashid Shomali]
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Unbuilt – Private House (S <3000 sq ft)

shulin architectural design
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Hotels & Resorts

Silvester Fuller
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Educational Interiors

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Sustainable Firm
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Sustainability

SML
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Concrete

Snorre Stinessen Architecture
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Prefab

Sò Studio
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Restaurants (S <1000 sq ft)

Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Unbuilt – Multi-Unit Housing (L >10 Floors)
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Spa & Wellness

Akumal Monterrey by Sordo Madaleno, San Pedro Garza García, Mexico | Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Unbuilt – Multi-Unit Housing (L >10 Floors)

Founded in 1937 by Juan Sordo Madaleno, this family-owned architecture firm has remained in the family for three generations. Over the course of just under a century, the firm has built landmarks throughout Mexico, honing its own distinct architectural style while contributing to the country’s rich architectural fabric. A thread woven through all of their work is the desire to improve the city; the firm gravitates towards projects with social and urban impact, including countless pro bono projects, that may regenerate areas, improve quality of life, add value and create new urban conditions. SMA has implemented international environmental impact certifications. Their work represents a significant contribution to the evolution of Mexican design.

SRG Partnership
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Stadium & Arena

STLarchitects
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Unbuilt Institutional
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Models & Rendering

Studio 21@CCDI Group
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Office – High Rise (16+ Floors)

Studio Libeskind
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Religious Buildings & Memorials

Studio MK27f
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Firm in Central & South America

Studio O+A
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards,Commercial Interiors (>25,000 sq ft)

studio razavi architecture
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards,Commercial Interiors (<25,000 sq ft)

Studio Seilern Architects
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards,Hall / Theater

Studio Toggle
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards,Best Young Firm
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Firm in the Middle East & Africa

Studio+
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Coworking Space

StudioX4 Architect and Associates
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Spa & Wellness

SUP Atelier of THAD
Jury & Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Brick

Supercloud Studio
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Kindergartens

supermanoeuvre
Jury & Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Ceilings

SvN Architects + Planners
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Unbuilt Masterplan

Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Mixed Use (S <25,000 sq ft)

FH Office by TA-CHA Design, Bangkok, Thailand | Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Mixed Use (S <25,000 sq ft)

Bangkok-based TA-CHA Studio is self-described as “just ordinary tiny firm doing better thing for our client and society;” however, we’d argue that, to the contrary, they are an extraordinary tiny studio. Time and again, TA-CHA’s projects present innovative way of incorporating passive design approaches: a highly thought-out approach to airflow is at their heart of all their work. Likewise, re-used or locally grown wood and recyclable metal are mainstays in their material palette, while a human-centered approach to floor plan thinks about how space can motivate inhabitants to form healthier behaviors.

TAA DESIGN
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Office – Low Rise (1-4 Floors)

Tabanlioglu Architects
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Cultural Firm

TAC
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Private House (XS <1000 sq ft)

Tegnestuen LOKAL
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Renovation

The Architectural Design and Research Institute of HIT
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Hall / Theater

The Design Institute Of Landscape & Architecture China Academy Of Art-Young Designer Studio
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Small Firm (1-10 employees)
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Cultural Firm
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Urban Transformation

The Miller Hull Partnership
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Sustainable Firm

Tommila Architects & Kaleidoscope Nordic
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Unbuilt – Multi-Unit Housing (S <10 Floors)

TROP : terrains + open space
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Landscape Design Firm
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Private Garden

UAO Design
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Affordable Design
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Small Projects

UNITEDLAB Associates
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Unbuilt Landscape

Valenti Albareda Studio
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Residential Interiors (<3000 sq ft)

Various Associates
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Commercial Firm

Vaslab Architecture
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Hotels & Resorts

Ventura + Partners
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Health

Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Learning
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards,Hospitals & Healthcare Centers

LIFE Campus by Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects, Lyngby, Denmark | Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Learning

As the namesake of one of Denmark’s most celebrated modern architects, Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects has big shoes to fill. Founded in 1922, the firm has evolved is trademark functional architecture and design rooted in classic Nordic modernism. Today, the team of 150 architects, technicians and administrative staff maintains this spirit of innovation, but are better known for excellence in high-complex typologies, such as airports, hospitals and life science. Despite being a century old, they have embraced digitalisation and development projects within A.I. and blockchain, carrying on Vilhelm Lauritzen’s vision: “Good architecture should be for everyone – never a privilege for the few.”

VISIOARQ ARQUITECTOS
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Wood

Visionnaire
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Water

Vtrilloarquitectos
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Unbuilt Landscape

Walker Warner Architects
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Models & Rendering

WIP ARCHITECTURE
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Water

WIT Design & Research
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Young Interior Design Firm

Woods + Dangaran
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Residential Interiors (>3000 sq ft)

X+Living
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Commercial Firm

XING DESIGN
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Transport Interiors

Z-one Tech
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Gallery & Exhibition Spaces
Public Vote Winner , 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +New Technology
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Experimental Design

Zaha Hadid Architects
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Best Large Firm (50+ employees)
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Concrete

ZJJZ
Jury Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Joy

Zone of Utopia + Mathieu Forest Architecte
Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards,Cultural & Expo Centers
Jury & Public Vote Winner, 10th Annual A+Awards, Architecture +Glass

You can check out previous editions of the A+List here: First Edition, Second Edition, Third Edition

To secure your position on next year’s A+List, make sure to enter the 11th Annual A+Awards before the Main Entry Deadline on December 16th:

Enter the 11th Annual A+Awards

Reference

Interiors of Flaine holiday apartment, revamped by Volta
CategoriesInterior Design

Ten Bauhaus interiors that draw on the principles of design school

By Zarkon Group,

A hotel that pays tribute to early German modernism and an apartment within a ski resort designed by architect Marcel Breuer are among the projects collected in our latest lookbook, which explores interiors informed by the Bauhaus.

The most influential art and design school in history, the Bauhaus’ was established in Germany in 1919 and although it closed just over a decade later continues to influence interior designers today.

Work produced by students and teachers during the school’s 14-year history, centred on founder Walter Gropius’ ethos that art and craft should marry to create a new architecture.

The below projects feature distinctly Bauhaus elements including chrome tubular chairs, geometric shapes, primary colours and abstract textiles.

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring living rooms that use warm neutrals to create a cosy ambience, bedrooms with wardrobes that are disguised as walls and contemporary living rooms in Georgian and Victorian homes.

Interiors of Flaine holiday apartment, revamped by Volta
Photo is by Arthur Fechoz

Cassiopeia Apartment, France, by Volta

Tasked with reviving the “Bauhaus spirit” of this apartment set within a Breuer-designed ski resort, architecture studio Volta added soft furnishings in mustard yellows and royal blues, referencing the colour palette of movement.

Armchairs with steel frames that resemble Breuer’s Wassily Chair have also been used to decorate the living room.

“The Bauhaus movement was predominant in the design of the project,” said the studio. “It has influenced its history, its choice of materials and its furniture. The challenge was to revive its influences in a contemporary context.”

Find out more about Cassiopeia apartment ›

De Maria by The MP Shift
Photo is by Nicole Franzen

De Maria, US, by The MP Shift

Design studio The MP Shift wanted De Maria, a contemporary American restaurant in Manhattan’s Nolita neighbourhood to look like an artist’s studio, complete with white brickwork and pink-tinted plaster.

The studio paid tribute to Bauhaus and 1970s Soho style by adding sofas upholstered in tan-coloured leather, orb-shaped pendant lamps and simple pieces of art with triangular shapes.

Find out more about De Maria ›

Nadzieja restaurant designed by Agnieszka Owsiany Studio
Photo courtesy of Agnieszka Owsiany Studio

Nadzieja, Poland, by Agnieszka Owsiany Studio

Design influences from the Bauhaus collide with Israeli flavours at Nadzieja, a restaurant in Poznań, Poland designed by local studio Agnieszka Owsiany Studio.

Filled with brown-leather chairs with tubular steel frames, high granite ivory counters and spherical pendant lights, the eatery has a bright and warm interior that draws parallels with the large number of Bauhaus buildings found in Tel Aviv.

Find out more about Nadzieja ›

Schwan Locke hotel Munich by Fettle
Photo is by Edmund Dabney

Schwan Locke Hotel, Germany, by Fettle

Influenced by the work of proto-Bauhaus association Deutsche Werkbund, design studio Fettle wanted the interiors of aparthotel Locke to be at once nostalgic and distinctly contemporary.

Its 151 apartment rooms feature a combination of light timber, raw plaster, chrome, steel and mohair materials set against a colourful yet muted pink and green backdrop.

Find out more about Schwan Locke hotel ›

A living room with a geometric rug
Photo courtesy of Kasthall

Quilt by Ellinor Eliasson

In this living room, Swedish designer Ellinor Eliasson’s tufted rug acts as a centrepiece and gives the space a warm and richly textured look.

The graphic, modernist rug recalls the work of renowned Bauhaus weaving workshop teacher Anni Albers, who is best known for her textiles and recognisable lines, colours and forms.

Find out more about Quilt ›

Members' Club areas divided by metal shelving
Photo is by Andrew Joseph Woomer

Soho House Nashville, US, by Soho House

At the Soho House in Nashville, guests can enjoy a taste of the city’s musical heritage while uncovering the building’s industrial past as a knitting mill.

Designed to feel warm and rich, much like the rock and roll, jazz and blues music that Nashville is known for, the accommodation features bespoke lamps, brassy industrial finishes and plenty of tubular decor to create an industrial interior that still feels modern.

Find out more about Soho House Nashville ›

53 West 53 by Andre Fu 36B
Photo is by Stephen Kent Johnson

53 West Apartment, US, by André Fu and AFSO

Architect André Fu and his Hong Kong studio AFSO referenced the geometric designs of the Bauhaus school for 53 West Apartment, a model unit set within architect Jean Nouvel’s New York tower block.

The two-bedroom apartment is peppered with sculptural pieces of furniture such as a room divider comprised of dark wood and rods, which compliments the existing walnut doors and oak floors and cabinets.

Find out more about 53 West Apartment ›

RP House by Estudio BG
Photo is by Fran Parente

RP House, Brazil, by Estúdio BG

Inside this stripped-back two-storey residence called RP House, black steelwork, bare walls and simple white volumes stacked on top of each other come together to create a sparse yet light-filled Brazilian home.

São Paulo studio Estúdio BG said that the design referenced the principles of repeatability and standardisation advocated by designers of the Bauhaus.

“This 1920s movement was characterised by the replication of design in an industrial format,” the studio said. “The simple geometric volume, the elimination of decorative elements and the use of the roof as terraces reinforce the principles adopted in the project.”

Find out more about RP House ›

Dome House by Pavlina Williams
Photo is by Krista Jahnke

Palm Springs Dome House, US, by Pavlina Williams

Los Angeles-based architect Pavlina Williams added multiple windows and knocked down several walls in her renovation of this Californian house, transforming it from a gloomy residence into a desert sun trap.

In the open-plan living area, a caramel leather Wassily Chair by the Hungarian architect and designer Breuer sits alongside a spiral stainless-steel staircase that leads up to a loft.

Find out more about Palm Springs Dome House ›

KaDaWe department store in Berlin
Photo is by Derek Hudson

KaDeWe, Germany, by India Mahdavi

French architect India Mahdavi borrowed from the Bauhaus’ preoccupation with strong graphic lines and shapes in her renovation of department store KaDeWe by adding sweeping black, white and grey stripes of Santa Margherita to the floor of the womenswear section.

Elsewhere in the 2,000-square-metre shopping space, pink carpeting is set off against triple-tiered, brass clothes rails and olive green and dusty pink velvet curtains.

Find out more about KaDeWe ›

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring bathrooms where the sink takes centre stage, homes with arched openings that add architectural interest and bookshops designed to enhance the browsing experience.

Reference

Design for Planet festival graphic
CategoriesSustainable News

Bad design “at the heart of our destruction” says UK’s top climate adviser

By Zarkon Group,

Designers might have had a hand in causing climate change but they are also key to solving it, according to the chair of the UK Climate Change Committee, who addressed the Design Council’s sustainability conference as it kicked off alongside COP27.

“In the past, we have created great wealth through remarkable design, from Newcomen’s steam engine to the very latest in nuclear technology,” John Gummer, also known as Lord Deben, said at the Design for Planet Festival.

“The trouble is we didn’t recognise that what we were designing actually had within it the ability to destroy.”

Design for Planet festival graphic
Lord Deben spoke at the Design for Planet Festival

Gummer, a Conservative former environment secretary and top climate adviser to the UK government, said this means that designers now have both the responsibility and the unique ability to reimagine products in a way that doesn’t harm the planet and its people.

“Sustainable development demands good design,” he said. “We won’t win the battle against climate change unless we design the solutions.”

“It is good design, which will enable us to use the smallest amount of our resources as is possible, that will enable us to reuse, that will enable us to extend, that will enable us to be flexible, that will enable us increasingly to grow – but to grow in a way that is not at the expense of others and the planet.”

Products can be beautiful and sustainable

Gummer made the comments in a virtual address during the Design Council’s Design for Planet festival, which is taking place this week to coincide with the UN’s COP27 climate conference in Egypt.

The two-day event in Newcastle aims to encourage and support designers in taking an active role in solving the climate crisis.

This should involve making sustainable low-carbon designs that are still beautiful and easy to use, Gummer argued.

“I don’t think being attractive is something to be ashamed of because what it means is that we create things, which people want to use and want to use properly,” he said.

“One of the fundamentals of beauty is now going to be that they enhance, extend and enable our lives rather than being at the heart of our destruction.”

Designers “fed up” with industry’s lack of action

Gummer is the chairman of the UK’s independent Climate Change Committee, which is responsible for advising the government on emissions targets and monitoring its progress in achieving them.

Last week, Gummer warned that the UK’s attempts to tackle emissions have so far been “appalling“, leaving the country “off track” for meeting its climate targets.

This has been echoed by experts including Cambridge University engineering professor Julian Allwood, who argued that the UK’s net-zero strategy is as unrealistic as “magic beans fertilised by unicorn’s blood”.

The UK’s design industry had a similarly slow start, launching its Design Declares campaign a full two years after architects, engineers and other creative industries declared a climate emergency.

Announced in September as part of London Design Festival, the initiative hopes to unite studios that are “fed up with a lack of industry momentum”.

The Design for Planet Festival is taking place from 9 to 10 November at the V&A Dundee. See Dezeen Events Guide for information about the many other exhibitions, installations and talks taking place throughout the week.

Reference