American architecture studio Kohn Pedersen Fox has unveiled images of a supertall skyscraper that is currently being built in Midtown Manhattan.
Commenters analysed the structure, with one praising the “contextual design approach” while another questioned: “Can we declare this day the end of messianic Miesianism?”
However, a commenter thought the design “kind of falls apart when you look at the details.”
Rafael Viñoly Architects unveils plans for vineyard-covered airport terminal
Other stories in this week’s newsletter that fired up the comments section included Rafael Viñoly Architects’ plans for a vineyard-covered airport terminal, a pavilion designed for The OWO hotel in London and the news that Elon Musk’s company Neuralink has implanted a brain chip into its first human patient.
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London studio Oskar Kohnen has outfitted a Mayfair office with mid-century modern furniture and contemporary pieces, which “are so well curated that no one would ever dare to throw them away”.
Spread across three floors, the office is housed within a rectilinear building in London’s Mayfair neighbourhood with a gridded facade.
Oskar Kohnen designed the office in London’s Mayfair area
“It has a townhouse feeling,” studio founder Oskar Kohnen told Dezeen of the office, which he designed for developer Crosstree Real Estate.
At its ground level, Kohnen clad the entrance hall with dark-stained wooden panels and added sconce lights to subtly illuminate the space.
A cream Djinn sofa was placed in the entrance hall
An amorphous Djinn sofa, created by industrial designer Olivier Mourge in 1965, was placed in one corner.
“We worked a lot with vintage furniture, and as for the new pieces we sourced, we hope they are so well curated that no one would ever dare to throw them away,” said Kohnen.
The first floor features a living room-style space
“Warm and inviting” interiors characterise a living room-style space on the first floor, which was created in direct contrast to the industrial appearance of the exterior.
An L-shaped velvet and stainless-steel sofa finished in a burnt orange hue was positioned next to white-stained brise soleil screens and a bright resin coffee table.
Terrazzo accents were chosen for the kitchen
“The social spaces have an earthy and calm colour palette – yet they are lush and dramatic,” explained Kohnen.
A pair of low-slung 1955 Lina armchairs by architect Gianfranco Frattini also features in this space, while floor-to-ceiling glazing opens onto a residential-style terrace punctuated by potted plants.
Oskar Kohnen added a bright gridded ceiling to one of the meeting rooms
Similar tones and textures were used to dress the rest of the rooms on this level.
These spaces include a kitchen with contemporary terrazzo worktops and a meeting room with a red gridded ceiling that was set against cream-coloured panels and modernist black chairs.
The second floor holds the main office, complete with rows of timber desks and an additional meeting room-library space characterised by the same reddish hues as the low-lit entrance hall.
“The idea was to create an office space that had soul to it and would offer a more personal take on a work environment, rather than the usual corporate spaces we are so familiar with in London,” Kohen concluded.
The second floor holds the main office
Founded in 2011, Kohnen’s eponymous studio has completed a range of interior projects, including a mint-green eyewear store in Berlin and a pink-tinged paint shop in southwest London.
Father and son architect duo Luís and Tiago Rebelo de Andrade explain how they furnished Lisbon’s Art Legacy Hotel entirely with Moooi products in this video produced by Dezeen for the Dutch furniture brand.
Lisbon practice Rebelo De Andrade designed the interiors of the five star Art Legacy Hotel, located in the Baixa-Chiado district in the city’s centre.
The hotel is notable for its exclusive use of Moooi products and rooms with bold primary colour schemes.
Art Legacy Hotel is a five star hotel in Lisbon
“Hospitality is always about image and stories,” said Luís Rebelo De Andrade, founder of the studio, in the exclusive Dezeen video interview. “We wanted the guests, when they come to this hotel, to have a completely unexpected experience.”
“So, we proposed to our client that we make a hotel with only Moooi products, to give it a very strong identity.”
Moooi’s products were used throughout the hotel, including carpets, furniture, lighting, wall coverings and art pieces.
“Moooi is everywhere in the building,” said Tiago Rebelo De Andrade, who is partner and principal architect at the studio and Luís Rebelo De Andrade’s son. “When you enter the hotel, all the colours, all the textures, all the furniture from Moooi helps us to tell a different story in every floor.
Rebelo De Andrade furnished the Art Legacy Hotel entirely with Moooi products
The project is a renovation of a historical office building. Alongside overhauling the hotel’s interior, Rebelo De Andrade also redesigned its facade.
According to Tiago Rebelo De Andrade, Moooi’s blend of modernity and classical references suited the studio’s approach to designing the hotel’s interiors.
“Moooi is classic but in a way that can also be modern,” he said. “It’s a modern-classic building.”
Art Legacy Hotel is a renovation of a historic building in Lisbon’s centre
Luís Rebelo De Andrade decided to partner with Moooi on the hotel’s interiors after visiting the brand’s Museum of Extinct Animals exhibition at Milan design week in 2018.
Each room in the Art Legacy Hotel has either a blue, red, yellow or green colour scheme, with matching wall coverings, furniture and tiling in the bathrooms.
“When I first met Moooi’s products, I felt that it uses a lot of primary colours,” he said. “So I used primary colours in a very strong way in the hotel. They are colours that provoke you.”
Moooi’s lighting, furniture, wall coverings and carpets are used throughout Art Legacy Hotel
In the video interview, the duo also discussed their working relationship.
“My son, he provokes me,” said Luís Rebelo De Andrade. “We had to educate ourselves on how to work together.”
“I offer my experience, he offers his youth in projects,” he continued. “So I think it’s a good mix.”
Rebelo De Andrade used primary colour schemes in Art Legacy Hotel’s rooms
“It’s difficult because it’s a father and son relationship,” added Tiago Rebelo De Andrade. “We are always arguing, but at the end of the day, we drink a bottle of wine so that we can make peace with each other.”
Other recent projects from Moooi include the IDEO-designed Pallana suspension lamp, made up of adjustable ring lights, and the rope-like Knitty Chair designed by Nika Zupanc.
The photography is by João Guimarães.
Partnership content
This video was produced by Dezeen for Moooi as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen’s partnership content here.
Two British materials companies, Sages and Osmose, have collaborated to dye sheets of mycelium with natural food waste, mimicking the appearance of tanned leather and suggesting a colourful future for the biomaterial.
Osmose is a company making a leather alternative from mycelium – the fibrous underground root network of mushrooms – while Sages makes natural dyes from food waste such as avocado pits, blueberries, red cabbages and onion skins, which are normally applied to textiles.
The two believe they’ve achieved a world first with their collaboration, combining two emerging areas of sustainable material development to colour mycelium without resorting to petroleum-based synthetic dyes, thereby keeping the product non-toxic and able to biodegrade safely in soil.
Sages and Osmose have developed a natural dying process for mycelium leather
“There are lots of different types of vegan leather alternatives to traditional leather but the majority of them use either synthetic colourations or they use plasticisers, so they’re non-biodegradable,” said Sages CEO Emily Taylor.
“We wanted to explore an option where we could have a fully biodegradable leather that has also been coloured in a biodegradable and sustainable manner,” she continued.
Companies that prioritise biodegradability have offered mycelium in its natural shades of white and brown or black, which Osmose CEO Aurelie Fontan says is much easier to achieve naturally.
“I think the challenge for mycelium leather was that the offering just wasn’t there in terms of aesthetic,” she said. “When you’re presenting for brands and you’re like ‘we can only do brown’, it’s a little bit boring for them.”
The companies experimented with different food wastes in the dyeing process
“The colour sector is somewhere where you can develop your USP, essentially, which is why working with Sages is so interesting,” Fontan added.
Osmose and Sages have created tan-coloured mycelium sheets using avocado waste, which Sages sources from an importer and guacamole factory in Milton Keynes, where tens of tonnes of leftover pits and skins are produced each week.
It was a new area for both companies, as the food waste dye takes differently to mycelium leather than it does to the usually cellulose-based textiles that Sages has worked with.
The duo collaborated with materials science researchers at the UK’s Cranfield University on the project, for which the researchers focused on how to transfer and fix the dye to the material using “green chemistry” – an area of chemistry that aims to cut out hazardous substances.
In this case, the researchers sought to replace the formic acid and fluorinated acids that are often used in tanning to dissolve the polymers of the leather so it can be infused with dye. Instead, the team developed a method, which they say is significantly less toxic.
After working with Cranfield University, Sages and Osmose expanded the experiment and trialled other waste streams such as blueberries and onion skins to see what colours they could get, producing mycelium swatches in shades of violet and bordeaux.
Taylor and Fontan say they are trying to develop a process for mycelium that is akin to leather tanning, where both colour and durability properties are added in one or two steps. Their equivalent, they say, would be to dye and waterproof the material at the same time.
The tan colour was created by using waste avocado pits and skins
Osmose’s focus now is on developing a waterproof coating for their mycelium that, like the dye, is bio-based, non-toxic and able to biodegrade safely in soil. This is notoriously a challenge for plant-based leather alternatives, which almost always rely on a protective synthetic coating.
“It’s really hard to design a solution that fits all materials, which is basically what everyone is struggling with,” said Fontan. “Someone might have pineapple leather and they have their own coating but it doesn’t mean it’s going to work on mushroom and so on.”
Unlike some companies, however, Osmose says it does not want to bring a product with a non-biodegradable coating to market.
“If you’re doing a composite, it will not biodegrade at the end of life, which is compromising all the good work that you’ve been doing before that step,” Fontan said.
Mycelium is one of the most popular emerging leather alternatives. It has already appeared in luxury goods such as a bag by Hermes, clothing by Stella McCartney and trainers by Adidas.
Architect Arnaud Behzadi and artist Florence Bamberger have combined French and Brazilian influences to create interiors for a pair of adjoining restaurants.
Located in Paris’ 17th arrondissement, Oka Fogo is the latest eatery from Raphael Rego, a Michelin-starred chef who is originally from Rio de Janeiro.
Behzadi designed interiors that aim to capture the spirit of Rego’s cuisine, while Bamberger painted wall and ceiling murals that bring an extra spark of energy.
Bamberger reinterpreted Manet’s Le Déjeuner sur l’Herbe on the wall of Fogo
The two restaurants each have a distinct character.
Oka, which means “house” in the language of Brazil’s indigenous Tupi people, is an intimate 16-seat dinner-service restaurant with the feel of a grand yet cosy lounge.
The neighbouring Fogo, which translates as “fire”, is a less formal space that offers a sense of dining al fresco. With an adjoining bar and grill, this 40-seat space is open for lunch and dinner.
Oka is a 16-seat restaurant with the feel of a grand but cosy lounge
“I approached the project as a journey through a house,” Behzadi told Dezeen.
“I see Oka as a prestigious living room and Fogo as an interior garden.”
A ceiling mural incorporates references to Brazil’s flora and fauna
Bamberger’s expressive murals reinforce this approach.
In Fogo, she has painted a reinterpretation of the Édouard Manet artwork, Le Déjeuner sur l’Herbe. The work takes cues from the free-flowing lines of Brazilian artist José Francisco Borgès, resulting in a vibrant style.
The Oka mural features on the ceiling rather than a wall. This more abstract work is based on Brazil’s flora and fauna, along with objects that represent the nation’s culture.
The facade combines Jatoba wood with striated marble
Behzadi chose richly toned woods and highly textural marbles for the interior design palette, in a nod to materials favoured by Brazil’s prolific mid-century designers.
This partnering of stone and wood begins with the facade, where panels of Jatoba wood from the Amazon sit above a plinth of striated Iranian marble.
“I decided to interpret a classical style for the storefront,” said Behzadi.
“It’s a very Parisian approach, using an exotic material to start evoking the interior that you will discover inside.”
Fogo’s floor is a grid of green marble and travertine tiles
Inside, decorative wooden furniture and joinery are accompanied by a mix of different stones, including white travertine and various green-toned marbles.
Other eye-catching details include sculptural wall lights by Behzadi’s former business partner, designer Cathy Crinon, and chairs by the late Brazilian designer Sergio Rodrigues.
“There is a clear Brazilian inspiration,” added Behzadi.
Additional spaces include a private alcove
The venue also includes an alcove dining space with room for six, featuring a mirrored ceiling and curved banquette in red velvet, and a wine and champagne tasting room with a vaulted ceiling.
Oka Fogo opened earlier this month. Other recent openings in Paris include Moët Hennessy’s Cravan cocktail bar and oyster bar Citrons et Huîtres.
Greek architecture offices K-Studio and Monogon have converted the abandoned Manna Sanatorium in Arcadia, southern Greece, into a luxury forest hotel.
Originally built in the 1920s to give tuberculosis patients access to the healing power of nature, the historic structure is now a five-star wellness retreat.
Manna offers 32 rooms fitted out with natural materials and neutral tones, plus gym and spa facilities and a restaurant focused on local produce.
Manna hotel is housed in a former sanatorium for tuberculosis patients
The building sits within a fir forest on Mount Mainalo, the tallest peak in the mountainous region.
The design vision set out by Athens-based K-Studio was to amplify the sense of sanctuary offered by the remote location and enhance the feeling of connection to nature.
Manna owner Stratis Batayas, a Greek entrepreneur who had spent his childhood summers in the area, wanted to create a year-round destination that stayed true to the building’s history.
The building is set in a fir forest in Arcadia, a mountainous region of Greece
“The client’s ambition was to reinterpret the concept of a sanctuary in the mountains with contemporary terms,” reads K-Studio’s design statement.
“The hotel would have to be a place for isolation, as well as community-making and participation in the primary activities of everyday living.”
Design details include columns with curved corner reveals and ornate gridded ceilings
The renovation was overseen in collaboration with Athens-based Monogon and involved significant building work, including the reconstruction of a derelict rear wing and the installation of a new roof.
When the sanatorium closed – made obsolete following the introduction of penicillin in 1938 – the building had been emptied to prevent looting. Stone window sills were stripped out and relocated, while the original roof was removed and repurposed on a hospital in nearby Tripoli.
Concrete was used to replace the old sills, while the new timber roof was installed over rendered brickwork.
The bar features neatly crafted joinery
A reconfigured layout provides a new entrance on the side of the building.
This leads through into a series of elegant reception and lounge spaces where details include columns with curved corner reveals, ornate gridded ceilings and a herringbone-patterned fireplace.
Manna’s bar can also be found here, featuring neatly crafted joinery. Elsewhere, the restaurant run by chef Athinagoras Kostakos has a more casual feel thanks to an open kitchen.
Bedrooms are located on the upper floors of the main building, including a new attic level, and on all levels of the rebuilt northern wing.
Attic rooms offer the most modern feel, extending out to balconies set within large gable-ended dormers.
Interiors feature natural materials and neutral tones
The materials palette combines brushed timber with earth-toned textiles. Standout features include the elaborate privacy screens that form a backdrop to the beds.
Terrazzo flooring is inlaid with marble to define different zones, matching the stone used for wash basins. Room numbers are carved into the floor surfaces in front of each room entrance.
“Local craftsmen were involved in all construction phases, as they bear the knowhow of stoneworks, joinery and even the characteristic engraved grouting of the exterior stonewalls,” said K-Studio.
Terrazzo flooring is inlaid with marble to define zones
Manna opened its doors in the summer of 2023 and is represented by Design Hotels, a booking company that specialises in design-led retreats.
K-Studio co-founder Dimitris Karampataki presented the project at the 2023 edition of The Lobby, an annual hospitality conference in Copenhagen.
Manna’s restaurant features an open kitchen
He said the design for Manna “embraces the wear and tear, embraces the natural patina”.
“When we first arrived we saw something, which took about a century to make,” he said. “We didn’t want to clean it too much, to be selective of its heritage. It was more important for us to embrace the whole story.”
The design aims to reconnect people with nature
Other destination hotels to open recently include the Six Senses Rome, designed by Patricia Urquiola, and the Sanya Wellness Retreat in Hainan, China, designed by Neri&Hu.
The world’s first full-scale timber wind turbine has started turning in Sweden, with a tower built by wood technology company Modvion.
The 105-metre-tall tower, located in the region of Skara, is Modvion‘s first commercial wind turbine tower, and follows on from a smaller 30-metre-high demonstration project the company completed in 2020.
While its rotor blades and generator hub are made of conventional materials, the tower is made of laminated veneer lumber (LVL), a type of engineered wood made of thin veneer strips glued together and often used for beams and load-bearing building structures.
The tower of a wind turbine in Skara is made of engineered wood
The company says that this type of wood is not only strong enough to withstand the forces of a turning turbine, it is much more environmentally sustainable to build with than the currently used steel.
While wind power plays an important role in providing the world with green renewable energy, there are still ample carbon emissions created during their construction — in part because of the steel towers.
Modvion describes its wood towers as reducing the carbon emissions from wind turbine construction by over 100 per cent, due to the combination of a less emissions-heavy production process and the carbon storage provided by trees.
“Our towers, just in the production of them, they emit 90 per cent less than a steel tower that will do carry the same work,” Modvion chief financial officer Maria-Lina Hedlund told Dezeen. “And then if you add the carbon sequestration, then you actually end up with a minus — so a carbon sink. This is great if we want to reach net zero energy production, and we need to.”
The type of wood used is laminated veneer lumber
Hedlund, who is also an engineer, describes LVL as having a construction “similar to carbon fibre”, with strips of veneer just three millimetres thick sandwiched and glued together, giving it a high strength-to-weight ratio.
This lightness is a benefit, reducing the amount of material needed overall. With a heavy material, there is a “bad design spiral”, says Hedlund, as the weight of the tower itself adds to the load that it needs to carry.
And while some LVL has all their veneer strips facing in the same direction, Modvion uses its “own recipe” specifying the directions of the fibres, improving the material’s performance even more.
The turbine tower is the tallest so far built by Swedish company Modvion. Photo by Paul Wennerholm
The production process involves timber boards being made to order in a standard LVL plant and then delivered to Modvion’s factory. There, they are glued together into larger modules and bent into a rounded form in a step called lamination, and then very precisely machined to fine-tune the shape.
“In the wood industry, you usually see centimetre tolerances, while we are in the sub-millimetre scale,” said Hedlund.
The modular nature of LVL construction addresses another problem Modvion has observed with steel: that with turbines getting ever bigger to give more power, it’s becoming impossible to transport steel towers to site.
They are built as essentially large cylinders and transported by truck, but the base diameter desired for the tallest towers is getting to be taller than some bridges and roads can allow.
The timber is laminated into modules at Modvion’s factory
“We’re now reaching a point where they will not get through anymore,” said Hedlund. “So we will see a transition in the wind power industry to modular construction, because this is the way to get them there. And one of the big advantages of building in the material we do is that it’s naturally built modular.”
While steel could also be built modular, it would require bolts rather than glue to join it together on site, which Hedlund says is a disadvantage.
“Bolts are not very nice when you have so much dynamic loading, because it will loosen over time,” she said. “So first of all, you have to have to put them in place which is a lot of work, and then you have to also service them over the lifetime.”
The modules were assembled and glued together on site
On the outside, the tower has a thick white coating that makes it look similar to steel, and it’s rotor blades and generator hub, which are not supplied by Modvion, are made of conventional materials like fibreglass. This may change in the future, however, with another company, Voodin Blades, working on the technology for wooden blades.
Modvion was founded in 2016 by university peers David Olivegren and Otto Lundman. While its current focus is wind turbines, it is dedicated to wooden technology more broadly, and Hedlund told Dezeen that the team believes it has “the world’s strongest joint for timber construction”, which could also be put to other uses.
Another recent milestone for wind power came in the form of a wind-powered cargo ship, which had been retrofitted with two 37.5-metre-tall sails.
California design studio Lovers Unite has reinvigorated a 1950s home with sweeping views of the Los Angeles hills, turning an unused balcony into an extension of the indoor social space.
The wooden dwelling in LA’s Silver Lake neighbourhood belongs to production designer James Chinlund and artist Clare Crespo.
Lovers Unite renovated the home for a creative couple in Los Angeles
A “previously a boring, nondescript mid-century house”, according to Lovers Unite, the property required some imagination to bring its interiors up to par with its setting.
Therefore, the studio “introduced a few carefully plotted architectural interventions and material shifts to completely reimagine the interior of the home and take full advantage of its prime site”.
The house has expansive views over the city’s hills
The most impactful of these interventions was to bring an underutilised balcony at the back of the house into the envelope, extending the open-plan living and dining area by several feet.
Beneath the large windows that were installed to fill the gap, Lovers Unite placed built-in seating with teal-upholstered cushions for relaxing and enjoying the panoramic vista.
Plenty of wood was used throughout the home, particularly in the kitchen
“With a large window wall and generous built-in banquette, the room finally celebrates the expansive views that had always been there,” the studio said.
In the kitchen, dark green soapstone used for counters and the backsplash contrasts with the honey-toned cabinetry, and a shiny copper range hood matches a panel installed at the back of a bar area on the opposite side of the room.
The honey-toned wood contrasts with soapstone surfaces and a copper range hood
Elsewhere, colourful furnishings, collectible design pieces and bold artworks stand out against the predominantly wood interiors.
A timber-lined lounge area features the classic modular Togo sofa system by Michael Ducaroy, which is wrapped in yellow corduroy fabric.
Meanwhile, in the den, a purple armchair is positioned beside a giant chair that Chinlund used as a prop for a shoot by Italian fashion outfit Roberto Cavalli.
Wood slats were employed to partially screen the staircase opening on the upper level, next to a central fireplace with a raised hearth.
As part of the renovation, an unused balcony was incorporated into the social space and a long window seat was installed in its place
Other decor items like vintage rugs, embroidered cushions and plenty of art and design books add even more character to the spaces.
“Ultimately, the mood of the home reflects the spirit and talents of the estimable homeowner,” said Lovers Unite, noting that Chinlund has worked as a production designer for the Avengers movie franchise.
Colourful furniture and set props are scattered through the different rooms
Silver Lake is home to a variety of architectural gems, many built on dramatically sloping sites, including residences designed by notable mid-century architects like Richard Neutra and Rudolph Schindler.
Led by Karen Spector and Alan Koch, Lovers Unite is based close to the neighbourhood, and has previously wrapped a bar and restaurant in Pasadena with expressive drapery.
Paris-based lifestyle brand Kitsuné has opened a cafe next to its boutique in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, both with minimalist interiors featuring white oak and stainless steel.
The interiors of the new Cafe Kitsuné and the renovated Maison Kitsuné store were designed by co-founder Masaya Kuroki to reflect the brand’s French-Japanese culture as well as the West Coast setting.
The Cafe Kitsuné interior includes a mural by Jeffrey Sinich that imagines the space as an old-school market
Facing Sunset Boulevard on the east side of the city, this is the brand’s fourth cafe in North America – following locations in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Vancouver – and its first in LA.
“A sprawling city of diverse findings, from cutting-edge restaurants to pockets of art and architecture second to none, LA has lent design inspiration and a backdrop to several campaigns for the fashion house,” said the Kitsuné team.
White oak tables and surfaces are set against stainless steel counters and panelling for a minimalist look
“Now, it’s the perfect setting for Café Kitsuné, a physical extension of the brand’s Franco-Japanese DNA, and reinvention of the classic Parisian cafe and wine bar experience with a Japanese twist,” they added.
The building’s red-tile exterior and poured concrete flooring were preserved, and hand-painted signage by Californian artist Jeffrey Sincich was added over the large street-facing windows.
Burnt orange dining chairs and upholstered benches highlight the colours of the mural
Inside the 700-square-foot (65-square-metre) cafe, white oak tables and brushed stainless-steel counters feature alongside burnt orange dining chairs and upholstered benches.
Another Sincich mural covers the full length of a wall, offering “a whimsical take on Café Kitsuné’s standard appearance” and presenting the space as an “old-school market”.
A speaker system by Japanese audio company Rotel was installed in the cafe “to provide a top-notch sound experience for customers”, according to Kitsuné.
Next door in the boutique, a similar material palette is used for elements including a built-in storage and display unit across the back wall.
The existing Maison Kitsuné boutique next door has also received a refresh
White oak forms the framing, shelves and doors that lead to the stock and fitting rooms, while ribbed stainless-steel sheets provide a backdrop for the items on show.
More oak was used for the minimalist service counter and panelling behind, and a bright blue table sits in the centre to add a pop of colour.
White oak and stainless steel are repeated in this space to create a visual connection with the cafe
Kitsuné was founded by 2002 by Kuroki and Gildas Loaëc and encompasses the fashion brand, Maison Kitsuné; a music label, Kitsuné Musique; and its line of cafes, bars and restaurants.
Back in 2017, French designer Mathieu Lehanneur designed the Kitsuné store interior in New York’s Soho, adding snaking metal rails for displaying garments.
Japanese architect Keiji Ashizawa has created the interior for a skincare clinic in Tokyo, using textiles and custom-made furniture to make it feel more residential than medical.
The Aloop Clinic & Lab, which provides “skin cure and care”, is located in the city’s upscale Ginza area and run by Japanese beauty company POLA. Ashizawa wanted to give it an interior that would feel peaceful, while also representing the brand.
The Aloop clinic has a calm minimalist interior
“As a clinic that uses medical technology to deal with beauty, we thought that the space should have sincerity, calmness, and beauty in order to create a comfortable time for customers to feel at ease,” Ashizawa told Dezeen.
“In addition, considering that this is a completely new business for the POLA beauty brand, we felt that it was necessary to create a space that would enhance the brand.”
Wood was used throughout the space
To do so, Ashizawa looked at the design of the 210-square-metre clinic like he would if he were designing a residential space, giving it a calm, minimalist interior.
“Although it is a clinic, I considered the space to be similar to a hotel or a living space,” he said. “Therefore, I used materials that I use in designing living spaces and hotels.”
“The walls are plaster and the floor is a wool rug from Hotta Carpet,” he added. “The sofa and furniture at the characteristic entrance are made of Kvadrat wool textile to create a pleasant texture.”
Treatment rooms were designed to have a residential feel
The architect used a clean, simple colour palette throughout the space, with white-painted walls contrasting against wooden panelling and wooden doors.
“Wood was used for doors, furniture and details because we wanted to create a residential calm rather than a clinic,” Ashizawa said. “We felt that a bright and healthy atmosphere was necessary.”
“The extensive use of wood was to create a residential atmosphere, and we wanted the space to be as far away from a typical clinic as possible,” he added.
Keiji Ashizawa created custom-made sofas with furniture brand Karimoku
His studio worked together with wooden furniture brand Karimoku to design the custom-made sofas for the space, which welcome customers as they enter the clinic.
“Of particular importance to this project were the custom sofas,” Ashizawa said.
“We asked Karimoku, with whom we communicate on a daily basis for furniture development and wood projects, to work with us on the development of the furniture.”
He compared his collaboration with the brand to that of mid-century modern Finnish architect Alvar Aalto and furniture brand Artek.
“For me, Karimoku has become an indispensable partner in thinking about space, just as Aalto is for Artek,” he explained.
Neutral colours contrast against pale wood
By creating the sofas with rounded edges, Ashizawa aimed for them to “gently envelop” customers after their treatments.
“The mere fact that something looks hard or painful makes the body tense, so we thought it would be desirable to eliminate such things,” he said.
“However, in order to maintain a comfortable sense of tension in the room, delicate details of metal and wood were used to achieve a balance.”
Small sculptures decorate the space
Small sculptures were dotted throughout the Aloop clinic, including in the treatment rooms.
Ashizawa has previously designed an interior with a similar colour palette for the Hiroo Residence in Tokyo, and also used plenty of wood for his and Norm Architects minimalist Trunk Hotel design.
