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    Vincent Van Duysen transforms Milanese palazzo into “sensual” Ferragamo store

    Belgian architect Vincent Van Duysen has completed a boutique in Milan for Italian fashion house Ferragamo, featuring red marble panels and an alcove covered in ceramic petals that offset the original Renaissance-style interiors.

    The store is located within Palazzo Carcassola Grandi, which was originally built in the 15th century and now occupies a prime spot on Milan’s Montenapoleone fashion street.
    Vincent Van Duysen has designed Ferragamo’s Montenapoleone boutiqueThe palazzo was remodelled in the 19th century when it was home to Emilio Morosini – a member of the Italian unification and independence movement known as the Risorgimento.
    Van Duysen chose to retain much of the building’s historic character while introducing some surprising contemporary details.
    Footwear is displayed in a large salon”With this project, we tried to express a timeless Italianicity that is steeped in Ferragamo’s DNA,” said Van Duysen. “A sensual theatrical setting, where the scenic screen is luxuriously elevated and used as a backdrop and space dividing element at the same time.”

    “The skilful juxtaposition of modern, essential elements and materials with existing structures such as the columns and the cross vaults creates a pleasing contrast that enhances every feature.”
    An alcove is decorated in ceramics by Andrea MancusoAt the heart of the 280-square-metre interior is a large salon for displaying Ferragamo’s footwear. A minimal material palette comprising Venetian stucco walls, stone flooring and off-white painted ceilings allows the original details to stand out.
    Large mirrors set in simple bronze frames enhance the sense of space, while slabs of mottled Napoleon Red marble provide a punchy contrast that nods to the favourite colour of the company’s founder, Salvatore Ferragamo.
    The rest of the spaces are organised and designed to evoke the rooms of a grand villa, each with a unique character tailored to reflect the collections it holds.

    Peter Saville updates Ferragamo brand identity with custom typeface

    “The design originates far in the past, in the person of Salvatore Ferragamo himself, who liked to receive his customers as if in his home living room,” explained Marco Gobbetti, Ferragamo’s CEO and managing director.
    “This was precisely how he thought of his shop, as a place to come together and converse. This starting point has brought us to this contemporary expression of the intimacy of home and Italian-ness.”
    As customers move through the sequence of rooms, they come across areas dedicated to footwear, bags, accessories and clothing, before finally descending a short stone staircase to reach a space displaying silk items.
    Marble detailing features throughout the storeFerragamo worked with contemporary designers and gallerists to curate a collection of unusual objects and furniture intended to embody the store’s “contemporary Renaissance spirit”.
    An alcove visible through one of the windows is covered in sea-blue ceramics crafted by Andrea Mancuso of Milanese studio Analogia Project, using the same technique he developed for the Aquario collection for Nilufar Gallery in 2022.
    Mancuso also used the circular ceramic petals, intended to evoke fantastical aquatic flora, to form a display table placed at the boutique’s entrance.
    Side tables by Andrea Anastasio stand in the vestibule next to the changing roomsSide tables found in spaces including a lounge-like vestibule next to the changing rooms are from Andrea Anastasio’s Corallium collection for Giustini/Stagetti Gallery and consist of coloured stone pieces stitched together using leather string.
    JoAnn Tan’s Stockholm-based studio created the display tables seen in the windows, which are covered with leather fringe reclaimed from Ferragamo’s production sites.
    Van Duysen is known for his multidisciplinary work for the hospitality, fashion and furniture sectors, and has been the creative director of Italian design brand Molteni&C since 2016.
    JoAnn Tan’s fringed display tables can be seen from the outsideAs part of his role, the architect has revamped the firm’s corporate showroom in Giussano, Italy, and designed a “palazzo-like” showroom in New York.
    Salvatore Ferragamo established his first business focusing on ladies’ footwear in 1927. In addition to footwear, the firm now produces luxury goods such as bags, accessories and ready-to-wear clothing, all of which are displayed at the Via Montenapoleone showroom.
    In 2022, British graphic designer Peter Saville updated Ferragamo’s brand identity, replacing its handwritten logo with a custom serif typeface that references stone inscriptions.

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    Ten Mexican holiday homes characterised by earthy hues

    From a brutalist dwelling nestled in a pine forest to a beachy weekend retreat with a rooftop swimming pool, our latest lookbook features 10 holiday homes across Mexico.

    While known for their often vibrant colours, Mexican interiors also include many examples of more muted designs. These earthy hues are often created through the use of natural and local materials, such as wood and stone.
    Holiday homes are located all over the country, which has a varied landscape and is famous for its escapist destinations. Here are 10 Mexican holiday homes that combine pared-back colour palettes with getaway-style luxury.
    This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring metal furniture, breakfast nooks and living spaces with swings.
    Top and above: photos by Rory GardinerCasa Alférez, Alférez, by Ludwig Godefroy

    This holiday home is a brutalist dwelling clad in board-formed concrete and located in a pine forest in the country’s Alférez region.
    French architect Ludwig Godefroy, who is Mexico City-based, added a conversation pit to the cathedral-like living area, which features a spindly double-height fireplace.
    Find out more about Casa Alférez ›
    Photo by LGM StudioHoliday home, San Simón El Alto, by Estudio Atemporal
    Local architecture office Estudio Atemporal designed a weekend retreat in San Simón El Alto village with an oversized gabled roof.
    Inside, the studio created a statement brick wall in the angular, open-plan living space defined by timber and concrete accents. Generous glass doors lead to a covered outdoor patio.
    Find out more about this holiday home ›
    Photo by César BéjarVilla Cava, Tulum, by Espacio 18 Arquitectura
    Neutral tones and textures define this house in Tulum that was informed by cenotes – ancient sunken water-filled limestone pits and caves found across Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula.
    Espacio 18 Arquitectura carved a circular window into one of the home’s ceilings, which reveals a rooftop swimming pool. Blue-coloured light filters through the opening, emphasising the cavernous atmosphere.
    Find out more about Villa Cava ›
    Photo by Diego Padilla MagallanesLa Extraviada, Mazunte, by Em-Estudio
    Architecture firm Em-Estudio stepped a pair of concrete residential volumes down a rocky hillside overlooking the coastal town of Mazunte, Oaxaca.
    Called La Extraviada, the holiday home includes an eclectic kitchen and dining space flanked by floor-to-ceiling timber shutters that open onto a terrace with a swimming pool.
    Regional materials, including guapinol wood and local stone obtained from nearby quarries, feature throughout the earthy-hued project.
    Find out more about La Extraviada ›
    Photo by Fabian MartinezCasa Tres Árboles, Valle de Bravo, by Direccion
    Architecture studio Direccion took cues from “monastic” sanctuaries when renovating this weekend retreat in Valle de Bravo.
    The open-plan living space includes exposed warm-toned wooden ceiling beams, which contrast against dark-painted walls. A soft-red sofa adds a rare pop of colour to the otherwise muted interiors.
    Find out more about Casa Tres Árboles ›
    Photo by Rory GardinerLos Terrenos, Monterrey, by Tatiana Bilbao
    Mexican architect Tatiana Bilbao added a multifunctional ceramic screen to the interior of Los Terrenos – a holiday home in Monterrey with mirrored glass facades that reflect the surrounding wooded site.
    “[The screen] works as solid and permeable floor, a screen partition, a structural wall, and as a semi-open wall that allows ventilation and sunlight to bathe the interior spaces,” explained Bilbao’s eponymous studio.
    Find out more about Los Terrenos ›
    Photo by AnsatzTonalli House, Jalisco, by Moises Sánchez 
    This stucco-clad holiday home was punctuated with strategic openings and takes cues from architecture commonly found in Mexican villages, according to its designer Moises Sánchez.
    Sánchez created an understated interior palette referencing the nearby architecture surrounding Lake Chapa, where the home is located. For example, the blocky terrazzo staircase doubles as a stepped plinth for sandy-coloured ornaments.
    Find out more about Tonalli House ›
    Photo by César BéjarCasa Areca, Tulum, by CO-LAB Design Office
    Local studio CO-LAB Design Office created Casa Areca to merge with its lush Tulum setting.
    The open-plan ground floor includes pivot doors and retractable glass walls, which enable the social area to flow into the jungle-like garden. Creamy walls and polished concrete floors were paired with local tzalam wood, jute accents and ceramic vases filled with hand-selected wild grasses.
    Find out more about Casa Areca ›
    Photo by Dove DopeEl Aguacate, El Barrial, by Práctica Arquitectura
    El Aguacate – or “The Avocado” – is a holiday home in El Barrial village made almost entirely out of concrete.
    Práctica Arquitectura topped the main living area with a tall pyramidal roof featuring a boxy skylight. The studio added a built-in fireplace and alter-like dining table to the space – also made from smooth concrete.
    Find out more about El Aguacate ›
    Photo by Rafael GamoCasa Cova, Puerto Escondidio, by Anonimous
    When designing Casa Cova in Puerto Escondido, Mexican studio Anonimous took cues from pre-colonial architecture.
    Inside, the central living space is kept cool by a traditional thatched roof made of dried palm leaves, called a “palapa.” Tiny square openings were also cut into some of the walls, creating “a dynamic light pattern from dusk till dawn”.
    Find out more about Casa Cova ›
    This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring metal furniture, breakfast nooks and living spaces with swings.

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    Eight home interiors where full-length curtains add a touch of drama

    From a glitzy Parisian apartment to a converted garage in Buffalo, New York, our latest lookbook collects eight residential interiors where floor-to-ceiling curtains inject a theatrical feel.

    Curtains aren’t just for covering windows. A set of statement drapes can be an easy way to significantly change the mood of a room, particularly in apartment renovations.
    The selection below features curtains in stage-like living rooms, rough-edged bedrooms and cosy working nooks.
    This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring interiors with statement carpets, furry walls and colourful bedrooms.
    Photo is by Luis Díaz DíazReady-made Home, Spain, by Azab

    Duck-egg blue curtains help to create a flexible open-plan layout at this apartment in Bilbao that was overhauled by architecture studio Azab, running the length of the living-dining-kitchen area to conceal storage space and a bathroom.
    “The curtains have theatrical and playful connotations and invites the inhabitant to perform with it, to change the space and to play with the mysteries, contradictions and paradoxes that privacy offers us beyond morality,” said the studio.
    Find out more about Ready-made Home ›
    Photo by Rory GardinerRuckers Hill House, Australia, by Studio Bright
    In this extension to an Edwardian family home in Melbourne, architecture practice Studio Bright raised the sitting room on a curved plinth, giving it a stage-like quality.
    Enhancing the effect is a heavy green curtain hung from the ceiling, which can be drawn across to turn the space into an impromptu theatre for the children to play in.
    Find out more about Ruckers Hill House ›
    Photo by Félix Dol MaillotAvenue Montaigne apartment, France, by Uchronia
    Sheer, rainbow-effect curtains cover the balconies of this opulent Haussman-era Parisian apartment, renovated by local studio Uchronia.
    Even the walls echo the curtains’ gradations of colour, while the brightly toned furnishings are designed to resemble pieces of jewellery.
    Find out more about this apartment ›
    Photo by Michael SinclairGas-holder apartment, UK, by Roksanda Ilincic
    Fashion designer Roksanda Ilincic brought her proclivity for bold colours and shapes to this London penthouse inside a former Victorian gas holder.
    Pale pink Kvadrat curtains over the full-height windows cast a rose-tinted hue over the rooms, where the colour palette is kept mostly neutral apart from some pops of bright yellow.
    Find out more about this apartment ›
    Photo by Florian HolzherrBig Space, Little Space, USA, by Davidson Rafailidis
    Peeling paintwork, uneven concrete floors and distressed wooden beams lend a distinctly rough-and-ready feel to this home-slash-workspace in Buffalo created out of a garage conversion by design studio Davidson Rafailidis.
    For the most part, the space is minimally furnished, apart from a set of high and wide drapes that introduce a luxurious twist.
    Find out more about Big Space, Little Space ›
    Photo by Norihito YamauchiLandscape House, Japan, by FORM/Kouichi Kimura Architects
    Upon entering Landscape House in central Japan, designed by Japanese studio FORM/Kouichi Kimura Architects, one is greeted by a lengthy corridor lined entirely on one side by a full-length silver curtain.
    The fabric echoes a raw concrete feature wall on the opposite side of the corridor, as well as referencing the extensive use of metal throughout the building.
    Find out more about Landscape House ›
    Photo by ONI StudioPops, Poland, by Furora Studio
    Furora Studio wanted the design of this holiday apartment in Kraków to be slightly more outrageous than the standard residential interior.
    A velvety, salmon-pink curtain dresses an entire wall in the open-plan kitchen and living room, adding to a plethora of sugary colours and rounded edges.
    Find out more about Pops ›
    Photo by Maxime BrouillettMaison-Boutique Coloniale, Canada, by Michael Godmer and Mathieu Turgeon
    Most of the spaces inside Maison-Boutique Coloniale in Montreal – renovated by designers Michael Godmer and Mathieu Turgeon as their own residence and studio – are pared-back and neutral.
    But in an office space on the basement level, plush orange curtains line the walls, combined with dim pendant lighting and a black table arrangement by Muuto and &tradition for an intimate effect.
    Find out more about Maison-Boutique Coloniale ›
    This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring interiors with statement carpets, furry walls and colourful bedrooms.

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    V&A’s Tropical Modernism exhibition explores “the politics behind the concrete”

    London’s Victoria and Albert Museum has launched its Tropical Modernism exhibition, which highlights the architectural movement’s evolution from colonial import to a “tool of nation building”.

    According to the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A), the exhibition aims to examine the complex context, power dynamics and post-colonial legacy of tropical modernism – an architectural style that developed in South Asia and West Africa in the late 1940s – while also centralising and celebrating its hidden figures.
    London’s V&A museum has opened a major exhibition exploring tropical modernism”Tropical modernism is experiencing something of a modish revival as an exotic and escapist style popular in verdant luxury hotels, bars and concrete jungle houses,” the exhibition’s lead curator Christopher Turner told Dezeen.
    “But it has a problematic history and, through an examination of the context of British imperialism and the de-colonial struggle, the exhibition seeks to look at the history of tropical modernism before and after Independence, and show something of the politics behind the concrete,” he continued.
    The exhibition traces the evolution of tropical modernism within a South Asian and West African contextThe exhibition follows the V&A’s Tropical Modernism exhibition at the 2023 Venice Biennale, which revealed the team’s precursory research on tropical modernism in a West African setting.

    For the in-house iteration of the exhibition, additional architectural models, drawings and archival imagery have been introduced to interrogate tropical modernism in India alongside the African perspective.
    Exhibition materials line a series of rooms within the V&A’s Porter Gallery, divided by brightly coloured partitions and louvred walls referencing tropical modernist motifs.
    Archival imagery, architectural drawings and physical models line the gallery roomsThe exhibition begins by tracing tropical modernism back to its early development by British architects Jane Drew and Maxwell Fry. Stationed together in Ghana from 1944, Drew and Fry adapted international modernism to the African climate, proposing functional over ornamental design.
    Drew and Fry would also become part of the Department of Tropical Studies at the Architectural Association (AA), which exported British architects to the colonies from 1954 in a bid to neutralise calls for independence.
    The exhibition aims to centralise local professionals who have gone widely unrecognised for their contributions to the movementThe exhibition continues by spotlighting local Ghanaian figures who worked with Fry and Drew, noting the power shifts that were taking place behind the scenes to reappropriate the architectural style for an emerging era of colonial freedom.
    Influential political leaders Jawaharlal Nehru in India and Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana are the exhibition’s key personas, framing the evolution of tropical modernism from conception to regionalisation.
    Gallery rooms are divided by brightly coloured partitions informed by tropical modernist motifs”The heroes of our exhibition are Nehru and Nkrumah, the first prime ministers of India and Ghana,” Turner explained. “Tropical modernism, a colonial invention, survived the transition to Independence and was appropriated and adapted by Nehru and Nkrumah as a tool of nation building.”
    “Nkrumah, who sometimes sketched designs for the buildings he wanted on napkins, created the first architecture school in sub-Saharan Africa to train a new generation of African architects, and this institution has partnered with us on a five-year research project into tropical modernism.”
    According to the V&A’s research, tropical modernism shifted from its western Bauhaus roots towards a localised vernacular stylesThrough a host of physical models and artefacts, the city of Chandigarh becomes the exhibition’s narrative focal point for tropical modernism in India.
    Under prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Chandigarh was the first large-scale modernist project, recruiting Drew and Fry along with French architect Le Corbusier to plan the ideal utopian urban centre.
    As with Nkrumah – who saw how the Africanisation of architecture could become a symbol of progress and change – the exhibition also aims to highlight Nehru’s ambitions for a localised modernism drawing from the Indian vernacular, rather than the Western Bauhaus style.

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    The display culminates in a video featuring 16 key tropical modernist structures, interspersed with interviews and footage explaining the social and political context behind each building’s realisation.
    “We made a three-screen 28-minute film, shot in Ghana and featuring panoramic portraits of over a dozen buildings, cut with archive footage from the time and interviews with architects like John Owusu Addo and Henry Wellington, and Nkrumah’s daughter, the politician Samia Nkrumah,” said Turner.
    The exhibition aims to address gaps in the museum’s African and South Asian studiesAccording to Turner, the exhibition begins to address gaps in the V&A’s collections and archives pertaining to architecture and design in the global south.
    “Archives are themselves instruments of power, and West African and Indian architects are not as prominent in established archives, which many institutions have now realised and are working to address,” Turner explained.
    “Tropical modernism was very much a co-creation with local architects who we have sought to name – all of whom should be much better known, but are excluded from established canons.”
    The display will inhabit the V&A’s Porter Gallery until 22 September 2024Bringing tropical modernism back into contemporary discourse was also important to the V&A as a timely investigation of low-tech and passive design strategies.
    “Tropical modernism was a climate responsive architecture – it sought to work with rather than against climate,” Turner said.
    “As we face an era of climate change, it is important that tropical modernism’s scientifically informed principles of passive cooling are reexamined and reinvented for our age,” he added.
    “I hope that people will be interested to learn more about these moments of post-colonial excitement and opportunity, and the struggle by which these hard-earned freedoms were won.”
    A 28-minute video captures footage of remaining tropical modernist structures at the end of the exhibitionThe V&A museum in South Kensington houses permanent national collections alongside a series of temporary activations and exhibitions.
    As part of London Design Festival 2023, the museum hosted a furniture display crafted from an Alfa Romeo car by Andu Masebo and earlier in the year, architect Shahed Saleem created a pavilion in the shape of a mosque at the V&A as part of 2023’s Ramadan Festival.
    The photography is courtesy of the Victoria & Albert Museum.
    Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Independence will run from 2 March to 22 September 2024 at the V&A Museum in London. For more events, exhibitions and talks in architecture and design visit the Dezeen Events Guide.

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    Sundholm Studio revamps Nanas restaurant to capture “spirit of grandmothers”

    Interiors practice Sundholm Studio has refreshed the 30-year-old Nanas restaurant in Durham, North Carolina, with strong colours, bespoke timber joinery and metalwork.

    Previously named Nana’s, the restaurant was renamed Nanas, in tribute to “not one nana, but rather the entire genre,” Sundholm Studio creative director Shaun Sundholm told Dezeen.
    The space – intended to capture the hospitable “spirit of grandmothers” – comprises a bar, salon, dining room and an outdoor patio.
    Navy fluted walls form the backdrop to the salonSundholm’s aim was to update the space with “modern details that bring the outside in”.
    The existing curved walls in the entryway were retained and reworked with wooden slats, which light passes through to evoke “a walk through the woods”.

    Wooden window blinds and sheer drapes in the dining room help with acoustic absorption and adjusting the natural light levels.
    The seating is a mixture of banquette booths and chairsThe dimly lit entrance was contrasted with the bar, dining area and salon, where jewel-toned colours like emerald green, sapphire blue, and rich amber orange have been used.
    “I aimed to pay homage to aspects of the previous design where possible, accentuating some of the interesting bits of the existing physical space, such as the curved wall at the entrance and the hints of orange throughout – recalling the bright, blaze orange walls of the past,” Sundholm explained.

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    In line with the jewel-toned colour palette, Sundholm selected a variety of textures to use across the restaurant, including glossy green handmade Italian tiles and brass finishes.
    Blue velvet upholstery covers the banquettes in the bar, while “vintage luggage” orange leather covers the banquettes in the salon and dining area.
    The dark entrance leads into a curved passage, through to the dining roomBrass archways designed by local metal art studio Andrew Preiss Designs feature across the restaurant, including as a portal between the salon and dining area. This arch motif is echoed in the bathroom mirrors.
    Earth-toned grasscloth wallpaper and a plaid-patterned carpet contrast the solid colours and textures.
    “For this restaurant, our initial mood boards culled from a diverse range – from The Golden Girls and vintage Ralph Lauren textiles to 1970s Cadillacs and abstract impressionist art inspired by the Smoky Mountains,” Sundholm said.
    Bold colour is used for the restaurant seatingThe studio’s goal was to “distill these inspirations into their core elements” and use them to inform the interiors in a “non-gimmicky” way.
    A collection of mixed-media artworks by local artist Jason Craighead featured across the restaurant add to this aesthetic.
    Tartan carpet introduces a pattered counterpoint to the block coloursOther recently renovated restaurants featured on Dezeen include Aino and Alvar Aalto’s Savoy restaurant in Helsinki restored after 80 years and The Bird in Montauk designed by Home Studios.
    The photography is by Lissa Gotwals and D L Anderson.

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    Isern Serra completes “serene” office for Spanish eyewear brand

    Sculptural custom-made furniture adds artistic flourishes to this otherwise minimal showroom and head office, designed by Spanish interiors studio Isern Serra for eyewear brand Gigi Studios.

    Isern Serra was tasked with creating a holistic scheme for the 900-square-metre headquarters, occupying one floor of a building in the town of Sant Cugat del Vallès just north of Barcelona.
    Isern Serra has filled the Gigi Studios headquarters with custom furnitureThe brief called for a design that creates a sense of spaciousness and comfort while reflecting founder Patricia Remo’s vision of Gigi Studios as a brand.
    “It is also serene, warm and elegant and conceptually close to the idea of a studio and away from the concept of a traditional office, without losing the practicality and functionality,” Isern Serra explained.
    Rows of desks were replaced with more intimate work areasThe building’s rectangular floor plan features a central service core housing the lifts and toilets, with the workspaces, meeting rooms, kitchen and showroom occupying the surrounding O-shaped open space.

    Serra and his team positioned the kitchen and showroom at one end of the plan and placed the meeting rooms and client areas at the other, leaving the longer sides open to optimise circulation.
    Concrete bases for the work tables were cast in situVarious bespoke furniture pieces, conceived by Isern Serra as “small works of art”, bring a distinct personality to the different formal and informal spaces.
    These interventions were designed to embody Gigi Studios’ design ethos while standing out against the warm and minimal backdrop.
    “The project aims to experiment with the limits of the workspace and seek a new concept that goes hand in hand with the idea of domus and museum,” Isern Serra explained.
    Curtains can be used to cordon off the lounge areaA large circular sofa framed in stainless steel provides a bold statement in one of the reception areas.
    The sculptural piece fulfils a dual function as a seating area and a space for working, with tables and book storage integrated into the backrest around the perimeter.

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    Similarly, the building’s central core is wrapped in a layer of built-in storage units including circular stainless-steel niches that incorporate shelves for displaying books and materials.
    Rather than a typical office layout with rows of workstations, the large open spaces are separated into more intimate zones with a more domestic scale.
    A Boa Pouf by Sabine Marcelis provides informal seatingNext to the lobby is a design area featuring tables made from concrete that was cast in situ. Task seating surrounds the work table and a taller table is accompanied by stools, while lenses for the different glasses are stored in a custom-made unit.
    The second workspace features a large C-shaped sofa with a concrete base that was also cast in situ. Custom-made tables and one of Sabine Marcelis’s Boa Poufs complete this lounge-style space, which can be visually separated from the rest of the office using curtains on either side.
    The showroom is visible from the office through a circular windowA circular window with rounded edges provides a glimpse of the showroom, which is dominated by two sculptural tables with concrete tops supported by rough chunks of travertine stone.
    A built-in tiered display is used to highlight different Gigi Studios’ eyewear. The rest of the collection is housed in a backlit cabinet, while a mirror-fronted unit conceals a large screen used for presentations.
    The kitchen is located next to the showroom so that the two spaces can easily be used together for events. Here, a homely, Mediterranean feel is created via a five-metre-long sharing table, custom-made alongside the accompanying stools.
    Display tables in the showroom are held up by rough chunks of travertineThe sizeable kitchen island is finished in micro-cement and features a curved base that enhances its sculptural presence.
    A curved corridor incorporating a sofa niche on one wall provides access to offices and a meeting room positioned to have the best views of the surrounding countryside.
    Internal columns are used to support one end of concrete tables built in each of the workspaces, furnished with classic designs including Marcel Breuer’s Wassily and Cesca chairs.
    Large sharing tables allow for communal eating in the kitchenInterior designer Isern Serra founded his self-titled studio in Barcelona in 2008 and works across architecture, interiors and industrial design.
    Previous projects including a rose-coloured shop for Barcelona’s Moco Museum that was based on a computer-generated image and a minimalist office for digital artist Andrés Reisinger, which was named small workplace interior of the year at the 2023 Dezeen Awards.
    The photography is by Salva López with art direction by Aasheen Mittal.

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    Rafael Viñoly Architects unveils “last project” designed by Rafael Viñoly

    Architecture studio Rafael Viñoly Architects has unveiled designs for a terraced residential building in Uruguay, which is the last project designed by the studio’s founder.

    Located outside of Montevideo on a beachfront site, the Médano El Pinar apartment complex will be comprised of approximately 120 luxury, multi-family residences of one to five bedrooms. It is the last project designed by architect Rafael Viñoly, who died last year.
    Rafael Viñoly Architects has unveiled designs for a terraced residential complex in Uruguay”The last project designed by renowned architect Rafael Viñoly, Médano El Pinar is an innovative, ultra-sustainable, luxury, multi-family residential development,” said the studio.
    “The building’s long, low-slung, and sinewy shape integrates it with the organic landscape of its pristine setting to minimize its visual impact on the neighbourhood and make it completely invisible from the public beach.”
    It is the last project designed by the late architect, according to the studioSituated behind sand dunes, renderings show an undulating building with a terraced facade that mirrors the curves of its beachfront site.

    Residences will be distributed along its 1,394-foot (425-metre) length and contain glazed facades that will open onto terraces.
    The residences will contain glazed facades and private terraces”Generously proportioned interiors open to large elevated private gardens with panoramic views, creating a sense of ‘conscious luxury’,” said the studio.
    The building will be constructed from a locally sourced mass timber structure, according to the studio, with aims to be “the first nearly Zero-Energy Building”.

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    Other sustainable strategies integrated into its design will include the use of solar panels, rainwater capture, a green roof and cross ventilation.
    Interior renderings show double-height living spaces with wood beams distributed throughout and capped by a wood-slated ceiling.
    The building will be made of a mass timber structureA wall of floor-to-ceiling windows and sliding glass doors open onto the accompanying terrace, which hosts a small pool or garden and additional seating areas.
    A large pool sitting in front of the building is also pictured, with ground-level entrances to the building tucked along its length.
    Uruguayan architect Viñoly, who died aged 78, designed numerous buildings around the world including 432 Park Avenue in New York and the Walkie Talkie in London.
    Architects and critics including Norman Foster and Michael Kimmelman paid tribute to Viñoly after his passing, and his son Román Viñoly, discussed his legacy in an interview with Dezeen.
    Other recent projects in Montevideo include a stacked housing block designed by MVRDV and a prefabricated multi-storey car park by MAPA.
    The images are courtesy of Rafael Viñoly Architects.

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    James Shaw installs jumbo foot in London Camper store

    British designer James Shaw has renovated a shop for fashion brand Camper on London’s Regent Street, which features a giant foot-shaped sculpture that functions as a till and a bench for trying on shoes.

    Located in a ground-level room within a building on Regent Street in central London, the store reopened last week.
    James Shaw has renovated the Camper store on Regent StreetShaw redesigned the interiors to reflect the Mallorcan heritage of Spanish footwear company Camper – a brand known for its bold and colourful creations.
    The designer constructed a 3.5-metre-tall sculpture in the shape of an oversized foot, which was covered in terracotta-hued wool and positioned on the shop floor.
    His design includes a jumbo footVisible from the street, the cartoon-like structure is multifunctional. It includes internal storage for products and a small booth that houses the till.

    Shoppers are also encouraged to perch on the jumbo toes while trying on shoes, making the foot a bench as well as a display unit.
    Shaw also created recycled plastic furniture”The foot is the key feature of our proposal. Somewhat surreal and unexpected yet fully connected to Camper’s sense of playfulness and whimsy,” said Shaw.
    “Reflected in the fully mirrored wall, it appears as a giant standing in the middle of the store.”
    Walnut was used to make display unitsThe designer, who works predominantly with recycled plastic, also created lumpy yellow shelving made from extruded slabs of the material, which – like the large foot – is reflected in the floor-to-ceiling mirror that makes up one of the walls.
    Shaw also combined his trademark gloopy plastic with walnut wood to create rounded stools, positioned underneath the yellow shelves.

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    On the opposite side of the room, the designer added smooth walnut display units mounted to the wall with twisted polished metal fixtures – also custom-made by Shaw.
    At the back of the store, shoppers can rest on geometric seating topped with textured mohair and clad in mirrored metal. The recognisable red Camper logo, positioned above the seating, was also reimagined with a Shaw-style, lumpy backdrop.
    The interiors are “a nod to mid-century modernism with a warped twist”Shaw created the store’s flooring using orange resin to match the colour of the large foot as well as the painted walls and ceiling, which are all finished in similar hues.
    The mix of materials is “a nod to mid-century modernism with a warped twist,” according to Camper.
    “Mediterranean roots are present in the colour scheme, where warm earthy tones meet shades of yellow and blue,” added the brand.
    Elsewhere, designer Jorge Penadés dressed a Málaga Camper shop with materials chosen to match the brand’s warehouse while architect Kengo Kuma created scalloped shelving out of concave ceramic tiles for a Barcelona branch.
    Shaw showcased pieces of his extruded recycled plastic furniture at the 2022 edition of London Design Festival in an installation he created with his partner, Lou Stoppard, that playfully explored tensions between couples who move in together.
    The photography is courtesy of Camper.

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