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    Daisuke Yamamoto presents recycled steel chairs under Milan railway arch

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    Japanese designer Daisuke Yamamoto presented recycled steel chairs on podiums of the same material as part of an exhibition in Milan, which has been shortlisted for a 2023 Dezeen Award.

    Yamamoto’s Flow project explores ways to minimise industrial waste by focusing on a single material – light-gauge steel (LGS).
    Daisuke Yamamoto presented his Flow chairs as part of the Dropcity showcaseCommonly used in construction as a strong, lightweight framing option, LGS is also one of the industry’s largest waste products, Yamamoto claims, as it is rarely recycled after demolition.
    The designer therefore chose to create a second life for the steel sheets and components as a series of sculptural chairs.
    The chairs were placed on podiums made from the same light-gauge steelHe also used LGS to form platforms for showcasing the seating designs as part of an exhibition at Milan design week 2023 that has been shortlisted in the exhibition design category of this year’s Dezeen Awards.

    “This project began with the awareness that everyday recycled construction materials are disposed of, then new construction begins – a so-called ‘scrap and build’,” Yamamoto said.
    Each of the recycled steel chairs had a different form”Using the iconic LGS material – one of the most popular materials normally used in framing systems throughout the interior wall structure – we transformed it into beautifully redesigned furniture, giving the materials a second chance,” he added.
    The exhibition formed part of the Dropcity showcase, which took place inside the Magazzini Raccordati spaces at Milan Central Station during the design week in April.
    A workshop bench was also placed at the centre of the spaceThese empty railway arches have a dilapidated, industrial aesthetic with peeling floors, stained tilework and exposed utilities.
    Yamamoto chose to leave the vaulted room largely as he found it but placed a series of platforms in two rows, upon which he presented the series of chairs.

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    Track lighting was installed overhead to spotlight the elevated designs, each of which has a slightly different shape.
    In the centre of the exhibition, a workshop bench also built from lightweight gauge steel was used to fabricate more chairs during live demonstrations between Yamamoto and craft artist Takeo Masui.
    Yamamoto and Takeo Masui built more recycled steel chairs during live demonstrations”This is a landfill, a place where a volume of used LGS is collected,” Yamamoto said. “A place where the designer and craftsmen work hand in hand to recreate what was bound to be disposed into something new, a process of disassembling to re-assemble.”
    The intention was to not only showcase the material’s capabilities for reuse but also to allow visitors to engage with the process and ask wider questions about how society deals with waste.
    The demonstrations allowed visitors to engage with the processUsing waste materials produced by other industries was a key trend that Dezeen spotted during this year’s Milan Design Week, with designers and studios including Formafantasma, Prowl Studio, Atelier Luma and Subin Seol all looking to reduce the environmental impact of their products.
    The photography is by Takumi Ota.
    Future Landfill took place at Magazzini Raccordati from 15 to 23 April 2023 as part of Milan Design Week. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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      Adi Goodrich and Sam Klemick among exhibitors at INTRO/LA

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      Curated by design consultancy Small Office, this year’s INTRO/LA features sculptural furniture from local designers such as Adi Goodrich, Sam Klemick and Jialun Xiong.

      The exhibition is being shown in Small Office’s Los Angeles showroom, with pieces displayed among semi-transparent dividers.
      Pieces by Los Angeles designers Adi Goodrich, Sam Klemick, Jialun Xiong and more are on display at INTRO/LAIt showcases both emerging and established Los Angeles designers.
      “The show is to display how diverse the community is, and how everyone’s working in different styles and production methods and materials,” Small Office founder Paul Valentine told Dezeen.
      For the first time, the exhibition is hosted at the showroom at Small Office, which runs the event. On the left is a collection by Estudio Persona and on the right is a collection by Adi Goodrich”[It’s] really to show the expansive of creativity here, rather than zero in on one trend and say, ‘this is what’s happening’.”

      Colourful, geometric pieces from Adi Goodrich’s Sing Thing collection are on display, including multi-tiered lamps, a checkered dining chair and playful, flat-pack side tables.
      Designer Sam Klemick showcased the Sweater Chair, a simple wooden chair draped with a carved-wooden sweaterThe collection is an homage to the silhouettes and character of the French L’Esprit Nouveau movement, as well as Lina, an influential woman in Goodrich’s life who taught her “how to live”.
      Sam Klemick’s Sweater Chair and an accompanying, wiggle-legged stool sit nearby.
      Jialun Xiong’s architectural side table features geometric cut-outsRecently on display as part of 2LG Studio’s You Can Sit With Us exhibition, the Sweater Chair consists of a carved-wood sweater draped over the backrest of a chair of the same material.
      An aluminium side table inspired by “the exterior of a boxy home” by designer Jialun Xiong sits among a chair, bench and stool featuring stainless steel elements and minimalistic lines.
      Caleb Engstrom’s Wet Wool chair is made of wooden and metal pieces draped with resin-soaked woolXiong’s Dwell side table consists of a metallic cube with rectangular and circular slices taken from around its body, “representing different architectural elements to enrich the user’s experience”.
      Caleb Engstrom’s Wet Wool chair is made of resin-drenched wool draped and set to dry over metal and wood pieces, which debuted earlier this year at Los Angeles Design Festival 2023,

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      The chair sits next to a stackable side table made of rubber, lacquer and resin table bases used in Engstrom’s other pieces. One such base layer contains “faux” lemons trapped in its transparent form.
      Other work includes rustic wooden stools and lighting by Ravenhill Studio, spikey, wooden chairs and a large mirror by Objects for Objects and scalloped, ceramic planters and side tables from BZIPPY. Also on show was a collection by Leah Ring and Adam de Boer as well as studio Waka Waka, which has a production studio next door.
      The exhibition was curated to highlight the diversity of local work. The collection shown is by Taidhg O’NeillThe INTRO series was started in 2013 as a platform to showcase both emerging and established designers in contrast to the traditional trade show format. Valentine aims to create “one interior feeling” by displaying pieces from various designers in close proximity to one another for a community-oriented exhibition.
      Previous design exhibitions around Los Angeles include Future Perfect’s Dear Future show, which displayed work from Gaetano Pesce and a variety of shows at Los Angeles Design Festival 2023.
      INTRO/LA is on show at Small Office in Los Angeles until 17 November. See Dezeen Events Guide for more architecture and design events around the world.
      The photography is by JJ Geiger.

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      You Can Sit With Us aims to open doors that “were firmly closed to us” says 2LG Studio

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      Russell Whitehead and Jordan Cluroe of 2LG Studio have curated You Can Sit With Us, a London Design Festival show that offered “a seat at the table” to a diverse mix of emerging designers.

      The 2LG Studio founders invited 13 designers from a mix of nationalities, races, genders and backgrounds to be a part of the exhibition, which was on show at London Design Fair.
      Cluroe (top left), Whitehead (top right) and Adam Fairweather of Smile Plastics pictured with 9 of the 13 chair designersThe exhibition took the form of a dining room, featuring a long table surrounded by chairs that were each designed by a different participant.
      Whitehead and Cluroe came up with the concept based on their own experiences of trying to break into the design industry and being made to feel like outsiders.
      The chair by Anna Maria Øfstedal Eng features a black lacquer finish”When we launched our practice nearly 10 years ago, there was an inner circle that felt very out of reach to us,” Whitehead told Dezeen.

      “We were so bruised by the industry and felt blocked by certain doors that were firmly closed to us,” he continued.
      “Instead of chasing acceptance where it wasn’t forthcoming, we decided to accept the love that was coming our way and put our energy there.”
      Sam Klemick’s chair incorporates a sweater into its carved wood formThe aim of You Can Sit With Us, he said, was to give a platform to a new generation of designers who may be having similar experiences.
      The exhibition’s name is a reference to the 2004 movie Mean Girls.
      “We wanted this to be a safe space that actively welcomed new perspectives,” Whitehead explained.
      Helen Kirkum produced a lounge seat with upholstery made from trainer insolesAmong the most eye-catching designs in the show is a lounge seat with upholstery made from trainer insoles by Helen Kirkum, a footwear designer who typically crafts her designs from recycled sneakers.
      Norwegian designer Anna Maria Øfstedal Eng has contributed a CNC-cut version of a hand-crafted ash chair she first made during the pandemic in a new black lacquer finish.
      Benjamin Motoc’s piece playfully combines a sketch with a basic 3D formA backrest with a sweater slung over it is part of the carved wood form of a design by California-based Sam Klemick, who had a career in fashion before she moved into furniture.
      Rotterdam-based Benjamin Motoc created a piece that playfully combines a sketch with a basic 3D design, while Paris-based sculptor Bence Magyarlaki has produced a characteristically squidgy form.
      Bence Magyarlaki produced a characteristically squidgy formOther chairs were designed by Amechi Mandi, Divine Southgate Smith, Wilkinson & Rivera, Net Warner, Hot Wire Extensions, Byard Works, Pulp Sculptuur and Blake C Joshua.
      The participants were selected across design, art and fashion because Whitehead and Cluroe “didn’t want to enforce boundaries in that way”.
      Rob Parker of Byard Works contributed a chair made from plywood and corkTheir chairs were arranged around a table produced by Smile Plastics using recycled plastic bottles and old tinsel, which created a glittering effect.
      The exhibition was an important project for 2LG, and for Whitehead in particular, who battled mental health struggles following the pandemic.

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      The designer said the project allowed him to explore how “heart and emotion” can be a part of design.
      “A lot of healing has taken place in the lead-up to this show,” he said.
      Granite + Smoke produced blankets featuring the title, You Can Sit With UsThe project included a collaboration with textile brand Granite + Smoke, who produced colourful blankets emblazoned with the exhibition’s title message.
      Whitehead and Cluroe also worked with homeware brand Sheyn on a series of suggestive 3D-printed vases.

      “The collection we designed together is a celebration of our queerness, something we have not embraced fully in our product design output, but it felt more important than ever to put that out there right now,” added Whitehead.
      You Can Sit With Us was on show at London Design Fair from 21 to 24 September as part of London Design Festival. See Dezeen Events Guide for more architecture and design events around the world.

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      Chair of Virtue presents experimental seating at London Design Festival

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      Digitally shrink-wrapped skin, armrests salvaged from parks and “frozen” resin featured in Prototype/In Process, an exhibition of seating presented by virtual magazine Chair of Virtue during London Design Festival.

      Displayed under a railway arch at Borough Yards, Prototype/In Process was made up of 1:1 scale prototypes of chairs, as well as chairs that are still works in progress, by 12 London-based designers who are either established or emerging in their field.
      Prototype/In Process features a chair by Sara Afonso SternbergSara Afonso Sternberg presented sculptural aluminium seating made of armrests salvaged from the middle of public benches in Camberwell. The armrests were originally created to make it difficult for homeless people to sleep or rest on the benches.
      “These objects are given a new form and use, inviting the public to critically engage with control mechanisms such as hostile architecture that permeate the urban landscape,” said Afonso Sternberg.
      Jesse Butterfield created a “frozen” resin pieceAnother piece on display was by Jesse Butterfield. The designer used vacuum infusion, draping and papier-mâché to create a chair covered in resin that was intended to appear “frozen”.

      Various methods of production were showcasedthroughout the show. Daniel Widrig used 3D printing to digitally shrink-wrap a rectangular chair with polylactic acid, a starch-based bioplastic.
      Daniel Widrig used 3D printing for his pieceThe result is a grey-hued chair with an undulating form, which mirrors the shared style of previous blobby stools created by the designer.
      “Its contours mimic the gentle curves and natural irregularities of body tissue, forming intricate folds and wrinkles,” explained Widrig.

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      Thomas Wheller also used aluminium by folding a single piece of the material to create his chair, while Louis Gibson experimented with “regular” construction stock materials by creating casts from disused pipes.
      “I was interested in imagining how these parts could be used unconventionally,” said the designer.
      Thomas Wheller also worked with aluminium”With such large volumes, I was curious to create casts, and then evaluate the internal forms in a new light, and finally address the problem of reassembly,” added Gibson.
      “I chose plaster for the purpose of quick setting, I also felt it was in keeping with the world of builders’ merchants stock supplies.”
      Louis Gibson experimented with salvaged construction materialsWhile the exhibition concluded at the end of London Design Festival (LDF), Chair of Virtue is an ongoing project curated by Adam Maryniak.
      Prototype/In Process was on display on Dirty Lane as part of the annual festival’s Bankside Design District.
      Furniture created from the remains of a single car and a modular display system by Zaha Hadid Design were among the many other projects featured during LDF.
      The photography is courtesy of Chair of Virtue. 
      Prototype/In Process was on show as part of London Design Festival 2023 from 16 to 24 September 2023. See our London Design Festival 2023 guide on Dezeen Events Guide for information about the many other exhibitions, installations and talks that took place throughout the week.

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      SFMOMA furniture exhibition features “conversation starters”

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      Designers including Bethan Laura Wood and Maarten Baas have contributed a range of “sometimes jarring” chairs and lighting to an exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

      Called Conversation Pieces: Contemporary Furniture in Dialogue, the exposition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) features 45 pieces of furniture and decor “that prioritise meaning and material choice over function and practicality”.
      Jay Sae Jung Oh presented an otherworldly chair”The works on view are sometimes jarring, often bold and always conversation starters,” said the museum.
      Drawn entirely from the SFMOMA collection, some of the pieces were chosen purely for their alternative appearance, such as an otherworldly leather and plastic armchair by South Korean designer Jay Sae Jung Oh.
      Uneasy Lies the Head that Wears the Crown was designed by Germane BarnesOther pieces of furniture were selected for their commentary on social issues. For example, a piece by American architect Germane Barnes is a porch chair topped with an oversized backrest shaped like a milled wood comb.

      Called Uneasy Lies the Head that Wears the Crown, the piece was described by Barnes as a representation of Black hair, meant to highlight how Black hair “is often policed and frowned upon instead of celebrated as it should [be]”.
      Maarten Baas’ contribution features a bright blue clay chairDutch designer Baas and Italian architect Gaetano Pesce were also included in the exhibition.
      Baas created a bright blue chair covered with clay while Pesce contributed an organic-looking fabric and resin chair called Seaweed, which resembles clumps of tangled algae.
      A series of lighting designs accompanied the furniture. British designer Bethan Laura Wood created a spindly glass and metal chandelier called Criss Cross Kite.
      Gaetano Pesce contributed a fabric and resin chair called Seaweed”A chandelier is normally a very fancy-pantsy centre light,” said Wood, reflecting on her work.
      “I definitely want to play with this idea of fantasy within the thing.”
      Unique Girl is a playful lamp by Katie StoutAmerican designer Katie Stout’s ceramic lamp Unique Girl was also on display. The lighting piece is characterised by an abstract figure that the designer said is meant as a commentary on domesticity and femininity.
      All of the furniture in the exhibition was arranged across a deep red carpet interspersed with amorphously shaped plots of floor space to form a meandering pathway.

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      “Sparking dialogue throughout the gallery, Conversation Pieces presents chairs and lamps that surprise and garner attention unapologetically,” said SFMOMA.
      Last year, the San Francisco museum showcased an exhibition of work by architect Neri Oxman, while it recently became the first museum to acquire a module from the Japanese Nakagin Capsule Tower.
      The exhibition was curated within a winding spaceConversation Pieces: Contemporary Furniture in Dialogue was on display at the SFMOMA from 20 August 2022 to 25 June 2023. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.
      The images are courtesy of SFMOMA.

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      Mixed Seats aims to show “what a chair could be”

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      Designer Ali Shah Gallefoss invited 15 creatives to design their own interpretation of a chair that is suitable for a public space, all of which were presented as a recent exhibition in Oslo, Norway.

      Called Mixed Seats, the exhibition was curated by Shah Gallefoss and exhibition platform Pyton.
      Mixed Seats featured a series of concrete chairs including one by Henrik ØdegaardIt featured an installation of concrete chairs from Norwegian creatives including designers Henrik Ødegaard and Maja Pauline Bang Haugsgjerd, which were arranged in a cluster outside at a square next to Oslobukta shopping centre.
      The project stemmed from Pyton inviting the participants to a dinner party for which they were asked to design and bring their own chairs.
      Tron Meyer designed a blue chair while Jonas Løland made a stoolArchitect, designer and artist Tron Meyer created a textured blue seat with a chunky backrest while architect Jonas Løland offered a sandy-hued stool with three-pronged legs.

      “The chairs are individual suggestions for what a chair could be,” Shah Gallefoss told Dezeen.
      “They’re fun, bold, weird, serious, and playful, just like the group of individuals that made them.”
      Maja Pauline Bang Haugsgjerd created a swirling stoolWhile the creatives were free to add additional materials to their chairs, they were instructed to use concrete as their base material. The furniture was made at a collective workshop held in Drammen.
      Some of the offerings feature colour while others were kept simple, such as an ambiguous, rough concrete stool in the shape of a star or flower by designer Christoph Boulmer.
      Spindly wooden legs make up Kevin Kurang’s abstract stool”The variation in shapes and sizes made an appealing composition,” reflected Shah Gallefoss.
      “When they arrived at the square at Oslobukta they looked like small ants, with the huge Munch museum in the background.”
      Christoph Boulmer designed a flower-shaped chairShah Gallefoss himself contributed a chair design to the exhibition with a squat concrete seat attached to a sculptural metal backrest.
      After the exhibition was dismantled, the curator explained that each of the chairs has travelled to a new location to be repurposed in various ways.
      Shah Gallefoss contributed his own design to the exhibitionIndustrial designer Falke Svatun created seating made from two abstract cylindrical concrete components that has now been placed in Oslo’s Sentralen restaurant while product designer Bjørn van de Berg’s stool featured at Stockholm Design Week.
      “It is [often said] that Norwegians don’t like to sit next to another person on the bus,” joked Shah Gallefoss.
      “But the majority of outdoor furniture [created] is benches that invite people to sit down and disturb your peace and quiet. That made me think about personal space in a public setting.”

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      As well as exploring suitable seating for public spaces, another key objective of Mixed Seats was to showcase and encourage multidisciplinary creativity across Norway, according to Shah Gallefoss.
      “I hope that by introducing fifteen creatives [to each other], the exhibition will plant a seed that will grow and strengthen collaborative efforts between the different disciplines, and in the end, build a stronger design industry,” he concluded.
      Two cylindrical components make up Falke Svatun’s chairOther recent chair designs include a chubby furniture collection by Holloway Li and Uma Objects that was presented at London Design Festival and a chair made of plastic rubbish by design studio Space Available and DJ Peggy Gou.
      Mixed Seats was on display as part of Oslo Runway in Norway, which took place from 23 to 28 August in Oslo, Norway. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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      Norman Kelley remodels Chicago apartment to showcase chair collection

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      Design studio Norman Kelley and architect Spencer McNeil have completed Apartment for Chairs, a two-storey unit that features ample space for guests and a diverse collection of chairs.

      Located in a contemporary, high-rise building in Chicago’s Near North neighbourhood, the apartment was designed for a couple.
      Apartment for Chairs is located in a Chicago high-riseOne of the clients is a longtime local resident who collects art and furniture, and the other is a Detroit transplant who prefers cosy environments with organic materials and neutral colours.
      The goal was to create a home that suited both personalities and offered plenty of space for hosting guests and displaying the owners’ extensive chair collection.
      The dwelling was designed to house a diverse collection of chairsSpanning from the early 20th century to the present, the collection includes a Shaker tilter chair and pieces from the Bauhaus and De Stijl movements. Designers include Gerrit Rietveld, Piero Fornasetti, Gio Ponti, Marcel Breuer and Lina Bo Bardi, among others. The exact number of chairs is not being disclosed.

      “It is very much a living collection,” said local studio Norman Kelley, which designed the apartment in collaboration with Chicago architect Spencer McNeil.
      Norman Kelley created the project with Spencer McNeilThe project entailed combining two apartments – one atop the other – to form a spacious, two-storey unit.
      In total, the conjoined apartment encompasses 4,000 square feet (372 square metres).
      The apartment exists on two levelsThe lower level serves as the main apartment, while the bulk of the upper level is meant to act as its own private apartment – similar to an in-law suite, the team said.
      A range of modifications were made throughout the unit, including spatial changes and new finishes.
      Neutral wooden interiors are interrupted by small pops of colourThe most drastic change involved opening up a room on the upper level to form a mezzanine overlooking the lower-level living room. The double-height living room was pre-existing.
      The mezzanine, which holds an office, is connected to the room below by a new spiral staircase.
      A spiral staircase connects the two storeys”Our mandate from the owner was to create an object worthy of inclusion with the collected works of design in the home,” the team said of the staircase.
      Near the stair is a 20-foot-tall (six-metre) display area where books and chairs are on view. The steel display system has pegs, shelves, and backlit niches.
      Eames side chairs feature in the living roomOverall, the unit features a mix of vintage and contemporary decor, along with finishes such as white oak, walnut and limestone. In several areas, concrete structural elements were left exposed.
      The living room is fitted with a sectional by Molteni, Eames side chairs and a vintage Noguchi coffee table. An adjacent reading nook is adorned with chairs by Ponti and the Eameses. Overhead are globe-shaped lights by Jasper Morrison.
      Ample space was created to allow for entertainingJust off the living room, the kitchen and dining area were expanded, which was made possible by the elimination of a powder room.
      Finishes in the kitchen include lacquer cabinets, quartz countertops and a back-painted glass backsplash.
      The kitchen includes walnut stoolsWalnut stools were conceived by Norman Kelley and fabricated locally by Jason Lewis – one of several bespoke pieces.
      In the dining area, the team placed a walnut table by George Nakashima and caned-wood chairs by Emanuele Rambaldi. Above is a lighting fixture by BBPR and manufactured by Arteluce.
      A walnut table also defines the dining roomIn addition to the common areas, the first level has a main suite and two additional bedrooms. The team took an unusual approach by blurring the division between public and private spaces.
      For instance, the main bedroom’s door is a frameless, sliding wall that disappears when opened.

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      “In a home for two adults, we saw no reason for the bedroom to be considered a separate space,” the designers said.
      “There is no threshold between living room and the primary bedroom,” they added. “The whole apartment is a living space.”
      Plugs are built into a white oak bedThe sparsely adorned main bedroom features a white oak platform bed with built-in plugs – another element designed by Norman Kelley. Floor-to-ceiling windows are covered with gauzy curtains.
      The main bathroom has raked limestone walls, a walnut-and-Corian vanity and a Norman Kelley-designed ipe shower bench inspired by George Nelson’s mid-century platform bench.
      The main bathroom has raked limestone wallsUpstairs, the team made limited changes to the layout beyond the mezzanine. The upper level has two bedrooms, a kitchen and a living room.
      “We specified furnishings for the upper unit, but there were no significant architectural changes,” the team said.
      “The majority of the renovation was limited to the lower unit and its connection to the upper unit.”
      Other Chicago projects by Norman Kelley include an Aesop store that features reclaimed bricks arranged in pinwheel patterns and the update of a lobby inside a postmodern tower by John Burgee and Philip Johnson.
      The photography is by Kendall McCaugherty Ristau and Sarah Crowley.

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