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      Florence Knoll Bassett “led an office revolution”

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      As part of our mid-century modern series, we portray Florence Knoll Bassett, who transformed how we think of office design with her streamlined furniture and leadership of design brand Knoll.

      Under Knoll, Florence Knoll, as she was then called, brought modern lines and a human-centric design ethos to the American office environment. As well as leading the company’s interior design arm, the Planning Unit, she designed furniture for its collections and developed its aesthetic identity.
      She was also known for professionalising the mid-century interior design industry, combining her extensive architectural training with an eye for form and combatting the notion that interior design was the same as decorating.
      Florence Knoll (left) worked with designers and architects including Eero Saarinen. Photo courtesy of KnollIn a 1964 New York Times article about her, titled “Woman Who Led an Office Revolution Rules an Empire of Modern Design; Florence Knoll Gave Business ‘Living’ a New Look”, she said that offices had changed from being ‘decorated’ to being designed.
      “I am not a decorator,” she said in the article. “The only place I decorate is my own house.”

      Knoll was founded by Florence Knoll’s husband Hans Knoll, who was in the process of developing the company in New York City when the pair met in 1941.
      In 1943, Florence Knoll joined the burgeoning company as a designer and soon after became a full business partner upon the couple’s marriage in 1944.

      Office design pioneer Florence Knoll Bassett dies aged 101

      Today, Knoll is known for its portfolio of office furniture, including notable designs such as the Barcelona Chair by Mies van der Rohe, the Wassily Lounge Chair by Marcel Breuer, and the Womb Chair by Eero Saarinen – three pieces Florence Knoll commissioned herself through her many long-standing connections in the architecture world.
      She also created seating, tables, and storage systems for office interiors that were meant as “fill-in” pieces – uncomplicated designs that complemented the more flashy products by her peers.
      “People ask me if I am a furniture designer,” she said. “I am not. I never really sat down and designed furniture. I designed the fill-in pieces that no one else was doing. I designed sofas because no one was designing sofas.”
      Among her best-known pieces are the T Angle series of tables, which were constructed from a steel base and have laminate tops. These include a dining table, coffee tables and numerous other versions.
      Her Executive Desk, part of her Executive series and also known as the Partner’s Desk, with its rosewood top and splayed chrome-plated steel base, still looks modern today and is still produced by Knoll.
      Planning Unit specialised in corporate office interiors
      Her Lounge Collection, created in 1954, also epitomizes her approach. It encompassed a tufted lounge chair, sofa, settee, and bench that sat upon geometric, metal frames.
      Today, these pieces are treasured additions to household or corporate spaces, but Florence Knoll originally created them as a backdrop for the office interiors she designed while she led the Knoll Planning Unit.
      Founded by Florence Knoll in 1946, the Planning Unit consisted of a small group of Knoll designers that created corporate office interiors for prominent companies such as the Connecticut General Life Insurance Company, Cowles Publications and CBS.
      Led by Florence Knoll’s exacting eye, the small team was tasked with designing furniture, textiles and objects for a space.
      Florence Knoll designed the interiors for the CBS building in New YorkIn the 1960s, Florence Knoll designed the interiors of a new CBS headquarters in New York City, housed in a black-clad skyscraper by friend Eero Saarinen.
      “Her job embraces everything from the choice of wall coverings – sometimes felt or tweed for the sake of acoustics – to ashtrays, pictures and door handles,” the New York Times said of her involvement in the project.
      “She has led people to see that texture in fabrics can be as interesting as a print (she dislikes prints) and that steel legs on tables, chairs and sofas can have grace and elegance.”
      Bespoke pieces usually custom-made for interior projects
      The bespoke furniture that Florence Knoll designed for projects such as the CBS headquarters would then be folded into the Knoll catalogue.
      “The spaces suggest the furniture, and sometimes that furniture was not in our catalog,” Vincent Cafiero, an early member of the Planning Unit, said.
      During this period, Florence Knoll also started a textile program at the company, which would become Knoll Textiles. This saw her develop a “tagged sample and display system”, a technique used industry-wide today.
      As Knoll grew, Florence Knoll would also shape much of the company’s identity and practices.
      She worked with designer Herbert Matter to create branding for Knoll, including its advertisements, stationary and logo, imbuing its branding with the same straightforward style as her personal work.
      Florence Knoll also filled the company’s catalogue with commissions from her many connections, gathered during her architectural training at schools including he Cranbrook Academy of Art, Columbia University, Architectural Association and Illinois Institute of Technology.
      Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona chair is among the pieces commissioned by Florence Knoll. Photo by Adrià GoulaBorn and raised in Michigan, her training began in earnest at age 12, when Florence was orphaned after the death of her father at age 5 and mother at 12.
      Her guardian encouraged her to choose a boarding school, where the young Florence chose the Kingswood School for Girls, a school on the same grounds as Cranbrook Academy of Art.
      Eilel Saarinen, Cranbrook’s then headmaster and designer of both schools, noticed Florence’s interest in architecture and eventually “virtually adopted” Florence into the Saarinen family, according to Knoll.
      Mies van der Rohe was “teacher and friend”
      She would go on to befriend his son, Eero, and other prominent designers during her studies and beyond including Charles Eames, Harry Bertoia, Isamu Noguchi and George Nakashima.
      Florence was also mentored by architects Alvar Aalto, Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer.
      Designer Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, who she studied under at the Illinois Institute of Technology, had perhaps the most lasting influence on her style, as seen in her methodical, detail-oriented approach.
      “Like her teacher and friend Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Ms Knoll Bassett’s attention to detail was all-encompassing, relentless, and, over time, the stuff of legend,” said Knoll.

      The organic designs of Eero Saarinen went “beyond the measly ABC” of modernism

      Her colleagues held her “unerring” taste in high regard.
      “Each time I go East I see something you have done,” wrote Charles Eames in a 1957 letter to Florence Knoll. “It is always good, and I feel grateful to you for doing such work in a world where mediocrity is the norm.”
      Upon Hans Knoll’s sudden death in 1955, Florence Knoll took over leadership of the company as president until 1960, when she switched back into a design and development role and moved to Florida with her second husband Henry Hood Bassett.
      She officially retired from the company in 1965 at age 48.
      Under her five years as president Knoll doubled in size, cementing its status as a leader in the design industry.
      “[Florence Knoll] probably did more than any other single figure to create the modern, sleek, postwar American office, introducing contemporary furniture and a sense of open planning into the work environment,” wrote The Times architecture critic Paul Goldberger in 1984.
      In 1961, Florence Knoll became the first woman to receive the Gold Medal for Industrial Design from the American Institute of Architects, and in 2003 she was presented with the National Medal of Arts.
      “We have lost one of the great design forces of the 20th century,” Goldberger said when Florence Knoll died in 2019. “Florence Knoll Bassett may have done more than anyone else to create what we think of as the ‘Mad Men’ design of the midcentury modern workspace.”
      Illustration by Jack BedfordMid-century modern
      This article is part of Dezeen’s mid-century modern design series, which looks at the enduring presence of mid-century modern design, profiles its most iconic architects and designers, and explores how the style is developing in the 21st century.
      This series was created in partnership with Made – a UK furniture retailer that aims to bring aspirational design at affordable prices, with a goal to make every home as original as the people inside it. Elevate the everyday with collections that are made to last, available to shop now at made.com.

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      “I love mid-century modern but it makes me sad”

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      Mid-century modern design may meet our needs even more now than when it first appeared, but that doesn’t mean we should idolise the style, writes John Jervis.

      I love mid-century modern, but it makes me sad. In its beauty and simplicity, it speaks of postwar optimism, and a belief in a better world – one of prosperity and peace, with large homes and larger pay packets. It’s not the fault of a bunch of attractive designs that this proved to be a mirage, even a fraud. But mid-century modern was wrapped up in that delusion, even contributed to it. And the design industry enjoyed, and continues to enjoy, the ride just a little too much.
      In the 1950s, mid-century modern design promised a lifestyle free from markers of wealth and privilege, free of decorative excess, of clutter and dirt, free from the past. In reality, there were few progressive ideals involved. Before the war, modernist designers had struggled to bring their ideas to mass production, but still sought to raise living standards in cities, designing ‘minimum dwellings’ with floorplans, kitchens and furnishings calculated to maximize space and improve lives.
      Their postwar successors – all those heroic, big-name designers we celebrate as prophets of a modern, democratic future – turned out to be less public-spirited. When mass production of modernist designs became a reality, they chose lucrative careers working, almost exclusively, for high-end manufacturers.
      Then, as now, class was deeply embedded in design’s power
      And those manufacturers rarely considered, pursued or achieved affordability or accessibility, and still don’t. There may well be perfectly justifiable arguments – and realities – around balancing profitability, quality and investment, and achieving sustainability. Yet it is fair to say that most such companies have never sought a mass consumer market – the sort of market that would erode the cachet and returns of their intellectual property. Then, as now, class was deeply embedded in design’s power, even as its pioneers proclaimed the advent of a classless era.

      To be fair, that worked both ways. The golden age of mid-century modern design barely stretches a couple of decades, partly because it was never that popular. Even when incomes grew, and aspirational furnishings became just about affordable, most consumers turned not to sanctioned ‘good design’, but to products with other, perhaps more important, meanings – nostalgia, craft, ornament, community, warmth.
      To the despair of critics, heavy ‘baroque’ furniture remained the preferred choice of consumers during the German economic miracle, while Americans showed a similar predilection for colonial styles. In the heyday of the Italian furniture industry, many manufacturers stuck to an aesthetic decried by Domus editor Ernesto Rogers as ‘Cantu Chippendale’.

      “There was a profound belief in the power of the polymath during the mid-century period”

      Just as tellingly, when the wider population of mid-century modern poster child Finland was finally able to afford the country’s furniture, the new ‘Tower’ suite was the immediate bestseller. Released in 1971, this three-piece sofa-armchair combo – a typology anathema in design circles – adopted a traditional ‘English style’, with comfortable upholstery and oak veneer over foam and chipboard. It turned out that imported British TV shows were more influential than lecturing from design’s great and good about a modernist canon.
      In the postwar era, that great and good – a pale, male and privileged elite – secured its status rapidly, with a raft of government- and industry-backed organizations such as Britain’s Council of Industrial Design and the Industrial Designers Society of America, all dedicated to imposing universal standards of ‘good design’.
      Soon, even receptive audiences – including many young designers – began to find both the discourse and the results tedious, turning to Victoriana, pop and eventually postmodernism as the 1960s progressed. Some rejected ‘design’ in its entirety, looking to alternative culture instead, epitomised by the success of the Whole Earth Catalog.
      Why has mid-century modern now become the default style for contemporary interiors?
      The reasons behind changes in taste are always hard to pinpoint, but in this instance, it seems many were looking for a richness, diversity, vibrancy and meaning in their lives that mid-century modern was failing to provide – an opportunity to express their personality and creativity through their home decor. So why has mid-century modern now become the default style for contemporary interiors? As with Victorian design’s comeback in the 1960s, or art deco in the 1980s and brutalism in the 2000s, such revivals are far from unusual, but it’s still curious that mid-century modern meets our needs more than during its heyday.
      Some of that may be practical. As more and more of us are crammed into ever smaller homes, squeezing a spindly faux-mid-century modern desk into a bedroom is more realistic than some glorious art deco behemoth. And, as we constantly move from space to space, its lightness and modularity make perfect sense. Other reasons are less tangible, less knowable – perhaps mid-century modern offers a clarity, calm and sense of control that is hard to find in the rest of our lives.

      Mid-century modern design “embraced a more human aesthetic while remaining aggressively forward-looking”

      The financial equation hasn’t changed over the decades, though. Manufacturers still have a tight grip on their ‘originals’, leaving the vast majority of us buying knock-offs, or flat-packed imitations, as we attempt to Marie Kondo our existence.
      But how long will everyone want to live in these ranks of pristine waiting rooms? My aspirations for a mid-century modern bachelor pad – a Julius Shulman photo on the cheap – have long since fallen away. Leaving behind that quest for a lifestyle that never existed in the first place has improved my lot considerably. It is the (slightly mannered) accumulation of battered paperbacks in the Penguin donkey and the coffee stain on the Aalto stool that give them their charm. And their submersion in the general detritus of life gives them context and meaning.
      Maybe we just don’t need another generation of Eames loungers
      And there is another thing that might speed up a mid-century modern rethink. In promotional literature, its timelessness and durability have long been trumpeted as the route to a sustainable future. Perhaps this claim is no longer quite so convincing. Regenerative and circular design requires us to instead embrace age, imperfection, decay, decomposition, even odour – to view products as a passing moment in the life of a material, with longevity as a potential drawback. So maybe we just don’t need another generation of Eames loungers.
      In this context, mid-century modern’s ‘timeless perfection’ can seem a cold quality, one throwing a harsh light on our own imperfections and frailties – our human nature – while overlooking our concern with and capacity for joy. The obsessive repetition of this mantra, and of outdated concepts of ‘good design’, invites the backlash that brought mid-century modern design to a shuddering halt last time round, viewed as sterile, inflexible, lifeless.
      Certainly, like so many others, I will always find mid-century modern beautiful, even sublime, and I’ve got my eyes on a few more alluring examples. But I wouldn’t want too much of it in my life.
      Main photography by Joe Fletcher.
      John Jervis is a writer, editor, project manager and ghost writer across a range of media, including Icon, Frame, RIBA Journal, Apollo, ArtAsiaPacific, Thames & Hudson, ACC, WePresent, Laurence King and others. He has just published his first book, 50 Design Ideas You Really Need to Know, with Greenfinch Books.
      Illustration by Jack BedfordMid-century modern
      This article is part of Dezeen’s mid-century modern design series, which looks at the enduring presence of mid-century modern design, profiles its most iconic architects and designers, and explores how the style is developing in the 21st century.
      This series was created in partnership with Made – a UK furniture retailer that aims to bring aspirational design at affordable prices, with a goal to make every home as original as the people inside it. Elevate the everyday with collections that are made to last, available to shop now at made.com.

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      Women’s contribution to mid-century modern design is “not challenged as much now” says Pat Kirkham

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      Many female designers from the mid-century modern movement are more celebrated now than when they were producing work, says design historian Pat Kirkham in this interview for our mid-century modern series.

      US designer Ray Eames, French designer Charlotte Perriand and architect Lina Bo Bardi are some of the women recognised today for their contributions to the mid-century modern movement, which spanned the mid-1940s to early 1970s.
      Kirkham, a design history professor at Kingston University who has authored books on designers Charles and Ray Eames and 20th-century female designers in the US, argued that a revived interest in mid-century modernism has brought some of these women’s names to the forefront of design again.
      “There are still some architects who don’t see them of value”
      She explained that although they gained commercial success with their designs in the decades after world war two, many of the designers faced adversity in the industry.

      “There were many routes these women took to becoming what they were, and they didn’t come without sacrifices and frustrations – I think they’re very empowering,” Kirkham told Dezeen.
      “The possibility that these women were really good and did some important work is not challenged as much now, but there are still some architects who don’t see them of value, and equally, seeing areas that they hold as women’s work, like interior design, as not as valid as other areas of design.”
      Ray Eames designed furniture with her husband, Charles. Photo courtesy of the Eames OfficeAccording to Kirkham, it was common for women not to be credited for their designs in the mid-twentieth century. These included Ray Eames, who is known for the work she created with her husband Charles Eames.
      The Eameses were prominent figures in the mid-century design movement. They met in 1940 at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan, where Ray had joined as an abstract painter looking to expand her artistic practice and Charles was an architect on an industrial design fellowship.
      Ray and Charles married in 1941 and established the Eames Office in Los Angeles. Together, they became influential designers in architecture, furniture, graphic design and film, but Ray was often given less credit than her husband.
      Herman Miller furniture sold under Charles Eames’s name
      They designed numerous pieces for furniture brand Herman Miller, including the iconic Eames Lounge Chair in 1956.
      “Undoubtedly, a lot of stuff went out in Charles’s name,” said Kirkham, “Herman Miller furniture was sold for donkey’s years as ‘by Charles Eames’.”
      “Now, Ray seems to almost be as much a household name as Charles Eames used to be.”
      Kirkham also said that Ray, who she interviewed before the designer passed away in 1988, had talents outside of her partnership with Charles. These were often overlooked, but are now being discovered posthumously as mid-century modernism and the Eameses’ work continues to inspire.

      Mid-century modern design “embraced a more human aesthetic while remaining aggressively forward-looking”

      “You get a very different picture if you focus in from the woman’s angle,” said Kirkham. “Just by researching Ray, there is a ton of stuff nobody had bothered with.”
      “Ray’s influence was really strong with interiors – the importance of her to their aesthetic was really crucial.”
      “He was quite an arty type of architect, but he was also hugely interested in the technology,” Kirkham continued. “Ray often said that she felt that one of the things wrong with American education when she was young was women weren’t taught technology – she felt it would have been handy for her.”
      Charlotte Perriand worked with Le Corbusier for 10 years. Photo by Jacques Martin/AChP courtesy of Scheidegger & SpiessPerriand is another designer whose designs have been miscredited. Between 1927 and 1937, she collaborated with architects Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret on furniture designs, including the LC2 Grand Confort chair and Chaise Lounge, but as a woman, she was not given as much recognition as her male counterparts.
      After 10 years working for Le Corbusier, Perriand “stepped out of his shadow into a successful career of her own,” The New York Times said.
      Perriand continued designing into the mid-century and developed a particular interest in creating shelving. One of her most notable designs is the Bibliothèques modular storage system, produced by French architect Jean Prouvé’s eponymous atelier.
      Perriand furniture allegedly falsely credited as co-designed with Prouvé
      She created further iterations of the shelving under the title Nuage, which were produced by Galerie Steph Simon until 1970.
      Perriand’s family later became embroiled in a lengthy legal dispute over the authorship of Nuage, which they allege had been falsely credited in part to Prouvé after his death.
      Although her collaborations with male designers had, in some cases, left her overshadowed and miscredited, Kirkham believes her ties to Le Corbusier mean Perriand is now more easily discovered than other female mid-century modern designers.
      “In the European modern movement, you often have designers not getting due credit,” said Kirkham.
      “With Charlotte Perriand’s designs for Corbusier in the 1930s, she got reclaimed from history because she was working with a really famous architect.”
      Lina Bo Bardi spent most of her career in Brazil. Photo courtesy of Instituto BardiExtra attention should be focused towards discovering more about the female designers who worked in Central and South America, said Kirkham.
      She explained that people’s interest in modernism often leads them to the designs of prolific European and North American men from the movement, but this could be directed elsewhere.
      “The interest in modernism is still often what drives most of the interest in the male designers, so my sense is that there is still a tonne of women to be discovered,” she said.
      “The work from Central and South America needs much more interest, but the modernism interest comes first.”

      Lina Bo Bardi wins Venice Architecture Biennale’s Special Golden Lion award

      Bo Bardi is one of the better-known South American designers of the mid-century. Born in Italy, she moved to Brazil with her husband after a trip to Rio de Janeiro in 1946.
      Based in São Paolo, Bo Bardi became a Brazilian citizen in 1951. In the same year, she completed her first built architecture project with her own home, Glass House, and designed the iconic Bardi’s Bowl Chair.
      Kirkham named Cuban-born Clara Porset as another designer of particular interest. Porset spent time studying in Paris and the US and although she returned to Cuba, she was forced to leave the country in 1935 because of her involvement in the Cuban general strike.
      Clara Porset was the only woman to work with Mexico’s most established modernist architects. Photo by Archivo Clara Porset Dumas via Wikimedia CommonsFinding refuge in Mexico, the country’s culture and vernacular furniture influenced many of her designs, including the wood and woven wicker Butaque chair.
      The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) described Porset as a “design trailblazer” and claimed she was the only woman known to have worked with the most high-profile Mexican modernist architects, including Luis Barragán, Max Cetto, Juan Sordo Madaleno and Mario Pani.
      “New names are being uncovered every day”
      Kirkham believes it is important to correct the errors of the past that allowed some women’s mid-century modern designs to be overlooked.
      With widespread interest in mid-century modernism today, she explained that some people are revisiting old documents and discovering more female designers from the movement.
      “One of the interesting things is that mid-century modern was not popular in the 1980s,” said Kirkham. “There is a huge revival of interest at the moment.”
      “It’s an important legacy, and new names are being uncovered every day,” she continued. “They’re very empowering, and I think they’re very empowering among young design students.”
      The top photo of Kirkham is by Casey Kelbaugh courtesy of the Bard Graduate Center.
      Illustration by Jack BedfordMid-century modern
      This article is part of Dezeen’s mid-century modern design series, which looks at the enduring presence of mid-century modern design, profiles its most iconic architects and designers, and explores how the style is developing in the 21st century.
      This series was created in partnership with Made – a UK furniture retailer that aims to bring aspirational design at affordable prices, with a goal to make every home as original as the people inside it. Elevate the everyday with collections that are made to last, available to shop now at made.com.

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      Bernadotte & Kylberg unveils own-label furniture in nature-inspired Arken hotel

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      The design duo of Prince Carl Philip of Sweden and Oscar Kylberg have designed landscape-like interiors for a hotel in a Swedish nature reserve, featuring their first own-label furniture collection.

      The Bernadotte & Kylberg founders have created three unique suites at Arken, part of the Eriksberg Hotel and Nature Reserve in Blekinge, southern Sweden, which is Scandinavia’s largest safari park.
      The three suites include the grey-toned Urberg, which refers to mountain landscapesThe scheme includes custom-designed furniture pieces that the duo have now released under their own lifestyle brand, also named Bernadotte & Kylberg.
      The Eriksberg furniture collection features a bar cabinet, a writing desk and a chair, produced from solid oak wood, diabase stone and polished brass.
      Bernadotte & Kylberg designed furniture, lighting and carpets for all three suitesThe three Arken suites take cues from different parts of the Eriksberg reserve, a 925-hectare park that is home to mouflon sheep, minks, wild boars and various species of deer.

      The grey-toned Urberg suite refers to mountain landscapes, while the green-hued Skog suite is named after the Swedish word for forest. The third suite, the pale-blue Himmel, references the sky.
      The green-hued Skog suite is named after the Swedish word for forestBernadotte & Kylberg also set out the design palette for the other 23 rooms of the hotel, which feature matching colours and textiles to the suites.
      “Eriksberg is a unique and beautiful place in Blekinge. It is an experience totally on nature’s own terms,” said Carl Philip Bernadotte.
      “It is precisely this encounter with nature that we want to capture by blurring the boundaries between indoors and outdoors,” continued the prince.
      Martin Bergström designed wallpaper for each suiteBernadotte & Kylberg designed many of the details in the three suites, including the textural, multi-tonal carpets that dictate the three different colour schemes.
      The furniture, including beds, coffee tables and armchairs, was custom-produced by Älmhult-based manufacturer Specab. Bespoke lighting pieces were meanwhile developed with glass artists Simon Klenell and Rasmus Nossbring.
      The pale-blue Himmel suite references the skyThe duo also commissioned print designer Martin Bergström to design wallpaper for each suite, which he based on plants and other elements he collected on walks through the reserve.
      Other standout details include the floor-to-ceiling tree-trunk columns in the Skog suite and the large boulders in the Urberg suite.

      “Everything we do is going to be looked at more” says Prince Carl Philip as studio launches own brand

      “We were tasked with creating and realising a total interior design vision,” said Kylberg, describing the ambition to reflect “the soul and natural diversity of Eriksberg”.
      “We hope and believe that guests will enjoy the suites as much as we enjoyed creating them,” he added.
      Bathrooms feature floor-to-ceiling windowsFor the Eriksberg collection, Bernadotte & Kylberg have developed new colourways for the furniture pieces. The designs come in bold red or green finishes, as well as natural oak.
      The diabase used for these designs was sourced from the Kullaro Stone quarry in nearby Skåne.
      “The diabase stone quarried at Biskopsgården, in the northeastern part of the Swedish region Skåne, is truly unique, impressing not only with its rarity but also with its exceptional character and composition,” Kylberg said.
      The Eriksberg furniture collection includes the writing desk and chair designed for Arken suitesPrince Carl Philip is the only son of King Carl XVI Gustaf, and fourth in line to the Swedish throne.
      He and Kylberg founded their Stockholm-based studio in 2012. They initially focused on product design, but started moving into interiors after being commissioned to create a suite at Sweden’s famous Icehotel.
      They launched the Bernadotte & Kylberg design label in 2023, with a launch collection of scarves and blankets embellished with the B&K logo.
      The collection also includes a bar cabinet with a polished brass interiorIn an exclusive interview with Dezeen to mark the launch, the duo said that public scrutiny has kept them on their toes.
      “We know that everything we do is going to be looked at more,” said Bernadotte. “In the first years, it took a lot of energy from us, but today it’s something that is just there,” added Kylberg.
      As well as the Eriksberg furniture, Bernadotte & Kylberg have added a brass tealight holder called The Tulip to their own-label collection.
      The photography is courtesy of the Eriksberg Hotel and Nature Reserve.

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      Dezeen Awards 2024 reveals 35-strong sustainability shortlist

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      Dezeen has announced the sustainability shortlist for this year’s Dezeen Awards, which includes designs by Mater, Tengbom, Kvadrat and Kirkby Design.

      The 35 shortlisted studios, in the running for awards in six different sustainability project categories, are located across 19 countries, including Brazil, Thailand, Spain, Poland and Switzerland.
      Shortlisted projects include a modular seating system made from old cork wine stoppers by Paul Crofts for Isomi and a spiral installation made of algae bricks for Chicago Architecture Biennial.
      A collaboration between Dutch studio’s MVRDV and Hirschmüller Schindele Architekten saw firms retrofit an office building into a bright yellow workplace with a zigzagging outdoor staircase in Berlin, is also shortlisted.
      Dezeen Awards 2024 shortlists revealed this week

      Dezeen Awards 2024, in partnership with Bentley, will reveal all shortlisted projects this week. The architecture, interiors and design shortlists were announced earlier this week.
      This year’s nomination-based Designers of the Year and Bentley Lighthouse Award shortlists will be announced tomorrow and next Monday respectively.
      “The calibre of this year’s sustainability shortlist demonstrates the invaluable and pioneering work that is pushing the industry forward,” said Chris Cooke, head of design collaborations at Bentley.
      “The breadth of innovation is fantastic,” he continued, “ranging from hyper-local to industry-wide solutions that address key issues around waste.”
      Aesop Diagonal by Mesura. Photo by Maxime DelvauxThe shortlisted projects were scored by our sustainability jury which includes Henrik Taudorf Lorensen, Noella Nibakuze, Mina Hasman and Jonas Pettersson.
      All shortlisted sustainability projects are listed below, each with a link to a dedicated page on the Dezeen Awards website, where you can find an image and more information about the project.
      The winner of each project category will be announced live at our annual Dezeen Awards party on 26 November at Hackney Church in London. All six winners will then compete for the title of sustainable project of the year.
      Buy your Dezeen Awards party tickets now!
      Tickets for the Dezeen Awards 2024 party are now on sale! The event will be a chance for everyone who entered this year’s Dezeen Awards to celebrate their achievements alongside fellow nominees, winners and our esteemed Dezeen Awards judges.
      Click the link here to find out more and secure your tickets before they sell out!
      Read on for the full sustainability shortlist:
      Angsila Oyster Scaffolding Pavilion by Chat Architects. Photo by W WorkspaceSustainable building
      › Angsila Oyster Scaffolding Pavilion, Angsila, Thailand, by Chat Architects› Praia JK Sports Complex, São Paulo, Brazil, by Soek Arquitetura› Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture, Gashora, Rwanda, by MASS Design Group› Sporthallenprovisorium Gloriarank, Zurich, Switzerland, by Itten+Brechbühl AG› Tuusula High School and Cultural Centre, Tuusula, Finland, by AOR Architects› Zhengxiangbaiqi Grassland Community Center, Hohhot, China, by Inner Mongolia Ger Culture and Technology
      This category is sponsored by Urban Future.
      Browse all projects on the sustainable building shortlist page.
      Maison Melba by Atelier L’Abri. Photo by Alex LesageSustainable renovation
      › Alsterschwimmhalle, Hamburg, Germany, by Architekten von Gerkan, Marg und Partner› Haus 1, Berlin, Germany, by MVRDV› Maison Melba, Frelighsburg, Canada, by Atelier L’Abri› Park Street, Melbourne, Australia, by Breathe Architecture› The Blue by Just Inn, Taipei City, Taiwan, by Tszwai So› Wuzhen Rural Brewery Renovation and Renewal, Tongxiang, China, by Lichao Architecture Design Studio
      Browse all projects on the sustainable renovation shortlist page.
      Plantonia Vegan Aparthotel by Kreatina. Photo by ONI StudioSustainable interior
      › Aesop Diagonal, Barcelona, Spain, by Mesura› AWM Münster, Münster, Germany, by Urselmann Interior› Gachard 88, Brussels, Belgium, by Ncbham› Plantonia Vegan Aparthotel, Krakow, Poland, by Krea.tina› Sustainable Workspaces, London, UK, by Material Works Architecture› Tengbom’s Office, Stockholm, Sweden, by Tengbom
      Browse all projects on the sustainable interior shortlist page.
      Alder Collection by Patricia Urquiola for Mater. Photo by Nicklas HemmingSustainable design (consumer)
      › Alder Collection by Patricia Urquiola for Mater› Aloe by Kirkby Design› Circular Ceramics by Sara Howard Studio and Kevala Ceramics› Ibuju Collection by Side Gallery› Monc Mycelium Packaging by Monc› Tejo by Paul Crofts for Isomi
      Browse all projects on the sustainable design (consumer) shortlist page.
      Heritage Portland Stone Bricks and Darney Heritage Natural Stone Bricks by Albion Stone. Photo by Ivan JonesSustainable design (building product)
      › Airiva wind energy system by Airiva Renewables› Bio-Block Spiral by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill› Heritage Portland Stone Bricks and Darney Heritage Natural Stone Bricks by Albion Stone› iQ Loop by Note Design Studio and Tarkett› Luna by Harvest Moon› Tea-earth Brick by Kooo Architects
      Browse all projects on the sustainable design (building product) shortlist page.
      Bio-Based Tiles by StoneCycling and Biomason. Photo by StoneCyclingMaterial Innovation
      › AI Timber by Maestro Technologies› Ame by Teruhiro Yanagihara Studio and Kvadrat› Bio-Based Tiles by StoneCycling and Biomason› CornWall by StoneCycling and Circular Matters› Other Matter Decals by Other Matter
      Browse all projects on the material Innovation shortlist page.
      Dezeen Awards 2024 in partnership with Bentley
      Dezeen Awards is the ultimate accolade for architects and designers across the globe. The seventh edition of the annual awards programme is in partnership with Bentley as part of a wider collaboration to inspire, support and champion design excellence and showcase innovation that creates a better and more sustainable world. This ambition complements Bentley’s architecture and design business initiatives, including the Bentley Home range of furnishings and real estate projects around the world. More

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      Dezeen’s Global China exhibition spotlights cultural collaboration

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      Models, sketches and photos of works by architects and designers including Neri&Hu, Büro Ole Scheeren, Paul Priestman and FOG Architecture feature in Dezeen’s Global China: Connecting The World Through Design exhibition in Shanghai.

      Taking place during the World Design Cities Conference (WDCC) in Shanghai last month, Global China: Connecting The World Through Design showcased work by both Chinese and international architects and designers that bridge east and western ideologies.
      The exhibition space is designed by FOG ArchitectureThe exhibition features the work of six architecture and design studios, which were selected by Dezeen to demonstrate the breadth and depth of interesting work being completed in China.
      Featuring models, sketches, photography and films, the exhibition aims to demonstrate how international collaboration and cultural exchange can foster innovation while showcasing China’s influence as a growing design power.
      FOG Architecture presented a model of To Summer flagship store in BeijingThe exhibition space, designed by FOG Architecture, featured a series of architecture models on a central table, with hanging graphic boards hanging from a curved rail for visitors to look through.

      Three models from Chinese architecture studio Neri&Hu occupied the centre of the table, including Waterhouse at South Bund, Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat and Nantou City Guesthouse, that focus on adaptive-reuse and historic preservation.
      Neri&Hu presented three of their most well-known projects”We believe that urban fabric and architectural memory should be preserved with a critical approach that exemplifies the zeitgeist within the specificity of context,” said the Shanghai-based studio.
      “Our built works show the possibility of creating unexpected spatial experiences in historic buildings, giving them new life.”
      The twisted Tencent Helix is one of Ole Scheeren’s highlighted projectsBüro Ole Scheeren also presented three models, the Axiom, Tencent Helix and Shenzhen Wave, that best represent the studio’s futuristic vision for China’s urban landscape.
      AIM Architecture created AIM City, a curated collection of the studio’s projects that form an experimental city concept for renewal and innovation.
      AIM Architecture created an utopia urban city focused on renewal and innovation”Every street and building are reimagined, offering unexpected moments and fresh possibilities, embodying our vision of continuous urban evolution,” said the studio.
      “Past, present, and future merge in a dynamic landscape of regeneration and sustainability.”
      Paul Priestman showcased his latest Viewpoint conceptBritish transport designer Priestman presented his latest work Viewpoint, a sightseeing ship where all passengers would have undisrupted views of cityscapes. Also on display are hydrogen powered locomotives concept Inter-Freight as well as his previous designs for China high-speed trains.
      Chinese furniture designer Min Chen presented a bench called A Piece of Wood, that used Chinese traditional kite frame made of bamboo with the shape informed by airplane wings. His work is known for its modern expression in traditional materials and craftsmanship.
      Min Chen presented a bench that utilises Chinese craftsmanshipFOG Architecture presented ToSummer Flagship in Beijing Guozijian, which was crowned Interior Project of the Year at Dezeen Awards China last year. Others on display are HCH Showroom for Shanghai Fashion Week and Cycle Cycle Portable Bakehouse, which was longlisted at this year’s Dezeen Awards.
      The photography is by Xiaobin Lyu.
      Global China: Connecting The World Through Design exhibition ran from 27 to 30 September on the third floor of Dingbo Building as part of World Design Cities Conference 2024. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.
      Media partnership
       
      Dezeen curated the Global China: Connecting The World Through Design exhibition for WDCC as part of a media partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

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      Japanese food replicas “trigger your memory and stimulate your appetite”

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      Gleaming sushi and an “earthquake-proof burger” are among the hyperrealistic food models on display at Japan House London as part of the exhibition Looks Delicious! Exploring Japan’s Food Replica Culture.

      Opening today, the show documents Japan’s history of food replicas, known as food samples or shokuhin sampuru in Japanese, which dates back to 1923 and continues as a contemporary trend.
      Looks Delicious! Exploring Japan’s Food Replica Culture opens today at Japan House LondonThe bespoke replicas are scale models of dishes from the country’s 1.4 million restaurants, produced by craftspeople for eateries wishing to advertise hyperrealistic versions of their menu items to prospective diners.
      Simon Wright, director of programming at Japan House London, explained that the meticulous detailing and bright colours synonymous with the world-famous replicas intend to “stimulate how delicious the food actually is”.
      The exhibition explores the country’s many food replicas”There’s a slight exaggeration to trigger your memory and stimulate your appetite,” he told Dezeen at the gallery.

      Among the works is a dedicated section revealing how the replicas are made, including moulds and stencils such as a screenprint stencil used to create fish scales, arranged in a factory-style layout atop colourful crates.
      Early replicas were cast from coloured candle waxThe display examines the shift from early replicas cast from coloured candle wax, which was historically poured into a box of agar jelly, to the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) replicas cast in silicon moulds that emerged in the 1970s and continue to be used today.
      “Even though the materials are different, ultimately, it hasn’t really changed,” said Wright.
      A contemporary “earthquake-proof burger” is included in the show”The process is exactly the same,” he continued, explaining that real food has always been used to create the moulds. “It’s quite analogue. It’s all handcrafted – there are no conveyor belts and automation.”
      “That means that there’s a versatility to making food replicas,” he continued. “Any restaurant or food establishment can have what it wants. So maybe your hamburger is just a little bit fatter than the one next door – you can give the craftspeople your fat hamburger, and they will make an exact replica of that.”
      Each of Japan’s 47 prefectures is represented by a replica of a local dish”Colours are also made according to actual food substances,” acknowledged Wright, referring to the selection of paints on display that are used to finish each replica, featuring names including pumpkin peel and croissant.
      Another section explores the evolution of food displays, highlighting how the introduction of heat-resistant materials allowed for more dynamic compositions – such as noodles being lifted from a handless fork or cheese oozing from a piece of airborne toast.
      The exhibition features a range of replicas displayed in myriad waysA playful, “earthquake-proof burger” formed from towering piles of artificial meat, relish and onions stands tall on one of the plinths.
      “When you display wax, it has to be flat, because it either melts in the heat or fades in the sunlight, which isn’t very effective as a marketing tool,” said Wright.
      “When PVC was introduced, you were able to tilt the dish by 45 to 60 degrees, therefore giving more exposure and more visibility to the outside of the model.”
      Applications of replicas beyond restaurant settings are also included in the exhibitionIn the centre of the gallery, a banquette-style table presents 47 models commissioned for the exhibition, created by leading food replica manufacturer Iwasaki.
      Arranged like a map, each model represents a dish from one of Japan’s 47 prefectures. There is zuwai-gani, shimmering orange snow crab served in the winter in Tottori, and “scattered sushi” from Okayama known as bara-zushi, arranged in a circular timber box.
      “We chose them for their variety, size, colour and shape,” said Wright, who explained that they consulted people across Japan when selecting the delicacies.

      Taste-Adjusting Chopsticks makes food taste saltier without adding salt

      Elsewhere, the first known food replica created for commercial purposes is on display. Completed in 1931 by Iwasaki Group founder Iwasaki Takizō, the model is a wrinkly yellow omelette topped with a dollop of red sauce and a replica of a dish that Iwasaki’s wife had just prepared in the kitchen at home.
      Applications of replicas beyond restaurant settings are also included in the exhibition, highlighting the expanding ways that people are using food models.
      Looks Delicious! Exploring Japan’s Food Replica Culture runs until 16 February 2025Mounted to one wall is a 3D chart produced for the Japan Diabetes Society classifying food groups according to their primary nutrients, while a “carrot preparation guide” for family caregivers and nursing home staff features a gradient of consistency – from finely cut vegetable rounds to a smooth paste.
      Visitors can also create their own bento box of replica food on a dedicated food assembly table covered with a red and white gingham tablecloth.
      Wright explained that wax food models were originally created in the early 20th century to introduce Japanese diners to less familiar cuisines imported from China and Europe, before restaurants began to commission replicas of local dishes.
      Today, the Looks Delicious! Exploring Japan’s Food Replica Culture is the first UK exhibition of its kind, and offers London audiences the chance to see handcrafted Japanese models up close.
      “In Japan, you’ll see exhibitions of competition pieces, but they only exist within a context of what people understand food replicates to be,” said Wright. “Whereas this kind of thing doesn’t really exist, and has never been shown before.”
      Elsewhere in London, social enterprise POOR Collective exhibited a collection of work by emerging local designers. Design studio Wax Atelier also presented an exhibition revealing how living trees can provide materials for design objects.
      The photography is courtesy of Japan House London.
      Looks Delicious! Exploring Japan’s Food Replica Culture takes place from 2 October 2024 to 16 February 2025 at Japan House London, 101-111 Kensington High Street, London W8 5SA.Visit Dezeen Events Guide for a guide to the festival and other architecture and design events taking place around the world.

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      Birdhouses informed by skyscrapers and modernism feature in Dwellings exhibition

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      Andu Masebo and Rio Kobayashi are among 23 designers who have created birdhouses for an exhibition held at South London Gallery that aimed to unpack “what it means to build a house for a bird”.

      Conceived by design studio Computer Room and birdwatching collective Flock Together, the Dwellings project focused on shared themes of sanctuary and exploring our relationship with nature.
      The Dwellings exhibition was held at the South London GalleryThe exhibition held in the Orozco Garden and Clore Studio at South London Gallery from 31 August to 1 September 2024 comprised an eclectic series of 22 objects and images, ranging from practical solutions to expressive conceptual responses.
      The varied contributions encapsulated the unique thought processes and skills of makers including ceramicists, glassmakers, architects and photographers.
      It aimed to unpack “what it means to build a house for a bird”Many of the designers created their own takes on conventional birdhouses, which are typically made from wood and feature a hole just large enough to provide an entrance for the nesting birds.

      Other participants opted for a more abstract approach, such as artist and designer Moe Asari’s site-specific project exploring the attempts to reintroduce black kites to a Dutch nature reserve.
      Various materials were usedThe show’s co-curator Masebo, who runs the Computer Room design collective alongside Jesse Butterfield and Charlie Humble-Thomas, developed a birdhouse via a remote collaboration with his uncle Dan O’Conell – a trained carpenter based in Ireland.
      Without conversing throughout the process, Masebo and O’Connell sent materials back and forth between London and Ireland, each making their own alterations until an object with the form of a birdhouse emerged.
      Each design was “chosen to be good for birds”Butterfield’s contribution to the exhibition is a wooden structure informed by skyscrapers and modernist architecture. Bird Metropolis provides space for eight nesting house sparrow couples within a tower carved into organic, tree-like forms.
      London and Copenhagen-based designer Daniel Schofield’s birdhouse uses renewable cork bark as an alternative to wood, which he suggested is an odd choice of material as it requires cutting down a bird’s natural home to create an artificial one.
      “The form and proportions were chosen to be good for birds,” said Schofield, “but also simple to produce industrially and locally, hopefully giving more chance of these being made en-masse, and giving the best opportunity of making more homes for birds in our urban landscape.”
      Timber featured throughoutKobayashi’s playful response to the brief called The Guest House For An Ostrich is elevated to an appropriate height so an ostrich could hide its head inside rather than burying it in the ground.
      The birdhouse features an aerodynamic form and details that reflect the ostrich’s ability to run at great speeds. Its front surface is scorched to give the impression that aerodynamic friction has set the wood alight.

      Nicer Design creates bird-box house numbers to encourage urban birdlife

      Ceramicist George Baggaley created a birdhouse in his signature organic style, which is embellished with glazes that accentuate its undulating surfaces.
      Ovulo by Jaclyn Pappalardo features a welded form reminiscent of shapes found in nature. The curved profile with a hook at one end for suspending it from a tree branch was produced using a process that involves inflating metal using water.
      Dwellings focussed on shared themes of sanctuary and exploring our relationship with natureOliver Hawkes worked with a charity called Global Generation to build birdhouses using material offcuts donated by eyewear brand Cubitts. The project aimed to engage young people in the making process and educate them about issues relating to the environment and bird cohabitation.
      Many of the pieces created for the exhibition were available to purchase, with all proceeds helping to support South London Gallery’s communities and learning programmes.
      The photography is courtesy of Computer Room and South London Gallery.

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