Design WOO

The ROBERT restaurant has opened atop the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City.

Full description after the photos….

ROBERT unveils for its clientele an expansive view of Columbus Circle, Central Park, Broadway and Central Park West, hidden for decades since the closure of Huntington Hartford’s museum. Celebratory, sexy and romantic, designed to allow for conversation, patrons may dine sitting on sofas in the central lounge area, or be seated at the windows to enjoy the views.

Lighting is designed by San Francisco based architect Johanna Grawunder. Grawunder’s two installations are Cherry Blossom; a mobile-like chandelier installation of LED lit lucite panels and Tangerines; a series of suspended orange lucite boxes along the windowed perimeter. Sculptural steel cocktail tables, host stands and  a 15 foot communal table bisected by a 6 foot high “sound wave” were created for the space by London based architect Philip Michael Wolfson. Upholstered pieces were designed by modernist master Vladimir Kagan. A new video art piece entitled “Orbit 2” was created by artist Jennifer Steinkamp and is the first of her work to be displayed on a 103” plasma screen. Project architects were Schefer Design.

Swiss designers ZMIK have covered the corridor of an office building in Basel with line drawings of room interiors, which only line up to make sense from certain positions in the space.

Called Anna, the design includes black and white wireframe images of both the real rooms behind the corridor’s walls and other, imaginary ones.

Visitors can make sense of the drawings by standing at five specific points in the hallway.

The project was commissioned for the offices of interactive media company iart interactive.

See also: V&A washrooms by Glowacka Rennie (April 2009)
More about ZMIK: Coming Out exhibition (March 2009)

Photographs are by Eik Frenzel.

Here’s some text from ZMIK:

–

ANNA

spacial intervention for iart interactive ag / Basel (CH), 2009

iart interactive moves their offices to a new place inside a building from the seventies. This spacial intervention in the main circulation area visually enlarges the narrow corrridor by using the medium of anamorphosis: Looking from 5 fixed positions the wireframe-drawings show real and imaginary rooms behind thewalls. Besides this points of view the graphic merges into abstract lines. For iart the intervention is also an allegory for the quest of new perspectives.

Design: ZMIK
Client: iart interactive ag, Basel
Realisation: Septembre 2009
Photos: Eik Frenzel

This townhouse in Chicago floats behind a private garden wall and is framed by traditional houses on both sides. A dramatic side stair leads to the main level, comprising open living, dining and kitchen areas, then continues upstairs to the master bedroom and bathroom that are literally suspended above the main living space. Two guest bedrooms and bathrooms are located on the lower floor.

Chicago Town House, by Alexander Gorlin Architects

Nominated for the Bathroom Design Awards 2010, this project exists as one open space where several functions have been put into freestanding objects. The kitchen and wardrobe are placed near the entrance and combined into one single volume.
The bath and bedroom is hidden in a volume which is placed at back of the house. From the open living area you look alongside the volume towards the vertical garden and the entrance stairs to the roof terrace. The view on the green wall holds a promise in itself which will be redeemed once you enter the bed/bathroom.
The panorama on the overgrown plantwall and the contrast with the minimalistic white bed/bathroom provides an intense experience. Integration of nature is an important aspect of traditional culture in Japan, the homeland of the client.

This house renovates into modern living way by reconfigured floor plan to maximize relationship between outside and inside, additional fenestration around the courtyard, more energy efficient and updating interior spaces and building systems. Detailing interior and exterior unify with existing historical preservation mid-century house elements. Iconic building materials from its previous designer, William Wurster used, containing materials such as horizontal siding and paneling, wood windows and doors, and a neutral color palette. From enhanced glazing courtyard to living room and dining space that has floating wall, modernist atmosphere with classic reflecting elements feel strong and create comfortable ambiance. Architect Walker Warner, interior design by Douglas Durkin.