#01 - Opening Thought
Sheep, cows, and goats, these are the neighbours of one of my favorite architects, Gion Caminada, who has spent much of his career in the quiet beauty of the Swiss Alps in the small town of Vrin. Caminada has crafted barns for these creatures alongside a series of buildings for humans that blend so effortlessly with the local vernacular that they’ve helped modernise his home region without losing any of its alpine character.
As a lecturer at one of Switzerland’s top universities and a prodigious talent, he could have easily set up shop in a global capital and built a world-famous firm. Instead, he has carved out a career based on caring for the community, developing a canon of work steeped in Swiss building tradition that’s both benefitted the place and the architectural profession. For this, he was presented the Swiss Arc Award 2024’s Lifetime Achievement Award last month— an architectural honour that sits well with the rest of his lofty achievements.
#02 - Humans and Technology
Growing up, I watched my mum (Alison Giles) work as a graphic designer, meticulously crafting whisky bottle label designs by hand. She’d sketch Scottish family tartans from actual tartans, hand-draw from physical family crests, and incorporate these intricate details into the new designs (pictured below). Things we wouldn’t consider a challenge today were back then - for one client, she had to borrow a taxidermied red grouse from a museum to sketch it as she couldn’t find a reference photo of this lovely game bird at a library (or one in the wild, presumably). Then came the Apple Mac, then the internet. Suddenly, the pencil was out, and QuarkXPress was in. The referencing was still there; it was just easier to do on-screen, online. She could scan a reference image and digitally trace elements to quickly create something new.
At its best, design is a considered, problem-solving blend of relevant referencing and expertise; at its worst, it is the pastiche of trendy sources pieced together to fit a brief. Introducing AI into this landscape intensifies the push toward more unoriginal responses. However, there’s an argument that AI can be a powerful tool for deepening creativity rather than erasing it.
“The details are not the details. They make the design.” — Charles Eames.
This new technology should amplify intention and craft in design, not replace them. Working within copyright laws and established design principles, trained creatives can use AI as a complementary tool, much like Eames used new technology to refine and enhance the furniture he pioneered. The never-before-seen forms of these machine-made classics’ didn’t ever stray from the human designer’s original intent.
Most good designers today have all the reference points, training, and insight to understand their craft at a deep level. For them, AI can refine and question their work meaningfully, creating better, fresher efforts. The tools are getting better, but they’re just tools. In the wrong hands, the results are shallow and uninspired; in the right hands, they are conduits for better work.
#03 - Design Selection
After spending recent time absorbing mountain serenity in the South Tyrolean Dolomites, re-adjusting to the dull grey of mid-Autumn urban living has been a chore. Thankfully, the minimalist, timber-centric design that defines the region’s stylish restaurants and hotels works perfectly in any setting. With this in mind—and inspired to bring some of that alpine warmth into my home—I’ve been hunting for pieces that capture the elegance and cosiness of those spaces.
Something a little comfier than the tough timber Tiroler chair around the dinner table, (1) Sebastian Herkner’s reinterpretation of the S 64 Thonet chair adds tasteful colour accents to the classic’s timber and cane elements, blending rustic character with refined style. While the (2) Tsukinowa dining table from Isana Furniture is a Japanese-made piece, its table leg’s jagged, mountain-like silhouette and fine timber construction give it alpine sophistication for a European setting. Ilse Crawford’s reinterpretation of the classic (3) Billy BL floor light by Kalmar Werkstätten brings warmth to any space. This edition, for the Austrian heritage brand, features a rich rosewood stem on satin-brass feet. Not too far from Kalmar’s base in Vienna, Austria’s Vorarlberg is the region where timber craft reigns supreme. Brands like Schmidinger Möbelbau create simple, sturdy pieces like the (4) Sennhaus bench with a backrest—a perfect homage to traditional furniture that’s equally at home in contemporary spaces.
Dubbed the epitome of comfort for some 90 years, Flemming Lassen’s sheepskin (5) Tired Man Lounge Chair (available through Audo Copenhagen) is the ultimate plush seat for passing long, relaxed evenings. While Norway might lack alpine peaks, there’s no shortage of cosy seating made to watch the snowfall from. (6) Fjord Fiesta’s Scandia Nett Lounge Chair is the perfect perch draped in a soft sheepskin overlay made from Norwegian wild sheep leather.
#04 - For Your Consideration
A couple of weeks back, I saw a London screening of the second edition of ‘Women in Architecture’. An enveloping tale of the lives and careers of architects Dorte Mandrup and Tosin Oshinowo, it’s moving in many ways. You can enjoy a preview here, and the whole documentary will be online on November 12th.
Sticking with legendary Danish architects (like Mandrup), I travelled to New York with photographer and filmmaker Andrea Pugiotto to interview Bjarke Ingels about his firm’s landmark BIG U project. The film was created for the Holcim Foundation, I’d encourage all architects with sustainably minded projects in the works to enter its great global design competition, which Ingels won in 2015.
Mr Pugiotto was also kind enough to turn my attention to the incredible British / French publishing house Loose Joints, whose two-volume slipcased re-edition of Lars Tunbjörk’s Office, a seminal 2001 photobook, delves deep into the offices of the time and their not-so-nice designs.
An environment more inviting than a Y2K-era corporate cubicle, Parkhotel Mondschein in Bolzano blends historic charm with modern touches and this week opened Luna Restaurant. The site features herringbone floors, stained-glass windows and custom finishings creating a mid-century-inspired, classy, but cosy atmosphere.
Further south in Italy, Cappelli Identity Design, which operates from Milan, Turin, and Rome, has just completed a dream brief for Archivi Olivetti. The colourful branding and campaign work pays tribute to a company that used ambitious yet playful design to change the way we look at previously boring work tools.
#05 - Through The Lens
France-based Kiwi photographer Mary Gaudin’s book Down the Long Driveway, You’ll See It - created in collaboration with Matthew Arnold in 2014, has just been re-issued, through a new edition, celebrating its ten year anniversary. The stunningly shot stories inside capture the spirit of mid-century modernist homes in her homeland. One in particular, the Sutton House (pictured above), designed by Tom Taylor in 1961 for prominent artist Bill Sutton, holds a unique place in the project. Situated in the ‘red zone’ after the 2010 Christchurch earthquake, it was one of the last inhabited residences in an area deemed unsafe for rebuilding.
For Gaudin, the Sutton House stands as testament to resilience amidst destruction. “Neil Roberts, the then-owner, very much wanted to stay,” she says. “His dilemma was that moving the house would mean cutting it off from its garden—a setting he felt was so intertwined with the house.” Fortunately, the house was preserved and found new life as the Sutton House and Garden Charitable Trust, which now offers residencies for artists, preserving its legacy. Gaudin’s collaborator, Matthew Arnold, writes in the book’s introduction: “The house is oriented the right way (to the sun, not the street) and placed on the southern boundary to allow for a garden which runs the length of the house. It’s an inner-city oasis that is lush and enveloping.” We couldn’t agree more.