Blog Four - Jasmax

Blog Four – Jasmax

1. Describe your first impressions of the Jasmax workspace and your subsequent impressions

My first impressions were that I was walking into a concrete bunker, then I noticed that the office was surprisingly quiet, tardis-like (it seems much bigger on the inside than it does on the outside), colourful and informal. It also seemed to have child-like qualities e.g. the small Eames chairs and red rug with punch out holes at reception. This child-like quality if also echoed in the Jasmax practice of naming spaces: the tool box, the sand pit.

My subsequent impression was to be impressed at how the ideas about the need for focus, collaboration and socialising among staff had been translated into the floor plan and into the design. Jasmax has realized that if it is to market itself effectively as a designer of other company’s offices; then its own office must show what it can do. I think has been very successful in achieving this

2. What are the most useful things that you take away from Tim Hooson’s talk in a few keywords?

Human Outcomes, Engagement, Sense of Purpose, Belonging and Place, The “Bump”, Break the Silo, Build the Team, Collaboration

3. Critically analyse one Jasmax project from their website.

I walk through Britomart often as I am an avid public transport user. My first impressions were that the design is eye catching and funky, however I don’t like the coloured lighting inside the station. Sometimes the staff announcer for the railway station makes announcements about the trains DJ style and this feels appropriate to me, as the space feels like a disco with the coloured lighting and the steel balls under the light wells.

My ideas about how a railway station should look have been influenced in a conservative way by what I had seen in the UK. Many of the London stations are like cathedrals, with large volumes, high ceilings and lattice like steel roof structures.

Britomart Station

Image Source: http://ufies.org/~aleith/transit/auckland/auckland.html

  

Liverpool Street Station London

Image Source http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=53141615

It was only after many weeks for walking through the Britomart complex that I started to notice the symbolism: the volcano references in the pools created above the light wells, the geyser references in the water jets, tree forms. I have come to appreciate the references to the Auckland landscape and the sense of place that this conveys.

The response to the Britomart complex has not been uniformly positive. For example Hamish Keith writes ”This entrance has a pleasing bridge approach across the atrium where one can stand and be truly appalled by one of the genuine weaknesses of the whole complex: its simple minded theme.” (Keith 36)

As a post script, I was interested to note that in a recent installation David Batchelor has made a London railway station look like Britomart! 

Gloucester Road Underground Station

Image Source: http://www.davidbatchelor.co.uk/about/

Works Cited

Batchelor, D. “Chromophobia” in Intimus - Interior Design Reader 

Edited by Taylor, M. and Preston, J. Wiley Academy Great Britain pp31-42 2006 Print

Jasmax www.jasmax.com/#/Portfolio/Britomart_\Transport_Centre 15^th September Web 25^th September 2011

Rudman, Brian; Keith, Hamish; Blunt, Gerald “A Cathedral awaits its Congregation” in Architecture New Zealand page 26-37 May June 2004 Print.

Wolfe, R. “Back to the Future” in Architecture New Zealand pg 49-56 March-April 2001 Print

Blog Two - Imagined Interiors

Blog 2 Imagined Interiors

Mengham, Rod “Anthropology at Home: domestic interiors in British film and fiction of the 1930s and 1940s.” in Aynsely, Jeremy & Grant, Charlotte (Eds.) Imagined Interiors: Representing the Domestic Interior Since the Renaissance London: V & A Publications, 2006 244-255 Print.

1. What was the focus of the essay?

The essay examines how set design in film and fictional descriptions of interiors were used to convey ideas about the state of Britain in the 1930s and 1940s.

2. What did you learn from reading it?

I learnt about how concerns about social issues were conveyed in novels and film through choices made in set design and literary descriptions of interiors.

3. What aspects of the interior were focused upon in these representations? (i.e. particular spaces, particular social events, arrangements of objects) What was valued then? Is it still valued now? If not, what is valued now?

4. How are these representations of the interior analysed by the author of the essay in relation to the religious, and/or social, and cultural values that were important at the specific time and place they were constructed?

In the 1930s and 40s in UK film sets and novels the focus was on the cleanliness and orderliness of the interior (or otherwise), the functionality and degree of comfort and the extent to which it was cluttered or crowded and symmetrically laid out. Objects in the interior also performed the function of “taste indicators”. These elements were used to signal information about the psychological and moral state of the people living in these settings, as well as their social class, to the viewing audience. “Throughout the 1930s and 1940s the domestic interior appears in film and fiction as a kind of stage for acting out of certain ideas about society, addressing issues of standardization and individuality, of order and threats to that order, class and national character and of cultural continuity.” (Mengham 251)

The focus of the representations on order and cleanliness reflect the value placed on stability, composure and order in British society in the 1930s and 40s, as well as the class consciousness of the society at that time.

Mengham mentions a variety of socio-political issues that were important in the UK in the 1930s and 1940s that were addressed in film. Left and right agendas were pursued by film makers. As part of the “mass observation” movement, there was an effort to document the living conditions of the working class. On the other side of the political fence, in one movie, the dangers of the introduction of a National Health Service were examined by movie makers who were concerned about England moving in a Socialist political direction.

ln the 1940s, after the extensive bombing of the war years, there were a number of movies set in the midst of bombed-out interiors and some l0oked at how survivors adapted to the new reality. Mengham also states that concerns about juvenile delinquency and a gang behavior were also a theme of movies in this time frame, often in the context of a wider moral breakdown in society. I think some of these issues arose out of some criminality seen in the context of the war – rationing and black market trading.

The art of set design has moved on a great deal from the 1940s, to allow a more realistic depiction of three dimensional space in film interiors and the introduction of colour. If we look at contemporary film set design we can see a similar use of movie interiors for acting out ideas about society, but with a far greater focus on the selection of objects, colours and materials, reflecting what we value today and technical changes in film production. The change also reflects the contemporary power of advertising in linking social status to brand names, the greater appreciation of good design amongst the general public as well as the increase in affluence.

An example of the contemporary use of colour and brand name objects in the set design can be seen in this image of the apartment of the central character in the film American Psycho. Bateman is extremely style and brand name conscious and he has an extremely stylish apartment for the period in which the film is set (1980s). He is also a violent psychopath. In this movie, the values of “yuppie culture” are examined especially the focus on brand names and materialism.

Patrick Bateman’s Apartment

Image Source: http://upstagedbydesign.com/2011/08/06/american-psycho-foreign-collector/

The interior of his apartment is stylish, monochromatic and contains furniture from big name designers like Mackintosh, van der Rohe and Piva. However the whiteness conveys a sense of sterility, coldness and unease.

In the movie Down with Love Barbara Novak is a feminist writer of self help books for women. However the set design features curvy furniture in shades of pink and white shag pile carpet suggesting that under the tough exterior she has a softer side than her outward behavior suggests.

 

Barbara Novak’s Apartment  

Image Source:

The movie is a kind of homage to 1960s comedies but also addresses issues about “what women want” and the role of feminism in contemporary society. The set design suggests that underneath it all, we want pink curvy, cuddly things.

Works Cited

Mengham, Rod “Anthropology at Home: domestic interiors in British film and fiction of the 1930s and 1940s.” in Aynsely, Jeremy & Grant, Charlotte (Eds.) Imagined Interiors: Representing the Domestic Interior Since the Renaissance London: V & A Publications, 2006 244-251 Print.

Blog One - Introduction

1. What are your favorite contemporary art / design / craft / interior magazines? (name at least five)

2. Why do you read these particular publications? Comment on content and writing style.

Urbis – The content ranges from interiors, places, to culture and travel. The magazine is beautifully laid out and writing style is chatty and flatters the reader by making them feel part of the cognoscenti.   I like the fact that it is NZ based and that there is a focus on the designers as well as the design.

 

Elle Decoration – UK edition  - The focus is on contemporary interiors and products, including information about upcoming design fairs and exhibitions.  It is very up-to-the-minute and funky.  There is not a lot of text, the magazine is more eye candy.

The World of Interiors – The magazine focuses on exotic and period interiors that you would not normally get to see.  There are also details about sourcing antiques, upcoming trade fairs and book reviews. The writing style is formal and academic and there are a lot of historical and architectural details discussed.  

Wallpaper – The content ranges from architecture and interiors, to “boy’s toys” – cars and technology. The writing style is non-technical although there is a sense that it is directed to the “in crowd”. I have not read this for a while but I used to like the way that they showed design from out of the way places like North Korea and Romania and that they found a sense of beauty in a very unexpected way.   They were often the first to draw attention to up-and-coming locations for design.

Vogue Living – Australia – I especially like the Before and After editions.  The writing in these editions is very practically focused, they give floor plans, costs and details of materials used.  They also discuss the inspiration for the design and practical difficulties in the execution.  The writing style is accessible to a wide audience.  

Home New Zealand – The focus of the magazine is on NZ residential interiors and products for them, with an emphasis on NZ made products. There is also a section on sustainability issues.  The writing style is non-technical and addressed to home buyers as well as the design industry. 

3. Who are your favorite designers? Why?

Architects

IM Pei – the man is amazing in the way that he has designed in very different styles of different clients, from the Miho Museum in Japan to Four Seasons in New York, to the pyramids at the Louvre and the Museum of Islamic Art in Qatar.  I saw a beautiful movie about the latter in the film festival a couple of years ago.  I love the way that the building exudes a sense of calm.   Check out the Utube link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBMqIB6ijKQ

Frank Gehry – I particularly like the Guggenheim in Bilbao and the Walt Disney concert hall in LA.  I saw a movie Sketches of Frank Gehry a couple of years ago, it was great because it showed a lot about the creative process.  The more I looked at the designs the more I could see that the seemingly randomly placed metal panels were designed to welcome people into the buildings. See Utube link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu9orvtStdY

Interior and Furniture Designer

Christian Liaigre

I like the way that he combines Asian or African art with contemporary Italian style furniture.   The interiors he designs have a wonderful sense of repose. 

Product and Textile Designers

Konstantin Grcic – I love his ultra modern furniture design with an industrial aesthetic, especially his chairs.     

Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec – I like a lot of the products they have designed for Vitra, especially the new very squashy sofa designs and Algue, which can be used as a room divider.   

Tord Boontje – I especially like the delicacy of his nature inspired lighting design.  

Orla Kiely – I love the color palette of her textiles, which is retro and modern at the same time and takes me back to the textiles designed for the 1950s Festival of Britain.  

4. If you were on a desert island, what five design objects would you take with you, and why? (This does not include boats, flares, gps devices or other rescue devices!)

For my desert island choices, I am assuming that I have built myself some sort of building to live in.  The bright blue sky and the tropical flowers of the island would mean  that I could be liberated in my design selections and choose the bright colours I love.

 

Bed – I love this rattan bed design by Kenneth Cobonpue (a designer from the Phillipines).   I think it will look great on my desert island and it would permit cooling ventilation.  Image Source: http://www.kennethcobonpue.com/

Daybed - For somewhere for visitors to chill out during the day I like this daybed from Neoteric Luxury.  Image Source: http://www.luxist.com/tag/outdoor+furniture/

Quilt - For cool nights this tivaevae quilt designed in the Cook Islands would come in handy.  I am sure that Te Papa wouldn't mind lending it to me.  Image Source: http://tpo.tepapa.govt.nz/ViewImageFileDetail.asp?ImageFileID=00575831&

Washbasin – The plumbing might be a bit tricky to arrange, but I would have a hose with me.  This washbasin would be a stylish edition to my bathroom.  It is designed by an Indonesian company - Bati. 

Image Source:

http://www.batibali.com/#!collections/product/4/36/0/dita-vanity.html

Bath - For the odd day when I felt like having a hot bath, I could light a fire under this bath from Bati. 

Image Source
www.batibali.com/#!collections/product/3/15/0/kama-deva.html

Works Cited

You Tube, “New Islamic Museum in Doha, Qatar" 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBMqIB6ijKQ Web 7^th August 2011

You Tube “Sketches of Frank Gehry Trailer”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu9orvtStdY Web 7^th August 2011

Christian Liaigre www.christian-liaigre.fr/?lang=en_US Web 7^th August 2011

Konstantin Grcic http://konstantin-grcic.com/ Web 7^th August 2011

Bouroullec www.bouroullec.com/ Web 7^th August 2011

Tord Boontje http://tordboontje.com/ Web 7^th August 2011

Orla Kieley www.orlakiely.com Web 10^th August 2011

Kenneth Cobonpue http://www.kennethcobonpue.com/ Web 10^th August 2011

Luxist

http://www.luxist.com/tag/outdoor+furniture/ Web 12^th August 2011

Te Papapa http://tpo.tepapa.govt.nz/ViewImageFileDetail.asp?ImageFileID=00575831& Web 14^th August 2011 

Bati Bali http://www.batibali.com Web 17^th August