Hotel Mono by Spacedge Designs

Hotel Mono is a chic hideaway set in six historical shop houses of modern design. The beautifully rejuvenated buildings retain original charm with characteristic airwells and Rococo-era windows; slipping into traditional Singapore and interweaving with the city’s urban bustle.

Hotel Mono, Singapore, by Spacedge Designs

Exhibition: Spring by Mathieu Lehanneur

In his ‘Spring’ exhibition at Carpenters Workshop Gallery in London, Mathieu Lehanneur takes us into a world of flux. As if the cycle of the seasons and nature’s forces have specially looked at the fate of objects… Here, the artist-designer with a passion for science, grapples with ancestral materials in order to suffuse them with plasticity, fluidity and tone.

The works in the ‘Spring’ exhibition seem to hesitate between solid, liquid and gaseous. They appear to be suspended mid-transformation in a poetic state of metamorphosis. Marble and aluminium become liquid, onyx becomes air and glass softens as in a return to its original state.

Mathieu Lehanneur: ‘Spring’ exhibition, (17 – 25 September 2016), at Carpenters Workshop Gallery, London

Architecture Model Museum: Archi-Depot

Japan is getting its first museum dedicated to miniature architecture models. On June 18, 2016, Archi-Depot will open on Tennozu Isle in Tokyo’s Shinagawa district. Boasting a 450 sq m (4840 sq ft) space with 5.2 m (17 ft) ceilings, Archi-Depot will be lined with over 100 shelves all dedicated to the permanent display of architecture models. According to Fashionsnap, the organization has already secured models made by architectural luminaries like Kengo Kuma, Jun Aoki and Shigeru Ban, as well as a younger generation of architects like Wonderwall and Torafu. And they’ll continue to add to their collection.

Each model will be accompanied by a QR code that you can scan with your smartphone to bring up more information like photos of the completed work. The space itself is operated by Terada Warehouse, a company that specializes in the storage of valuables like art and wine. Tennozu Isle, where Archi-Depot is located, was previously an industrial hub for airlines and freight companies because of its proximity to the water and Haneda Airport. But the area has undergone significant redevelopment in recent years in an attempt to rebrand itself as an isle with “art & heart.”

Archi-Depot, 2-6-10 Higashi Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, Japan, via: Spoon & Tamago

Eero Aarnio Retrospective at Design Museum Helsinki

The most extensive overview thus far of the work and thought of designer Eero Aarnio has open at Design Museum. Aged 83, Professor and interior architect Eero Aarnio has had an exceptionally long career and is one of the internationally most widely known names in the history of modern design in Finland.

The Eero Aarnio retrospective will be a comprehensive exhibition of the designer’s work in furniture, lamps, small objects and unique one-off pieces from the 1950s to the present. Along with objects it will also feature more rarely seen original drawings and sketches demonstrating the designer’s work. Visitors to the exhibition will be shown the less-known aspects of Aarnio’s design process with materials collected from the designer’s own work table and the production lines of the factories. The exhibition is curated by Suvi Saloniemi, Chief Curator at Design Museum, and the exhibition architecture is by Ville Kokkonen and Florencia Colombo.

Eero Aarnio Retrospective, at Design Museum Helsinki

Manshausen Hotel by Snorre Stinessen

Manshausen Island is situated in the Steigen Archipelago off the coast of Northern Norway. The Island´s position between dramatic mountains and the Barents Sea is in itself the inspiration for celebrated Polar Explorer Børge Ousland´s newest adventure; an adventure and exploration resort. The area is home to the world´s largest population of Sea Eagles and the fishing is spectacular. To the north the horizon is dominated by the mountain-range of Lofoten.

Manshausen Island was historically part of one of Northern-Norway´s largest trading posts for the fishing industry, today only visible in the massive stone quays on the Island. Additionally there is an existing 18th century small farmhouse on the Island.

The resort was planned and laid out in consideraton of the Island´s topography and the two main existing structures – the old farmhouse and the stone quays. The old farmhouse is situated on a small protected grassy plain on the Island and has been carefully restored, but also opened up towards the view of Lofoten in the North. The interior gives room to a professional kitchen and dining area on the ground floor and a relaxing library on the first floor. The cabins are all but one placed on the stonequays, partially cantilivered above the sea, one placed on a natural shelf on the rocky formations above. The positioning and orientation of all the cabins is based on the consideration of their individual panoramic views and privacy for the guests.

Manshausen Hotel, by Snorre Stinessen

Okko Hotel by Patrick Norguet

“Okko hotel is, first and foremost, the story of my encounter with Olivier Devys, the project’s founder. Starting with a blank page, we combined our visions and our determination to take up the challenge of upending traditional practices in the hospitality industry to create a bold and innovative concept, an all-included package for the best location, best service and best price! Thus was born the idea of a contemporary and urban four-star hotel where the human, design, and innovation are at the heart of the project. I designed an adequate, simple, and timeless product around this “Okko spirit” to cater to customers’ new needs: a place unaffected by time or trends and where the notions of service and comfort are essential; to be able to work, dine, relax, be waited on or use anything freely, any time of the day; to feel like being home away from home. The high-end amenities and services in the modern and relaxing Okko room and in the vast and convivial Club room make the Okko hotel a unique place that combines aesthetics and comfort. I wanted to create a brand, not just a hotel!”

Okko Hotel, Nantes, France, by Patrick Norguet

Das Stue Hotel by Axthelm Architekten

Originally built in the 1930’s, Das Stue’s diplomatic legacy is evident in the heritage building’s stately architecture and modernist façade, designed by German architect Johann Emil Schaudt (1871-1957) and inspired by Danish classicism. Located in Berlin’s diplomatic quarter, Das Stue was renovated to invoke a calming ambiance, with open spaces and contemporary minimalist design. The Potsdam-based firm Axthelm Architekten added a new wing on the building’s former back courtyard, which is clad in a floral patterned photo concrete surface acting as an elegant counterbalance to the rough dressed stone of the main building.

While Patricia Urquiola artistically directed and designed all public spaces and fluidly integrated shared spaces such as the lobby, cocktail bar and restaurants, LVG ARQUITECTURA finalized the interior room and suite design. Das Stue’s daylight spa, which opens its doors to the courtyard when the first rays of sunlight emerge, offers three treatment rooms, an indoor swimming pool, as well as a glass sauna and gym. In addition to the wellness center, two intimate library lounges offer guests a private and elegant retreat to relax.

Each of the 80 guestrooms is outfitted in subdued modern decor that emphasizes polished surfaces and rich fabrics. The rooms are designed to recall the open spaces of villa environments, complemented by high ceilings, hardwood floors and views of the adjacent Tiergarten; 11 rooms feature terraces and balconies.

Das Stue Hotel, Berlin, Germany, by Axthelm Architekten, via: UR Design Magazine

Hermès M9 Special Edition Camera by Leica

Following a string of limited edition collaborations, Leica is back with a third in a line of special M-System cameras built with the help of renowned Parisian fashion house, Hermès. The partnership results in two special editions, with a total of 300 Edition Hermès digital rangefinders set to ship beginning in June for $25,000, while 100 “very special” Edition Hermès — Sèrire Limitèe Jean-Louis Dumas models will release in July for — $50,000. Both editions will be offered as complete kits, with the “cheaper” of the two built with soft calfskin leather with a silver chrome finish for its redesigned control points, complete with a Leica Summilux-M 50 mm f/1.4 ASPH. optic. The “other” arrives with three lenses, the Leica Summicron-M 28 mm f/2 ASPH., a Leica Noctilux-M 50 mm f/0.95 ASPH. and a Leica APO-Summicron-M 90 mm f/2 ASPH — all with an anodized silver finish.

Hermès M9, Special Edition Camera, by Leica, via Freshness

Steilneset Memorial by Peter Zumthor & Louise Bourgeois

Architect Peter Zumthor designed this memorial on an island in Norway to commemorate suspected witches who were burned at the stake there in the seventeenth century. The Steilneset Memorial in Vardø comprises two structures, one conceived entirely by Zumthor and a second housing an installation by the late Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010). The first structure comprises a pine scaffolding framework, inside which is a suspended fabric cocoon containing a long oak-floored corridor. Inside this corridor, light bulbs hang behind 91 windows to represent each of the men and women that were put to death during the witch trials. A plaque accompanies each lamp to record the individual stories of every victim. The installation by Bourgeois, entitled The Damned, The Possessed and The Beloved, occupies the smoked-glass-clad second structure. A circle of mirrors within surround and reflect a flaming steel chair inside a hollow concrete cone.

Steilneset Memorial, Vardø, Norway, by Peter Zumthor and Louise Bourgeois,
Photography by Andrew Meredith, via: dezeen

Hotel Missoni Kuwait

Every detail designed by Rosita Missoni to create an exhilarating sensory experience.

Hotel Missoni, Kuwait