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Muri Lagoon is a kilometer-wide (0.62 miles) lagoon on the southeastern coast of Rarotonga, in the Cook Islands. It is a significant tourist attraction to the region, despite being heavily polluted with nitrogen from agricultural runoff and leaking septic tanks — so much that it was declared a natural disaster in 2015. Rarotonga is the largest and most populous of the 15 Cook Islands, a self-governing country in the South Pacific Ocean.

See more here: https://bit.ly/3p0dyi4

-21.258333°, -159.729167°

Source imagery: Airbus Space
© CNES 2020, Distribution Airbus DS

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Unapologetically feminine but not overly girly, slick and precise like a Swiss watch but never mechanical or cold – The Daily Edited (TDE) flagship sits as a perfectly poised extension of the Australian accessory brand success story, lovingly conceived by Sydney-based design darlings and Yellowtrace favourites, Pattern Studio. The brand’s latest bricks and mortar store continues the partnership between the two companies, (see TDE’s Melbourne flagship by Pattern here), this time in Sydney’s iconic Queen Victoria Building.

Pattern have continued to build on the visual language they’ve developed for TDE over the last five years, adhering to the established design ethos that couples “cool minimalism and sweet sophistication”. Once again restraint and material tactility reign supreme, along with the brand’s signature shade of pink.

Working with a modest 60sqm footprint, Pattern opted to envelop the tenancy’s walls in quilted, fabric-wrapped panels, covered in Foss designed by Louise Sigvardt for Kvadrat. The grid-patterned surface of the walls cleverly conceals ample volumes of storage space hidden within.

Populating the shop floor are a number of sculptural, stainless steel elements, including the store’s point-of-sale and monogram counters. The heft of these curved, metallic forms is offset by the softness of the pink panelled walls and the lofty, light ceiling, achieving a sense of carefully calibrated tension that’s central to the interior’s visual success.

Honed candy-toned terrazzo — Pavlova, by another Yellowtrace favourite, Fibonacci Stone — lines the floors and counter surfaces, bringing another subtly textured layer to the material palette. A gleaming, mirrored table lamp — designed in 1972 by the Danish architect Louis Weisdorf, and reissued by Gubi — adorns the sales counter, adding a touch of 1970s retro cool to the ultra-futuristic vibe within the interior.

The completion of Australian accessories giant The Daily Edited’s latest space coincided with the beginning of the latest Sydney Covid-19 lockdown. The store’s been patiently sitting and waiting, ready to open its doors this Spring with the current easing of the restrictions.

Related: The Daily Edited Melbourne Flagship by Pattern Studio.

| The article Historic Grandeur Meets Modern Elegance at The Daily Edited QVB Flagship by Pattern Studio. appeared first on Yellowtrace. |

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Bern is the capital of Switzerland, referred to by the Swiss as their “federal city” because it is the seat of the nation’s parliament. The Old City of Bern, seen here, is situated on a crook of the Aare River and more modern neighborhoods have sprouted up in surrounding areas. Bern has a population of about 140,000, making it the fifth-most populous city in Switzerland.

See more here: https://bit.ly/3auCLJd

46.948056°, 7.447500°

Source imagery: Maxar

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There’s something about auto body shops — their scale, the rigidity of form and the stark lighting all combine to ignite a sense of awe — and I’m not even a car person. For one of Amsterdam-based Framework Studio’s latest projects, The Collector, the team leaned into the industrial aesthetic, utilizing raw metal and concrete to create a home with body shop energy in a minimalist package.

With a breath-taking entrance to kick things off, the volume is centred around the garage that’s home to a number of vintage cars. A glass wall partition separates it from the living space, as the interior serves as a viewing room of the vehicles from above.

Related: Old Amsterdam Garage Becomes an Impressive Family Home for Barde + vanVoltt.

Housed in a former warehouse, this loft never serves a singular function. “This project was not a residential, nor an office space. It was also not a warehouse or a gallery. It was the challenge to make a hybrid form between all of these design angles and create a space that inspires as a gallery, has a function as a warehouse, can suit as office and feels as a residential project without being one of them,” explains the design team.

This hybridity is what makes The Collector so special. Designed for an atypical client with a broad spectrum of taste, contemporary objects and mid-century furniture sit within a brutalist frame with an automotive influence. With the basic frame feeling rigid, cold and vast Framework set about creating a warm atmosphere throughout the living area — without losing the warehouse character of the building. Linen curtains and oakwood joinery custom made by the team soften the minimal backdrop.

Related: Fala Atelier Converts an Old Garage into a House in Lisbon, Portugal.

Design classics are plentiful, fast becoming a signature of Framework’s private residences. A Guhl chair with its ribbon-like appearance and natural cement finish adds a sculptural element to the furniture choices, echoing the organic fireplace. Along with a Nerone & Patuzzi coffee table and a Jan Janssen stool, it becomes clear that The Collector is not only a purveyor of fancy cars.

Certainly rivalling the garage from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, the entire area clocks in at a more than comfortable 4,200 sqm — just shy of 3,000 more than was originally projected, but as Framework put it — “that’s how collecting goes”. There are definitely worse problems to have.

Related: Residential N° 610: Amsterdam Penthouse by Framework Studio.

| The article Spatial Hybrid: The Collector by Framework Studio. appeared first on Yellowtrace. |

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The Port of Savannah, on the coast of Georgia, is the fourth-largest seaport in the United States. In recent weeks, it has faced a consistent backlog of roughly 20 ships awaiting berth space as a result of a significant increase of incoming container ships. The logjam in Savannah reflects similar congestion at other large U.S. ports - including Los Angeles, Long Beach, and New York / New Jersey - which experts believe is the result of many retailers rushing to restock inventory before the holidays.

See more here: https://bit.ly/2YJUcmH

32.128705°, -81.151907°

Source imagery: Nearmap

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Plutarco have taken on one of their biggest projects to date, for maybe their toughest clients —themselves, designing their own headquarters in the centre of Madrid. Sharing with architecture studio Estudio Reciente and a new conscious homeware shop HECHO, the design revolved around the idea of cohabitation.

The working studio is placed in the lower level of a rationalist building in the local district of Chamberí. With six large floor-to-ceiling windows, the interior is doused in natural light with direct views to the public square. The ground floor is a single open space shared between the office and the shop, leaving the underground level — boldly wrapped in red — for the bathrooms, storage, kitchen and meeting room.

The office is arranged with working desks organised around the perimeter of the space. In the centre, an irregular table is placed, serving as the informal materials and moodboard-making table, and during the weekend it becomes an extension of the shop. Curtains divide both programs into two possible configurations.

Related: Bold Colour Rules at Experimento’s ‘House Of Creatives’ in Madrid, Spain by Plutarco.

The materials on the upper floor create an industrial atmosphere. Using cold colours — blue and green — tone plays an important role in creating a contemporary and bright interior. The floor is covered in a typical northern Spanish granite, the walls are left as found, and the ceiling and metal structures were sprayed in projected vermiculite in a grey-blue colour.

The underground level is conceived as an explosion of warm colours. The kitchen is the protagonist of the space, projected in wine-colour dyed wooden panels with vertical and horizontals slats and an irregular island. The countertops are all an explosion of different marbles and granites in warm colours. On the opposite wall, a huge mirror box enlarges the space, hiding the bathrooms and storage room. Once again, the curtains are in charge of making the space versatile, hiding the kitchen and creating a meeting room and a small lounge area. The floor has nude-colour tiles with a strong red tile joint — the walls are maroon, and all the different accents are in shiny red, like the furniture, shelves or the tubular legs of the kitchen’s island.

The bathrooms were thought of as an evolving atmosphere. Floors, walls and ceilings are made from a square reticule of beige tiles and abstracts shapes in different colours that colonise the space randomly, creating a playful environment with a surprising effect sitting behind the mirror cube.

A sense of continuity follows through into the homeware shop with the granite floor, raw walls and texturized ceiling, matching the architecture office. The furniture, designed together with Estudio Reciente, was formed out of transparent glass block, glass shelves and light aluminium structures. Nearly transparent, the furniture echoes the intentions of the new brand while acting as the perfect canvas for the objects to stand out on. The central banquet table offers versatile display in the windows, while the counter desks are all fitted with wheels for moving around the space to create different display scenarios.

Related: Plutarco Transforms a Small Madrid Apartment into an Office for a Graphic Designer.

| The article Plutarco’s Own Office and HECHO Store in Madrid. appeared first on Yellowtrace. |

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Powderhorn Park is a residential neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, consisting mostly of single-family homes, duplexes and some low-rise apartment buildings. The community’s eponymous park system and lake — shown at the center of this Overview — hosts local sporting events, community education classes, and ice skating in the winter.

See more here: https://bit.ly/3AsqLlV

44.942944°, -93.256916°

Source imagery: Nearmap

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Tamsin Johnson’s international high-end residential projects reflect her signature ability to combine pieces from across decades and continents in ways that feel understated and natural. In her first book, Tamsin Johnson: Spaces for Living, the acclaimed Australian interior designer shares her ideas, images, and stories with readers, culminating in a publication that is both a rich visual resource and design reference. Written in collaboration with Australian freelance writer and book editor Fiona Daniels for Rizzoli, the book was released this September.

Johnson favours elements of surprise and a sense of play in her designs, as evident in contrasts of scale, the bold use of art, and the sculptural nature of the furniture she selects or commissions. Treehouse, one of the many projects featured in the book, is a celebration of comfort, character and user-friendly design can be felt as Johnson balances European heritage with characteristics of modern coastal Australia.

In the stylish Melbourne suburb of South Yarra, this three-bedroom apartment, at the top of a four-story art deco building, has the unique pleasure of looking out over the city’s Royal Botanic Gardens. A profusion of windows along one side follow the line of the tree canopy, their original steel frames capturing each delicate verdant vista. Even the other side of the apartment faces neighbouring greenery, so you really do feel as if you’re perched amid the treetops. Inside, the ambience was a lot less airy. The tired, old rooms looked very much the worse for wear, from shabby cupboards and carpet to major limitations such as a poky hidden kitchen, two tiny bathrooms, and a narrow entry hall leading to the living room via a gloomy solid door. “Gutting” may not be a pleasant word but it certainly conveys the scope of renovation needed here. Johnson reconfigured the kitchen, opened up and joined the two bathrooms to create a larger one, and made more of a landing at the front to create a better sense of entrance. For starters.

After treating the steel-framed windows to a little restoration — and restorative white paint — the solid door was replaced with a pair of steel-framed glass doors. While keeping with the style of the windows, this simple addition also created a more elegant transition between the entrance and living room, making the latter appear cozier, its own separate pace, while also letting in plenty of light. Their black frames give the doors definition and a sleek modern look that suits the owner’s lifestyle. Acting as both retreat and entertaining hub the space feels contemporary yet timeless, almost like a Parisian apartment with its elegant urban edge.

The greenery outside provided enough colour to allow for a strong monochromatic interior design, which is most fully realized in the living area. On one wall, four artworks present a vibrant grouping in black and white: a drawing by Australian actor and artist Noah Taylor, two photographs by the late Australian modernist Max Dupain and one by Sydney-based French photographer Felix Forest. The angles of their black frames echo those of the doors and meet a shapely contrast in the organic curves of a black-framed mirror on another wall. On either side of the mirror, More curves were added in the form of arched, recessed shelves in the white walls. The arches bring a little Art Deco element to the room and have a softening effect on the sharper angles elsewhere.

Below, the furniture presents another picture of contrasting shape and tone. The precise lines of a pair of 1980s Mario Botta black leather chairs echo the frames of the artworks opposite. Distinguished by their different silhouettes are the yielding, sumptuous folds of their neighbouring pieces: a Living Divani sofa in white brushed cotton and an iconic 1970s Le Bombole chair by Mario Bellini, upholstered in oatmeal linen. At the centre, the box-like design of a coffee table in stainless steel by Willy Rizzo is tempered by the natural texture of the new sisal flooring. This frisson between strong and soft, black and white, lines and curves plays out through the apartment, in different vignettes. There is a sense here that no aspect is either wholly feminine or masculine, that anything is possible. In the arched shelves sits a wonderfully unusual collection of 1920s French anthropomorphic ceramics, each with little feet and featuring a different facial part.

“I have always wanted to design an entirely stainless steel kitchen. I find the material beautifully understated and here it is a fitting accompaniment to the owner’s streamlined lifestyle,” says Jonson. In this kitchen, seamless planes of stainless steel envelop the countertop, rangehood, and even the floating shelves, with the pantry, fridge, and other appliances all concealed behind stainless steel doors that open via push latches. With no handles and a glamorous brushed finish, the hand-moulded joinery becomes an artwork in itself. Here, the softening elements are the parquet floor, with its warmth of tone and detail, and backsplashes in Calacatta Viola marble, its pinks, purples, and browns bringing a ripple of colour into the space. The leftover marble was to create the top of a small console table, balancing it with a blackened steel base. This sits in the new entrance space with an eclectic mix of objects arrayed on top two glass vases, a spiky Murano and a smooth Daum one, alongside a bold white marble breast sculpture and a black concrete torso, both by Kelly Wearstler. More plays on form and finish, in a place whose nuances extend far beyond the black and white.

Tamsin’s book Spaces for Living is out now, with copies available here, at all good bookstores and on Tamsin’s own website. 

| The article Treehouse in South Yarra by Tamsin Johnson. appeared first on Yellowtrace. |

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The Turks and Caicos Islands are a small tropical archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, just north of the Caribbean Sea. This Overview focuses on the Caicos Islands group, which surrounds a shallow, turquoise-colored sea atop an underwater plateau. The Turks and Caicos, a British Overseas Territory, have a combined population of about 40,000 and welcomed nearly 1.6 million visitors in 2019.

See more here: https://bit.ly/3DsqL7g

21.794550°, -71.738522°

Source imagery: Maxar

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Lava flows into the Atlantic Ocean on the ever-expanding coastline of La Palma in the Canary Islands. After three weeks, eruptions continue from the Cumbre Vieja Volcano and this low-angle satellite image captures the lava field that has scorched through the landscape. Lava now covers more than 1,000 acres (420 hectares) and has forced the evacuation of at least 6,000 residents.

See more here: https://bit.ly/3oKNU0Q

28.610157°, -17.923374°

Source imagery: Maxar