< PreviousThe Urban Alchemists BORGI BASTORMAGI “It was a natural thing that developed based on our time spent together drawing and concep- tualising,” says Nada Borgi of her product design partnership with Etienne Bastormagi. “We used to study together and spent hours in cafes drawing in our sketchbooks.” After training as architects and urban plan- ners, both went on to work in large practices in Beirut before establishing their own architec- ture studios. In 2016 they came together to stage an installation during Milan Design Week and have collaborated on a number of furniture designs since, drawing inspiration from their daily lives and the urban fabric of Beirut. “Walking through the streets is end- lessly fascinating,” adds Bastormagi, “We love where we’re from and what we do.” What was the inspiration behind the new Shaping 90° collection? Corner buildings. We would walk endlessly in our streets and try to understand how each one had a specifi c sto- ry to tell and a way of being. They often over- look the entire neighbourhood and are sort of like watchers of the streets. Describe your creative process. Do you have defi ned roles? E: It’s a back-and-forth game that we play and we develop all our projects as such, even those that end up in the bin. N: We are very much inspired by architecture and construction methods, and apply similar techniques to product design. What are the most rewarding and chal- lenging aspects of being a designer in Lebanon today? E: I believe Lebanon is in its golden design era. We are a very broad-minded society that is linked to this very rich Eastern culture and, at the same time, open to the world. N: Many crafts are found in the country, which makes it very enriching for any designer to be based here. Some are authentic to the specifi c regions and some are the infl uence of previous mandates or occupations through history. The traits you admire most in others? E: Integrity and Punctuality. N: Perseverance. Less talk, more action. Who’s your design hero and why? E: Batman – I think he’s every designer’s hero N: Ordinary people with their makeshift design solutions How do you relax? E: I have a 10 minute meditation routine that I like to follow at some point during the day. N: A dose of sun or sea. Preferably both. Your favourite place in the world? E: The Clove Club in London. A: An old monastery by the sea in my mom’s home village. borgibastormagi.com 40 RA D A R / N a m e t o k n o w CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: Nada Borgi and Etienne Bastormagi; Fillet shelving; and Pivot mirrors from the Shaping 90° collection. AD_033_38-41_Radar_NameToKnow_11280501.indd 4024/06/2020 09:33:10 PMThe Spatial Sculptor MESHARY ALNASSAR After studying interior design at the American University in Dubai, Meshary AlNassar returned home to Kuwait and launched his eponymous design studio in 2018. His portfo- lio already boasts a variety of projects, from chic boutiques to a sleek beauty clinic and an upscale private residence. The thread that runs through them is passion for ‘conscious minimalism’ and Danish design, warmed up by a love of ‘anything vintage’ and local mate- rials. His debut product collection, 410, com- prises three sculptural lighting pieces inspired by trees at his childhood home, but hewn from Italian stone and made in Puglia. “It took around a year to get from idea to sketch to fi nal product,” he says “It was the most thrill- ing 11 months of my career.” What was the inspiration behind the 410 collection? Back in the 1980s my late grand- father spent his last years building his dream home and he planted many seedlings in the gardens. After his passing, I watched those trees grow and I got very familiar with the plants, including berry and palm trees. The collection is my interpretation of that garden and a homage to my grandfather’s love of life and beauty. The most rewarding and challenging aspects of being a designer in Kuwait today? Kuwait is a tricky market and access to professional manufacturers can be chal- lenging for designers here, but I think it’s the A 410 light sculpture, controllable via a smart. LEFT: The designer selecting stone at an Italian quarry. BELOW: Meshary Al Nassar most innovative, forward-thinking creative scene in the GCC. There is incredible talent in Kuwait that is able to compete in the global market, and it’s so motivating for a young designer like me. What talent would you most like to pos- sess? Sketching. Mine are always a mess of doodles that make no sense! What trait do you most admire in others? Passion. Listening to someone talk about something they love and seeing the fi re in their eyes makes me happy. Who are your design heroes? I’m always inspired by Constantine Brancusi’s work [the 20th century Romanian sculptor, painter and photographer, who sought inspiration in non-European cultures]. Axel Ver voordt’s aesthetic fascinates me, too. I like how he works with textures and aged pieces that have a history. How do you relax? By watching home make- over shows. I love seeing people’s lives change through design. It warms my heart. Your favourite place in the world? Any fl ea market or antique shop where I can fi nd gems that belong to a previous time, or handcrafted items that carry a story. Your most essential tools? An ink pen, stack of paper, measuring tape and a good doughnut. What part of the design process do you enjoy most? I love the fi rst brainstorming parts of any interior layout, being able to move the elements around and create an experience within a space. Why have a kitch- en at the corner of the house if you can have it at the centre to allow people to gather around and turn it into a social spot? Mesharyalnassar.com AD_033_38-41_Radar_NameToKnow_11280501.indd 4124/06/2020 09:33:29 PM42 RA D A R /A rc h it e c tu re TH E TI M EK EEPER In the picturesque Swiss town of Le Brassus, starchitect Bjarke Ingels has created a striking new home for the Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet. The spiral-shaped glass pavilion rises seamlessly from the earth, providing a pristine setting for the masterful timepieces that have taken shape in this remote Jura Mountain valley for centuries AD_033_42_Radar Architecture Audemars Piaguet_11234251.indd 4224/06/2020 09:34:43 PMcurvilinear forms seem to have captured the imagina- tion of prolifi c architect Bjarke Ingels. Following last autumn’s opening of his The Twist art space in Norway’s Kistefos sculpture park (a building whose interior feels something like falling down Alice in Wonderland’s rabbit hole), the found- er and principal of the international fi rm BIG has created a similarly spiraling structure in Switzerland. Located in the small town of Le Brassus (where watchmaking is ingrained in its heri- tage) and nestled within the Vallé e de Joux landscape, Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet is a museum, workshop, and archive for the lux- ury watch brand. It’s all housed within a dou- ble spiral building whose green rooftop becomes a walking path supported by a façade of curved glass walls. Ingels wanted the same grass on the roof as in the fi elds; cut to biologists taking seed samples and testing diff erent mixes to future-proof it for the 15cm of soil. This summer the roof has bloomed like a wild fl ower meadow. The glass walls required an even bigger feat of engineering. “Initially the biggest glass manufacturer in France said ‘no, it’s impossi- ble’,” recalls Marie Stahl of CCHE, the Swiss architecture fi rm charged with bringing Ingels’ vision to life. “And then we couldn’t fi nd any examples of structural glass walls that were completely insulated. The tem- perature here can go from -5c to 20c in a day so that’s a lot of stress on the glass.” AD_033_42_Radar Architecture Audemars Piaguet_11234251.indd 4324/06/2020 09:34:51 PM44 RA D A R /A rc h it e c tu re “Watchmaking, like architecture, is the art of imbuing materials with energy, movement and intelligence” Eventually, they managed with aplomb and the rooms within the building’s mean- dering interior are also separated by glass walls, allowing full view of the watchmaking. “The watchmakers are the divas of the com- pany,” adds Stahl. “You have to treat them well because they are doing marvellous work. We needed a pressured environment with pure air in a glass building.” Now, visitors can view these ‘divas’ at work in specialised ate- liers. The fi rst is dedicated to grand complica- tions, where each watch composed of more than 648 components spends between 6 to 8 months in the hands of a single watchmaker. The second workshop hosts the métiers d'art, where haute joaillerie creations are crafted. The new museum also provides a direct connection to the renovated founder’s house – a historic structure that is the birthplace of the Audemars Piguet watch workshop – and Ingels envisioned his new addition as a meta- phorical extension of an AP timepiece. “You have a spiral, almost like a spring hovering above your head,” explains the architect. “It’s inspired by the element in the timepiece that stores and delivers the energy of the clock.” When it opens to the public on June 26, the 2,400 sq/m building will allow visitors to move intuitively through its concentric cir- cles of exhibition space, introducing the sci- ence of the brand’s 145 years of watchmaking along the way. For now, small groups can visit the Workshop Museum, Mondays to Fridays, exclusively by reservation. Only two tours lasting 120 minutes will be arranged each day. Ramping the interior to connect uneven fl oor plates adds a dash of whimsy to the design, and creates opportunities to ring the ceilings with clerestory windows that pull sunlight into the centre of the building. A brass-and-steel honeycomb-shaped sun- screen wraps the exterior to provide shade. “In watchmaking, a lot of the disciplines are what you could call getting the maximum amount of impact with a minimum amount of material,” says Ingels. “The idea is similar to this structure, and how the glass carries the entire roof over our heads – the museum is Clerestory windows connect the old and new buildings. RIGHT: artisans at work in the renovated founder’s workshop. AD_033_42_Radar Architecture Audemars Piaguet_11234251.indd 4424/06/2020 09:35:29 PMalmost like an open work. Nothing is hidden, all the elements that you see are performing and part of the narrative.” Innovative German museum designer Atelier Bruckner imagined the composition of the exhibition as a musical score – com- plete with “cresendos, highpoints and con- templative moments” including sculptures, kinetic installations and mock-ups of intri- cate mechanical movements. After briefl y tracing the development of watchmaking in the Vallee de Joux, the sce- nography presents Audemars Piguet’s rich legacy through a selection of the brand’s heri- tage and contemporary timepieces. “The museum is almost primarily analogue – there are almost no screens and almost nothing digital,” says Michael Friedman, chief histori- an at Audemars Piguet. “It really invites the visitor to engage and be part of that experi- ence – to touch, to try, even working with tools at one point in the museum experience.” The showcases spanning over 200 years of history display more than 300 watches, including feats of complication, miniaturisa- tion and unconventional designs. Audemars Piguet masterpieces (such as the ultra-com- plicated 1899 Universelle pocket watch) are located at the centre of the spiral. Inspired by the solar system, the spherical showcases of this section evoke the astronomical cycles of time at the heart of watchmaking. Audemars Piguet has been headquartered in the village of Le Brassus since it was estab- lished in 1875, and hopes that its new BIG- designed building will inspire sustainable tourism: BIG has also designed an adjacent 7,000 sq/m hotel to serve museum guests and clients that is currently under construction. “Watchmaking, like architecture, is the art and science of imbuing metals and minerals with energy, movement, intelligence and measure to bring them to life,” says Ingels. And he has done just that. museeatelieraudemarspiguet.com – ELIZABETH F AZZARE FROM TOP: At the centre of the spiral, exceptional watches orbit around the Universelle, the most complicated watch ever produced by Audemars Piguet; the strking spiral structure viewed from above; to celebrate the opening, the Manufacture has created [Re] master 101, a new take on a rare 1943 chronograph. AD_033_42_Radar Architecture Audemars Piaguet_11234251.indd 4524/06/2020 09:39:17 PMST YLE CULTURE NEWNESS GQ MIDDLEEAST.C O M47 “IN FANTASY LANDSCAPES, ELEMENTS OF THE HOME AND THE OUTDOORS MERGE. THE TERRAIN IS LIMITLESS” Arena 48 IM AG E: BEN J A M IN G U ED J AD_033_47_ARENA_Opener_11308843.indd 4724/06/2020 09:41:14 PMA PERFECT WORLD A growing digital tribe of 3D artists is creating escapist visions which suggest intriguing possibilities for the future of design Words Amy Bradford AD_033_48-57_Arena_Imaginary worlds_11310068.indd 4825/06/2020 03:27:20 PM Not so long ago, we relied on cultural icons to con- jure visions of the future. The hyper- connected digital age has democratised all that, meaning that anyone with a talent for art, graphic design, pho- tography or computer modelling can use platforms such as Instagram to share their utopian reveries. The latest digital art adopts the guise of “imaginary architecture” – mesmerising fan- tasy landscapes where elements of the home and the outdoors merge, the terrain is limitless, and the we ather always fi ne. These playful environments are particularly seductive during a pandemic, when physical and emotional freedoms are curtailed. What’s more, they represent a pollution-free planet – something that has felt increasingly remote, until lockdowns encouraged small signs of ecological recovery. Who wouldn’t want to escape to Alexis Christodoulou’s vast velvet lounge pit in the middle of a wild- fl ower meadow? Or take rest in Charlotte Taylor’s serene desert lodge (pictured, left)? Yet while they might seem purely hedonistic, these visions are also part of a wider movement in design; one which seeks to reas- sert the primacy of nature. This new art suggests ways that design might work better in the future, with greater harmony between our built environment and the world beyond. Big brands are tak- ing notice, too: here are eight names making waves. AR E N A/ Im a g in ar y w o rl d s 49 AD_033_48-57_Arena_Imaginary worlds_11310068.indd 4925/06/2020 03:27:29 PMNext >