Industrial Chic: This Sculptural Building Marries Art And Wine

The art gallery ideal has long been a white box, but, for the Edes Building in Morgan Hill, California, KTGY was after something different. The two-story, 6,800-square-foot structure, which houses both Cura Contemporary, a gallery, and Véra, a wine bar and restaurant, leverages the visual and tactile warmth of wood to enhance the experience of viewing the artworks (and dining on the eatery’s New American dishes). KTGY sought for the mass-timber framework itself to be viewed as sculpture. The carved-away volume clad in shou sugi ban Douglas fir and blackanodized aluminum fins plays with positive and negative space, partly inspired by nearby El Toro peak. The building is raised on a concrete plinth—which integrates steps, an accessible ramp, and planters—to bring it above the floodplain. Inside, in the gallery, fine white-oak millwork meets an airy layout incorporating custom displays and pivoting walls that allow rooms to be combined or separated for exhibitions, events, and workshops. Véra, meanwhile, ups the ante even further with industrial lighting and chic botanic branding based on véraison, the ripening of grapes.

Don’t Miss These Stellar Spaces At Salone Del Mobile 2025

Each year during Salone del Mobile—in addition to having the chance to view more than 2,000 exhibitors from 37 countries—there are many great fascinating installations to experience, both within the pavilions at the fairgrounds and in and around the city of Milan. (It is quite a whirlwind to take it all in, and you definitely get in your 10,000+ steps along the way!)

Salone del Mobile 2025’s lineup will include four outstanding spaces by creative minds from around the world: French architect Pierre-Yves Rochon, Italian filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino, American visual artist and theater director Robert Wilson, and Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto.

Visitors at the crazy-busy fair, which is running from April 8-13, 2025, will have a chance to relax in Sorrentino’s lounge space, designed to reinterpret the act of waiting. Or visit Rochon’s villa, a place where heritage connects with the future. In town, Wilson has created an experience centered around one of Italian arts great masterpieces.

This year’s fair also features Euroluce, a two-day forum on lighting design that will take place in a primordial space designed by Fujimoto and will showcase 300 lighting brands from 25 countries. This exhibition usually alternates with Eurocucina. Maria Porro, president of the Salone del Mobile, also expressed a connection between Wilson’s installation and the biennial lighting show. “In the year of Euroluce, opening the Salone with Robert Wilson is a dream come true.” We can’t wait to see it and all the others!

Discover The Outstanding Lineup From Salone del Mobile 2025

La dolce attesta by Paolo Sorrentino

Paolo Sorrentino, who won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2014, created a space called La dolce attesta (“The sweet wait”), a place to stop and catch one’s breath during the hectic Salone del Mobile 2025. The space rethinks the idea of waiting, which is often associated with fear and anticipation. Here, one learns patience, and to find beauty in slow-moving time. Running from April 8 – 13 at Pavilions 22-24, this project is a collaboration with renowned set designer Margherita Palli.

Villa Héritage by Pierre-Yves Rochon

Time and experience in interior design inspired by tradition, reinterpreted in a contemporary way, informed Pierre-Yves Rochon’s Villa Héritage. He redefines luxury hospitality design into a bridge connecting memory and innovation, with luxury as a multi-sensory experience. Running from April 8 to 13 at Pavilions 13-15, the villa is designed as a square—each room being a chapter in a story, portraying legacy as a source of freedom, rather than as a constraint.

Mother by Robert Wilson

A dialogue between the artist and Michelangelo’s masterpiece, the unfinished Pietà Rondanini, Robert Wilson’s Mother space is a tribute to light, art, and the city. Wilson brings his mastery of light to create a “total work” dedicated to the powerful, mystical energy given by the statue, with music—Stabat Mater, a medieval prayer in a vocal and instrumental version—by Estonian composer Arvo Pärt. Displaying from April 8 to May 18 at the Museo Pietà Rondanini—Castello Sforzescoroject, this experience inspired by the arts is curated by Franco Laera.

The Forest of Space by Sou Fujimoto

Sou Fujimoto’s Forest of Space will be the venue for Euroluce’s first International Lighting Forum, a two-day event promoting innovation in the lighting world. The venue, curated by VIV Arts, will be constructed using vertically arranged pine beams, inspired by the organic vitality of forests and enveloping those who enter it. Running from April 10-11 at Pavilion 2 in the Euroluce International Lighting Forum, the venue is conceived as a transitional space—a mobile amphitheater, easily assembled and disassembled—between inside and out, and order and organicity.

10 Questions With… Faye Toogood

Faye Toogood Redefines Design With Avant-Garde Vision

Interior Design: You work in multiple fields including interior design, furniture design, fashion, and more. How do these separate disciplines cross-pollinate?

Faye Toogood: Working across different disciplines—interiors, fine art, furniture, fashion—feels natural to me, stemming from a desire to explore and express creativity in multiple forms. Without formal design education, I feel I have the freedom to bring unique ideas from one genre into another, fostering a cross-pollination of concepts that is both enriching and innovative. Each project at my studio, regardless of its nature, informs and inspires each other.

Within the studio, the team works side-by-side and there are naturally instances where ideas cross pollinate, whether it’s on color, form, or materials. We also encourage the team to dip into projects outside their skillset so we blend and share our skills. Often, an idea or a narrative will also influence the work for a period of time right across the studio—for example, “earth” inspired the material of a limited edition Roly-Poly chair, the colors of a Winter collection, and the textured pigment for a hand-painted coat.

Despite the varied contexts, a consistent thread runs through all our projects: meticulous attention to detail. Whether we’re crafting a piece of furniture, designing an interior, or creating a fashion collection, the process is rooted in a deep respect for craftsmanship and materiality.

ID: You are known for championing women’s representation, which was a focus of Maison&Objet this year. How does your visibility and work benefit other women in the design industry?

FT: When I was starting out, there were very few women in the design industry. While I’m happy to say that the situation today is much better, there still isn’t an equal balance of male and female designers. So many women work around the design industry—for example in curation, marketing—but we still need more to come to the forefront of design.

As a woman, I struggled at the start of my career. I thought I wouldn’t be taken seriously as a female designer, and I cut color, textiles, and decoration from my practice as I felt they were considered typically feminine.

Fortunately, the culture around design has shifted and I think the design space is more open and encouraging to women. I hope the visibility I have achieved, and perhaps also my unconventional path to design, will inspire other women to become designers.

ID: At Maison et Objet, your presentation was called “Womanifesto.” Can you unpack what you sought to achieve?

FT: “Womanifesto,” was very personal. It was an emptying out of my female artist’s and designer’s brain—an attempt to reveal the four parts of my subconscious that are the guiding principles of my work: DRAWING, SCULPTURE, MATERIAL AND LANDSCAPE. The installation was divided into four rooms to illustrate each of these themes and how they are integral to the studio’s work—both today and going forward.  

DRAWING has become more and more important to the studio, and I find myself eager to explore and use more pattern and color. SCULPTURE consists of geometry and form, which is a thread that connects everything we do. MATERIALS are the essence of Toogood and the starting point of all our projects. LANDSCAPE has always been an essential inspiration to me and I see its influence in my work as a way to connect humanity and nature.

ID: You’ve said that you like to let your mind wander and daydream, rather than using technology. How does that process inform your work and how does it eventually translate into physical designs?

FT: I don’t use a computer to design and I try my best to remove myself from outside influences and distractions, which is challenging in our visually noisy world. I like to take myself into almost a child-like state of play, to create as unconsciously as possible. I work in 3D with everyday materials—cardboard, wire, tape, canvas. I’ll work on shapes and geometry in miniature arriving at a series of maquettes, before we start building forms at full scale.

ID: How did working in magazine editorial help shape your views on design, fashion, and more?

FT: In my early twenties, I got a job at The World of Interiors Magazine and worked as the Interiors Editor for eight years. I was interested in reinvention and change, and this is exactly what I did—every month involved a new concept for an interior. What I liked about working at World of Interiors was that it wasn’t solely about interiors. It was where I learned about architecture, antiques, art, materials, and interiors. We covered everything from embroidery to a house in Africa to an archive of somebody’s spectacles. There was no hierarchy to objects or spaces—we might feature an 18th century teapot, a chair made from paper, a squat in London, or a Swedish palace. Everything was treated with the same reverence. It taught me to be experimental—working for a magazine, we had small budgets and I was often creating environments out of very little. I also learned the importance of connection to people and humanity, and that it wasn’t all about trends and fashion.

ID: When you formed your own brand, what was your manifesto?

FT: I wanted to find an expressive, energetic world full of creative freedom that focused on creating objects to make our lives less ordinary. I saw my practice as an agent for change. My curiosity and fascination has led to an interdisciplinary career—I enjoy working on the fringes of art, industry, and design.  

ID: Your Roly-Poly Chair is an undisputed icon. You said it helped you understand what a female designer is. Can you expand on that?

FT: Roly-Poly was a shift in geometry and aesthetic. It was designed when I was pregnant with my first child. Its friendly, playful, rounded shapes were a departure from the angles and hard lines of my earlier work. This shift reflected my journey into motherhood and seeing the world through the eyes of a child; everything had to be smooth and fall-off-able! Roly-Poly became the spearhead for a range of products and spaces with softer, more rounded forms.

Prior to this time, when I started out, I didn’t want to be put in the craft bracket, so I produced all this strong, angular furniture from heavyweight materials like bronze, mesh, steel, and concrete. I hate being pigeonholed. And since I was already an outsider—having not had an official design education—I could assert myself as someone who didn’t stick to prescribed notions of what a female artist or designer should be.

ID: You grew up without a TV in the English countryside. How did nature and your process of assembling and arranging natural materials inspire your work?

FT: So much of my work is inspired by the natural British landscape—the materials, forms, and colors. We didn’t have a television or many toys at home as children, so much of our time was spent outdoors. I used to love collecting natural objects—stones, feathers, leaves—and would find myself arranging them for hours on shelves in my room. This passion has continued, and I find the landscape a constant source of inspiration for form, colors and materials.

ID: I read that for your first collection you wanted to bring together—among other things—the masculine and the feminine. Can you discuss this dichotomy?

FT: I enjoy playing with narratives, dichotomies and polar opposites—be that the masculine and the feminine, the precious and the raw, the urban and the landscape, the natural and the manmade, and the soft and the hard. It allows me to create tension and narrative, which sometimes can be uncomfortable. I also think it is about me questioning value: a shift in values, a new value system.

ID: You once said, “I try to make people’s lives more beautiful, more interesting, more sculptural.” Please discuss how your approach to design accomplishes this.

FT: I feel my design work is less about solving functional problems and more about connecting with people. I believe that people want objects in their lives because they enjoy living with them or because they make them feel good, whether it’s a coat, a chair, or a mug. Good materials, sculptural form, craftsmanship, and elements of the landscape are my ingredients with which I create and with which I hope to resonate with people on an emotional level.

Bio-Based Materials Inform The Design Of This Wavelike Pavilion

A riverfront horticultural complex located in the south German city of Wangen im Allgäu, in the Alpine foothills, centers on a strikingly curvaceous pavilion. Hybrid Flax Pavilion, the 4,090-square-foot structure, which serves as an exhibition hall for the region’s local garden show, or landesgartenschau, was a collaborative effort between two University of Stuttgart institutes and the school’s Cluster of Excellence Integrative Computational Design and Construction for Architecture (aka IntCDC), which leverages cross-disciplinary research to innovate digitally driven building and fabrication methods—in this case, the pavilion’s roof.

To create the wavelike element, the team piloted a hybrid system that utilizes bio-based materials and cutting-edge technologies, resulting in a unique take on regenerative design. Supported by the facade’s steel structure, thin plates of cross-laminated timber are reinforced with filament derived from flax, a fiber historically processed by the region’s textile industry. (In fact, the town’s old flax-spinning mill was renovated as part of the complex.) The gray-brown filament was wound via robotic arms around screws bolted into the edges of the CNC-milled plates, which are just 4.7 inches thick—much thinner than typical CLT beams hewn from old-growth timber, and thus enabling use of younger trees and locally available reserves.

How Two University Of Stuttgart Institutes Created Hybrid Flax Pavilion

Leveraging the properties of both materials yielded a lightweight structure with enhanced performance. The flax-fiber weave primarily bears tension loads and shear forces, while the wood panels manage compression forces directed to the steel columns. Together, they provide the strength and stiffness necessary to bear the area’s heavy snow loads. The hybrid system, says architect and IntCDC senior researcher Monika Göbel, “creates a flat, stable building envelope, even though the roof looks dynamic and round.”

The circular glass facade beckons visitors into the column-free space from all directions and promotes an indoor/outdoor connection, while the curved roofline, intentionally echoing the rhythm of the nearby Argen River, creates interior zones of varying heights. In the center of the donut-shaped pavilion is a climate garden, which invites cross-ventilation and evaporative cooling in warmer months when the doors are open. The floor slab, made from recycled concrete and carbon-reduced cement, is part of a geothermal system programmed to maintain a comfortable indoor air temperature year-round.

Walk Through This Wavelike Pavilion In Germany

PROJECT SOURCES THROUGHOUT HA-CO CARBON: FIBER FABRICATION. STERK ABBUNDZENTRUM: WOOD ROOF. FOWATEC: GLASS FACADE. BIEDENKAPP STAHLBAU: STEEL. HARALD KLEIN ERDBEWEGUNGEN: FOUNDATION, HEATING. ATELIER BRÜCKNER: CUSTOM FURNITURE. BELZNER HOLMES LIGHT-DESIGN; BIB CONCEPT; COLLINS+KNIEPS VERMESSUNGSINGENIEURE; MORÄNE; SPEKTRUM BAUPHYSIK & BAUÖKOLOGIE; WEBER BONEBERG MEROTH BERATENDE INGENIEURE; LOHRER.HOCHREIN: ENGINEERS. ARGE-LEISTUNGSBEREICH WÄRMEVERSORGUNGS-UND MITTELSPANNANLAGEN FRANZ MILLER OHG; STAUBER + STEIB: CONSTRUCTION.

Inside An Industrial Chic Coworking Hub With Bold Hues

2024 Best of Year Winner for Coworking Office

For its second location in Music City, this high-end workspace network created a vibrant hub that reflects Nashville’s buzzy energy. Like all The Malin’s venues, this one is amenities-driven, quiet, and design-forward. Marking Dublin-based Roísín Lafferty’s debut U.S. project—and the brand’s first time partnering with an outside firm—the 12,000-square-foot club, The Malin South Gulch, boasts 58 dedicated desks, plus private offices, meeting rooms, phone booths, a library, and a kitchen. Ample natural light accentuates the custom oak and gloss-lacquered millwork, while strategically placed pendant and tabletop fixtures set off shapely furniture and sleek marble and limestone finishes. Concrete flooring, exposed ductwork, and reclaimed elements highlight the industrial heritage of the historic building, while area rugs and cozy seating make it feel decidedly more home than office.

PROJECT TEAM: PHOEBE WEN; SHIHHWA HUNG; TING-JU CHEN; YI-XIAN DUNG.

10 Questions With… YODEZEEN’s Artur Sharf

Artur Sharf Blurs The Line Between Art + Architecture

Interior Design: Can you talk about your original design language and what you wanted to say when you started the firm?

Artur Sharf: We went to university, liked this profession, and wanted to create something nice. My partner and I founded the studio YODEZEEN with the idea of creating bold projects, both visually and in terms of materials, forms, and implementation methods. What I’m proud of is that the foundation we established back then has carried through the 15 years and scaled to a level where we can bring any concept to life—from large penthouses and residential buildings to yachts. From the very beginning, we embraced the mantra of “dream big,” and it has served as a guiding light, continuing to steer us toward new horizons. It’s a passion. It’s also very complicated work if you don’t like it. I think regular people who just go every day to the office cannot survive if they don’t have a passion for their work. And I think it’s why we are successful—because we like what we do. And it’s never work.

ID: You had never been outside of Ukraine, and suddenly you were going to all sorts of new places. Did this shift your perspective about design?

AS: Yes, 100%. Going to university gave us a foundation, of course. But the real creativity, ideas, colors, materials—a lot of it comes from travel. And this is how we understand what people need. When a new restaurant, hotel, or condo opens—we try to go there. And we can see what they did well—and what is not done well—and analyze. We want to see the best places in the world, analyze it, and figure out what will be a success tomorrow. We always stay one step ahead.

ID: Tell us about the process of moving to the States?

AS: After working in our home market, Ukraine, we quickly began expanding into the United States. We knew it would be a different environment, so we took the time in the early years to study and learn. Now, nearly eight years after our first project in Miami, we have experience in various states, working on both residential and commercial projects. With the opening of a 6,500 square foot physical office in the Miami Design District at 25 NW 34th Street, we are deeply rooting ourselves in the U.S. architecture and design market, building modern projects that we are excited to share.

ID: You have become very successful in the States and worldwide. What’s your secret?

AS: There is no secret. We started small and worked very hard. In the beginning, no one will give you a big project. You start with a small apartment and, little by little, you begin to get larger projects. Growth is slow, and each project takes a long time—to get from paper to reality, and then construction. It can take like four years. And then you have to put the project out there, which can take time before people see it. Eventually, you have more to show the world what you can do, projects that you are proud of. We have grown a lot in nine years. We have talent, of course, but that’s not enough. There are a lot of factors. Yes, you need talented people around you, but you also need to be precise, to be in control.

ID: How is it different and what did being in a place like Miami bring that was special?

AS: I feel free here. Many people who come to us are from somewhere else, too. Our work is roughly 40% in the US, 40% in the Middle East, and 20% in Europe. One thing I find is that there is more paperwork here than in other places. America likes a lot of paperwork. Permit after permit, so many documents for everything. But it’s becoming easier. Our local team has learned a lot in eight years. But Miami—and America in general—is also more open. If an idea makes sense, you can explain it to people and get their approval. You can make things happen and realize your ideas.

ID: You have opened a separate company from YODEZEEN called TEYO that offers sourcing, design, fabrication, and installation of natural stone. Can you tell me about that?

AS: We’ve worked a lot in stone over the last seven years—and have done a lot of custom projects for our clients—so we decided to make a furniture collection and materials brand using marble, travertine, onyx, limestone, and more. Last September, we opened a 6,500-square-foot showroom in Miami that will serve as an exclusive showcase for the designs—as well as a design studio, sales office, and lounge in the Design District. It was founded by me and Matthew Auerbach. We wanted to create things that interpret and enhance the beauty of the stone while maintaining its natural look, to serve as a new reference point for architects, designers, and developers to help realize projects of the highest caliber.

ID: Your design for the Harbour Club in Miami is based on traditional European social clubs. How did you combine that vibe with the Miami scene?

AS: The Habour Club founder, James Julius, who has worked on places like the Dorchester Hotel and Annabel’s in London, had the idea to create a restaurant and private club with a mix of the two cultures and aesthetics. For the Habour Club, there are three different experiences that combine the coastal beauty of Miami with a more international feeling. The first floor is inspired by open spaces typical of beachfront homes: minimalist, with light oak and linen, soft blues that remind you of the sea. The VIP room is more intimate and private. It’s more European/Italian, with velvet upholstery, dark wood, and marble—all in dark green and warm metallics. The second floor is for nightlife, with Miami energy and bold, dynamic colors—deep red, electric blue, gold—and reflective surfaces for a clubby feel.

ID: You recently finished a project in Fort Lee, New Jersey, for LaNoma restaurant. What were the challenges with that project?

AS: It can be difficult to get people from Manhattan to come to a restaurant outside the city. But the owners wanted to have a cozy, family place that was as good as something you’d find in New York. They asked for an open kitchen with a wood-burning oven and grill. The ceilings were about 18-feet-high, so to make it more intimate, we put in some beams and a lot of greenery in the form of olive trees. We put in a sliding glass system so you can open it in summer and people can eat outside. To make the space feel warmer, we used brown leather seating and stained oak accents., and incorporated a subtle leaf pattern into the decorative plaster walls. The bar and open kitchen are surrounded by white and grey marble from TEYO. The place is a big success.

ID: Why do you think the LaNoma project worked out so well?

AS: It is, of course, very expensive to open a restaurant. There are so many people involved. You have to buy furniture, equipment, plus food and a lot of wine. So, sometimes people will try to save money by not spending a lot on the design and interiors. That is why there are so many bad restaurants. Our philosophy is that you have to take the risk. You’re already spending so much. And I think a restaurant with a good interior as well as good food will survive much better. People often cheap out on materials, but it’s not a lot in the scheme of things. You need to do everything the best in order to survive.

Explore ‘The Grand Round House,’ A Sustainable Building Exhibit

2024 Best of Year Winner for Installation

The Grand Round House at Shenzhen Museum of Contemporary Art and Urban Planning was inspired by round earthen houses, called tulou, found in villages of the Hakka people throughout the southwestern region of Fujian province in China. Deve Build abstracted the basic structure—while maintaining the essence—of this ancient Chinese typology as a means to both explore the concept of innovation and lament the loss of local culture and emotional connections. The 4,300-square-foot creation is crafted entirely of woven-bamboo curtains (reusable at installation’s end), their fluid forms mimicking calligraphy; transcending the material’s typical use elevates it to contemporary-art status. The experience of walking through is meant to feel warm and comfortable, reflecting the very nature of the round house and celebrating the resonance of traditional architecture—providing a welcome sense of humanism and grounding in this era of artificial intelligence.

PROJECT TEAM: YU FENG.

Experience The Humanistic Revamp Of This Futuristic Workplace

2024 Best of Year Winner For Extra-Large Corporate Office

Alibaba DAMO Nanhu Industry Park, a world-class scientific center and corporate campus, integrates workplace and an R&D institute; inhabitants of the 5.4 million-square-foot complex push the boundaries of fields such as quantum computing. Though the Hangzhou, China, facility by Matrix Design embodies cutting-edge technology, the firm avoided a purely futuristic aesthetic, instead designing the public areas with a humanistic sensibility inspired by the idyllic setting—framed by mountains and a lake—and the communal spatial logic of ancient Chinese architecture and traditional settlements. Interior volumes expand and extend somewhat organically, like a tree’s branches—a configuration intended to stimulate creativity and promote development. Looping stairways, undulating ceilings, and other curvaceous elements reference the nearby water and celebrate the building’s relationship to its surroundings, while space age-y glowing planes are supplemented by abundant natural light.

PROJECT TEAM: WANG GUAN; LIU JIANHUI; WANG ZHAOBAO.

How One Library Doubles As A Design Destination In Funing, China

2024 Best of Year Winner for Library

In+Out Architects was tasked with designing Fuyou Library of Poetry and Books, an 8,600-square-foot library highlighting the theme of exploration, in White Swan Park in Funing, China, a location with prime lakefront views. The plan orients the action toward the water, allowing direct access to it from the park plaza courtesy of a semiporous ground level. At one end of the building, an impressively large staircase doubles as sheltered bleacher seating, encouraging visitors to engage with the lake. Woven through the minimalist interior, touches of greenery and timber elements drawn from the natural surroundings are meant to stimulate the mind and create a boundaryless place for read­ing and active exploration. Movable island cabinets enhance spatial adaptability, while curved ceiling lights abet wayfinding, guiding visitors toward various experiences. Among them are a library-within-a-library hidden behind translucent orange walls, a place for children to nurture their imaginations.

PROJECT TEAM: LIU HUIMIN; YIN CHANG.

Cultural Cues Ripple Through This Learning Center In Abu Dhabi

2024 Best of Year Winner for Small Higher Education

Dubai-based firm Roar transformed 54,000 square feet on two floors of the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure Tower into a space supporting the National Academy for Childhood Development’s mission in Abu Dhabi: providing practitioners and caregivers the expertise to educate children and support their social-emotional growth—all while preserving the Arabic language and the local heritage. The design was inspired by the moment a droplet (or a pearl, in a nod to an Emirati tradition) hits the surface of water; circular structures and curvilinear shapes akin to radiating ripples represent the impact and reach of early childhood development. The reception area is welcoming and open, rather than institutional, with modular seating and flexible spaces ideal for adapting to changing needs. Carefully selected materials, finishes, and textures recall the earthy hues of United Arab Emirates’s landscape, from warm sands to rich desert browns.

PROJECT TEAM: PALLAVI DEAN.