This Outdoor Lounger Takes Its Shape From a Surprising Source

Japanese industrial designer Kensaku Oshiro, an alum of Lissoni Associati and Barber Osgerby who founded his own Milan-based practice eight years ago, looked to an interesting inspiration source for Grapy: jute bags that farmers use as impromptu lounges during the workday. Despite its somewhat casual look, the beanbag-style outdoor seat is the byproduct of intensive research into ergonomics, softly supporting the body via polystyrene and foam padding. Grapy’s removable technical-fabric cover comes in Marquetry by Sunbrella or Meltemi Texture by Jover Decó, in five hues.

8 Outdoor Furnishings and Accents to Spice Up Summer Decor

Brave the summer heat with this collection of outdoor furnishings and decor, from ultra-durable fabrics to a lounger inspired by a 60s Fiat.

Summer-Ready Furnishings, Decor, and More

Radia by Brad Ascalon for Sutherland Furniture

The New York designer’s collection of stone-topped teak nesting tables, their legs taking the form of ship rudders, was inspired by brand founder David Sutherland’s nautical passions.

Lifesaver by Sasha Bikoff for Walters Wicker

Bikoff’s fearless interiors, awash in riotous color, translate well to a mod armchair, its distinctive platform bases featuring rounded corners and neat rows of circular perforations.

Oliver by Ann Marie Vering for Brown Jordan

Inspired by the wicker bucket seats of a 1964 Fiat Jolly, the L.A. hospitality designer devised a likeminded outdoor lounge in handwoven rope, cradled by an angular frame and topped with plush cushions.

Outbounds by Brook Perdigon of Brook Perdigon Textiles

“From the rocky shores of Carmel to the canopied forests of Big Sur, we drew on inspiration close to home,” the California designer says of her solution-dyed acrylics, ideal for coastal homes, gardens, and boat interiors.

Black Jack by Jacques Deneef for Ethnicraft

The furniture designer—also an artist whose work is characterized by bold geometrics—created an outdoor lounge chair in black-stained teak defined by subtle shapes and subdued curves.

TFM collection by Tuleste Factory x Manscapers

Large-scale fluted-fiberglass planters handcrafted in Mexico make an impactful statement.

Lissoni Outdoor Collection by Piero Lissoni for Knoll

Linearity distinguishes the architect’s new range of aluminum-framed two- and three-seater sofas, armchairs, stools, and coffee tables inspired by the lean, modernist style of Richard Schultz’s historic 1966 outdoor collection.

Currents by David Rockwell for Sunbrella Contract

Rockwell Group’s founder and team collaborated with the outdoor performance fabric expert on a collection of 35 super-soft but ultra-durable solution-dyed acrylics with varying yarn textures that feature an abstract patterning of the elements.

Liz Lambert’s New Outdoor Textiles Serve Up Southwestern Style

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Pergola Garden by Polymetis Takes Root in Canada

In a Canadian park, an installation by Polymetis integrates not only natural materials but also vines that will eventually climb the towering structure.

An early card stock model with acrylic figurine depicts Pergola Garden, a permanent sculpture for West Cambie Neighbourhood Park in Richmond, British Columbia, by Polymetis that will eventually be covered in Akebia vines.

An early Rhinoceros rendering reveals the tall pavilionlike form.

More renderings helped finesse the cutting and milling files for the structure, which would be made of Corten steel and Alaskan yellow cedar.

Tests at the steel fabricator’s Burnaby studio determined how materials would interlock and the piece would be shipped to the park site in four large, prefabricated sections.

In total, 256 pieces of steel were CNC-cut and welded together, including segments that formed the outer faces.

At the woodworker workshop in Nelson, cedar boards were CNC-milled into 144 individual pieces, glued together, and then shipped to site.

Plywood formwork provided support for the three poured-concrete piers that ground the installation.

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Behind the Making of the Pergola Garden Installation

• 16 designers, engineers, fabricators, landscape architects, and consultants led by Polymetis cofounders Nicholas Croft and Michaela MacLeod
• 1,544 square feet of Corten steel
• 149 linear feet of Alaskan yellow cedar
• 3 years of design

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The steel sections were assembled with ladders and a hydraulic crane and secured to the concrete piers with anchor bolts.

Polymetis, a multidisciplinary Toronto firm, con­ceived of Pergola Garden as a site-specific artwork that doubles as a shade canopy and gathering point in the 6-acre West Cambie Neighbourhood Park.

Nine White Chocolate Akebia vines planted at the bases are expected to grow 10 feet a year, covering the 17-foot-high structure in greenery in three years.

Lengths of 4mm stainless-steel cable will provide support for the plants, which flower in the spring with fragrant blooms.

Molteni&C Makes a Splash With Debut Outdoor Furniture Collection

The Italian brand dives into outdoor furniture for the first time and it’s all about liminal space. “I was inspired by modernism to recall the permeability and transparency between indoors and out, and that intimate con­nection with light and nature,” Molteni&C creative director Vincent Van Duysen says of the collection, which en­com­passes vintage reissues alongside newer releases. From the early 1950’s are two pieces by Gio Ponti: a rigid poly­ure­thane rendition of his wraparound D.154.2 armchair that can be customized in myriad weatherproof polyester upholsteries, and his D.150.5 chaise longue, now produced in solid teak, its precise angles accurate to Ponti’s original drawings. Among the more recent is Arc Outdoor, a cement-finished version of the parabolic 2009 table by Foster + Partners, and the Palinfrasca armchair in supersized woven bands of teak or EVA polyurethane, an all-weather rein­vention of a 1994 Luca Meda design.

Marco Maio Architects Creates an Outdoor Oasis in Prague

With a name and layout inspired by the Golden Spiral, the Fibonacci wine-tasting terrace in Prague by Marco Maio Architects adds up to an outdoor oasis.

The Making of Jabloňka Winery’s Fibonacci Wine-Tasting Terrace

With a Waterman pen, architect Marco Maio sketched a concept for Fibonacci, a terraced patio for Prague’s Jabloňka Winery that’s wrapped by a spiral of stone walls, its form inspired by its name­sake mathematical sequence.

Marco Maio Architects pitched the idea to the client with renderings, these two done in Photoshopped ArchiCAD.

On-site, local contractors ensured the land had effective drainage, steel reinforcement, and infrastructure for lighting and water.

Using an improvised chute to complete the retaining walls, limestone and marlstone were funneled 600 feet downhill, and three varieties of grapevines were planted.

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The Stats Behind the Making of the Fibonacci Wine-Tasting Patio

• 20 architects, designers, contractors, and fabricators led by Marco Maio
• 1, 075 square feet
• Thousands of stones
• 7+ years to complete

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Before the final stones were placed, welders forged a steel-framed doorway.

The shape of the Fibonacci wine-tasting patio loosely traces a stone ruin with a curved space that was discovered in the terraced vineyard.

A Corten door opens from the patio to views of the city past ancient oak trees.

The patio, its concept influenced by those in Maio’s native Portugal, is outfitted with CTR chairs by Piergiorgio Cazzaniga for Tribù, a concrete table by Monica Armani, and a Corten niche in the retaining wall for wine storage.

Maio’s curved stone walls are an artful inter­vention into Jabloňka Winery’s terraced hillside.

6 Hospitality Design Trends to Watch

On the heels of Interior Design‘s latest Hospitality Giants report, editor in chief Cindy Allen shared top industry trends with an intimate crowd at the New York Design Center. After a warm welcome from Jim Druckman, president and CEO of the center, which houses nearly 100 showrooms throughout its 16 floors, Allen stepped up with her signature fan in hand—this time in a vibrant yellow hue. “I love being around all this wonderful product!,” she said, nodding to the light-filled showrooms to her left and right.

During the lunch and learn, which was part of Interior Design‘s November 9 Next Look event—a packed afternoon that also included meetings between designers and manufacturers, as well as a tour of the marketplace followed by drinks—Allen offered insights on six key hospitality design trends. Read on to see what they are.

Designs That Prioritize the Outdoors

The pandemic elevated the importance of outdoor space like never before, and open-air spaces are here to stay. From Cheng Chung Design’s Banyan Tree Nanjing Garden Hotel, carved out of a former quarry, to the AutoCamp Cape Cod by Workshop/APD, which offers chic Airstreams to guests, there’s no shortage of inventive indoor-outdoor spaces. “Everything is being designed in all scales and all budget types,” Allen shared, noting that such spaces also offer opportunities to preserve the surrounding landscapes.

Sustainability: a Design Trend That Reigns Supreme

When it comes to design trends, sustainability remains paramount. For Hotel Terrestre, a serene Oaxaca get-a-way, Taller de Arquitectura X utilized local materials as well as native flora and fauna, creating a striking—and sustainable—wellness retreat, complete with discreet solar panels overhead.

Spaces that Renew and Restore

Who doesn’t want to be surrounded by dreamy design that invites renewal and restoration—for people and buildings, that is! From Rottet Studio’s adaptive reuse of a historic mansion in Houston, which now functions as a five-suite hotel, to Dutch East Design and Becker + Becker’s Hotel Marcel New Haven, Tapestry Collection by Hilton, which breathes new life into a 1970s Brutalist structure by Marcel Breuer in Connecticut, these spaces are both inviting and iconic.

Room Accents with Personality

The pandemic offered ample opportunity for introspection and now there’s no holding back when it comes to enlivening interiors. This design trend is on display in Otto Studio’s 25hours Hotel Piazza San Paolino in Florence, Italy, which takes inspiration from Dante Alighieri’s epic poem, La Divina Commedia. The hotel, which is part of a larger chain of lifestyle brand properties, sought out a quirky and elaborate design. “When do you hear ‘quirky’ as a way to frame a whole hotel chain?” Allen asked the crowd with a laugh.

Residential Design with Hospitality Amenities and Art

Mixed-use buildings need an anchor to ensure a constant stream of foot traffic, and more often than not, residential towers and hotels are proving to be exactly that. One Park Grove in Miami by OMA and Meyer Davis showcases the type of design that’s possible when thinking outside the box—high-end art meets residential units meets top amenities—all with an inviting softness.

Hospitality Design… or is It? 

One of the most surprising design trends centers around spaces that trick the eye. Take the Prow, a single-story, 3,700-square-foot building by Aidlin Darling Design and Susan Marinello Interiors that seems ready to take flight. Situated on the Seattle campus of Expedia, the building blends in with the natural landscape, offering a retreat for employees with the aesthetic of a boutique hotel. “What is the future of the workspace?” Allen posited, a question circulating for some time now. “It’s clear Expedia said: This is what’s right for us and this is what’s going to be our future—everyone is going to have a different idea about what’s right for their brand.” In other words, the future of design is sure to be more innovative and surprising than ever.

A special thank you to our event partner, New York Design Center, and showroom partners: Royal Botania, The Bright Group, House of Hackney, Andreu World, Groupe Lacasse, Okamura, Lepere, Amuneal, Crosby Street Studios, Sossego, Arc-Com, Stylex, Aristeia Metro, Keilhauer, Davis Furniture, Halcon.

4 Global Firms Reinvent Outdoor Space

From Prague to St. Louis, firms are inventing and repurposing outdoor space with newfound creativity.

Wutopia Lab

Golden Barnyard, Cockaigne of Everyman, Shanghai

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On a working rice and rapeseed farm, a 2-acre expanse once used for food processing has been converted into a place for outside movie screenings and similar activities, named after the land of plenty from medieval lore, complete with rolling piles of “grain” in porous yellow concrete.

Hosper

VisKringloop, Wieringermeer, Netherlands

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A collaboration between the landscape architecture firm, artist Pé Okx, and ecologist Cor ten Haaf, visitors can climb a painted-steel staircase for a birds-eye view of this earthwork, its ripplelike forms symbolizing the life cycle of the fish that live within and part of a 40-acre site devoted to improving their migration between fresh and salt water.

KOGAA

Air Square, Prague

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A partnership with hot-air balloon maker Kubícˇek Visionair yielded prefabricated, recyclable partitions of inflatable FR-coated polyester that, when supported by a base of CNC-cut plywood planks, can be arranged into a 20-foot-high, interlocking circle for a partially shaded and protected plug-in park or performance locale.

Kiku Obata & Company

Spring Church, St. Louis

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Courtesy of the Pulitzer Arts Foundation, the limestone shell of a 19th-century Gothic revival–style church ravaged by fire has been fortified and revitalized into a combination open-air house of worship/public art space, which recently featured Jordan Weber’s installation All Our Liberations, its three tiers painted with words by local poet Cheeraz Gormon.

KLAR Creates Open-Air Exercise Pavilions in Czechia

The Moravian-Silesian region in northeastern Czechia was once an industrial powerhouse known for its steelmaking capabilities and vast coal fields. But after the last of the fossil fuel was mined in 1994, attention shifted toward one of the land-scape’s other assets: its natural beauty. As part of an initiative to improve the area’s public spaces, the regional government worked with Václav Kocián and Zdeněk Liška of local firm KLAR to create simple structures where people can exercise in communion with nature.

The modest timber pavilions, called Yogapoints, are designedto be easily assembled throughout the area’s parks and naturereserves. “The object is the same, it’s just the location thatchanges,” Kocián says. Comprising a square platform, foursturdy columns, and a roof grid, the structures are made ofhand-sawed domestic larch fastened with galvanized-steeljoints. A top sheet of translucent polycarbonate allows sunshineto flow through the roof beams while keeping the heat andother elements at bay. “We love the games of light and shadecreated by the sun’s rays,” Liška adds. So far, five pavilionshave been erected in two sizes—90 or 295 square feet—thelarger of which can accommodate up to six yogis.

Clearly, the huts are named with yoga in mind, and the principles of the exercise practice—stability, lightness, simplicity—guided KLAR’s concept. But Kocián and Liška invite anyone, from playing children to hikers seeking a moment of shelter, to utilize their pavilions and connect with the natural world.

Go Off-Grid With Airstream Solar-Powered Electric Travel Trailer

The riveted aluminum Airstream, originally designed in the 1930’s by Hawley Bowlus, creator of Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis, was famously used by NASA to house Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. Now it’s is charging into the next frontier: a solar-powered electric travel trailer.

It’s eStream concept is tricked out with aerodynamic improvements and a high-voltage chassis featuring battery-powered electric drivetrain and control systems. Remote-controlled mobility features will allow owners to operate and park Silver Bullets from their Smart phone. But most importantly, a roof covered in solar panels and a bank of high-voltage lithium batteries provide users with enough power to go off-grid with many of the comforts of home for up to two weeks.

“Airstreams have achieved iconic status because they’re the ultimate expression of form follows function,” Airstream CEO Bob Wheeler explains. “Luckily, the demands of our EV-towed future align perfectly with what we’re best at: lightweight and aerodynamic travel trailers.”