21_21 DESIGN SITE
A fashionable architect is not all that common, known for their black and clean cut or very understated attire, this reputation is all too true. When the worlds of an architect collide with that of a fashion designer, the whole world pays attention, especially when its with Issey Miyake. Known for his attention to detail and highly structured materials, Miyake had been worn prolifically by the late Zaha Hadid and now he cements his relationship with architecture within the built environment itself.
21_21 Design Sight is as its title suggests, a place to see the best that design has to offer through a multi-disciplinary display of creative genius. From the architecture that surrounds to lighting by Issey Miyake and chairs by Willy Guhl perfectly nested in Tadao Ando’s courtyard. It wasn’t hard to decipher the collaborative aspects of this Edifice, Ando’s use of concrete, positive verse negative elements and placement in its context. Miyake’s angular folds appearing right before you in the form and within the structure of the Edifice. An example of basic building elements and simple geometric forms relying upon the vision and ingenuity of knowledgeable and talented designers for relevance in architecture.
The building nestled in a manicured garden upon the cut green grass, much like an origami paper plane that was cast into the air and settled neatly upon the ground. Once on site, the appearance of the building is of a ground level only, once inside you discover a steep staircase into the basement level. Exhibits are located here where an interior courtyard acts as a well of light into the surrounding spaces.
Concrete and steel flood our cities and unlike this Edifice the materials often detract from the beauty and environment architecture should provide. Perhaps the subtle folds mimic a dry fallen leaf, a percept generated via stumbling around to make sense of structure and context. It appears as a temporary fixture, something not from the environment but invited to place itself there for sometime. However we manage to experience the architecture here, if it be internally or sitting across at the garden bar admiring it, the experience feels like an abstract homage to the nature in which it resides.
