Jul
A range of new Flos designs were unveiled at an evening event on 21st June hosted by Atrium at their London Studio. I photographed the studio space and lighting before any of the guests arrived, and then captured the evening event.
Atrium is the largest independent lighting specialist in the UK, working with architects, engineers and lighting designers. They have a long term relationship with Flos and are their official UK partner. Flos is the leading Italian lighting brand, known globally for its iconic design and technology innovation, both in the decorative and architectural segments.
New arrivals for each collection in Home, Architectural and Outdoor included iconic pieces by celebrated designers, such as Arrangements and Overlap by Michael Anastassiades, indoor and outdoor lamp Bellhop by Edward Barber & Jay Osgerby, WireRing by the Italian artist duo Formafantasma -for the first time in a new role of industrial designers.
Some stunning innovations in the professional systems were also showcased for the first time in the UK. These included Infra-Structure by Vincent Van Duysen, The Running Magnet, The Tracking Magnet and the all new Fast Track by Flos Architectural.
Designer Michael Anastassiades introduced his new designs and spoke about his commitment to Flos. The evening was hosted by Atrium’s Ulysse Dormoy and attended by special guests from Flos, clients and press.
To read more go to Flos and Atrium
Jun
This year, TASSC (Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition) is celebrating 20 years as an organization - a huge milestone for the staff, founders, supporters and most importantly - survivors. TASSC is an organization whose mission is to end the practice of torture wherever it occurs and support survivors as they empower themselves, their families and communities wherever they are.
I have collaborated with TASSC to produce a series of portraits of the survivors that will be shown as an exhibition at a very special reception with the Founders and survivors at Open Society Foundations in Washington DC this week.
The exhibit “From Trauma to Resilience: Portraits of Torture Survivors” features 10 portraits of individuals who fled their home countries seeking safety, recovery and political asylum.
The accompanying statements capture the courage and determination that led them to seek assistance through TASSC in Washington.
I wanted to produce a series of portraits that were as powerful as the statements and stories of the individuals, to invite the viewer to see the survivors in the fullest measure of their humanity. I therefore asked the survivors —who come from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East—to choose photos from their past that held special meaning for them which I projected on to them in a studio.
Whether a serene landscape or a vibrant street scene, the projected images show emotionally charged moments which become part of the individual’s skin in the photographs.
Emotionally, the portraits push viewers to look beyond whatever pre-conceived notions they might have about refugees and asylum seekers and see them as individuals with very human connections to place and home.
Most of the survivors were tortured by repressive governments for “reasons” as varied as joining opposition political organizations, criticizing their governments publicly, refusing to join the ruling party, being related to a political dissident or because of their religion or sexual orientation. These courageous men and women were persecuted for standing up for freedom of speech or assembly or for exposing government corruption, fighting against gender-based violence or forced early marriage for girls.
Torture continues to be documented throughout the world. The refugee population statistics sites a large percentage as torture survivors with the current global refugee crisis being expected to explode this number.
For more information go to TASSC
May
I recently photographed The Minster Building in London, which is the latest financial district property to be transformed. It now offers a rejuvenated, premier environment showcasing Grade A facilities, as well as nurturing a much sought-after work/life balance.
Originally built in 1992 to designs by GMW Partnership, The Minster Building has an incredibly striking pink marble neo-gothic façade. BuckleyGrayYeoman are behind the recent redevelopment, as commissioned by Greycoat Real Estate and Ivanhoe Cambridge, which involved shifting the original entrance on the corner of Mincing Lane and Great Tower Street.
A new 30 metre long boulevard leads directly to the reception where there was once the longest run of escalators in Europe. These have now been removed and replaced with an eight-storey central atrium, around which the offices are arranged. The new atrium sets the tone and material palette for the rest of the development, with curved glazing, textured jesmonite panels, marble and bronze combining to create an opulent, airy and uplifting ambiance.
It is not often my brief includes the suggestion to look up and listen, but it is understandable when entering the space. Throughout the entrance and reception, the walls are hand-finished in nearly 2,000m2 of Armourcoat’s polished plaster together with over 600m2 of the company’s Acoustic Plaster System applied to the ceilings. Designed to optimize the acoustics of interior spaces, the Acoustic Plaster system offers an elegant marble based plaster finish while allowing sound energy to pass through the surface. The zero VOC system, which consists of 80% recycled material, achieves class '0' fire rating and a class 'A' Noise Reduction Coefficient rating.
The Minster Building has already attracted some cool new tenants that include The Third Space, which will open its first luxury health club in the square mile, a Crussh juice bar to be near the reception, and Brewdog, whose space will feature a 10 hectolitre brewing facility.
May
My photographs were featured in the April edition of FX Magazine. The four page article showcases the London offices designed by CallisonRTKL for a large global tech company. The design consultancy aimed to transform the client’s three floors into a modern, flexible space that would reflect the cutting-edge nature of the client’s brand.
From the outset, CallisonRTKL wanted to create a journey, both for visitors and employees. As well as building workstations and creating breakout areas to allow for flexible working and encourage collaboration, the designers’ brief was to create a meeting space for the client’s sales team and visiting customers.
The fifth floor is dedicated to the new visitor centre, for both new and existing customers. With a red wall and light strips, the reception desk makes a high-impact first impression. The ‘lines of light’ are a key part of the design concept, being a three dimensional manifestation of the human and digital connections of the business. Adjacent to the reception is a waiting area with various types of seating, a new customer lounge and focus rooms.
The open area connects with the main meeting suite via timber links on both sides, while the dynamic lines of light highlight the route through the corridors. There is an emphasis on connectivity of systems, data, people, physical areas, knowledge sharing and collaboration. Some 22 meeting rooms are placed at angles from each other to avoid long, narrow corridors, reduce acoustic reverberation and assist way-finding through tonal coding of floor and wall finishes
The LED dali lighting system is fully dimmable, and lighting and daylighting are linked along with the external blinds and controls. Dedicated perimeter lighting control zones enable full daylight linking. Meeting rooms and offices are fitted with in-room temperature control systems. The fifth floor meeting suite has a multi-channel, wall mounted, scene-setting light to tune the environment to a range of scenarios.
One of the core ideas was to “bring nature in”, to balance the digital and virtual worlds with people, and humanise the space. This was interpreted throughout with the use of organic patterns, materials and finishes.
See the full article at FX Magazine
For more information go to CallisonRTKL
