Meteor Cinema
Meteor Cinema is designed by One Plus Partnership Limited. One Plus is an award-winning Hong Kong-based design firm established in 2004 by directors Ajax Law and Virginia Lung.
The project of Meteor Cinema is a 2-storey cinema located in a shopping mall in Guangzhou. Meteor is an astronomical observation where a bright trail of light appears in the night sky when a meteoroid enters the Earth’s atmosphere. This beautiful scene only appears in the sky for a very brief moment, and then vanishes without leaving any trace behind. Stunned when we walk into the lobby, a large-scale meteor shower in front of us. In the lobby, long rectangular-cuboid decorations extend from the ceiling, mimicking the motion of a meteor shower streaking through the sky.
One Plus described: To enhance the three-dimensional vibrant atmosphere, the rectangular cuboids point in two directions. The designers had to adjust both on the computer and on set to make sure every piece is displayed at the right angle for the best overall effect.
To adopt an earth color scheme for design. Instead of using wood, which would inflict fire regulations, used aluminum in creating the decorations. These aluminum plates are coated with wood patterns and two different shades of brown to create a wood-like effect. The edges of the cuboids are slightly slanted; the meteor looks as if they are falling very quickly on this sharper edge, creating a dramatic contrast between the fast movement of the meteor and the fact that it’s frozen and motionless in real life. Apart from the meteor shower in the ceiling, other features in the cinema, such as the signage and tiles on the wall, are also slightly slanted to match with the massive ceiling decoration.
When going up on the second floor by the escalator, you can enjoy the best view of the whole meteor shower. It is an interesting experience to get closer and closer to the ceiling feature as if you are heading into the meteor shower. Walking through the corridor to reach the theater, you’ll find yourself walking in another form of meteor shower. The “meteor shower” transforms itself into flat rectangular shapes made out of stone, which look as if they are growing from the ground. The designers used this new object shape to illustrate another possible configuration of the meteor shower in a dynamic fashion.
The concept of meteor shower continues through the auditorium. In each of the auditorium, the designers have created a different portrayal of meteor shower, enabling the audience to have a new experience when they watch the movie in different auditoriums.
Through the design of the Meteor Cinema, the designers have created a sanctuary for the audience to get away from reality; from the moment they step into the cinema, they are in a completely different space. The cinema acts as a prelude to their experience with the movie, to prepare the audience for immersing themselves entirely in the movie world.
OnePlus mentioned: Rectangular decorations are installed on the wall to imitate shooting stars radiating in the night sky. In another auditorium, instead of going in a diagonal direction, the trails of the meteor shower are horizontal. There is another auditorium where regular seats are replaced by beds, enabling the audience to lie down comfortably and enjoy the meteor shower before the movie starts.
For more information, please visit: www.onepluspartnership.com
Le Refuge created by Marc Ange
During Milan Design Week, Designer Marc Ange presented his design collaboration with Wallpaper magazine at the first piece of his own collection: Le Refuge. This outdoor daybed, sheltered by enormous colored palm leaves, is inspired by his childhood dreams and by his new life in California.
Marc-Ange was born in the Holy City of Rome, under the terror of the Red Brigades, in a rootless family with a surreal story, torn between art, religion, and madness. His childhood marks his universe and his creations, eternally balanced between the real and the unreal, both perfection and mistake, harmony and chance.
It is in Paris, the city where he grew up, that Marc Ange develops his work as a Designer. His designs include objects for high-end luxury brands, furniture pieces, cars, and interiors. His recent work includes the new Classique and Le Mâle by Jean Paul Gaultier, the concept Peugeot Avenue already open on the Champs Elysées in Paris and on QianMen street in Pékin and Chimère, a collection of unique furniture for pets.
Marc-Ange is currently developing concepts for hotels, restaurants, boutiques and private residences from both his studio in Paris and Los Angeles. He continues to create furniture pieces and bottles of perfume for high-end brands, and he is finalizing the second piece that will accompany Le Refuge within his collection.
Information about this piece:
Le Refuge, Flamingo Pink - Outdoor / Indoor Daybed-Sofa
- Limite Edition of 3, made in Italy
- Light Pink Powder Coated Metal Leaves & Stalk
- Teck Wood Base and Pots
- Outdoor Light Pink Fabric
- Stainless Steel Structure
- Water Proof / Sun Proof / Wind Proof
First Mandarin Oriental Residences on Bali
“The routing is magnificent and the concept is brilliant, you don’t need four or five hours. You just need two.” - Jean-Michel Gathy
Exclusive villa collection an exquisite feature of Jean-Michel Gathy’s
artful masterplan for Bukit Pandawa Resort & Golf
The Residences at Mandarin Oriental, Bali, a remarkable real estate offering taking shape on a naturally accommodating clifftop where the group’s inaugural hotel in Bali is also in development. Set within the confines of budding Bukit Pandawa Resort & Golf on Bali’s southernmost tip, The Residences will eventually comprise 91 standalone villas conceptualized by acclaimed international architect Jean-Michel Gathy, who took inspiration from a traditional Balinese farming technique in imagining the layout.
“The topography lends itself beautifully to a series of tiers that is really reminiscent of the terraced rice paddies you see all around Bali,” said the lead designer at Kuala Lumpur-based Denniston Architects, which has conceived many of the world’s most exclusive resorts built in the past 25 years. “So even from the villas at the very back of the complex, you have these unobstructed, 180-degree views of the ocean.” To enhance the views for all residents and their guests, each villa will possess a flat roof dressed with an array of exotic grasses, shrubs and palm trees, a design flourish that also serves to create a seamless connection with the surrounding environment.
"This is not London or Singapore or anywhere else,” said Gathy, a Belgian who has spent 35 years in Asia. “It's Bali. We took that into account every step of the way. But we didn’t go overboard. And that’s an important distinction to make. Because sometimes designers go too far in that respect. Homage has been paid as well to the spirit of Balinese architecture, in that no villa will exceed the height of a typical coconut tree, no matter how many rooms it has.
“These homes are the ultimate expression of luxury living,” said Djie Tjian An, president/director of PT Bali Ragawisata, Bukit Pandawa Resort & Golf’s developer. “I’ve been here for more than three decades, and I can tell you Bali has never had anything like this."
Together, the Mandarin Oriental hotel and residences will occupy approximately 5 percent of the 150-hectare piece of property that makes up Bukit Pandawa Resort & Golf, which Gathy masterplanned and that will eventually include another super-luxury hotel designed by him, a Waldorf Astoria and a Swissôtel. When finished in mid-2018, the 88-room hotel will include an 88-meter-long swimming pool along the edge of the clifftop, a private beach club steps from the ocean, a cantilevered gourmet restaurant, a state-of-the-art fitness center and a 1,725-square-meter spa with eight treatment rooms.
Blueprints also call for a 2.2-kilometer “eco trail” that runs across the cliffside and leads to three sacred Hindu temples and a new amphitheater where traditional cultural performances are conducted on a nightly basis.
Final phase of Kennedy Town Swimming Pool
The second and final phase of the Kennedy Town Swimming Pool, designed by Farrells, has been opens on Feb 7, 2017. It includes two new indoor heated pools, measuring 50 and 25 metres’ length respectively, as well as a jacuzzi. The swimming pool’s first phase, comprising a 50 metre outdoor pool and an outdoor leisure pool, opened to the public in May 2011.
The swimming pool’s completion is the capstone of the Kennedy Town MTR station project. The original site chosen forKennedy Town Station was the Forbes Street Playground. But construction would a affect a number of 120-year-old Banyan trees growing on historic stone walls. To protect the trees, the station box was shifted eastward, onto Smith eld and the site of the former Kennedy Town Swimming Pool.
A new pool had to be opened before the existing one could be demolished. The site chosen was a surface car park that boasted an uninterrupted sea view but had lain derelict since the land was reclaimed in the 1990s. To draw residents to this neglected corner of an otherwise vibrant neighbourhood, the site demanded a memorable icon.
Likened to a futuristic spaceship by the South China Morning Post, the new Kennedy Town Swimming Pool owes its distinctive shape to the streets and historical tram line that de ne the triangular site. Inspired by a shell, the building addresses the experience of arrival to Kennedy Town by tram or road from the east. The low-lying form of the building respects the panoramic views that nearby residents enjoyed prior to the development and draws inspiration from its proximity to the harbour.
During construction of the MTR West Island Line, the site adjacent to the rst phase of the swimming pool was home to a shaft for the removal of underground spoil. After the railway line opened in 2014, construction on the pool’s second phase began.
The new Kennedy Town Swimming Pool has won awards and citations including Large Project of the Year 2016, awarded by the New Engineering Contract (NEC) of the UK’s Institution of Civil Engineers.
For more information, please visit: www.farrells.com
Enhance home experiences - Sony Life Space
Sony unveils Life Space UX provides sensory impact using light, sound and vision applied in unexpected ways.
The Portable Ultra Short Throw Projector LSPX-P1 creates a new viewing experience at home, despite its compact size, the 10cm white cubic projector is capable of throwing up to an 80” image onto a table, a wall or any other surface you want to bring to life. The body of the projector features a user-friendly, space-compatible design in warm, natural white colour, which is easy to pick up and carry around. Equipped with internal speakers and battery, the projector can be easily positioned throughout the home turning any surface into a virtual screen. A smartphone becomes its wireless controller to view contents like photos, movies and clock applications. Or use the supplied wireless unit to watch content wirelessly from your TV set-top box or Blu-ray player.
Glass Sound Speaker LSPX-S1
The sleek Glass Sound Speaker LSPX-S1 fills every corner of your living space with warm illumination and crystal clear sound made possible through its organic glass. An LED housed within the cylinder combines ambient light with music. With an impeccable reproduction of vocal and acoustic sounds, the Glass Sound Speaker evokes the sensation of music played live in the room.
Sound resonates through organic glass, which chimes beautifully with the aesthetics of living spaces, while the colour temperatures of the filament LED accentuate the sparkling midrange tones with both warmth and clarity. Another key part of the design was the start-up and shutdown processes: the device lights up like a candle when it turns on, powering up with a warm, soft glow, and dims at a slow, gentle pace when the power goes off. Lightweight, battery-operated, and easily portable, the Glass Sound Speaker connects with smartphones and other devices via Bluetooth.
Partnership with BoConcept
Sony teams up with BoConcept to create scenarios that bring the Life Space UX to life at the BoConcept Shop in Central and Sony Store in Causeway Bay from November 11 to December 31, 2016. Partnership with BoConcept will demonstrate how both the Glass Sound Speaker and the Portable Ultra Short Throw Projector can create unique lifestyle experiences for consumers in home environments and transform their living space.
The Portable Ultra Short Throw Projector LSPX-P1 and Glass Sound Speaker LSPX-S1 from Sony will be available at Sony Stores at HK$7,990 and HK$6,490 respectively from November 11, 2016. The projector can be elevated with the use of a separate floor stand LSPX-S1, available for HK$1,590.
For more information, please visit Life Space UX webpage.
The American Institute of Architects Hong Kong Chapter - Honors & Awards 2016
Each year, AIA Hong Kong (The American Institute of Architects Hong Kong Chapter) recognizes design excellence in architecture, interior architecture, urban design, un-built projects and sustainable design for works completed by AIA member architects in Hong Kong, China and the Asia Pacific Region, for the 2016 Honors & Awards Program, eight projects have been selected as winners, as follows:
Honor Awards for Architecture:
Ng Teng Fong General Hospital
HOK International (Asia/Pacific) Ltd.
Jiangxi Nanchang Greenland Zifeng Tower
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
Merit Award for Architecture:
The Hemispheres
CL3 Architects Ltd.
Merit Awards for Interior Architecture:
The Park Lane Hong Kong, A Pullman Hotel - CL3 Architects Ltd.
GTB Shanghai Office - M Moser Associates Ltd.
Origin of Thoughts - CL3 Architects Ltd.
Merit Awards for Unbuilt Project:
Chengdu City Music Hall - Andrew Bromberg, Assoc. AIA
The Urban Voids - Ping Jiang, AIA
AIA Hong Kong Honor Awards Design Jury 2016
A distinguished design jury reviewed over 50 design submissions as unidentified entries for the 2016 Honors & Awards. This year’s design jury comprised the following:
Mr. Steven Miller FAIA, RIBA – Jury Chair
International Director, The American Institute of Architects
Mr. Yu-Ngok Lo AIA, NOMA, CDT, LEED AP, NCARB
Principal, YNL Architects
Mr. Vincent Ng HKIA, RIBA, RAIA, HKIUD, APEC Architect, RA, AP, JP
President, Hong Kong Institute of Architects
Prof. Nasrine Seraji AA dipl, RIBA
Professor and Head of Architecture Department, The University of Hong Kong
Mr. Takashi Yanai AIA
Managing Partner, Ehrlich Yanai Rhee Chaney Architects
The design jury was assisted by Mr. Brian Jan, Assoc. AIA, Co-Chair, and Mr. Gregory Leong, AIA, Technical Advisor, 2016 Honors & Awards Committee.
For more information, please visit http://www.aiahk.org/