BAUX & Stella McCartney: Beautiful Sustainable Design

Since 2013, the luxury fashion brand Stella McCartney has used BAUX as an integral part of the shop design across a global scale. It started when Stella and her team was in the process of renovating her flagship store in Milan and was looking for innovative sustainable materials to finish the display walls and staircase.

Text by Matt CAREY

Photography by Joe AKER

Back in January 2013, when BAUX has just launched their first collection of acoustic tiles, Managing Director, Fredrik Franzon, received an email from luxury fashion brand Stella McCartney. Stella was in the process of renovating her flagship store in Milan and was looking for innovative sustainable materials to finish the display walls and staircase. BAUX wood wool tiles became an integral part of the Milan store design and today, BAUX and Stella McCartney are global partners, with BAUX acoustic tiles adorning the walls of Stella McCartney stores in Japan, Italy, Netherlands, Greece, France, Spain, Azerbaijan, US, UK and Australia.

"When we got the call from Stella McCartney, we’d just launched BAUX and instinctively knew it was a great match. Stella is passionate about beautiful sustainable design and like us she has huge respect for nature and our planet."   

— Fredrik Franzon, CEO, BAUX

Stella McCartney’s stores are a visible commitment to her respect for nature and her passion for sustainably sourced materials. Like BAUX, Stella believes that modern design should be beautiful and sustainable. The Milan store is located in a stunning 18th century neoclassical building with integrated Calacatta marble running through the ground floor and staircase. Large white rectangular BAUX tiles and linear brass and steel walls rails create an exquisite milieu for Stella’s signature designs.

"In this store what’s particularly exciting is that it’s the first time we have used BAUX, a tile made from sustainable wood wool from Sweden. 

— Stella McCartney"

To partner global brands like Stella McCartney, Google, Amazon and WeWork, BAUX has built up a network of 25 sales locations worldwide. But one thing hasn’t changed: all BAUX products are made from sustainably managed forests in Sweden.

For us it’s really important that as we grow, we continue to produce materials that meet the highest sustainable standards,” explains Fredrik. “At BAUX, we want to contribute to a better planet.”

Stella McCartney was one of BAUX’s very first customers and like many since; she was attracted to the unique properties of wood wool tiles. “The creative potential was something that the store designers at Stella McCartney were very quick to see. They asked for samples of all our tiles, in many different colors before settling on the large white rectangular tile”, explains Fredrik. “What started as one store has grown into global partnership, and we’re and very proud to be a part of their vision and journey.”

BAUX

www.baux.se

BAUX Acoustic products meet contemporary expectations of architects and designers with a canny combination of form and function. They can be combined to create remarkable structural patterns that rejuvenate residential, industrial and public spaces. Designed by the renowned Swedish design studio, Form Us With Love, BAUX Acoustic Tiles, Panels and Pixel are available in five color sets and a range of beautiful patterns. Designers and architects can personalize any installation with endless creative possibilities.

BAUX Acoustic Wood Wool products store ambient heat and release it when the air temperature falls. This contributes to lower energy costs, reduced environmental impact and stable indoor climates. BAUX Acoustic products are rot resistant. BAUX is a joint venture between entrepreneurs Johan Ronnestam and Fredrik Franzon and the founding partners of design studio Form Us With Love; Jonas Pettersson, John Löfgren and Petrus Palmér.

This article is re-shared by permission and © BAUX.

For more information please visit:

BAUX: www.baux.se

Link to case: www.baux.se/acoustic-case/stella-mccartney/

Link to products: www.baux.se/acoustic-wood-wool-products/

The BEACH by Snarkitecture

The BEACH is an interactive architectural installation designed by Snarkitecture for the National Building Museum. 

The National Building Museum presents a one-of-a-kind destination for visitors, an interactive architectural installation that brings the quintessential summer experience of going to the beach to downtown Washington, D.C. Spanning across the Museum's Great Hall, the BEACH, created in partnership with Snarkitecture, will cover 10,000 square feet and include an "ocean" of nearly one million recyclable translucent plastic balls.

The BEACH is contained within an enclosure and built out of construction materials such as scaffolding, wooden panels, and perforated mesh, all clad in stark white. Monochromatic beach chairs and umbrellas sprinkle the 50-foot wide "shoreline," and the "ocean" culminates in a mirrored wall that creates a seemingly infinite reflected expanse. Visitors are welcome to "swim" in the ocean, or can spend an afternoon at the "shore's" edge reading a good book, play beach-related activities such as paddleball, grab a refreshing drink at the snack bar, or dangle their feet in the ocean off the pier.

Enjoy our snack concession, operated through a partnership with Union Kitchen, a D.C.-based food incubator.

PROJECT:
Taking cues from the familiar experience of a summer day at the beach, Snarkitecture has abstracted both the natural and cultural elements of the beach to create a reduced, monochromatic environment inside the museum's Great Hall. Standard construction materials like scaffolding, drywall, and mirrors are utilized to create the enclosure that leads to an ocean of 750,000 recyclable plastic balls. 

The Beach welcomes visitors to explore, play and relax in a fully immersive and unique setting.

Photos by Noah Kalina - noahkalina.com

VISIT
401 F Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20001
202.272.2448

HOURS
Monday-Saturday:
10 am-5 pm
Sunday: 11 am-5 pm

The Building Zone closes at 4 pm.

ADMISSION
Free access to the Great Hall,
historic building tours,
Museum Shop, & cafe.

Exhibition admission:
$8 for adults
$5 for youth, students, & seniors
$3 a person for Building Zone only
Free for Museum members

WATCH | Web designer and photographer Andy Feliciotti's Vlog about "The Beach"

About Snarkitecture
Snarkitecture is a collaborative and experimental practice operating in territories between art and architecture. The name is drawn from Lewis Carroll's The Hunting of The Snark, a poem describing an "impossible voyage of an improbable crew to find an inconceivable creature." 

Snarkitecture investigates the unknown within architecture - the indefinable moments created by manipulating and reinterpreting existing materials, structures and programs to spectacular effect. 

Exploring the boundaries of disciplines, the studio designs permanent, architectural scale projects and functional objects with new and imaginative purposes. Snarkitecture's approach focuses on the viewer's experience and memory, creating moments of wonder and interaction that allow people to engage directly with their surrounding environment. By transforming the familiar into the extraordinary, Snarkitecture makes architecture perform the unexpected. 

Snarkitecture was established by Alex Mustonen and Daniel Arsham.

For more information please visit Snarkitecture - www.snarkitecture.com

Numbers in Nature: A Mirror Maze

From the delicate nested spirals of a sunflower's seeds, to the ridges of a majestic mountain range, to the layout of the universe, mathematical patterns abound in the natural world. Numbers in Nature: A Mirror Maze is a new permanent exhibit that will expose and explain the patterns that surround us.


MSI "Numbers in Nature" from Leviathan on Vimeo.

As you enter Numbers in Nature, lenticular images and an immersive large-format film reveal these repeating patterns hidden throughout nature: spirals, occurrences of the "golden ratio" (ɸ), Voronoi patterns, and fractal branching.

Photo courtesy of Leviathan.

The exhibit's centerpiece is the 1,800-square-foot mirror maze, where you'll find yourself in a sea of equilateral triangle chambers that repeat in a dizzying array of mirrors. Can you navigate the maze to find the secrets within?

Complete your journey through Numbers in Nature in a gallery of interactive digital displays and stations, where you can discover even more patterns and ratios in nature-including those found in your own body and in centuries of music, art and architecture. You'll never look at the world the same way again.

The Museum of Science and Industry is the largest science museum in the Western Hemisphere, and contains such magnificent exhibits as an enormous U-505 submarine and a full-scale home of the future. Numbers in Nature, the institution's latest permanent exhibit and newest collaboration with Leviathan, explores the recurrence of patterns and mathematics in our natural world through artful film and interactive installations.

Photo courtesy of Leviathan.

Beginning with an ultra-widescreen theater, we help introduce these phenomena through immersive video content, combining original and existing photography with motion graphics and visual effects. To give guests some hands-on learning, a series of interactive installations (and a mind-bending mirror maze) further explain individual scientific principles touched on in the film. 

Guests can look into a two-way mirror and see their own natural proportions superimposed Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man in real time; or virtually explore 3D spirals, voronoi and other patterns that appear naturally using nothing but the wave of a hand. 

Combining simple analog controls such as knobs, wheels and blocks with cutting-edge technology such as touchscreens, Kinect cameras and Leap Motion sensors, our team designed nearly a dozen dynamic experiences to not only engage children and adults alike but also remain relevant well into the next decade.


About Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago
Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry, one of the largest science museums in the world, is home to more than 35,000 artifacts and 400,000 square feet of hands-on exhibits designed to spark scientific inquiry and creativity.

Location
5700 S. Lake Shore Drive
Chicago, IL 60637

Hours
through November 23:
Monday - Friday: 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Saturday - Sunday: 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Open daily except Thanksgiving and Christmas

For more information please visit www.msichicago.org/whats-here/exhibits/numbers-in-nature/


About Leviathan
Leviathan is a conceptual design company that creates engaging narrative content and experiences for brands and entertainers worldwide.

The bold images they conceive appear on stages and architecture, in themed destinations and on screens of all sizes, accompanying famous faces and household names. Leviathan teams build experiences to enthrall audiences, initiate conversations and keep the crowds coming.

Every day, Leviathan's artists and engineers help transform the worlds of commercial advertising, live events, film, television and environments. 

For more information please visit http://www.lvthn.com

Heimtextil Trends 2015/2016

Heimtextil Takes a New Approach: 'Theme Park' and Trend Prognosis for 2015/2016 Presented

A new trend concept, new themes and a new kind of presentation: the Heimtextil management team introduced the new Heimtextil 'Theme Park' in two discussions broadcast around the world live on 1 September 2014.

On behalf of the Heimtextil Trendtable, which is made up of six international agencies, Anne Marie Commandeur of Stijlinstituut Amsterdam presented the new large-scale project and outlined the Heimtextil trends for 2015/16. 

Trendtable members Mayouri Sengchanh of Exalis/Carlin International and Felix Diener also offered a prognosis for the textile interior-design trends of the coming season. Thus, representatives of the press and Heimtextil exhibitors had the chance to obtain an initial insight into the new trend themes around four and a half months before the international trade fair for home and contract textiles opens its doors from 14 to 17 January 2015. 

'Experience' is the superordinate Heimtextil trend theme for 2015/2016. "Textiles are the perfect vehicle for inspiring, sensory and interactive experiences", explained Anne Marie Commandeur of Stijlinstituut Amsterdam during the conference at Frankfurt Fair and Exhibition Centre. The conference also provided the setting for the presentation of the new Heimtextil Trend Book. "In both the book and the 'Theme Park' at the fair, we present a selection of spectacular projects, which can be experienced with all the senses." 

For the first time, the Trend Book comes with 'interactive print' elements, which enable readers to obtain supplementary information in digital form by scanning the parts of the book marked and then watching animated images on their smartphone or tablet. Additionally, the trend prognoses are supported by an extensive website with detailed background information and project presentations at www.heimtextil-theme-park.com.

Four Design Themes Show New Ways

The first part of the Trend Book revolves around social, political, technological and artistic themes - all key themes that have a decisive influence on designers. The second section looks at trends that are set to have a direct influence on interior design and home textiles in 2015 and beyond. To this end, the trend experts proposed four design themes: 'Sensory', 'Mixology', 'Discovery' and 'Memory'. The third part of the book is devoted to color innovations and presents worlds of color corresponding to the four design themes. 

Heimtextil Theme Park 'Experience' Trends 2015/2016

THEME I - Sensory
The well-being factor Designers create new products for the home, which appeal to our growing interest in tactile and sensory impulses. They find solutions via the link between science and design and thus increase our feeling of well-being. To this end, they use intelligent textiles with built-in responsive technologies that, for example, react to changes in the source of light. Inspiration also comes from the beauty and wellness industry. Super-sensory fabrics draw on the huge variety of tactile effects that excite our senses: light, feminine and transparent. As a sensory contrast, fabrics with polished surfaces or varnish-like lustre and uniformity are used together with paper surfaces and oily finishes.

THEME II - Mixology
Inter-cultural exchange Variety is trumps. Cultural fusion has given rise to a modern ethnic heritage. From now own, experimentation and the interaction of different identities is the name of the game. Patterns, prints and colors collide almost chaotically with each other. African tribal design meets 3D rave motifs, retro with futuristic, digital with organic. At the same time, people are enthusiastic about recycling and product hacking. New applications are found for waste materials with due consideration being given to material properties. The result is valuable design objects and - no less important - the feeling of independence from conformity of any kind.

THEME III - Discovery
Predicting the future Designers are taking ever greater account of our planet's valuable resources. They look over the shoulder of astrophysicists and investigate the properties of lunar rock and meteorites, the haptic qualities and dark strength of which are particularly fascinating. Observing the cosmos and the micro-cosmos, they come across dark, light-absorbent space black and stellar coruscation. Light plays a key role in this connection: it dazzles and illuminates, it sketches and plays tricks with the eye.

THEME IV - Memory
Reflection and re-evaluation People strive for a simpler, purer and more ethically correct way of modern life: away from consumption stress and rigid must-haves - towards favourites and a genuine feeling of well-being. The materials that decorate life together in the home will be honest, useful fabrics, e.g., denim, wool and linen. Familiar patterns stimulate the capacity for recall. Tomorrow's designers will combine handicrafts and tradition with an innovative sense for modernity whereby their software abilities are an additional benefit. Thus, handicrafts and technology can join forces to create new, timeless values.

All Images Courtesy of Heimtextil 

Further information about Heimtextil and the Theme Park at:

www.heimtextil.messefrankfurt.com | www.heimtextil-theme-park.com | www.heimtextil-blog.com

www.facebook.com/heimtextil | www.twitter.com/heimtextil | www.youtube.com/heimtextil | www.pinterest.com/heimtextil

PANTONEVIEW Home + Interiors 2015

[New York], March 29, 2014 - Pantone has released Pantone View Home + Interiors 2015, a compendium of major color trends that will influence the home and interiors marketplace in 2015.

The report features nine key trend palettes, including Style-Setting, Abstractions, Botanicum, Zensations, Urban Jungle, Tinted Medley, Past Traces, Serendipity and Spontaneity, plus individual color and material direction.

"Consumer preferences, behaviors and lifestyles are constantly evolving spawning a desire for fresh color palettes in both home and interior design," commented Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute.

"While rigid color rules have been replaced by more creative guidelines, style and color coordination in the home remains a consistent goal. The PANTONE VIEW home + interiors 2015 forecast can validate some pre-conceived color choices, while also giving new color inspiration and direction."

Pantone View Home + Interiors 2015 contains visual inspiration, suggested color harmonies, individual tear-out palette cards for each of the nine forecasted palettes, swatches of the 72 forecasted colors, and images from the forecast for use in presentations and storyboards.

Style-Setting
As high fashion is often a forerunner to styling for home furnishings in line, design, texture and color, the taste-making palette called Style-Setting is all about poise, finesse and polish. The elegance of the purple family adds a dramatic interplay against classic mahogany, off-white, gray and taupe, along with subtly shimmering frosted almond and champagne beige.


PANTONE 14-1012 Champagne Beige
PANTONE 19-3325 Wood Violet
PANTONE 19-1420 Deep Mahogany
PANTONE 18-3224 Radiant Orchid
PANTONE 18-4005 Steel Gray
PANTONE 13-1012 Frosted Almond
PANTONE 17-1311 Desert Taupe
PANTONE 11-1001 White Alyssum


Abstractions
Abstractions unleashes the inner artist, similar to the formulation of abstract art where styling might seem randomly gathered, forming a mosaic of differing shapes and many of them geometric. Colors such as grape and apricot, dahlia red, stonewashed blue, hazel nut brown and vineyard green seem to come from equally disparate places, but when brought together create an artistic whole.


PANTONE 16-1518 Rosette
PANTONE 19-1555 Red Dahlia
PANTONE 19-4342 Seaport
PANTONE 19-4342 Crushed Grape
PANTONE 17-1143 Hazel
PANTONE 14-1120 Apricot Illusion
PANTONE 17-3917 Stonewash
PANTONE 18-0117 Vineyard Green


Botanicum
Botanicum is a palette lifted directly from the complexities of flora and foliage, forming intriguing groupings filled with succulent shadings of green, grape and café au lait, most often counter-balanced with dusty or smoky tones of blue and orchid. When used together, a sophisticated, yet inherently natural palette emerges.

PANTONE 16-0840 Antique Moss
PANTONE 16-4010 Dusty Blue
PANTONE 18-1710 Grape Nectar
PANTONE 17-1227 Café au Lait
PANTONE 17-3612 Orchid Mist
PANTONE 18-3410 Vintage Violet
PANTONE 15-2210 Orchid Smoke
PANTONE 17-0207 Rock Ridge

Zensations
The palette titled Zensations truly engages and heightens the senses as it displays a literal "enlightenment" by taking the thoughtful, meditative qualities of the blue and blue-green family to more visceral level by adding a compelling red, an atmospheric green as well as sparkling silver and gold.
PANTONE 15-0927 Pale Gold
PANTONE 14-5002 Silver
PANTONE 19-3810 Eclipse
PANTONE 19-3952 Surf the Web
PANTONE 17-4139 Azure Blue
PANTONE 19-4526 Blue Coral
PANTONE 19-2033 Anemone
PANTONE 17-6212 Sea Spray

Urban Jungle
An Urban Jungle transforms rustic chaos into something "civilized" and sylvan - speaking more of big city living than that of a wild terrain. Rather than consistently rough textured, contours are smoother and colors a combination of both typical and atypical jungle hues. Warm animal skin tones are set against the modernity of deep blue-greens, a vibrant greenish yellow, plus black and white.

PANTONE 18-4718 Hydro
PANTONE 14-0740 Bamboo
PANTONE 17-1340 Adobe
PANTONE 18-1447 Orange Rust
PANTONE 16-0940 Taffy
PANTONE 13-1009 Biscotti
PANTONE 19-4008 Meteorite
PANTONE 11-0601 Bright White

Tinted Medley
Tinted Medley is truly a harmonious composition of closely related, deliciously warm tones with peach and pink striking the main chord. Bellini, apricot wash, peach amber and macadamia are compatible blends, while powdered roses and yellows underscore and support the perfect pitch of an ethereal rosy-taupe.

PANTONE 14-1506 Rose Smoke
PANTONE 12-0619 Dusty Yellow
PANTONE 13-1114 Bellini
PANTONE 14-1230 Apricot Wash
PANTONE 15-1506 Etherea
PANTONE 14-1316 Dusty Pink
PANTONE 15-1423 Peach Amber
PANTONE 12-0709 Macadamia

Past Traces
Past Traces honors history in the home, holding on to some vestige of the past is deeply satisfying and reassuring. The look ranges from gently worn to contemporized adaptations - still many of the colors with names like pastel parchment, cameo green, faded denim and dusty cedar, capture a vintage feel.

PANTONE 11-0603 Pastel Parchment
PANTONE 15-1516 Peach Beige
PANTONE 14-6312 Cameo Green
PANTONE 17-4021 Faded Denim
PANTONE 16-1406 Atmosphere
PANTONE 15-4712 Marine Blue
PANTONE 18-1630 Dusty Cedar
PANTONE 18-0328 Cedar Green

Serendipity
The literal meaning of Serendipity is "a pleasant surprise" or "a happy accident." In the parlance of styling, it is the coming together of unlikely designs and unexpected colors. An outgoing orange engages cool eggshell blue, while bright chartreuse is enhanced by a yellow gold and hot pink embraces a lofty scarlet - all under the watchful gaze of a tiger's eye taupe.

PANTONE 16-1363 Puffin's Bill
PANTONE 19-1559 Scarlet Sage
PANTONE 17-2036 Magenta
PANTONE 17-3020 Spring Crocus
PANTONE 14-4809 Eggshell Blue
PANTONE 17-1038 Tiger's Eye
PANTONE 14-0445 Bright Chartreuse
PANTONE 15-1050 Golden Glow

Spontaneity
Irrepressible fun is what the Spontaneity palette delivers. Just as the name implies, it is the stuff that spur-of-the-moment, impulse buying is all about, with whimsical design and unique color mixtures a large part of the attraction. Happy hues of Sunkist coral, marigold and delicious cantaloupe are complemented by the exuberance of Kelly Green and floral accents of hyacinth, violet quartz, winsome orchid or misty jade.


PANTONE 14-3206 Winsome Orchid
PANTONE 17-1736 Sunkist Coral
PANTONE 13-6008 Misty Jade
PANTONE 15-1239 Cantaloupe
PANTONE 14-1050 Marigold
PANTONE 17-3619 Hyacinth
PANTONE 18-1720 Violet Quartz
PANTONE 16-6138 Kelly


Pantone
Pantone LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of X-Rite, Incorporated, has been the world's color authority for almost 50 years, providing design professionals with products and services for the colorful exploration and expression of creativity. Always a source for color inspiration, Pantone also offers designer-inspired products and services for consumers. More information is available at www.pantone.com

BAUX Träullit by Form Us With Love

[New York], February 13, 2014 - BAUX is a new design brand founded on the belief that building materials should be surprisingly functional and remarkably beautiful. BAUX Träullit is the first collection consisting of sound absorbing wall panels.

The BAUX Träullit collection of wood wool acoustic panels is a canny combination of form and function. Available in a range of vibrant colours, the BAUX Träullit collection combines excellent sound absorption with a natural capacity for heat and moisture regulation.

BAUX Träullit panels can be combined to create remarkable structural patterns for residential, industrial or public spaces. Benefits include lower energy costs, a reduced environmental impact and a stable indoor climate.

Designed by Swedish design studio, Form Us With Love, the BAUX Träullit collection features six different geometrical shapes, available in two sizes and five color sets, offering over 240 creative variations!

All Photos courtesy of BAUX - www.baux.se

Photo courtesy of BAUX - TRÄULLIT FACTORY - PHOTOGRAPHER: JONAS LINDSTRÖM 

Photo courtesy of BAUX - TRÄULLIT FACTORY - PHOTOGRAPHER: JONAS LINDSTRÖM 

BAUX Träullit is available in 5 different color schemes:
Clouds - Light colors are expansive and airy, making rooms seem larger and brighter. Dark colors are sophisticated and warm.
Woods - Green is considered to be the most restful color for the eye.
Sky & Sea - Blue is calming and relaxing and lowers blood pressure.
Sunset - Stir up the excitement! Red creates a feeling of anticipation.
Earth & Mountain - Orange evokes excitement, enthusiasm and energy!

The BAUX Founding Partners

From left: Fredrik Franzon, Johan Ronnestam, Petrus Palmér, Jonas Pettersson, John Löfgren

Photo courtesy of BAUX - www.baux.se

BAUX is founded on the belief that building materials should be surprisingly functional and remarkably beautiful. BAUX designs, produces and markets construction materials that meet the contemporary expectations of architects, engineers and builders - without compromising safety and environmental standards. BAUX is a joint venture between entrepreneurs Johan Ronnestam and Fredrik Franzon and the founding members of design studio Form Us With Love: Jonas Pettersson, John Löfgren and Petrus Palmér.

Go explore the collection at www.baux.se