First Round, Top Five!

Facet Studio has been selected as 5 of the proposals to proceed beyond the First Round Jury Session of Kyoto's Doshisha University Competition!!

ok there is a spelling mistake with Yoshi's name.... but we have received the contact phone call in our Osaka office, and double checked the Registration Number.... it IS us!

There has been 379 entries to the Doshisha University's Chapel Complex Design Competition.
The Second Round Jury Session will take place on February 3rd, and requires a verbal presentation in front of the jury members - public speaking in Japanese, anyone?

Find out more about the competition HERE

IDEA 2012 Winner Photos

So it took me a while to realise that we do have access to some professional photos taken of us as winners of IDEA 2012 - Emerging Designer and International Project Category.

(More about the Award in the previous blog entry HERE)

I believe it is ok to still feel excited about our hard-earned awards - in fact I will keep on being excited for a while!

 photo (c) Cynthia Sciberras

 Yoshi - photo (c) Cynthia Sciberras

Olivia (me) - photo (c) Cynthia Sciberras

Late Shift

As mentioned in earlier entry, SL Dental has proceeded into construction and work has been generally carried out during 17:00 - 24:00 due to various restrictions.

While we are wrapping up most of the construction work this week, I have witnessed unusual population density within this tiny tiny tenancy at odd times such as 23:00....

Within 55sqm there were 7 people including me the architect... and lets not forget the amount of joinery boxes delivered earlier, waiting to be installed (picture below)

This is like less than half of the amount of joinery for this tiny fitout......

... I came to realise that joiner is quite an acrobatic profession.....

.... I also came to realise that builders rely a lot on their friendships....

 I think we are so lucky to have a great team working with us, to push through tough deadlines and deliver as promised!

This always reminds me of what Tadao Ando said: "Architecture are made possible by 3 parties - Clients, Contractors, and Architects".  We are never alone in our profession.

Emerging Facet Studio!

Interior Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) 2012 has revealed the winners - Facet Studio has been crowned twice under International Project category and Emerging Designer!

 Me and Yoshi on stage receiving the Emerging Designer Award

Over a range of high profile projects of all different types in the inaugural International Project category, M House has won high praises from the jury for the simple beauty and persistence in bringing the idea to life.

Here is what the Jury had to say about the International category:

On top of gaining recognition for our projects, we have also brought home with us the Emerging Designer award:

Leading up to the event we have been so immersed in the actual event design itself (which will be covered in a separate entry) that we were totally unprepared for a speech...but I think we did much better than last year, shows that practice (last year at IDEA 2011, Melbourne and earlier this year at Frame Moooi Award, Milan) does make things better - please note the improvement in our facial expressions!

The Interior Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) is Australia’s largest and most successful independent design awards program. Launched by (Inside) magazine in 2003, the program celebrates the best of Australian interior and product design across 11 categories and five special awards.

To find out more about IDEA Awards:

Official Website click HERE
Official announcement click HERE
More about IDEA Awards from our blog click HERE
More about shortlist announcement click HERE

The other projects also shortlisted are:

Uchi Lounge 01 - Hospitality

Uchi Lounge 02 - Hospitality

Connect Sydney - Workplace under 1000sqm

We will try to upload more photos soon!

Burning midnight oil

What happened with time?!
It's November already!!

Finally we are starting the bumping in for IDEA 2012 tomorrow at Seymour Centre....
And this is how the Facet Studio office looked like today during the last day of off-site preparation... Yes, a complete mess!

IDEA 2012 Gala Party will take place on November 9th.
Last year we flew down to Melbourne to pick up the trophy for Sneakerology/ Streetology (Best Retail Design winner), this year on top of nominations in 4 categories, we are also designing the actual venue.
All in all, nervous but exciting.

At the same time, SL Dental has started construction.
Due to numerous restrictions, the builders have been working in the wee hours of 17:00 ~ 24:00.
This kind of works in with my schedule quite well, that I can ride past the construction site on my way home almost everyday.
More on this a bit later... After I survive this week of IDEA...

Uchi Lounge on ARQA

Uchi Lounge has again shown its international appeal - this time to Argentina!

 

The article is published in ARQA - Argentinian-based web magazine, open community of architecture, construction and design.

Click HERE to see the article!

What is this?

A huge parcel arrived this week from Japan.... it is something for IDEA 2012 event design

Are you curious?

The event is held on November 9th, only 1 month to go!

Facet Studio is everywhere in (inside) 73

We have been interviewed by (inside) magazine!
The interview, covering our projects Seatondale Heritage, M House, and Uchi Lounge,  is published in issue 73, which is available in all good newsagency now!

 The front cover

 

 

This issue of (inside) magazine also published the shortlist of Interior Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) 2012, which we are shortlisted in 4 categories.. woohoo~
...We are kind of everywhere in this issue...

rear cover

WORKPLACE UNDER 100SQM - CONNECT SYDNEY

HOSPITALITY - UCHI LOUNGE

EMERGING DESIGNER - FACET STUDIO
INTERNATIONAL PROJECT - M HOUSE

Sneakerology on SPA-DE

Our project Sneakerology was published in SPA-DE Space & Design magazine in Japan!

It is interesting how Sneakerology continues to generate press interest internationally although the project has been completed a while ago... but our older projects are also still getting picked up by press...

I take this very positively, as we consciously do not design according to transient trends; hopefully this attitude reflects in our projects, and hopefully has prolonged their design life-span.

Field Trip

Last week our team on IDEA 2012 went on a field trip to see a prototype being made in the factory.

IDEA 2012 is a project to design an one-night-only award event with lots of restrictions in terms of time on site, ease of setup, structural challenges - whilst still producing something wow-worthy.
Anyhow, it is to be kept as a surprise for people attending, so my apologies about the hardly descriptive  image..

We are collaborating with people we previously worked with on Phamish, ah that old feeling.. and by the way have I mentioned that I LOVE seeing things coming together?  Well, now you know.

 

18th Biennale of Sydney - All Our Relations

Being an architect is an intense life commitment... even when we aimed to relax and submerge ourselves in art, it is difficult to get away from inspiration seeking and spatial analysis.

But hey, Sydney Biennale was definitely worthwhile!

After a short ferry ride in the picturesque Sydney Harbour, we arrived at Cockatoo Island.

Cockatoo Island, an UNESCO World Heritage Site, is an island located at the junction of the Parramatta and Lane Cove rivers, in Sydney Harbour, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Between 1839 and 1869, Cockatoo Island operated as a convict penal establishment, primarily as a place of secondary punishment for convicts who had re-offended in the colonies. It was also the site of one of Australia's biggest shipyards, operating between 1857 and 1991. The first of its two dry docks was built by convicts.
Listed on the National Heritage List, the place is significant for its demonstration of the characteristics of a long-running dockyard and shipbuilding complex, including evidence of key functions, structures and operational layout. Cockatoo Island contains the nation's most extensive and varied record of shipbuilding and has the potential to enhance our understanding of maritime and heavy industrial processes in Australia from the mid-19th century.  (Wikipedia)

Here is a little blurb about Biennale of Sydney, taken from the official website:

The Biennale of Sydney is a non-profit organisation that presents Australia's largest and most exciting contemporary visual arts event. Held every two years, the Biennale presents a three-month exhibition, plus a program of artist talks, performances, forums, film screenings, family events, guided tours and other special events, all FREE to the public.
The inaugural Biennale of Sydney was staged in 1973 to provide an international showcase for contemporary art. Its aim was to develop and present a program that challenged traditional thinking and encouraged new levels of enthusiasm for innovative creative expression. The 18th Biennale of Sydney marks the organisation’s 39th anniversary.
The Biennale of Sydney was the fourth recurring contemporary art exhibition to be established on the international calendar – after Venice (1895), São Paulo (1951) and Documenta (1955). The Biennale of Sydney quickly achieved international recognition and critical acclaim and, from a small start, quadrupled in size in less than a decade. Today it ranks as one of the leading international festivals of contemporary art in the world and continues to be recognised for showcasing the freshest and most provocative contemporary art from Australia and around the world.

Having visited a few Biennales, I must say that this year has been the most inspiring and poetic...

Facet Studio on Australian Infront

Facet Studio's profile is featured on Australian Infront website!

I always really appreciate people and press who take interest in what we do, how we view design, and give us the opportunity to talk about what really matters to us.
Not only an opportunity to express our thoughts, it is also an opportunity for us to reflect on our philosophy.

Thanks to Justin from Australian Infront, and please check out our profile HERE!

Picture perfect

On the weekend we went to check out the Sydney Biennale at Cockatoo Island.
Beautiful day, the ferry ride to the island alone would have been worthwhile already; fantastic inspirational artworks were definitely big bonus!

Would try to write more about Sydney Biennale soon.. But for now, let's take in the beauty of Sydney icons...

Dezeen x Uchi Lounge

Our project, Uchi Lounge 01 has been published on Dezeen!

Click HERE to view the article

Click HERE to see other entries on Uchi Lounge

Click HERE to see Uchi Lounge 01 in our official website

Click HERE to see other entries relating to Dezeen

Dezeen is UK based online design magazine with 2 million monthly visitors, and included in Time magazine’s Design 100 list of the most influential forces in global design, and in Design Week magazine’s Hot 50 list of key figures in design.

More love from ArchDaily

Both Uchi Lounge 01 and 02 have been published on ArchDaily!

 

 

For Uchi Lounge 01, enter HERE to read the original post.
For Uchi Lounge 02, enter HERE to read the original post.

Click HERE to see other entries on Uchi Lounge

Click HERE to see Uchi Lounge 01 in our official website

Click HERE to see Uchi Lounge 02 in our official website

Click HERE to see other entries relating to ArchDaily

ArchDaily was founded in March 2008 with the one mission of delivering the most complete information to architects around the world; every week, every day, every hour, every moment: as soon as it happens . It is the online source of continuous information for a growing community of thousands of architects searching for the latest architectural news: projects, products, events, interviews and competitions among others.

Connect Sydney on ArchDaily

Our project, Connect Sydney, has been published on ArchDaily!

Click HERE to view the article
Click HERE to see other entries on Connect Sydney
Click HERE to see Connect Sydney in our official website
Click HERE to see other entries relating to ArchDaily


ArchDaily was founded in March 2008 with the one mission of delivering the most complete information to architects around the world; every week, every day, every hour, every moment: as soon as it happens . It is the online source of continuous information for a growing community of thousands of architects searching for the latest architectural news: projects, products, events, interviews and competitions among others.