UNStudio: The Latest Architecture and News

This year, I Saloni of Milan will be celebrating its 50th year! The cultural institution has grown dramatically over the years from an initial 328 exhibitors featured in 11,000 square meters to over 2,500 in an area now measuring over 200,000 square meters. The Salone Internazionale del Mobile is almost here and several architects will be presenting new furniture. Ben van Berkel of UNStudio has shared three new seating designs that will be featured this month: My Lounge Chair for Walter Knoll, the New Amsterdam Chair for Wilde+Spieth and the SitTable for PROOFF. “The architectural approach to furniture is different from that of the industrial designer as the architect begins with the space and the environment that the chair will become a part of. All the details of the chair are considered for their spatial effects. This architectural approach to furniture is connected to a very personal ideology of space,” explained Ben van Berkel.

More about the chairs after the break.

Yesterday afternoon, we had the pleasure of attending the opening day of Ben van Berkel’s New Amsterdam Pavilion in Peter Minuit Plaza, just outside Battery Park in Manhattan. After walking around the pavilion and watching New Yorkers’ first encounters with the new sculptural piece, we had the opportunity to study the project with Mr. van Berkel as he explained his ideas and process. The pavilion is a gift from the Netherlands to New York in honour of 400 years of friendship; yet the pavilion does not attempt to physically manifest a representation of that relationship. Rather, the pavilion can be interpreted in different ways and speaks to both the history and the future of the city.

More about our talk with van Berkel and more images after the break.

After our UN Studio’s Burnham Pavilion gallery, many of you wondered how it was built. This photo reveals the woodenstructure for this pavilion, which was later finished with a plastic-like material.