From the editor

Our planet is on the brink of an irreversible catastrophe, and the side you take in the anthropogenic global warming debate seems irrelevant. I say this because there’s no arguing that the vast majority of us are over-consuming: plastics, products, packaging, petroleum, animal protein... the list goes on. We’re consuming finite fossil fuels when our governments and private industry should be investing in and promoting clean renewable energy sources. We’re filling islands and swathes of once-pristine land with waste and landfill. The way most of us are living is simply not sustainable. I’ve always been an advocate for buying well and buying less, a principle I hope is evident in the pages of every issue we publish.

In this issue we take a look at small spaces, density and treading more lightly on the earth. In putting it together, I was reminded of a number of presentations and conversations I had the pleasure of hearing in Jakarta late last year during the Prihal: arsitektur andramatin conference that ran alongside acclaimed Indonesian architect Andra Matin’s retrospective exhibition. Bangladeshi architect, urbanist and educator Kazi Khaleed Ashraf and architect Marina Tabassum, Thai architect Varudh Varavarn and Japanese architect Yoshiharu Tsukamoto were among the presenters, and each of them spoke in some way about building sustainably. It was a reminder that architects in certain parts of the region are setting strong examples of sustainability in their practices — especially when it comes to incorporating natural lighting, ventilation and other human- focused elements into small footprints.

It was for these reasons that we decided to revisit the ‘small spaces’ issue. If you’ve been reading D/A for a while you’ll notice it’s the first one since Issue 3, published in our very first year. We hope you enjoy this issue, and that it inspires you to live lighter but better.

Suzy Annetta
Editor-in-Chief

Inside the issue

Dossier

Openings
New store openings in Xi’an, Seoul, Hangzhou and Shanghai

Products
New collections and collaborations

Read
Upcoming and new books on design, art, interiors and architecture from some of the world’s best publishers

Profile
Meet Taiwanese duo Hung- Ming Chen and Chen-Yen Wei, the founders of Stockholm- based design studio Afteroom

Sustainable Craft
Design Academy Eindhoven graduate Yoon Seok-hyeon uses a traditional Korean lacquer as a sustainable alternative to glazing

Flexible Furniture
Santi Alaysius and Hamphrey Tedja of Domisilium Studio discuss forward-looking Indonesian design and the everyday ethos behind their playful new collection

Profile
Graphic-turned-interior designer Chris Lee’s studio Asylum is making a name for itself with compelling spaces and strong narratives

Office Design
Designed as a vertical creative city, this innovative new development in Hong Kong defies corporate conventions

Wanderlust

Bhutan
Cultural heritage meets modern luxe in this serene Buddhist kingdom

Hotel, Kuala Lumpur
Boutique hotel The Chow Kit pays homage to the neighbourhood’s history and character, all the while oozing old-world glamour

Hotel, Siem Reap
Owned and designed by one of Cambodia’s top architecture talents, Treeline Urban Resort is a sustainably designed, organically modernist homage to ancient Khmer craft and culture

Hotel, Hoi An
Bijou and brimming with Vietnamese objects and artefacts, Dechiu Hotel is self-taught designer and owner TheO Pham’s fulfilment of a lifelong dream inspired by her childhood on a coastal farm

Openings
The best of the new boutique and luxury designer hotels from around the world

Vernissage

Artists’ Retreat, Sri Lanka
A look into Śūnyatā, South African artist Ricky Lee Gordon’s Sri Lankan home, studio and creative retreat

Art Fair, Taipei
The second edition of Taipei Dangdai presented a cross section of homegrown talent and dynamism both within the exhibition hall and across the city

Home

Hong Kong
A subdivided apartment has become five charming studios that are light, bright and practical

Manila
Filipino designer Ito Kish’s apartment is an edit of his most beloved and treasured pieces

Singapore
Eschewing the typical bright- and-light approach to designing small homes, Joey Khu opted instead for a dark and moody palette complemented by clever design strategies

Bali
Architect Yew Kuan Cheong blends local craft and space- enhancing design in his modern pied-à-terre in coastal Seminyak

Ubara
Architect and academic Julian Worrall’s beach home is a beautifully austere combination of Australian coastal living and Japanese architectural touches

Architectonics

Urban Architecture
We consider the role of architecture in designing for a growing population that shares a finite amount of space

Photo Essay
Architecture photographer Kris Provoost travelled to Beijing to photograph Da Wang Jing, a mixed-use development of five towers whose humanity belies its scale

Modernism
Austrian-Australian architect Harry Seidler made an indelible modernist mark on Hong Kong in the form of the Hong Kong Club Building

The Flâneur

Old-World Charm
A flâneur is an urban explorer
— a connoisseur of the street. In our rotating column, guests share their musings, observations and critiques of the urban environment in cities around the world. In this issue, Natasza Minasiewicz takes a bike ride through Wrocław, a city on the Oder river known in architecture circles for its modernist buildings and favoured among Poles and expats alike for its vibrancy and character