From the editor

Great architecture does more than just add visual interest and texture to the built landscape. Great architecture can lift the spirit and enable individuals to connect with their communities. It has the ability to shape our behaviour. It can improve our mental well-being. And it has the potential to not just save energy, but to produce more than it consumes. Great architecture is powerful.

Welcome to our annual cross-disciplinary edition: this year, we present The Architecture Issue, in which we focus on the world of architecture more keenly than we would in a regular issue. In our recently launched story format Studio Culture, we look inside the Jakarta office of architectural practice d-associates, whose principals Gregorius ‘Supie’ Yolodi and Maria Rosantina have created an urban oasis that perfectly showcases their talent and philosophy. And in A Day in the Life, another new addition to our table of contents, we get a glimpse into the daily rituals and practices of renowned Vietnamese architect Võ Trọng Nghĩa, which border on the monastic.

In our Style section, we meet Los Angeles-based Japanese fashion designer Airi Isoda and her partner Ryan Upton, both of whom are trained architects and whose label wrk- shp is a reflection of how one discipline informs the other in their practice.

We bring architecture to armchair travellers (is there any other kind right now?) with Ben Hosking’s photo essay on the built marvels of Chandigarh, the capital of both Punjab and Haryana in India, which is widely considered to be one of the most successful examples of urban planning and modern architecture of the 20th century.

And of course, we have a curated selection of homes — from Taipei and Hong Kong to Japan, Singapore and Vietnam — each architecturally designed, some inhabited by the architect or designer themselves and all unique.

I sincerely hope that you enjoy this year’s first issue of Design Anthology, and with it we wish you all a happy new year. May 2021 be a kinder and gentler year for us all.

Suzy Annetta
Editor-in-Chief

Inside the issue

Dossier

Openings
New store openings in Jakarta, Seoul and Taipei

Products
New collections and collaborations

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

Bespoke Tiles, Japan
Tajimi Custom Tiles pairs ceramic tile artisans from Tajimi with international architects and designers to push the boundaries of the material

Studio Culture
We take a look inside Jakarta-based architecture firm d-associates

Korean Craft Platform
This virtual repository is dedicated to rediscovering and preserving Korea’s craft culture by facilitating dialogues between local and international designers

A Day in the Life
We spend a day with Vietnamese architect Võ Trọng Nghĩa, whose practice is characterised by the principles of meditation and whose pace of life is calm and considered

Office Design, Kuala Lumpur
Ministry of Design conceived YTL Corporation Berhad’s new Kuala Lumpur headquarters to represent the conglomerate’s unified identity and workforce

Style

Editor’s Picks
A selection of architecturally inspired pieces

Fashion Label, Los Angeles
Fashion and architecture meet in wrk-shp, known for both its tastefully utilitarian garments and Japan-meets- Southern California interiors

Wanderlust

Luxury Yacht
Sporting a fresh refurbishment, the phinisi superyacht Dunia Baru offers unforgettable voyages through the waters of Indonesia, Thailand and Myanmar

Photo Essay
A visual tour of Chandigarh through the eye of Australian photographer Ben Hosking

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

Vernissage

Urban Art
UAP (Urban Art Projects) has made its name working with architects, designers and developers to bring complex, large-scale public artworks to life

Virtual Exhibition
Indian artist and architect Martand Khosla’s virtual viewing rooms are realised as sketched ‘pavilions’ free from the constraints and limitations of physical space

Home

Ho Chi Minh City
This curvaceous apartment is an homage to both architect Louis Kahn and Ho Chi Minh’s modernist architectural heritage

Ashiya
Japanese architect Shigeru Tsuda’s home is unique for its connection to nature, with three sides entirely open to the elements

Singapore
A planned simple renovation led by Marcio Kogan’s Studio MK27 became something altogether more profound

Hong Kong
Designer YC Chen’s home reflects his love for clean lines and mid-century style, adapted for his young family

Taipei
ecru Studio combines wabi-sabi elements with iconic design pieces and artisanal Taiwanese craft in this home

Architectonics

Emerging Studios, China
From schools and libraries to homes, we survey the work of some of China’s most promising architecture firms

Architectural Preservation
The Vann Molyvann Project is dedicated to documenting and preserving the oeuvre of ‘the man who built Cambodia’

The Flâneur

The Bustle Beneath
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, new Beijing transplant Warren Singh- Bartlett walks us through architectural exceptions to the city’s austerity