Spaces create living environments, and the design of the room has a direct effect on people's moods and behavior. The winners of this year's iF Design Awards show how high-tech materials, elements, and shapes shine in their uniqueness and create a very special atmosphere.
This includes, among other things, the brilliant design of a banquet restaurant in the style of the Song dynasty, which inspires the imagination and takes the viewer into a dreamy world. The work of another design team addresses the connection between decay and new emergence. How the two go hand in hand and how they develop into a space that people like to hang out in is demonstrated by their impressive coffee shop design. There are also design ideas for a hospital, a bus station, and an office building.
Here are the winners:
Runxuan Textile Office – A Curvilinear Building
Pure, white, original: Shenzhen Rationale Design and Runxuan Textile discarded conventional association and design methods, and worked back to the raw materials. Cotton, yarn, and cloth set the tone of the space, presenting a pure environment with natural texture and form. The design draws on the pureness of white color, and interprets the production process of cloth in an architectural design language, extending the facade into the interior. The project demonstrates diverse textiles and the whole process of production.
Aesthetic boldness paired with technical ingenuity: In the Slovac city of Nitra a bus station was in need of extension and modernization. The new long-distant bus terminal represents the second phase of this project. As such it was important to ensure it communicated visually with the adjacent local bus terminal. Putting user comfort first, the designers from studio 519 and their client mmcité+ decided to find a way to envelop the entirety of the station and integrate all the utilities into the structure.
Beneficial for body and mind: The Oncopole project expresses the charm and wisdom of Algeria's traditional architecture in the legendary Mediterranean city of Oran. It is located near Oran University of Science and Technology, on a plot of irregular polygonal geometry. In Algeria access to cancer diagnostics and oncological treatment is difficult. This project by Lecoc Arquitectura and Sarl Oran Santé is committed to healthcare, with the best medical equipment and team of the highest quality.
OBALTAN Seoul Forest Park Store
Less is more: This space offers a different experience from each seat. Client OBALTAN and the design team of INTOEX emphasize stability over extravagance, a sense of mass, and both separation and connection of spaces based on height and lighting. Though it is a simple space without excessive decoration, it conveys the unique feeling of OBALTAN that is based on explicit contrast, revelation of essential structure, and harmony between the light and material properties.
A dream in blue: This Yun Tu banquet restaurant with a 1,400-square-meter interior is used mainly for large events such as weddings and celebrations. The team of CaiShang Creation Interior Design was inspired by the art of China's Song dynasty to create a dreamlike fantasy space full of scenes of mountains, oceans, clouds, moon, and flowers. The art of the Song dynasty has a distinguished tradition, and the designers sought to create an impressive romantic atmosphere, par example by using azure as the representative color of the Song dynasty.
Mr. Lees Coffee shop is a building with two souls: They chafe, tangle, refuse, and erode each other, impossible to separate, until the enormous contrast crystallizes into an impressive vessel. Retaining the upper structure of the original design, YUN-YIH DESIGN COMPANY uses minimalism to return to the basics. While the view of the higher angles is stagnant, the view below the horizon, that is the half-wall, floor, and long table, are simple and succinct in their function and design.
A portal of transcendent communication: Architecture + Interior Design Studio Seven Elohim was invited to realize Martin et Karczinski's vision across four floors. Founder and CEO Peter Martin understood that his company, a large German communications agency, couldn't become what it needed to be by remaining where it was. The three project goals were to empower both parties and drastically redefine the current space, to create a multi-layer space that enables spontaneous interaction, aesthetic functionality, and relentless creativity, and to effectively connect workplace and home space styles. The ideas were implemented by Daxenberger Schreinerei.
A game of light and shadow: The three-story open-air structure from the first floor to the basement expresses the curvaceousness of the overlapping grids, creating a connection with the inside and outside. Inside the store, the living rooms are arranged to the left and right of a single aisle, creating a vague atmosphere. The aim was to create a space where the flow and sound of the fresh air make you feel the outside. The gym was designed by ACCA und commissed by SPIC Corporation.
Welcome to my exclusivity! To be individual is the measure of all things in our modern society. And the need to express your personality was never as important as it is today. The real estate developer CIFI addressed this need for self-realization by commissioning the design of a show flat that targets strong personalities in both character and color. The apartment designed by Ippolito Fleitz and pfarré lighting design features high-quality specifications and an intelligent layout that contrasts open living areas with private ones.
An office like a 'secret base' where people gather: COVID-19 has underscored the necessity of communication in the office. This design by teamSTAR is an example of an answer to the problem. MGY BASE is an apparel brand office situated in Tokyo. The main floor is 6 meters high and its huge glass facade gives the impression of semi-outdoor space. Wire mesh used in the loft, industrial taste lighting, iron and scaffold used fixtures represent the secret base the client MIGHTY asked for.
Clarity and naturalness: Within this 150-square-meter apartment in Taiwan, instead of fitting the traditional layout to its new use, new functionality was created to fit the space. The VARIETECH designers wrapped the space with lines and layers horizontally and vertically, and minimized color usage to allow natural lights and materials to lead the tone. The design goal is to establish a space of calm environment with a subtle sense of adventure, and provide intimacy without cutting off the open feeling of the space.
You will find all of the iF DESIGN AWARD 2021 winning designs here. And also in the brand new iF Design App – download it here. The registration for the iF DESIGN AWARD 2022 is still open until 19 November.