The first word
The December issue of Habitus has to be one of my favourites to put together. As the weather begins to warm, seemingly promising summer’s imminent return, the Habitus team sifts through the projects, interviews and articles we have carefully curated to form the Life Outdoors issue.
This time around, we have been interested to explore the various ways design consumers express themselves through a connection to the surrounding topography – be that urban or rural, coastal or inland, close or far from the equator. Of course this is manifest in the homes they’ve engaged architects to design, build, or renovate – but we were also intrigued to see how this desire plays out in the public sphere, too. How is an aspiration to be connected to nature reflected in the design of the cafés, restaurants, retail spaces and even hotels that we, as Design Hunters, frequent?
Rebecca Gross has investigated this idea drawing on built examples across the Region. The Cornerstone Stores on the Gold Coast by Richards & Spence are a collection of retail spaces that each face inwards to a central courtyard, while in Vietnam SILAA has designed a homestay for guests to feel immersed in nature despite being a mere four kilometres from the centre of Huě.
A home made predominantly from rammed earth on a property in Byron Bay contrasts strongly with architecture writer and editor Stephan Crafti’s own house by architect Robert Simeoni in an inner suburb of Melbourne. And yet, despite these vastly different locales the two residences share an understanding of the context within which they sit and unique design cues that connect each to life beyond the four walls of the house.
Whether you’re sitting indoors or out, or within a space that’s tricky to define as either, I hope you enjoy the issue and invite you to continue the conversation at habitusliving.com.