TALE OF TWO TONES
Interior designer Aviva Duncan’s home bears witness to her many experiments in colour, pattern and form室內設計師Aviva Duncan的美好家園以色彩、圖紋和佈局交織而成
There’s no doubt about it: Aviva Duncan is a force of nature, both creatively and in person, where her statuesque frame fills the room with an unapologetic warmth and her effervescent, quickfire manner of speech. Naturally, the Australian interior designer’s home – which she shares with daughters Lucy, 9, and Mia, 14 – is every bit a reflection of her personality, with its riotous prints, colour blocking, and outsized artworks.
Despite the surface details, however, the 2,800sqft apartment on Po Shan Road is a practical environment within which Aviva realises her mantra of ‘form follows function.’ Given the family’s love of entertaining, the dining room serves as the focus of the house, where guests settle around a 2.5-metre-long solid wood table that is often found decked out with various culinary delights, thanks to Aviva’s penchant (she is also a trained chef) for cooking up sumptuous feasts.
Visitors are free to wander around the apartment’s open plan. “I don’t do things like close off little areas – I try to keep it an open flow just because we have so many people passing through,” says Aviva. There’s another benefit to the wide interior: her itch to experiment and redecorate the abode is more easily satisfied, and marks from her frenetic creative energy are abundant. “Personally, I also love the feeling of a high ceiling, so I experimented with the walls where I painted the bottom half of the wall a darker tone and the top half a lighter tone. It makes the ceiling feel higher.”
毋庸置疑，澳洲室內設計師Aviva Duncan猶如大自然力量的化身：身材高挑的她總是充滿無窮活力和創意，散發著和善親切、能言善道的魅力。這個滿載個人特色的宅舍是她與兩位分別9歲和14歲女兒Lucy與Mia的專屬天地，大膽圖紋、亮麗色澤和大型藝術品完美呈現她的時尚風格。
這個2,800平方呎的寶珊道大宅依循Aviva「形隨機能」的設計理念而建，美感和功能性兼備。屋主喜愛宴請好友，精緻迷人的飯廳自然是家中的重點區域。Aviva閒時會為客人炮製幾道精美小菜，而2.5米長的實木餐桌正好就是她展示精湛廚藝的舞台。
公寓佈局寬敞開揚，家人好友隨時隨地可以自由活動。Aviva指出：「對比隱藏私密的空間，我更愛開放式的室內裝潢，讓大家更靈活自如。」在無邊無際的家居中，她能把個人設計創意發揮得更加淋漓盡致。「對我來說，樓底較高的設計能夠增強空間感。因此，我決定運用深色油漆裝飾牆壁底部，再以柔和淺色粉飾上半部分，成就巧妙安排的視覺延伸。」
Meanwhile, the floor is largely covered in an assortment of statement-making rugs. The most prominent design in the living area – a geometric monochrome graphic pattern – is of Aviva’s own creation, serving not only to dazzle guests upon arrival but also to cover up the old-fashioned parquet floor of the rental, and to add a general softness to the space.
The versatility of a good rug shouldn’t be understated, Aviva emphasises: “A rug is something you take with you, so it’s not a waste since you don’t even leave it behind! Even if you move somewhere smaller, you can just have them recut.”
Aviva’s focus on walls and flooring come together in her office, from where she runs her interior design consultancy. “I experimented doing the wall the same tone as the carpet to make it a bubble. I hate to think that I’m savvy or fashionable, but it’s a very modern thing. I really like that deep raspberry shade, so I used it for my office and carried it through to [the sofa] in the lounge room.”
縱觀屋內，地板上有著多款風格各異的標誌性地墊。放置於客廳的黑白幾何圖紋地墊引人矚目，由Aviva本人親手製作。地墊的用途非常廣泛，既能為客人帶來驚喜之餘，也能掩蓋鑲木地板的古舊痕跡，為室內空間注入和諧自然的感覺。
一塊完美無瑕的地墊必然具備靈活多變的功能。Aviva強調：「地墊應該便於攜帶，同時適合不同類型和大小的家居。即使日後新居面積較小，你也能夠按照需要重新剪裁合身的設計。」
Aviva的諮詢辦公室主要用作處理日常事務，室內設計同樣經過精心策劃。其中牆壁和地板的用色大膽，兩者互相匹配。「我特意採用相同顏色的牆壁和地毯，締造突出的視覺效果。我認為自己並不特別時尚，純粹只是透過大行其道的設計為家園添上活潑一面。深莓紅色是我的心頭好，並採用同樣色系裝飾辦公室和休息室。」
Art plays a major role in the Duncan household, even more so since Aviva completed a fine arts degree at the local campus of the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). From the entrance foyer, the eye passes by a pop-art canvas by Australian artist Paul Davis (“I love LA and mid-century design, so the whole aesthetic just spoke to me about Hollywood Hills”), and a monochrome painting of an owl by Josh Yeldham, before settling on Aviva’s favourite piece hanging above an Eames lounge chair and ottoman – a photograph of a desolate church and a lone piano, by Hong Kong-based photographer Denice Hough.
The art collection, Aviva says, will be her gift to her daughters and, she hopes, from her daughters to their grandchildren. “It reminds me of how important it is to grow up surrounded by visual [cues] and how it shapes you. Sometimes art is not even about how it looks. It’s about how it speaks to you, so a lot of those pieces are quite personal.”
With an eye on the future, and a hand in the immediate present in a constant cycle of aesthetic trial and error, Aviva’s home is sure to witness many more design revelations in the years to come. //
自Aviva於薩凡納藝術設計大學(香港)獲得美術學士畢業後，她對藝術的興趣漸趨濃厚，而這正好就是家宅佈滿藝術品的原因。甫入屋內，玄關旁邊便是澳洲藝術家Paul Davis噴畫。她分享：「我喜愛洛杉磯和中世紀設計，作品將兩者完美融合，呈現著好萊塢山般的時尚美學。」放置在另一邊的貓頭鷹單色畫作乃Josh Yeldham出自之手，設計簡潔俐落。結合美感和舒適的Eames休閒擱腳軟椅是她最愛的傢具之一，配搭攝影師Denice Hough的圖片。照片中的荒涼教堂與單部鋼琴相映成趣，散發著與別不同的格調。
她對藝術品珍而重之，並希望能將其一代代傳下去。「我認為在成長過程中被藝術包圍、耳濡目染能夠培養自我的價值觀。事實上，一件藝術品帶出的啟發性比其本身的面貌更加重要。你能從觀察中學會獨有的溝通方式，發展出一套個人見解。」
Aviva極具冒險精神、珍惜當下，不斷探索和採納不平凡的美學，融入生活。同時，她並具前瞻性的思維和創意，定能為家居注入滿滿的個性和品味。//