The powerhouse founders of design firm Yabu Pushelberg on reimagining luxury – and their practice
The powerhouse founders of design firm Yabu Pushelberg on reimagining luxury – and their practice |細看著名室內設計工作室Yabu Pushelberg的創辦人怎樣重塑奢華
George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg met in design school at Ryerson University in their hometown of Toronto back in the mid-1970s. Little did they realise then that more than four decades on, they’d be partners in life and work – and that they’d have created one of the world’s most illustrious architectural and design firms, Yabu Pushelberg. Founded in 1980, the company is now present in 19 countries, with countless iconic projects under its belt, including the Four Seasons Kuwait, the Park Hyatt New York, the London Edition, Hong Kong’s Lane Crawford in IFC Mall and New York’s Bergdorf Goodman. Celebrated for their rich, personalised narrative quality and a sleek, sculptural elegance, the duo have in recent years transposed their sensibility into realms spanning furniture, lighting, apparel and styling, ushering the firm into a full-fledged creative agency that redefines modern luxury through a “complete, holistic” lens. On a recent visit to Hong Kong, George and Glenn sat down with us to chat about the firm’s metamorphosis and its latest landmark works, which include the newly minted Rosewood Guangzhou, the tallest five-star hotel in the world, as well as the second Raffles hotel in Singapore. 識於微時的George Yabu和Glenn Pushelberg於70年代中期在家鄉多倫多的懷雅遜大學設計學院相遇，當時想也沒想過40年後，大家竟成為彼此的人生和工作夥伴，還共同創辦了環球知名的建築和設計公司Yabu Pushelberg。工作室於1980年成立，至今已在19個國家及地區開展業務，旗下擁有無數極具代表性的項目，包括科威特布爾阿沙啞四季酒店、紐約柏悅酒店、倫敦艾迪森酒、香港IFC購物中心內的連卡佛和紐約的波道夫古德曼百貨。二人以既豐富又具個性的設計風格和優雅創作著稱，近年業務更涵蓋傢具、燈飾、服裝和室內造型領域，逐步發展成具體全面的創意公司，重新定義現代奢侈概念。George與Glenn最近訪港期間，跟我們分享了工作室的最新動態，其中包括剛開幕的廣州瑰麗酒店以及新加坡第二間萊佛士酒店。
It’s been incredible; it’s kind of a renewal. We’re known as an interiors firm, but we’ve actually reorganised the company in the last few years into a more holistic design studio – with product designers, architects, consultants, fabric and graphic designers and more, touching on all things related to design. We’ve also taken on the conceptualising of accessories like tabletops and even uniform design. It’s more of a completeness of the YP brand. It’s interesting and fun.一路上太不可思議了，好比一場革新。我們以室內設計公司起家，但過去幾年間已將公司重組成更全面的設計工作室，結集產品設計師、建築師、顧問、布藝和平面設計師等。我們還推出桌子飾面等附件和制服設計，這正是YP工作室的獨有之處：趣味無窮！ It starts with a story. For each project, we usually start with the metaphor of a couple. You have to go back and mine the context of where you are. That gives us our inspiration and unique point of view; there are always stories to tell. In the case of the second Raffles on Singapore's Santosa Island, we imagined the founder’s greatgranddaughter married to an American theatre producer – the clothes they wear and the cars they drive, and that he likes to collect watches. We weaved that together and created this narrative. It keeps the design team on script and the client focused on the story. 一切始於一個故事。我們常以一對夫婦的隱喻來形容每個項目。作為設計師，我們總有大大小小的故事可以分享。以新加坡第二間萊佛士酒店為例，我們想像出一個引人入勝的背景：酒店創始人的曾孫女嫁了一位美國劇院製片人。他們所穿的衣服、駕駛的汽車，以至到他喜歡收藏腕錶的興趣也成了酒店的細節。編織起來再透過具體的構築來加以敘述。It was so interesting doing the Park Hyatt Shenzhen and the Rosewood Guangzhou. One is dressier and the other is more like contemporary daywear; we love them both. Park Hyatt Shenzhen has a unique rigour to it. It’s more earthy in its materiality and spatial forms.深圳柏悅酒店和廣州紫檀酒店也是非常有趣的項目：一個衣著講究，一個穿戴當代悠閒，我們兩者也愛。深圳柏悅酒店擁有獨特的嚴謹性，當中的空間規劃相對上更樸實。With many architectural projects taking a decade or longer to complete, we felt a creative need to see more immediate results – that’s actually how we got into furniture design. We’re designing for the likes of Molteni, Tribù, B&B Italia and Salvatori. It’s a completely different discipline. Unlike custom pieces, it has to be more rigorously engineered, refined and well thought out if it’s going to go into production for worldwide sale. 許多建築項目需用上十年或更漫長時間才告完成，我們往往恨不得能立時看到成果，這種想法便獲帶進傢具設計領域。我們正為Molteni、Tribù、B&B Italia和Salvatori等品牌創作。這是一門截然不同的專業。跟訂製品不同的地方是，若要投入供應全球銷售的生產，必須做到更嚴格精煉的設計，每個細節也經深思熟慮。When it comes to a great hotel, you may think that “a home away from home” is what you want. But do we really want that? I want an experience of getting away from home! You want new experiences and a special feeling in the context of where you are, whether you’re in Paris or Singapore. Luxury is kind of an abused term; it’s all about the quality of experience and the quality of materiality. 談到出色酒店時，你可能會認為「賓至如歸」已是最理想條件。但這足以滿足所有期望嗎？我們追求的是一種離家遠走的體驗！無論你身在巴黎或是新加坡，都理應能在身處的環境中獲得嶄新和難以忘懷的感受。如今，「奢侈品」一詞已被濫用；我們重視的是質素。//