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Friday, 10 August 2007 | Levent OZLER
Front Studio Finds a Fresh Start in Hard Hats, Wigs and Skyscrapers
When Front Studio underwent a recent partnership change, the New York City-based architectural and design firm decided they needed something to signify a fresh start, so they opted for a new design element for their offices.
The Asian women-owned firm, headed by Yen Ha and Michi Yanagishita, approached Karen Hsu, partner at Omnivore, another two-women owned design firm. The women of Front Studio asked Hsu to create witty wallpaper graphically representing the presence of ladies in a field traditionally dominated by men.
Ha describes the wallpaper now covering her SoHo office walls: "Hsu played with scale and density to create a double reading in the pattern. From afar it resembles traditional floral wallpaper, but up close there are hard hats, wigs, skyscrapers, flowers with pencils for stamens, etc. Hsu did not lose sight of our femininity. It's also a standard blueprint size, intended for print on actual blueprint paper -- a subtle gesture for us architects." The quirky details Hsu weaves into the aesthetically pleasing piece showcases the genuine understanding she has for her clients.
Ha adds, "After years of stark modernism, designers and consumers alike are looking for ways to incorporate color, pattern, or a little decorative whimsy." She says that wallpaper is now confidently back on the design agenda. "The wallpapers of today are being used to bring warmth to modernism without sacrificing the clean lines of contemporary design, and a bevy of new young designers are creating rich, humorous and often witty patterns," she says.
The multi-lingual team of Front Studio possesses a highly diversified client roster such as The French Embassy Diplomatic Residences in New York, Outdoor Gallery of the City of Gdansk and AXA Art Insurance Corporation Office.
An innovative, multi-lingual full service architectural and design firm, Front Studio is headed by Yen Ha and Michi Yanagishita, New York City's most dynamic Asian women-owned architectural partnership. Fluent in French, Vietnamese and Japanese, Ha and Yanagishita pursue a thoughtful yet creative approach to design in their collaboration with domestic as well as international clientele. Founded in 2001, Front Studio's highly diversified client roster includes The Badge Building Condominium in Long Island City, French Embassy Diplomatic Residences in New York, Fischer-Harling House, AXA Art Insurance Corporation Office, Village Kids Nursery, and the Outdoor Gallery of the City of Gdansk.
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