Azure’s editors have been globetrotting to design fairs all year long, from Chicago to Milan, taking in the latest in materials, shapes, patterns and colourways. From pastel palettes and folksy details to meticulously tailored finishes, editors Catherine Osborne and Elizabeth Pagliacolo highlight five emerging directions for 2014.
Along with our hot trends, we feature what is surely the hottest architectural project right now: Zaha Hadid‘s sensual Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center in Azerbaijan. Gracing our cover, the project signals Hadid’s ever-evolving style, with exterior that becomes interior and a form that seems to organically rise from its surroundings – the oil-rich and architecturally ambitious capital of Baku.
Seoul is another undeniably hot city. Contributor Andrew Braithwaite explores how the home to such technology giants as Samsung and LG is nurturing a new wave of talented architects, designers and artists, who are creating such surprising projects as the stunningly beautiful Cheongshim Water Culture Center sewage treatment plant (Unsangdong Architects) and the Ho-Hum Restaurant (M4).
We also explore new ways that designers – including London’s Brose Fogale and San Salvador’s Carrot Concept collective – are getting their work made, including crowd-funding, inventing their own machinery and building their own networks. To complement this feature, over the next month we’ll be rolling out a five-part series of online interviews with designers exploring their unconventional manufacturing and funding methods.
Other highlights from the issue: Generator Barcelona, a stylish hybrid of hotel and hostel by Toronto’s Design Agency; a Q&A with Studio Dror‘s Dror Benshetrit; Hansgrohe‘s wild shower pipe collaborations with Nendo and Front; a selection of tables and chairs that bring high style to fine dining; and innovative eco-panels and interactive display systems to clad a building.
Azure’s October issue is now available on eMags and on newsstands September 16 in Canada and September 30 in the U.S.