Decorating & Design
March 16, 2017
Why You Need To Watch Abstract On Netflix
A must-see for any creative, Netflix’s Abstract: The Art of Design is a documentary series that was unveiled in February at The Sundance Film Festival and is currently all the rage in the design world. The eight-part series gives insights into the creative process of leading makers in the spheres of architecture, interior design, photography and fashion. Here’s a glimpse at what you can expect from the show.
In the episode focused on Brit interior designer Ilse Crawford, we see her cover a window with yellow Post-It notes to denote the pros and cons of a particular chair. “Some people think interior design is about a look. We spend 87% of our lives inside buildings, how they are designed affects how we feel, how we behave,” she explains.
Here, Crawford assembles a mood board of materials for Cathay Pacific airport lounges and explains: “Materials tell the truth. Humans are naturally drawn to materials, we experience the world through our senses.” Luxurious jade onyx for the walls is contrasted by neutral limestone floors, and rough, wooden tables feels more rustic when juxtaposed by furnishings in soft, mohair velvet upholstery fabric. “When people walk in, they don’t know why they feel the way they feel,” she says. “But it’s actually all been orchestrated.”
Crawford crafted an eclectic, sensual enviroment for the city’s burgeoning art crowd at Duddell’s Arts Club in Hong Kong. Mid-century modern furniture upholstered in velvet and traditional rugs soften the travertine bar surround and polished cement floors.
For sneakerheads, Nike designer Tinker Hatfield needs no introduction. It was Tinker who conceived of the groundbreaking Air Jordan series (Jordan himself makes a cameo on this episode).
Hatfield cites Paris’s multi-colored Centre Pompidou museum as the unlikely inspiration behind the exposed technology of the Air Max sneaker.
Danish architect Bjarke Ingels is renown for uniting fantasy and sustainability, creating unconventional designs that resemble mountains or snowflakes.
In the episode on Ingels’s zigzagging VM Houses in Copenhagen, he describes this project a game of “urban Tetris.” The housing project’s daring design (viewed as a V and M from Google Earth) remains a showstopper on the streetscape and provides maximum views of the surrounding landscape for residents. “It created a lot of noise,” notes Ingels.
Here is photographer Platon in front of one of his many portraits of world leaders and cultural figures. The episode on him depicts a photo session with four-star General Colin Powell, and explores his creative process for capturing his subjects’ soul through the lens.
Images courtesy Netflix