Fabricwood, an installation for premium designer furniture store Xtra in Singapore on behalf of Herman Miller, has been named as the World Interior of the Year for 2017 at INSIDE Festival, sister event of World Architecture Festival (WAF). The project, conceived by Produce.Workshop, has beaten over 200 entries and 78 finalists across nine categories to be named the World Interior of the Year.

Fabricwood is a 20m by 7m sail made of lightweight plywood, which stretches across the space like a terse fabric. Propped up by a series of arches that frame the entrances and connect the store to the street and the adjacent café, the structure guides the customer from the 3m entrance to an 8m glass curtain at the end.

A traditional tailoring technique called 'darting' was used to shape the plywood. A continuous iteration and loop between computation and physical modelling served to calibrate the darts and their respective angles on a flat piece of plywood which helped to determine its eventual curvature when closed. Circular cut-outs were used at the converging point of the darts to allow the plywood to bend and avoid tears. When assembled, the structure formed a naturally undulating surface much like ruched fabric.  

The inspiration for the design came from a clear understanding of the brand; Herman Miller’s core products and the philosophy, culture and aspirations of the company. Learning from the design processes of the work chairs, which combine formal, structural and material innovation based on ergonomic research to create a surface that moulds comfortably to the human body, Produce. 

Workshop sought to develop a 'skin' for the Herman Miller store that was 'moulded' to its host – Xtra. The structure was made to resemble a bazaar, where simple tent canopies are pulled across the street to create a makeshift marketplace with an approachable and casual atmosphere.

The INSIDE World Interior of the Year award was judged by INSIDE festival’s 2017 super-jurors – Marie Hesseldahl (Partner, 3XN), Eisuke Tachikawa, Principal, Nosigner and Murat Tabanlıoğlu, Principal, Tabanlıoğlu Architects. 

They said the design was "a fresh approach to a project. It was about the process rather than the end product that led to a unique and new solution. "The jury applauded the fact that the engineering of the structure led to the architecture, and that the "process created an invention".

The judges also highly commended The Garage - the renovation and interior design of an Automobile Service Center in Beijing by Neri&Hu Design and Research Office. A workshop space with a café and offices, the project celebrates the energy and spirit of the industrial era, and attempts to recapture the excitement that was once associated with cars.

The award was presented tonight at the finale of INSIDE World Festival of Interiors, a gala dinner held at the historic Postbahnhof, the former postal station.  INSIDE World Festival of Interiors is co-located with the World Festival of Architecture and together they form the largest celebration of contemporary architecture and design in the world. 

The festival is in Berlin for the second year running, and organisers have announced that in 2018, INSIDE will move to Amsterdam for its seventh edition.

INSIDE – World Festival of Interiors was held in Berlin from 15-17 November alongside World Architecture Festival, INSIDE is where the global design community meets to be inspired by the latest and greatest in global interior design and architecture.

All images courtesy of INSIDE

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