HOK looks at innovative use of materials

TORONTO—When HOK Design considers use of fabrics and other interior design materials, they look beyond the simple fashions people are using, into macro social and economic trends.

“We get away from the hype of fashion,” says HOK Toronto vice president Randa Tukan.  “A trend is a revolutionary approach to design while hype is what happens briefly in fashion.”

The first trend is obviously economic. “A lot of people are standing back and realizing that we are not in an age of abundance, and are looking at ways to stretch that dollar,” says Tukan.  “The result is a timeless look—back to the classics, to a base that is simple and that you can build on.”

River Rock carpet

The second trend is social, an interest in change. “Baby boomers have been everywhere and the younger generation has been there, done that.”  The interest in change has resulted in materials you can see differently when you look at them from different angles.  This applies to finishes on floors, ceilings and walls that have movement or a sense of change.

Tukan cites Dexterity concrete tiles or “Dextiles” as having texture and play to them.  They are not just flat, but when placed beside each other, they have a little bit of extra volume or different angles.

Dexterity

The third trend is technological, including customization, environmental consciousness and recycled materials.

New technology makes it easy to laser-cut stone or drapery fabric, giving people the ability to customize at the price of standard materials. “Not too long ago, you were adding a huge markup for customization,” Tukan says.

Tukan gives the example of Maharam Fabric draperies that are laser cut.

Maharam Fabric

Maharam Fabric

Tukan adds that the world has become technologically connected but humanly disconnected.  “There is a yearning for human connection and meaning—there’s an almost faceless, nameless distance because of technology.”

“People want to feel the local.  If they’re in Vancouver, the Okanagan or Malaysia, they want to feel the connection with [those places]. That means there is a lot more interest in traditional fabrics—fabrics with a traditional or ethnic feel to them.”

For example, Designtex has taken patterns from basket weaving, creating fabrics by re-adapting or being inspired by [traditional] patterns and designs, making them into a new product that connects to the community’s cultures, as well as providing a new look and an element of novelty.

“Because the world is going so fast, there’s a slow movement in food, a certain rediscovery of craft.  People want to feel that someone has spent a lot of time [creating a material]—it’s not mass produced.

“Technology enables us to do that at an economical price.  And use of local materials helps with sustainability.”

Today’s materials have a certain rawness, says Tukan.  “Use it as is.  Don’t overpolish or make it what it isn’t.  We’re getting back to roots, to basics.  Things don’t need to be perfect any more.  There’s a bit of a de-bling trend, de-glitzing, understated richness.”

Even with metals, we are going back to unpolished patinas—things show a little bit of antiquing, a little more history, a little bit of a warmer, textural feel.

“This translates what we see in design as a connective warmth, understated change, affordable customization.”

Stone is going in two directions, Tukan says.  The first is enjoyment of the raw stone, and the other is back to book-matching, spending time lining the stone up, as in herringbone stone.

Tukan has also seen a change in what is happening in terms of refraction and reflection of light. Designers are paying enough attention to where light is coming from, to make sure there is a pattern happening on a surface, using a screen or a skylight at different times of the day.

Kaust

A prime example is the laser-cut drapery.  Patterns of light shine through the drapery, playing on the floors and other surfaces because it moves and dazzles with the light.

In summary, says Tukan, less is more. Today’s design fulfills bigger expectations with less effort and materials than in the past.