Pricefx’s Prague Offices by CollColl Draws Inspo from Pixels

For the Prague office of Pricefx, the standard workplace cubicle just wouldn’t do. The MO of the global software company, its products helping businesses price goods and services, is predicated on flux: The number and type of clients, which range from newly hatched start-ups to long-established corporations, shifts by the day and even the hour, requiring different spatial configurations intended to stimulate creative dialogue. It wanted smart, performative flex space that acts as a physical corollary to the dynamic digital environment in which its clients work and think on-screen.

In 2016, Pricefx hired CollColl—the interdisciplinary firm, its name a portmanteau of “collaborative collective,” founded by partner Krištof Hanzlík—to design an easily adaptable workplace on a half-floor of an open-plan office building. Hanzlík and his team mixed hot desks, coworking spaces, lounges, and open areas with phone-booth enclosures, offices, and small and large meeting rooms. Two years later, the architects expanded the footprint to occupy the full 9,000-square-foot floor. Then in 2020, at the height of the pandemic, when the very concept of office space was in free fall, in a leap of optimism the company re-engaged CollColl to expand to the floor below. But with COVID putting the fundamental viability of such facilities into question, the mandate for flexibility was greater than ever.

CollColl Designs Pricefx’s Prague Offices for Flexibility

CollColl is a small, avant-garde group with a portfolio of both experimental and commercial projects. The success of the two previous efforts in shaping a flexible office landscape suggested the firm’s approach to the new lower level. “We wanted to create a fluid space in which there would be some separation but without distinct rooms,” says Hanzlík, who lead the team along with partner Šimon Kos. “Pricefx throws events for 30, 40, 50 attendees, and there’s a constant flow of people.”

A stainless-steel tubular slide linking the two floors spills into the new main entry, setting a tone that signals the importance of play in a workplace intended to stimulate creative ideas. The playfulness is reinforced by the reception desk, which not only doubles as a coffee bar but, thanks to a grid of LEDs behind its translucent solid-surfacing face, also functions as an interactive billboard on which pixelated images, including the company logo, appear. Nearby, a “gym” area equipped with a billiard table and a punching bag offers actual fun and games, further encouragement for informality and interplay.

The Office Includes an Expansive, Multi-Purpose Conference Room  

Perhaps the most challenging request on the client’s wish list was for a conference table that could seat 50 people during workshops—about twice the number possible previously. Rather than designing a single-purpose room, however, CollColl used seven pairs of glass double doors to partition off one end of the roughly rectangular floor, creating a building-spanning flex space with windows at both ends. This large light-filled area easily accommodates a row of six separate desks—each seating six—that extension leaves quickly turn into a continuous 50-person table: Close the doors and, voilà, an instant conference room. Folding wall panels allow the long space to be divided in half for smaller meetings.

CollColl Takes Inspiration from Video Games

The architects repeat the blocky landscape trope on the other side of the floor, next to the 50-person conference room, where the floor-to-ceiling geometric pile offers a welcome perch during meeting breaks or to people just wandering around with their laptops. And that points to yet another of the unique structures’ multiple functions, as reassuringly fixed landmarks in the floating world that constitutes Pricefx’s mutable workspace.

Walk Through the Pricefx Offices in Prague 

collcoll: adam kössler; libor mládek; mark kelly

sysloop: lighting consultant

av24: audiovisual consultant

olbert tomáš: woodwork

bauhanz: general engineer

capexus: general contractor

alfeko: custom slide (entrance)

molteni&c: armchairs (café)

Dupont: bar solid-surfacing

studio vono: chairs, barstools

Bosch: oven

XAL: pendant fixtures (meeting room)

lintex: whiteboard

vitra: tables, chairs (meeting room, conference room, av studio)

3deco: wall finishes (meeting room, conference room)

verti: glass partitions (meeting room, conference room)

av24: av equipment (av studio)

barrisol: concealed lighting (grotto)

common seating: ottomans (conference room)

freifrau manufaktur: swing seat

Interface: hard flooring, carpet tile

farrow & ball: paint

Molteni&C Makes a Splash With Debut Outdoor Furniture Collection

The Italian brand dives into outdoor furniture for the first time and it’s all about liminal space. “I was inspired by modernism to recall the permeability and transparency between indoors and out, and that intimate con­nection with light and nature,” Molteni&C creative director Vincent Van Duysen says of the collection, which en­com­passes vintage reissues alongside newer releases. From the early 1950’s are two pieces by Gio Ponti: a rigid poly­ure­thane rendition of his wraparound D.154.2 armchair that can be customized in myriad weatherproof polyester upholsteries, and his D.150.5 chaise longue, now produced in solid teak, its precise angles accurate to Ponti’s original drawings. Among the more recent is Arc Outdoor, a cement-finished version of the parabolic 2009 table by Foster + Partners, and the Palinfrasca armchair in supersized woven bands of teak or EVA polyurethane, an all-weather rein­vention of a 1994 Luca Meda design.

SheltonMindel Designs a Miami Home Fit for Beach Days

Every story has a backstory. The Florida condominium Interior Design Hall of Fame member Lee F. Mindel shares with his work/life partner, José Marty, is a tale of lucky strikes emerging from downbeat situations. The plot unspools as the SheltonMindel founder and architectural designer were awaiting takeoff from New York to Miami for a project meeting, when their client canceled last-minute. They flew south anyway, then were forced to quarantine there as COVID hit. The city was effectively dead, Mindel recalls. “It was doom and gloom.”

Given the Mindel’s art-world ties—he is a chairman of the Design Basel and Design Miami vetting committees and owns Galerie56 in TriBeCa—it’s no surprise the place hosts enviable pieces. Though precious price-wise, they portray a breezy insouciance. A neon “MIA” at entry might be taken for the city’s nickname but is really part of a 1940’s sign sourced in Helsinki. Furthering the upbeat vibe there is Kate Shepherd’s Endless Summer, in Miami Vice hot-pink tones. Hanging on the floor-to-ceiling oak divider separating living and guest areas, Gisela Colon’s dimensional acrylic sculpture resembles “something you might see under the sea,” Mindel says. A diminutive Josef Albers work rests oh-so-casually on the oak kitchen’s counter. Big and bold in the adjoining dining zone are Domingos Tótora’s pressed-paper circular construction and a piece by Seymour Fogel, and the beachy guest chamber displays Rupert Deese’s oil-on-plywood disc recalling raked sand. Even the main bathroom gets the art treatment: Nightshop’s round P.O.V. in resin, acrylic, and ink.

A Miami Abode Designed to Spotlight Art and Color

cassina: sofa (living area), sofas, table (balcony)

through galerie kreo studio: cocktail table (living area)

through friedman benda: chair

Chilewich: floor mat

bitossi: vase

kartell: stool (living area), side tables (main bedroom)

the future perfect: floor lamp (living area), stool (bathroom)

artek: stools (balcony)

molteni&c: cabinetry (kitchen)

marc krusin: table (dining area)

cappellini: stools

venini: glass artwork

galerie jacques lacoste: panels (main bedroom)

miniera: floor lamp (main bedroom)

pierre marie giraud: table lamps (bedrooms, foyer)

Tom Dixon: stools (bedroom)

Molteni&C Expands its Headquarters With a New Pavilion Designed by Vincent Van Duysen

What does the future of the workplace look like? For Molteni&C, the answer is constantly evolving. The brand’s headquarters in Giussano, Italy, just north of Milan, features a new hospitality pavilion by creative director Vincent Van Duysen—his first architectural addition to the grounds. The Molteni Pavilion, which sits within the Molteni Compound, expands the brand’s space by more than 15,000 square feet, reflecting its growth and global reach.

“We are proud to host within our compound a piece of architecture designed by our creative director, a new contemporary which is integrated into the historic site and signals the company’s new path towards the future,” shares Carlo Molteni, chairman of the Molteni Group, in a statement.

The Pavilion, which includes a new reception and dining area, builds on earlier site reconfigurations from the mid-1980s and ’90s, including the brand’s showroom, designed in-house by Luca Meda. Original midcentury details remain visible throughout the Compound, such as the façade cladding and window frames. 

“The expansion of the Compound represents the Molteni Group’s determination to provide an all-round holistic experience for visitors. The new annex areas bring a breath of innovation and modernity to the headquarters,” shares Van Duysen in a statement. The project “stems from the idea of creating a continuous dialogue between domestic and open spaces. This is why, in addition to the new Pavilion and the transformation of the existing ground floor, I wanted to place great value on the exterior,” he adds.

Visitors en route to the Pavilion encounter paths punctuated by dark columns engulfed in greenery—a collaboration with landscape architect, Marco Bay—while the structure’s concrete roof and ground-level platform anchor the space within its surroundings. With custom furnishings throughout, the new Molteni Pavilion emanates an elegant yet understated sophistication, showcasing the brand’s roots in Italy with an eye toward the future.

Ballet Dancer Misty Copeland, DIFFA, and LG Signature Host Holiday Gathering in Manhattan

American Ballet Theatre principal ballet dancer Misty Copeland celebrated the season at a recent holiday party she co-hosted with Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS and LG Signature in Manhattan. The event, held at the Molteni&C showroom, brought the A&D community together for a festive night, complete with a champagne toast, during which the LG Signature team unveiled the OLED R rollable TV.

Kicking off the evening, Dawn Roberson, DIFFA executive director, highlighted the work being done near and far by the organization to improve healthcare and awareness for those impacted by HIV/AIDS. “We’ve granted more than $50 million dollars to service organizations around the country,” she said, recounting DIFFA’s accomplishments since its founding in 1984. Adding to that number, LG Signature presented Roberson with a sizable check (quite literally), ensuring DIFFA continues to reach those in need.

Roberson then handed the mic to Copeland, a brand ambassador for LG Signature. Copeland likened the creation of artfully-designed products to the preparation she puts into a performance on stage. “A lot of hard work goes into creating a beautiful product,” she said, noting that, as in her own profession, the most trying moments of innovation and discovery—the blood, sweat, and tears—take place “behind the curtain.” As for DIFFA, Copeland firmly stands behind the group’s mission. “As an artist and an athlete, everyday I’m challenged to overcome a myriad of obstacles,” she said, noting her position as the first Black principal ballet dancer at American Ballet Theatre. “It’s inspiring to me to contribute to a brand that’s giving back in a meaningful way.”

The Room Studio Invites the Outdoors In for a Spacious Family Home in Spain

When tasked with creating a home that offers sensory experiences, inside and out, for a family of four in Spain, local firm The Room Studio rose to the occasion. Building the house from the ground up, the design team, led by Meritxell Ribé & Josep Puigdomènech, examined the existing plot of land first to envision ideal indoor-outdoor features. “The starting point was the idea of creating an architectural project without stridency, characterized by the elegance of its forms and the serenity of its materials,” they state. The two-story home features a chromatic palette complimented by oak wood flooring and oiled walnut wood cladding throughout. Subtle hues of blues and terra-cotta, as well as smoked glass add visual interest. The kitchen serves as an unexpected focal point given its bold black-and-white features and expansive glass doors, which open to an outdoor dining area with views of the pool.

“It is a very complete project, as there is a cinema room, gym, swimming pool and large suite rooms,” the designers add, noting that selecting natural materials remained a vital component for each space. “We have worked from the total cladding of the façade to the natural stone paving of the exterior, which also had to connect with the interiors.” Such careful selections paid off. The finished home achieves a dialogue between indoor and outdoor spaces, inviting a sense of play with pops of color and graphic wallcoverings, like those in the childrens’ rooms, just as the family asked for.  

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Draws on Architectural Harmony for the Permanent Mission of the United Arab Emirates to the United Nations

Established only 50 years ago, the United Arab Emirates has, within the last two decades, emerged as a rock of geopolitical stability and a cultural magnet in the Middle East. Almost as an instrument of state policy, architecture has played a role in the UAE’s development and national image. Icons such as Jean Nouvel’s Louvre Abu Dhabi, Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill’s Burj Khalifa in Dubai—at 162 stories, the tallest building in the world—symbolize the dynamism of the country.

Along with its growing presence on the international cultural map, the UAE, which is about to serve again on the United Nation’s Security Council, has also emerged as a rising diplomatic force in New York. In 2014, having outgrown two floors in an office building near the UN, and needing greater presence in the city’s diplomatic milieu, the Permanent Mission of the United Arab Emirates to the UN held an invited competition to design a flagship home. The New York office of SOM won the competition for an infill building on a through-block site between Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza and East 46th Street.

Besides the need for privacy and security, and a program of executive suites, offices, and lecture and reception rooms, the brief called for an aspirational design requiring architectural diplomacy: elegance without ostentation and an ethos of dignity, calm, grace, and gravity. Later, the client asked that the concept also evoke New York’s art deco landmarks as well as the Middle East’s ubiquitous palm tree, a symbol of peace and desert culture.

Diplomats now enter the mission underneath a bronze canopy cantilevered from a facade composed of long, thin, Indiana limestone mullions that climb to the top of the 10-story, 75,000-square-foot building. Recalling the tapered spines of palm leaves, the gently undulating CNC-milled mullions rise from a stone frieze at the base, itself milled with a row of stylized fronds. Using rock from quarries that supplied Rockefeller Center and the Empire State Building, the understated facade introduces visitors into the decorum of a building centered around the simple pleasures of the square, the cube, and symmetry.

Just beyond the reception and security desks in the entry vestibule—its floor and walls surfaced in geometrically patterned Portuguese limestone—visitors step into a surprise: a two-story burst of space with a cliff of stairs that zigzag upward like a switchback version of ancient Greek propylaea. Recalling the courtyard of a traditional Emirati building, this welcoming central hall with a recessed 40-foot ceiling finished in hand-gilded metal leaf, transposes traditional Arab attitudes of hospitality to Midtown East. The simple, axially organized prism has a pharaonic architectural authority, confirmed by floors and walls uniformly clad in dark, sedimented, meticulously slip-matched St. Pierre limestone. The geometry is pure, but the room feels solid, encased, and immersive. The SOM team, led by design partner Chris Cooper, materializes abstraction: There is a there here.

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A tall box of dark stone nested within a larger, taller box of white Italian marble, the entry hall is the heart of the building, a core that initiates the interior’s sense of ceremonial progression. Functionally, it leads to event spaces on the second floor, but thematically it establishes a precedent for the reductive palette of rich, beautifully crafted stone and wood, mainly walnut, on the floors above, and for the symmetries and geometric simplicity throughout. On higher floors, secure elevator landings open onto reception courts—either carpeted or floored in wood-inlaid stone—surrounded by offices, meeting rooms, and work areas. “The planning is very consistent from bottom to top,” Cooper explains. “The stone heightens the sense of formality, and the formality lends itself to a sense of procession through the building.”

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Using no decoration or architectonic articulation of details, Cooper and his colleagues keep planes clean, edges crisp, and volumes pure. Finishes are matte rather than polished. The simplicity foregrounds the natural patterns in the veins of the marbles and grains of the wood, but it also sets the stage for design at the next scale, furnishings that bring the human hand into the project.

Cooper worked with a range of collaborators to integrate the decorative arts into a total, environmentally immersive scheme. Lebanese designer Nada Debs created contemporary sofas, armchairs, and tables for the entry hall and offices on the upper executive floors, the furniture’s edges subtly inflected with inlaid mother-of-pearl patterns. Rugs handwoven with natural fibers and dyes by Afghan craftswomen feature traditional complex motifs in nuanced colors; each one is unique, made to complement its dedicated space. The furnishings bring traditional cultural references into the interiors, rooting the building in the Middle East without lapsing into craft nostalgia. The rugs provide terrain for islands of furniture placed in traditional majlis seating arrangements, which emphasize the equality of the interlocutors.

The overall result is harmony in a low-key visual register: The tone never lapses. Each element, whether a wall of limestone or a marble table, plays a scripted part in a visual ensemble. With the precision of a Swiss watch, the parts fit seamlessly, creating apparent simplicity out of complexity. SOM has designed an architectural model of diplomatic agreement.

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skidmore, owings & merrill: tj gottesdiener; emily mottolese; charles harris; shubhra singhal; nathaniel broughton; oana bunea-velea; xian chi; norbert schlotter; ece calguner erzan; sepideh khazaei; jackie moran; angela caviezel; lauren kosson; fiona mccarthy; sarah hatch; cynthia mirbach

pentagram: graphics consultant

sbld studio: lighting consultant

desimone consulting engineers: structural engineer

cosentini associates: mep

philip habib & associates: civil engineer

four daughters architectural millwork: woodwork

lasa marmo: stonework

plaza construction: general contractor.

polycor: stair, walls, floor (entry hall)

nada debs: custom sofas, custom lounge chairs, custom tables (entry hall, executive office)

fbmi: custom rug (entry hall, offices)

solancis: wall tile, floor tile (vestibule)

viabizzuno: pendant fixtures (multipurpose room)

carl hansen & søn: chairs (multipurpose room), sofas, lounge chairs (ambassador’s office)

michael anastassiades: floor lamp (executive office), pendant fixture (meeting room)

studio e: ceiling finish (pre-function)

BassamFellows: sofa, tables (delegates’ lounge)

molteni&c: arm­chairs

marc phillips: custom rug

flos: lamps (delegates’ lounge, reception area, ambassador’s office)

campo­longhi: feature walls (delegates’ lounge, meeting room, ambassador’s office)

cassina: sofas, table (reception area)

halcon: custom table (meeting room), custom desk (ambassador’s office)

knoll: side chairs (meeting room, ambassador’s office)

pollock: curtain fabric (meeting room, ambassador’s office)

B&B Italia: tables (ambas­sador’s office)

aswa acoustic: plaster ceilings

lv wood: oak flooring

gamma: curtain wall

indiana limestone company: facade stone

empire furniture: furniture supplier