Art | Design

— Featured in Boulevard Magazine —

Interview

The interview: The owner of the English House, on the painstaking restoration of a heritage landmark

Hamish McDougall

As the landmark heritage estate – and Singapore’s two longest shophouses – ‘The English House’ hits the market, owner Mr Yeo talks us through the exhaustive four-year restoration, the property’s rare and eclectic inclusions of art, whisky and décor curated by Marco Pierre White, and owning a property with soul.

Interview

The interview: Yohei Akao, founder of interior design firm Strickland, on his transformation of the Grand Hyatt Singapore

Hamish McDougall
Photography by Jin Cheng Wong

Strickland founder and designer director Yohei Akao talks us through his meticulous transformation of the Grand Hyatt Singapore, bringing together nature, city and brand heritage in the iconic Orchard hotel.

Poetic and philosophical – artist Janet Laurence’s latest exhibition at Cassandra Bird Gallery

Elizabeth Reidy
Photography by Jin Cheng Wong

Set within the backstreets of Sydney’s colourful and ever-cosmopolitan Potts Point, Cassandra Bird gallery opened its doors in October 2023 under the direction of art dealer and curator, Cassandra Bird, and her partner, artist, set-designer and exhibition maker, Fabian Jentsch.

Atelier tour: The wondrous house of luxury furniture maison Christopher Guy

Hamish McDougall
Photography by Jin Cheng Wong

The historic port-city of Semarang in Central Java, Indonesia, is not without its charms, but neither is it the obvious setting for an unabashedly opulent furniture house. It’s a distance, certainly, from the design capitals and storied ateliers of similarly positioned brands, but it’s close to Java’s mahogany plantations and, as such, the region has a heritage of craftsmanship and no shortage of artisans.

Interview

B&B Italia’s Piero Lissoni reflects on Space Furniture’s 30th anniversary, inspiration, risk, and the future of design

The stately conservation villa comprising one half of the Space Furniture showroom in Singapore offers a dramatic counterpoint to the contemporary glass structure by Woha architects that composes the other. It’s a fitting backdrop – daring in its modernity, yet with a deep respect for heritage – for Boulevard’s interview with Piero Lissoni.

Design tour

Interior designer Isabelle Miaja achieves perfect harmony at Tomlinson Heights

Interior designer Isabelle Miaja pulls off a rare mix of character and poise in this stunning re-imagination of a six-bedroom residence at Tomlinson Heights.

Design tour

The art of memorable elegance: Armani Hotels in Milan and Dubai

Hamish McDougall
Photography by Jin Cheng Wong

There’s an enveloping scent of wood, light and alpine, with just an undertow of amber, that ushers you in and ultimately defines a stay at the Armani Hotels in Milan and Dubai. Devastatingly sophisticated, but at the same time, accessible. Supremely poised, and yet welcoming – a near-paradox the Armani maison somehow effortlessly extends to every touchpoint from design and service to amenities and gastronomy.

Interview

Home tour: Aesthete Amanda Love’s home shows deep curatorial consideration

Elizabeth Reidy
Photography by Leonidas Matis

Aesthete and cultural connoisseur Amanda Love possesses a passion, vision and an inner circle that elevate her long-standing independent art advisory business, LoveArt, from expertise to art-world icon. Over 20 years of sourcing exceptional contemporary art across the globe and advising the sharpest private collectors and corporations, LoveArt has developed some of the most covetable collections in the world. You can only imagine what her personal collection and private haven are like. Until now.

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— Latest Art | Design Features —

Interview

The interview: Dennis Ouyang, founder of Loy Gallery, on ‘A Trail to Chase’

Hamish McDougall

Transcending the usual gallery experience, Loy Gallery bridges the gap between multi-disciplinary art communities not just in Singapore but also all over the world. Its latest exhibition, 'A Trail to Chase', is no different, showcasing the intersect between art and design. Here, founder Dennis Ouyang talks us through the inspiration behind the gallery and its latest show, collecting art and more.

Interview

The interview: Leading Singapore architect Rene Tan of RT+Q

Hamish McDougall
Photography by Jin Cheng Wong

“The last thing I turn to for inspiration is architecture,” says Rene Tan. “I turn to music, or to football. If I hadn’t been an architect, I’d be a football historian. Football has taught me a lot of things – organising a team, organising space. There is an approach to football that emphasises what you do when you don’t have the ball – rather than what you do when you do have the ball. To mark space, to occupy and manage the space.”

Interview

The interview: famed French graffiti artist Kongo

Christian Barker
Photography by Jin Cheng Wong

Today, he’s sought-after by art collectors and luxury brands. But it wasn’t so long ago that French graffiti artist Kongo was hotly pursued by the law. “Graffiti hasn’t always been regarded as ‘street art’. Until quite recently, we were just considered to be vandals,” Kongo says. “The police would arrest me. I’d say, ‘But I’m making art, making beauty!’”

Interview

The interview: Philip Colbert, on shaking the lobster trap of reality

Hamish McDougall
Photography by Jin Cheng Wong

“There’s a myth that serious structure and rational thought are true. The prison of rules. It’s limiting and false, and the thing I love about Surrealism is that sense of pulling the rug, letting the Other come into play – that sense of shaking the cage of reality.”

The interview: Art, architecture, and AI collide in Refik Anadol’s ‘Glacier Dreams’

Hamish McDougall

New media artist Refik Anadol is not much of a new media artist. Which is not to say that his art isn’t extraordinary, awe-inspiring, sublime. It is all of these and more. Yet ‘new media’ feels awkwardly small in comparison to the scale and vision of Anadol’s works, where the medium is typically light itself, along with an architectural icon by Gaudí, Gehry, Safdie or Hadid.

Showcase

Grohe Spa Aquatecture installation: A fusion of water and architecture

Annie Asistio
Photography by Jin Cheng Wong

Known for its bespoke yet sustainable kitchen fittings and bathroom solutions, Grohe, through its sub-brand Grohe Spa, unveils the 'Aquatecture' installation at the World Architecture Festival (WAF). The showcase underscores the significance of water in design and highlights its impact on individual health and well-being.

In conversation with Robin Tan and Cecil Chee of Wallflower Architecture + Design

No discussion about Singapore's residential architecture is complete without a mention of Robin Tan and Cecil Chee. Twenty good years since its founding, Wallflower Architecture + Design continues to make waves with clever homes that marry innovation, lifestyle solutions and beauty.

Inside interior designer, art gallerist and collector Isabelle Miaja’s wonderfully unrestrained Bukit Timah house

Hamish McDougall
Photography by Jin Cheng Wong

“My style is eclectic. I’m an avid collector, and I’m always adding coups de coeur from my travels, as I encounter beautiful pieces. Designing a home is about creating and revisiting your own memories... I love setting eyes on these pieces and recollecting a person or a place. And then I can’t help but collect the artists I represent – such as Isabelle Van Zeijl.”

The interview: Bangkok-based American interior designer Bill Bensley

Christian Barker

Prolific interior designer Bill Bensley has worked his aesthetic magic on more than 200 hotels, but just a small number of private homes. Why does the Bangkok-based American, known for his environmentally sensitive approach, prefer collaborating with hoteliers rather than home-owners? Primarily, it’s because the former can be relied upon to maintain the integrity of his design.

Home tour: Evocateurs co-founder Roy Teo talks us through a colonial transformation on Coronation Road

Hamish McDougall
Photography by Ryan Loh

“I love the way the English decorate their homes. They’ll pick out some fabric swatches and come back and pin them on the sofa, and then live with them for two weeks. And they drink their tea and look out at the garden, and finally when they feel a connection they’ll choose the fabric that is dear to them, and then they move on to the next thing, and the whole process takes two years,” shares Roy Teo, co-founder of design firm Evocateurs. “Whereas Singapore is very fast paced, so we need to replicate that entire process, but we need to get it done by yesterday.”

The interview: Renowned designer André Fu on redesigning Capella Sentosa

Christian Barker

Rich in history yet utterly contemporary. A secluded idyll, minutes from the heart of Southeast Asia’s foremost financial centre. Capella Hotel on the island of Sentosa is an exercise in contrasts.

Interview

The interview: Sydney Ma of Top Spring Australia on the luxury new launch project Ode

The term 'luxury' is thrown around with remarkable ease, in ironic contradiction with the difficulty, typically, of producing a luxury product. The stunning new launch project Ode, in Sydney’s Double Bay, is a case in point.

Design tour

Cuscaden Reserve: Where art and luxury converge

Fernando Botero's horse stands guard over the entrance to Cuscaden Reserve – having relocated after its years of sentry duty at The Marq on Paterson Hill. While the newly completed condo features smaller-format residences in contrast with The Marq’s eminently lavish proportions, there is noticeably no deficit of design, detail, architecture, and indeed, art. And this is the unique appeal of Cuscaden Reserve: a luxury pied-à-terre that genuinely delivers on its positioning.

Tom Polo explores human identity and connection in ‘somewhere on the edge of you’

Elizabeth Reidy

Contemporary Australian artist Tom Polo unveils the complexities of our inner lives through gestural acts of portraiture. His paintings oscillate between the figurative and abstracted, between self and other, recording the emotional, performative and psychological aspects of human exchange and re-imagining painting as a theatre between the viewer and the artwork.

Interview

Architology’s collaboration with Tappeti rugs takes centre stage at a revamped maisonette in Seascape, Sentosa

Photography by Jin Cheng Wong

Tappeti CEO Karinna Gobbo and Architology co-founder Terrence Quah talk us through their collaboration on a glamorous line of custom rugs, and the transformation of a newly refurbished duplex in the waterfront Sentosa condo, Seascape.

Review

Izabela Pluta explores analogue photographic techniques in ‘Image after Image’ solo exhibition

Elizabeth Reidy

Polish-born Australian artist Izabela Pluta works within the expanded field of photography to enact processes of record-making and translating that re-imagine the role performed by images in a broader social context. Her next solo exhibition, 'Image after Image', opens in May at Gallery Sally Dan-Cuthbert in Paddington, Sydney.

Showcase

Décor: Visionnaire in Dubai stands out with its exquisitely delicate creations

In a design world teeming with Scandi-contemporary minimal-leaning maisons and collections of neutrals, naturals and tints, the runaway sumptuousness of Visionnaire is, if anything, gathering pace. The iconic Italian atelier is leaning in to a ‘high décor’ of eye-popping mosaic art, statement stone-slab tables, lavish shagreen-clad sofas and irresistibly textural wall coverings.

Interview

The interview: Goh Beng Kwan on mentoring and new media

As Singapore emerged from the privations of World War II and transitioned into independence, it was said that the arts were a luxury the new republic could scarcely afford. Of course, it’s never been easy to make a living as an artist. But in the all-business environment of mid-century Singapore, earning a living daubing oil on canvas was especially challenging.

Interview

Mobilia: designer comforts

Like most, if not all of life's great pleasures, the Mobilia showroom is not without its risks. Principally, the prospect of falling in love with a whole new lounge suite and having to update one’s salon every other season.

Design tour

Behind the interior design of a glamorous South Beach Residences retreat

Singapore-based interior designer Elliot James Barratt gives Boulevard the inside story on a sophisticated sanctuary in South Beach Residences, complete with whiskey library and covetable walk-in wardrobe for two serious collectors.

Interview

Mucciaccia Gallery’s local exhibitions, world-renowned artists and private client services

“Try it. Take a work of art off the wall, out of your room. You’ll feel the hole, that something is missing, an emptiness, and it’s unsettling,” say Valter Spano, director at Partners & Mucciaccia Gallery. “Art becomes a part of you. Sometimes you only really feel that when it’s not there, when there’s a hole, like when you move house and it feels empty until the art goes up.”

Interview

67 Pall Mall: The exclusive members’ club with a wine problem

Singapore’s sublime new members’ club began in London, when founder and former banker Grant Ashton found himself with a wine problem. The dilemma was an overabundance of fine wines in his collection – and a desire to share it.

Showcase

The floor is yours: Tai Ping’s lush and alluring bespoke carpets

There are doubtless innumerable ways to define life phases; before and after your first paycheck; before and after children. Our latest, and most exigent distinction: before and after bespoke carpets. After an hour spent talking with Gurcharan Singh, director of Tai Ping’s exclusive Singapore distributor Etesse, it’s hard to fathom how we’ve survived thus far without one of his sublime silk creations under our feet.

Interview

Home tour: Inside art collector Anna Layard’s enviably curated house

Selina Altomonte
Photography by Jin Cheng Wong

“I’m not into minimalism,” says Anna Layard. As an art historian, consultant and founder of Layard Interiors, it would be almost criminal if she were to pare back the artefacts, paintings and sculptures in her home.

Interview

Moon landing: Cher Ming Tan of Ming Architects walks us through Chord House

Selina Altomonte
Photography by Jin Cheng Wong

The owners gave Tan free reign, including the choice of materials, finishes and colour palette. And the layers of granite, light grey and ash warrant a closer look: starting with the natural veins in the stone and sensory finishes. “The use of tactile materials was intentional,” he says. “We explored sandblasted oak doors, serrated and chiselled marble in the kitchen, and blackened stainless steel trims in a hairline brushed finish.”

Interview

Ode to Art gallery: Rising talents, the regional art scene and new notions about owning art

Dorcas Ngheen

A sense of serenity descends on entering Ode to Art gallery – a stark difference from the action of Raffles City. The canvases and eclectic mixed media are in sharp relief against the neutral walls, and showcase a largely Asian collection by the likes of Lim Tze Peng and Hong Zhu An. “I always feel great pride in our local art scene,” says owner / founder Jazz Chong, “and take great pleasure in seeing more local artists being collected.”

Interview

Gush paint is more than just a pretty face

When we think cutting-edge (and fabulously good-looking) home-tech, it's usually hardware. Things with elegant dials, things that bathe us in the glow of their lights or answer us when we have questions or clean up after us after we've left the room.

Review

The Commercial gallery shows cutting-edge aesthetic in ‘Lightmoving’ exhibition

Elizabeth Reidy

At the forefront of contemporary art practice in Australia, The Commercial gallery has turned its back on the modernist white cube in favour of a polished, industrial-grey feel. Founder Amanda Rowell has hand-selected her gallery stable, featuring artists who exemplify the panache of modernity, the rawness and brutality of punk, the refined graces of minimalism, and the evocative provocations of post-conceptual practice. Rowell continues to invite emerging and experimental artists to exhibit alongside more established ones, giving the exhibition programme a timeless edge that straddles the best of all art forms.

Showcase

Bodega Living: Next-level designer wine walls

The days of the basement cellar may well be numbered. With the rise of next-level wine chillers and wine-wall tech, our cellars have ascended from the underground depths to the centre stage of our dry kitchens – and now our lounges. Bodega Living’s bespoke, showcase cellars take this oenophilic trend to another level that is equal parts wine wall and art piece.

Review

James Tylor explores his cultural roots in ‘Turrangka… In The Shadows’ exhibition

by Elizabeth Reidy

James Tylor's current touring exhibition, ‘Turrangka... In the Shadows’ presents a survey of the past decade of his practice exploring his Nunga (Kaurna Miyurna), Maori (Te Arawa) and European heritage. Featuring five exhibition rooms, the survey opens with a body of expanded photographic work, sculptural and culturally significant objects, and designs Tylor developed over a two-year journey along the 300km Hans Heyson trail through the Lofty Mountains and Flinders Rangers.

Showcase

B&B Italia’s iconic sofa gets a sustainable upgrade

First presented in 1970, B&B Italia's iconic 'Camaleonda' sofa by architect and designer Mario Bellini was "created to fill a void". At the time, it launched a middle ground between traditional and avant-garde furniture that offered a design-forward yet thoroughly liveable piece that uniquely continues to adapt to its owners’ changing requirements. Through its system of cables, hooks and rings, the endless modularity also serves as a design signature.

Showcase

Flexform’s ‘Supermax’ sofa is the evolution of elegance and comfort in seating design

Since its creation in 1983 by architect Antonio Citterio, the ‘Max’ sofa has become a staple of chic anterooms, boutiques and the more poised corporate lounges. The design icon marries the linear rigour of its tubular metal structure with the kidney-bean-shaped sprawl of the seat, set off by candy-cane striping for added panache.

A look at Molteni&C’s most celebrated hotel design collaborations

Annie Asistio

As an Italian heritage brand, Molteni&C's pursuit of exceptional design has led to some key collaborations with titans like Angelo Mangiarotti, Tito Agnoli and Luca Meda. The Italian furniture maker, after all, has always sought out creative partnerships that exercise its artisanal vision and legacy of craftsmanship.

China Heights and the birth of the culture of cool

Elizabeth Reidy

Established in 2004, China Heights was founded on an organic ethos of ‘sub-culture making’. As is often the case with taste-makers, what has now become one of the most innovative cross-form galleries in Australia began as a young art and design oriented group of peers riffing creatively in a warehouse.

Natural Lighting: Organic chandeliers by Serip

Gorgeous organic forms and exquisite crystal have long been the hallmarks of Serip’s unique take on statement lighting. The brand’s chandeliers’ delicate branching structures and almost liquid pendalogues afford a beautiful diffusion of light as it reflects off the metallics and ripples through the crystal.

Every piece is a process: Brewin Design Office founder Bobby Cheng talks through his approach to truly bespoke design

Hamish McDougall

“Everything is customised, to some extent, whenever a designer works on anything,” says Bobby Cheng. “But for me, when pieces become one of a kind, and created for the context and purpose of one particular project, and when we labour through it as though it were a project in itself – at that point, I would dare say there is a bespoke nature or process.”

4plus8 is creating masterpieces for Singapore’s Good Class Bungalows

Singapore’s Good Class Bungalows are iconic not just for their impressive size and exclusive locations within prime residential pockets around the island. Breathtaking architecture and interiors bring these homes to the peak of the luxury property market in Singapore.

Bulthaup’s ‘There Is No Kitchen’ concept arrives in Asia

Photography by Jin Cheng Wong

A pillar of modern kitchen design, Bulthaup's modules, particularly the b1, b2 and b3 concepts, have been heralded around the world for their variety of configurations and angular simplicity. The brand's architectural character, which is heavily influenced by the Bauhaus movement, expresses a certain harmony between function, production and quiet artistry.

Molteni&C debuts the latest in its new bespoke outdoor collection

Annie Asistio

Famed Italian brand Molteni&C introduced the newest pieces in its outdoor collection at its Winsland House showroom in Singapore recently. With it, guests, architects and designers were treated to a collection that highlighted new finishes, revamped interior solutions and the same contemporary Italian proportions and detail that the brand has long championed.

Christopher Guy hosts the Boucher & Co exhibition at its flagship showroom in Singapore

Annie Asistio

Christopher Guy welcomed another exceptional Boucher & Co exhibition at its flagship showroom in Singapore from June 27 to July 18. The leader in world-class bespoke furniture design remains one of the most sought-after brands for its peerless craftsmanship.

Interview

Annalisa Ferraris: Painting Houses

Artist Annalisa Ferraris says growing up in the historically significant Sydney suburb of Castlecrag, her interest in architecture was piqued early. “My grandparents lived nearby — typical Italian family — and when I would walk through the streets with my Nonna when I was little, I just loved all of those signature Walter Burley Griffin flat-roofed houses,” she recalls.

A glimpse inside Christopher Guy’s opulent flagship showroom in Singapore

The self-described 'creators of the world’s most fabulous lifestyles', Christopher Guy has launched its flagship showroom in Singapore – and, true to form, gone big on the glamour. Occupying a full floor of the Citibank building on Orchard Road, the showroom is all lacquered hardwoods, sumptuous chaises and the brand’s signature, voluptuous curves.

The Ralph Lauren Home Modern Driver Collection is a celebration of sculptural silhouettes

Introduced during the Milan Design Week, the Ralph Lauren Home Modern Driver Collection for Fall 2024 is rooted in modern automotive design. Lauren, after all, has one of the most extensive automobile collections ever assembled. Cars like he 1938 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic Coupe, the 1929 Blower Bentley and the 1955 Mercedes Benz 300 SL Gullwing Coupe are credited for inspiring the mogul's design philosophy.

Inside Christopher Guy CEO Kisa Harrison’s exquisite contemporary home

Boulevard had the honor of co-hosting an exclusive gathering with Sans Souci at the private residence of Christopher Guy CEO Kisa Harrison. Founders of Singapore's leading luxury interior designers and architecture firms were treated to an elegant dinner celebration, as well as a an intimate look at some iconic pieces inside the abode.

Interview

The interview: Magnus Renfrew, co-founder of Art SG, on the state of the art show

by Hamish McDougall
photography by Jin Cheng Wong

Co-founder of Art SG, Magnus Renfrew talks us through the rising regional art market, the growing global interest in Southeast Asian talents, and the next generation of collectors.

Whitestone Gallery unveils the artistry of Miwa Komatsu and Ronald Ventura

The newly launched Whitestone Gallery in Singapore’s Tanjong Pagar Distripark is immediately striking in its polished concrete floors, bare white walls, raw ceilings and sculptural lobby designed by renowned architect Kengo Kuma.

Sydney Contemporary Art Fair

Elizabeth Reidy
Photography by Gabi Makdsi

Now in its seventh consecutive year, the Sydney Contemporary Art Fair is a staple in the art calendar – and one of the biggest economic drivers in the Asia-Pacific art market.

Trussardi Casa delivers a touch of high fashion for your home

Mike Huynh

The fusion of fashion and furniture demands the highest order of provenance and execution. One name that is capable of such a rare feat is Trussardi Casa - the furniture line born from the iconic Italian luxury fashion house bearing a reputation for fine leather goods, ready-to-wear pieces and perfumes.

The interview: Sacha Leong describes his approach to restaurant projects

In his hometown of Singapore, Sacha Leong is best known for his design work on two of this city’s most acclaimed restaurants: chef Julien Royer’s Odette and Claudine. That’s perfectly fine with Leong. While Nice Projects, the London-based studio he operates in partnership with Australian Simone McEwan, has worked on a wide variety of projects, including coworking and coliving spaces, luxury residential and retail, “Hospitality is our passion,” Leong says.

Designer furniture highlights from Salone del Mobile 2023

Hamish McDougall
Photography by Boulevard

By Hamish McDougallPhotography by Boulevard

Firangi Superstar: the restaurant that reveals itself in vignettes

Cinematic, seductive and quasi-surreal, Firangi Superstar announces itself as a “foreigner’s love letter to India.” Aesthetes with an eye for eccentricity might wonder if that foreigner is American francophile filmmaker Wes Anderson, the great creator of dreamlike worlds. But the applause here goes to restaurateurs Rohit Roopchand and Michael Goodman of the Dandy Collection, with creative director and principal of EDG, Piya Thamchariyawat, mastering the mise-en-scène.

Mt Pleasant GCB: Style, serenity and thoroughly modern luxury

The richness of oak panelling and painstakingly book-matched noce travertine floors sets off frameless floor-to-ceiling glass and endless green views. In the formal lounge, two JBL Everest speakers share the stage with a Balinese oil painting, The Monkey God Fire Dance. The statement dining suite features Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s classic ‘Hill House’ chairs by Cassina and a local adaptation of the accompanying table, with an artwork by French-born impressionist painter Viviane Cisinski.

Where to buy art in Singapore: galleries, consultants, salons and fairs

Picasso once pronounced that art washes the dust of everyday life off the soul. It also effortlessly sweeps the bland off our walls.

Architects in Singapore you need to know

Some of the world's top architecture firms have built piles in Singapore – and many of them are homegrown. These are the names behind brutalist icons and light-filled mansions, game-changing design projects, conservation heroes, and the occasional neoclassical masterpiece.

Boulevard Private Events: Norfolk Penthouses, Kurraba Point, Sydney

Where better to launch Boulevard's private viewing events in Sydney than the stunning, harbourfront Norfolk Penthouses.

Luxury interior design: Boulevard’s most enviable home tours and the talent behind them

The challenge posed by the hotbed of design talent in Asia is that it's hard to remain faithful. No sooner do we embark on a new home tour shoot than we fall in love all over again – with the bespoke materiality of Brewin Design Office, the runaway maximalism of Isabelle Miaja, the devastating sophistication of Evocateurs, the warm elegance of Elliot James Interiors, above, and on it goes...