Aesop Vivocity City
City: Singapore
Stage Involved: Concept to construction
Year/ Status: 2018, Completed
Accent Material: Ratten
Client: Aesop
Project Management: Jessica Chan, Leon Goh
Photo Credits: Aesop
While it is a global capital celebrated for its spotlessness and efficiency, Singapore also embodies an older aesthetic and mood that may be glimpsed in hawker centres and through the incalculable windows of its apartment buildings. It was this spirit that we sought to imbue in Aesop VivoCity. The unglazed geometric cement tiles that dress the floor and walls of the interior recall the understated domesticity of neighbourhood restaurants and mid-century apartment interiors. In another textural gesture to local custom, the vertical surfaces of the sink and product display shelving employ woven rattan, a material widely used for domestic furniture, tools and decoration in South-East Asia.The blond rattan is complemented by the honeyed tones of the timber countertop, and the basin and tapware, hewn from bronze and brass. Generous in scale and elegant in form, the sink is a natural gathering-place for consultations.