Ben van Berkel’s buildings are traffic stoppers; sweeping sci-fi edifices wrapped in kaleidoscopic, dot-matrix exteriors, high-rise moiré exoskeletons and ceramic plate stacks with op-art scoops for windows. Projects such as Five Franklin Place in New York’s Tribeca district, Austria’s Graz Music Theatre, the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, and Taiwan’s Talee Isetan building, all designed by Professor van Berkel’s Amsterdam-based UNStudio, define a new urban aesthetic, reimagining architecture as sculptural form and quickly characterising themselves as contemporary landmarks.
And now London has its own van Berkel landmark; Canaletto, a 31-storey tower adjacent to the City Road Basin, features a unique, curving façade of aluminium and glass that breaks the building’s volume into a series of three-to-five storey clusters.
Bedroom shelving. Pictured, ‘Punctual’ Shelving, by Ferm Living. ‘L’Etourdi’ Decorative mobile, by Volta. ‘Mist’ Vase, by Tamer Nakisci for Nude. ‘Still’ Vase, by Nick Rennie, for Normann Copenhagen. ‘Serif’ TV, by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, for Samsung
Canaletto’s recently unveiled three-bedroom apartments, the Beaumont Collection, located on the building’s 25th to 28th floors, are modern sanctuaries with spectacular panoramic views through floor-to-ceiling glazed façades. The state-of-the-art amenities (swimming pool, gym, spa with treatment rooms, restaurant, private cinema and residents’ club) establish the building as a social and creative hub at the creative crossroads of Islington, Shoreditch, Clerkenwell and the City.
Wallpaper* Composed, our bespoke interior design service, was invited by Canaletto’s developers to create a distinctive furnishing scheme and tonal identity for one of the Beaumont Collection’s show apartments. Wallpaper* interiors director Amy Heffernan selected pieces by both established and up-and-coming designers, choosing to tell the story of a frequent-flying, constantly collecting, cultured resident who is design conscious and aesthetically aware.
The ‘Cosmopolitan Collector’ apartment boldly mixes new and old, incorporating quirky and classic items and acclaimed and naive artworks. The look is both eclectic and contemporary, revealing the Cosmopolitan Collector’s character as you move from room to room. This is high-rise luxe in the heart of east London.
As originally featured in the May 2017 issue of Wallpaper* (W*218)
