For the sixth annual AZ Awards, our intrepid jury narrowed the field from over 800 submissions, received from dozens of countries, to select just 48 finalists that stood above the rest. In addition to presenting the AZ Award winners, Azure recognized these projects, products and concepts with Awards of Merit.
This space starts with Scandinavian-inspired design, but the destination is anything but traditional. David Grant-Rubash, the Danish-trained lead of Toronto’s Phaedrus, opted to create a floor-to-ceiling sculptural installation of folding planes, deftly dividing the hybrid establishment’s functions. Above the angular counter of white Corian, the architect heightened the playful complexity by leaving several facets unfinished, revealing a grid-work skeleton of birch plywood. As this gesture arches into the dining area, it continues to disintegrate: the vertical beams disappear, and the horizontal ones seem to break free, forming a lighting installation that evokes a journey into hyperspace.
Location: Toronto, Canada
Firm: Phaedrus, Canada
Team: David Grant-Rubash and Tyler Malone, with Sev Palazov and Katya Tunon
