Nippon Paint Launches New Products

Asia's leading paint brand Nippon Paint celebrated its first year in the Turkish market with a grand event. Nippon Paint launched its new products and welcomed important names from the architecture world.

Yena Young and Marco Canevacci, partners at Berlin-based Plastique Fantastique, and Rasmus Astrup, partner at Danish multidisciplinary design office SLA, shared their stories and inspiring projects with architects, interior designers and designers who are solution partners of Nippon Paint.

Asia's leading paint brand Nippon Paint celebrated its first year in the Turkish market with a grand event and announced the launch of the Turkey edition of Asia Young Designer Awards, one of Asia's most prestigious design awards that has been held for 13 years. Nippon Paint brought together renowned names from the global architecture community with architects, interior designers and design enthusiasts at this special event. Yena Young and Marco Canevacci, partners at Berlin-based Plastique Fantastique, known for their location-independent, adaptable, low-energy, breathable, temporary inflatable structural designs, and Rasmus Astrup, partner at Danish multidisciplinary design office SLA, one of the urban design and architecture studios, shared their inspiring projects and stories at Nippon Paint's Turkey launch held online on 10 February. At the event moderated by acclaimed actor Selma Ergeç, Yena Young and Marco Canevacci, partners at Plastique Fantastique, emphasized that their projects reflect humanity. The two master designers summed up their perspectives as follows:

Yena Young & Marco Canevacci: Each bubble reflects a human concern

"Through transparency and transitions in structures, we create extraordinary experiences. In our projects, each bubble has a structure that reflects a human concern. Each of us develops ideas on different topics and reflects them in our designs. In the spaces we create, you can watch films, dance, hold concerts, get fresh air or isolate yourself. In our Sound of Light project in Germany, we captured light with a camera and projected it onto 7 coloured balloons placed inside a bubble shelter where light does not enter, and sound and light were harmonized simultaneously. By touching the balloons, you can feel both music and light. We have not remained indifferent to social issues. Following a major crisis created in Berlin due to intensive migration, with our Lifeboat project we designed a boat-shaped plastic tunnel bubble shelter. People come to the area we created and socialize. They witness the experience that refugees go through. In our The Right Pill project in Bratislava, we designed a battery-shaped bubble shelter. In this project, if light comes from outside, you cannot see the interior; from inside you can see everything. Our Loud Shadows project in the Netherlands is a project in harmony with nature, encompassing trees. In the heart of nature, it provides the opportunity to hold many performances, concerts and artistic activities. The acoustic insulation within the event areas we created creates a link between the sound of nature and the sound inside."

Rasmus Astrup: Balance with nature is essential for a liveable future

Rasmus Astrup, partner at SLA, began his speech by noting that AYDA will create excellent opportunities for young Turkish people. Astrup said, "This organization offers excellent opportunities for young people. While bringing them a step closer to their dreams, it also contributes to the development of their education." Noting that he works to create a liveable future, Rasmus Astrup emphasized that nature is very important for people, as well as a complex and unique structure. Astrup continued as follows: "To produce, develop and nurture our ideas, we work by walking in nature, listening to it and thinking while talking with it. Our projects are dominated by the concept of healthy cities and healthy people. For example, in hospital projects, we design everything according to the principle that patients are in an area immersed in nature, meaning hospitals are planned accordingly, because this contributes to patients' recovery processes and staff motivation. Urbanization in all areas must be planned in a nature-friendly way and emulate nature—this is very important. Therefore, we draw inspiration from the diversity and self-renewal of a natural forest. When planning structures, we ensure their connections with natural areas through deliberate, durable, flexible, practical and nature-friendly materials. We design urban nature that is functional, has biological diversity and is sustainable, green and blue, climate-adapted and creates a sense of community. We have even afforested a desert and built a park. We also developed an artificial mountain. We replicated the mountain habitat just as we replicated the desert. We offer people in the city the opportunity to go trekking. This mountain has birds, insects, mountain flowers and trails—everything. We believe that to create a liveable future, it is necessary to achieve balance with nature. Cities need to touch nature. A healthier city can only be built this way."

Plastique Fantastique: Designed personal protective solutions for the pandemic

Plastique Fantastique is a performance art group. Their work concerns activating, creating and sharing public space and involving the public in creative processes. The structures they design are simple in many respects; separating on one hand and connecting on the other, bringing fresh perspectives to the cities and environments where they are located, and most importantly, making the invisible visible through surfaces. During the pandemic, Plastique Fantastique designed a pneumatic, mobile, personal protective area that allows healthcare workers fighting on the front lines against disease to treat patients safely. Their work has been exhibited at the Venice Biennale and other important art and music festivals, as well as in cities such as Berlin, Rome, Copenhagen, St. Petersburg and Canberra.

SLA: Nature is at the focus of its projects

Rasmus Astrup's expertise encompasses a wide range, from strategic urban planning to detailed landscape design, local and recreational rainwater management solutions and innovative lighting concepts. An expert in sustainable landscape architecture, integrated climate adaptation and nature-based design, Astrup leads SLA's visionary sustainable landscape projects. Nature is the focal point of everything SLA develops, designs and thinks about. SLA defines its core approaches as "complementarity," believing that human-made and naturally occurring environments are different from each other and, while not comparable, are complementary.

Asia's most prestigious award AYDA held simultaneously in 16 countries

Asia Young Designer Awards (AYDA), one of Asia's most prestigious design awards held by Nippon Paint for 13 years, is being held simultaneously in 16 countries this year for the first time with Turkey's participation. Since 2008, AYDA has attracted over 35,000 students from more than 1,200 universities across 16 countries, including China, Singapore and Japan. This year, students from universities in Turkey can also apply to AYDA. AYDA is held in two separate categories: "Architecture" and "Interior Design." The national winner of each category will qualify to enter the global competition. The winner of the global competition will receive the title "Asia Young Designer of the Year" and the opportunity to participate in a 6-week Design Discovery Program at Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Created with the vision of nurturing future designers and bringing together professional architects, interior designers, chambers, associations, design schools, graduates and design students under one roof, AYDA offers once-in-a-lifetime opportunities alongside experience-oriented learning. For detailed information and to review the conditions for participation in the competition, visit Nippon Paint Turkey's website nipponboya.com/tr/ayda.