Naked Ambition

Mark McMenamin -- Interior Design, 4/1/2010 12:00:00 AM

At a chance meeting in London, UN-Studio cofounder and principal architect Ben van Berkel and rock star Bryan Adams recognized a shared trait: absolute commitment to their chosen genres coupled with a tendency for tackling other disciplines with equal gusto. The architect designs smart furnishings after hours, while the musician, in his hours offstage, snaps Kate Moss, Victoria Beckham, and other A-listers in his photo studio.

Which is where the two friends recently pooled their outside interests, with decidedly sultry results. One of Van Berkel's My Chairs for Walter Knoll arrived at Adams's studio—sharply dressed in brown and red leather. A model, meanwhile, wore no dress at all. Adams captured her in several provocative positions. The version with her sitting astride the 34-inch-wide seat, legs mirroring the chromed base of bent tubular steel, is his homage to a 1963 portrait of Profumo Affair instigator Christine Keeler, similarly posed on Arne Jacobsen's Ant chair. 49-07032-2080; walterknoll.de. circle 417