HEMEROTECA
02/07/2014
Imm Cologne has invited the architects Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu to be the guests of honour and to design Das Haus-Interiors on Stage 2015.
In Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu’s work, there is less traditional Eastern flair and more of a pronounced modern and international style. However, their interior design and design objects – mainly furniture and accessories – speak of an aesthetic totally their own, a result of the western principle of reduction being applied to the huge diversity of Chinese form. Form and material seem to emerge from this encounter with a whole new sensuality. Architecture and Design in modern, urban elegance Neri&Hu is regarded as the most progressive architecture studio in China and enjoys international success in the areas of design and interior design.
Founded by Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu in Shanghai in 2004, the studio is responsible for the development of hotels (Le Meridian in Zhengzhou, China), private residences (Cluny House in Singapore), museums, (Xi@¬#an Westin Museum Hotel) as well as flagship stores (Camper, Shanghai). In 2012, Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu opened Design Republik, their own design gallery in Shanghai; the studio also designs furniture for high-end European brands like Classicon, BD Barcelona or De la Espada. The design world’s attention has been drawn by the studio’s original and prize-winning re-design of an industrial-style 1930’s building into the Waterhouse Boutique Hotel. The Neri&Hu studio is currently developing projects in America and Europe, a global approach in line with the philosophy of the US-educated architects and which is further reflected in their international team.
From the experimentation platform of Shanghai to the experimental format Das Haus.
The first three issues of Das Haus were interpreted by representatives from the design centres of London, Italy and Scandinavia. Their visions bore strong influences from the active design scene within the furnishing world. For 2015, Imm Cologne sought a view from outside Europe and, in Neri&Hu, found a partner who approaches the task from a wholly different perspective. As architects, they are just as interested in spatial relationships as in interior design. Nevertheless, by their own admission, their work as designers does have an impact on their architecture.
Dick Spierenburg, Creative Director of Imm Cologne, particularly values Neri&Hu’s experience as designers of integrated architecture. China’s urban centres currently afford unparalleled opportunity to produce the high-calibre, integrated work in which Neri&Hu specialise. With Neri&Hu, we have found a pair of architects who have long been experimenting with giving the buildings they design their own characteristic inner dimension, by filling it with furniture and fixtures they design themselves, says Spierenburg of the decision to invite Neri&Hu as guests of honour in 2015.
And it’s in a way which we find really inspiring: atmospheric and pared down at the same time, with refined details and twists. With Das Haus, they are free to develop their own experience even further and discover new directions. We have reason to hope that something extremely exciting might develop from this, says Spierenburg.
Das Haus – half portrait of the designer, half future-focused concept The Das Haus-Interiors on Stage installation simulates a residential house at the international furniture and interiors show Imm Cologne. Every year, a new designer is nominated and based on their plans and design, the fair organise the erection of an approximately 240sqm large house in the Pure Village hall 2.2. The furniture, colours, materials, lighting and accessories are also selected by the designer, rendering the finished house an individual configuration of interior design. The integrated concept should not just be future orientated, but also practical, workable and above all authentic. Das Haus-Interiors on Stage is therefore the portrait of a designer as well as a visionary concept, an example of how one can realise one’s own world to express one’s own personality. The project thereby deals not just with contemporary furnishing trends but also with people’s aspirations as well as social change.
The first installation of Das Haus was in 2012 and the Indian-British designer team Nipa Doshi and Jonathan Levien were nominated to introduce the new format. They installed an organically grown space, which enabled a communicative living together of inhabitants from different cultures. In 2013, Italian product designer Luca Nichetto introduced the next installation of the design event with an elegant ensemble, the construction open on all sides, welcoming in the natural elements of the outdoors. In 2014, the Danish designer, Louise Campbell, turned Das Haus into a low-tech place of calm within the bustle of the fair, representing the reconciliation of the most diverse human characters and preferences in style.
The next trade fair duo Imm Cologne/ LivingKitchen will be held from 19 to 25 January 2015.
* For further information: www.imm-cologne.com / www.livingkitchen-cologne.com
