WHAT would make me get up at 4 am and brave the freezing cold to catch a four-hour train ride from Hamburg to Cologne? Nothing less than one of the world´s top furnishing trade fairs—IMM Cologne, the first major exhibit to open in 2012 and, therefore, the public´s initial glimpse into the latest and upcoming trends in furniture and furnishings.
In the following weeks, I will be sharing my design picks from the show, as well as some of the products and companies featured during the LivingInteriors press tour. But as an opening salvo, it´s only appropriate to put the spotlight on the event´s centerpiece project: Das Haus (The House). A new format introduced this year and envisioned by the organizers to be a mainstay in the annual show, it represents the ideal residential space, the innovative interiors concept from some of the industry’s movers and shakers. This time, that honor goes to London-based design couple Jonathan Levien and Nipa Doshi.
The Anglo-Indian team, known for their intrepid, cutting-edge designs, transformed 180 square meters at the heart of the exhibit into a lively, open living space structured by functional zones for eating, sleeping, bathing, socializing and working.
“For us, it’s important to challenge the clichéd notions of what is a bedroom, what is a kitchen, what is a bathroom. In every part of the house, we’re bringing together and connecting different areas of the home and redefining what they could be and how they could be used,” Levien explained.
The bedroom, for instance, is “not just a place for sleep but for intimate socializing, so that is why it is next to the salon,” a place for receiving family and friends, Doshi said.
The bathing space, inspired by Moroccan hammams, is a personal spa that shares a window and a cabinet with the adjacent kitchen. The direct link between the two spaces highlights their common function: physical well-being. “[It] celebrates the idea of taking different elements in each room and blending them, grinding salt into scrubs or using yogurt to cleanse faces,” Doshi added.
The dining room holds the most surprise: it is the courtyard, set right at the center of the house. Here, where all the activities of the house converge, where potted plants abound, is the “ideal place for eating,” Levien said.
The multipurpose dining table, designed by the couple, has a hexagonal surface that provides members of the household their own space for their respective activities—the kid with his art project, the mom with her paperwork, and so on.
The functional zones are softly defined by raised and sunken floors, by open and transparent walls (including the Indian jaalis-inspired mesh wall which casts a dappled light over the interiors), and by the clever use of furniture—a cultural hybrid of the East and the West—many of which are created by the design duo for several top labels, such as Cappellini and Moroso.
“Das Haus is not a secluded mansion in the countryside, but embedded in a dense urban neighborhood, like old Shanghai, Tokyo and Mumbai, where spaces are developed incrementally. It is permeable and connected to the environment,” Levien explained.
The couple’s visionary blueprint reflects the signs of the time—our desire for social interaction, laidback comfort, flexibility, open space and nature. Anchored by “unconditional modernity…[our house] is a collage that embodies the spirit of sensual spaces and experiences,” he said.
In Photo: Design couple Nipa Doshi (left) and Jonathan Levien shake up our idea of the perfect home.
