This is a collection of the most creative restaurant designs in the world, from risky and modern to traditional and laid back. This compilation of vivid photographs and detailed layouts gives examples ...
Trade show’s D3 contest gives young designers a chance to strut their stuff.
By Mary Scoviak
It’s probably no surprise that the hospitality industry is always looking for the newest, latest, most exciting idea. It’s also true that there is no shortage of inventive, eye-catching products out there. I’m always inspired by what’s in my inbox when we are designing our product showrooms. So, when a press release about the D3 contest at imm Cologne dropped into my inbox, I couldn’t wait to open it. What intrigued me about the three winners was the diversity of the design approach.
First-place winner Jólan van der Wiel’s Gravity Stool draws on organic forces to create a dusky-toned structure with heavy, raw textures ( a result of the stool being magnetized during production) that lend it an opulent quality. The irregular shape of the stool is a rebellion against the idea that gravity shapes design.
The second-place entry couldn’t be more different. Lee Sanghyeok’s Listen to Your Hands, looks like a study in curve-free minimalism, but the cluster of drawers on one side is a study in kinetics—moving one releases or closes another.
Third place went to Marc Bell and Robin Grasby. The Apollo lights they designed are inspired by aeronautics, but work around the simple idea of a screw-cup light fixture. The combination of solid and perforated aluminum allows the light to be filtered.
The one thing that stood out to me was how much the experience motivates design. We’ve seen this for a while in interior design, but it’s exciting to see in products. The tactile dimension of design is forgotten too often. Designers, what are you doing to make being in the space as cool as looking at it?
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