hospitalitystyle.com

(March 2010) posted on Tue Mar 16, 2010 EDT

Don’t hate him because he’s famous. Appreciate him for his passion about the real work of design.

By Mary Scoviak

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When I first saw images of Switch from Karim Rashid's “katalyst” (public relations contact) Amy Park, I was just blown away. The combination of the colors and the undulating walls was definitely “wow.” And the fact that the restaurant is located in a shopping mall (okay, so it's not just any shopping mall; it's the Dubai Mall) only made it more intriguing. But what is a celebrity designer like Karim Rashid doing designing mall restaurants?

I sent out questions for Rashid via his “katalyst” to find out. I fully expected to get some pat answers or worse, yet, some “musings.” What I got back was a wake-up call. I'd heard from several people that Rashid's no diva. He proved them right. Behind the signature specs and the trappings is a designer who clearly likes the process of design—even the headaches.

So, why Dubai and why a mall stall eatery? 

“Strangely, this is my first project in Dubai,” says Rashid, whose product designs are favorites among locals. “I find the possibilities of Dubai inspiring, but the existing landscape did not inspire me at all. On the one hand, it's a thrill to think about the need to build and shape a futuristic city. I think Bin Mohammed Rashid is a visionary. On the other hand, I think that what I've seen so far is very banal design and architecture. Here is an opportunity to really produce innovative, progressive, responsible, intelligent architecture. Instead, what I see are many derivative, mundane Western buildings with heavy-handed Arabic ornamentation.”

Rashid set out to do something about that with Switch. What's interesting is how hard he had to fight just to get the chance to express a different aesthetic. Dubai Mall Management didn't think his waving walls fit with the mall's style, and didn't seem to care if he was a household word. He and his client, Al-Bassam Group, eventually convinced management to try something new.

It's what happened within the theater of the space that should endear Rashid to designers. He worked as hard as creating true functionality for the operator as he did at delivering eye candy to the guest. While the rippling walls may effectively call up images of shifting desert sands, they also work as great structural surrounds for a fresh approach to booth seating.

Rashid and his team took advantage of the fact that management wouldn't allow anything to be affixed to the walls to introduce an innovative sound system. “The speakers basically turn glass, wood, metal or any surface with which they come into contact into an amplifer,” Rashid explains. “We placed them behind the glass on the center ceiling panel and behind the fiberglass wall so that music surrounds the guests. The goal was to enable customers to receive a rich, full sensorial experience, from taste to smell, sight, sound and touch.”

The accompanying image is designed to whet your appetite to see more of Switch, which is featured in the Spring 2010 issue of the newly relaunched Hospitality Style print edition, along with new projects by other A-listers such as Philippe Starck, Adam Tihany, Foster + Partners and Daniel Libeskind.