Artek and Kvadrat collaborate with Kuehn Malvezzi to design the Collectors Lounge at Design Miami/ Basel
Finnish design company Artek and Danish design textile manufacturer Kvadrat have commissioned the Berlin based architecture practice Kuehn Malvezzi to create the Collectors Lounge at Design Miami/ Basel, taking place 14 – 19 June 2016.
Kuehn Malvezzi’s Collectors Lounge highlights Artek’s modernist Kiki Collection, designed by Finnish master Ilmari Tapiovaara in 1960, upholstered in the new fabric collection by Raf Simons for Kvadrat. The third collection of blended wool textiles by Kvadrat and the Belgian fashion designer explores the stripe in varying degrees of graphic boldness, drawing inspiration from Modernist furniture, Pop and contemporary art, fashion textiles, and music.
Kuehn Malvezzi has transformed the Collectors Lounge into a landscape of different colour and texture combinations. Like inverted spaces or solid rooms, cubic volumes form a striking environment for Ilmari Tapiovaara’s modernist design. Visitors are able to experience the new Kvadrat/Raf Simons fabric variations on horizontal or vertical surfaces, as well as on the Kiki Sofas and Lounge Chairs. A combination of Kvadrat/Raf Simons’ bright colours forms a strong graphic landscape, at times in contrast, at times homogeneous.
Kuehn Malvezzi’s strong affinity to the arts along with their vast museum and exhibition design experience made them the perfect choice for Artek and Kvadrat’s commission. With the support of the two likeminded companies, deeply rooted in the Nordic design tradition, Kuehn Malvezzi have created an impactful lounge providing a space for relaxation and respite at the centre of the global design forum, while celebrating the merge of design, art and architecture.
Artek
Artek was founded in 1935 in Helsinki by the young idealists Alvar and Aino Aalto, Maire Gullichsen and Nils-Gustav Hahl “to sell furniture and promote a modern culture of living by exhibitions and other educational means”.
Today, the Artek collection of furniture, lighting, and accessories designed by Finnish masters and leading international designers comprises objects that are extraordinary in their clarity, functionality, and poetic simplicity.
In the radical spirit of its founders, Artek remains one of the most innovative contributors to modern design, breaking new ground at the intersection of design, architecture and art.
Kvadrat
Kvadrat was established in Denmark in 1968 and has deep roots in Scandinavia’s design tradition. Kvadrat holds the leading position in Europe’s high-quality contemporary textiles market, supplying architects, designers and private consumers across the world with textiles and textile-related products.
Kvadrat’s products reflect the company’s commitment to colour, quality, simplicity and innovation, and have been used in some of the world’s most important architectural landmarks.
Kvadrat consistently push the aesthetic, technological and functional properties of textiles, collaborating with leading designers, architects and artists such as Miriam Bäckström, Tord Boontje, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, Thomas Demand, Olafur Eliasson, Alfredo Häberli, Giulio Ridolfo, Peter Saville, Finn Sködt, Roman Signer, as well as Patricia Urquiola.
Kuehn Malvezzi
The architects Simona Malvezzi, Wilfried Kuehn and Johannes Kuehn founded Kuehn Malvezzi in Berlin in 2001. Public spaces and exhibitions are the main focus of their work as architects, designers and curators. They realized the architectural design for Documenta 11, the Flick Collection in the Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin as well as the Julia Stoschek Collection in Dusseldorf, which was nominated for the international Mies van der Rohe award.
The firm has designed the reorganization of a number of contemporary and historical art collections, and dealt with sensitive preservation issues for listed buildings such as the Museum Belvedere in Vienna, the Liebieghaus in Frankfurt, the Berggruen Collection as well as the Kunstgewerbemuseum, both in Berlin.
Their projects have been shown in international solo and group exhibitions, including the 10th, 13th and 14th Architecture Biennial in Venice, Manifesta 7 in Trento, and the 1st Chicago Architecture Biennial in 2015.
About Design Miami/
Design Miami/ is the global forum for design. Each fair brings together the most influential collectors, gallerists, designers, curators and critics from around the world in celebration of design culture and commerce. Occurring alongside the Art Basel fairs in Miami, USA each December and Basel, Switzerland each June, Design Miami/ has become the premier venue for collecting, exhibiting, discussing and creating collectible design.
