Dezeen Magazine

Open Room No.1 by Matali Crasset

French designer Matali Crasset has designed an integrated desk, cupboard, lamp, rubbish bin and rug for Established & Sons.

openroomcrasset3.jpg

Described as a "room within a room", Open Room No. 1 explores how to define architectural space with furniture.

13_la-pelota_milan_sq.jpg

Established & Sons showed Open Room No. 1 in Milan in April but photos have only just been released. MIlan 2009.

openroomcrasset1.jpg

See links to more Dezeen stories about Matali Crasset here.

openroomcrasset2.jpg

Here's some text from Established & Sons and Matali Crasset:

--

Matali Crasset’s new work is an exploration of space. Spatial dynamics that is. The Open Room No.1 is a design with architectural ambitions. It is an object and ‘space’ at the same time: a room within a room.

13_la-pelota_milan_o_56e662.jpg

‘With Open Room No.1 I wanted to go beyond furniture. It is much more than that. It’s a space, a platform that can be the base for a script of life’ (the scenario de vie is at the heart of Crasset’s design philosophy). The piece can be described as a room that fits into an existing room. There are no walls, but Open Room No.1 does have clear boundaries. These are formed by the angles of a steel structure linking a brightly coloured table, cupboard, lamp and small container. ‘It is an open structure. But at the same time, you feel as if you’re inside of something — the object becomes space.’

The object is space, but it is also a tool. It is meant to be used, not just looked at. This goes far in explaining the simplicity of both the design and the materials; ‘We’ve picked the materials for what they do, not what they stand for. I didn’t want to do an exercise. You can’t live with an exercise. The idea was to do something that’s lasting and timeless. I didn’t want to associate the object with a particular aesthetic. You have this whole school of design with a strong, imposing identity. For me, the look of a piece should be the result of an intention, and not the other way round.’

Some words from Matali:

My furniture has always focused on space and activities. For Established & Son I propose more than a desk, storage cabinet, side table … but an empty platform area adaptable to various scenarios.

It is a space with no walls, no restrictions – just a supporting contour remains. It is both a symbolic and functional object made with defined corners delineating space.

A stage just waiting to come alive.

A space perfect in itself, an interconnected object including a work table, storage space, a light and a small rubbish bin. A space created for activity, feeling indoors but being totally visible to others and the world which continues its voyage turning around us …

Easy to understand: a metallic technical design cut by angles and lively coloured functional props where life adventures are organized.

A furnished space but free from traditional definitions, emphasizing simplicity and immutability.