At the forthcoming IMM Cologne, Spanish design duo Alberto Sánchez and Eduardo Villalón of MUT Design will present the Das Haus installation by transforming the inside of the house to face the outside.
The design involves removing the boundaries between the interior rooms and between the internal and external space, which opens the living experience, not only to nature but also to the community of residents.
Das Haus 2020 is reminiscent of a classical pavilion: formed from the combination of a circle and a square, styled with minimalist furnishings, open on all sides.
The colours of this lagoon landscape were an inspiration for Sánchez and Villalón in their selection of materials and harmonious colour schemes for their vision of IMM Cologne 2020 home living.
The pavilion will not be constructed in Valencia’s sun-drenched landscape; it will instead be showcased at the heart of IMM from January 13 to 19.
“A la fresca” – step out into the fresh air – is the name MUT Design have given to their interpretation of IMM’s walk-in simulated living space, which is laid out by a different young, influential designer or design team every year.
The Spaniards’ choice of name is a reference to the culture that still persists in the area’s villages of meeting up in the streets and squares of an evening. After the heat of the day, which forces people to stay behind closed doors, this custom provides an opportunity to sit down together with neighbours and friends to enjoy the fresh breeze at leisure.
The circular general outline of Das Haus is framed by a flat square of reflective metal, which symbolises a body of water broken up by grasses. Artificial light is largely avoided. Instead, Das Haus radiates from within: the cave-like private area located in the centre between diagonally convergent wall panels is illuminated by a light source that aims to imitate the natural light of the sun as it moves across the sky over the course of the day.
“Life on the Mediterranean is synonymous with life outdoors. Since time immemorial, our homes have always incorporated an element of nature into their interiors,” said MUT Design.
Traditionally, the patio has been a shaded inner courtyard that forms the organisational centre in Mediterranean architecture. Social life also revolves around this hybrid space. However, in their concept for Das Haus, MUT Design have turned this structure around: Das Haus “A la fresca” evolves from the inside towards the outside.
Although the centre still appears to be the backbone of the house and is filled with daylight, the actual function of the patio as an integrated open-air space has been relocated to the outside.
The structure of Das Haus seems to be upside down. The central area for retreat, the Refugium, is surrounded by four veranda-like spaces: a room for relaxation and dressing, an activity area, a kitchen and an area for personal hygiene.
“Our intention was to soften the boundaries between indoors and outdoors,” said Sánchez.
“A bathroom in the open air exerts an immense fascination,” said Eduardo Villalón. “We can imagine that the experience of the warm summer has not only made outdoor kitchens more popular, but also increased the desire to experiment with outdoor bathrooms.”
High-quality tables, chairs, pouffes and rugs – all suitable for outdoor use – occupy the four spaces that open concavely outwards: an outdoor cooking station serves as the barbecue-ready kitchen; there is a hammock instead of a bed in the room designed for relaxation; the dressing and hygiene area is symbolically linked to the surrounding area of water.
This forward-looking home culture will be staged as an experiment in the form of semi-circular sections of space linked to each other via the external sides.
All the areas have an open design and are used communally. Cocooning is directed inwards, while community opens up outwards – this is how the highly symbolic architecture can be read.
Only the room hinted at in the centre is conceived as a separate area with a corresponding closeness and cave- like architecture. It forms a space that can be used for meditation and quiet retreat.
“The rooms are designed as individual entities, but they are simultaneously very open so as to create a feeling of the utmost fluidity,” said Sánchez and Villalón.
To bring the outdoor way of life into the interior, Das Haus will be furnished with a series of specially developed garden furniture, which include a hammock, an outdoor rug and a room divider by GAN, a rattan chair by Expormim and a chair by Diabla.