Under the title “A la fresca!” – “Step out into the fresh air!” – Spanish duo Alberto Sánchez and Eduardo Villalón of MUT Design blurred the line between interior and exterior spaces with this year’s Das Haus installation at imm cologne.
MUT Design’s installation is an experiment into how home life could function if the boundaries are crossed or even eliminated entirely.
In the 2020 edition of Das Haus, some of the furnishings become part of the architecture – like a masonry bench that grows out of the whitewashed walls or a gangway that draws the gaze into the distance.
Pieces that look as robust as a grill, hover over the bathtub like soap bubbles or, as in the case of the hammock that serves as a bed substitute, play with the shadows the (imaginary) sun casts onto the floor through its open texture.
The architecture and furnishings seem to merge into an informal whole. MUT Design also anticipates the development of lighting that will ideally simulate the natural course of the sun despite the fact that the light it emits is artificial.
While the forms of the “A la fresca!” house are inspired by modernism, the terracotta and ceramic tiles as well as the white plaster that resembles encalado are more traditional.
The Active Area, Cleanness Area, Resting Area, Kitchen and Patio are five living zones that have deliberately been assigned functions and names to leave scope for interpretation.
MUT Design’s interpretation of Das Haus features the canon of geometric forms that is typical of their work – and shows a clear preference for rounded shapes.
At the same time, the designers take a playful approach to the layout traditionally found in Spanish architecture by moving the patio normally found at the centre of the building to the outside. In return, the only area the house provides for retreat occupies the position usually reserved for the inner courtyard.
“We pictured a space where you can focus without being influenced by anything, a space that doesn’t bombard you with stimuli so that you can retreat into yourself,” said the designers. “Because if you feel the urge to retreat, you ought to be able to do it properly.”
With the title “A la fresca” – “Step out into the fresh air!” – the Spaniards are alluding to the culture of evening get-togethers in the streets and squares that continues to be practised: “We’ve taken the concept of sharing and being together that moments like that embody and transferred it to Das Haus.”
According to MUT Design, opening up the facades and creating outdoor furniture that satisfies the same high standards of design and cosiness as products for the living room are aspects that are worthy of closer consideration: “We don’t separate outdoor and living room furniture according to the usual norms. Nowadays, that’s the only way the interior design can create a consistent overall picture.”
The hammock and Zig Zag rug (GAN) are made of artificial fibres suitable for outdoor use. A set of three glass side tables by the name of Aspa (Pulpo) varies in depth of colour depending on what angle they’re seen from, and the Armadillo armchair (Expormim) is reinterpretation of the papasan bowl chair that became popular in the middle of the last century.
The stackable concept chair Roll (Sancal) and the Grill chair (Diabla) is made of aluminium profiles, while the Bao pouffes (La Cividina) look as immovable as stones.
As for accessories, MUT Design is presenting Cala, a set of organically shaped ceramic vases self-produced in collaboration with Porcelanas Lys, a traditional ceramics workshop near Valencia. Plum (Preciosa Lighting) and Tomo (LZF) are two new lighting ranges that will also be on show in Das Haus.
The design of the Cleanness Area mixes elements of the traditional bathroom with those of a communal bathing house. Like a hammam, this zone is a cleansing place.
The sanitaryware goes by the name of Eclipse and is combined with a new clothes stand that doubles as a room divider for the Nudo collection (Ex.t).
The Bow ceramic wall tiles (Harmony) have also been created for Das Haus and mediate between the architecture and interior. Inspired by the typical structures and roofing seen in Spanish towns, the tiles are concave rather than convex, giving interior walls and facades an expansive, modern and familiar look.
