Top designer notes need to blend products seamlessly with their environment

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I recently had the opportunity to collaborate with world-renowned designer Naoto Fukusawa, who has designed products, furnishings and electronic products for many leading brands such as B&B Italia, Maruni and Muji.

I first met him to brief him on his assignment to design the interior for our limited-edition units at our new Rhythm "The Slow Collection" condominium on Sathorn Soi 21.

I learned many ways of thinking from Fukusawa, who, despite his fame, remains observant and ready to learn.

He adjusts his thoughts to the ways people adapt to their changing environment, economy and society.

"Product design alone will not survive. We have to create designs that take the environment into consideration and blend the product seamlessly into its surroundings," he said.

When designing a chair for each space, he asks how well it will fit with the layout and other furniture. He has moved beyond space design to interior design.

For this project, Fukusawa used Hiroshima chairs that he designed for Maruni, whose shape inspired the layout. The objective was to discover the best views when entering the space and living in that unit.

This novel approach, accented by the furniture, offers exciting new angles on how we perceive space as the elements work together to emphasise their functional and aesthetically pleasing qualities, and direct the eyes to the views outside the condominium.

As this was Fukusawa’s first experience in so comprehensively designing the interior of condominium units, he said that he learned many ways of working.

We believe his modesty and love of constant learning will make him an outstanding interior designer.

One way to make 44.5-50 square metres look more spacious and homey is to push most of the furniture against the wall and leave open space in the centre.

He recommended designing and constructing slim and compact "smart walls" and furniture the same way that the latest technological and electric appliances like televisions and home theatres are so lightweight they are hung on walls instead of placed on tables.

This makes them more practical and maximises functionality in increasingly confined spaces.

He also noted that people today tend to lead more informal multitasking lives, so he designed a dining table attached to a wall that can be easily transformed into a workstation, or a large shelf above the cooking station to make the most of that space.

By adopting new construction techniques, the designer was able to create a legless table that extended more than 3 metres along a wall.

Another idea that initially contradicted my own feelings was the use of dark colours in small rooms and light colours in dark rooms – the reverse of orthodox design colour schemes.

However, the 44.5-square-metre unit painted in darker tones did not feel small, but warm and inviting. The variety of colours and ambience created by the furnishings also led the eye to focus on the exterior view.

Although Fukusawa is a modern designer focusing on adapting himself to lifestyle changes, he remains conservative in some respects. Because of his belief that his skills in rendering details on a computer cannot compare to younger designers, he prefers to present his ideas through small models.

His models, handmade to scale, were so realistic that when photographed, it was difficult to discern whether the images were real showrooms or models. It is through his modelling that he was able to study and experience real problems before actual construction began.

Everything that I have related came from my direct interaction and conversations with Fukusawa, and this experience has left me with no doubt as to why this Asian designer has been able to gain global acceptance.

When someone once asked Fukusawa how he was able to create designs that pleased people in the West, his answer was simply that people are creatures that have inherently the same basic needs.

The only differences are our beliefs, customs and traditions, which are extraneous and immaterial to our designs, since the core of our needs is the same, and it is to this fundamental similarity that he creates his designs.