The Installation Circles present artfully showcased, theme-specific installations of renowned design studios. The prevailing form of the creation of Marco Dessí for the theme of Hospitality is the roof. The designer, who lives in Vienna, is designing a temporary setting for the furniture, a stage with a scenery that wants more than to create a lovely Illusion of hospitality.

The materials and semi-finished products from the construction industry are decontextualized and, much like in a stage play, serve as a canvas for the projection of ideas and interpretations. The true protagonists, however, are the furniture and lighting designs crafted by STUDIO DESSí. In the interpretation by STUDIO DESSí, hospitality is also characterised by cultural traditions and artistic impulses. The installation is thus reminiscent of a pavilion in the middle of a (trade fair) landscape, which magnetically draws visitors like a milestone.

The dominant form in the Circle installation on the theme of hospitality is the roof - because "the roof seemed to us to be the purest form of welcoming", says Marco Dessí. The Vienna-based designer has created a temporary setting for the furniture, a stage whose backdrop aims to do more than create a beautiful illusion of hospitality - rather, the installation is intended to demonstrate the original use of (borrowed) materials and semi-finished products from a wide range of applications.  The real stars on this stage are the furnishings. They will remain long after the elements of the installation have returned to the cycle of trade fair construction and the building industry. Studio Dessi's message is to play creatively with the living objects that characterize the interior design and bring the installation together as a whole: The Tecta D70 and Thonet 520 chairs invite you to stay and discuss, while the cable ropes of the hanging Cima lights (Lodes) "ground" the inflatable roof, which looks like a giant donut, and turn it into an architectural element that is both supporting and floating.

In Studio Dessí's interpretation, hospitality is also characterized by cultural traditions and artistic impulses. It is no coincidence that the installation is reminiscent of a pavilion in the middle of a (trade fair) landscape, which magnetically attracts visitors like a waymark. The open, light-flooded patio on the roof is also reminiscent of James Turrell's work, while the enigmatic art object "Sea of Stories" by Quirin Krumbholz on the glass table is intended to provide food for thought.

TOTIM

TOTIM (totem for TIM) is a WIFI amplifier with a build in speaker and a lighting source.

Installable through a socket to a wall, or on a vertically adjustable pole the ranges of applications are many: set at a certain height it can be a lamp or a speaker box wheras its acoustic performance will increase significantly. Mounted at bedside as a reading light, or as a user-friendly companion to listen to the radio, favorite podcast or just to amplify the sound of the movie you are watching.

The conical shape references the iconographic form of volume or a ray of light. The rounded corners provide a nice and handy grip for easy portability and a LICHTSPALT elegantly close the small gap between speaker and outter ring. TOTIM is equipped with a built in battery, which allows the use of the object independently from electronic sources; lighting and speaker function can also be operated individually. This highly technological object invites you to find your personal configuration to fill the house with music and ambience.

The result is a very simple and intuitive object that aims at blurring the line between a lamp and a sound system!

REIMAGINING OTTO WAGNER

For the Post Otto Wagner exhibition at the the museum for applied arts vienna the studio was invited to rethink the Otto Wagner table he designed in 1902 for „Die Zeit“ office in Vienna.

STILL LIFE

“With Still Life designer Marco Dessí gives a comprehensive survey of projects that have been realized to date alongside a series of newly developed prototypes that will be presented to the public for the very first time. Dessí defines Still Life as a contemplative snapshot of his works, selected and grouped in light of substantive, emblematic and aesthetic contexts. Exhibition display and individual objects merge into an atmospheric picture that, both in its totality and in detail, offers an unusual and quite personal approach to Dessí’s attitude toward design. The exhibition has been designed with an eye to its location, quoting the room’s architectural elements while evoking an interior-like atmosphere that serves both as a stage and as a set of thematic brackets for the objects presented therein.”

8 DURALEX

The Duralex Picardie glass is a beautiful mass produced industrial product – an icon. By numbering eight of these glasses they became special, an edition of eight: 1/8, 2/8, 3/8 ... The concept was further developed into a decorative feature: the numbers were replaced with engraved dots. The fact that they were hand-engraved elegantly emphasizes the contrast to the industrial product.

MOKKA

Commissioned by Vacant Galleries, a Vienna-based collective who organized pop-up art shows. The bar is assembled out of 13 modules made of thin metal sheets bent to give utmost stability. Inbuilt illumination underlines the construction and adds lightness and atmosphere. The plain industrial appearance of the counter nicely contrastes the historic patinated environment of Etablissment Gschwandner.

PARALLEL VIENNA

The VIP Lounge, previously used as the Austrian posts accountants’ office, was located in the first floor of the building. The historically charged room took us back to our project: the Viennese salon at Art Basel in 2013

The very similar exigencies led us to set the pitch-black furniture,in a new context, where materiality and color would present themselves in deliberately stark contrast: the opulence vs. the radical! The furniture displays its most distinctive features through an unconventional mix of materials such as nappa alongside space mesh, mostly known for its deployment in sports. Surrounded by paintings of Christian Rosa and Franz Graf the furnishing objects engage in a spirited dialogue with the artworks.

PUTT PUTT

Within the framework of Space TIM for Expo 2015 curated by Marco Sammicheli, each of the five participating design studios were invited to present themselves and their work through a one-week long presentation each. There were no conceptual restrictions of any kind, on condition that the chosen display would provide some form of interaction for the visitors.

From the start the studios concept was constantly revolving around the notions of accessibility and playfulness. These notions would later allow us to create a context, in which the visitor could dynamically approach the studios diverse body of work from a completely new and unexpected angle.

The decision to place all objects on the ground and arrange them in such manner, that they come to form a minigolf course, plays into the idea of creating a new approach on how to look at objects: No pedestals, no hierarchy, but a parcours that invites the visitor to playfully move through the
show with a new awareness, hence proposing to experience the works through distinctive bodily perception.