For a month, Lloyd multiplies and exports its philosophy to Tokyo, where, for DesignTide, it opened Llove Hotel a few days ago in the luxurious and centrally located Daikanyama, a neighbourhood of Shibuya. Part exhibition and part hotel, it is possible to stop in to visit Tokyo Llove but also to book a room and stay for the night. The project is managed by Lloyd's artistic director, Suzanne Oxenaar (who dreamed of opening a branch in Japan for a long time) and by Jo Nagasaka (Schemata Architecture Office) who worked on the yurui concept (in Japanese, informal) which, when applied to a hotel, means reasonable prices and a friendly environment.
Eight Dutch (Scholten & Baijings, Pieke Bergmans, Richard Hutten and Joep van Lieshout) and Japanese (Yuko Nagayama, Hideyuki Nakayama, Ryuji Nakamura and Jo Nagasaka) designers worked in complete freedom to interpret the theme of the hotel room in very diverse ways. The Llove Hotel – with eight rooms, a cafe and shop - also offers an overview of different design approaches.
The Dutch take - as always – is ironic and conceptual. Like Richard Hutten's 7-star (3 for comfort and 4 for the experience), multi-colored striped room which, with its high plywood bed is "is not suitable for businessmen on a business trip, but very suitable for tourists not in a hurry, people in love, and everyone who knows how to enjoy life," explains the designer. Enchanted and "in love," in the room created by the queen of "design virus" Pieke Bergmans, the bed is crawling up the wall. The chair is desperately stretching out to get closer to the table. The lights are entangled and the toothbrushes are totally into one and another.The Scholten & Baijings duo focused on the theme of fertility.
The Japanese "rooms" are equally conceptual but far more essential and experimental; they invite guests to interact and play with tradition. Ryuji Nakamura, for instance, added a floor to the typical Japanese room, dividing the space in two (above and below). The elastic floor is the true element of surprise: you can pull and stretch it until you cross it; guests are encouraged to seek new ways to use the material. Yuko Nagayama's barren and desolate space is covered with white pebbles. "It will be a bit like camping in nature: you have to adapt to the environment," said Nagayama. So the guest adapts to the room and not the other way round. Hideyuki Nakayama's room is a perfect replica - only larger - of an ancient Japanese room but it is almost ramshackle. Another reference to tradition is made in Jo Nagasaka's project which starts with an historical fact (that of a Dutch factory built in 1641 on the island of Deshima) to create an illusionistic space.
Designed to celebrate four centuries of cultural and commercial exchange between Japan and the Netherlands, the temporary hotel will be open until November23. Elena Sommariva