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STORYTELLING
STORYTELLING
Rossana Hu & Lyndon Neri
Rossana Hu & Lyndon Neri
How does Stellar Works fit within the
creative vision that you have developed
as Neri&Hu Design Studio? How do you
define yourselves within this relationship?
Neri&Hu: I think Stellar Works fits very
well into our overall creative vision and
Neri&Hu's plan as an architecture, interior
design and multidisciplinary studio. We are
interested in the opportunity to develop a
vision for a creative brand and have it grow
into something real, and Stellar Works is
able to offer this. We see a lot of suitable
and fitting elements within Stellar Works
that Neri&Hu also aspires to be, such as
being in Shanghai and Asia but also global
and international, and really wanting to as-
sert ourselves as a significant voice within
this creative platform that negotiates be-
tween the cultural elements of Shanghai
and helps to create that hybrid in all the dis-
ciplines that we participate in. So that’s how
we define ourselves.
How would you upgrade this defini-
tion (taken from the first Stellar Works
catalogue):“Stellar Works stresses the
sources of cultural inspirations through
an aesthetic dialogue between East
and West, the refinement of French and
Japanese elegance and sense of beauty,
the Nordic simplicity and high level of
craftsmanship?”
N.&H.: We see Stellar Works as hav-
ing an opportunity to create something
quite unique. This is a unique voice that
will speak about China and specifically
Shanghai, but a China that is not yet de-
fined in global scene because it not seen
as a creative place nor a creative culture,
and so we hope to bring a a new aesthetic
sensibility that has not been brought yet
to the furniture world. The French part
is there, but in a subtle way, while the
Japanese design influence – its simplicity
and minimalist aesthetic juxtaposed with
the rustic vibrancy of Shanghai – that will
be very interesting for us. I think that will
also be an interesting departure from what
the world has seen today.
Elaborating on Shanghai as a city, a crea-
tive hub, a window to Asia and the world:
what makes Shanghai so singular and
what impact does it have on the Stellar
Works vision and strategic developments?
N.&H.: Shanghai is really a crucible of
everything that comes to this place
right now: Crucible meaning it takes
what comes, what is put in the bowl and
put under fire and burned and twisted;
it is consumed by people who are here
and from abroad. So all the things that
happen here: business, creative culture,
fashion, painting, music, all are quite
unique. So the whole world is looking at
China and to define it somewhat and
understand it and Shanghai has been
brought to forefront as the city that is
most experimental and most interna-
tional and so a lot of people see Shanghai
as a defining voice of China, which makes
the city interesting as well, and it is such
an international hub with people from all
over the world. Particularly interesting is
the Chinese diaspora community—those
who have gone abroad and come back,
and whether through investments or by
bringing the next generation back to de-
velop newer platforms of what they had
abroad – like the real estate companies
– all of this works with the Stellar Works
platform and strategy to be set up in
Shanghai and we want to be consumed
and to take on the challenge of this ener-
gy and the rawness of this city. Shanghai
is a creative hub and it is also unique be-
cause it has a big part of the local culture
that is very much thriving and vibrant. So
that rawness mixed with international
sophistication– you don’t know what will
come out of things when you put them
together.
You took on the creative direction in 2015.
You have been redefining the brand DNA,
mission statement, vision for the upcom-
ing years. What are the major challenges
and recent outputs?
N.&H.: While we want to push this brand
to become a total signature brand and
design brand, there is also the foundation
of Stellar Works which is the OEM and fac-
tory component. So the contract part of
the business needs to be addressed and
in doing so we may be pulled back a bit on
how we could exert our full energy on the
creative direction of the design brand be-
cause it is embedded in this juxtaposition.
It is hard to balance both and so that bal-
ance is one of the most important things
we need to overcome. On the sales and
business side, we want to start defining
Stellar Works more profoundly in the retail
segment on a global scale by establish-
ing retail spaces and offering customers a
more engaged brand experience.
How would you contextualize the brand
Stellar Works? Does it position itself as the
first Shanghai-based design brand in high-
end furniture design?
N.&H.: Stellar Works is not the first de-
sign furniture brand but it is the first
design furniture brand that is composed
of international members; the owners, the
Creative Directors, the designers who are
part of the brand, the people who work
within, this is made up of a totally interna-
tional group of people, so we are the first
to take on this identity and it is very much
what Shanghai is about.
How does Stellar Works embrace the level
of chaos, multicultural mix-match and
attractiveness of a megalopolis such as
Shanghai? What’s the role that your design
hub, Design Republic, can play?
N.&H.: Stellar Works definitely does take
on all of those (chaos, multicultural mix,
etc.) Design Republic is very much a big
supporter of Stellar Works as a brand. It
wants to do more for the brand and it has
a dedicated space where it showcases
the collections and we want to take on
more marketing and PR aspects as well.
So we see Design Republic as a very
strong partner for Stellar Works.
Does Stellar Works aim at enhancing
high-end craftsmanship from Asia and to
cherchons pas à nous réapproprier des
références historiques. Il nous semble
toutefois intéressant d’intégrer harmo-
nieusement des techniques sur le point
de s’éteindre ou de tomber dans l’oubli
à nos produits ou collections. En dehors
d’Arita, on peut aussi citer Jingdezhen,
une ville chinoise qui se consacre à la
porcelaine, Yixing et son argile rouge et
violette, ou encore Weifang et ses pote-
ries noires, dont nous avons étudié les
techniques pour moderniser leur utili-
sation et nous demander comment les
insérer chez Stellar Works. Nous nous
penchons par ailleurs sur la technique
française de l’émail cloisonné pour la
moderniser, elle aussi.
Qu’est-ce qui a inspiré l’élaboration de la
collection Arita, la première ligne d’ob-
jets de Stellar Works ?
N.&H. : Au début de notre travail sur
le projet du Cabinet of Curiosity, nous
sommes allés visiter Arita. Nous y avons
découvert que la ville a commencé à
prospérer lorsque les liens qui exis-
taient entre la production de céramique
chinoise et l’Occident ont été coupés.
Cette relation entre le Japon, la Chine
et l’Europe nous a semblé intéressante
et nous a donné envie de collabo-
rer avec Arita. Le retour aux finitions
originales de l’argile, exposées dans
le musée de la ville, nous est apparu
comme un acte fort. Nous avons donc
décidé d’adopter ces finitions tirant sur
le bleu clair et le gris.
Quelle est votre vision de la beauté en
Orient et en Occident, en termes de mou-
vement, de grâce, de poésie, de peinture,
d’intérieurs ? Pensez-vous que les colla-
borations et installations artistiques
mettent davantage en valeur les qualités
et valeurs promues par Stellar Works ?
N.&H. : L’idée d’un monde divisé entre
Orient et Occident ne nous plaît guère,
bien qu’il s’agisse d’une réalité géo-
graphique. Ce qui nous intéresse en
revanche, ce sont les intersections et les
hybridations. Nous souhaiterions effec-
tivement explorer des installations et
collaborations avec des artistes dont la
vision et l’esthétique nous intéressent.
Comment se manifeste la recherche de
l’excellence, qui caractérise votre philo-
sophie du design, dans votre mobilier et
vos créations architecturales ? Vous
pousserait-elle à développer des collec-
tions ajoutant une dimension artistique à
la simple dimension du design ?
N.&H. : En termes de fabrication, nous
avons réfléchi à la valeur artistique des
objets de design. Les pièces de galerie
nous intéressent moins que les objets
artistiques situés dans un entre-deux
et uniquement destinés à être exposés,
ou que les objets fonctionnels destinés à
être utilisés. Comment l’introduction de
techniques traditionnelles soulèverait-
elle la question d’où tracer la marge ?
Voilà une intéressante interrogation qui
pourrait tenir lieu de problématique pour
un projet à venir.
Visez-vous une plus grande production
de pièces limitées et uniques chez Stellar
Works ? Très prisée par les entreprises de
mobilier actuelles, la personnalisation ne
permettrait-elle pas de distinguer ou de
perfectionner une création autrement
perçue comme ordinaire ?
N.&H. : Effectivement. Nous envisa-
geons également d’introduire quelques
pièces uniques plus exploratoires et
expérimentales dans la collection.
C’est quelque chose qui nous intéres-
serait vraiment.
Stellar Works aspire-t-elle à devenir une
marque d’excellence ou de luxe comme
Shang Xia ou Jia, ou à être la première
véritable marque de design asiatique dans
le domaine du design mobilier ? Disposez-
vous d’une stratégie claire encadrant
l’évolution future de vos ventes ?
N.&H. : Nous ne cherchons pas à deve-
nir une marque de luxe comme Shang
Xia, dans le sens où celle-ci vise exclu-
sivement la production d’articles de
luxe méritant presque d’être vendus
aux enchères. Nous voulons pour notre
part que nos produits soient utilisés et
adoptés par des designers cherchant
des produits pour leurs projets. Nous
aspirons donc à être une marque d’ex-
cellence, mais pas de luxe.
6 — Portrait of Neri&Hu
© Zhu Hai
