Ruckstuhl Edition HYPNOS – Projektansicht

Ruckstuhl Edition HYPNOS – Atelier- und Entwurfsansicht

Ruckstuhl Edition DESSUS – Dessus Dessous Designer

Hypnos

workshop hi

2010 · Edition of 1

In the early days of modernity, and even in the mid-20th century, there still were universal architect-designers who literally designed everything from the coffee spoon to the large building, anything that demanded design. Those times are irretrievably gone—given the ongoing specialization and differentiation that has long since also affected the field of design. When Aurel Aebi, Armand Louis, and Patrick Reymond joined forces to form Atelier Oï 19 years ago, they relied from the start on teamwork and an inter- and transdisciplinary approach to tackle diverse design challenges. Their success proves them right. The office, based in the small town of La Neuveville between Biel and Neuchâtel, has grown over the years to around 25 employees (architects, designers, graphic artists) who handle an impressive variety of projects in architecture, interior architecture, scenography, and design at the highest professional level. Among Atelier Oï’s clients, to name just the most important, are companies such as the Swatch Group, B&B Italia, Foscarini, Louis Vuitton, Ikea, Wogg, and Röthlisberger.

A fundamental basis for Atelier Oï’s work is the intensive engagement with a material or a specific construction method, which initially takes place in the office’s own workshop through the building of models and prototypes. The experiences gained in this often lengthy, experiment-rich process usually enrich several, in principle independent projects. Ideally, it is possible to revisit, transform, and further develop individual formal elements or construction ideas over time.

Atelier Oï explicitly understands its collaborative creation as a great continuum. Accordingly, its own material and project archive is carefully maintained and constantly consulted. Individual works do not stand isolated but are meant to be understood as links in a chain. Continuing a theme, even across disciplinary boundaries and often involving a change of scale, has by now become almost a trademark of the office. Indeed, this working method repeatedly leads to surprising and convincing synergies.

How a project at Atelier Oï can arise from a previous one is also evident in their rug designs for the Edition Ruckstuhl. For example, the rug Dessus Dessus Dessous, woven from linen bands, traces back to a textile installation titled “Plier – Entrelacer – Superposer” (Fold, Weave, Overlap), which Atelier Oï realized at the invitation of Peter Ruckstuhl for Designers’ Saturday 2008 in Langenthal. The starting material for this work, which was nominated for the Design Preis Schweiz 2009, consisted of the linen bands typically used as borders in the finishing of rugs. The transformation from an experimental exhibition installation to an edition product involved both a technical refinement and a graphical enhancement of the design.

The rug Hypnos is formally inspired by the kinetic installation “Les Danseuses,” which Atelier Oï presented in 2009 for the opening of its new office and workshop building in La Neuveville. In the round, continuously narrowing wave lines that give the rug its distinctive character, the motif of the rotating, ornamentally perforated textile umbrellas from the installation—evoking the association with the skirts of dancing dervishes—is virtually frozen.

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workshop hi

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