Ministry man

A concept hotel room developed by Colin Seah - who heads Ministry of Design in Singapore - for Depa United Group will be presented at this year's Hotel show in Dubai.

According to Seah the design reflects his interest in layering spaces and uses curving clear glass walls that can turn translucent to create privacy between spaces.

Seah sees it as a commentary on the typical pressure for hoteliers to provide high-end hotel rooms that seem to always need to be larger in size. He sees his design as a counterpoint to that, where ‘luxury is not having more space, but having more spaces'.

"At times, we draw from the inherent cues and inspiration inherent in the characteristics of each project  - the site, the client, the functional challenges," said Seah. "Sometimes the cues are from elsewhere, and we have to ask the right questions first before we can even start. For the Concept Hotel Room - Invisible Spaces for Depa, we had to ask ourselves what the luxury hotel room was about at an essential level, then from this starting point to redefine it completely."

Seah received his architectural training in the United States and worked with architects such as Rem Koolhaas and Daniel Libeskind, before returning to Singapore. He founded Ministry of Design three and a half years ago and describes it as ‘focusing on spatial design through architecture and interior architecture projects'.

Seah is one of several interior design practitioners whose work is gaining popularity in the Middle East. Others include Isabelle Miaja, who designed the interior for the Radisson SAS in Dubai Media City, and DBTA International's David Tokiwa, who has produced localised designs for the Wagamama franchise.

A full interview with Colin Seah will appear in the April edition of Commercial Interior Design.

Print | Email | Discuss this article |

READERS' COMMENTS

View all comments (0)

Have your say

Click here to post a comment

Add your Comment All posts are sent to the administrator for review and are published only after approval. ArabianBusiness.com reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic.
Name *
Remember me on this computer
Email *	(Your email address will not be published)
City
Country
Subject *
Comment *
Notify me of further comments
Security Code *
Please click post only once - your comment will not be published immediately.

MORE FROM ARABIANBUSINESS.COM