In April 2016, a group of designers came to Vitra's factory in Germany. Standing in front of the Vitra Fire Station designed by Zaha Hadid, our feelings were complicated. The great architect has left us, but the solid concrete and sharp lines of the building are vigorous and carry forward her design ideas.
Vitra is quite influential in the design community. Pritzker Prize winners including Frank O.Gehry, Alvaro Siza, Zaha Hadid, Tadao Ando, Herzog & de Meuron and SANAA have conceived buildings for the brand, while design masters such as Charles and Ray Eames, George Nelson and Antonio Citterio have worked with it and create lots of classic furniture, making it a legend.
NET OFFICE FURNITURE is a Shenzhen-based furniture supplier, which sells products of various well-known brands such as Vitra, Milliken, Boss, etc. It entrusted Super Normal to transform and upgrade a showroom that displays Vitra’s products.
Situated at OCT LOFT, a cultural and creative park in Shenzhen, China, the old showroom had been put in use for several years and required adjustments, in order to bring brand new experiences to customers. As conceiving the design, we tried to figure out how to pay tribute to previous generations of design masters and how to tell the stories of the brand.
Vitra’s brand spirit is in line with the cultural and creative ambience of the site. Taking this as the starting point, we intended to create something different, with the space serving products whilst incorporating product concepts into the spatial design. Just like the long-lasting design of Vitra’s products, this space doesn’t chase fashion, but seeks for classic eternity and ingenuity.