The Design Diaries
- Mårten Claesson

Who or what are your biggest influences?

We get a lot of our inspiration from fields that may be related to architecture and design but are really about other aspects of life such as art, music, food, or travels. One artist that has been a great source of inspiration is Donald Judd; another Ellsworth Kelly. From traveling, Japan stands out in a class of its own. The number of visits is more than 100 between the three of us over the last 25 years. We never grow tired of the sophistication, civilization, precision, abstraction, purity, and beauty. Plus, you can’t seem to get a bad meal in Japan.

Have you ever changed your mind about anything aesthetics-wise?

Oh yes, all the time! To a point where we’ve more or less done away with aesthetic principles. Except perhaps the principle to not have a principle (in principle, that is!). If we have an aesthetic, it’s perhaps better for others to put it into words.

Describe your dream project, real or fantasy.

The dream is to achieve perfection. But since that is an impossible catch, we’ll have to make do with the chase and not the catch. And the ’chase’ in this case is the creative process itself, rather than a specific project or function. At its most stimulating, it is when you have to solve something you have never done before.

What’s the last thing you read that made you feel something?

Everything you read evokes emotions, especially good literature, just like physically experiencing architecture (should be).

What are you currently working on?

We’re currently working the final stages before the opening of K5 hotel in Tokyo, which is a very special 20-room hotel next to the Tokyo Stock Exchange. We completely transformed a 100-year-old concrete bank building. It’s luxury, but not in the typical way with slick materials and a “padded” ambience. Instead, for instance, fine-crafted wood is next to exposed concrete. It’s about a very real experience, although somewhat unusual. The rooms are large, around 45 square meters. This is a luxury, especially in Tokyo! And because this is a part of Tokyo with very little greenery, there is a lot of it in this hotel. There is even a gardener on the staff, although there is no garden. The reception is in a flower shop. The flower shop seamlessly becomes the dining room. There is a German-style beer hall with Scandinavian design and American beer (Brooklyn Brewery) in the basement. Also, there is a library that is a cocktail bar. In addition to the interior architecture itself, we’ve custom designed circa 20 objects and furniture pieces for K5, mostly made by local Japanese mastercraftsmen. It’s quirky, minimal, vague, and super-serious, all at the same time. We like to think of the K5 as a gesamtkunstwerk.