Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu are a husband-and-wife design team

at the vanguard of a fresh Asian aesthetic. Zu Hai

by  Stephen Todd

Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu never planned to become the standard bearers of a new era in Chinese design. Children of the diaspora, he was born in the Philippines, she in Taiwan, China. They met while studying architecture at the University of California Berkeley. He completed his masters degree at Harvard, she at Princeton. "I chose architecture," she says, "because it uses both sides of the brain."

After marrying, they joined Michael Graves Architecture & Design in New York, intent on North American careers. But in the early 2000s, when Graves won the contract to revive Shanghai's historic Three on the Bund, he appointed Neri as project lead. Neri, Hu and their young family moved to China's buzziest city – population 24.15 million – for an intended six-week stay.

"The idea was to stay temporarily to see the project through," Neri says. "But then SARS hit and we were stuck. Six weeks became three months, three months became six months, six months turned into a year. During our wait to return to the States we began to realise there was an incredible energy, a new sense of opportunity arising in China." Neri and Hu launched Neri & Hu Design and Research Office in 2004, an interdisciplinary practice with scope across architecture, master planning, interiors and product design.

Combining the streamlined allure of the Bauhaus with the quiet exuberance of Ming, as architects they create buildings of a stern beauty, often enlivened by precious detailing. Their Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat hotel in the Hanjiang district, opened in February, lies low to the ground like a grey, brick bunker. A series of interior courtyards and reflecting ponds echoes the logic of traditional siheyuan, laneway homes. Its interiors are lined in rich timber and silky granite, highlighted by the glow of patinated brass. Windows punched into the brutal exterior usher the melancholic landscape inside.

  
As product designers, they devise furniture and lighting imbued with poetry and whimsy, underpinned by intellectual rigour. Originally, they sidestepped Chinese manufacturing ("all the copying, the high volume but low quality", says Neri) by working with brands in Portugal (De La Espada), Holland (Moooi) and Spain (BD Barcelona), creating products with names such as Shaker, Commune and Emperor – nods to their edgy East-meets-West aesthetic.

 
Stellar careers

Then, in 2015, Neri and Hu were appointed creative directors of a new Chinese design brand, Stellar Works. The brainchild of Japanese designer-turned-entrepreneur Yuichiro Hori in partnership with venerable French brand Laval, Stellar Works was launched in 2012 and operates from a factory outside of Shanghai.

"The Japanese and French are known for their fine craftsmanship," says Hori, "but it's no longer feasible to execute to such a high level inside Japan or France. The Chinese are renowned for their massive capacity, but derided for their disrespect for authenticity. I realised that by upskilling the local workforce we could raise standards and create a highly viable business."

He was right. Today Stellar Works exports to 35 countries and last year posted revenues of $US24 million. Hori is counting on $US32 million turnover this fiscal year.

 

Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat hotel in China: a Neri & Hu Design and Research Office project

 
Neri & Hu's collections for the brand riff off Shanghai's particular history as the most cosmopolitan of mainland Chinese cities, the "Paris of the East" with its elegant French Concession, the glitzy neon skyscrapers of the Pudong district and the rugged industrial precincts across the Huangpu River.

There's the Bund sofas, chairs and stools – the soft curves and lush padding of which reference the landmark art deco strip of riverside buildings that originally brought the designers to Shanghai. Their Ming chairs remix the classic 19th-century bentwood chair, criss-crossing the back rail to evoke the elegance of traditional Chinese decorative arts.

The Utility chairs read as an ode to Shanghai's industrial past, the almost DIY allure of the metal frame linking timber and upholstery seats and backs. Like many of their designs, the Utility pieces are just quirky enough to make them feel slightly off-kilter, creating an intriguing uneasiness that reflects the histories of the designers themselves.

As creative directors of Stellar Works, Neri and Hu also oversee the work of an eclectic line-up of external designers, including New York's David Rockwell, Toronto's Yabu Pushelberg and Sydney's Nic Graham. Their skill is in integrating disparate aesthetics and practices, layering them into a single brand to create a singular message. It's furniture that speaks to the complexity of China today and into the future.

(Source:afr.com)