Groundbreaking Interior Design – the trail-blazers from planet earth to deep space

The cutting edge of interior design is so razor-sharp right now that you’d better be careful or you’ll cut your finger on it.  

Trends are one thing, but the innovators are making their mark on some of the most high-end public places around the world. They’re not only sprinkling their fairy-dust on restaurants and retail flagships, but more astonishingly they’re following in the flamboyant footsteps of the art world to dip their toes in digital waters. 

The hospitality sector is the obvious starting block. It’s recently unveiled some shiver-inducing interior designs which are proudly brandishing traditional and iconic cultural identities. 

ICRAVE, the New York hotties on the international design stage, recently took an ear-popping elevator ride up to the 51st floor of the spectacular Palm Tower in Dubai. And there they created something rather special. SushiSamba, the Japanese-Brazilian-Peruvian fusion restaurant needed something as breathtaking as its panoramic view to offer diners an exceptional experience. With a nod to that hybrid cuisine, ICRAVE took inspiration from the trio of cultures, and blended traditional weaving techniques together with the lush verdant backdrop of a tropical rainforest, setting-sun orange, undulating curves of ebony and gold, as well as gilt bamboo-like structures.  

Meanwhile, the Rockwell Group literally brought the casa into Manhattan via Casa Dani, the latest venture in Spanish cuisine by Michelin-starred maestro Dani Garcia. Terracotta floors, Mediterranean colours and warm clay plaster are in on-trend harmony with a subtle scattering of plant life – we said it before, biophilia is all the rage. 

The theme continues here, but we’re now knocking on the door of the retail sector, where innovation in ID is operating at peak performance.  

Just last week we discussed the future of retail architecture, but ID is working just as hard on the inside to lure people back to the physical world. Enter stage left, Ashley Randolph, Design Director at Landor and Fitch and the wunderkind behind M&M’s flagship store in Berlin.  

Eye-catching and brilliantly innovative interactive experiences include a create-your-own virtual M&M look-alike (three exclamation marks), clubbing pods (quizzical face), M&M’s street art (oooh!), as well as an M&M’s rooftop terrace (aaah!). No more spoilers from us, except to hint that the experience is also a very M&M- and Berlin-inspired love story. If other businesses invest in ID like this, we’re super-suspicious that physical retail is about to make a big comeback. 

The conversation about the rise of digital retail has been going on for some time, but who’d have ever dreamed that interior design would be taking its own baby steps into the metaverse?  

That’s right – when once we could only purchase real furniture to sit on in our rooms, we can now exchange real money for NFTs (Non Fungible Tokens) of hyper-stylish digital chairs for our digital selves of the future to sit on in our yet-to-be-purchased digital spaces.  

Only time will tell whether NFTs are a passing trend or a permanent fixture, but right now they’re creating a lot of interest. Plus 100% digital products are emerging and being marketed. Very recently, digital interior designer Luca Baldocchi had a meeting of minds with interior lighting and digital design company Nemo to devise lighting solutions for digital worlds.  

At the same time, groundbreaking designer and digital artist, Andrés Reisinger, was beavering away at “impossible” furniture pieces. One of them was sold for $70,000 (approx £53,000) at auction. Have a look at the Hortensia chair and Deep Space sofa to understand exactly why his digital commodities are drawing so much attention.  

On the surface there seems to be an awkward gap between ID focusing on traditional aesthetics, while at the same time creating digital couches for alien worlds. But is there? Perhaps the truth is that digital will remain a fundamental part of our lives, but we’ll only thrive if we keep our rich cultural heritages close to our hearts.