About design, AI and his first project in Romania – interview with Karim Rashid

I follow him for years. I think it is one of the most creative designers today (I still want to live in a hotel room designed by him or, at leat, to have a Poly XoXo chair in my house). And I have to admit, I am in love with Karim Rashid minimalist & yet luxuriant sense of interior design. It is my second time that I had the chance to talk to Karim Rashid – this time about the design, the challenges of an AI world and his first project ever in Romania, Raionul de Pește.

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• Karim Rashid – https://www.karimrashid.com. More than 4000 designs in production, over 400 awards to his name and client work in over 40 countries. Follow him for beautiful projects on Instagram at @karim_rashid_official.
• Raionul de Pește (Calea Floreasca 113) – https://raionuldepeste.com. Instagram – @raionuldepeste.

After all the years in business, do you still believe that design will change the world?

Yes, but design won’t change the world as it has in the last century. I believe technology and innovation are inseparable from design. Design just shifts with technology. The modern person is having greater experiences with the digital than the physical, so the physical has to become as exciting and seductive, as colorful, and flexible and as personalizable. This is the modern landscape we live it. Design will shift to UX and more immaterial products for communication, entertainment and information, multilingual language voice chips.

We live in a world where everybody says that AI will replace, in the future, designers, creatives and writers. Did you see an AI program that did something similar to you? How do you relate to this trend?

I have been experimenting with AI, but I have my doubts about it. With thousands of images of my work in the virtual realm, I notice many designers are sending me work, and just with my name and a few words it generates very amazing imagery that looks like I designed it. So, it becomes too easy, especially for students. It is not from their soul or vision and they have not learned to conceive their ideas. Also, a strong concept is critical for good design, and AI at this point is only superficial style. This is very concerning. 

How should a restaurant/cafés/bar design look, to invite you in? That specific thing that makes the difference between an in-vogue restaurant and one with… almost no clients (except the chef, of course)?

When you design a hotel or a restaurant the human experience is immersive. When you design a product, it has a singular experience. Space design deals with a plethora of diverse experiences. If I design a holistic space, I can touch many people emotionally, functionally, aesthetically, and behaviorally. It also greatly depends on other factors including the cuisine, chef, location, PR, and clientele. But I try to inject a positive spirit and beauty into my environments.

Why did you take the challenge to redesign Raionul de Pește Floreasca? What convinced you? What was the idea from which you started the redesign?

Firstly, restaurant design is always a challenge. When I travel the world, I find so few contemporary well-designed restaurants. So, the challenge was to design a restaurant that has a new experience, that synchronizes with the food, but brings people into a different visual and spatial world. I think we managed to create the perfect place for a different and positive experience. The eclectic, fluid, vibrant design takes the clients into an underwater world, a place where the culinary concept of the restaurant perfectly melts with the sensory component of our vision.

Why do we need design in our life?

We are all our own constructions/designs. Today we live in the beautiful digitally-spirited age of freedom, a democratic self-expressive creative empowerment thanks to the Digital age breaking down of borders, the information age, where we can disseminate our individuality. We will always be in need of more design, more self-expression. Design shapes our experiences on every level. Design touches all our 5 senses and evolves human behaviors. Design is our cultural shaper and design touches everyone’s lives. In fact, it is a betterment for society on a micro-scale to a macro-scale.

What is the most provocative project that you did in the last year? What to expect from you in 2023?

Probably the most provocative was the EGO Collection with Scarlet Splendor. Ego collection is a luxurious collection of chairs, cabinet, and a screen/room divider in polished brass and resin to speak about the human visage. The collection is an iteration of a motif I have been working on since I studied under Gaetano Pesce near Naples in 1984. Gaetano gave us an unusual assignment to design a drinking glass fashioned after a head or a person’s face. I decided to spin my head 360 degrees. Since then, I have iterated my profile into glasses, vases, sculptures, and now a new collection with Scarlet Splendor.

• Karim’s designs include luxury goods for Christofle, Alessi, Veuve Clicquot, and Riva 1920; democratic products for Umbra, Paul Mitchell, and 3M; timeless furniture for Bonaldo, Tonelli, BoConcept, and Vondom; exquisite lighting for Artemide and Fontana Arte; high-tech products for Asus and SirinLabs; surface design for Marburg and Abet Laminati; iconic branding for Hugo Boss and Citibank; and award-winning packaging for Method, Paris Baguette, Kenzo, and Eos.

• His works are featured in 20 permanent collections in various art institutions worldwide, including Brooklyn Museum of Art, MoMA, and The Center Pompidou. He has exhibited across the globe and is a frequent contributor to the Venice Biennale, as well as exhibiting major retrospectives of his design work in Sao Paulo, Seoul, Milan, and Ottawa. 

Photography: Sebastian Stan, Mihai Colfescu.