anySCALE were invited by MATSU to design a fair booth for the Guangzhou and Shenzhen furniture fairs. The caveat was that it needed to be reassembled and relocated within a timeframe of two weeks. anySCALE responded with a modular system that could be reused at both locations and for two years consecutively. This approach ensured zero material wastage while emphasizing a sustainable, eco-friendly philosophy.
The design's starting point was to create a pure white box-like space, the perfect environment for colorful furniture, and other accessories to be displayed. An idea was proposed to have arched niches echoing ancient architecture, featuring statues or sculptures framed as primary focal points. The whole booth was designed as a sequence of interconnected rooms, but without any corridors, therefore efficient space management was paramount. Customers enter the booth via an arch with openings framing the view onto the next space, embarking on a journey throughout the showroom. Each room reflects typical office functions such as a welcome lounge, pantry, open office, and executive office.
"Everything is connected but is also somehow separated," says anySCALE Shanghai director and project design lead, Simon Berg. All the booth areas have walls but are still visually connected via the arches. The exterior has a filtered facade made of acrylic glass with a dichroic film to spark intrigue from the outside looking in. The unique and contrasting look of dichroic glass combined with the arch shape became a recognized signature design feature for the brand at both fairs.
