IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 14

I DESIGN |

How an Idea Hatched

LUCA NICHETTO on how grid paper influenced

his design for online retailer ZaoZuo's first showroom.

By | Meredith Landry

"

S

My
inspiration
for the
showroom
was a blank
notebook
in which
we could
begin to
write that
history from
scratch.

"

14

perspective

Sometimes good design is all about
reading between the lines.
In July, Italian designer Luca
Nichetto opened the first store
for ZaoZuo, a low-cost, high-quality
Chinese furniture brand in Beijing,
China. Nichetto, who serves as
the creative director for the brand,
says he designed the interior of
the showroom to look like a blank
sheet of grid paper.
"Not only is ZaoZuo a young
brand, but China itself does
not have the long history and
heritage of design that we have in
Europe," Nichetto says. "So my
inspiration for the showroom
was a blank notebook in which
we could begin to write that
history from scratch."

iida.org/perspective

In the Details
The brightly lit latticework of
white and gray shelving creates
small modular boxes where ZaoZuo
products are displayed throughout
the 300-square-meter (3,229-squarefoot) space, which is located in
Beijing's busy Indigo shopping
center.
Rather than traditionally
displaying furniture in sets or sample
groupings laid out on the showroom
floor, Nichetto wanted to showcase
each piece on its own. The result? A
furniture showroom that reads more
like an art gallery than a retail space.
"This way, the customer can
focus on the detail of every product
and be inspired to create their own
customized combinations," he says.

To create a sense of cohesion
among the products, Nichetto
organized the collection by hue: Cold
colors are positioned at the lower
levels of the grid, warm shades in the
middle, and neutrals at the top.

Hip to Be Square
Nichetto says that ZaoZuo-which
was founded by graphic designer and
entrepreneur Shu Wei-is in a position
to educate consumers about design, so
creating a space that resembled grid
paper-used to take notes and draw
sketches-just made sense to him.
"I'm absolutely happy with how it
turned out," he says. "I was there just
recently and could see how the public
interacted with the space, and I think
it works very well."



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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016

IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016
From IIDA
Contents
Next
World View
Sum of Its Parts
Talk, Talk
Pre/Post
I Design
Data Viz
The Happiness Principle
Designs on Diversity
What’s Old Is New
Retail Reboot
Futureproof Now
Scratch Pad
Insider Intel
Sound Bytes
IIDA News + Updates
Why This Design Works
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - Cover2
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - From IIDA
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - Contents
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 3
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 4
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 5
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - Next
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 7
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 8
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 9
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - World View
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - Sum of Its Parts
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - Talk, Talk
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - Pre/Post
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - I Design
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - Data Viz
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - The Happiness Principle
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 17
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 18
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 19
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 20
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 21
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 22
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 23
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - Designs on Diversity
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 25
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 26
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 27
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - What’s Old Is New
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 29
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 30
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 31
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 32
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 33
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - Retail Reboot
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 35
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 36
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 37
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 38
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 39
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - Futureproof Now
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 41
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 42
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 43
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 44
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 45
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 46
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 47
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - Scratch Pad
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 49
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - Insider Intel
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 51
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - Sound Bytes
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 53
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - IIDA News + Updates
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 55
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - Why This Design Works
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - Cover3
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - Cover4
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