Karim Rashid’s off-beat designs include everything from shelving to sculpture. Laura Gatsos finds out more

After speaking with designer Karim Rashid and receiving a thank you email signed off “Globalove to u, kisses, karim”, one can’t help but walk away with a feeling that the world really is a beautiful place. His unabashed passion for everything design, and what the possibilities he envisions achievable through design, is inspiring even to those who couldn’t care less what shape their desk chair takes. It is this zeal that has solidified Rashid in the design industry as one of the best. His name is known the world over and his creations are instantly recognisable to those with even a mild interest in architectural design. Rashid is a colourful designer, literally with his brightly-hued interiors and products and figuratively, with his larger than life character, who has travelled the world collaborating and building his portfolio to include objects and spaces as well as installations showcasing his artistic vision, including past and current projects in the Middle East.

The uniqueness of his work is a result of his “holistic” approach to design. He cites many factors as playing a role in the process, including the human experience, political, social and economic issues and physical and mental interaction. When asked to explain, he says, “I try to develop objects and spaces to be inspiring, so one can feel truly alive. I design objects and spaces as ‘de-stressors’ — experiential objects that bring enjoyment, not encumbrances, that simplify tasks, and increase our level of engagement and appreciation of beauty. Our lives are elevated when we experience beauty, comfort, luxury, performance and utility seamlessly together. This underlying depth of beauty means that content plays a primary role in the beauty of things. Paintings, objects, art, architecture, space, all manifest their aesthetics through their content. The visual and the concept are one.”

While it is clear that Rashid’s immense success is a result of his ability to view such mundane items as waste baskets and shelves as an avenue to beauty, he explains his view in black and white terms, “Imagine you only had only four tastes. That is like living in the world with grey, brown, black, and white. I always believed that our senses are underused, and that we should celebrate and expand our senses. We can hear thousands of sounds, we can enjoy thousands of diverse tastes, so we should be able to experience thousands of colours. Colour is one of the most beautiful phenomena of our existence … a way of dealing with and touching our emotions, our psyche, and our spiritual being. Some colours are strong, some are soft, but what is important is the specific hue or tint or saturation of each colour and how they work together. Colour can be used well or poorly, but no one should be afraid of colour. It is a spiritual phenomenological euphoria.”

Although some may argue his philosophy on red and yellow is somewhat heavy, he says he simply can’t help how he thinks. Perpetually observing and analysing everything in the environment around him (he is capable of filling no less than 100 pages of a sketch pad on a standard European flight), he takes pen to paper with the goal of enriching life whether designing the interior of a restaurant, as he did with the award-winning Morimoto restaurant in Philadelphia and Nooch restaurant in NYC and Singapore, or the first products the OH chair and Garbo which put him on the map. Along with 50 other interior design projects including Switch restaurant in The Dubai Mall, the Semiramis hotel in Athens stands out as a pivotal point in his career.

In addition to the use of vivid colour, Rashid is a fan of curved spaces. Walls, tables, chairs, glasses — everything  imaginable — take a smooth, curved form because he believes that “spaces should be soft, organic and friendly. Surroundings should engage technology, visuals, textures, lots of colour, as well as meet all the needs that are intrinsic to living a simpler life.”

It only makes sense then that the inventive wheels in Rashid’s head are constantly spinning. For the future he has a modest list of few things he would like to create, “… a hydrogen car, bioplastic kit homes for the impoverished, cosmetics packaging that dissolves into the water, a clothing line that can be worn year round, airplane interiors that are more human, intelligent hotels, clothing lines, music, film, shoes, and very, very banal objects like products for the aging, wheel chairs and walkers.” Oh, and a hotel chain and a standalone gallery.

As for his other projects in the Middle East, Rashid is currently working on an interior sculpture for the Burj Dubai, but is somewhat perplexed at the lack of desire for his work, especially given the progressive nature of Dubai. “I am surprised I do not have any offers from the Middle East — maybe they see my work as too radical, though I consider my work very normal and very now.”

To say Rashid’s obsession with design is incalculable is akin to merely calling the Burj Dubai a building, so when he tells me he has more ideas than any company could ever produce, I am hesitant to believe that he won’t, in spite of his lean design team of 15, accomplish a “Globalove” transformation of every environment he lends his talented hand to.

Rashid’s keys to enhancing the aesthetic of your home: 

l   Create large white spaces with accents of strong positive colours.

l   Have less but better furniture. Try to substitute two or three pieces with one.

l   All kitchen products should be hidden. The kitchen should be bare and beautiful.

l   Avoid curtains. Curtains are dirt and dust collectors and make spaces look smaller with added bulk and weight. Use seamless mesh blinds instead.

l   Use materials that are easy to clean and that age well. Plastic OR composite floors (laminates, vinyl sheeting, or artificial rubber) are lightweight and inexpensive materials that wear well and are more resistant to scratches and staining.

l   Use colour to express yourself. Don’t be afraid of that bright orange chair. Paint your wall lime-green. Be brave when it comes to carpets, countertops, and tables. Colour is beautiful and it’s all about self-expression. Be yourself.

l   If you’re moving to a new place, look for lots of light. Daylight is essential to positive thinking and your well being. If not moving, look for ways to maximise the light you have with skylights, enlarged windows, etc. 

l   Wallpaper is wonderful. It lasts longer than paint and is easy to clean and replace.

l   Wall-to-wall carpeting is warm, easy to maintain, pleasurable, soft, and friendly. Think of a pattern versus a plain colour.

l   Make do with less. And make sure you really want what you’re buying. I am not anti-consumption per se but I think it’s essential to consume with awareness. Buy only what you need or desire.