{"id":177,"date":"2016-09-23T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-09-23T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pagodared.com\/blog\/2016\/09\/23\/d-b-kim-global-beat\/"},"modified":"2018-02-27T23:57:02","modified_gmt":"2018-02-27T23:57:02","slug":"d-b-kim-global-beat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pagodared.com\/blog\/2016\/09\/23\/d-b-kim-global-beat\/","title":{"rendered":"D. B. Kim: Global Beat"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"db-kim\"D.B. Kim\u2019s\u00a0sophisticated, risk-taking designs make lasting\u00a0first impressions. Designing in-house for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide or in collaboration with Daroff Design + DDI Architects, Kim has spent nearly two decades updating the look and feel of life outside the home. Recently returned from Beijing after a two-year stint as Vice President of hospitality design for the Wanda Hotel Design & Research Institute, Kim is a travel enthusiast who\u2019s never short on inspiration. Here, he\u00a0indulges us with design tales \u2013 namely the engineering feats required to install one design element at the Wanda Reign hotel in Chengdu.<\/p>\n


\nPR:<\/strong> We love a list. What are 8 things currently inspiring your work?<\/em><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Travels and journeys. My recent trip to Chengdu, Sichuan in China.<\/li>\n
  2. Art and design exhibits. Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology<\/em> at the Met.<\/li>\n
  3. A legendary Beijing Peking Duck place, L\u00ecq\u00fan. Established in 1902, it\u2019s\u00a0in the old Hutong area.<\/li>\n
  4. The bookstore Eslite<\/em> in Taipei, Taiwan.<\/li>\n
  5. Mies van Der Rohe\u2019s Farnsworth House in Plano, Illinois.<\/li>\n
  6. The endless colors of jade.<\/li>\n
  7. The road to Hana in Maui, Hawaii.<\/li>\n
  8. Rainer Maria Rilke\u2019s Letters to a Young Poet<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    PR:<\/strong> How would you describe your personal design style?<\/em><\/p>\n

    DBK:<\/strong> My personal style is almost non-existent. I\u2019m more focused on the context and objectives of guest experiences. If there\u2019s a common language visible throughout my work, it would be subtle layers of comfort.\u00a0I approach design as a lifestyle, not a reflection of my own personal objectives. Modern living involves layered daily rituals all cross cultures, classes, races, and genders. I emphasize layers of details, whether minimal or maximal. Comfort and quality are extremely important design elements, as are dimensions, materials and colors.<\/p>\n

    \n

    \"Wanda<\/p>\n

    Wanda Reign Hotel, Chengdu, China<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    PR:<\/strong> Chairs are immensely important in hospitality design. Speak a little about your process for selecting the right kind of seating in commercial spaces. How do traditional Asian chairs enlighten your designs?<\/em><\/p>\n

    DBK:<\/strong> Discovering the right chair requires a lot of considerations: purpose, operational conditions and aesthetic qualities. Thank goodness there are endless options. In a hotel, chairs have to perform multiple functions, and traditional Chinese chairs do that very well. Culturally in China, certain chairs signified one\u2019s privilege and their high-class ranking. As objects and even as sculpture, chairs highlight so much. In their simplicity, we can find diverse details within carvings, insets, lacquer finishes, embellishments and embroidery. These details make it a luxury item that enhances one\u2019s higher levels.<\/p>\n

    \n

    \"dbkimwandahotellobby\"<\/p>\n

    Wanda Reign Hotel, Chengdu, China<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    PR:<\/strong> Your latest hospitality project is a Wanda Vista Hotel in Chengdu, China, which has a large-scale artistic feature in jade. What were the challenges you faced during that installation?<\/em><\/p>\n

    DBK:\u00a0<\/strong>It was a technical challenge to figure out how to mount this huge, natural, luxurious product vertically. The space is about three stories high.\u00a0All buildings move and shift, which can cause cracks in the wall. Precious materials like jade, no doubt, would move with the building. So those kinds of things were a challenge for us. We wanted the audience to see it and say, \u2018Wow\u2019 without even thinking about the back-of-the-house engineering: the most challenging part.<\/p>\n

    Jades are very precious (as they have always been). Traditionally, they were used in small doses, not in such a large, modern scale.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    The secondary problem was the lighting. Opposite that jade, there is a floor-to-ceiling glass wall, like you can imagine in any other modern building. A tremendous amount of natural light comes in, and it washes the dramatic contour, the depth of the sculpture and the jade wall. To overcome this, the engineers and lighting designers accentuated the carving and depth of the installation with direct lighting that we could control, just like in a gallery.<\/p>\n

    \n

    <\/p>\n

    Close-Up of Jade Wall at the Wanda Reign Hotel, Chengdu, China<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    PR:<\/strong> Why did you select jade?<\/em><\/p>\n

    DBK:<\/strong> Our goal was to educate visitors about the lost craftsmanship of jade carving that dates back many dynasties. I learned that you can\u2019t choose the colors you want. It\u2019s not like glass or paint \u2014 it\u2019s a stone. You have to accept the fact that as you carve it, it\u2019s what you get.\u00a0The process marries the concept with traditional artisanship.<\/p>\n

    You don\u2019t really know what it will look like until you carve and polish it. The polishing brings out the translucency and color of the true jade. So, we were really taking a risk.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    The visual story is the surrounding natural landscape. Through the landscape, we wanted to tell the story of the region\u2019s architectural heritage and reference significant landmarks. It\u2019s a very rich area in the center of S\u00ecchu\u0101n. They discovered and developed the finest silks here. Because water is abundant, it\u2019s very agriculturally rich. People who lived here could enjoy their leisure time \u2014 they played mahjong, enjoyed their teas. We wanted that sort of thing to come through.<\/p>\n

    \n

    \"dbkimjade\"<\/p>\n

    Close-Up of Jade Wall at the Wanda Reign Hotel, Chengdu, China<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    PR:<\/strong> Can you describe the process of creating these three large panels?<\/em><\/p>\n

    DBK:<\/strong>\u00a0We made a huge, life-size sketch. We taped up pieces of the drawings and fine-tuned. Then craftsmen\u00a0made life-size clay models.\u00a0Once the model was finished, we moved on to the carving process. We were carving it up to the last minute against the wall; you know, polishing, carving, polishing, carving, spraying, dusting \u2014 all those painstaking processes. But we moved very swiftly and methodically so that the entire team was in sync \u2013 the construction guys, artisans, my design team. The result showcases not only the artisanship, but also the technology and engineering.<\/p>\n

    The challenge was not to make it look like a postcard or tour guide map. You stand there and say \u2018Oh, there\u2019s that building, there\u2019s that river, there\u2019s that mountain.\u2019 But it\u2019s not factual, specific information. It\u2019s artistic.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    PR:<\/strong> Wow, that\u2019s beautiful. The landscapes we are seeing on the wall exist in reality?<\/em><\/p>\n

    DBK:<\/strong> Yes, it\u2019s a representation of the region. If this were carved in Chicago, it would show Lake Michigan, rivers, forests and some architecturally significant towers. We didn\u2019t want it to be a tour guide. It\u2019s art. Culturally in China, people are very, very aware of materials. When they hear the word \u201cluxury\u201d that means luxurious materials.<\/p>\n

    \n

    \"Wanda<\/p>\n

    Wanda Reign Hotel, Chengdu, China<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    PR:<\/strong> How would you suggest making a space unique?<\/em><\/p>\n

    DBK:<\/strong> Emphasize the region you\u2019re in. That\u2019s what makes a place unique. Add to it, make it fresh, enlist technology or engineering. Have a wondrous and grandiose idea, but make sure that comes through realistically and realized. Even during the challenging times, make sure to stay on, don\u2019t be deterred, and don\u2019t compromise. That singular idea will come through, be expressed and translate into something memorable, something that excites the viewer.<\/p>\n

    You know, people want to stand there [in front of my design work] and take pictures. To me, that\u2019s really a compliment. Everyone wants to capture that moment and remember it and celebrate it. So why not, as a designer, create that platform and environment for whatever the occasion may be \u2014 getting married, uniting, or simply having a vacation \u2014 something to celebrate?<\/p>\n

    The luxurious elements and special qualities come in different forms and shapes, from contemporary hotels to traditional hotels. Ultimately, as a hotel designer, I like to tell a story.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    Images courtesy of D.B. Kim<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    D.B. Kim\u2019s\u00a0sophisticated, risk-taking designs make lasting\u00a0first impressions. Designing in-house for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide or in collaboration with Daroff Design + DDI Architects, Kim has spent nearly two decades updating the look and feel of life outside the home. Recently returned from Beijing after a two-year stint as Vice President of hospitality design for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":488,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[5,7],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nD. B. 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