In the serious and dedicated office space, in the formal and steady commercial space, in the cool and rational German design, the energy and source of “Spring”is always neglected.

Recently, MATSU, bring the breath of Spring, integrates German style and the spirit of the time. By designing it in an enlightening way, MATSU creates a brand new look for Beijing display center, and adds the charm of “Spring”to the office.

On March, 30, 2016, a party named “Enlightening Design@Matsu”was held heatedly in MATSU’s SOHO display center, located on Guang Hua RD., Chaoyang District, Beijing.

This time, MATSU Beijing display center invited anySCALE as a partner. The chief designer Andreas Thomczyk designed the interior space.

Now, let’s have a talk with Andreas Thomczyk, to share his space full of power source.

Q: MATSU玛祖铭立
A: Andreas Thomczyk（Chief designer of anySCALE ）

Q1：Can you please talk about the designconcept, feature and spatial planning of the MATSU Beijing showroom?
A:When we started thinking about the concept for the new Matsu showroom we were thinking about an open space, a kind of large scale working lounge to display furniture, to work and to enjoy a coffeeor tea. Given the fact the fire regulations are quite restrictive for the GuangHua Lu Soho building we had to remain the public corridor situated right in the middle of the Matsu space. My aim was to turn this obstacle into a benefit forthe customers. The corridor now separates the open space into a display areawhere the newest products are presented on a large-scale shelf and into a lounge area where the sound and lighting equipment are of high enough qualityto turn the space into a party zone.

Q2：Which part of the Beijing showroom do youlike most?
A:I personally like the idea we implement graffiti works of a hip-hop dude dancing along the show room’s back wall.These three cartoon paintings keep the show room vivid even when no one isinside.

Q3：The items (the color matching of furniture,the color of the light and the material of the items; like the combination of black and some eye-catching bright colors, the blue-purple atmospheric lightand the golden color of the walls) in MATSU Beijing showroom express energy with a sense of quality, and in some instances give us the feeling of wildnesswith the hip-hop wall graphics. Why did you do the design like this and what was on your mind at the time?
A:Yes, I like the combination of contrasts. Ilike wise people looking wild, I like pure environments pepped up with freshcolors and I like perfection and ease of use. For me contradictions can besurprising and they can raise questions. And thus make people aware of something special. The most disappointing is when people do not recognize their environment and their own behaviour anymore.
Do you think this style makes the impression of German design more interesting, more dynamic? Embracing the spirit of a new era?
Yes, maybe. But again I am not sure if this is particularly German. It might reflect more on my own personality and thefact that I’ve been living in an international environment for the past 25 years.

Q4：The rug of the lounge area is very special,custom designed by anySCALE. Can we know the story of “the fruit knife of thecarpet”? Can you tell us the reason why you used this patterned rug in thisarea?
A:It is the contradiction of sweet and dangerous - pink color and fruit knives - which attracted us when selecting therug. We were thinking about a dish of opposing ingredients which complement one another.

Q5：Can you briefly introduce to us the storyabout how you began your work with MATSU? In the course of this project’scooperation, did you encounter any difficulties? And how did you solve them?
A:We have been working with Matsu since 2007.The start of our cooperation was a little redundant because in the beginning Iwas not aware of Matsu's high quality products. I was also hesitant to use them,because at that time their Beijing sales team practically forced me to give working with them a try. We finally tried cooperating using a large scaleoffice project for a Norwegian Insurance company. This was a start of our continuous cooperation on various projects.

Q6：How does MATSU and the furniture impress you?
A：I am impressed by the vision Mr. Cai had when he started to focus on German products during aperiod of time when there were only Chinese, mostly unqualified products, oralternatively American products on the market. He has the vision of a realentrepreneur.

Q7：What do you think about the design trend for future office spaces?
A：Increasingly independent from a single,dedicated space. Moving further away from what is considered as a typical working environment. Increasingly spread over several locations - home, office,train, airplane, coffee shop, etc. An increasing need for private working unitsin tandem with flexible shared environments for gatherings and informal meetings.

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About anySCALE：
anySCALE is an exclusive design companythat focuses on interior design and architecture consultancy. anySCALE isco-established by Andreas Thomczyk from Germany, Karin Hepp from Austria andTom Chan from China. Some of anySCALE’s corporate clients include Daimler, BMW,MARS China, Beijing Oriental Plaza and GroupM. anySCALE has been workingclosely with SOHO China for the past 10 years.