Derived from the Russian word ‘troïka’, a team of three, atelier oï was founded in 1991 in La Neuveville, Switzerland, by Aurel Aebi, Armand Louis and Patrick Reymond. With a team spirit and an intimate rapport with materials, atelier oï has been striving to dissolve barriers between genres and foster transdisciplinary creativity for close to 30 years.
Born of an intuitive and emotional affinity between the three founders, atelier oï works across architecture, interior design, product design and scenography with a collaboration across disciplines, creating holistic solutions from object to space. The founders have a strong interest in nature and natural materials, and their expertise in transforming these enables them to realise projects that are both emotional and artisanal.
The three founders are architects, designers and boat constructors, all members of the Swiss Federation of Architects FAS and directed the Swiss federal prize of design as President of the Federal Commission for Design between 2008 and 2016. Educated at the architecture school funded by Alberto Sartoris in Switzerland, the founders further received honorary doctorates from the institution.
atelier oï fosters experimentation and cultural exchange, through their work with clients as well as their own initiatives, and as visiting professors in a number of leading institutions including ETH Zurich, ECAL Renens, The Academy of Fine Arts Guangzhou and Kuwasawa Design School Tokyo.
The combination of local roots and international know-how has enabled atelier oï to design for a broad variety of national and international clients including Artemide, B&B Italia, Bulgari, Foscarini, Louis Vuitton, Nespresso, Pringle of Scotland, Rimowa, USM and WonderGlass amongst others. atelier oï has also hosted monographic exhibitions of its work in solo exhibitions in Zurich, São Paulo and Tokyo. atelier oï is also working on a humanitarian project for Smiling Gecko in Cambodia.
Their projects have been recognised globally, with some of the most renowned awards presented to atelier oï including multiple IF Design Awards; Europan 3 award; European Museum of the Year Award; Red Dot award; and Product of the Year, from Architectural Record.
“Kochwerkstatt” – the cooking workshop – got its name for a good reason.
Built in 1912, the stately building was used for the production of espagnolettes – also known as “window fittings” – for USM. Long before the “USM Haller” furniture classic was born, the family business had already made a name for itself in its first generation here.
The original factory building was then turned into a simple restaurant for USM team and clients.
The briefing and ambition for atelier oï was then to refresh the existing restaurant and turn the location into a space that allows to host the USM team and clients in a welcoming atmosphere and highlights USM furniture in different settings.
The idea was to have a multifunctional spalce in which both smaller and larger, private and public groups can be hosted, while allowing the different groups to have a sense of privacy in the large original factory space. Hence, ensuring flexibility in how the space can be separated and used most flexibly and how acoustics can be managed were 2 of the main challenges.
While the restaurant and cooking factory is situated on the main entry level floor, the wine cellar and cigar lounge is located in the underground floor and the conferrence spaces are on the top floor. These different spaces allow the hosting of different types of events and at the same time highlight and present USM furniture in their different usage and settings.
"The KOCHWERKSTATT is a symbol for the meeting of different encounter of the most diverse creative cultures: from metalworking to design and architecture to culinary arts.
The challenge was to bring modularity and sensuality into the former industrial spaces, an atmosphere that creates an intimacy through the interplay of light and materials. A warm and inviting place to enjoy an appetizing lunch or dinner."
In the Kochwerkstatt, contemporary design meets timeless classics – inside the building in which the development of the USM design classics first began.
This encounter is being cleverly developed by atelier oï, which in turn is influencing the classic styles with its own designs. For example, the four-meter-long USM Haller Table is topped with a surface made from richly shimmering red cedar wood. The Fibula lights, developed especially for the location, are inspired by the Fibula curtains. These shape the room, creating flexible dividers and infusing the space with warmth and intimacy.
