SEPT 26—OCT 4, 2026
Atlanta Design Festival is a platform to celebrate, convene, & connect creative industries. The festival invites the brightest creative leaders and organizations to host installations, exhibitions, design and architecture tours, film screenings, conference panels and more, to showcase Atlanta as a global powerhouse and innovator of ideas. Read More
Das Haus 2020
MUT Design presents ‚a La Fresca‘ and turns home life inside out
The title of their design for Das Haus 2020 – “A la fresca!” – already hints at the direction the interior concept by Spanish design team MUT Design points in: the outdoors. At the same time, MUT Design’s interpretation of the “Das Haus” event means imm cologne set to play host to a highly architectural creation again this past January.
As so often in its work, MUT Design took its inspiration from simple geometric shapes. But the way the designers have translated the basic curve that recurs in the graphic elements into architectural volumes is anything but simple. The square footprint is dissected by convex wall sections and broken up into four round spaces that are arranged around a central rest area and completely open to the outside.
The circular general outline is framed by a flat square of reflective metal, which symbolises a body of water broken up by grasses. Artificial light is largely avoided. Instead, Das Haus radiates from within: the cave-like private area located in the centre between diagonally convergent wall panels is illuminated by a light source that aims to imitate the natural light of the sun as it moves across the sky over the course of the day.
With the title “A la fresca” – step out into the fresh air – the Spaniards are alluding to the culture that still persists in the area’s villages of meeting up in the streets and squares of an evening. After the heat of the day, which forces people to stay behind closed doors, this custom provides an opportunity to sit down together with neighbours and friends to enjoy the fresh breeze at leisure.
Set in an open landscape and enclosed by a large glazed façade, Das Haus by MUT Design would be a perfect holiday home. But restricting this architectural concept to getaways from the everyday is too limiting. Life in direct contact with an environment that is as close to nature as possible reflects a very real need that is steadily growing, especially among city dwellers. Progressive architecture is responding to this need with large glazed façades, bright rooms and an apparently seamless transition between internal and external spaces. Das Haus takes this idea to extremes with its architectural design, which is entirely open to its surroundings.