André Fu is enjoying a banner year so far. Named as Maison&Objet Asia’s Designer of the Year, the honor follows the late 2015 launch of André Fu Living (AFL), a collection of lifestyle products imbued with Fu’s distinctive modern aesthetic. For the Hong Kong-born architect, AFL was a natural extension of his portfolio.
“The concept is to embrace the spirit of lifestyle from within,” says Fu. “I hope to grow the brand into a collection of key design pieces conceived from collaborations with unique artisans whom I admire.”
Fu’s first love was art, a passion fostered by his lawyer father and educator mother. “They cultivated my interest in fine art, enriching my cultural awareness and heavily influencing my design philosophy in many ways,” he explains, adding that he discovered an interest in spatial design as a teen, so architecture was a logical next step.
After attending boarding school in the UK (“My parents believed in exposing me to the UK educational system and Western culture,” he says), Fu studied architecture at the University of Cambridge, taking a year off to work at John Pawson’s studio, which “enriched my appreciation in the articulations of spaces and strengthened my approach to architecture with the key qualities of form versus function,” he says.
Fu founded his studio AFSO in 2000 with former Pawson colleague Stephane Orsolini. Initially based in London, projects took him to Shanghai and Hong Kong; by 2004, he returned to his hometown to live and work. As his reputation for bespoke interiors grew, so did the size and budget of AFSO’s projects. With custom furnishings and accessories amplifying the firm’s designs for hotels such as the Upper House in Hong Kong and restaurants for Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts in Istanbul and Shanghai, it seemed inevitable that he branch out to product collaborations with like-minded companies. Indeed, one of his first forays was in 2011 with Hong Kong-headquartered Tai Ping Carpets.
For the debut product under the AFL brand, Fu went in a different direction with Fargesia, an eau de toilette he created with Fueguia 1833 Patagonia, a unisex scent that can also be used as a room fragrance. “Scent is the best way to capture the tactile essence of my works,” Fu says. “The vision was to build a collective of scents inspired by key materials featured in my spaces.”
Switching gears again, this year at Maison&Objet Asia he introduced Skyliner, a bathroom fixture collection with manufacturer Cooper & Graham, which “embraces the spirit of the modern Asian city,” Fu notes. “That has been interpreted as a series of pure forms that interlock like sculpture, akin to contemporary building forms.” And most recently, his handblown lighting series Tac/Tile for Lasvit debuted in April in Milan. “I admired the architecture of the 1932 Maison de Verre in Paris for its honesty of materials, adoption of an industrial aesthetic, and its rejection of ornamentation,” Fu recalls, explaining the collection’s glass block-inspired design.
Interiors are also keeping him busy, including a number of hospitality projects on the boards such as Provence destination resort the Villa La Coste, a Kerry hotel in Hong Kong, the Waldorf Astoria in Bangkok, and an Andaz in Singapore.
Above all, Fu is a storyteller—the common thread throughout his product and project work. “My aesthetic is one that embraces the spirit of contemporary Asian sensibilities,” he says. “My design inspiration is drawn to embrace the sense of place—stylistically, my work is extremely diverse, however, the pursuit of comfort and a sense of relaxed luxury remain at the heart.”
