Charming leisurely, humorous, and synergistic: In Chiemgau, the idyllic home of Nils Holger Moormann, a tiny design festival has emerged. Curated by Haus Otto, brands, designers, and students presented themselves in original ways.
By Markus Hieke
The idea sparked in April 2023 from little more than a beer-inspired whim—a table, a few objects from the archive, draped in front of an old Mercedes-Benz. Thus, the “Salone di Aschau” was born, somewhat gloomy against the backdrop of the late-winter barren mountain panorama. The ironically intended Instagram joke hit the mark. Meanwhile, in Milan, 450 kilometers away, people were already running from showroom to showroom, from palazzo to palazzo, from Brera to Rho for the fair and back again. They celebrated being part of the exciting design world as every year. But that was precisely the point: At Nils Holger Moormann, they had long since stopped “running”—neither chasing trends nor the cycles of major furniture fairs, which annually crave novelties.
It Should Feel Right
“Slow Design” is the practice at the Bavarian design publisher Moormann. The process looks something like this: Hundreds of design ideas reach the company every year. Each submission is reviewed and evaluated anonymously. If positively received, the product is developed to series maturity with the Moormann design team. This process can take months or even years. Only what feels right and can be produced within a 40-kilometer radius is included in the program. At most, one new product per year makes it into the collection; sometimes more, often less. Importantly, all designers receive the same share of the profit per sold item. That known names like Cecilie Manz and Konstantin Grcic are part of the program is purely coincidental—or proof that excellent designs can prove themselves even incognito. Both were not as well-known back then as they are today.
Consistent deceleration also means that Moormann has not exhibited at the Salone del Mobile in Milan since 2006. The new owner, Christian Knorst, also intends to maintain this absence (at least as an exhibitor). Nils Holger Moormann, the founder and namesake of the brand, handed over his company to Knorst due to age in 2020. “When I took over the company, I was completely new to the industry, knew little about it,” says the lawyer, who previously worked at an English commercial law firm, among other places. “So, I went to the Salone in Milan; it was the small, COVID-affected edition in 2021. I saw all the people and thought: How great this all is. On my next visit the following year, I was already a bit more involved. Everything was still nice and good, but afterward, I came home with a completely different thought. Because only a few stands had stuck in my memory. The more I saw, the less I remembered what I had seen. I now understood better why Nils had decided not to go to the fair anymore. At least for us as a tiny company from the mountain valley, this format with all the surrounding hustle and bustle in the city was not the right fit.” What might easily be misunderstood as an anti-attitude is more of a healthy questioning of the continuously growing Milanese madness.
Salone di Aschau| Photos: © Julia Sang Ngyuyen
The Idea Just Needed to Be Implemented
Of course, they still wanted to stay in the conversation. So it was fitting when the design duo Patrick Henry Nagel and Nils Körner (alias Haus Otto) approached Moormann with the proposal to create a real small design fair as a counter-program to the large counterpart in Milan. The fitting name already existed. In mid-July, it was finally time: For a single afternoon, into the deep night, the Moormann headquarters at the foot of the now lush green Kampenwand became the first real “Salone di Aschau.” Moormann as host and Haus Otto as curators invited a manageable number of exhibitors. The breadth of brands, institutions, and designers presenting themselves was all the more astonishing. Starting with the newcomer design label “Bottone” from Berlin, more established brands like “Loehr” (also from Berlin) and “Dante – Goods & Bads” from the Bavarian Forest were represented. The most well-known were the furniture brand Tecta from Lauenförde and the cutlery and stainless steel manufacturer Mono from Mettmann.
Overlaps and Synergies
The Salone di Aschau was staged in atmospheric horse boxes, among other places. The grateful backdrop was provided by a historic stable that is part of the company headquarters. For the duo Haus Otto, it was ultimately crucial to present all participants on an equal footing—showing different positions in a way that reveals existing overlap points as well as potential synergies. Therefore, in addition to the mentioned brands, designers and collectives, as well as students of the OpenDesign class of the HfbK Hamburg (led by Konstantin Grcic and Studio Œ), were involved in the design festival. “Our selection emerged relatively organically,” said the two designers about their curatorial work. They were already connected to some exhibitors through other projects—such as with the “Farm Group,” an initiative of the two from which various experimentally influenced designs of the represented designers Oliver-Selim Boualam and Lukas Marstaller (BNAG), Johanna Seelemann, Hannah Kuhlmann, Lisa Ertel, and Anne-Sophie Oberkrome (Studio Œ) emerged. These brought in part their intersections with the exhibiting brands into play: BNAG, for instance, with the teapot installation “Aqua Park,” which resulted from a creative residency at Mono in 2023. Haus Otto itself contributed, among other things, an unusual seat-lying object called “Zooom Rug,” which is part of the “Bottone” portfolio, as well as the armchair “AL13” made of laser-cut aluminum, which could be seen next door at Dante.
Design to Touch and Participate
All participants provided conversation and entertainment together. The HfbK Hamburg students contributed with a pop-up walking stick workshop. In preparation for the hike towards Kampenwand planned for the next day, individual climbing aids could be made here using round wood bending techniques and other methods, including stock badges. “Mono” offered free soft ice cream and a spoon from the classic “Mono Clip” series in an exclusive Salone di Aschau edition. And with Oliver-Selim Boualam and Lukas Marstaller, you could build creative stools with typography messages using specially developed perforated sheets. In the courtyard in front of Moormann’s historic company building, prototypes and unique pieces from various designers were gathered, and a few steps away, in the garden of “Berge,” Nils Holger Moormann’s guesthouse, the community finally gathered for a tea ceremony, with Mono descendant and managing partner Johannes Seibel, accompanied by a sound performance by Lukas Marstaller.
Successful Premiere with Potential
Who was expected and who ultimately made the long journey? The answer is simple: They didn’t know. The response was all the more overwhelming—from Moormann fans, trading partners, the design network in Munich, and the local community. Thus, the Salone di Aschau was brief and charming, not driven by the pressure to succeed but with a wink—typical of the Nils Holger Moormann brand and also suited to the other companies and creatives. The goal was to make design accessible, understandable in its value—both financially and culturally. Will there be a repeat? “For us, it should be as open-ended as possible,” says Patrick Henry Nagel. More important for them is whether further synergies, production networks, logistical, creative, or communicative collaborations will now emerge. Of course, a continuation is desirable. “The group feels great,” concludes Christian Knorst. “We would be happy to be guests at one of the other brands next year.” In the meantime, it’s worth looking at the online platform of the “Salone di Aschau,” where unique pieces and pre-loved furniture from the new design network are offered.
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