Interview to Massimo Mussapi, nominated Italian ambassador at EQUIP’HOTEL 2012 and 2014 – PARIS

 

 

Have you ever been to the Equip ‘Hotel show? What are your expectations?

 

Yes, I was one of the ambassadors for the 2012 edition of the show. I experienced a very lively fair, France is unquestionably a global reference point for the hospitality sector. This year I expect this energy to be confirmed and probably exceeded, since the general economic conditions have improved and the western world is willing to react positively to the latest crisis.

 

 

What is your opinion on the hospitality world today?

 

In the 1990s and 2000s many things changed in the field of hotel design: the concept of “Design Hotel” was born, synergies with the fashion industry have strengthened, so that today every fashion designer seems to have an hotel associated to his/her brand. This certainly brought a breath of fresh air, but it often resulted in a superficial change, substituting old stereotypes with new ones.

Mobility increased, so did cost of life: this calls for more realism also in the hospitality sector. Clients ask for more substance and less appearance, which is also what hoteliers need.

 

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How will you participate in and contribute to the 2014 Equip ‘Hotel tradeshow?

 

Two years ago at Equip’Hotel fair I presented the FLYING ROOM, a very ambitious hotel room concept that puts itself up for becoming a model for the hospitality Made in Italy. This project has become reality and, as promised two years ago, I am presenting it to the 2014 edition of the show in a multimedia conference. The FLYING ROOM is based on the concept of total accessibility: it proposes furniture and technical elements that are specifically conceived for the hotel needs. They are designed or selected by my studio and produced by important firms that worked in partnership on the project.

 

 

What is the force driving you?

 

It may sound banal, but it is the interest for real life, which is more extraordinary that any invention or intellectual abstraction. For this reason I commit myself to understanding people and circumstances, but I always try to think it over by myself and give answers that can positively influence reality.

 

 

How do you imagine leading your role of Ambassador for Equip’Hotel 2014?

 

To represent Italy in the country that invented and spread hospitality all over the world is an honour and a responsibility. For this reason I will bring a project that is “Made in Italy” but has international vision and objectives, since hospitality is, by definition, international.

FLYING ROOM is a choral project that involves many important contract companies who share the same vision and objectives. Moreover, it encompasses different realities, including tourism, industry and the disabled world.

 

 

What do you appreciate by working on some hospitality projects? 

 

I like the hospitality sector because hotels, like restaurants, often represent a good way to get in touch with the travel experience. Hotels are not only a place to sleep, as restaurants are not only a place to get fed. Both can be places to make discoveries and encounter different cultures and lifestyles.

Moreover, the hotel is a very specialised architecture, whose needs differ from those typical of the domestic environment: it is a “serial” architecture, with identical spaces that repeat themselves and need specific furniture and technical elements that are produced on industrial scale. From a professional viewpoint this is very interesting for me.

 

 

What would you say are your favourite’s projects? (about your own or another’s)

 

This is definitely the one I prefer, because it breaks outdated stereotypes and proposes a hospitality model that meets the real needs of travellers, hoteliers, contract firms and even designers who want to operate in this fascinating industry.

 

 

What are your futures projects to come?

 

I want to concentrate on this project, there is still much to do in order to make it go far.