Hong Kong-based designer and consummate cosmopolitan, JJ Acuna of Bespoke Studio, muses on the changing face of hospitality and design across Asia Pacific.
January 6th, 2022
In our recent issue of Indesign magazine, #84, we caught up with the Hong Kong-based designer JJ Acuna of Bespoke Studio. Writer Sandra Tan asked him four simple – yet loaded – questions about the changing face of hospitality and design across the Asia Pacific. Here is what he had to say.
What are the origins of Bespoke Studio?
JJ Acuna: I was a director at a Hong Kong architecture firm, and after a decade of corporate projects in mainland China, took a year’s sabbatical. In that time, I designed three restaurants for friends and found it a very soulful experience. It was so cathartic to see people enjoying smaller, more personal spaces I’d made – and each made it into international magazines! So then I began my studio in 2015.
What keeps you busy these days?
JJ Acuna: Aside from some great new restaurants opening in Tokyo, Macau and Manila, we’re seeing a boom in residential work. Since no one’s travelling, people are reassessing their space. I think those who enjoy our restaurants become curious about how that lifestyle perspective might translate at home. It’s a real fusion of design programming for this generation of clientele.
How has COVID-19 impacted local design and hospitality?
JJ Acuna: The food scene is still going strong. In Hong Kong, no matter how dangerous COVID-19 is, or protests are, people will forever be sociable. We can’t invite friends home to our tiny flats, so bars and restaurants are here to stay. Design-wise, we’re moving away from fixed features like booths, providing loose seating options instead so venues can observe proper social distancing.
How have you navigated the pandemic pause of 2020 and 2021?
JJ Acuna: Well we’ve just finished a hotel for Four Seasons Macau entirely through conference calls! I used to fly once a month for work whereas now I question, is this travel necessary? Working remotely is kinder to the environment, but there’s no substitute for experiencing context in person. Designers rely on serendipity to create.
JJ Acuna / Bespoke Studio
jjabespoke.com
This interview was published in July 2021, in Indesign #84. Purchase your copy of the issue in print, or download the digital issue.
A searchable and comprehensive guide for specifying leading products and their suppliers
Keep up to date with the latest and greatest from our industry BFF's!
Marylou Cafaro’s first trendjournal sparked a powerful, decades-long movement in joinery designs and finishes which eventually saw Australian design develop its independence and characteristic style. Now, polytec offers all-new insights into the future of Australian design.
Sub-Zero and Wolf’s prestigious Kitchen Design Contest (KDC) has celebrated the very best in kitchen innovation and aesthetics for three decades now. Recognising premier kitchen design professionals from around the globe, the KDC facilitates innovation, style and functionality that pushes boundaries.
Create a configuration to suit your needs with this curved collection.
Savage Design’s approach to understanding the relationship between design concepts and user experience, particularly with metalwork, transcends traditional boundaries, blending timeless craftsmanship with digital innovation to create enduring elegance in objects, furnishings, and door furniture.
The AIA Alta Wellness Haven offers the complete package for health and wellbeing away from the busy city life in Hong Kong and does it through a stellar interior design.
SEE HOW GROUP has completed Ricoh HK with an emphasis on wellbeing, integrated technology and an overall tone of understatement.
Situated in the dead centre of the hippest part of town, adidas Seoul is challenging how a fashion name sits within an established street scene. Various Associates has refocused street attention on the store’s second level with a facade that juts out.
The internet never sleeps! Here's the stuff you might have missed
Lacquered in warm timber tones and complemented by high-quality furniture and fixtures, the new HQ for Salta Properties is a home away from home.
London-based Carmody Groarke and Paris-based TVK have been announced as winners of a milestone competition for the new Bibliothèque nationale de France conservation centre.
Welcome to the year of the Design Effect. This year’s theme aims to showcase the profound ripple effects that exceptional design can have on people, place and planet. Join in shaping this narrative by contributing your perspective before May 3, 2024, and become a part of the Design Effect movement.
Overcoming pandemic hurdles to redefine guest experiences amidst Sydney’s bustling entertainment precinct, The Darling has undergone a two-year restoration that melds Art Deco interiors with the necessities of hotel living.