BLVD was jointly established by Mr. Du Yun and Ms. Liu Honglei in 2001. ‘To start with simplification; to end with perfection’ conveys their shared pursuit of ‘perfectionism and harmony’. Honglei Liu explains to us how his team create a series of excellent works, such as 5 star Hotels and high-end offices that perfectly combine scene, emotion and artistic conception.
Q. Why did you get into Interior Design?
A. I majored in architecture. After graduation, I gradually got familiar with the design industry because of a few friends working on it. I found that the interior design could influence people’s special sense more directly and durably, which really attracted me.
Q. How did you start up your career?
A. At the very beginning, I got involved in some five-star hotel and high-end office interior design bidding projects. Luckily, we almost won all of them. That really built my confidence for designing. Later on, I went to Canada and worked in Yabu Pushelberg, II By IV and other design companies. These experiences consolidated my determination to interpret the beauty of ‘artistic conception’ that is highly praised in oriental aesthetics through internationalised and modernised language.
Q. Where does your inspiration come from?
A. I like traveling around the world to visit different art museums and to experience different hotels. For a designer, keeping a sensitive and active heart is of great importance, because everything in daily life may become the spring of inspiration.
Q. Can you tell us about a significant accomplishment or project that you regard as notable?
A. We finished the interior design of a number of five-star hotels and high-end offices. The completion of each project always brought endless strong sense of excitement and achievement to me. After overcoming numerous challenges and working hard together, we fully understood that no pains, no gains.
Q. Where would you like to see your company in 5 years from now?
A. I hope we could get involved in more five-star hotels and cultural space project, to provide more people with poetic and artistic space experience.
Q. What project(s) are you working on at the moment?
A. JW NAIROBI and SHENZHEN EDITION.
Q. How do you think an Interior Designer should dress?
A. Comfortable and meet personal hobbies.
Q. If you could design anything, what would it be?
A. I believe that design makes life better. We are discussing a project about revitalising a small town. It includes production, residence, education, entertainment and all other aspects. We hope that through the strength of design, we could build a colourful life entertainment park for people.
Q. What type of restaurant would you choose to go to for dinner?
A. Quiet, comfortable with literary and artistic style. Of course the food should also be delicious.
Q. Can you give us a statement about Design
A. Design is the interpretation of poetic space, the narration of a story and the transmission of artistic concept.
Q. If you could describe your designs related to food, what would it be and why?
A. Sour and sweet. Designing is mixed with sourness and sweetness elements. However, no matter what happens, in order to create excellent works, I can accept all of them. And as time goes on, the mixture of sourness and sweetness wouldn’t taste strong. No matter how it tastes, I believe it’s the taste of happiness.
Q. What do you think of the design trends in the future?
A. More ecological, humanistic and technologic.
Q. Who is your favourite Designer and why?
A. Yabu Pushelberg. His design is modern and elegant.
Q. In which country would you like to have your project in?
A. There’s no bound for culture. This is also true of designing.
Q. What element of a design is the most important thing to you?
A. If I have to choose one, that’s the scale.
Q. What is your favourite cocktail?
A. I don’t drink often. I prefer Chinese green tea.
