Hugues Klein
Born in France in 1968, in the village situated nearby the German border, Hugues Klein has a bilingual french-german education.
Since his young age, he has been working wood and metal in his father’s workshop. His technical education has begun in high school with industrial design studies followed by a foundation course in Nancy, where he discovers the works of Jean Prouvé. During his studies he also discovers the litterature of Mishima, the minimalist culture of the contemporary japanese designers, the sensible nature of everyday objects and seating postures on the floor related to human activities.
After graduating in Architecture from the National Superior School of Art and Industries in Strasbourg in 1992, Hugues Klein worked for two years for the French Embassy in Africa. He completed a project of villa in Yvory Coast and renovated the French Embassy in Zimbabwe.
This period was rich in experience for him thanks to the contact with cultures that have a great know-how of manual skills. It also helps him to observe some similarities in the seating habits related to daily activities of african and japanese people.
Hugues Klein discovers and practices yoga in accordance with the teaching of Nil Hahoutoff, where the rigor and letting go helps to live the present moment to the fullest.
The combination of the african life experience and the practice of yoga postures has awakened his conscience about the importance of the well being and quality of life in the present moment.
That’s why his goal is to design buildings and objects that allow us to experience something unique every day, respecting the person and its health. Hugues Klein strives to invent simple and meaningful design solutions.
The influence of German and Swiss ecological architecture feeds his research and helps him to integrate a fine knowledge of the bioclimatic architectural principles used in most of his projects.
Since 1995, while working for Studio Emergence in Mulhouse, Hugues Klein has designed restaurants, villas and one hospital. After this training , in 1999, he decides to start his own studio in order to develop his design works based on the idea of experiencing new lives through all the body senses in a healthy environment. The studio is situated in the tri-national area: Mulhouse (France) - Basel (Switzerland) - Freiburg (Germany).
Since founding his studio, Hugues Klein has designed and built many villas, collective housings, schools and day-nurseries, offices and street furniture.
His entirely wooden School in Thannenkirch designed in 2001 was awarded with the National Observer Award for exemplary ecological construction.
Two years later, Hugues Klein designs a school on pilotis with vegetated facades in Obernai which rise up in the trees. This Project gets nominated for European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture Mies van der Rohe 2007.
In 2008, the new Laboratory of air quality analysis in Nancy, similar to a yurt made of frosted glass is designed by the studio. Situated on the top of the hill, exposed to the wind, its form perfectly integrates all energy strains.
In 2010 Hugues Klein inaugurates the new reception building for the Mulhouse Zoo The glass-walled volume with curved triple glazing follows the natural slope of the site and fits naturally into the beautiful surrounding botanical garden.
His latest work - the Home Saint Jean, a building with undulating curves and random windows, caters since 2011 to fifty young kids, victims of abuse. This project allows them to live in a children’s home where everyone has a unique private space enabling appropriate personal development.
Six expositions have been devoted to the architectural works of Hugues Klein:
- City of Architecture in Paris,
- Biennale of Venise,
- Arsenal Pavillion in Paris,
- Ecologic Architecture Prize of region Lorraine,
- Architecture Days of European House of Architecture in Strasbourg.
Since 2008 Hugues Klein has also been teaching Architecture and Design at the National Institute of Applied Sciences in Strasbourg.
For several years Hugues Klein has been exploring the furniture design for kids, offices, hotels and public spaces. The armchair concept 'Niels' is a result of the three-year research in collaboration with the best craftsmen. Its innovative and unique prototype announces a new furniture typology.
Niels is a micro architecture that can accommodate all the day-time activities and in which you can feel comfortable regardless of your morphology or cultural seating habits.
In January 2012, Hugues Klein presents his Niels concept at the International furnishing fair IMM Cologne in the Pure Village hall; « D3 Talents - Professionals » among 24 other new designers selected from all over the world.
