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In advance of their appearance at Stockholm Furniture Fair next week, the Copenhagen-based design duo told us about their latest collection: Strike, a series of lights that eliminate the need for a shade Winners of the Danish Time To Design New Talent Award last year, Nils Chudy and Jasmina Grase pride themselves on engaging in hands-on experimentation with new techniques, materials and technologies, in an effort to rethink conventional typologies. In the lead-up to Stockholm Furniture Fair next week, where the designers will present their Strike and Viewpoint projects, Jasmina Grase told us more. ICON: Tell me a bit about the Strike collection? Jasmina Grase: We investigated alternative materials to rethink the lamp as an object. Instead of designing a shade for the light source, we attempted to shape the light itself. The Strike lamps are made with optical fibres that are capable of directing light, resulting in a series of minimalistic light sculptures that offer a new and different way of experiencing light. We have reduced the lamp to its core.
The Strike collection ICON: What is your approach to design? JG: We design to create everyday furniture and products with little moments of discovery by going back to zero and looking all around us. Our inspiration comes from looking at new materials, techniques and methods, but also other fields, such as art and biology, and other cultures. We implement these in our projects to not only design objects, but to rethink products from the beginning. Technology is often the inspiration for our work. Even though we don’t have any education in this field, it has always triggered us to explore its boundaries. We see the opportunities in technology that gives our design a push. ICON: How do your backgrounds influence how you work? JG: We both have very international backgrounds. I was educated in Riga, Latvia, and Nils was educated in Berlin. We met during our studies in the Netherlands. The Dutch design culture has had a huge impact on the way we work. It’s important for us to test and make our own prototypes – to “think with our hands”. We built upon this during our stay in Copenhagen, where we were lucky enough to learn from the Danes about their incredible taste and modest design. Now we are expanding our horizons again by moving to Berlin and we are sure this place will teach us something new. |
Words Debika Ray |
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VIDEO: Broom of Luck chopping board and knife |
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ICON: Which of your designs are you most proud of? JG: Our friendship. It is an ongoing project of how to handle each other, how to deal with arguments and how to separate friendship and work. But we are proud of how well we have handled this so far and we can’t imagine working without each other. We are each other’s best drive. |
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VIDEO: Miito – rethinking the kettle |
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ICON: What is your dream commission or project? JG: We have one dream: to leave a mark in the world, even if it is just a scratch. Our dream project is to be a part of a product’s development from A-Z, making sure the customer receives the product the way we intended it and that the communication doesn’t get lost during the long road of production. This involves a lot of knowledge besides product design, but we find this to be a great challenge. We are willing to learn and that’s exactly what we are doing right now with our project Miito (above), a device that heats liquids directly in the vessel that will be used to consume it, eliminating the heating of excess water. The project rethinks the kettle as a complete new product. Right now we are expanding our team to make sure we can realise this in the best possible way. Chudy and Grase will be presenting Strike and Viewpoint (below) at the Stockholm Furniture Fair on 3 February |
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VIDEO: ViewPoint, a mirror with a light panel that allows you to control whether you see yourself |
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