You designed two distinct lighting concepts for LZF: Voliere and Osca. What was the inspiration behind each?
Osca is a Architectural and curvaceous geometric structure wich reminds me of Arches, and Buildings from my Idol the fantastic Architect Oscar Niemeyer.
Voliere‘s bird-like structure is, in my opinion, an abstraction of a Bird of Paradise, Wood furniture lends it self perfectly to the creation of Feather like structures, the Wood grain texture in the feather elements comes to live when used in lighting.
Voliere and Osca reference 1920s art deco and cubism respectively. What draws you to historical periods of design and how does this influence your work today?
I always like to look back in time for inspiration, one can learn so much from the past in particular the appreciation for materiality, which is also apparent in my LZF designs. I love history but do not like replicas. My goal is to use historical influences in my design, paying homage to the past but designing products firmly centred in the 21st century.
What attracted you to working with LZF? Can you describe your collaboration?
I love working with Companys with a similar mindset LZF‘s quality and materiality obsession impressed me enormously. We developed an enormous portfolio of Light designs within a sensational short period of only 4 months, which is only possible when you and the Brand are in tune with each other LZF are a dream to work with.
Your studio designs a wide array of high-end products for notable ‘luxury brands’. What does luxury mean to you?
Luxury for me is quality, longevity, appreciation of craft and skill, materiality and products with a soul, which trigger emotions. I absolutely do not want to design throw-away products
I wonder how your German heritage influences your thinking on design (if at all)?
My German Schooling helps me to be organised etc. however the creativity was nurtured in the UK, in particular by going to UAL Camberwell College of Arts, which fine-tuned my creative eye.
As a designer, what are you still curious about?
Everything! Food, science, politics, art, architecture, biology, literature, and people, the world is a treasure trove of wonders.