smow blog Interview: Sigurd Larsen - I think as architects and designers we have got a lot to thank the Berlin art scene for !

smow blog Interview: Sigurd Larsen – I think as architects and designers we have got a lot to thank the Berlin art scene for !

As we noted in our recent review of contemporary creativity in Berlin, the creative landscape in the German capital is not just an eclectic composition of genres and philosophies but for all of nationalities: in addition to a, relatively, low number of native Berliner the Berlin creative community is characterised by a goodly mix of German and international creatives. International creatives such as the Danish architect Sigurd Larsen.

Following completion of his studies at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture in Copenhagen Sigurd Larsen spent time in the offices of firms as varied as OMA-Rem Koolhaas in New York, MVRDV Rotterdam and Cobe Architects Copenhagen before moving to Berlin in 2008 to take up a position with with Topotek1 landscape architects and subsequently establishing his own architecture practice in 2009. Since going solo Sigurd Larsen has completed interior architecture projects for clients such as Zalando and the Voo Store Berlin in addition to developing and realising a wide range of architecture projects, the most recent being the so-called Sorte Hus in Copenhagen, a low-cost construction based on prefabricated components and a flexible construction principle which can be customised as required to fit local conditions and regulations.

Despite the scope of his architectural work we however were first introduced to Sigurd Larsen not through his architecture but his furniture design work: specifically the objects Concrete Table, Daybed Sideboard and The Shrine which Sigurd presented at DMY Berlin 2012, the latter being the most delightfully idiosyncratic and gracefully self-confident storage box with inbuilt record player. And that rare sort of project that once seen you never forget. More recently Sigurd Larsen has developed projects such as the charmingly brutalist Concrete Sideboard and the paired down Melbourne Collection, a family of tables, chairs and daybeds whose component copper, leather and steel have been selected less for the sense of unashamed decadence they convey and more to ensure a patina develops and thus increase the objects emotional value over time. Whereas Sigurd manufactures and distributes the aforementioned furniture himself, 2014 saw the release of Sigurd Larsen’s first cooperation with a commercial furniture brand: CLICK shelf for Berlin based label New Tendency. Crafted from powder coated steel, or in a luxurious copper version, CLICK shelf is a pleasingly minimal construction highly reminiscent of the plastic aircraft models of yore, but a lot less messy to assemble and a lot more formally pleasing, practical and durable.

To find out more about the man behind the works we met up with Sigurd Larsen to discuss the pros and cons of being based in Berlin and the interplay of furniture design and architecture, but began by asking, why Berlin?

Sigurd Larsen: I had often visited Berlin, had friends here, was familiar with and liked the city and so after graduating I decided to apply for some jobs in Berlin and was lucky enough to get one. In a way I always assumed it would be a temporary step, initially I didn’t think it was realistic for me to live and work as an architect in Berlin, I just hoped to stay here for as long as possible, and indeed for the first 18 months or so the majority of my belongings were still in my old flat in Copenhagen. But as it turned out it was possible and seven years later I’m still here.

smow blog: Which we presume means that for yourself Berlin is a good city to be based in and in which to work ?

Sigurd Larsen: Yes, very much so. It’s in the middle of everything, is internationally well connected, there are a lot of regular fairs and events while within the city there is a good infrastructure for getting things done and for finding work. I think as architects and designers we have got a lot to thank the Berlin art scene for, in many ways they paved the way and for example thanks to the artists a lot of the tradesmen and craftsmen in Berlin are used to building outrageous models and impossible prototypes and that is a really positive thing in Berlin. Plus there is a lot of international interest in what is going on in Berlin, people are paying attention to what is going on here, are coming here to see things for themselves and that makes it exciting to be based here.

smow blog: And we presume you cooperate with these “art experienced” craftsmen for your own furniture collection?

Sigurd Larsen: Yes, the furniture is made in Berlin and then I distribute it internationally through selected shops and also on-line. And what I really enjoy about the furniture production is that I have become friendly with a lot of the craftsmen involved and so I go along as an architect with my ideas and then they as craftsmen suggest possible ways to realise it and then we end up having long involved discussions about how best to proceed, and that is a process that I find very rewarding and interesting, and is something that I think is also very characteristic of the open atmosphere here in Berlin and something which happens with more ease in Berlin than anywhere else.

smow blog: While we’re on the subject of furniture, last year New Tendency released your CLICK shelf. How did the cooperation with New Tendency come about? Were you actively looking for a production partner, or……?

Sigurd Larsen: We met each other at a kind of “speed dating” event at the Danish Embassy here in Berlin. Once a year the combined Scandinavian Embassies invite Scandinavian creatives to meet local companies, journalists, galleries and others with whom one could, eventually, cooperate, it is a wonderful event with some very interesting guests, and there I first met New Tendency and we subsequently talked further and decided to try to develop a project together. Although to be honest I think we would have eventually met anyway because our networks cross at several points, but the event at the Danish Embassy was the facilitator.

smow blog: Was it a case of New Tendency asking you to develop a shelf or did the idea originate from yourself?

Sigurd Larsen: I suggested several proposals and then through discussions we came to the decision that the shelf fitted best into their programme, and obviously it is important that as a manufacturer you can offer a competent range of products and I’m very happy to have been able to contribute to the collection.

smow blog: And are you interested in further commercial cooperations, maybe with other producers, or is and was CLICK a one off and the focus now your own production?

Sigurd Larsen: In principle for every furniture project I would certainly be interested in finding a commercial partner, and that needn’t necessarily be here in Berlin. The cooperation with New Tendency is very good but I would be just as open for a partner elsewhere in Germany or overseas, if I felt it was the right company for that project.

smow blog: Changing tact a little, as everyone knows Berlin is currently the global start-up capital and everyone is falling over themselves to help the App developers. Do you have the feeling that as a result architects and designers suffer a little, that maybe as a group you’re a little ignored by the authorities?

Sigurd Larsen: I think as architects and designers we do our own thing, and who knows maybe one day the city will discover us! But yes I do feel we are a little bit ignored, but on the other hand it is up to us to develop and expand our businesses ourselves and not rely on grants and handouts. I’m not supposed to run a company that can only survive with funding but am supposed to run a company which generates a profit and can stand on its own two feet because people want to own the things I design!

smow blog: Something you’re currently doing very successfully! Do you think it has helped that you started in Berlin, it is perhaps easier to establish yourself as a young architect or designer in Berlin than say in Copenhagen?

Sigurd Larsen: That’s a very interesting question but obviously as I’ve only ever established a company in Berlin I don’t have the direct comparison. My feeling is that the location is not so important, however the one thing about establishing a business in Germany is that here there is a graded tax system which means that you start off paying little, or even no, tax, and then the more you earn the higher your tax rate, whereas in Denmark you pay 50% tax from day one, and that is pretty tough for a young, small business.

smow blog: And having now established yourself, and accepted that you can work here, where do you see your future, more towards furniture or towards architecture or will you continue to split your time between the two?

Sigurd Larsen: I will continue to work on both disciplines in parallel. As a Danish architect who designs furniture I’m not a pioneer, in a way we’ve always done that, a fact which I think has a lot to do with the Danish architecture education system. In Denmark you don’t study so much the engineering behind buildings and construction but rather you study creative processes, and these are ways of thinking that you can apply to buildings, urban planning or furniture, its just a question of understanding the scale of the project and controlling the creative process. In my case I have for example several furniture projects which began as buildings but were then scaled down, or in the other direction I made a furniture object called The Shrine, and we recently won a competition for the new Danish Culture Institute in Bordeaux, a building which is a wooden box within a glass box, and the wooden box is essentially The Shrine, just scaled up….

smow blog: ……excellent! But we hope it still involves a record player in some way…..

Sigurd Larsen: Well it’s a house of dance culture so some of the bigger rooms are conceived for hosting dance performances, and so in that respect, yes!