Studio 7.5
Designers of Herman Miller’s “Cosm Chair” – talking about their ergonomic design process and the future of design in the new decade. The Cosm Chair was featured in Time magazine’s 100 best designs of 2019.
Burkhard Schmitz and Carola Zwick started their studio as a team of six in Berlin in 1992. The group was looking for the freedom to work on projects that interested them, and for the freedom to do so without bosses or titles.
This is the way they’ve operated ever since. “Everybody does everything”, says Schmitz, speaking for the group that now includes Carola’s brother, Roland Zwick. “That’s how we cultivate ideas and maintain our openness and curiosity”.
The group’s name, Studio 7.5, comes from an early idea to rent a 7.5-ton truck, put a model shop in it and drive from one project site to another. Obviously, freedom of movement is important for these designers. They move freely – and smartly – when designing products for their clients.
Studio 7.5 believes that the complexity of design problems requires collaboration and repeated testing of ideas in full-scale models, until the most elegant answer emerges. “You really have to work in three dimensions when designing products”, notes Roland. “Computer drawings just don’t give you the feel, the touch, the smell”.
They love designing furniture, or as they prefer to call it, “equipment”, as in the tools people need for the work that they do. They find designing office chairs in particular to be the most rewarding and have worked with Herman Miller on the award-winning Setu, Mirra and Mirra 2 chairs, and now Cosm. “We define not only how the chair looks but how it performs”, Carola says. As to how Setu, Mirra and Cosm all perform for you, they provide comfort no matter how or where you sit. “Our goal is to enable people to assume roles similar to that of a craftsperson in their shop, surrounded by what he or she needs to be most productive.”
Website: www.seven5.com
Instagram: @makebystudio7.5
Ariane Steinbeck, Managing Director RPW Design London
Established in 1988, RPW Design is one of the world’s leading interior design practices specialising in the creation of dynamic and stylish interiors for hospitality. RPW’s passion for pragmatic and enduring design will continue to be at the forefront of our identity as we invest in the next generation of our team, honing the intelligent outlook that embodies RPW Design’s long-term philosophy.
Part of our core vision is the concept of continuous development in line with the evolving environment we live in. Significant importance is given to develop in each team member the confidence to express their vision and challenge each other’s ideas, thus creating an environment which favours openness instead of hierarchical dynamics. The result is a work atmosphere where every individual talent feels they can grow and express themselves freely within the given framework. The attitude is: never stop learning, whichever position you are in. The motto: Great ideas can only flourish in a nurturing environment.
The East London studio is behind the design of some of the world’s most prestigious hotels, boasting a portfolio of experience in the UK and abroad. RPW Design is proud to have recently completed the entire renovation of the Marriott in Malta. Closer to home, at the award winning Intercontinental London Park Lane, we have created the first business suite which offers intelligent design, allowing various areas of the suite to be separated based on the guests’ needs and desires, and are currently designing the guestrooms. RPW’s established history of success means that its ideas will continue to create sophisticated, long-lasting, and elegant hospitality spaces, starting with some exciting projects in the pipeline…
Website: www.rpwdesign.co.uk
Social Media: rpwdesign (Instagram, Twitter) RPW Design (LinkedIn)
Peter & Corinna Kretschmer-Joehnk from JOI Design, Hamburg – Winners of 3 German Design Awards 2020
Corinna Kretschmar-Joehnk: Partner & Founder
Peter Joehnk: Partner & Founder
JOI-Design is a leading European interior design studio with more than 35 years of experience in hospitality design and over 500 hotel projects in Germany and abroad. Our focus is on the development of exclusive, design-focussed concepts for the international hotel industry, serviced apartments, cruise ships and next-generation workspaces for high-style commerical offices.
The multidisciplinary creatives from our studios in Germany and India comprise experienced interior designers, architects, engineers, graphic designers and product designers. These specialists work as a team to tailor one-of-a-kind spaces relevant for society today, places that respond to the ever-changing needs of daily life for different target markets.
Website: https://joi-design.com/en/
Social Media:
Juliane Moldrzyk from Raumdeuter, also Head of the Berlin-Brandenburg division of the bdia
The main focus of our work is the design of spaces for communication. We optimize the external conditions and combine perfectly integrated technology with appealing design. Through this, places develop an atmosphere that stimulates and inspires exchange. This is what we mean by “Spaces like caffeine”.
Website – www.raumdeuter.de
Social media – raumdeuter auf facebook
Pascal Walter from Pascal Walter Design Studio
Pascal Walter has always been fascinated by textiles, so becoming a textile designer was only natural. He finished his diploma with summa cum laude, and his series of hand-woven textiles was awarded by the Raymond Loewy Foundation with the Lucky Strike Junior Designer Award – first time ever given to a textile designer. For 12 years he was a designer and later creative director at Sahco, with major influence on design development and the corporate identity of this internationally renowned textile company. In 2016 he started his own independent design studio with a main focus on the design and development of interior textiles, wallcoverings and rugs. Colour design, creative direction and conceptual design as well as styling for photo shootings, showrooms and trade fairs are additional fields of action. Pascal enjoys interdisciplinary working and is always open for new directions and projects. In his work he is very much dedicated to detail, being a creative perfectionist. In 2017 he was appointed as a teacher at the Academy of Fine arts in Kassel and, since 2018, he has been responsible for the concept of the annual trend show #bemerkenswert. After working and living in Amsterdam, Hamburg and Nuremberg in the past 20 years, the studio has been based in Hanover since 2018.
Website: https://pascalwalter.com
Social Media:
https://www.instagram.com/_pascal_walter_/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/pascal-walter-design/
