Posted by sabine7
Interview | 10 Apr 08 | Comments (0) | Stumble
The À la Carte kitchen modules by Stadtnomaden were a hit at IMM Cologne in January. Oliver Krapf and Linda Altmann make up the team behind the brand that includes a terrific bed frame, a small roll-top table and a groovy birdhouse. All of Stadtnomaden’s pieces are easy to assemble and it is clear that manoeuvrability is am important element of the design process. We asked Oliver and Linda about some of their ideas.
Your products are a response to the increased mobility we all experience in today's fast-paced world. Although your pieces are conceived as modular, do you find that typical customers are seduced by the flexibility, but then only ever use the item in one way or in one place?
Certainly the idea of total flexibility is seductive - and of course this is our intention. But in a different way: We want to provide people with the option to have a high standard of living and comfort and the opportunity to stay flexible at the same time. With our products we offer furniture which fits all needs, avoiding provisional arrangements, giving an anchor point to their lives. The typical customer will probably not rearrange his home every other day. But he/she might even be seduced by the idea that he/ she could do so. And more than that the customer feels free in a way that he/ she knows that moving house will not become a problem.
You create well-designed items that take up very little space. Yet we see that homes today are getting larger all the time. How do you feel about this constant increase in size?
We wouldn’t agree with that statement.
The structure of the traditional home already has and still is changing a lot into the direction of an “all-inclusive” surrounding. First of all we thought about urban living (rented flats) and wanted to come up with solutions that are durable. What actually is increasing is the price for living space. Thus a lot of people need to get along with smaller homes. Furthermore our furniture also finds its place in larger homes (guest bed) or offices (office kitchen/catering).
All of your products are very sleek and spare. What do you look for in terms of aesthetics in a successful design?
We aimed for a user-friendly construction in short terms of: "Say goodbye to screws”. Durability is unveiled in material and connections. The form-giving process is also caused by the chosen method of production. It might sound funny, looking at our design, but actually it follows function.
