"As designers, we are not up there on the stage"
In conversation with designer Christian Werner about creating an identity and the buzz from the masses. Mr. Christian Werner, who designed Ketho range for Duravit. A close interaction with the designer, on design intricacies
Tweet-- Christian Werner is one of the most successful furniture designers of recent years and his high-profile work includes a range of storage furniture for Ligne Roset and sofas for Rolf Benz. In addition to furniture design, the Berlin-born designer recently ventured into the world of interior design, working on shops, restaurants and trade fair stands. Numerous awards confirm his position as one of Germany's leading interior designers. However, the designer is always ready to turn his hand to something new: he recently surprised the international fashion world by designing an extraordinary platform shoe. He is now the first outstanding furniture designer to collaborate with bathroom manufacturer Duravit, a company that, in the last 20 years, has made a name for itself in the world of international architecture and design with a specific design strategy.
Mr. Werner, what is the particular attraction in turning your attention from the living room to the bathroom?
A few years ago, we still spent as little time as possible in the bathroom. Personal hygiene was seen by many as a necessary evil, something that had to be done as quickly and as unobtrusively as possible. Today, we are no longer so uptight about it. Personal hygiene has become a pleasurable focus of attention and so, in turn, has the bathroom. It has become a sensory space for regeneration, somewhere that we enjoy spending time. The demands of this room are also increasing accordingly. So it's time to really think furniture into the bathroom. As a stylistic device, furniture is tremendously important here. It opens up new perspectives in every respect.
Has your work with the bathroom changed your understanding of design?
It has changed me to the extent that it has reinforced the way I think about design. This is because I don't see myself as an artist. Art is art for art's sake whereas design has a purpose - and beauty also a purpose. As a designer, you are an integral part of a comprehensive production chain; so it's important to take account of things such as material limits or manufacturing techniques. The positive thing about "working for industry" is that you don't find yourself in a vacuum. In terms of method, industry virtually gives you a wind tunnel and, as a designer, you have to think inside of this. I find it to be positive and exciting for my work. So I follow more the classical, academic interpretation of design as an interface between the customer and industry.
And yet you continue to hold on to a vestige of the artist: you still draw everything by hand?
That's right. I simply love holding the pen in my hand and honing my work until I feel the excitement starting to mount inside me. That's how I know that everything is coming together and something new is emerging. This is an energetic process and not rational or planned. In the best-case scenario, this design then takes on its own identity. We create everyday objects that are more than just useful. Objects that are intends to inspire joy and that help to find forms with which people can identify, and they do so in a relatively broad style. I am proud that I continue to find a sophisticated design style that is so well received and to which people say, 'yes, I can identify with that.' As designers, we are not up there on the stage, we don't fill concert halls, but our applause comes in the form of the number of items sold. I sometimes call that the 'buzz we get from the masses.' Industrial manufacture is an integral part of our design. The new Ketho range not only takes into account the current development in the bathroom but also has great universality.
Does universality also apply worldwide?
I believe that, because today's media are networked worldwide, there is such a thing as a global 'agreement' about what is beautiful. Nevertheless, we still value a local 'touch.' However, to me, the temporary axis is more interesting than the global axis. As designers, our task is to find innovations that interpret the world as it is today. The way I see it, giving people the opportunity to express the time in which they live is a key attraction of our work. This also implies that a designer should not be afraid of being popular.
How can 'popular' be reconciled with 'design'?
Well, lots of people are afraid of too much design. At the end of the day, they want a piece of normality at a reasonable price. This implies that, as a designer, you also have to be able to back pedal. We need products that don't continue to shout out 'hello, here I am' so that people can identify with them. Renouncing extreme formalisms and embellishments encourages identification with the product. However, at some point, things start to get too simple and there's nothing left to take away without slipping into prosaic engineering work. As a designer, you then find yourself caught between banality and finesse. So the art is to reduce forms and concentrate their finesse to find their very essence. Like Ketho, they then stand out on the strength of their balanced proportions and discreet beauty, becoming an integral part of a harmonious room.
For how long is it possible to identify with a product?
As the bathroom has an average lifetime of 15 to 20 years, the durability of the formal statement is still much more important than in other rooms. It's comparatively easy to replace a sofa or a container. However, when the eye has tired of bathroom furnishings, it's not so easy to do anything about it. A much greater effort is involved. With bathroom furnishings, a completely different degree of profundity is required. The need for security is huge. This is why, for me, the half-life of the Ketho forms is a crucial factor.
And what about the half-life when it comes to shoes? You've recently wowed the fashion houses with a sexy, sensuous design for platform shoes.
There's no doubt that, for a designer who has made a name for himself in the world of furniture, a foray into fashion is quite exciting, even though I actually stumbled upon the idea while shopping in an Amsterdam shoe shop. However, in the end, this story has come to express my true passion: walking through life with one's eyes open. The importance of observing and understanding those experiences is the platform by which I create solutions for every day life. Combine that with my love of design and you see that through my eyes, design is all about attitude!
Notes to Editor
Almost 200 years of bathroom history. It all begins in 1817, when George Friedrich Horn establishes an earthenware factory in Hornberg in the Black Forest. In 1842 the manufacture of tableware is extended to encompass sanitaryware products. The small earthenware factory has in the meantime become a global organisation that today produces sanitary ceramics, bathroom furniture, baths and spa products for dream bathrooms made by Duravit as well as products for the public and semi-public sectors