On a grey and rainy morning in March I have an appointment with the Danish Designer Boris Berlin. Boris is greeting me at the front door of the building housing the design studio Iskos – Berlin Design. On the stairs is a lovely smell of wood. A very appropriate introduction to the conversation we are about to start on right on the doorstep.
Boris is heading straight to his point: ”The materials create the basis of the expression in our design. For far too long in history mankind has tried to control our surroundings. Everything has to be straightened out. We want it polished and shiny. The results seem instant and rootless, and we have to seek quite a different path.”
”Perfection is not the result of something over which we have total control. Perfection is much more at a stage where the potential of the material is fully expressed. It is where functionality and aesthetics meet, and where each product has its own character. That’s what we are working with now. Look at this chair, for example. Every chair has its own folds. At the same time these folds create columns and ribs, becoming a part of bearing structure of the chair, and that’s how materials should be used.” I add: ”It seems that you’re ahead of the present trend with plastic surgery removing all wrinkles and folds. ”Indeed!”, Boris replies. ”Should not a designer be ahead?” Yes, absolutely.
Boris continues: ”Besides, we strive at avoiding waste of material. We also use what others have cast aside. Have a look at this lamp, where the entire piece of cloth has been used, and where every lamp is different. No wastes and rejections! The material plays a central part in the story told. And we haven’t tried to eliminate differences. Only human insecurity fosters this urge for control and the anonymous “perfection” stripped of individuality. And what indeed creates individuality? It may very well be the small red fibre, flying freely in the air and settling down on the weave and becoming part of black piece of textile, inhabiting the landscape of expression. That’s where it belongs. It tells a story of its own. A story lent to the finished design as a gift.
