There is no doubt in Søren Holst’s mind: Visual longevity is the most important feature of any piece of furniture; the fact that you can stand looking at it 10 years on. The fact that he designed his first pieces of furniture for Fredericia Furniture back in 1984 and that they continue to sell well, particularly in Japan, attests to the fact that this is not merely empty hype.
Holst, who trained as a cabinet maker, a building technician and a furniture designer, has had a close and long-standing collaboration with Fredericia Furniture. Not surprisingly his advice to graduate furniture designers is that they should seek and appreciate close collaboration.
“The manufacturer is the designer’s tool – in exactly the same way as the plane is the carpenter’s.”
Despite his background as cabinet maker, Søren Holst has worked just as much with metal as he has with wood, and as a teacher at the Danish School of Design he primarily focuses on industrial design. An example of this is that he has helped to design the benches and plinths that have been erected at Nørreport’s busy metro Station in Copenhagen. Inspiration comes from every source and at any moment of the day or night. |
