Interview
Danish studio Norm Architects is at the helm of a sensual design movement – and its collaboration with Italian furniture company Lema is a case in point
FEATURE ELLEN FINCH
Norm A rchitects is one of a select few practices making the case for truly people-led design with its work, which is grounded in a soft, pared-back aesthetic and an effort to appeal to the senses. Its ongoing collaboration with Italian furniture company Lema turns this essentialist approach into a series of covetable pieces: we spoke to designer Kasper Rønn Von Lotzbeck to find out more.
Your practice often gets associated with minimalism – how would you describe your approach to design?
We refer to it as essential, or soft minimalism.Webelievethatit’simportant for human welfare to be connected to nature; these days, a lot of people miss that in their lives. Our minimalism is much about using materials that activate the senses –when you walk on a wooden f loor, you hear your own footsteps; or when you walk on a soft carpet, you feel cosy and warm. It’s not really minimalist –we use decorations from time to time – but it’s always in an essential way.
In collaborating with Lema, how did you find combining the values of the brand with those of your practice?
In the beginning, we talked about how we could collaborate and where we had common ground. Ver y quickly, you end up in a place where you both belong. The Fred dining chair from last year [which uses brass fixtures] is a good example of this. Metals in some way come from nature, and metal accents are abig part of Italian design. If you look at the form of th
