What is the DNA of Bang & Olufsen design? 

It is timeless design with an enduring appeal. Attractive products that you you want to keep forever. A user must keep on adoring it every day, feel it is a joy to own and use and never think it looks old and boring. The design should stay visually fresh regardless of time and that is why I try to stay away from fashion or trends. Timeless design cannot be made by copying classic design or taking the style from the past. Instead you have to focus on creating the unique identity of the object itself.

Common to the Bang & Olufsen products are that they all have a very strong iconic identity which is not referring to the time it was created but to its own identity. The identity of the Bang & Olufsen design is easy to recognize and remember. It is about giving the design attention and create stance.

At the same time, The Bang & Olufsen products often blend into the surroundings in an unobtrusive way when you do not focus on the object. They adopt the surroundings like a chameleon. They mentally disappear.

Every new Bang & Olufsen product must be new and original in design. One should not be able to foresee the next design before it is there.  But the new design must also be logic and understandable and fit into the existing product portfolio. When you look at the object, it should be immediately understood, so obvious that you should think “why has nobody thought about that before”.

The Bang & Olufsen products must trigger your emotions, by offering some little enduring magic and a little more than obvious.

There is a high level of diligence put into the creating of each product by us designers and the engineers from Bang & Olufsen. All aspects must be solved to a level where the product seems completely finished/perfect. We want to achieve the pure, simple and wholly completed but yet unseen.

The user can feel the effort put into the creation of the product and values the diligence. The opposite is the sloppiness that gives indifferent products.

When sculpturing products for Bang & Olufsen I keep testing what strengthens and what weakens the overall identity. There is a hierarchy of elements in the composition. Otherwise the object will not get a strong identity. Typically one form element is the king and all other elements are related to that king and support the king. I often play with contradictions and clashes of two form elements, either by the form element itself or by the color and surface. If there are more than two elements, it tends to be messy and unclear. Sometimes it is more like a tone in tone with a group of almost similar components. The curvature of a surface is also defined by a main direction or an edge and has a defined border. Then it is easier to understand the form and the idea.

To let the idea stand out our design are often very minimalistic. Not done in the cold schematic way as when minimalism is a style, but because we reduce and reduce the shape until the essential idea is expressed obvious. This also adds to the timeless because the shapes then are related to the idea and not to the time of creation. You can only do that if your idea is strong. If you reduce the shape on a slurred idea the object would just become boorish

 

Wich colour or material would you like to add to the b&o world? 

I would really love to use white metal, but that does not exist yet. Imagine completely matte white surfaces but with a depth that cannot be achieved by the use of paint.

We have definitely not finished the exploring of aluminum; it is an incredible versatile material.

I am I a process of bringing in some materials that are quite home friendly. You will see the first results of that later.

Colors have to be subtle and in a kind be integrated with the material. This gives the color a sense of true and genuine. At the same time I do have a dream of finding a color that does not exist yet.

 

What kind of music do you like?

Music is a fundamental joy for me. I listen to music for getting in happy mood or for relaxation and reloading my mental batteries. I value many kinds of music but specially the music that has a deep level of details that you have to discover over times. Then you do not get bored quickly. I tend to stay away from too pompous music that puts a heavy load on you, and favor music that can evoke my dreams.

Right now I am listening a lot to Jazz and musicians like Niels Lan Doky or Thomas Koppel and Benjamin Koppel. An artist like Ryuichi Sakamoto is one I never get tired of listening to. Sometimes a pop tune can get my attention like one from Panamah, or Zhou Xun.

Particular sounds can be like music. I have a very strong sound memory. I can close my eyes and remember rather clearly the sound landscape for instance of Shanghai lanes 25 years ago, or the engine sound from a Douglas C54 propeller plane that I as a boy went to Greenland with. Like a geek.

 

If you could start again – would you become a designer / architect again?    

I haven’t regretted being a designer. The luck designers like me has is that you create new objects. Working creative is a fundamental joy for people (though it can be very frustrating at the same time). I guess it is related to the wish of making traces.

If not a designer I would like to be a teacher. I am quite inspired by the job teachers has of bringing up kids to real people, give them knowledge and explore their potentials.

Or I could a pilot seeing the landscape from above every day…

 

Where do you get your inspiration from? 

My sources of inspiration evolve from the search of the real identity of the actual object I am designing. When I am in a middle of a work process I am focused on the problem and all the senses are open and searching for answers to the problem, and I know what to look for. I believe design is a problem driven process and not leaning back the shadow of a tree waiting for inspirations coming to you like a leave falling down on your face.

That said the lucky inspirational moments do happen, mainly when I am comfortable and relax. So good music, a nice cup of green tea makes you brain take the jump.

I use movies to collect inspirations from, or different environments or people that I meet.

Also conversations with colleagues and people in general are quite useful and it has not to be on topic. Sometimes just a sentence or word can be the trigger.

 

Why are you working as a designer and not as an architect? 

Well it happened that way. It is easier to get an overview and a control of all aspects when designing objects. The objects are going to be produced in a large numbers where architecture is a one piece work.

 

What do you think about contemporary architecture?

 Contemporary architecture is quite strong in the concept scale and storytelling. There is a wonderful fresh approach to how architecture and urban planning can be. Some later solutions are genius. However I do lack a little more attention to creating space and rooms that are wonderful to live in.

Once I was in staying in Jørn Utzon created house in Mallorca and it was such a joy to be there. There was this aura of authenticity and natural space which made me feel like being inside the outcome of 1000 years of accumulated space understanding. This kind of logic you also sense when visiting some original towns around the world.

When I travel around I notice that the most important job for an architect is to create buildings that are a pleasure to be in, and spaces around that welcome you, not so much to create just for being aligned with the latest trend. It is easy to feel the difference.

 

Working for bang & olufsen – can you described it?

 What I enjoy most is the fact that we are a group of specialist that strives for creating the best result. Your job as a designer is not just to deliver a suggestion and then run away, but you are deeply involved in all aspects of the design, form idea creation the product development until it reaches the marked. Therefore you share a strong responsibility with all stakeholders and have to think of all the aspects. You have to understand the problems the engineers are facing for instance, but use that to challenge and solve.

It is very inspiring to work together with all these people at Bang & Olufsen that want to do the best within their field, and not go for compromises but work out the optimum solution together. At the same time these people is really straight forward, quiet stubborn people that so typically for this part of Denmark, which I find dear.

 

What is in your opinion, the major contrast between international and scandinavian design?

 Normally I do not distinguish between different regional or national design characteristics. I don’t know for instance if what I do is special scandinavian, of course the surrounding milieu – nature and society – are influencing me a lot, but I am also dragged a lot to East Asian culture personally.

I guess there is a kind of mild and honest minimalism in Scandinavian design; it is human and warm, not cold. There is a bit of unpretentious coziness that expresses relaxed comfort and human openness. It is a bit more authentic. Maybe it is just the more long lasting non fashion approach that does it.

There is also the fact that most people in Scandinavia has grown up with modern design and is surrounded by it every day. There is a high sense of quality understanding.

 

Traveling around the world – which city wowed you in design term, which is aspiring – your hot

spot? 

When I travel I tend to look more at the culture, the architecture and urban structure than design. Design is in many ways today a world phenomenon where culture and urban structure is more locally based with unique characteristics.

Instead of looking at design I look at people a lot.

I am inspired a lot of places I can feel at ease and comfortable. Therefore a hotspot for me can be Berlin and Shanghai as well as Takayama, Icelandic landscape or the rough groves in northern part of Denmark. The mix of dynamic cities like Seoul and timeless places like Fontain Saorges suits me well.

 

Do you miss anything?

More time and more free time.

 

Tell us an unexpected fact about you. 

I used to make firework with my hands in blue dirty jacket full of powder dust. I still have my 10 fingers.

 

Do you read design-blogs?

 

Not so much. I try not to be so centered on my profession, but more on keeping a very broad input of information and inspiration.

 

Would you tell us your favorite one and why you would recommend it?

 I do not have a particular favorite. It changes from time to time, depending on my curiosity and the element of randomness.

 

What do you like about Designspotter?

 A cite you can spend a lot of time in, if you do not take care.