Fieldwork: Visit at the Studio 7.5 (with Carola Zwick and Burkhard Schmitz)
Today we went to visit the Atelier 7.5 in Charlottenburg (Berlin) with the project team of Cutting. Carola and Burkhart told us all about the birth of their studio, the development of their signature chairs, the relationship that they have built with the leading furniture company Herman Miller, and the role of materiality and prototype building in their creative process.
In the kitchen of the studio, a central space in the social life of the studio and the theater of operation of a cook that is permanently employed by the studio, Carola and Burkhard deliver a brief history of their company. How small the first studio was, how they got the interest of that major furniture label, how they took some radical steps that made the business take off more slowly and how this cutting-edge attitude paid in the end. The studio now employs around ten people including the founders and it is now recognized as a major asset in the catalogue of Herman Miller and their products are famous world-wide.
Kathrin and Habakuk are testing out a new concept of chairs designed to be ergonomic even when working with a laptop: “start-up cool” and yet healthy through design! The room has tall windows that give a lot of light and a view on the water surface of the canal outside. It is filled with samples materials, on tables and on a stylish catwalk that crosses the room, on which forms are being displayed.
Carola explains us the story of a new concept that they are struggling to get into production, a mobile battery for conferences and offices. The many iterations of shapes and material silently testify for the hard work that is concentrated in this one latest prototype.
The latest product of their pioneer design line is called “Cosm”. Lucius seems convinced and is having a very brief moment of quiet. He is here caught day-dreaming of a budget extension that would allow him to sit on this chair everyday at work. Kathrin is having a look at the morphological evolution of the chairs’ iterations, which Carola brings to our attention.
Lucius and Thomas are listening intensely to the stories that Carola unfolds with gusto. At Studio 7.5, the iterative process and its material contingencies are core to design craft. A series of prototypes stages the development and the overcoming of technical difficulties, slowly giving shape to the latest model, which is never understood as a final development. Very comfortable chairs indeed, and especially with that recliner twist!
A reliable participant in the design process: the artificial human bottom. We also discuss about the possibility of making chairs to measure, or in various size. It doesn’t work, says Carola, there is some politics at work in design, esp. in the USA, and everything has to be design for everyone: “Figure yourself a situation into which they wouldn’t give you the job because you objectively don’t fit on the chair!“
Studio 7.5 has been experimenting for many years on additive manufacturing, from polymers to concrete. Here, Kathrin is testing the solidity of outdoor furniture that looks like a mesh of lines spread by the machine. Behind the grey cardboard room separator, a co-worker is silently making progress on a 3D-model. The studio has come a long way in controlling each aspect of the production process through hands-on experiments and prototyping. They have become experts in bridging digital models and materials products. Carola explains that they are being paid on a royalty model, as it constitutes a fair share of risk and reward for both. They are considering ourselves not being a service provider but a development partner.
“Demo or die!” claims Carola, the motto of the MIT of the early 80’s converted from programming to product design. In the workshop, Krzysztof is working on a piece. All has to be tested at very early stages with material models. They refrain buying new machines, because devices have great influence on the creation process. The visit is over soon after. The performance is very convincing and is a demonstration of how staging is an intrinsic part of the job of top-level designers. Materials, devices, prototypes: the true actors of this theater are given full credit for their part of the job.