Five in Five: with Carl Öjerstam
We interviewed Carl Öjerstam, Swedish furniture designer and the brainchild behind some of Materia’s most iconic products, such as the Omni armchair and the Hal table system. Take five minutes out of your day to learn his thinking:
On his background…
“I was more or less born into design. My mother and step-father founded Materia after successful careers as designers within the Scandinavian furniture industry and I went with them to the Milan fair (The Salone Internazionale del Mobile) when I was only eight years old the first time. Discussing topics around design has been a part of my life since I was a small kid, giving me the tools to develop my creativity and the skill to express ideas. Whilst I was still at design school, IKEA snatched me and I started working for them as a freelance designer and I went on from there.”
On Hal…
“It’s a system for different meeting and work situations, rather than exclusively a table. It’s a telescopic leg that can work in groups of up to eight. As an architect, you can shape the table whichever way you want, meaning you can make whatever size or shape you need to fit your project. For me, it’s so important that my products cater for all scenarios in the office. When I design an object in my CAD system, I rotate the object permanently, paying as much attention to the design underneath, as well as the sides that you see all the time. If you flip Hal upside down, you can notice that straight away. That’s my signature of good design.”
On activity-based working…
“I understand this trend and I think it’s so important that we create offices that can adjust to the needs of all employees throughout the working day. For instance, if you take the Hub armchair that I designed for Materia, you can sit in it and rest, or place your laptop on the armrest and work. There’s no need for a table. That for me is a truly versatile and flexible product. However, I also think it’s important that we recognise the need for private, personalised spaces in an office. The average person still spends a lot of time at their desk and we need to create products that allow for privacy, the opportunity for people to put their own ”housemark" in the office space, as well as strengthen the companies’ ability to build their brands.”
On the design process…
“For me, the design process does not happen in isolation; it is intrinsically linked to the manufacturing process. In fact, often I already have a very clear idea of how products are going to be produced, even before I start sketching. When I was employed at the IKEA Design Department in Älmhult, I had a mentor called Lars-Ivar Holmquist (manager for all “heavy duty” engineers) who taught me a lot about engineering, different materials and technologies, so I believe I now have a very deep understanding of the processes involved. That is something that I believe differentiates me from many of my colleagues who see design as a process of shape and style.”
On the environment…
“As designers, we are devising products to solve people’s needs, yet we have the power to make a tangible difference when it comes to the environment. We are doing a lot already, but I think we can do more. We are on the cusp of climate problems and now is the time to act by changing our processes and focusing on using responsible materials and technologies. We, the makers of products, are the ones providing the tools for people to make life better tomorrow.”
Find out more about Öjerstam’s work and see Materia’s full product range here.
