Stort Interview
Axel Fritstående Knagerække · 10 spørgsmål
Ever since I watched Christopher Nolan's movie Interstellar I became interested in gravity. And being a big fan of SF I always like to provoke an elegant dance between science and fiction, or we like to say…
Your innovative approach to stability in Axel Self Standing Coat Hanger, where additional items enhance balance, challenges traditional design thinking - could you elaborate on how this gravity-centered concept evolved during your development process?
Ever since I watched Christopher Nolan's movie Interstellar I became interested in gravity. And being a big fan of SF I always like to provoke an elegant dance between science and fiction, or we like to say 'fantasy'.Reducing the final form to it's constructive core, the metal joint that connects the wooden legs uses the negative space of a triangle. By that, all the items that are hanging on it somehow drop between the legs, Making the central axis more firm and stabile. With this feature, not only is the final product more visually reduced, but also more functional.
The nomadic lifestyle inspiration behind Axel Self Standing Coat Hanger reflects modern living patterns - how did your personal experiences with temporary furniture influence your decision to create a portable, high-quality piece that could become a permanent companion?
Living abroad, as an unpaid intern, buying designed furniture was a luxury I couldn't afford. So, ironically, I would take some Ikea pieces to build a home. But then, every time I would move to another city, all that furniture would stay... And making it financially unsustainable. At the end, an idea of a lightweight, easy to carry around, piece of furniture appeared. A design piece of furniture, made by high quality materials, easy to produce, with a price under 200EUR. And what better item would it be then the one that says 'welcome & goodbye' in your hallway or office.
Could you walk us through the precise engineering calculations that went into achieving the perfect balance between the 3mm steel joints and 4x2cm oak wood elements in Axel Self Standing Coat Hanger, particularly in relation to its impressive 15-item capacity?
The calculation was made by the traditional 'trails and errors'. We made a 1:1 modular model and play with the proportions and dimensions. We wanted to tall enough to hang a big winter coat by it's hood, which ended up to be 170 cm of height. Also, we didn't want it to be very wide at the bottom. That was a more complex task to solve. Finding the right balance between the angle of the legs with the floor and the wideness of the metal joints was the answer.
The minimalist construction of Axel Self Standing Coat Hanger, using only two main elements multiplied by three, speaks to thoughtful material efficiency - what drove your decision to prioritize repairability and simplicity in the design?
I'm a big fan of the quote 'if build by hand, can be fixed by hand'. Producing objects and solutions that can easily be fixed and/or are long-lasting was my favorite feature in design since my student days. To make it simple. To make it durable.
During the Covid Era development of Axel Self Standing Coat Hanger, how did the constraints of working from home influence your prototyping process, particularly in the transition from initial cardboard models to the final metal and wood construction?
During that specific period in modern history, a lot of people in the world turned to themself. To educate themself, to challenge themself. As my partner Iva and I were neighbors at that time, we would spend time in the yard and just do prototypes from old wood leftovers and metal plates found in the garage.
The strategic decision to point the hooks inward on Axel Self Standing Coat Hanger represents a departure from conventional designs - could you explain how this choice enhances both functionality and stability?
Inward hooks came spontaneously. While experimenting with the central gravity axis as the main constructive feature. During the testing period we would mark the right spots for the hooks just by moving jackets and coats little by little: left, right, up, down
Given that Axel Self Standing Coat Hanger premiered at Salone Del Mobile 2023 after two years of development, how has the design evolved from your first pandemic-era sketches to the final award-winning product?
With each collection we improved the blueprints, by adding more precise diameters in the metal joint to make it more and more user friendly and easier to assemble.
The dimensional specifications of Axel Self Standing Coat Hanger (170cm height, 44cm base width) suggest careful consideration of space efficiency - how did you determine these exact measurements to optimize both stability and practicality?
While testing the 1:1 model, we used clothing items from every day use. Heavy winter coats and down jackets. By that, the final result was stabile, lightweight and durable.
As winners of the Bronze A' Design Award in Furniture Design, how do you envision Axel Self Standing Coat Hanger influencing future approaches to portable furniture design, particularly in urban environments?
We see Axel as an ambassador of an ideology where designers and other creatives can use fantasy (movie references for example, like we did with Interstellar) to make an elegant, timeless idea that can be easily repaired, joyful to use and simple to produce by local firms around your hometown.
With your combined backgrounds in industrial design and international experience, how did your different perspectives shape the development of Axel Self Standing Coat Hanger's unique features and functionality?
My grandmother used to say: the more languages you speak, more value you have.' That being said, my attitude towards design and creative thinking is: the bigger the variety of your skills is the wider your solution will be. Having experience in nomadic life, living in nature during summer, living on remote mountains during winter changes your perspective of what is and what isn't important in your life. In your home. So while developing projects, including Axel, all the parameters, based very often by real life experience, are a pure result of personal fantasy, technical knowledge and user feedback.
