At HotelDesigns.net, we were delighted to be a media partner for the recent Hotel Summit 2015 at the Hilton London Wembley, where we met the fantastic team from BoConcept.After the event, we had the pleasure of speaking with one of their designers — Morten Georgsen – about all things design, inspirational figures and definite design faux-pas to avoid…
HotelDesigns: How did you get into design? What drew you to the industry?
Morten Georgsen: I grew up in the countryside in Denmark — my parents took me to art galleries over weekends and our home was full of art and magazines about design, buildings and artists — so I was kind of ‘raised’ with it. If I hadn’t been a reasonably good footballer, I’m sure my friends would have bullied me even more for my awkward interests! However the deep interest for design opened up the chance of getting a job at Bang & Olufsen — where I worked for eight years. My design destiny was carved in granite.
MG: Many things are said about having good or bad style — and it’s the same about design. I just feel that when things can be beautiful and intriguing to our senses — then why not design them to be that way? I really love to get to the root of a function and to materialise this function in a way that serves it — meaning that we’re not adding a lot of unnecessary rubbish, but being truthful to the functional idea in the aesthetics. Always fight to find the shortest way between function and design.
HD: An ‘Occam’s razor’ approach, then — that makes sense! Is there anything you dislike about the industry?
MG: I’ve always tried to keep away from the “if you rub my back, I’ll rub yours” element of competitions and gatherings. I know it’s a part of the culture within creative industries like art, movies, music and design — but who are we to judge each other? Why not let the audience talk? See how much they buy, see how they talk about our designs and show them off to their friends. I’m proud and feel good when I see my designs on TV, or seeing families living with my furniture designs and enjoying them.
MG: When I was younger I got very inspired, or perhaps just learned things, from the designers and product managers at Bang & Olufsen, but today I think I get more inspired by my direct customers and their clients. When I see their needs or what can be done better, my right part of the brain goes into overdrive. Seeing what’s not there or what people cannot express in solid terms is often the best source of inspiration!
HD: ‘Necessity is the mother of all invention’, after all! And moving on to your time at BoConcept, how would you define the philosophy of the company?
MG: The BoConcept philosophy is to offer modern design furniture based on Scandinavian ideas about function and simplicity to an urban-minded customer. Honestly, it’s actually very tough to design for BoConcept as you always have to get the very best out of yourself — you have to get to the core in order to design furniture with great value and that’s what BoConcept demands.
HD: Is there are a particular product, range or project of which you are particularly proud?
MG: I’m so fortunate, as I am still involved with a huge part of the BoConcept collection — I am very proud of the ‘Milano’ table collection and the ‘Lugano’ wall system. The Milano, because it has become a classic within centre-based tables and an ‘icon’ of sorts within the collection. Lugano, because it is such a well-thought-through wall system. It’s versatile in style, function, size and price level — a true BoConcept product. And I can tell you, to make a wall system like that takes a lot of thought and re-thinking.
MG: As I mentioned before, good design is when function supports aesthetics/materials and vice versa… many designers make the mistake of not achieving this by not taking the time to get to the core of the challenge and thereby adding instead of taking away.
HD: And lastly, what do you like to do in your free-time when you’re not busy designing?
MG: A big sport in Spain where I live is called Padel, something between squash and tennis. I play that very often. Apart from that I love Spanish cuisine and the small, beautiful restaurants that offer excellent food. Once a month, I meet with friends for a poker night. I like the game as it requires all parts of the brain. But like all passionate designers, there is hardly ever real ‘time off’ as ideas are always appearing when they want to… uncontrollable nuisances!
