TATLIN NEWS #49

public space…but to work with freedom to improvise and fol- low our intuition in the process of design and construction. How could you explain your affection for simple forms, pure lines and a certain privacy – building a space, consonant to and intimate for a person? Wetendtoworkwithsimpleformsandmaterialsbecausewe are often just trying to clear a space enough to appreciate the beauty of something that is already present…For example in designing the tea lantern and tea cups it was the beauty and sensual phenomena of the tea itself e wanted to express. In designing the Nebuta House Museum in Japan it is the Nebuta themselves that are the important visual expression. What are the main features of Soft? How could you achieve the fact that it can fill each new space with individual meaning? What are the means that allow it to be at the same time formal and home, functionally thought-out, austere and poetic? The concept of soft is to provide an ephemeral, flexible and tactile smaller scale within the relatively hard, open plan of modern architecture or in complimentary contrast to older traditional buildings. The softwalls can be freely shaped – they remind us of clothing in the way they can be touched and tailored to fit a personal space. Often the hardmaterials of contemporary architecture also giveharshacousticswithsoundbouncingbackandforthonall the parallel surfaces. The cellular honeycomb geometry of the softwalls,softblocksandsoftseatingprovidesexcellentacous- ticabsorptionaswellasacomplimentary,contrastingsensory experience of delicate touch and soft quality of light. Opening a softwall is an almost magical, very tactile ex- perience as the honeycomb expands to create a completely free standing structure, hundreds of times larger than its compressed form. As far as I know, you are well acquainted with glass charac- teristics, since you were engaged in researches of all sorts of

USA, Africa, and other countries, collaborated with different com- panies and museums. What experience had the greatest influence and maybe had changed your creativity work? This is difficult to choose in an absolute way but we have been working on a project in northern Japan for almost seven years and this has brought us a lifetime of inspiring experi- ences.Thebuildingwehavedesignedisamuseumandcreative cultural centre for Aomori city’s famous Nebuta festival. You participated in multiple international contests, including Aomori Style Housing Competition, where you won the Grand Prix; Design 21 – competition for young designers; AR+d Award where youwereawardedforColoradoHouseproject;workedtogetherwith James Carpenter, Iliya Kabakov, Shin Takamatsu. What experience is the most important for you? It is the breadth and range of all these experiences that makes us who we are now. We do not sense any one influence as being the most important… but could talk all day about any one of them! As this article is for a Russian magazine I would like to mention that the brief time I worked as a student for Iliya and Emilia Kabakov was a very special and inspirational time. To be with them in the studio each day gave me a romantic sense of what a shared creative life can be. The depth and persistence of their talent is so impressive and moving. Your creativity work is an operation, well thought from the beginning till the end, or an unpredictable research process, experimentation? We believe that a well organized plan, allows for more freedom to improvise. Sometimes the best discoveries are the accidents and improvisations and so we try to be observant and open to potential we have not yet imagined. We allow ourselves the freedom to experiment and it is ok if some things fail – it will probably lead to a new and interesting direction.

Molodesign | Power of inspiration | Intererview by Tatyana Zhemukhova | Photo courtesy of Stephanie Forsyth In the environment of architects and designers, two critical positions have been established regarding an understanding of this kind of creativity: some people think that architecture and design are non-national phenomena, others, on the contrary, believe that different cultures leave their mark on all designed objects and imbue them with a special content. What point of view do you share? Do you think there is «Canadian» design and architecture? This is an interesting question to be asked because I am of two minds on the subject. I definitely believe that a history and understanding of a culture can be traced through the objects and architecture that were designed within that cul- ture. However if you ask me if what we design is Canadian… it is not as straightforward as that. Our work has given Todd and I wonderful opportunities to travel andwork within other cultures, learning and drawing inspiration from other places and people. Canada itself is by definition a gathering of many cultures and is a vast country with regional diversity. I think it is difficult to define a Canadian Architecture or Design, particularly in contemporary life, but with Architecture, re- gional patterns can be understood. There are two things that strongly influence our work that we do identify with Canada, being openminded to other cultures and being inspired by the natural beauty of the landscapes around us. Our studio is based in Vancouver and our work here is af- fectedbyaveryhealthyqualityoflife,withthemountainsand ocean.These things remind us how important it is for design to provide physical sensory experiences and to encourage and protect a healthy life on this planet. How you and Todd found each other? What philosophy is your creative work based on today, and how was it formed? Todd and I met when we were architecture students 14 years ago and we have worked together ever since. Our first projecttogetherasstudentstookplacealongthepacificcoast of Columbia, near the border to Ecuador. We were studying small, remote villages and coastal neighborhoods in the city of Tumaco that were facing a major relocation plan for protection from Tsunami. Our main purpose was to make a record of the existing neighborhoods and houses to show why they worked so well and to show that the way of life of the people and their buildings is completely interdependent with living on the ocean. This was a formative experience for Todd and I, we came to understand houses and cities in a way that transcended any one culture while at the same time we experienced a very local physical richness to the environment and building culture. Our philosophy is for Architecture and design to be our way of learning about the world. We design for and from our own tangible experience. Today fashion and trends to a large extent influence the way designersthink.Ontheonehand,theymakethings indemandand relevant; on the other hand, maybe they do not disturb much, but at the same time do not help to expose individual conceptions. In you opinion, is there a place for them in creativity? In what extent do you consider them? Thisisareasonwe choose tosetupourstudioinIVancouver, rather than a busy, city like New York or London where critics are always analyzing the current “scene” and trends.We think of our work as long term ongoing research. Every once and a while something springs off into fruition from this research. We want this to be a process where we can focus on the work itself and follow our intuition rather than be guided by the pressure of trends and fashion. Many of your projects demonstrate that you examine materi- als very carefully. The fact that discovered features become a designer heritage, aids to find original solutions – whether it’s a paper furniture or simple but expressive and functional glass dishware. Please explain you liking for glass, wool and natural materials in general. We love materials… When we make something we try to use one material only (or at least predominantly) so that we can better focus on understanding and expressing the material. There are poetic and practical aspects to this way of working. Practical in that the production can be done by one manufacturer or craftsman and that at the end of a products life it can be easy by recycled (although we hope life is long!). There is artful elegance inworkingwith onematerial, learning how best to join it to itself and understanding its source and structure on a scientific level. You studied and worked in Canada, Finland, Japan, Germany,

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natural materials. With glass dishware Float, how did you find a balance between maximum comfort (does not burn fingers, does not leave marks on a table, features ergonomic form), simplicity and aesthetic beauty? I studied glassblowing for two years in Canada and Fin- land – I am certainly not a master glassblower but it did give me an intimate understanding and love for the material. The glassware is another example of designing from our personal experience; we have a great love of tea and certain other beverages such as scotch and wine… The world if full of tea pots and tea cups but we were genu- inely motivated to design a set because there was something missing for us… the tea pots and tea cups always obstruct or clutter up the view of the tea itself. Love Letter project is very interesting due to combination of ideas of Castiglioni brothers and Ingo Maurer. Please tell us how the project idea arose, why you were inspired by works of these authors? Wherein is its newness in principle? Love letter began with the idea of expressing thanks and admiration to Ingo Maurer and the Castiglioni brothers for the ingenuity and emotion of the designs they have brought into the world. It seemed natural that a letter to these three gentlemen also be a source of light. On a visit to FLOS in Italy, Todd and I toured the marble workshops where the base is made for the legendary Arco lamp designed in 1962 by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni. In making the marble base for the Arco, a cylindrical core is carved from the stone tomake a hole for lifting the heavy lamp. There was

What dictates your desire not only ideologically, to participate in the process of new object creation, but also be involved in the course of production operation itself? The process of making is how we think and learn. One of the core intentions in setting up molo as a way of working, is to be close to the making of things. When you are part of the process of making you see opportunities for design improvisa- tion along the way, how the process or the design might be improved or a new possibility entirely. For the soft flexible honeycomb furniture we make, the production is part of a long term research project. We are able to fund our own ongoing research and experiments, by selling the pieces that evolve from the process. Do you believe in the social mission of design and architecture? Shall they determine, build or change in the society, in a person? If yes, than what exactly? Yes and this can happen in an infinite number of ways, depending on the project and the people. For us we look to our own life experiences and see what we can offer, designing from those experiences. Are there any themes in design and architecture that interest you most? The fundamental ones, the purpose of architecture and design is to make the most of life, savor it, enjoy it, learn from it. What an ideal project should comprise of, in your point of you? My perspective changes as we go through different phases in our work and development. One ideal to us is the making of

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