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Always start from scratch - an interview with Ditte Hammerstrøm

An Interview with Danish designer Ditte Hammerstrøm

By Le Vin Chin

With a single piece, the Bistro Light chair, Ditte Hammerstrøm charmed and delighted visitors to the MINDCRAFT exhibit organized by Danish Crafts at the Zona Tortona Fuorisalone in Milan last April. I caught up with her to try to find out more about her work …

Ditte, where does the design inspiration for your projects come from?

People often talk about a product in terms of its functionality. However, the reason we buy a product is often not because of its functionality but because we like the shape, the colors or something which we can't define.

I like to experiment with and explore some of these secondary values behind the objects. It can be different things like, for example, texture, shape, material, proportion, or decoration that make people relate to an object.

Sofa Set by and © Ditte Hammerstrøm

Can you take us through your design process from idea to final object?

My starting point is the context in which the product is going to be used and the activity which will surround it. I continue the design process by playing with and testing different kinds of materials and by making a lot of small models. Before doing the final technical drawings, I always make a 1:1 model to visualize the exact proportions and shapes.

What's your design philosophy?

Always start from scratch. And, like most designers, probably, I like each piece of furniture and design product to be unique. I like when products and furniture are characteristic for the particular time in which they are made.

Bistro Light by and © Ditte Hammerstrøm

There seems to be a thoughtful, relaxed playfulness in your work …

Playing in the process of design is very important. It is important to always investigate and experiment with new ways of approaching design.

Although the pieces are a very accomplished and complex combination of function and aesthetics, they also appear outwardly very simple, very polished. How do you achieve this?

I like to use archetypical shapes and forms in my work to make the furniture more familiar and easy to relate to.

Loungescape by and © Ditte Hammerstrøm

Your work also seems to play a lot with space, creating new ideas for space (Socialising Sofas, Loungescape, Hangout), new ways of filling space (Wall stools, Sofa Set) …

Considering space is very important for me. I like to focus on the space and make the furniture create a room within the room.

In Denmark, there is a tradition for designing furniture defined by the rooms it is in. With some of my furniture, for example "Socialising Sofas", I try to do the opposite – and let the furniture create and define the room.

What’s your design aesthetic?

I don't plan the aesthetic to begin with, it is something that develops during the design process.

Socialising Sofas by and © Ditte Hammerstrøm

Before I start a project I try to set up some criteria for what I want to do and develop the furniture according to that, without being too critical during the process. I allow myself to follow the idea and see how it turns out.

How does your location in Copenhagen influence your work (if at all)?

I don't think living in Copenhagen influences me, but I'm sure the Danish tradition and history for making furniture does.

Your work seems to use a lot of (very strong) neutral shades along with splashes of strong color. How do you choose the colors you work with? Which color most inspires you right now?

Right now I have entered a black phase ... My latest furniture is all black - haven’t really thought about it, they just turn out black.

Wall Stools Ash by and © Ditte Hammerstrøm

You seem to use very intriguing materials or combinations of materials (for example the plastic cord stretched across wood). Does the project choose the material, or is the material the starting point?

I like to work with the details. It is often the details that end up as the main theme for the furniture, for example with the use of plastic string I let the decoration become an active part of the furniture's shape. It is the decoration that forms the furniture.

The surfaces you use run the gamut from soft (yet rough), fabrics to wood, both polished and raw. Metal and glass are absent. How do you choose the surfaces you use?

I often choose surfaces that create a contrast to each other.

Hangout by and © Ditte Hammerstrøm

What are you working on right now?

Right now I'm working on an exhibition here in Copenhagen and doing some projects for 100% Design London in September [Bistro Light will be on show at the MINDCRAFT exhibition at 100% Futures and at an exhibition at the Mintshop].

What's your dream future project?

I have many dream projects. There are so many pieces of furniture I would like to make.

How did you get started?

I started studying ceramic design for three years at Denmark's Design School and then changed to the Department of Industrial Design, where I studied for the last two years. In between, I took a year off to study product design at Central Saint Martins and I also worked for the toy company Lego.

After graduation in 2000, I founded my studio and have been designing furniture and products since then.