Design Can Be an Obstacle to Designing

Interview with Thomas Sigsgaard

The team of Salto & Sigsgaard has been swamped with press and interviews since winning the UN building furniture design competition earlier this year (see this earlier posting). We met with Thomas Sigsgaard - not to talk about their winning project, but to find out how this architect-turned-designer and his design partner approach the design process.

Structurized Randomness

Salto & Sigsgaards workplace is located on a charming sidestreet in downtown Copenhagen. Stepping inside, I was met with an organized hodgepodge of drawings, models, and tools that filled an entire wall and instantly reminded me of a designers mood board - except this one was 3-D. The opposite wall was nonstop whiteboard filled with sketches and clippings. Clearly, ideas were simultaneously bandied about and approached in a structured manner in this room.

The Same, But Not At All

Sigsgaard has a passion for his architectural roots, but is completely electric about design.

"They're hugely different, yet there's no difference at all. I think that's why Kasper (Salto) and I work so well together - we come from each standpoint. To understand the difference between design and architecture, I think you have to have seen things from both vantage points.

Design is related to something that is not attached to a place, but in some way interacts with the place it is in - like a chair. On the other hand, Architecture is always related to a specific location, so there are inevitably different things you are taking into consideration when designing one thing or the other. The movement of the sun is important in relation to a building, but a chair?" He demonstrates as he talks: "You can just pick it up and move it." 

Design Can Be The Greatest Obstacle

"I've discovered that design - in the true essence of the word - can actually be the greatest obstacle to designing something."

When asked to clarify, Sigsgaard explained: "When we're working on a project, the longest and most energy-consuming phase is the preliminary information gathering. During this time, it's really hard to keep yourself from sketching."

He jumps up, grabs a pen, and approaches the whiteboard. "I don't just mean me. I mean people in general. Mankind loves to sketch, doodle, and draw to communicate their ideas." 

He turns to explain, holding the pen as a pointer. "Consider cave paintings. What was the purpose of them? They didn't have spoken language back then."  

He clears a space on the whiteboard and sketches excitedly as he continues. "Now, imagine this caveman has discovered that he can throw a rock from a distance and stun the beast he is hunting, allowing him to approach and kill it without getting hurt. Amazing! Now he really wants to explain his discovery to his fellow hunters. How does he do that? With the only effective method available to him – he draws it!"

Why Pencils Are a No-No 

Sigsgaard maintains that using a pencil intuitively can damage the design process. "All of a sudden you've fallen in love with a shape you drew and can't stand the thought of erasing it. You end up using way too much energy trying to keep something that 'just happened' instead of something you arrived at after a considered thought process. Because of this, we really do try to keep the pencils down until we're finished with our fact gathering – what we call the three I's."

The Three I's

Sigsgaard and Salto approach every project methodically with Information, Investigation, and Inspiration. "These are all design-generating factors that eventually bring you towards the solution. Along the way there are numerous crossroads you meet and have to make decisions about - it's a relatively lengthy process that requires a lot of attention. You are literally examining numerous 'what if's' to see if they might be useful to the product you are designing, but the reward is worth it. If you do your research and preparation properly, the object will often practically design itself for you." 

Lofty Thoughts - Grounded Attitude

As he is explaining the design process, he suddenly interjects: "I don't know where the prevailing perception that we architects and designers think we are some sort of artist geniuses that need to be placed on pedestals - we're just ordinary people working at our trade."

That little bit of earth-shattering logic required an additional question. "If what you say is true, then whose fault is it that most people have the impression designers and architects think they are artist geniuses?"

He barely missed a beat: "Oh, without a doubt, it's our own fault!"

He thought for a moment, then continued: "Previously, the designer/architect started as a carpenter, joiner, or some other trade. He had a common basis for dialogue with the people that were producing his designs. We have different tools and different roots today."

Sigsgaard believes there are more advantages than drawbacks to this metamorphic change. "My generation fully realizes we are living on one common globe - not just a small local community. This is reflected in how we work, think, and design."

Opinions? Yes. Opinionated? No.

We were both hooked on the 'artist-genius perception', and continued to explore it. Sigsgaard offered this final thought: "People resist change for several reasons. It demands their attention and their thought processes, and ultimately requires them to make a decision about the change they are faced with. But it is exactly these kinds of thought processes that are part of Kaspers' and my everyday work. We are supposed to make these kinds of decisions. Maybe that's why architects and designers sound like know-it-alls. We've followed so many 'what if' trains of thought that we actually do have an opinion on everything."

Salto & Sigsgaard in their workplace

A Bit About Thomas Sigsgaard

Born: July 20, 1966.

Graduated The Royal Academy of Fine Arts in1995.

Employed at PLH architects from 1995 – 1998

Vilhelm Lauritzen architects from 1998 – 2001.

Own office; Over vandet Architects from 2001

Teaching at DIS (Danish International Study program), architecture and design program, from 2001 – 2006.

Started office (Salto & Sigsgaard) in 2005.

FInd More About Salto & Sigsgaard Here