eero koivisto interview

eero koivisto

we met eero koivisto in cologne, germany on january 19, 2005.

what is the best moment of the day?

I think walking to work (in the morning) and… kind of starting to sort out things I have about a half hour walk to work and everything you do is kind of planned and nothing else goes wrong in the today… and all those things you are going to do… yes, I think that is the best moment in the day.

what kind of music do you listen to at the moment?

in the studio, it is mainly kind of pop and electronica because there are alot of people working there and everybody has to sort of get in on the music… (laughs)at home it has lately been… tends to be people like jack johnson (the surfer from oahu). alot of jazz music also.

‘sfera’ chair by claesson koivisto rune, for sfera furniture, japan

what books do you have on your bedside table?

right now- architecture books. different picture monographies.alot of catalogues – we have a pile of them.

do you read design magazines?

I look in them. (laughs) sometimes I read it if it is an interesting article but not… not really.

where do you get news from? newspapers?

in the morning when I check my mail I always check out their websites.I think that is more convenient. you know in the morning I have to make, to fix him (motions towards his baby son) you knowand he has a little older brother and has to get ready for school. all the little things… I don’t have much time reading newspapers.so when I get to work I check my mail, I check the news.twice a week I read designboom. (laughs)

left: the facade of the ‘sfera’ building in kyoto, by claesson koivisto rune

right: the ‘sfera’ building in kyoto, night view, by claesson koivisto rune

I assume you notice how women are dressing,

do you have any preferences?

happy.

this means colourful?

well it means different things mmhmm… joy. joyful maybe.

what kind of clothes do you avoid wearing?

colourful ones. (grins)

left: sony music headquarters stockholm

right: ‘dodo’ floor chair by claesson koivisto rune, for E & Y , japan

do you have any pets?

no, I used to have a dog but it was so sad when it died so I don’t want to have another. no yet. maybe when he (his son) gets a little bit older.

when you were a child, did you want to become an architect?

no, an airline pilot. I didn’t really know the difference between airline and fighter pilots.but my parents are doctors… but my father wanted to be an architect. that for sure inspired me.( I got lego when I was a kid, modernist lego you could built researches into modernist houses. with white, grey and transparent bits in littlegreen places. it was really sad in a way. I wished I saved it…)

where do you work on your designs and projects?

wherever.I mean mostly in our studio, but I travel quite a lot so on aeroplanes. so waiting for waiting. you do a lot of waiting when you travel.you think about it and you get an idea when you are walking down the stairs.

DNA tables by eero koivisto for offecct, sweden

who would you like to design something for?

a subway station. that would be cool.I mean anything which is used by a lot of people, regardless of their, … how can we say, their income and so… something useful for everybody. I just recently did this toothbrush for a japanese manufacturer and they were done in a run of 250 000 copies in its first run. I like that a lot. it is exciting to work for a lot of people.

maybe an ideal client?

a passionate one, passionate client, it doesn’t need to be the same human as I am, but interesting.

do you discuss your work with architects and designers?

I am always discussing.but when I meet people friends for dinner we don’t talk about work, but about other things. or we talk about general movements of the moment. so not in do much detail.

‘orbit’ seating system by eero koivisto, for offecct, sweden

describe your style, like a good friend of yours would describe it.

(yeah, that’s a sort of proust style question)to create useful objects and architecture which have a lot of poetry in it.but white and not so loud.

is there are project that has given you particular satisfaction more

than others you have done?

always the last one.and this is quite a good project (motions towards his son). laughs.well, kids are not projects. no, no !

can you describe an evolution in your work from your first projects to the present day?

there is a swedish word, … cannot really translate it.little things happening and you don’t notice them, but they are kind of smart -little hidden things which have evolved and are getting better.I am getting better at details and at proportions (like everybody).I touch my nose attached to the computer screen.shubert made a lot of sonatas and which ones have lasted? the best ones.having kids are also quite good.because when you talk to them you have to reanimate yourselfand working with others is also quite good.

left: ‘brush rush’ toothbrush by claesson koivisto rune, for franc franc, japan

right: ‘mood’ bathtub by claesson koivisto rune, for boffi, italy

are you looking for new technological solutions?

the technique is always a hassle,but I think if you are interested in new techniques, new materials, you are always trying to learn. I had a friend in stockholmand he always has these learning projects and he had this theory that as long as you are learning things that you don’t get staid.

what do you recognise as being very scandanavian in yourself?it is very easy to go back to ‘form is function and all of that …I think that I grew up in a society that taught you to care about everybody the ideal that you have to share and care about everyone and so on. and you can feel that in any scandinavian society.

‘scoop’ seating system by claesson koivisto rune, for living divani, italy

is there any designer and/or architect of the past you

appreciate a lot?

if you look them in the context in which they worked I like(aldo) rossi and (arne) jacobsen. and of course I like very much the work of le corbusier.

and those still working?

the architect rick joy from arizona.like everybody else, I like marc newson, jasper morrison, that kind of people. I like people who do good work today. it is a lot of people actually.I think somebody who is good today also would say, my girlfriend (monica förster) but that is different, it is a bit difficult to promote your own family. smiles.

‘beckham’ by claesson koivisto rune, 2000for david design, sweden

you and monica förster are a couple and you are both

designers. how do you find a distinction between personal and

professional lives?

I don’t think it is a bad thing. the bad thing in our situation is that buying a dish rack becomes like a three year project. (laughs) and that is not good enough. etcetera.

any advice for the young ?

(8 people work in my studio, half young, half old.)follow your heart.. follow your ideas about what you want to do.I teach a lot and I tell my students to try and find your own language…and try if there is a trend going on, and there is always a trend in any time,try to avoid doing anything in that particular trend that is popular right now,because if you avoid it you will shape your own language. which is really the whole ideal of this work.

mårten claesson, eero koivisto , and ola rune

what are you afraid of regarding the future?

if there are young people reading this on your website, this may seem not relevant to them, but I worry that something will happen to my kids which I think is something that every parent feels.and of course I don’t like that people don’t like each other for religious reasons. I think it is horrible.in a way I am very positive about people. I think that the disaster in indonesia and thailandshows that there are a lot of people who want to give back.which I think is nice after living with the irrational world for sometime it shows that there is love and understanding.the answer to the question is that I wish that my kids will have it maybe a little bit better than us in this world.