Modern Masters: Nina Tolstrup of Studiomama
“I worked in all kinds of fields before I started Studiomama. I always did creative work, advertising, marketing, photojournalism, trend forecasting…but I studied Design as a mature student at Les Ateliers in Paris and only set up Studiomama when my husband, Jack Mama, and I moved to London.
“In the beginning the studio focused on product and furniture design, but I was attracted to the challenge of designing for a particular context – a particular house or interior. I was interested in creating specific boundaries and constraints to work within.
“My dad used to own a house just outside of Copenhagen that was designed by Arne Jacobsen, and I loved his approach to design. It was one of his very early houses and he’d designed everything, from the fireplaces to the planting containers to the handles on the doors. It was really inspiring. He defied the barriers between product design, furniture design and interior architecture.
“Jack and I work together and our interiors work started from a series of personal projects. The first was our own home, then a summer house in Whitstable, and Carpenter’s House in London, which we rent as a Holiday Let through The Modern House. After those I undertook a massive industrial office space in Stockholm, and 13 Square Metre House in London, which was an experiment in micro-living. I’m always curious to try things I haven’t done before and I see my personal projects as playing grounds to learn and test ideas. The challenge makes me more creative.
“Jack and I started working on the summer house in Whitstable because we wanted a place to escape to at the weekend. We have young children and wanted to be able to get them away from the city. It was about creating a sociable space where we could invite friends for the day and be by the sea. We’ve had it for nine years now and we love it.
“For me, a summer house is very much a wooden house – I can’t deny my Danish roots – but the choice of wood was also to do with sustainability and using something that was cost-effective. The interior is clad in rough-sawn timber and the exterior is clad in cedar shingle. I like wooden interiors and used a similar concept for the 13 Square Metre House. For that project I used ply for the floors, walls and the ceiling to create a borderless volume that gave a greater sense of space. The careful use of mirrors also worked to extend the sight lines.
“Carpenter’s House is more colourful but it has a similar consideration for sustainability. The ‘Reimagined’ chairs which we designed for that space reappropriated some abandoned chair frames to produce a new range of seats and stools. They were nominated for the Designs of the Year in 2013 and we ended up designing a whole collection in collaboration with Marc Jacobs that were shown at the New York Design Festival. I think architects and designers have a responsibility to address sustainable design so I like to adapt and re-use waste to create sustainable design solutions.
“Now I’m working on two new interior commissions. One is a work space commissioned by an artist and a writer, and the other is a pop-up café project in London. We’re also producing a new range of products for Skagerak and Another Brand that will launch during the London Design Festival in September.
“I think design can have a huge impact on your well-being. From the basic practicalities to personal tastes, we should create spaces that are a pleasure to occupy and easy to work in. The things that you touch every day make a great difference: the handle of your door, your cutlery… they don’t have to be expensive, just things that you enjoy – they should please you for many different reasons.”
Read more about Studiomama in our Directory of Architects and Designers.
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