Life

UNDERSTANDABLE DESIGN FOR ALL. THAT IS TERKEL’S MAIN VISION AS HE CREATES FUNCTIONAL OBJECTS MADE FOR QUICK INTEGRATION IN PEOPLE’S EVERYDAY LIFE.

TERKEL WAS BORN AND RAISED IN AALBORG IN THE NORTHERN PART OF DENMARK, WHERE HE ALSO DID HIS BACHELOR IN ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN FROM AALBORG UNIVERSITY. AFTER GRADUATION, HE WORKED A COUPLE OF YEARS IN COPENHAGEN BEFORE HE DECIDED TO SET OUT FOR NEW ADVENTURES IN LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND. HERE, HE ACQUIRED AN MA IN PRODUCT DESIGN FROM ECAL UNIVERSITY OF ARTS AND DESIGN. RECENTLY HE SETUP HIS OWN DESIGN STUDIO CALLED TERKEL SKOU STEFFENSEN INDUSTRIAL DESIGN, TSSID.

ONE IMPORTANT ASPECT IN TERKEL’S DESIGNING IS TO GET THE MOST OUT OF THE MATERIALS AS POSSIBLE. TO HIM, THE CHARACTER OF AN OBJECT SHOULD BE DETERMINED BY ITS FUNCTION – NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND – AND THE EXPRESSION DOES NOT NECESSARILY HAVE TO BE INNOVATIVE. TERKEL LIKES TO DRAW SUBTLE REFERENCES TO CLASSIC DESIGNS AND REINTERPRET THEM OUT FROM HIS POINT OF VIEW.

IN THE PROCESS OF FINDING INSPIRATION FOR NEW PROJECTS, TERKEL HAS GROWN FOND OF TALKING WITH PEOPLE WHO HAS NO PRECONCEPTIONS ABOUT DESIGN. WHAT DO THEY WANT, AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO THEM? THEY GENERALLY GIVE THE MOST HONEST ANSWERS.



THE IDEA BEHIND THE SILHOUETTE VASES CAME FROM THE IDEA OF MIXING GLASS AND METAL INTO ONE OBJECTS. I WANTED THE GLASS PART TO WORK AS A CONTAINER FOR THE WATER, AND THE METAL PART TO BE A LIGHT RING, THAT HOLDS THE FLOWERS IN PLACE. MY INSPIRATION TO THE OBJECTS CAME FROM THE FACTORY VISIT IN DENIZLI, WHERE I WAS FASCINATED BY THE VINTAGE LAMPS THAT WAS MADE OF METAL AND GLASS. THE METAL PART ON THE VASES LOOKS LIKE A SILHOUETTE AND THERE BY THE NAME. THE GRAPHIC ELEMENTS ON THE VASE IS INSPIRED BY TRADITIONAL TURKISH PATTERNS, JUST SIMPLIFIED TO FIT A MORE CONTEMPORARY CONTEXT.