Boris Berlin: Dialogues on Form

Born in Leningrad (now St Petersburg) in 1953, Boris Berlin has now been working in Denmark for over 40 years. While in the Soviet Union he began mainly designing technical products such as tools, cameras, or machinery, he soon devoted his work to the Danish discipline par excellence: furniture and lamp design—and especially the chair.

Berlin repeatedly attempts to break the chair down to its minimum, as exemplifi ed by the NON model (2000): the realization of an ultimately childish (3D) drawing, an image that only becomes a real chair through use, as Berlin himself puts it, produced with the least amount of materials and, in the truest sense of the word, from a single cast. Or he is interested in the right form for a particular function, as in the case of the BUNNY armchair (2011), which should hug the user and convey a feeling of  ecurity when sitting in it: A cuddly toy for adults.

In addition to the intensive search for the right shape in each case, the joy of experimentation concerning the material comes into play, as does an exhaustive exchange with the respective manufacturers: whether wood, rubber, felt, or knitwear, the appropriate and possible production method for everything is researched in parallel with the design. Fritz Hansen, Hay, Gubi, and Muuto are just some of the many companies he works with.

The new, richly illustrated publication of over 400 pages offers a first comprehensive overview of the work of this outstanding designer. Based on a direct dialogue wit creatives from the fields of design and art history in Berlin’s studio, the book is conceived as a kind of round table discussion between the authors: some of the individual contributions are even accompanied by comments from the others. The focus is on innovative solutions, the development of materials and production methods, and the associated contribution to a future with sustainable design.

But also more than that: because Berlin’s practice is based on a deep understanding of art and craft, moving between the intellectual and the emotional: The content of art is inexhaustible, says the designer about his work. I have tried to do the same thing art does. I want to tell a story about a chair, a table, a piece of furniture or a lamp.