Laura Bilde is a talented Danish designer who won the award ‘Upcoming of the year’ at the Design Awards 2016. Her designs are characterised by the Scandinavian simplicity where aesthetics and function are crossed in a sculptural universe. Laura manages to experiment with materials and simple details that bring joy into the use of her design.
What do you do, and where are you from?
I have studied furniture design at VIA design and graduated in December of 2016. I now work as a junior designer for Norm Architects in Copenhagen, where I am constantly surrounded by products and interior design.
What or who inspires you within your field and in your daily work?
I am very inspired by our unconscious hunger for tactility and sensual experiences. The growing tendency of saturating social media with digital images makes us hunger for physical materiality which we can concretely feel. That is why I am often inspired by material combinations, where the contrasts of structures and surfaces can influence and affect us and create an emotion, from that we experience. I think that IIse Crawford is a very inspiring designer within this field, since her projects always involve contrasting materials and sensuous combinations that are created in order to optimize the human well-being.
Is there a connect between your work, and where you’re from? Why or why not?
I grew up in a family which was not very creative, so in principal becoming a furniture designer was not a natural choice for me. However, I never had any pressure to become anything creative, which made me very conscious about my career choice. From an early age, I found out that I was actually very creative and thought that it was very interesting to organize both my own as well as my friends bedrooms. My creativity developed during my teenage years, where I began to become interested more in architecture and interior design.
What do you think are the biggest plus sides in working in the creative field in a Nordic country?
There are many advantages with working with design in Scandinavia but one of the largest is our ability to preserve good quality which lies in the natural choice of materials and the great craftmanship. It helps that we create slow products, which can live with us for many years and I think that many think this aspect is very valuable.
And are there any challenges you face, with being from this region?
The challenge is to constantly live up to our Danish design roots. In Denmark, we have a long standing past of creating many classic design icons. It is therefore difficult to create the same success today, when much already exists. We have to rethink, improve and remain critical to the design process. It may be hard in the long run.
What is your driving force to continue making things?
With time I have come closer to the realization that there is a driving force for my work. I am not completly sure about having found the precise answer yet but one of the values that I find interesting and which gives me meaning for my life is to improve the things which surround us. My work as a designer is to ask questions and be critical to the existing which does not work. It may sound plausible, but I am gradually realizing how important it is to be concentrated around man and his needs. As a designer and architect it is our task to improve and optimize the quality of life of the human being through the use of products and through architecture.
Can you describe your perfect day?
My days are very different and everyday I am confronted with new challenges. Therefore, it is very difficult to pinpoint something concrete, which makes my days perfect, since there can be very many things. What is a constant throughout all my days in general, is that everyday I try to draw something on a plain piece of paper from a human necessity. A totally perfect day for me can be when I have encountered the trace of something interesting and when my search, inspiration, thoughts, conversations with clients etc., begin to take shape and become something concrete, something that can be realized. It is very confirming to reflect over the whole process.
Do you have your own quote that defines you/your work?
I find it hard to have a real motto but my purpose is quite clear and that is to evoke a feeling of consciousness for the receiver from a minimal idiom. A minimal design gives room to explore the choice of material, which can be rich in contrasts and textures and therefore sharpens our senses.