Walking the Line of Intrigue and Simplicity, Sanna Völker Paves the Way for Furniture Design

Name:
Sanna Völker
Photography:
Courtesy Sanna Völker
Words:
Caroline Meeusen

Swedish-born designer Sanna Völker creates in an in-between most artists strive for, finding that perfect balance of raw edge and refinement in each of her designs. Her work, décor pieces and furniture, is grounded in skilled craftsmanship and brought to life with texture and natural beauty. Working in the interface between Scandinavia and Spain, the talented designer also teaches product and furniture design at IED-Istituto Europeo di Design in Barcelona. In our interview, Völker shared with us a look into her creative process and which projects have stood out to her most over the years.

“Be curious, humble, and respectful toward other people, toward material, and toward yourself.”

— Sanna Völker

VISUAL PLEASURE Magazine: Did you always want to be a designer? And how did you become one?

Sanna Völker: I got into design quite late actually. When I was younger, I always saw myself working within a more sociological branch since I was very interested in social science and human behavior. At the same time, I really enjoyed hanging out in my dad's workshop in our basement where I would create stuff from whatever I could find in there, but I just didn't think of that as a profession. Yet, in a way, I do include both of these interests in my work today.

How would you describe your style and works?

Someone once described my style as ‘delicate Brutalism,’ a definition I absolutely love. I'd say that my work consists of clean geometries with carefully-considered details, manifested in furniture and objects of pure shapes. I also believe my Scandinavian roots and Japanese influences are quite apparent in my pieces. I focus a lot on finding the right equilibrium of harmony and intrigue in my own work, for the object to have a pure and timeless expression but to have that 'extra something' that makes it interesting.

What do you want to accomplish with your pieces?

A balance between simplicity and intrigue. I don't feel the need to design pieces that are too dominant in their surroundings, or for them to showcase their most alluring elements at first sight. I enjoy when the viewer or user actually need to interact with the piece (walk around it, lean in, or gently touch its surface) to really appreciate it.

Which themes re-occur in your designs, and why is that?

I'm very interested in craft and how traditional materials or techniques can be transformed into a contemporary piece. I love working with stone, wood, and clay since they are natural materials that you can't fully control, it makes each piece unique and somewhat unpredictable. I love submerging into the process of a material and seeing what can come out of it, and to showcase the particularity of each material. How nature influences man and man influence nature is also a recurrent theme, paired with environmental issues.

How do you find that balance between rawness and refinement, harmony and intrigue?

It has become a natural part of my working process really. Usually, there is a particular feel I wish to achieve with each piece, and once I have found something engaging, I start to add and remove until the balance of expression feels just right, which in the end is pure gut feeling.

What is your favorite piece that you ever designed, and why?

This is a hard one because I feel very close to a number of my pieces. I believe that my ‘Snug’ candle holder expresses that simplicity yet complexity I like to achieve with my work. Others are more about the process and how personal they feel to me like the ‘Common Effort’ tables that I created together with my girlfriends for Internationals Women's Day this year. I'm also very fond and proud of my ‘Nostalgia’ sticks, where the study behind the project often leads to interesting conversations.

Who is your favorite designer?

From the classics Hans J. Wegner and Charlotte Perriand and the contemporary Norm Architects and Note Design Studio.

What is still on your design bucket list?

I'd love to experiment with glass. And as a typology a chair, which I have not yet designed. A complicated piece to take on for a number of reasons, but more reason to do so, right?