YOUNG TALENTS
"Design is work"
Pascal Hien's workplace is easy to recognise in the Kreuzberg office space. While the people sitting next to him – fashion designer friends – have boxes of clothing, Hien's desk is surrounded by objects made of light-coloured cardboard. On the windowsill are miniature models of armchairs and chairs, on the shelf and on the wall are objects in one-to-one scale, including versions of a lamp. And on the floor next to the desk, various pieces of cardboard furniture, including a stool and a chair, somewhat crooked and roughly glued together. The models are his favourite tools in the design process. "You can get very far with cardboard and adhesive tape," says the Berlin designer. He learnt to work like this during his time as an employee of Konstantin Grcic. Pascal Hien worked in his Berlin studio for three years before setting up his own business last year at the age of 34. Building models and prototypes out of cardboard to begin with also made it easier to start his own business, as it saved him having to invest in a workshop, says Hien. Now, a year and a half after the company was founded, some of the models have become real products. The lamp with the handle, for example, which the Danish manufacturer Le Klint is currently launching under the name "Spot". The stool called "Prism" with the striking round hole has been added to the programme by German manufacturer Tecta.
The fact that the first visible successes came so quickly after the start-up is probably also due to the fact that Pascal Hien took so much time to get there. "I always knew that I wanted to start my own business. But I was scared of it," says the designer. "I first had to work up the courage." So after graduating in product design from the University of the Arts in 2013, he decided he wanted to learn more first. A scholarship from the Fabrica Research Centre took him to northern Italy, where he stayed for almost two years. "That was an important experience that opened my eyes." He learnt how important storytelling can be in design, something that wasn't really addressed at university. A good example of the little stories surrounding a product is the "Spot" luminaire. The coffee lover modelled the shape of the wooden handle on a portafilter machine. The steel wire material and the clamp that holds everything together reversibly, on the other hand, are inspired by bicycles – like so many designers, Pascal Hien is a committed cyclist. Stories like these can be used to vividly convey the references and values of a design.
After his time at the Fabrica Research Centre with its conceptual and experimental approach, Pascal Hien was drawn in the opposite direction. He was employed as a product designer at office furniture manufacturer Steelcase for three and a half years and developed an office chair and a shelving system, among other things. "At Steelcase, I learned how to industrialise a design. It was industrial design for mass production," says the designer. He can only recommend anyone and everyone to work in such a large company and take a look from the inside. "You realise that you are not a design ego, but part of a long chain, there is so much responsibility and commitment. What does it mean to make decisions in design?" He cites the price of a screw as an example. Whether it costs 15 or 25 cents a piece makes a difference when a million screws are installed every year. One of his major goals as a designer from this time has remained with him: to one day design an office chair for Herman Miller or Vitra.
The long phase between graduation and self-employment also brought Pascal Hien another advantage: he was able to make many contacts and ultimately establish a considerable network – a network that even extends as far as India. Hien once met the Indian designer Nikita Bhate at the Fabrica Research Centre. After returning home, she founded her own brand called Sār. Since then, Hien has travelled to India every year, helping to set up the company and also designing for Sār. He is currently even living there for a while with his young family in order to deepen his contacts in the dynamic Indian design scene. "This openness in India," he enthuses, "I find it so impressive, it feels like all doors are open, the projects are on the street." Another current project came to him via architect friends. He supported them in setting up a youth art school and designed furniture for the rooms. What was needed were objects that were mobile and could be converted and rearranged as required.
However, despite the expanded network, for Pascal Hien, acquisition still means approaching manufacturers at trade fairs and possibly receiving rejections. "I found that unpleasant at first, but it's just part of the job. I have the feeling that 95 per cent of designers give up at this wall alone." A certain tenacity is needed in design anyway, which he also learnt in Konstantin Grcic's studio. "Whenever you thought a project was finished, he would go another hundred metres further," recalls Hien. "Rethink the design again, make another variation, keep working continuously." You shouldn't give up until you get to the heart of the matter, until you reach the point where there is an "aha", says Pascal Hien and then adds with a laugh: "Design is work".
