Interior design as a tailor-made suit

Robert Volhard: Chair manufacturing has a long tradition in your family: 75 years ago, your grandfather started the company with an industrially manufactured wooden chair, followed by your father with the office swivel chair in 1976. You and your brother Rainer developedthe premium brand Wagner Living in 1999. What are you most proud of after all these years?

Peter Wagner: That's a good question. It's actually down to the entrepreneurial gene that our grandfather gave us. The initial spark is that we do something, because that's what drives us. My father once told me that in bad times, which we also had, you always have to be an entrepreneur, whether in your private life or in business. I always kept that in mind. Then there was the aesthetic understanding that my grandfather already had. His pub chair from the 1960s is a classic that is as relevant today as it was then. Entrepreneur, technician and aesthete – this combination led to success. Then came the understanding of design, which is the greatest thing for me. I was also able to strengthen this through the cooperation with Stylepark and at the same time build up a network to promote visions.

Franziska von Schumann: How do you and your brother Rainer complement each other in their collaboration?

Peter Wagner: By always finding each other as two completely contrasting characters and getting to the heart of things. As a classic businessman, Rainer is very rational, while I'm more of a fantasist who you have to capture from time to time. He's allowed to do that and is the best at it because he's my brother.

Franziska von Schumann: How important is it to you to maintain a balance between tradition and the future?

Peter Wagner: As tradition has it, entrepreneurs always think and move into the future. We are conservative, progressive and innovative. Tradition includes preserving the design of the pub chair and reinterpreting it in a new way – like with an outdoor version of the motion joint. It's about preserving tradition and values without forgetting innovation. This is Wagner's basic attitude and also the strength of the company.

Robert Volhard: Values is a good keyword. Health, design and functionality are three important keywords that define Wagner Living. Your portfolio now extends far beyond the chair: with ‘D2’, together with Gonzales Haase AAS and Diez Office, you have devised a sustainable room system that can be customised and is 100 per cent recyclable. With a specially developed polyamide fitting, aluminium profiles and back panels made of translucent polycarbonate, the aluminium or cardboard lightweight panels can be assembled into shelves or entire room solutions without tools. What does your sustainability approach involve?

Peter Wagner: The sustainability approach encompasses three major aspects: The economic, social and ecological benefits. With ‘D2’, we work with very little material, which is customised. I therefore only use what is really needed for the room. This also has a social and ecological benefit. It's about making the interior design for people like a customised suit, offering an optimal solution. This cannot be found with standards. With these, all rooms look the same. Architects want the solution to perfectly reflect their idea and change it if necessary. ‘D2’ is assembled and disassembled without tools and can be changed again and again in collaboration with our planners. This idea suits us as a chair manufacturer because we want the best for people. The furniture is the perfect complement and is comparatively inexpensive thanks to the focus on the essentials. Added to this is the joy of personal design, as this also adds value. With the combination of system and individuality, we bring together these previously alien concepts and create a new togetherness.

Robert Volhard: The next development step is now the partner companies of ‘D2’.

Peter Wagner: Exactly. The Orgatec 2024 will be a starting point for this. Interior designers who work freely with us and planners from our specialist retail partners will take on the planning, which we will then translate into a factory layout with our carpenters. Afterwards, they also take care of production and delivery. The local connection is important here – the project in Hamburg, for example, is also to be built by carpenters in Hamburg. With our exhibition at the Design Post in Cologne, we are a central point of contact for planners from the surrounding area. We also already have a planning partner in Augsburg for the Munich area. We are using our new ‘Moving Spaces’ brochure to explain our idea to guests at Orgatec. Current studies such as the ifo Institute or the Cisco study also show that this is in keeping with the times. This states that in 75 per cent of companies in Europe, employees would like to return to the office from their home office – but only if it is designed for collaborative and communicative working instead of being designed for individual offices. In other words, the majority want to return to the office, but the office is not yet ready for it. We need to break down the old ways of thinking together. Only then will we make progress again in Germany.

Franziska von Schumann: We are sitting in the Wagner Design Lab, which was developed for you by architects Titus Bernhard and Andreas Weissenbach. It was built directly above your former parents' house and has a spectacular glass façade. The room layout with curtains certainly encourages flexible ways of thinking and a change of perspective, doesn't it?

Peter Wagner: I motivate my employees to change places from time to time throughout the week. Our Head of Marketing even signalled right from the start that he doesn't need a fixed desk, but prefers to move freely around the company.

Robert Volhard: Can you break down where the added value lies in the business case?

Peter Wagner: The added value lies in the idea. As soon as the idea for a room is there, the added value is everywhere. However, chairs are often only chosen at the end of the interior design process, when the budget for a good chair is tight. That's why we're putting the cart before the horse and demonstrating with our systems: Good furniture and good room solutions that are intelligently customised for the customer are needed. No standard solutions with lots of superfluous elements. It's about creating living spaces.

Robert Volhard: How do you communicate at Orgatec what is possible with the ‘D2’ system?

Peter Wagner: We have developed a D2 workbox that allows us to demonstrate the numerous possibilities. At the same time, we will be using our converted Airstream caravan to show why aluminium furniture lasts a lifetime. We are offering a D2 workshop on Wednesday, 23 October 2024 at 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. in our Design Post area and our project manager Patrick Böhnke will also be planning live with the D2 system in the area.

Franziska von Schumann: How do the collaborations with renowned designers such as Stefan Diez, Gonzales Haase, Hadi Teherani and Thorsten Franck come about? And what is important for the collaboration to be successful?

Peter Wagner: Collaborations usually arise from networks that are constantly evolving. At the same time, we have come so far with the Wagner brand that renowned architects and designers are also approaching me with ideas. Of course, a certain amount of management on our part is part of this. It's about mutual understanding and developing a strategy together. In addition to the well-known creatives, young talent is also very important to us. Steven Dahlinger, for example, realised his design for the ‘Nesting’ sofa with Wagner Living.

Franziska von Schumann: How did the collaboration come about?

Peter Wagner: Steven Dahlinger was a student in Stefan Diez's class at the Angewandte in Vienna. For a project on the topic of ‘Workspace in progress’, the students were asked to imagine the future of work and what the needs of the workplace would be in this future. We were impressed by Steven's idea and it is contemporary: in a modern office, you can take a break between work phases, sit or lie down on a sofa and create a temporary relaxation space with the double-layered backrest of ‘Nesting’.

Robert Volhard: What can we expect at Orgatec?

Peter Wagner: We offer a large, colourful bouquet of flowers on the subject of interior design, with which we will surprise both users and end customers. It's all about creating space for more movement.

Wagner Living @ Design Post during Orgatec
Deutz-Mühlheimerstrasse 22A, 50649 Cologne

Opening hours:
22 to 25 October 2024
Tuesday: 9 am to 9 pm
Wednesday to Friday: 9 am to 7 pm