++cataci.com Topics/Jonas Bohlin++

Jonas Bohlin graduated from Konstfack in 1981. He designed the VIP lounge for Arlanda Airport in Sweden, the interior architecture for the Swedish Embassy in South Africa, as well as many restaurants in Stockholm. He is recognised as one of the most important designers in Sweden.

I had seen Jonas Bohlin at parties before, but this was the first time that I really "met" him. People told me that he is very friendly, and when I finally met him, he was really nice and I could see his warm personality right away.This year, Jonas Bohlin started a group called IDA. I was a little surprised to hear that he started working in a group because I know that he has worked alone for quite a long time. He told us what he has been thinking in recent years, and how he has changed....

Style-pd (PD) : What projects are you currently involved in?

Jonas Bohlin (JB) :In myself (laughs). I am not involved in any projects right now. The last project was a restaurant in Japan. I chose the furniture and colours, but then my Japanese agent had people who took care of some of the details.

PD : Was this your first project in Japan?

JB : In a way you could say that. I have had many exhibitions and I held some lectures. But this was the first time that I had an interior design project in Japan.

PD : What would you like to do next?

JB :I am not sure right now, but I would like to do a new furniture collection, maybe for the autumn.

PD :You have started a new company called IDA. Can you tell us more about it?

JB : For about 20 years, I have been working on my own. Well, I have been working as a teacher at Beckmans for nine years and I sometimes collaborated with other architects. Besides that, I have mainly been working on my own. Now I have started a company with three other designers. We will create things sometimes alone, sometimes together, but we will promote and sell under one name, IDA, which stands for Interior Design and Art. I feel it is nice to be in this kind of group.

PD : What are the advantages of working on your own?

JB : What I try to express is very personal. That is the same for others. Sharing that can be very difficult. It might imply that you have to give up your spontaneity and freedom because of consideration for others. But with IDA, we might work more with our own individual stuff and then promote it together.

PD : What part of your design do you think is appealing to people?

JB : I don't know if it appeals to anyone (laughs). It is hard to say, but I believe that it expresses playfulness, femininity and masculinity, that it is full of nuances in its material and idiom. The fact that I don't target any particular group but simply create things based on my own experience might be appealing to some people. My design is a mix of playfulness, expression, art, and function.

PD :Is it functionality that separates a designer from an artist?

JB :Yes, an object that is possible to use functionally is often regarded as a design object, while objects that are not possible to use functionally gives another kind of experience. Art deals with the kind of issues like, how is it to be human living on the earth or in the universe? But a design object can also be art. The borders are more and more disappearing since the artists have started working with other means than sculpture and painting, and the designers have started working with other means of expression than only the functional ones. A design object can be a design object and it can also be art, but it is not up to me as a creator to judge. I do not create art. It is up to observers. I do not place such values into what I do, but instead I do what I think is fun or necessary or valuable. I do not interfere with the definitions of my work.