Jennifer Hagler
I’m so pleased to be interviewing you two as I own, very recently, one of your own designs, the Building Table for Skagerak (pictured here)! The wood and clean lines feels very Danish but Bicolter is a Spanish team. How do your Spanish roots influence your designs?
We both are from opposite places, Saulo is from one of the Canary Islands and Olivia from a small city next to Serrania de Cuenca. For us the job consist of find a middle point that usually is a formal synthesis, a measured and thoughtful proportion, and well, let’s not fool ourselves, maybe a pinch of Spanish sun achieves that special warmth by which our designs are identified.
What drew you to study and work in product design?
Saulo
Art always drew me through different disciplines, it was difficult to choose only one. Design gave me the key that allows me to nourish myself from all disciplines, and not only an artistic one. For me, this is the most complete job where I can develop a transversal vision of multiple disciplines.
Olivia
Of my surroundings, I could see how people owned and save objects which had meaning to them, a special value. They had an attitude and feeling of having them for a long time. That link between objects and how people respond to them had caught my attention.
When I observe objects with a technical concern, questions about materials are also aroused in my mind. Design has allowed my to answer many of these question and understand all its elements and complexity.
How often does sustainability and environmental factors weigh in on your designs?
We would like this kind of factors would have increasingly weigh in our designs. Now we are aware that our studio is a small part of whole chain, so we should think what can we do from our position.
We believe is a question of small contributions. Our actions are related with become aware and making carefully choices when we project.
What are some of the biggest problems you hope to solve with your design work?
Little by little people are worrying, among other things, about what they eat and we think this is normal because it is what keeps us healthy.
In our opinion the same thing happens in the design field. People spend 24 hours a day surrounded by objects. With our work we contribute to shape the content that enrich the objects culture the same way food does. We want to make this more accessible.
Once, we saw a show about a man who eats dishes and crystal glasses, we still do not know if a glass object have good flavor but maybe it’s not a delicacy for the mouth. This caused us reflect on how we would love for our work to become delicacies for the rest of the human senses.
Do you have a dream collaboration or brand/designer that you’d love to work with?
Bicolter means progress using dialogue, we would like listen and be listened. At the end our dream collaborations are those who we can get interesting reflections where both parts can learn from the other.
What do you wish people understood about product design?
There are many people involved into making possible that an object takes shape and we think it’s worth that people feel interest about that.
We believe already exists a consciousness of understand objects beyond of the perception of its beauty. At the end if an object works and lasts through time means that it has been understood by people.
