American Designer Todd Bracher

In his 33 years, Todd Bracher has managed to live in some of the most important metropolises of the world when it comes to art and design. Born in New York, he moved to Copenhagen at the age of 24 to study design in the city where idols like Arne Jacobsen and Poul Kjaerholm had lived. He later moved to Paris, then Milan and London, to return this year to where he started out in Brooklyn.

His travels have helped him form his personal take on what makes good design, and this approach is reflected in the new table he’s designed for Fritz Hansen, suitable for business meetings as well as dinner parties.

“Design is about striking a balance between the over-designed and the under-designed,” he explains. “I like the fact that the table appears as if it could never have been anything different. It seems as though it was born out of a single, long and natural movement. When you take a closer look, though, you notice the construction, which is in fact quite complex. With this table we strived to make the frame as delicate as possible in order to give it an elegant streamlined look.

To me it’s important that the design doesn’t require too much explanation. There’s nothing to understand, really. - it’s simply a frame with a surface. The form has a dramatic quality, despite its simplicity. I think it’s in tune with the times, although I make it a point of honor not to be governed by passing trends.”

While Bracher was born and raised in New York, but his work has a strong flavor of the Scandinavian design tradition. It was this fascination that brought him to Copenhagen in the first place to complete his master’s degree at the Danish School of Design. And his table for Fritz Hansen makes reference to the icons of Danish design, both in terms of form and choice of materials. “I’ve had many different reactions to the table, and personally I also find it has a dualistic quality. The table’s language is a balance between the Fritz Hansen heritage and its future progression. To me this table is the right balance of the two.”

via: Fritz Hansen

• Posted by Jennifer at 2:36 pm
• Tagged: Furniture, Designers