Mikkel Bahr, born 1976 2003 Aarhus School of Architecture 2002 Schmidt Hammer Lassen 2004 Design/Nord 2005 Arkitema 2009 Friis & Moltke Friis & Moltke Design designed ELMAR, ADDO, LIBER and ACTA for Lampas. Friis & Moltke Design Mikkel Bahr As Head of Design at archi- tectural firm Friis & Moltke, Mikkel is responsible for development and (re)design of the studio’s designs, from classic furniture and lights to new products such as bicycle lights and speakers. How did you come to be a designer? When I was 5 years old, I wanted to be an inven- tor! I thought it must be cool to be that as a grown- up. Industrial designer is most likely the closest you can get to being an inventor in the real world. Back then, I would build with Lego. Now I have hobbies like cars, motorcycles, coffee machines and HiFi – stuff and tech you can geek out over. The ability to take a passionate interest in a sub- ject and gain a thorough understanding of it is fundamental for me, and I draw on that when tackling an assignment, both consciously and unconsciously. I knew back in high school that I wanted to go to Aarhus School of Architecture and to be an industrial designer. Nevertheless, I remember very clearly a presentation for the ID course being given while we were on the foundation course at the School of Architecture. Pete, who was head of ID, gave the presentation. He showed us a wild PowerPoint of hyped design objects, Philippe Starck’s lemon squeezer, etc., and I thought it was really cool. And then he said: If this is what you want to do, don’t go for ID. I had to take some time to think about that mes- sage. However, it was true. Industrial design is not about drawing a bottle-opener that looks like a frog. It’s about creating innovative solutions to problems, and products such as insulin pens and welding equipment. 101
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