Check out Fritz Hansen's redesigned showroom in the Philippines

Fritz Hansen has been around for 150 years, producing exceptional designs from pioneering minds like Arne Jacobsen, Hans Vegner and Poul Kjaerholm. What are the qualities that make your furniture pieces so enduring and timeless?

That’s a very difficult question that I’m often asked. It’s like asking “Why is this flower so beautiful?” There is something that happens between ourselves and our brain that decides what is nice and not, and one cannot always answer it but also that is where the genius lies. However, what I can tell you is that our aim is to preserve these beautiful pieces and to make them always relevant to the current time. The skill of Fritz Hansen is to never live in the past. To always have one eye on the past, but also one eye on the future. This is something I never found in any other company.

The furniture of Fritz Hansen is often called both timeless and timely. Could you tell us more about this?

Yes, that is right. Because timeless can be boring right? If we are always talking about the classic Fifties, then we are not moving forward. But at the same time, we have designers like Jaime Hayon, who does contemporary pieces and a showroom like this. Or we take a classic like the Egg Chair, which for its anniversary we put a new twist like doing a new leather colour, and that’s how you keep the product always relevant. It’s also in the new ways you photograph the product and use it in interior design.

What is the concept behind this showroom?

It is unique, being the only showroom of Fritz Hansen (FH) that looks like this. You can check Shanghai, South Korea, Jakarta and you will see that every store is different. I don’t believe in copy paste nor in a franchising look, we are not a fast-food furniture brand. My aspiration is that every time you travel you would want to go to a FH store, this is what I do when I travel. Take Aesop or Patagonia for example, they have a different shop every single time.

The designs of the furniture at Fritz Hansen can blend with any culture—even if it is rooted in Scandinavian aesthetic, it fits in any Asian interior. How do you think this happens?

That’s what Fritz Hansen design is to me. When you say timeless it also means spaceless. It can be the same anywhere, without any real reference that it must be a Scandinavian house. It can look interesting in a Mediterranean house, or a Sicilian house. It goes really well in my house in Sicily. It has nothing to do with Scandinavia, I assure you.

Scandinavian design exudes calm and tranquillity. How valuable are these qualities in today’s homes?

They are extremely important. One of the reasons why FH grew so much during Covid is that everybody had the same type of experience. I noticed FH had tremendous growth not just in Asia but globally, including some other brands in the West as well. When you are forced to stay at home for 20 hours a day, then your house becomes your hotel or resort, your holiday becomes your living room, and it becomes a real staycation.

I don’t want to say thanks to Covid, but because of the pandemic, people learnt the real importance of house and family. Before it was all about showing off, like “I need to buy this and that, and I need to go to this restaurant, I need to be seen at this resort, at this hotel or tourist spot”.

To me, this is such a negative message. All you should really care about is yourself and your happiness, your family and your friends. These are the real values that are important when it comes to home and furniture. We have moved from something that was very plastic and fake, and I think everybody grew up more in the last three years appreciating family more, and the house plays a valuable role in that.

Would you say there is a difference now in how people are willing to spend on their homes?

Yes, whether it’s a big house in Europe or the US or a small apartment in Japan. Even if it seems expensive, people now are just saving money to get quality furniture instead of buying things that are low quality and cheap that they must throw away eventually. For me, the goal is to make people happy, make the world a better place, and pollute as less as possible. If people can buy it one time but pass it on to the next generation because it lasts 50 years or so, then that would be a good thing.

What do you think of the design scene in Manila today; how do you think this fits the lifestyle of the Philippines?

I was talking to Ben Chan about this and I have to say that Filipino culture is one of the most, if not the most, creative ones I have seen. If you give them enough training and funding, Filipinos can do great things once the opportunity is there to create. I believe Fritz Hansen and the Philippines make a good partnership.

So, Fritz Hansen has tailored fit this showroom around the Filipino psyche—with its creativity and fiesta culture?

Exactly. It won’t be the same if you go to Japan, where you must tone down in colours, looking more toward tradition. Here you take the Filipino party culture, and the Spanish influence, and when put together with Danish design, it’s an amazing combination. You will never see a Fritz Hansen store like this. 

The colours bring one single thing: positivity. When you use black, it can feel sad. If you use white, it can bring calm. If you use colour, it will bring joy, positivity and happiness.

We had to postpone this renovation for two and a half years but finally, it’s completed! The pandemic happened but at least it made things exciting for us by allowing us to take a break and reset the designs.

I invite everyone to come and visit, especially for designers to come and talk with their clients at the desks, in the rooms, have a chat and not just talk about work. I am sure the visitors will experience the furniture and the showroom in a unique way.