26th February 2018

Introducing Adorno: Q&A with Kristian Snorre Andersen and Martin Clausen

“When you go into design shops, everything is so uniform and standardised. It is the same in Danish homes: you find the same lamps, the same chairs and so on.”

It was a shared exasperation for the lack of diversity in design that drove Kristian Snorre Andersen and Martin Clausen to set up Adorno, a design-focused online platform. Existing somewhere between online gallery, marketplace, and design city guide, Adorno brings together designers, curators, collectors and enthusiasts from cultural hubs around the world to create a worldwide design community. The online shop enables people from all corners of the globe to discover and buy one-of-a-kind and limited-edition design pieces directly from designers.

In 2018, Adorno is collaborating with leading design experts in 20 cities across the world. Each tastemaker will present a curated collection of design objects crafted by some of the most talented makers in their region. Contributors so far include Max Fraser for London, Ana Dominguez Siemens for Barcelona and Madrid, and William Bagnoli for Berlin.

In the interview that follows Kristian and Martin tell us the story behind the Adorno.

Primitive Vases by Harvey Bouterse.

What’s the story behind Adorno?

Martin: Working at the Royal Academy of Arts in Copenhagen, I would often see talented designers come out of school with big dreams of starting their own practices, but in most cases they would end up working for one of the city’s larger and more mainstream design companies. A lot of their creativity and experimental approach, which I found so inspiring, was lost in the process. I wanted to improve the conditions for designers that would enable my fellow students to realise the creativity and vision in their work.

Kristian, on the other hand, had discovered design scenes in Brazil and Venezuela, and designers from Mali, South Africa and Kenya. He was fascinated by their creativity and completely different approach to design. At the time he was working on a plan to make some kind of a digital platform that would enable these designers to sell their work to an international customer base, allowing them to make a better life from their talents.

Kristian: Another thing that inspired us is how little space creativity and experimentation is given by the established design sector. When you go into design shops everything is so uniform and standardised. It is the same in Danish homes: you find the same lamps, the same chairs and so on.

We wanted to create more diversity and at the same time celebrate the things that we saw on our travels and during our research.

The Brazilian design journalist and curator Adelia Borges inspired us a lot. She gave a presentation at What Design Can Do in which she argued that the western world has, for too long, been dictating to the rest of the world what defines good and bad design. She was propagating for multi-directional communication about design, where all cultures had a chance to participate in the dialogue.

It was these ideas, experiences, and sentiments that Martin and I shared that made us do something together.

Martin: With ADORNO we hope to contribute to a design culture that celebrates diversity and differences between cultures by providing designers with better opportunities to realise their own dreams and visions as creators.

Crystals Collection by Carol Gay (Sao Paulo)

You talk about empowering design communities. Why is this important and how does Adorno achieve this?

Everybody belongs to various communities. Your family, for example, is a community, as is the football club that you support. Designers are also part of certain communities. They have often gone to the same design school and visit the same exhibitions. They inspire each other, party together and collaborate on various levels. These communities are embedded with histories and traditions including the application of specific techniques, materials and notions of design, as well as certain industry structures. All of these things influence the individual designer, and his or her work. Therefore to understand and appreciate the work of designers you need to understand the community and culture that has been part of shaping them.

Design communities are therefore important to ADORNO. They shape the work that is being produced and the conditions that designers are working under. This is also why we like to contribute to these communities and in doing so strengthen them. ADORNO achieves this by presenting the work of designers that are part of defining these communities. We also write about these designers and sell their work both online and at various design events.

Hang-it blanket Nr. 1 by Kristine Engelbrecht.

Why is having a local perspective so important?

It is important for locals themselves to be provided with a local perspective. All cultures possess something valuable, regardless of how high-tech they are. In this globalised and increasingly digital world we risk losing the valuable components of cultures. It is therefore important to maintain a local perspective that cherishes local culture. This is also why ADORNO has partnered with local curators. They are the ones that know the local design community, culture and the designers in them best, and this, in the words of Adelia Borges, is the only way that a multi-directional communication about design can take place.

How do you choose the next design destination?

We do not choose design destinations based on a specific method. Of course we need to take a number of practical issues into consideration, but we are also very much inspired by what we read, what we see and who we meet. Finding designers and curators that are known for their work within the design community is an important first step. At the same time we aspire to present the diversity within design. This year, and in coming years, we hope to work with designers and curators in various cultural hubs across Asia and Africa.

“BLAUW” set 2 by Studio Tim Vanlier.

Find out more about Adorno on their website here.