Hasta La Ideas

After spending the first half of her professional life as a physical therapist in her native Iceland, Emilia Borgthorsdottir made the transition to industrial design. Coalesse realized her first production piece, the “Sebastopol” table, on the occasion of NeoCon 2011, where her mix-n-match design took the Gold Award in its category. Read on as she talks us through her background and her latest work.

Core77: So first things first, can you tell me about your background?

Emilia Borgthorsdottir: I’m from Iceland. I’ve lived in the States for five years now and it’s been two years since I graduated [with a B.S. in industrial design], so this is my first production piece.

I understand you were a physical therapist before becoming a designer?

Yes, yes back in the day. So I was working in a clinic as a physical therapist. Of course, ergonomics and biomechanics are always in my head— always have the body in mind. It’s good to have that base of knowledge when you’re designing because of course we’re always designing for people. Even though it’s packaging or whatever, it’s always the interaction of the human body to a product. So I think it’s very useful.

That was back in Iceland?

Yes, that was back in Iceland.

And you moved to the States to pursue your degree in design?

Yes… my husband was relocated, so that’s why I thought I would use the opportunity to study. It takes four years to learn physical therapy, but on my third year, I thought why not pursue my passion for design and take a Masters in ergonomic design instead of rehabilitation? So I thought it would make sense to have this knowledge in the background of design. So I took a Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Design.

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