Hasta La Ideas

I first came across David Geckeler‘s work at BER-JFK, DMY’s Noho Design District exhibition for New York Design Week. “Fragment,” his three-legged metal chair, stood out with its shiny mint green, powder coated finish and the unusual jagged edges and cast notch marks under the seat. I saw “Fragment” again at DMY, where Geckeler showed it as part of the student show for the University of Arts in Berlin. Two days later I found myself looking at prototypes of that chair and others in his sunny Neukolln studio, where we talked about the philosophy behind Fragment as well as his other designs.

Origins

One of the reasons David is able to make a living as a full-time designer right out of school is because he took a much more conscientious and aggressive approach to his education than most students do. After studying for a year and half at the University of Applied Science in Potsdam, he spent a semester at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen before returning to Berlin to finish his degree in industrial design at the University of Arts in Berlin.

While his scattered university track record might seem like a less focused approach than simply staying at one place for four years, David purposefully moved from school to school to get a broader perspective. “It wasn’t that I didn’t like one school,” he explained. “It was more that I wanted to try out different schools and different philosophies of teaching.” And while he doesn’t play favorites it’s clear that his semester in Copenhagen was pivotal to his development as a designer. “For me it was really important, this Danish traditional design thinking and what they’re doing there nowadays. It’s different from Germany. The whole Danish society is so into design. They have a feeling for it.”

After his semester in Copenhagen, David decided it was time to head back to Berlin to start up his own design studio to get a few projects underway before graduation. His first product was the “Nord” chair, or Nerd, in English. Though the chair looks more sleek and refined than geeky to me, David explained that “the detail of how the shells stack together is a bit nerdy to [him].” The unique way the backrest fits into the seat is a result of a class assignment from his Copenhagen days. He had eight weeks to design and manufacture a working prototype, and by creating two basic molded plywood forms that fit together without any extra parts he dramatically simplified the process. The Nord chair was awarded a prize by Becker KG, a German manufacturer specializing in molded plywood. The visibility from the award attracted the attention of several design companies, including the Danish brand Muuto, which will launch the Nord chair for contract and commercial buyers this October. David said he worked with Muuto for a full year developing the design, and that “it was important that a Danish brand make this chair because [he] designed it there.”

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