Moritz Waldemeyer on Mechatronics, Merging Art and Technology, and Why the Camera Is His Most Important Tool
Posted in: Core77 Questionnaire
This is the latest installment of our Core77 Questionnaire. Previously, we talked to the Belgian designer Sylvain Willenz.
Name: Moritz Waldemeyer
Occupation: Designer
Location: London
Current projects: We’ve just delivered two really big ones. We’ve done a big chandelier in a new hotel in Davos, Switzerland. And then in Milan, there’s a department store called La Rinascente; it’s a beautiful historic building right next to the Dome, and we did the whole front of that for Christmas.
Mission: To create a new aesthetic with and for technology. It’s bringing together these two different disciplines—the arts and technology—that in the past didn’t really match up. They used to be very separate, but now it’s interesting to see how they’re merging in the world. And I’m trying to help with this merger.
For Milan’s La Rinascente, Waldemeyer created a WinterWonder installation with 1,300 laser-cut snowflakes
Waldemeyer’s Wave Chandelier for the Intercontinental Davos
When did you decide that you wanted to be a designer? It’s almost as if it chose me rather than the other way around—as if there was a gravitational pull in that direction. There was never one moment when I decided, “Oh, I’m going to be a designer.” It was a gradual trajectory.
Education: First I went to study international business. Then I changed to engineering. I did mechatronics—mechanical and electronic engineering—at Kings College, in London. After I graduated from engineering, that’s when this design path started, which pulled me into the more creative disciplines. But I’m very happy about this engineering base, because it’s just such a good foundation to build on.
First design job: I started out working as a research scientist—at least, that was my job title—at Philips. I was working in a very forward-looking area where they brought together a lot of different disciplines. That was the first time that I worked in this intersection between technology and design.
Who is your design hero? Maybe Leonardo Da Vinci, because he was one of those first multi-curious people who really can’t be labeled. He would just look at anything that was out there, and it was all like one big art to him. I think he must be the ultimate hero in that respect.
Above and below: Revolution, a lighting installation for the Wallpaper* Handmade exhibition in London last October
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