Boris Berlin

Boris Berlin (b.1953) is a Russian-born designer who has been living in Denmark since the 1980s, where he is an influential figure on the international design scene. Although he began designing technical devices, among other things, in the former Soviet Union, he ended up devoting his creative efforts exclusively to Denmark's signature discipline par excellence: chair design.

His designs are always about reducing the chair to its absolute minimum: it should be simple like a line drawing, manufactured with little material effort or literally cast from a mold. In doing so, a joy in experimenting with the material – wood, rubber, felt, rope – plays as much a role as the intense dialogue with the respective manufacturers. The production possibilities for every option are thoroughly researched.

This publication presents a first, all-encompassing overview of this outstanding designer's work. It serves as a roundtable discussion between the authors, who hail from the fields of design and art history, with some individual contributions accompanied by comments from other participants. In addition, it focuses on Boris Berlin's innovative solutions, the development of materials and production methods, and his concomitant contribution to a sustainable design future. Through this discursive approach, the book aims to set thoughts in motion and stimulate discussions on contemporary design topics.