Here, we ask designers to take a selfie and give us an inside look at their life.
Age: 44
Occupation: Artist and designer.
Instagram: @atelier001 and @evamenz_studio
Hometown: Munich.
Studio location: London and beyond.
Describe what you make: Illumination art and collectible lights.
The most important thing you’ve designed to date: Through the years, the continuous beautiful working environment I’ve strived to build in my studio makes the team, our collaborators, and I very happy to work together every day. Materially, one of the most remarkable designs the team and I have created is a 65-foot-long tensile piece within a staircase interacting with the architecture of a private residence of epic proportions.
Describe the problem your work solves: At Atelier001, we’re conscious of the negative effects of overly bright exposed bulbs and direct LED lighting on our state of mind and well-being. For that reason, our lighting fixtures display indirect light only to create a good ambiance and avoid overstimulation, light pollution, and overheating.
A lot of expertise and skills at the workshops we visit and collaborate with were being lost, so we create pieces relying on those crafts in particular. We celebrate makers and the transmission of knowledge by preserving know-how that may otherwise be in danger of disappearing. We create pieces to last, made exclusively from authentic materials.
Describe the project you are working on now: Made in London, a collection of timeless lighting pieces created with the intention that they be passed onto future generations. Also, a mobile balancing a narrative of weightlessness with a theatrical and gentle lighting effect. This piece does not only have presence itself but also creates mesmerizing shadows.
A new or forthcoming project we should know about: Our new lighting collection for Atelier001 to be presented in 2024—and a gorgeous top-secret private commission for a draping to-die-for staircase.
What you absolutely must have in your studio: I can’t function without amazing talented people, my favorite pen, a stack of white paper, my mid-2000s Tulum playlist, vintage lighting books, and dark salt chocolate.
What you do when you’re not working: Travel the world to see amazing and talented friends, play tennis, swim, read, and stare out at a sea view as often as possible.
Sources of creative envy: Alexander McQueen, Athena Calderone, Es Devlin, Mathieu Lehanneur, Joseph Dirand, Studio KO.
The distraction you want to eliminate: Running the business, inches and feet measurement, LED drivers. I would just like to have more time for everything we make.
Concrete or marble? Marble.
High-rise or townhouse? Townhouse—or a house by the sea.
Remember or forget? Always moving forward.
Aliens or ghosts? Ghosts.
Dark or light? Light, obviously.
