This week we bring you a little closer to one of our top designers and dear friends, Burkhard Dämmer. He has been part of the LZF team for many years, and is responsible for the some of the brands most iconic lamps, including the I-Club, X-Club, Poppy, Totem, Cuad, Dandelion and the Cervantes pendants. Now we sit him down and ask him 5 quick questions to better understand this LZF icon and his lovable personality.

Tristan Mayne: What do you enjoy most about your profession?
Burkhard Dammer: Of course, it is the alternation, of working in different fields.
Sometimes you think that every lamp or chair has already been designed designed. Especially if you walk through a fair. If then, in the design process, you find something different. That´s the moment I love most.

TM: Where do you draw inspiration?
BD: Art, nature, science, history, life. Actually everywhere at any time.

TM: In your opinion, what should good design do?
BD: It should function. Function in the sense of handling both the technical anaesthetic side of design.
And most importantly, good design should last.

TM: How has your work with LZF compared to other collaborations you have been involved in?
BD:  Well there is the material: natural veneer which is unique to LZF. If you bend it, cut it or use it flat, every single sheet is different. It needs a very close cooperation between the producer and the designer to solve all the problems to bring an idea to the market. A cooperation like I have with Marivi Calvo, Sandro Tothill and the whole LZF team is what I think is the the most unique thing. And it helps a lot that they really love what they do and their products.

TM: Whose designs are you most envious of and why?
BD: Ray & Charles Eames, Dieter Rams, Jasper Morisson, Naoto Fukasava etc.
I love works that make difficult and complicated things look simple.