The fact that the name of Andris Nolendorfs is only known in Latvia to a narrow circle is an indication of the situation of design in Latvia. Because only recently have we begun to take pride in the achievements in the field of visual art of emigre Latvians Imants Tillers, Laris Strunke or Vija Celmins. Andris Nolendorfs is a Swedish design businessman with an indisputable place at the apex of Scandinavian design. The most famous of his businesses, Zero (1978), produces lighting, the company also owns the furniture business Lustrum (1988) and the glass factory Pukeberg Glassworks (established 1871). The Zero Salon is located in Stockholm’s snobby design “showroom” block, and Nolendorf collaborates with contemporary Swedish design stars such as Mattias Ståhlbom and Thomas Bernstrand. This year Zero participated in a Milan show with a totally new collection, and these designers have been predicted a place among the stars of the future.
Dizaina Studija: How did you become involved in design?
Andris Nolendorfs: I can’t really tell you (smiles). I have absolutely no design education and neither does my family – my parents also have none. I am a building engineer, I studied econmics at Uppsala University. At that time I became interested in modern furniture: I went to exhibitions, looked around. At first I began to work in an advertising agency, where I met all sorts of people. An exhibition called Svensk Möbelcenter was popular at that time, in which 10 or 15 Swedish firms were participating. I was particularly impressed by one of these – Lammhults – and two designers who worked there: Börge Lindau and Bo Lindekrantz. About five years later I began to work in marketing at the Orrefors glass company in Stockholm. At that time they had a department which produced lighting. Those days Orrefors produced fairly traditional forms, mainly nothing which interested me. Nevertheless I noticed some attractive designs, which had been created some years earlier by the above mentioned designers, Lindau and Lindekrantz. I found them, and slowly we began to collaborate at Orrefors. A few years later I decided to start something of my own. I quit my job at the famous glass works and in 1978 I established my company Zero. If both designers had not promised to collaborate, nothing would have been successful. They said, that if a person was so stupid as to quit their job and start something with no funds, then they definitely had to help him! We decided that glass had begun to bore us and the real material for lighting was sheet metal. The business developed over the years. So if I understand anything about design, I learned it from the above mentioned masters – that was my design university.
DS: How did you manage to break into the design market, was there not very strong competition in Sweden at that time?
A.N.: The situation at that time was totally different – there were a few large furniture manufacturers, lighting was also made by only a couple of factories, it was possible to start something. Thirty years ago life was much more simple, now everything is a lot more expensive and very complicated. I don’t think that you can start something today like we did back then. Life was less expensive, you could stay afloat even if your profits weren’t large.
DS: How large was your company at the beginning?
A.N.: We were two partners in the beginning, we created four products, just prototypes, and then I went around to architects offices and furniture stores and offered them. At that time my partner Roland Gill, with whom I was familiar from Orrefors, worked from home. People had time back then, they were interested and responsive. This continued for around two or three years. We were based in a garage and an attic, until we got an old industrial property in the centre of Nybro and we began to expand rapidly. Today our annual turnover is 60 million Swedish crowns, and around 40 people work in the three businesses which belong to the company.
DS: With which designers have you collaborated, do you have your own permanent product designers?
A.N.: Oh, thats an interesting question. When we began with Lindau and Lindekrantz, all the products were designed by them in the first 10–12 years. Later Lindau established his own furniture design business Blå Station. I searched for another designer and found Per Sundstedt, after that I worked with only him for ten years. It is interesting that Per Sundstedt began to create glass lighting for our company again. Unfortunately he died a few years ago. Then we began to search for young designers, at first we collaborated with one or two well-known designers. But two years ago we decided to change everything, to totally re-create the company and manufacture totally new designs. This year we are showing six or seven completely new designers who, in our thoughts, are and will be very good.
DS: Where do you find them?
A.N.: I always follow the educational process of Konstfack (Stockholm’s University College of Arts, Crafts and Design) and the examination pieces of the students. I ask some of them if they would be interested in collaboration – and as it turns out, they are! Some of our new designers are found very early in their careers, others already have some previous work experience.
DS: Have you as a businessman ever had any State support, or an interest in design as part of the economic sector?
A.N.: No, I can’t say that I have. The State invests more in design education, and that has the highest standards here.
DS: How is work organised in your companies, what proportion of your products are physically manufactured by you?
A.N.: We design the whole of the construction of the items and assemble them, but the details are ordered from other companies – we have worked with around ten main partners for thirty years, they have also grown strongly over this time. We only search for new contractors in special instances. Technology is developing so quickly that it is not possible for us to manufacture everything ourselves today and it does not make sense.
DS: How did you decide to purchase the old and famous, but unprofitable glass factory Pukeberg in 1989?
A.N.: I had worked with crystal goods at Orrefors, Pukeberg is also a very beautiful place with many old brick buildings. Our business was earning well and we could afford it. It was an expensive love affair: we invested huge funds. At the moment we are earning more through tenants, we have a great collaborative partnership with the University of Kalmar, which has rented a whole building from us since 2002 for design studios for sixty students. The Archive of Swedish Design also rents space from us – an institution which digitalizes design projects and stores them in appropriate conditions at a set temperature. There are also workshops for about ten artists – sculptors and painters. Pukeberg has gained the status of being a centre of design culture in the Kalmar region. We target tourists, who can familiarise themselves with our products and the glass museum, we organise Zero and Lustrum exhibitions. We also collaborate with Latvian students of glass design – University of Kalmar has a partnership contract with the Latvian Academy of Art.
DS: Have you participated in any international exhibitions in the thirty years of operation of the company?
A.N.: All the time. We participate in the furniture exhibition in Milan, we have often displayed our work in Germany, also in the exhibition 100% Design in London. Significant exhibitions used to be held in Copenhagen, which gathered together the international society. If you want to meet the most important people in design from around the world, the most important shows are in Milan and London. Earlier it was difficult to get a good exhibition space in these shows, there was always some Italian ahead of you!
DS: How much of your production do you export?
A.N.: Currently our export is not large, we sell around 20% of our production outside Sweden. This is precisely why we wish to strengthen our collaboration with new designers and this year we are exhibitioning their products in Milan.
DS: Do you do much market research?
A.N.: I have always been guided by my gut feeling. We manufacture only that which we ourselves like, and we have never followed ‘trends’. We do not wish to offer that which someone has invented before us. We like to be independent, and our aim has never been to sell an item for a hundred million. Of course, we want to make a profit, but we also wish to gain satisfaction from our work. The most interesting is the process itself, especially if you don’t know how it will turn out at the end.
DS: With your experience, how do you evaluate the future of Latvian design?
A.N.: My impression of Latvian artists is very good, I know less about Latvian designers. Although I think that each needs their own identity. There are thousands of lamps and chairs if you look at Danish design, how will you make the viewer remember you? We have worked with Latvian manufacturers. We imported milk glass for three years from the Grîziñkalns glass factory, because it is no longer manufactured in Sweden. I have often collaborated with Coppa. Aldis Circenis and Gatis Gavars have worked hard, they are very talented, and I hope that they can focus on design more. I am familiar with the Riga Chair Factory, unfortunately design is not a priority there. Iluminators is a partnership of a number of traders, who are thinking about what they could manufacture themselves. Latvia is a small country with a small internal market, but to start immediately in export is not easy.