Krøyer-Sætter-Lassen’s latest designs for MENU illuminate the home with new perspectives
Design studio Krøyer-Sætter-Lassen has collaborated with MENU on several occasions. Their latest creation for the brand is the sculptural Flambeau candleholder range.
KRØYER-SÆTTER-LASSEN is one of the leading studios of contemporary Danish design, and no wonder – few designers are as skillful in combining a distinctive, almost artistic design language with clever details that make the objects immensely functional.
The Copenhagen-based duo’s client list is a real “who’s who” of Nordic design, but one of the brands they have collaborated with the most is the Danish design house MENU, whose most recent launches include the studio’s Flambeau candleholder introduced in the fall of 2022.
Emil Krøyer (left) and Mads Sætter-Lassen founded their joint studio in 2016. Since then, they've worked on a variety of projects ranging from product and furniture design to interiors.
Hi, Mads and Emil! How is it going?
Mads: “Well, the weather has been a bit gloomy here in Copenhagen. Looking out the window, it’s so dark already! Workwise, we have been busy collaborating on a lot of things with MENU, like the expansion of the Torso lamp series.”
Emil: “And lately we have been focusing also on smaller items for MENU, objects like the Flambeau candleholder that just launched. In general, we’ve been working a lot with light. As Mads said, it’s getting darker and darker, so we’re trying to light up the upcoming winter!”
One of the studio's first designs for MENU was the Duca candleholder. The Passage table and stool are also by Krøyer-Sætter-Lassen.
Drawing from their honest approach and a clear understanding of the Danish design heritage, the duo creates sculptural yet functional objects that blur the line between art and design.
On the topic of working with MENU, how did you first begin your collaboration with the brand?
Mads: “It’s actually a funny story… The people at MENU are kind of our old neighbors! Our old studio was located almost next door to The Audo, which houses a café as well as MENU’s showroom and headquarters. We used to go to the café a lot, not only for coffee but with a clear mission of making ourselves known to the people at MENU. And it worked: our first MENU products were the Nimbus mirror and Duca candleholder.”
Emil: “MENU is like a small, tight-knit family, and really nice people in general. That’s why we’ve been collaborating with them so much.”
Mads: “Yes! I’ve never thought of it this way but maybe because we spent so much time there, we got to know the atmosphere of the place and the brand even before we started collaborating.”
• Read also: The Audo – a holistic design experience in Copenhagen >
Krøyer-Sætter-Lassen's studio used to be located close to MENU's headquarters in a building called The Audo (pictured). They first began collaborating with the brand after spending time at The Audo's coffee shop.
Launched in the fall of 2022, the Flambeau candleholders are characterized by a distinctive backplate behind the flame. The candleholders come in different shapes, sizes, and materials, as well as a wall sconce version.
And now, your latest design for MENU is the Flambeau candleholder. Could you tell us more about the design?
Emil: “The Flambeau candleholder is defined by an asymmetrical disc in the back, which gives the candleholder the feeling of an art piece. In this project, we sought to create something less rigid and less symbolic, something different from the classic squares and circles. Less computer-driven, you could say. The old Scandinavian tradition is ‘form follows function,’ but we wanted to do something a bit more abstract.”
Mads: “Flambeau is available as a wall version and as a table version, and in different sizes, of course. As soon as a product has a family, it’s much easier to find a version that is useful to you. That’s something we always like to focus on.”
The designers are always on the lookout for new materials and perspectives. Their design process is very much a joint effort based on open communication and the feelings the designs evoke.
The nostalgic design of the Torso table lamp is inspired by the warm, welcoming ambiance of childhood homes and grandparents’ houses. The Dedar fabrics of the limited edition lamps create a dialogue between Nordic and Italian styles.
"The MENU collection has developed a lot in the last few years, and we think the dialectic style of the limited-edition Torso lamp fits very well into it," say the designers.
You also mentioned the Torso table lamp and its new, limited-edition versions with Dedar fabric shades. How did you come up with the idea for those?
Emil: “The original Torso lamp has a very nostalgic, old-school design, but to bring it to the modern era, we added details like the touch dimmer. At some point after the lamp’s launch we started thinking: how could we do something even more with it? How could we find a new perspective for the design? We then thought of the Italian textile brand Dedar, whose fabrics are just extraordinary. They are something totally different, sort of extravagant.”
Mads: “Yes, the fabrics are quite expressive compared to the Nordic, neutral colors of the original Torso lamps. While the first Torso lamps are very ‘Scandi,’ the new limited editions are a little bit bolder, more ‘Southern European’. They make a statement piece in your home.”
Emil: “We were actually curious if the lamps would be screaming from the corner of the room, but we were happy to see that they fit very well in most places.”
“We have worked together for so long that often we don’t even remember which idea came from whom.”
Working as a duo, what is your creative process like?
Mads: “One of our most important tools is discussing our ideas with each other – we talk a lot. We sketch the classical way, with pen and paper, and do computer models, of course, but talking about the designs is a big part of the process. Our studio was established six years ago, and we worked together even before that when we were still in school. It’s become so easy, so fluent, that often we don’t even remember which idea came from me and which from Emil.”
Emil: “It all melts together.”
Mads: “And those designs are usually the ones that become the most successful.”
Combining marble, wood, and steel, Krøyer-Sætter-Lassen's Corbel shelf is named after architectural corbels that act as a type of bracket, carrying the weight of a balcony, for example.
The Flambeau candleholder is a great example of the design studio's eye for merging art and design: the brass backplate reflects and magnifies the candle’s light yet is sure to catch the eye even when the candle is not lit.
I know it's hard to choose a favorite product, but let’s put it this way: if you had to choose just one of your designs for MENU for your own home, what would it be?
Mads: “I have quite a few of them in my home at this point. But I really like the Corbel shelf, which I hope will expand to a larger product line in the future. It’s small but very refined, and the materials look really good together. I use it next to my bed and although it is very small, it has enough space for what I need: my phone and a glass of water, a book... It’s kind of discreet so it’s not the design you see the most, but I think it’s a really nice product.”
Emil: “For me, the new Flambeau has something about it. I like the abstract shape. It also looks a bit like the lamps they used to have in old boats – the candles or oil lamps that had a reflector disc behind the flame. I used to sail a lot as a kid and was surrounded by these maritime objects, so it feels nostalgic to me. I hope people will get the same feeling of warmth and nostalgia when they use Flambeau in their own homes!”
See also:
• All products by Krøyer-Sætter-Lassen >
• All products by MENU >
Text: Emmi Ratilainen Images: MENU
Published on 3 Nov, 2022
