DIMITRI BÄHLER
Dimitri Bähler (Moutier, 1988*) grew up in Switzerland.
Graduated from the ECAL he founded his studio in Biel, Switzerland in 2014.
Awarded several times (finalist Design Parade 8 with Camper Prize 2013, Nominee Swiss Design award 2014 and 2015, Grand Prize Interieur Biennale, 2016, Finalist Hublot Prize 2019), Dimitri has also participated in a multitude of residencies and workshops across the globe.
Very much influenced by practical experiences, Dimitri is in constant search for the right tension between simple and complex, functional and poetic, abstract and figurative, experience and spontaneity.
DESIGN VISIONS
HIS DESIGN STYLE AND DESIGN PHILOSOPHY
I am in constant search for the right tension between simple and complex, radical and poetic, abstract and figurative, experience and spontaneity. My work is driven by contrasts in general with a strong attraction to the essential.
HIS VIEW ON SUSTAINABILITY
Sustainability is the opposite of exploitation/destruction. It’s working together, not only as human beings but together with our environment. For me, everything starts with education which brings to the sensibility of beauty that surrounds us, that comes with knowledge. I am so surprised many people cannot even name ten different trees they see perhaps every day. This is a serious problem. How can we talk about sustainability when we don’t even know what trees are around us?
HOW DESIGNERS CAN CONTRIBUTE TO MAKE A BETTER TOMORROW
In short, our job started thanks to globalization and an ever-growing need for objects for our well being. Unfortunately, the market made us believe newness, rather than well-working objects is good for us. I admire people like Dieter Rams and Enzo Mari who wanted their objects to be the final solution, which to some extent sounds utopian today. But this is the right attitude and their projects became references. To do so, I am trying to design objects that are long-lasting in terms of use but also in terms of aesthetics. I am also trying to work with the right people, right brand, right projects and to always mention sustainable aspects in every opportunity, which is more and more important also in the client’s point of view who is then responsible for working on the product life cycle.
NEW MATERIALS AND MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGIES
I think a platform like Solaris, is a great opportunity to have a bigger impact on awareness but also on concrete actions for a sustainable future. We need global actors like that to help us, designers, together with the producers to go in the right direction. Next to that, I am curious to experiment with new materials and manufacturing processes that can bring new possibilities, leading possibly to unexpected design solutions. In the end, working with Solaris is a way to contribute to the effort toward this global shift.
THE FUTURE OF DESIGN INDUSTRY
I think the future is not one way or the other. I think it is global and local, new and old. As for farming techniques, globalization and industrialization have made us lose many different and specific techniques. Our chance now is that we can re-discover these techniques and combine them with all the new knowledge and experience we have. Not only the material is important, the whole life cycle of the object, the conception, the extraction of the material, the production, the distribution, and the end of it. All these changes take time. Innovation time from the direct actors is one thing but then there is the social adaptation time. How can we reduce it? Sustainable products like food cannot remain in product lines for marketing purposes. Everything has to become sustainable. So there is some work to be done…
PREVIOUS WORKS
