[Designers from Brazil]: The knot of wood untied by Julia Krantz

From the Moon to the Eclipse, from the Stream to the Anvil, from the Root to the Hedgehog, from the Verse to the Reverse: everything is inspiration for Julia Krantz's creation to flow. In fact, the naturalness of her work has made her one of the Brazilian references when it comes to handling, sculpture, form and function to transform the charming brutality of wood into delicacy.

By Simões Neto

I have known Julia Krantz, from afar, for more than three years, but not as a designer. She works out at the same gym as me. In between sets, I used to watch that tall, elegant, calm and discreet woman executing concentrated and precise movements, as is her job. Until a friend, excited, told me she was a designer and showed me, with a nervous finger, her Instagram.

My head clicked, like clockwork, as I made all the connections. I felt guilty for not recognizing her. I remembered the articles I'd read in magazines, the chats I'd attended with the designer and everything that involves her creative process. Then came the urge to redeem myself for the disconnection of yesteryear and interview her.

It's the beam, it's the gap...

Julia is an architect, graduated from FAU-USP, and it is undeniable that this experience reverberated in the delicate curves of her work. "I am a cabinetmaker/sculptor, as well as an architect and designer", she defines herself, as she lists the degree of importance of her skills. "Architecture brings me a more careful look at the appropriate use of materials, the opportune proportion of the components of a piece, the harmonious insertion of my creation into a pre-existing environment...", she explains.

The designer could be whatever she wanted, but it was in the handling of wood that she found the way to express what she feels and what she thinks. It is with this perspective that we embark on her creative universe, which was granted an exclusive interview for EXPO REVESTIR's Designers of Brazil series.

EXPO REVESTIR: It is not even necessary to touch your pieces to perceive the care with the finishing. Just by looking at them you can see how warm, delicate and shiny they look, which makes you want to touch, feel, sit down and use them. Is finishing the most important moment in design making?
Julia Krantz:
There is no most important moment in this craft, in fact the design of a new piece should consider all the stages of its production so that the result becomes harmonious, ergonomic, pleasing to the eye and to the other senses.

EPRV: Wood is highly versatile, but from your experiences and experiments, which other materials match and connect with it the most? Which is the easiest and the most difficult to work with in this connection?
JK: I don't work with other materials, so I find it difficult to answer that question with knowledge. But of course the fabrics connect in a very complementary way with the wood, as well as the glass that allows through its transparency the integral vision of the wood piece associated to it.

EPRV: The designer's creative world allows for experimentation, and when it comes to wood and Brazil, the variety is such. How does the choice of wood for your design work? Is it Julia who chooses or the wood that chooses to adapt to Julia's design?
JK: I am a woodworker/sculptor besides being an architect and designer. I do all the production of the pieces I create together with my assistants, so, yes, it is me who decides which wood will be more suitable for each new projeto.

EPRV: How do the past, present and future influence your creations? Is there such a connection?
JK: All the experiences we live through in life create our own repertoire, and that makes us unique in our creative process. In my opinion, this is true for any human being, visual, affective and sensorial memories affect our response to daily events, they daily transform the way we insert ourselves in the world.

EPRV: From the quality of your pieces, contours and the basic design of the products, I perceive a very consistent repertoire and culture. Where did you acquire this wide look that oxygenates your work?
JK: My parents gave me a childhood and adolescence rich in sensory experiences of the most diverse kind. The German culture brought by my mother blended with our already mixed Brazilian culture, added to a limitless creative freedom through street games, the theatre we used to do at home, the holidays at the beach with my father, the Sunday morning concerts at the municipal theatre, the incredible stories my father used to tell us, the music present 24 hours a day in our environment. My formation in architecture (FAU-USP) joined to all this repertoire, and my interest for artistic manifestations around the world also continue contributing to my creations.

EPRV: Most of the designers I know flirt and practice other aspects such as fine arts, architecture (you're an architect, by the way). How does this artistic symbiosis work and how do the arts interfere in your creation?
JK: Every breath we take interferes with what we give back to the world. Architecture brings me a more careful look at the appropriate use of materials, the opportune proportion of the components of a piece, the harmonious insertion of one of my creations into a pre-existing environment. Other artistic manifestations - music, painting, sculpture - are part of my creative process, directly or indirectly. Music is a strong emotional influence; painting is drawing, is mass, is texture, is light/dark, is volume, as is sculpture. And all this presents itself in my pieces.

EPRV: Your works contemplate public and private spaces, like the Anvil Stool created for the collective. There is a difference in creating products for private and public uses. What are the dynamics that involve these aspects?
JK: Ergonomics is the great challenge for any use of design pieces, but for public spaces we have to keep in mind the necessary adaptation to an infinite diversity of physical types, besides the resistance and durability of the piece, and its harmonious coexistence with the surrounding environment. For private spaces it is essential that the creator looks at the inhabitants of the space where the piece will be installed, their habits and tastes, taking care to propose something that respects and satisfies the users.

EPRV: Cadê, Mosquelha, Tabuinhas, Algenspiegel,Pénareia... I've always been curious to know how designers name their pieces. In your case, what are the criteria?
JK: The basic criterion is spontaneity. I look at my piece after it has been determined and I try to listen to what it tells me, what form it takes, what sound it must have.

EPRV: Are organic forms non-negotiable in your work?
JK: Pretty much. I have done and eventually do something more geometric, but nature is so much a part of my internal movement that naturally curves appear in my drawing.

EPRV: In a broad look around the world: from Holland (where you lived) to Milan, from France to Japan, which design catches your attention and makes your heart beat faster?
JK: Well, there are so many that touch me, so many that I still don't know and that certainly would instigate me... in wood, I would say Japan in first place for the architecture of the temples, the fittings, the careful, conscientious and meticulous way of dealing with such a wonderful material. Denmark for its furniture design, Spain for having Gaudí and his magnificent works, France for Rodin, Holland for Rembrandt. And Frank Lloyd Wright, George Nakashima, Sam Maloof, from the United States.

EPRV: What furniture haven't you made yet, but you are dying to make?
JK: Little by little I am giving birth to the pieces I want to develop. I am currently developing an organic office chair, for example. But a piece that I would like to make one day would be a cocoon where one enters and inhabits in some way, where the user feels sheltered, protected.

EPRV: What does the future hold when it comes to Julia Krantz production?
JK: I don't know much about the future, I don't make long term plans. The best place in the world is here and now.