Lighting designer William Brand talks to Home Journal about his childlike approach to design and holistic method of creation
Lighting designer William Brand on his childlike approach to design and extracting beauty from entropy | 燈飾設計師William Brand童心未泯，並從無序性中尋獲打造優美創作的靈感
William Brand exudes a jovial presence, although you wouldn’t know it from looking at his designs. Under his Brand Van Egmond label – available at Zodiac Lighting in Hong Kong – the Dutch lighting designer has created a body of work that is cerebral and sculptural, mirroring the complex forms of nature. An architect by training, William’s design approach is context-dependent, his products forming both a natural extension of the space as much as they give it new meaning. “I design for buildings, and not for making an object. I design for the total,” he explains to
Home Journal. Indeed, while William heads an internationally successful lighting brand, he is still most often found on the studio floor of the Brand Van Egmond headquarters in Naarden, the Netherlands – soldering and shaping his next lighting product in his own holistic method of creation. We sat down with him to discuss talk shows, condiments, and the hierarchy of design.荷蘭燈飾設計師William Brand予人天性純真的印象，但其設計卻從不滲透如此感覺：他於香港歷程照明有售的旗下品牌Brand Van Egmond富理性和藝術美，完美重現大自然的複雜性。經專業訓練的建築師William以情境為本，打造出自然延伸的設計，為空間賦予全新意義。他向美好家居解說道：「我為建築物創作，而非只製造產品。我的設計以整體為本。」他的燈飾品牌雖已在全球市場穩佔一席，但依然常在Brand Van Egmond荷蘭納爾登總部的工作室內依據自己對整體創作的理念籌備下一款作品。William跟我們細談關於訪談節目、調味品和設計階級的大小事。
I went to art school not to start a business, but to follow my passion and simply to create. That’s what I’m still doing. I’m like a child, always making paintings, drawings and cuttings. 我到藝術學校上學不是為了營商或為未來規劃什麼，只單純地隨著自己的興趣創作。現在也一樣，我就像孩子般常常繪畫和剪貼。What attracts and intrigues me about nature is organised chaos. There’s a logic and a certain harmony that comes over this natural thing. I create chaos that is attractive to me, and from this chaos, I create order. 大自然最吸引之處就是當中蘊含有規律的混亂，背後也有其邏輯和平衡。我會製造一個自己覺得有趣的混亂，再從中創造規律。There’s hierarchy in architecture: most important is the architecture, and then interior design, then product design. However, I don’t see them separately, but as a total. That’s what I do in my cooperation with architects and interior designers. 建築物有著不同階級：最重要的是建築物本身，然後是室內裝潢，最後是產品設計。但就整體而言，它們絕對息息相關。我跟建築師和設計師的合作也以此理念為基石。I’m more of a listener. I’m a talk show host. You might think they’re unimportant, but they are shaping the show. People sometimes want to force me towards their way, but I have to draw a line. They shouldn’t tell me what to make, but I also won’t tell them what to like – instead I gently teach them what to do. 我是一位聆聽者，也是訪談節目主持，你或會覺得主持並不重要，但其實他們能塑造節目的方向。人們常從自己角度出發引導我回答問題，我必須劃清界線。他們不應該跟我說要做些什麼，我也不會告訴他們應喜歡什麼；反之，我會婉轉教導對方該怎樣做。I want to be the salt and pepper in interior design, the thing that gives identity to a space. I do not make neutral things. I give a space its identity. 我想充當室內設計中的調味品，賦予空間獨有個性。我不會製造平淡設計。我為空間賦予獨特個性。//