Mark Braun

He discovered the joy of shaping and characterizing material and surroundings during his carpentry training and later on followed the urge of going to the Designschool. In 2006 Mark Braun had finished his studies and founded his own design studio in 2007.
He was influenced by the work of his grandparents – both architects – as well as minimalistic Scandinavian design. He states: ‘the shapes of the objects around us is something that reflects a character of its own’. Mark Braun sees himself as a kind of ‘New Interpreteur’, as someone who does not reinvent existing objects, but puts them in a contemporary context and design.

Production errors may occur bothersome from some point of view, Mark Braun sees it more as liveliness or symbolism – they communicate authenticity and uniqueness. Thus, each material challenges with what you have to become familiar, you have to play with them, to experiment and find out how it can be processed in the best possible way.
‘I don’t really browse the internet for what’s hot and what’s not. You get a pretty good impression of that at trade fairs and by just keeping your eyes open’ he explains. ‘Of course it’s important to know what’s going on, but if everyone starts using a certain material, I’m not really the person to jump the bandwagon immediately, you can’t if you want your work to stay kind of exciting and exquisit’.
His latest project is a bottle for brandy, which he designed in collaboration with the Edelobstbrennerei Stählemühle . with its classic and timeless design, this bottle is an object that may be reused as a design object after consumption of the product.
His collection ‘Les Trios’ modeled on ancient amphorae for the French Gallery Grandville Paris, is contemporary and modern. The color of the vase is reminiscent of goods that were mainly transported and stored in amphorae: oil, honey and wine. Mark Braun succeeds reinterpreting an object used thousands of years ago. Many designers look for disfunctional everyday problems and try to find a new solution. His aspiration lies in reinterpreting already existing object,s giving them a new feel and design and although solving the question of design is always linked to its functionality. ‘I would like to design things that are new and are yet familiar’.
Whilst explaining his premise to us, he carefully sets up his latest work, a sidetable called ‘Lift’, he smiles and says that it’s a nice experience to realize your signature.
Mark Braun’s design is reduced and at the same time very attractive. The manuscript of the ‘Antifollowers’ as he calls himself is pure, timeless and high quality.

Text by Hannah Edwards | Photography by Caroline Kurze