WORDS: Daniel Scheffler
An all too familiar name in the design world, a creative who just wants to be a kid and play, the begetter of the Songololo couch, an avid tweeter (follow him @HaldaneMartin), a meaty conceptual thinker, and a zany dancer – all slices of the entire magnetism of Haldane Martin.
The fact that Haldane Martin’s studio was in a quiet corner of the teeming Woodstock gave the brand fervour – hidden and mystifying. One could easily miss the address heading past as it eclipsed with the accretion of Victorian filigree garnish so classically Woodstock, Cape Town. But pulling up stakes in a new year and so relocating his studio has offered the brand a newfangled sparkle. The brand has revived their iconic designs, introduced some fresh contemporary pieces and now offers interior design – a mouthful, and an exciting challenge.
Haldane has a profusion of clients, a host of benevolent causes, forms part of the Southern Guild (which aims to create a stage for made-to-order South African Design), and there’s more that includes international projects and personal shebangs. The assiduous worker talks about his affiliation to our world and the beliefs of our generation:
VISI: Are you a designer or an artist?
Haldane Martin: Both. A designer, as all my designs serve some practical function. An artist, as I am not afraid to express my inner subjectivity and personal aesthetic.
Tell me about your process as a creator.
Inspiration
Strategy
Concept
Gestation
Thumbnail sketches
Mock ups, paper models, scale drawings
3D computer models
Prototypes
Refinement
Engineering drawings
Sample
Photography
Costing
Launch
Research is constant throughout every stage. My design process is also always cyclical and iterative, meaning that as the idea develops and more information emerges, one has to go back to previous stages to modify and incorporate the new information. Google especially… Google Images has sped up the design process enormously. It is an amazing tool to look for conceptual connections and associations in the early stages. It is great to check that some one else hasn’t already come up with the same design. It’s also great for finding out practical engineering info.
How do you milk your inspiration?
I explore and research things that inspire me – like nature, art, science, geometry, philosophy, psychology and architecture. Dance is also a surprising source of inspiration and vitality that feeds my creativity.
Some people consider design, as a broad term, to be indulgent and irrelevant. Give me your take on design and what it means.
That is absurd – everything man-made is designed. Iconic design gives us pleasure, drives the economy and make the world a better place.
So what do your designs reflect?
I strive to create iconic designs. Designs that improve on the past, set trends, becomes the new benchmarks, are aesthetically pleasing, innovative, instantly recognisable and memorable, stand the test of time, make history, inspire others and are emulated.
Enlighten me about your take on design and your brand in a South African context.
Contemporary.
In all honesty, how do you see the South African design industry?
Small and talented.
The buzzword across design and all industries seems to be ‘sharing’. How important is collaboration, and/or sharing?
I believe that before we can truly collaborate creatively, we need to have found our own unique voice. We then also need to be mature enough to allow other creatives to express themselves, and sensitive enough to be able to differentiate between good and bad ideas. I have begun doing commercial interior design work and am enjoying the creative collaboration with my clients. I recognise the importance of listening to their needs, and acknowledge their superior knowledge when it comes to their own business requirements. When it comes to the built environment, there is also nothing new about working together with the client and other design professionals like architects, interior designers, engineers, graphic designers, artists, artisans, manufacturers and contractors. It’s the way it has always been done due to the scale and complexity of most projects.
The next revolution (perhaps inspired by OCCUPY) is not only socio-econo-political, it’s about people accelerating towards adaptation in an almost Darwinian sense. What are your thoughts on that?
I am mildly interested in the OCCUPY movement… But Darwinian evolution fascinates me. I have been studying natural evolution and development, and also how it applies to cultural, technological, personal evolution. It has given me amazing insight into life and relates directly to design.
What is your latest work all about? And how have you evolved since you started out?
We were approached by Source Interior Brand Architects to design a chair collection for a Scandinavian hospitality client that are developing hotels throughout Southern Africa. The brief was to create a contemporary chair that was both international and African. The inspiration behind the seat pattern is phyllotaxis – the spiral growth pattern found in leaf and flower petal arrangements. This natural organic pattern symbolises the dynamic vitality of Africa. Its physical structure also functions ergonomically, as the pattern is most dense where one’s body comes into contact with the seat. The chair will be made in a number of variations – an outdoor wire seat, a strung fishnet seat, and a quilted upholstered seat.
As I mentioned earlier, I have begun doing interiors. I’m enjoying working with my clients, as opposed to designing furniture – which has been very much a solo activity for me. I am also enjoying the larger scale, and the faster pace and intensity of interior design. We are currently doing a 600m² ‘Steam Punk’ inspired coffee roastery and café in the up-and-coming Fringe / East City Buitenkant Street area. Steam Punk is a very different aesthetic for me but is perfect for my client’s brand (Truth Coffee) and for the amazing turn of the century three-storey building. I’m learning to loosen up and not take my work and myself too seriously. The result will still be iconic and show design integrity.
You’ve recently moved your showroom, which must be quite exciting. Fill me in on the new space and all it incorporates.
We have moved to a busier part of Woodstock (opposite The Kitchen and in the epicentre of the creative professional district). We have given all of our existing furniture design a refresh in terms of lighter and more colourful finishes. I have also created a few new pieces – my favourite being the Kidult Coffee Table. It is a Phi rectangular block made up of two triangular prisms, and a Heptahedron made from Birch Plywood and held together with strong magnets. One can also rearrange these geometric blocks to create a cubic side table. It’s a dumbed down version of my Polyhedra Coffee Table morphed with my New Slant Design. It’s the ultimate geek toy – hence the name Kidult. We also had a lot of fun creating a large yellow tensioned string installation as a dynamic device to simultaneously draw the viewer into the space, and define areas within the otherwise simple white gallery like interior.
VISI: What do you love doing besides work?
Kite surfing, mountain biking, art exhibitions, DJ music, hanging out and cooking with family and friends.
VISI: Indulge me with your travel plans – imagined or actual.
Berlin and Tokyo.
VISI: If you had to recommend a book and a film to your favourite person in the world, what would you put forward?
Well my favourite person in the world right now is my girlfriend Alison. She would appreciate the movie Wild At Heart, and the book Love’s Executioner by Irvin Yalom.
The new Haldane Martin showroom is at Shop 4, Ground Floor, Fairweather House, 176 Sir Lowry Road, Corner Nelson Street, Woodstock.