University of Washington CBE - Furniture Design Master Studio Program

Distinguished Visiting Professor - Furniture Design - Master Studio Program

The Distinguished Visiting Professor Master Studio in the Department of Architecture by University of Washington-College of Built Environments and Scan Design Foundation by Inger & Jens Bruun began in 2011. In the Spring of 2014, the program featured Erling Christofferson, an esteemed Danish furniture designer.

Based on the resounding success of the 2014 program, the Foundation awarded a grant to the University of Washington-College of Built Environments in 2015 to establish The Scan Design Foundation by Inger & Jens Bruun Distinguished Visiting Professor - Furniture Design - Master Studio. The College of Built Environments invites a Danish designer/educator who has distinguished him/herself through a sustained record of exemplary design work and teaching. The visiting professor co-teaches a master architecture studio at the University of Washington during Spring quarter.

The program has since expanded to include a 2-week trip to Denmark to visit key Danish designers and to begin working with the visiting professor prior to the start of the studio.

The Department of Architecture assigns a regular faculty member to work with the visiting professor in establishing the logistics of the studio and continuing the work of the studio between visits. Professor Kimo Griggs has led this program expertly. The Visiting Professor teaches the second, sixth, and 10th week of the quarter.

Erling Christoffersen

Erling Christoffersen is a professor at Denmark's Danish Institute for Study Abroad. His training as both a cabinetmaker and an architect allows him to teach prototyping as a part of the design process. In his furniture design courses, workshops, and master classes, the emphasis is on the study of materials such as solid timber, plywood, and veneer in order to challenge the materials and find the design that can best expose their inner qualities - to put it simply, "to ask what the materials want".

The furniture design studio was co-taught with Associate Professor, Kimo Griggs during the Winter Quarters of 2014, 2016, and 2019. The studio required that each student design, develop and finish a full-scale piece of furniture.

In 2019, the studio program was expanded to include a trip to Denmark for the 12 students in the program. A program of visits to designers, furniture makers, factories as well as museums and galleries in Denmark has proven to be an invaluable experience well beyond anything prior furniture studio students enjoyed. Denmark enjoys a worldwide reputation for the design and manufacture of fine furnishings. Immersion in that culture provides a focused and unique way for our students to understand the larger Danish culture.

Erling Christoffersen also taught the 2020 Studio during Spring Quarter. Due to the COVID-19 travel restrictions, the study was taught virtually.

Erling Christoffersen's Lecture February 24, 2014

Erling Christoffersen's Lecture February 8, 2017

Tina Christensen

Tina Christensen is an Architect MAA from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen. She graduated in 1990 from the School of Architecture, Department of Furniture Design. She worked as a designer at IKEA of Sweden from 1991 to 1995 and was the Founder and Owner of For Design from 1995-2001.

In 2001, she co-founded Legaard & Christensen together with her partner, Kai Legaard. Their work ranges from the design of toys and tools, to chairs, sofas, furniture lines and even small houses. Their designs are clearly rooted in the Scandinavian design tradition. Their keywords are humanism, simplicity and functionality. She has also lectured and taught design at Denmark Design School, DIS Study Abroad in Copenhagen and RISD Rhode Island School of Design.

The furniture design studio was co-taught with Associate Professor, Kimo Griggs during Spring Quarter 2017. The studio required that each student design, develop and finish a full-scale piece of furniture.

Tina Christensen Lecture April 27, 2016

Christina Strand

Christina Strand was educated at the Danish School of Design and has long been one of the most renowned and award-winning Danish furniture designers, not least for her chair, Rex. A mother and busy businesswoman in her capacity as half of the design duo Strand + Hvass, the design company she runs with her husband and colleague Niels Havass, Strand strives to find the necessary peace to work. "I often find inspiration where there is nothing - in silence, in an empty space. Great ideas do not come to you in the middle of an amusement park", she says.

Christina Strand applies the same simple philosophy when it comes to explaining what she feels is good design. "The obvious link between shape and function is the ideal that every designer must strive towards", she explains. "The greatest experiences occur in places where there are fewest things. There must not be too much going on and whatever details there are must have a good reason for being there". At the same time she is keenly aware of constantly pushing the material to its' limits.

The furniture design studio was co-taught with Associate Professor, Kimo Griggs during Spring Quarter 2018. The studio required that each student design, develop and finish a full-scale piece of furniture.