With his multidisciplinary background, Michael Geldmacher started out in the design industry in 2000, when he set up Neuland Industriedesign with Eva Paster. He has worked with a large number of companies in the furniture sector, including MDF Italia, Bulthaup, Kristalia, Magis, Interlübke and Nils Holger Moormann, and he has received prestigious awards for his works (Elle Deco Design Award, Wallpaper* Design Award, Good Design Award, Interior Innovation Design Award “Best of the best”, German Design Award, iF Design Award, Compasso D’Oro nominations and many more). Today, Michael Geldmacher develops his own projects, covering different design areas, at his studio in Munich.
“I make sure that my private life and my work always remain mixed and interconnected,” says Geldmacher. “Experiences and travel always bring new ideas and inspiration for work and vice versa.”
“Responsive Design Ethiopia”, photo of the exhibition presented at the Museum of textile industry in Augsburg, 2019
Michael Geldmacher lends his experience as a designer in various non-profit projects.
In Munich he took part in the “Munich Bellevue” centre project, where refugees sell furniture that they have designed and built. In Ethiopia he collaborated with “Responsive Design Ethiopia”, a project aimed at enhancing local textile craftsmanship.
“I find it important to offer my inspiration to others”, says Geldmacher.
Bellevue di Monaco, Munich, 2017
MDF Italia, Random, bookcase
“Thinking is my preferred approach method”, Geldmacher explains. “I always try to deal with an issue conceptually at first, and then in terms of design. Thinking outside the box, without straying too far from formal aspects: this balance is what leads to successful projects.”
Kristalia, Elephant, chair
Kristalia, Shark, chair
“Making the first prototype is something I always find very exciting”, Geldmacher says. “It is the first time that ideas become reality, the first time that models, drawings and renderings get a reality check. Paper is very patient, as they say in German. Three-dimensional animations and Photoshop disguise things easily and create an illusion, whereas with steel, aluminium and all authentic materials there is no room for inaccuracies or fanciful ideas. So I, as designer, am pleased to depend on specialists and engineers and their expertise.”
Workshop of a master knife maker, Japan 2018
Research and development centre, MCZ Group, 2018
“Making the first prototype is something I always find very exciting”, Geldmacher says. “It is the first time that ideas become reality, the first time that models, drawings and renderings get a reality check. Paper is very patient, as they say in German. Three-dimensional animations and Photoshop disguise things easily and create an illusion, whereas with steel, aluminium and all authentic materials there is no room for inaccuracies or fanciful ideas. So I, as designer, am pleased to depend on specialists and engineers and their expertise.”
Discover the project of Michael Geldmacher
Michael Geldmacher explains: ‘If I think of a fire-lit cave at night, I instantly get a feeling of conviviality, safety and warmth. These are the emotions I intended to convey with Reflex.’
To explain the concept behind Reflex, Geldmacher quotes Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. As the French author wrote in “The Little Prince”, ‘it is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.’ Indeed, with Reflex you can’t see the flame directly, but you can feel it and sense its glow, which adds to the atmosphere of the fire.
To explain the concept behind Reflex, Geldmacher quotes Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. As the French author wrote in “The Little Prince”, ‘it is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.’ Indeed, with Reflex you can’t see the flame directly, but you can feel it and sense its glow, which adds to the atmosphere of the fire.
Reflex has a door with vertical blades that conceals the firebox and therefore blocks a direct and full view of the fire. What you can sense is the glow of the flame, which is perceived differently according to the viewing angle.
Reflex has a door with vertical blades that conceals the firebox and therefore blocks a direct and full view of the fire. What you can sense is the glow of the flame, which is perceived differently according to the viewing angle.
