Design studio Jacobsroom specialises in unique objects and limited edition pieces. I caught up with its founder Kathrin Charlotte Bohr.
Where is your design studio based?
My Jacobsroom studio is based in the beautiful hills of Monteverde in Rome. I’m a country girl – I need the city but I also need contact with nature.
I live within five minutes’ walk from one of Rome’s green spaces, “Villa Pamphili”, a park which was created as an architectural divertissement garden in the 17th century by the papal family that shares its name. It still has some hidden forest areas with wild plants that I adore exploring. On a walk I can just let myself fall back onto the pine needles that cover the ground and look up, listening to the rustling of the huge centuries-old pine trees.
Can you describe your style?
My style is inspired by contemporary and modern art. I like clean, minimal lines and soft colours and I love inventing tiny details for ordinary objects that have a powerful visual impact while retaining the object’s function.
I adore coming up with new design ideas for those organizational parts of our domestic life that we stereotype and never question – with kitchen design I love to move away from the ordinary standards and play around with them: a kitchen mustn’t represent a kitchen.
Do you have a target customer in mind when you re designing?
I am inspired by those customers who despite giving me a clearly defined architectural context, in terms of either heritage or unique or limited spaces, nevertheless give me carte blanche and get back something they really fall in love with. I feel my clients rather than set them apart in just one target.
What materials do you work with?
Wood, both new and recycled, eco resin, metal, papier mâché… I’m exploring new materials devised by talented innovators, like pineapple leather or Totomoxtle (link to feature) . Inspired by new experimental insulation standards in architecture for interior design, I am also thinking about ways to use mud and straw.
What are you currently working on?
A stunning kitchen project for a graphic designer’s family: the kitchen area is quite small but the brief is that it should be “the centrepiece of the house”. So…. a huge challenge and lots of opportunity to be inventive!
Who or what inspires you?
My 7-year-old twins, the heritage of having been a musician in the classical music world, reconnecting to a wild happiness when I explore New York City, the creativity of emerging 3D objects and interior design inventor-artists.
What is your favourite possession?
Some paintings my brother and I made together in art class when we were children.
What have you recently discovered?
The narrative magnetism of Italian physicist Carlo Rovelli and my true personal exploration of Just Do It.
Where would you like to visit once we can travel more freely?
The wild side of Mexico to honour two amazing women who have inspired me in life: my fantastic best friend Norma who I tragically lost five years ago and the artist Teresa Margolles. I would love to chat with her over a delicious glass of Mezcal to try to convince her to let me include a private interview we had in 2008 in a documentary about her work.
See more of Kathrin’s work here
