Anderssen & Voll is an Oslo based
designstudio run by Torbjørn
Anderssen (1976) and Espen Voll
(1965). Torbjørn is graduated from The
Bergen Academy of Art and Design
and Espen is graduated from Oslo
National Academy of the Arts. As
cofounders of Norway Says in 2000,
they were forerunners in a emerging
international movement amongst young
Norwegian designers. Since the startup
of Anderssen & Voll in 2009, their
work has spanned from textile design
through tableware, lighting and furniture
to electronics for some of Europe’s
most renowned international design
Brands. Their colaborations include
work for companies like Lapalma,
Muuto, Wrong for Hay, Foscarini,
Kvadrat, Erik Jørgensen and Filip
Technologies. They also take great
pride in working with some of the finest
Norwegian traditional industry like Jøtul,
Gudbrandsdalens Uldvarefabrik, Fjord
Fiesta, Røros Tweed and LK Hjelle.
Working with the very different industrial
cultures spanning from the mountains
of Norway to the plains of Veneto
is a continous source of inspiration.
Their work has received numerous
awards like Honorary Award for Design
Excellence in Norway, Wallpaper Award,
IF Award and the Torsten and Wanja
Söderberg Prize.
Anderssen & Voll
Tomoko Azumi (born in 1966,
Hiroshima, Japan) is an interior and
furniture designer based in London.
She studied architecture and interior
design at Kyoto City University of
Art, worked in architectural studio
in Tokyo, then moved to London in
1992. She finished a master course of
Furniture Design at the Royal College
of Art in 1995. After her activities as a
partnership AZUMI (1995-2004), she
started her own practice TNA Design
Studio in East London in 2005. At
TNA Design Studio, her main fields
are furniture, lighting products, interior
design and exhibition space design.
She has been collaborating with
international clients such as Benchmark
Furniture (UK), Lapalma (Italy), Maxray
(Japan), Röthlisberger (Switzerland)
and Swarovski (Austria), as well as
interior design for The Supreme Court
of United Kingdom, shops for Harrys
London and exhibition designs for the
Crafts Council (UK). Her works are in
several permanent collections include
Victoria & Albert Museum and Geoffrey
Museum in London and Stedelijk
Museum (Netherlands). She has
been a project teacher at the Design
Products of Royal College of Art since
2005 and a research fellow at London
Metropolitan University from 2006 to
2009. Also she is a member of jury for
Good Design Award in Japan since
2006 and member of selection board
for 100% Design London in 2010 and
a member of jury for imm Design Award
at the Cologne Furniture Fair on 2010
and 2011.
Shin Azumi was born in Kobe, Japan
in 1965. After finishing his MA at the
Royal College of Art in 1994, he started
working as a design unit ‘AZUMI’. In
2005, he established his own office
‘a studio’ in London, and he moved
his base back to Japan in Tokyo
in 2016. Currently he is taking the
professorship at Hosei University, faculty
of engineering and design in Japan.
The clients list of ‘a studio’ includes
lapalma, Magis, Desalto, Fredericia,
Tefal, Authentics and many other
international brands. Shin Azumi’s work
has received numerous design awards
in Europe and in Japan, amongst which
the Blueprint 100% Design Award and
“Product of the Year” of FX International
Design Award. He also took part in the
jury of numerous design awards such
as, IF Design Award (DE).His works
were acquired by many international
museums such as Victoria & Albert
Museum (UK), Stedelijk Museum
(Holland), etc.
Tomoko Azumi
Shin Azumi
Hee Welling (born 1974) is educated
from the University of Art and Design
Helsinki (Finland) and the Royal Danish
Academy of Fine Arts – department
of furniture design, from where he
graduated, with a master degree in
furniture design in 2003. He established
his own studio in Copenhagen in 2003
and works within the fields if furniture-,
interior- and industrial design. Among
his clients is HAY, Erik Jørgensen,
Fredericia, Lammhults, Laufen and
Lapalma.His work has been awarded
several awards, including - the BoBedre
design award (Denmark), the Good
Design award (USA), the Danish Art
foundation (Denmark), he has been
nominated as Danish designer of the
year in 2013 and 2014, and is listed
on the Architonic Top 200 of popular
designers and architects. Hee Welling’s
design has be exhibited at different
fairs and museums around the world –
e.g. Danish export exhibition – Tokyo,
ICFF – New York, 100% design –
London, Stockholm Furniture fair, IMM
– Cologne, Maison&Objet - Paris and
Salone del mobile – Milan. His work
has been used for different international
interior projects, such as the Oslo
opera house (Norway), the Australian
parliament, Google head office, Beats
by Dre head office, Amazon head
office, Danish national television and the
Danish parliament. Besides his studio
he had teached at the Royal Danish
Academy of Fine Arts and the Danish
Institute for Study abroad – DIS.
Francesco Rota, interior and product
designer, was born in 1966 in Milan,
where he lives and works. After
graduating in industrial design at the Art
Center College of Design in La Tour de
Peilz (Switzerland), he opened his own
studio in 1998 specialised in different
fields of design: products, furniture,
lighting, showrooms, offices, private
homes and exhibitions. Over the years
Francesco has collaborated with a
number of widely recognised brands
such as Bals Tokyo, Barilla, Driade,
Fiat, Frag, John Richmond, Knoll
International, Lapalma, Lema, Living
Divani, L’Oreal Paris, Malo, Martini &
Rossi, Mercedes Benz, Moroso, Paola
Lenti, Oluce, Versus. Francesco was
awarded three honourable mentions for
the Compasso d’Oro with Linea, Island
and ADD. ADD System was among the
nominees in 2017.The products Kanji
and Move were awarded The Good
Design Awards in 2016, and Uptown in
2017. Same year Screen was awarded
WallPaper* Design Award and Agio
won the Archiproducts Design Award.
Francesco is a winner of the German
Design Award with the products Move,
ADD, Kanji while with Daydream he
received a special mention in 2014; a
winner of The Red Dot Design Award
with ADD, Move and Kanji in 2016 and
Red Dot Best of the Best with Uptown
in 2017; winner of Interior Design
Best of the Year 2014 Award with the
product Cloud. In 2013 Francesco
was a finalist for the Wallpaper Judges’
Award in the section Designer of the
Year and in 2015 he was selected
among the Top 200 designers of the
year by Architonic. From 2013 he is art
director of Lapalma.
Born in Cadoneghe (Padova – Italy) in
1951.He got his degree in 1970 in
mechanics at the Technical – Industrial
Institute in Padova. From 1970 till
1978 he was in charge of planning
high precision tools in an industry
producing moulds for high-speed
trimmer for electrical connections.He
also planned automatic machines to
fix the connections in the car industry,
electronics and domestic appliances.
In 1979, together with his brother Dario,
he founded Lapalma and designed
some of the products: he is head
of the technical department and in
charge of prototyping, engineering and
industrialisation of products.
Romano Marcato
Hee Welling
Francesco Rota
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