Volker Haug Studio is a decorative lighting studio based out of Melbourne, Australia. Founder Volker Haug began his career working under pioneering Australian lighting designer Geoffrey Mance, and it was from this experience that Haug learned to not be restricted by traditional ways of thinking and to let his creativity flow. He cites his other great inspiration for his work as his time living abroad in the 1990s, specifically, in Berlin when the wall came down. This experience has had a formative impact on Haug, showing him a passion for community that he emulates through his work to this day. Learn more about Volker Haug in this week’s Maker Monday.
“Und Messing” represents an accumulation of ideas collected over the last two years. Each piece reveals the hand of its maker, evoking provenance through nuanced, tactile traces of the processes behind the finished form. Photo by Pier Carthew.
Andrew Joseph: You’re the newest Crayola color. What color are you and why?
Volker Haug: “Volker Black”. Funnily, we worked with a colorist who diligently supplied us with something they termed Volker Black for years, before finally telling us it was just regular black. We would bring it back for real this time, something especially brooding and chic.
AJ: What is something you hope to see trending in design in the future?
VH: Ours is a small studio, and we can name all of the hands that touched each fitting during its creation. We think this is an important quality, especially in these days of globalized manufacturing. We love that our designs are in homes, commercial and other spaces all across the globe, but that there’s a hyper-local touch to the fabrication that’s imbued in the finished product, no matter where it lands. We think this is something that the design community at large is finding more and more value in, as well, and we’re proud to have always emphasized it in our practice.
The U Chain hangs with gravity and a sense of equilibrium, appearing lightly balanced on a fixed anchor point. Photo by Derek Swalwell.
AJ: What’s the weirdest thing a client has ever asked you?
VH: We shouldn’t be pointing fingers on this front, as some of our early creations were kookier than any clients ever requested! But in terms of where the collection is today, each series is made to be customized to an extent. So we are glad to be able to accommodate almost all requests from clients, whether they’re slight tweaks or completely atmospheric particularities as a lighting solution for some oddball project. It keeps it fun and fresh in the shop, that’s for sure.
AJ: Are you a pet person? Why either way? Dogs or cats?
VH: Cats all the way! That said… we are a very dog-friendly studio, too. Couldn’t leave anyone out there!
AJ: How would you define your work in three words
VH: Playful, elegant, handmade.
Baby Wall Swing is a small wall-mounted light with an articulated arm. The Pyramid Scheme features tiered conical forms, punched vertically by a linear framework in a pragmatic take on spatial ornamentation. Photo by Haydn Cattach.
AJ: How do you define beauty?
VH: We recognize beauty in the community, in the people (and pets!) surrounding us at work, our peers in the design world, and also the people in our homes and families who ground us and provide constant inspiration. All of these people support us through their humor and their poise – and it’s these qualities that we like to bring into our designs, too. In lighting, beauty has the utmost function for each environment, while also providing a subtle prompt for curiosity, and a fineness of materials and structure that are visually captivating. We aim for that in all of our work.
AJ: What about your design style has shifted post-quarantine?
VH: While we escaped a lot of the worst of the pandemic, Melbourne was under lockdown for a very long time. Our work has always been centered around our relationships with local manufacturers, but was completely strengthened during this period. The experimentation that comes from almost endlessly being able to tinker and play with materials and prototypes in our workshop was facilitated at a new level, as we were then able to manufacture with quick turnarounds based on trust and closeness. Our latest series and Messing is the result of that process. We were hand-prototyping with brass from the get-go, and embraced little quirks that are customarily “smoothed out” in the final designs. We instead brought those into the foreground as accentuated, defining characteristics of the series. For example, we used offcuts “scraps” of brass as ornamental details, and leaned into offset brazing for idiosyncratic touches. These small details carry that ethic, emboldened during lockdown, into each design.
About the Maker | Volker Haug Studio creates lighting informed by a sense of discovery and experimentation, with works produced by a skilled team of designers and makers. With a focus on pared back, immaculate designs imbued with a sense of playfulness and pronounced individuality, the studio has established a long tradition of detailed, elegant lighting.
Operating from a converted 1940s warehouse the design team works collaboratively to produce their designs. With the ethos that any idea is considered achievable, they explore unconventional materials and methods, resulting in works that are unique and adventurous, while always retaining the studio’s signature clean, rational aesthetic. Designed with longevity in mind, the studio produces every order to the unique specifications of the space each piece will inhabit. In addition to their customisable decorative ranges, the design team works on site-specific projects and limited edition works. The studio’s commissions and collection designs are represented internationally in residential, commercial and hospitality projects.
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