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Friday Five with Ole Jensen

Danish ceramist and designer Ole Jensen merges his education and love of traditional crafts with a modern sense of minimalism that brings just enough to the design without going over the top. After graduating from the Design School in Kolding, Denmark in 1985, and then from The Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen in 1990, Jensen has been making a name for himself with his works in clay, for which he creates all of his production prototypes and limited edition objects, and his collaborative work with companies like Royal Copenhagen, Normann Copenhagen, Muuto, and Louis Poulsen Lighting A/S. With a focus on materials and an object’s functionality, his work forms a cohesive theme of being both sculptural and utilitarian. Let’s take a peek inside the world of Ole Jensen in this week’s Friday Five.

F5-Ole-Jensen-1-Fiat

1. The family car in front of the studio. Even though we could manage without a car, I simply had to own a Fiat Multipla. How happy I was when I first saw the model in 1998. The most fantastic car design of recent times. Italian at its best, and no pains spared on its shapes.

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2. My 15-year-old Yves Saint Laurent boots have done well. And are still going strong!

F5-Ole-Jensen-3-adidas-jacket

3. I bought the Adidas jacket in Tokyo. Actually as a present for our son. But he wasn’t the slightest bit interested in having it. He thought it was too weird. So now it’s mine. I think it represents a fantastic blend of high-tech, branding, and folklore.

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4. My new cycle and new dog. The cycle is a Danish-built BULLITT carrier cycle. Extremely practical in town. The dog is a Danish-Swedish Farmdog. Also extremely practical in town – and on the bike. And I think that aesthetically too they go well with each other.

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5. A great chair. Nobody Chair from 2007, designed by Boris Berlin and Poul Christiansen (Komplot Design) and produced by HAY. Made of felt from granulated PET bottles. Companiable, soundless and underplayed – and fun at the same time too. The dog also likes it!

Caroline Williamson is Editor-in-Chief of Design Milk. She has a BFA in photography from SCAD and can usually be found searching for vintage wares, doing New York Times crossword puzzles in pen, or reworking playlists on Spotify.