Micado wins design prize design by Cecilie Manz for Fredericia

Micado wins design prize

The furniture designer Cecilie Manz has won the Danish Design Prize for a table which is as simple as it is eye-catching.

Micado is the name of the table which today has made 32-year-old Cecilie Manz the winner of the Danish Design Prize 2004. Crown Prince Frederik made the presentation which took place at the Danish Design Centre, the body responsible for this prestigious prize.

As the name suggests, it was the game of pick-up sticks which gave Cecilie Manz the idea for this small, three-legged table. “Using sticks, I experimented to see how it was possible to construct a piece of furniture which was easy to assemble and disassemble. It resulted in a table with a nearly archetypal, three-legged construction – similar to the classic hunting chair with a leather seat,” says Cecilie Manz, who trained at Danmarks Designskole. She has refined the design so the table can be assembled without using screws or hinges. The round tabletop and the three legs interlock when the table stands on the floor.

Photo: BRAHL FOTOGRAFI

Simplicity and spontaneousness

“For me, simplicity and spontaneousness are important. My working method involves first considering the idea – for example “table” – with a completely open mind. I take the trouble to thoroughly identify which functions the object must have. Then I allow the ideas to flow freely, but as they take shape I minimise as much as possible,” says Cecilie Manz.

She has previously attracted attention with a ladder which is also a chair, and a table which is height-adjustable according to the “ironing board” principle. These designs have led to some people describing her furniture as multifunctional.

“I can certainly understand why, but it is not a word I care for, and it is not something I aim for in my work. A piece of furniture can certainly have several functions when they spring to mind as an added bonus – and not at the expense of each other. Simplicity is paramount,” she says.

Cecilie Manz enjoys working with wood and would have liked to have trained as a cabinetmaker.
“However, I have built up a good and inspiring partnership with a cabinetmaker who makes my prototypes. It allows me to devote my energies to other things,” she says.

In Børge Mogensen’s footsteps

The company Fredericia Furniture has started producing the Micado. Cecilie Manz is thereby following in the footsteps of a number of Denmark’s most respected designers – including Børge Mogensen, whose name is inextricably linked to this family-owned company. She acknowledges that it is both a burden and an honour to be under the same roof as Niels Jørgen Haugesen, Nanna Ditzel and Børge Mogensen. The tradition for building up a close partnership with its designers has made Fredericia Furniture a good business partner – also for new names.

“It is a love of the trade which characterises Fredericia Furniture – not 10-year plans and market surveys. There is a genuine curiosity to see the finished product,” says Cecilie Manz, praising the company for its willingness to take chances.
“We need companies which are prepared to stake on the younger generations. It means a lot that some of the objects one makes are actually put into production,” says Cecilie Manz.

She wants to give the lie to idea that young designers only make ‘strange’ things. “Occasionally I hear people say that we only think sculpturally. My response is no, that’s not right, it just looks different,” she says.

Even though the Micado stands out in many ways from the classics of Danish design, she can certainly envisage them appearing side by side. “Today, people are very willing to combine old and new. I can certainly see the Micado as a joker in a tasteful home – ideally standing beside a black Børge Mogensen sofa.”

Micado is available in solid ash, oak or cherry, the tabletop also as a lacquered, black MDF board.

More design by Cecilie Manz:

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