From Craftsman to Craft

In the hands of a skilled maker and an inspired artist, wood can take on any form, from a Stradivarius to a sculptural piece of furniture. Søren Risvang is deeply fascinated with the material properties of wood, and as a cabinetmaker he has explored quality craftsmanship in both Denmark and Japan. Today he is the head of a cabinetmaking workshop where Garde Hvalsøe’s furniture is made with painstaking precision – and where every single piece of wood is carefully selected for its particular contribution to the expression.

Woodworking

As a newly trained cabinetmaker, Søren Risvang was involved in developing design concepts for the colourful Danish designer Verner Panton. He also had a hand in realizing chair designs by Hans J. Wegner while the master designer was still active and delivering drawings with millimetre precision to the workshop at PP Møbler.

From the outset, collaborations with talented designers in a continuation of the strong Danish craft tradition has been an important motivation for Søren Risvang, in combination with a deep fascination with wood. A fascination based on the diversity of the material in terms of expressions and uses and its cultural legacy.

‘Antonio Stradivari sat in the mountains north of Como about four centuries ago, making violins with amazing tone that continue to spellbind the world to this day. With axes as their only tool, the Vikings built ships that crossed the Atlantic,’ he says. ‘The Japanese cabinetmaking and carpentry culture is a chapter to itself, and the worldrenowned architect Kengo Kuma – a strong proponent of working with local craftspeople and using local materials and craft techniques – has created a stunning Olympic stadium with large sections made of wood.’

Søren Risvang experienced the rich tradition of the refined Japanese carpentry and cabinetmaking culture first-hand during a one-year sojourn in the country, and the Japanese makers’ unique and highly specialized woodworking tradition, where there is no upper limit to perfection, resonates with his own approach to woodworking and design.

‘When you work with your hands, you have the time to sense and perceive what you are doing, and this focus gives rise to improvements and new ideas. It is essential to develop an in-depth understanding of the properties of wood, techniques and constructions,’ he explains.

But good craftsmanship alone is not enough.

‘I read somewhere that craft needs to be animated. In my view, the most relevant and powerful moment is when a skilled maker and an inspired artist meet and make the most of each other’s competencies to create something.’ Søren Risvang has participated in several instalments of the annual Cabinetmakers’ Autumn Exhibition – the acclaimed Danish ‘laboratory’ for innovative furniture – and over the years he has developed numerous projects with visual artists, architects and designers, including Boris Berlin and Cecilie Manz. Together with Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects and Garde Hvalsøe he created a sculptural storage solution shaped like a tree stump – a piece that pushes the technical boundaries of cabinetmaking and brings nature inside in both material and form.

The collaboration between Søren Risvang and Garde Hvalsøe dates back many years and springs not only from a shared love of wood but also from a common respect for professional skills and uncompromising focus on quality, aesthetic and functionality.

‘To me it seems obvious that Garde Hvalsøe’s kitchens were conceived and made in a woodworking shop. That is why the furniture has the smell of wood and stands out with natural materials, beautiful constructions and sophisticated functions,’ says Søren Risvang.

He is intimately familiar with every detail of Garde Hvalsøe’s furniture from the painstaking manufacturing process in the workshop where meticulous, high-precision processes are a virtue.

‘We put great care into selecting the wood. Garde Hvalsøe’s simple design invites a detail-oriented approach to design and the selection of materials. Not least in the Dinesen model, where every single plank is carefully selected to ensure that the grain of the wood forms a harmonious drawer front,’ says Søren Risvang and adds, ‘The powerful textural qualities of wood bring simple forms to life and ensure that the handmade furniture only gets more beautiful with age. As an added quality, wood is a sustainable material throughout its life cycle.’

It all begins and ends with wood.