German designer and interior architect, Kirsten Schwalgien, is renowned for her stunning work in the field. I was really excited to be honored to discuss with her the challenges and the excitements of her profession, the difficulties of being a woman in a male-dominated world such as the one of yacht-design, and the future of design.

Kirsten Schwalgien holds a degree in Interior Architecture from Fachhochschule Mainz, and she has worked as head of design in great companies in Germany and abroad (newcruise Yacht Project & Design, Mack & Co). She has also been part of the German Design Council.

In 2011, she founded Kirsten Schwalgien Design in Barcelona, Spain, a multi-awarded studio specializing in Exterior and Interior Design of superyachts, residential projects, and commercial spaces.

Her work is characterized by her out-of-the-box thinking, combined with her thorough experience in yachts through the years, and her knowledge of state-of-the-art technology.

With particular attention to detail, every piece in her projects is designed in excellence, and is tailor-made for her clients’ aesthetic. She mostly chooses to work with natural materials seeking the purity of nature. She has won global recognition by consistently combining precision and analytical thinking.

During her career, Kirsten Schwalgien has earned various awards and prizes; in 2020, she was awarded the prestigious GOOD DESIGN award.

“Learn as much as you can about materials and production, how to implement your design ideas, and don’t take no for an answer.”

Elizabeth Soufli: Is there one thing that characterizes every and each one of your works?

Kirsten Schwalgien: Spontaneously, I would say: our core values. We think a lot about the people who will use the space – how we can improve their daily lives. 

We don’t follow a certain style; it’s important to us to adapt to each client, the location, and the context. This leads us very often to custom-designed furniture – which will “fit the client like a tailor-made suit.”

It’s a real luxury to live with furniture which was designed for you – not some random product chosen from a catalogue. 

E.S: When did you decide that you belong in the world of design?

K.S: I was fascinated by the impact of design from very early on; how design can influence our lives for the better or for the worse.

Churchill said once, “First we shape our buildings then our buildings shape us.” There is a lot of truth in these words, and I think it is important to raise more awareness on this subject. 

Design never stopped to excite me. The process of creation, the development of a product, happen in your head first. I imagine the look and feel of the materials, evaluate different options, and after a while, you get a feeling that you are on the right path.

Then, the day comes, and you can finally hold the product in your hand – or see, or touch the furniture – and they turned out to be even better than initially imagined; this part of the work is very rewarding. For our current projects, we are developing custom wall sconces with fluorescent perspex sheets, which create incredible light effects, design fabrics and rugs with personalized patterns and desks made of layers of leather and copper.

E.S: You have years of experience in the field, and your projects are more than popular! What’s in the yacht-industry that fascinates you the most?

K.S: I have to admit that after all this time during my visits to shipyards or at Yacht Shows, I’m still very impressed by the sheer size. People who are not involved in the superyacht industry (superyachts are 50 m+) have trouble imagining how big they really are. 

E.S: What are the challenges of the job?

K.S: The requirements are very complex. The interior, as well as the exterior of a superyacht, has not only to look good but as well it has to work efficiently. Both the interior and exterior of a superyacht have to not only look good but work efficiently. Each superyacht is a one-off; we design a custom product, and even though a few mock-ups are built, most of the product designs have to come out well the very first time.

Because of my education, I look at design from two perspectives; from the perspective of an interior architect but also from that of a product designer. This is a huge advantage in this field. 

Materials have to be chosen wisely; the conditions of the exterior spaces are pretty demanding – materials have to withstand the elements. The mix of saltwater and direct sunlight wears down most of them, so our choice is limited. My team is always on the hunt for innovation in this field.

If you look at the top 30 biggest superyachts in the world, you will see that there might be a few with a very distinctive appearance, but some of them look remarkably similar. There is the pointy end, the superstructure is the middle part (which looks a little like a layered cake), and somewhere at the back, a pool, and a beach club. 

It takes a daring client to push the design boundaries, but often the client wants something they’ve seen on a friend’s boat. Andrew Winch once put it like this, “The only limitation is the imagination of the client.” 

E.S: How do you imagine the future of the design industry?

K.S: I’m very eager to see what will happen in the aftermath of the pandemic, but I believe there will be a kind of “new essentialism;” people will aspire to buy fewer goods but of excellent quality with the potential of longer use and high resale. 

I’m very connected to the luxury segment of the design industry – as to bespoke furniture design – and there, we can see that luxury is distilled to its very essence and ethos of craftsmanship, timelessness, and longevity.

E.S: You are recognized as one of the leading female figures in the field. Is it tougher for a woman to pursue a successful career? 

K.S: Unfortunately, it still is – particularly in the field of Exterior Yacht Design. It’s a male-dominated world, and as a woman, you are welcome to choose a few fabrics or a silk rug for an Interior but not discuss a mast design. 

I’ve seen women working in the yacht industry who were probably twice as talented as their male colleagues but still less recognized. I’m talking not only about designers, but it’s also female naval architects, technical engineers up to the managing director of a shipyard.

E.S: What would your advice be to a young designer?

K.S: Learn as much as you can about materials and production, how to implement your design ideas, and don’t take no for an answer.