26/005
EDER
Design Studio
Berlin
«A well-designed home reflects the person who lives there, making everyday life more comfortable and enjoyable.»
«A well-designed home reflects the person who lives there, making everyday life more comfortable and enjoyable.»
«A well-designed home reflects the person who lives there, making everyday life more comfortable and enjoyable.»
«A well-designed home reflects the person who lives there, making everyday life more comfortable and enjoyable.»
«A well-designed home reflects the person who lives there, making everyday life more comfortable and enjoyable.»
Please, introduce yourself and your studio…
Hi, we’re Mimi and Kati, and together we are EDER, an interior and furniture design studio with our own workshop, based in Berlin.
Our different professional backgrounds—Mimi is a master carpenter and Kati is a product designer—allow us to bring together design and craftsmanship within one studio. We mainly design and realise residential spaces, focusing on bespoke furniture and kitchens.
EDER – Portrait
How did you find your way into the field of architecture and interior design?
We both took some detours before finding our way into craft and design. Mimi actually started out studying law and even finished his first Staatsexamen before realising he wanted to make and design his own furniture. The workshop where he did his apprenticeship is still the one we use today, sharing the space with his former company.
Kati’s journey had a few more twists: She studied Media Studies first, then moved to Glasgow for Product Design. After interning at Schneid Studio, she started a Master’s at Politecnico in Milan. In 2020, she moved to Berlin to work at Studio Hanne Willmann and complete her Master’s at Kunsthochschule Weißensee.
We met completely by chance when Kati moved into Mimi’s shared flat when she first came to Berlin. We started as flatmates, then became friends, and eventually business partners.
What are your experiences founding your own studio and being self-employed?
Being self-employed is something that we both always had in mind, probably also because we grew up in self-employed families. Kati had already worked freelance before, but starting an actual studio, including our own workshop and production, felt like a completely different scale and level of responsibility.
We started our own projects because we wanted more control over what we make and how we make it. We like being able to connect design and production more directly, and to develop things in a way that feels natural to us.
One of the biggest challenges was definitely the administrative side of setting everything up. There’s a constant background of bureaucracy, like taxes, paperwork and invoices, that you have to stay on top of alongside the actual creative work. That part can be quite demanding, especially in the beginning when everything is new. Luckily, we had a lot of help from our family and friends, which we’re really grateful for.
What does your desk/working space/office look like at the moment?
EDER – Working Space
How would you characterize Berlin as location for practicing your craft? How is the context of this place influencing your work?
We’re both not originally from Berlin, but chose to live here because of its creative scene and cultural diversity. Berlin feels like a work in progress, which allows young designers to experiment and find their own way of working. There’s also a certain openness in how people approach things here. You see a lot of young designers simply putting their work out there, which creates a motivating and supportive environment.
What is the essence of good design/a good space for you personally?
For us, good design is about clarity and thoughtfulness. Whether it’s a piece of furniture or a space, it should serve the people it’s intended for. A well-designed home reflects the person who lives there, making everyday life more comfortable and enjoyable.
Name your favorite …
Building: Neue Nationalgalerie
Designers/Studios: Too many, but for example Muller van Severen, Cecilie Manz, Note (Design Studio), …
Building material: We love exploring and working with various materials, but ultimately, we can’t help it: Wood.
If there were one skill you could recommend to a young designer/architect to study in depth at school: what would it be and why?
We think that equally important as any hard skills is figuring out why it is that you want to be a designer/architect — what drives and motivates you. Working in a creative field can be challenging at times, and having that clarity helps you stay with it. Finding your personal motivation gives you the perseverance you need to get through the tougher times.
What is your favorite tool to design/create interior architecture and why?
It may sound cheesy, but our favourite tool in design is communication. Whether it’s in-depth conversations with clients to understand their needs, or hour-long discussions between us about design details and production processes. Our best ideas come from talking things through!
Do you think AI is changing the field of architecture and design?
AI is already impacting creative fields and will continue to do so. Even though it can feel uneasy at times, we think the best approach is to get familiar with it, learn how to use it to your advantage, and advocate for an ethical way of working with it.
Rather than letting it replace the work we are passionate about, we try to use AI for more tedious or unfamiliar tasks. As a young business owner, you often have to take on many different roles at once, and AI tools can be helpful for things outside your core field, like administration, website work, or marketing.
Project 1
Sunny Yellow Kitchen
A custom kitchen in a private apartment in Schöneberg, Berlin.
Sunny Yellow Kitchen
Project 2
TANO Bed
Project 2
TANO Bed
TANO
