Ilse Crawford

Ilse Crawford is head of Studioilse, a London-based studio whose work encompasses architecture, interior design, product design, brand development and consultancy. She primarily believes in the emotional, human qualities of design, and that design can influence the way we behave and feel. This anti-cerebral approach has resulted in projects that give equal importance to comfort and sensuality – in terms of colours and forms – and style. Her projects include Soho House’s interiors, the Electric Cinema in London, Babington House, a contemporary, urban take on the country-house hotel, a store for shoe brand Sergio Rossi in Milan, and her new Ilse Collection for Georg Jensen, launched at the Milan Furniture Fair this year. She also teaches at the influential, cutting-edge Design Academy Eindhoven in the Netherlands. To llustrate her belief that design is about satisfying human needs first and foremost, at Be Open, Crawford uttered a surprising quote from Le Corbusier – an architect whose urban planning schemes have been criticised for being dehumanising: ‘“Life is always right and the architect is always wrong”. I myself approach projects as a continuity and frame for life.’