Around the Table with Maria Jeglińska-Adamczewska

What are you currently working on?

I have just completed a project for café and outdoor furniture for the Polish brand MDD. These are the first Polish pieces designed for urban spaces. The collection is called Flaner, referencing the figure of the flâneur, an urban observer.

How do you start designing?

It depends on the project. For the Flaner chairs, I began with sketching to understand the form of the curve in the back and front legs – then I replicated this on a bench, armchair, and table. I kept sketching this leg shape over and over. It's organic in form, reminiscent of tree branches, with simple geometric slats and a leaf placed on a branch. I envisioned that the furniture would harmonize beautifully with greenery, sunlight, and shade. I wanted to evoke the idea of familiar elements, or those that have been seen before. I also refer to the archetype of café furniture.

How did you get into product design?

Since I was a child, I knew what I wanted to do – it was always between architecture and design. I chose design because the scale felt more fitting for me. I have always been interested in domestic space and the history of objects. It started with my mother telling me that she wanted to go to a school in Paris for a course called ebenistyką – which is high-end cabinetmaking, furniture design. So, thanks to my mother’s stories, I became interested in the world of furniture. I wanted to go to that school myself, but during the open days, I realized it wasn’t for me. Instead, I chose a related field – design.

Were you always interested in objects? What was a turning point in your design career?

My graduation project – small bedside tables for Ligne Roset. It confirmed my career path because it was a direct collaboration with a recognized brand. After that, I worked with glass, collaborated with Autor Rooms, worked on various fabrics for set design, and did several projects with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute – including co-curating the Polish Pavilion at the London Design Biennale.

You also enjoy designing patterns. In the photos from your studio, there are many drawings.

I like repetitive elements across a page; drawing for me is a form of formal exploration, sometimes standing as a separate entity. Drawing often precedes thinking—it’s the first attempt, putting intuition on paper, a warm-up before the real race begins. In drawing, I can have more distance and freedom, and the result is immediate.

What tools do you use for your designs?

Sometimes I draw with a pen, other times with a pencil, depending on what best conveys the nature of the project. For the Flaner chair, I used a soft crayon – it best captured the organic nature of the chair’s leg. After that, I create paper models of the object or sometimes a 3D print. The 3D printer was especially useful when I was designing door handles – I could send the prototype directly to the factory. For more complex projects, where there is no brief, I prepare research to showcase the design intentions. Based on this, we refine the brief with the client. Sometimes, there are top-down guidelines because the project has an art director.

Tell us about your collaboration with PURO.

Some time ago, I designed blankets that are available for purchase in the PURO gift shops – in collaboration with the Norwegian manufacturer Røros Tweed. Now, I’ve designed candle holders – this is part of a broader project, Around the Table, focused on objects that exist outside the hotel room space. The candle holder has a very simple form, inspired by a lantern – it symbolizes the warmth of a home you return to; the light that awaits you. The candle holder is made from solid wood, with a small metal bowl in which it is placed. There will be one design, but in two sizes. The series of objects within the Around the Table project will be expanded.

Do you enjoy working with wood?

I know this material well, but I also like working with metal and ceramics. As a designer, I don’t define myself by the materials I use, but by the typologies and the projects themselves. Material is just one component of the design. I don’t work like a craftswoman in one material because I approach projects from a different standpoint. Good designs take into account the assumptions and context of a given project or brand.

Maria Jeglińska-Adamczewska was born in 1983 in Fontainebleau. In 2007, she graduated with a degree in industrial design from ÉCAL and received a scholarship from the IKEA Foundation. She has worked for Galerie Kreo in Paris, Konstantin Grcic in Munich, and Alexander Taylor in London. In 2012, she founded the Design and Research Office. She works on projects in industrial design, exhibitions, and research in the field of design. Her clients include Ligne Roset, Kvadrat, Actus, Vitra, 1882 ltd., the Saint-Étienne International Design Biennale, the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, MDD, and PURO.