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New Zealand Home & Building, October-November 1998
thoroughly modern — Auckland designer Peter Bromhead's passion for modernist furniture is about to be unleashed on the home
thoroughly modern
Auckland designer Peter Bromhead's passion for modernist furniture is about to be unleashed on the home.
What goes around comes around, and for Auckland commercial interior designer Peter Bromhead, that's good news. Twenty years ago, he says, he felt like a very lonely voice. But, today, the modernist style that has always been his passion is enjoying a resurgence of interest.
Buoyed by the growing demand for mid-20th century designs, Bromhead has extended his focus from corporate interiors to the residential market.
The spare lines of Scandinavian design are his particular passion and his airy Parnell showroom is a minimalist's haven. Alongside his own furniture are some of the most celebrated designs of this century - among them, furniture by Danish designers Hans Wegner and Arne Jacobsen, lighting by Louis Poulsen and Georg Jensen tableware. His company, Bromhead Design, is also one of two agents in this country for furniture produced by the Danish company Fritz Hansen.
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Peter Bromhead relaxes in an Arne Jacobsen Egg chair, framed by a pair of sculptural lamps, also designed by Jacobsen, for Louis Poulsen.
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PK 22 rattan wicker chairs by Poul Kjaeholm for the Danish company Fritz Hansen.
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A colourful collection of Partout chairs from designers Rud Thygesen and Johnny Sorensen.
Photography: Patrick Reynolds.
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The Oxford chair designed by Arne Jacobsen for Fritz Hansen.
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Jacobsen's three-legged Ant chair and (front) Hans Wegner's Chair 29.
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Jacobsen's famed Swan chair (rear) and Series 7 Stacking chair.
A small apartment, which he is currently fitting out, will showcase these designs in a domestic context, as well as providing an outlet for his own design philosophy. The apartment will above all be unpretentious, he promises. "Everything will be designed to perform a function."
Functionality and simplicity are two words that crop up often in conversation with Bromhead. When asked about the qualities he admires in Scandinavian design, the answer is unequivocal.
"The appeal for me will always be its simplicity and purity," he says. "Everything is based on function and form and there's no frivolous design or ornateness. The anti-Christ of what I believe in is fake - materials that don't have a natural integrity."
The real test, however, would seem to be the enduring appeal of many Scandinavian designs. "Many of the pieces of furniture I'm dealing in first appeared more than 50 years ago, and yet they're seen today as still very modern."
To view the Bromhead Design range of furniture, phone 09-366 7322.
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