10. “Not drawing creates an objective distance between you and your subject. […] The idea is to establish a working method purely based on data exterior to yourself and accessible to anyone. These ‘stepping-stones’, as I call them, include type of object […], its cultural context […], production methods […], the intended location of the object and above all, for whom the object is being made.” Françoise Guichon once raised the question of your “mildly distant stance which some commentators interpret as coldness.” Does this come from the modesty of approach or from perhaps a quest for an abstract quality in furniture?

MSz: Cool on the outside but warm within, this is exactly what I strive to do in my work. It’s often an issue of ambiguity, one that in the end tends towards a state of balance. When Françoise Guichon asked me about the coldness of my works and the “mildly distant stance which some commentators interpret as coldness”, I replied that when everything is overheated and designers feel they always have to elicit emotions, sensations and affect users, maybe a touch of cold might not be such a bad idea. Is it not possible to imagine a silent space to retreat into?