Nidus produces furniture and lighting

Nidus is niche: The lawyer Ana Vollenbroich and the architect Annelen Schmidt-Vollenbroich have been developing real estate projects from Düsseldorf since 2016. With an architecture gallery they are committed to post-war modernism. In 2024 they will move their office and gallery into a converted church from 1979. Their current project: a Nidus collection of furniture and lighting.

Ms. Vollenbroich, Ms. Schmidt-Vollenbroich, with Nidus you are renovating and building new properties, you run an architecture gallery, and now you are also bringing out furniture. Don't you have enough to do yet?

Ana Vollenbroich: Actually already. But that didn't let us go. It started with the architect Bruno Lambart's house, which we converted. An eye-opening project, this is where the idea of ​​the gallery came from. Bruno Lambart designed everything for this house, right down to the floor lamp, which was the starting signal for the collection. In another project, the house in East Frisia, we were looking for something for the entrance, something like a jewelry box where you put keys.

Compared to a house, lights or wooden boxes are less complex. Are they easier to design?

Annelen Schmidt-Vollenbroich: The development process is shorter. You can work with prototypes and try out proportions that you have developed in a model or drawing. It's nice to have a result faster.

Did you also make yourself happy with the collection?

Ana Vollenbroich: It's pure joy. Having something in your hand, touching the materials. We try to develop our buildings so that they are as flexible as possible over time and changes in housing needs. We try to do that with the furniture too. They each emerged from a project. But the challenge is that the pieces can also fit into other situations.

Annelen Schmidt-Vollenbroich: We also paid attention to how aging processes occur. We have learned this from our projects. When we visit older buildings, we quickly see what works well and what doesn't. A lot of technology doesn't work well at all. It got over so quickly that you have to rebuild a lot. We also applied these principles to the furniture. With sofas, for example, the aging process is often a problem. How is the upholstery cleaned, what will it look like in 30 or 40 years? That's why our sofa has a wooden frame, which will only get more beautiful. The cushion covers are removable and machine washable.

Is there a common thread in the design language?

Annelen Schmidt-Vollenbroich: We are probably always looking for clear lines. Always abstract until you can't add anything more, but you can't take anything away either. They are pieces that have a story, they are ambassadors for our houses. They can tell the story of post-war modernity and reconstruction.

They want to convey the building culture of post-war modernism. Has the view of this time changed?

Annelen Schmidt-Vollenbroich: Yes. Residents of the Bruno Lambart house once said they were now looking up. This is an important point, to raise your eyes and see what is there. In addition, sustainability has taken on a different meaning. Building in existing buildings is more highly valued.

Ana Vollenbroich: The buildings of post-war modernism are the old buildings of tomorrow; a generational change is taking place. These houses are coming onto the market and there is now a different need to justify demolition from a climate policy perspective.

Where can people buy your furniture?

Annelen Schmidt-Vollenbroich: Directly with us. They are only produced to order and are sometimes unique, like the lamp with the drill core as a base. That's why the pieces are not available immediately, so you have to be patient. This is also because we produce locally with our partners. A lot of things come directly from Düsseldorf.

Ana Vollenbroich: We have a hand in production and know exactly what is going on, and it should stay that way. We want to be able to fully support how and where production takes place.