Designer Ted Muehling On His New Store, Collections And Nerdiness (PHOTOS)
Famous for his beautiful porcelain, glassware and jewelry, the beloved designer Ted Muehling has a new 2,000-square foot store in Manhattan, which opens today. Muehling, who is soft-spoken and modest, immediately strikes one as the strong creative type who lets his craft speak for itself, and he has managed to quietly become a staple in the home furnishings world over the past few decades. We got first look into his new shop and we chatted with Muehling about the space, his creative process, and how he keeps that creative child in him alive.
What inspired the new shop location?
My lease was up after 10 years and the neighborhood has changed on Howard Street. Back then there was Vogel Shoes there and my shop was on the edge of Chinatown. Jil Sander and the Mondrian Hotel are across the street now, and I didn’t want to pay an exorbitant amount of rent so I had to move. But I also needed to be on a main street in a place that’s not too inconvenient for my customers. I found this space and I knew the people in the building so it worked out great.
Are there any highlight pieces that are specific to this new store?
There will still be my porcelain and glassware, candlesticks for E.R. Butler, jewelry, and works by other designers. I also brought over my seashell collection, objects with beautiful shapes, and handmade things from the past that are not for sale but which continue to inspire me. It’s a bit of a collector’s cabinet and the Museum of Natural History here with a lot of things that I collect from nature.
What do you like most about this store?
I like the street very much. I’m across the street from a 1960s synagogue and we’re in a 19th-century building that had become theaters, so there are skylights, high-ceilings, and mezzanines. The space has lovely north light coming through the skylight, and I have a perch up in a mezzanine where I can do my own work. I love that it’s like a treehouse up here where I’m kind of removed, and I have room for my thousands of design, nature, and art books.
How has the way that people shop for your designs changed in recent years with the mass market?
Over the past 15 years, my work with porcelain and glassware has really opened many doors for me. I had a degree in industrial design from Pratt and then many years later the industrial design suddenly kicked in, and this really wasn’t until later in my life in my 40s. I’ve always made objects for the home and it’s opened up a lot for me. It’s very personal when people choose a piece of jewelry or an object. We have 5 people who work here and we want to keep it a small business.
In recent years there’s been more of an emphasis on handmade objects and things crafted by hand. Has that influenced your work in any way?
It’s been more constant for me and it’s worked for me. I think it’s great that there’s a segment in the design world that focuses on this. But design in the past 20 years has become glamorous. When I was at Pratt, we were the nerds next to the designers and engineers for cars and hairdryers, and now everyone wants to be a designer. It’s relentless now and there’s so much design out there. I just want to keep doing what I love doing and it’s been going on for 35 years and it seems to work, so I’m very fortunate.
When designing an object, what’s your first step?
It’s often about shape and form, which are the jumping off point for me. I rarely do right angles, so it’s often soft forms. That’s why I have a collection of seashells to look at and be inspired by. I’m not afraid of pretty. I like things to be beautiful -- and unabashedly beautiful. My training at Pratt was not about that...it was more about the stackable and the functional.
Scroll down to read the rest of the Q&A.
What part of the designing process is the easiest for you and what’s the most difficult?
I think I have an innate sense of how materials want to be used when working with glass or porcelain. I don’t blow glass, but I’ve seen glass blown and being not from that world I can see how beautiful some of the shapes can be and I know what shape is good. It’s important to get along and working well with people. I like to be there and I like to be hovering, but you can drive yourself crazy if you’re a control freak. You have to let go a little bit. Sometimes a piece might come out more voluptuous but it might be more beautiful.
Nature is a common theme in all your designs, what about the natural world fascinates you the most?
Well, nature always wins. My boyfriend and I have been together for 15 years and we have a house in Sag Harbor where we let the backyard go a little crazy. We have hummingbirds, insects, snakes, a collection of bird’s nests...it’s miraculous. I have this child in me at this age and I think it’s very important for creative people to keep the child alive in them. It’s like when you realize that there’s a full moon. Being here in the city nature is so peripheral and I make a nest for myself in my workspace and in my apartment. I have canaries here in the shop up in my tree-port. It’s a little like meditation for me.
How did you get involved with the Design for a Living World video series by the Nature Conservancy in 2009?
Abbot Miller of Pentagram was working with the Nature Conservancy to put together a group of designers to go off into the world to work with indigenous people with indigenous tools. I was designing a book for MoMA at the time and I was working with the brilliant Oliver Sacks on prehistoric plant forms. Then Abbot asked me if I wanted to work with tagua nuts -- also known as the ivory nut and looks like ivory -- which was used to make buttons and hardware on an island in the South Pacific. I was researching plants about that area with Sacks, so it was perfect timing and I went. (See below for video)
Are there other projects that you’re working on outside of this new shop at the moment?
It’s not a creative time for me, the focus and push has been for the shop.
What's something about you that not many people may know?
I’m a little socially phobic. I’m really most comfortable in my studio making things. If I had a year to live I’d probably be happy making things in my studio.
Ted Muehling, 52 White Street, New York, NY, 212-431-3825; tedmuehling.com
Check out this Design for a Living World video featuring Ted Muehling:
Loading comments… 
