„A house is much more than a mere shelter, it should lift us emotionally and spiritually.”
TAMÁS SZÉN MOLNÁR
architect, interior designer
I have always been obsessed with creating something since I was a teenager. I tried myself in numerous walks of art: I designed custom crash helmets and theatre sets, worked in animation and the film industry. I was playing the saxophone in numerous bands in Budapest for years. Then, I became a member of Quimby (one of the most popular bands in Hungary), where I played for 7 years. I featured on more than 20 albums. Parallel to my musical career I was designing and manufacturing custom furniture. Since 2000, I have exclusively been working as an interior designer. I founded my studio in 2006.
I graduated at the faculty of Architectura and design, University of West Hungary, specializing in interior design. I have been teaching interior design and creative design there since 2019.
As an interior designer I am interested in the human-centered questions of the built environment: What effects do spaces, lights, colors and objects have on us. What kind of interaction do we enter with them? How do they shape our living space and through this our quality of life and mental health?
In my childhood I paid attention to what made me feel good in a certain space. Later, I was preoccupied with the effect of the environment on social interactions.
Why is it that in a certain restaurant we tend to sit around for hours over a beer, whereas another place makes us want to leave as soon as possible?
Beside sensitivity towards an environment and the people in it, the practical knowledge and experience I gained over the past years are also essential for me. All these together enable me to make my clients’ dreams reality – enriching them with intellectual value whilst not losing sight of professional and economical aspects either.
The design assignments are diverse and range from private jobs to business investments. Sometimes the language of marketing has to be translated into the language of architecture.
For all these a designer has to be well-prepared on a wide variety of areas: apart from mapping correctly the clients’ needs it is essential to be aware of traditions and have knowledge in psychology, arts and crafts, elaborate technologies, architecture, acoustics, graphics, economics, logistics, marketing and branding. One has to be up-to-date in current design trends, new materials and related arts. Often the interior designer is assigned with the task of the project management as well. In my opinion the interior designer fine-tunes the building and coordinates the work of other designers and artists as well as contractors.
Designing is a series of decisions, a complex problem-solving process: making demands, function, aesthetics and the available budget restraints meet.
Taking the right aspects into the consideration leads to good decisions. My experience in design and execution along with experience in areas outside interior design but closely related to the creative-approach allow me to participate through my work in creating and conserving unique but lasting values on a high level.