Timo is a design director in Stuttgart. In this interview, we talk to him about his decision to study interior design, order in the workplace and his tools in everyday work.

Hi Timo! How did you find your way to IFG?

During my bachelor’s I came to IFG as an intern. I stayed longer than I had planned. Then I did my master’s with an exchange semester in Copenhagen and went straight back to IFG. Now I’m a design director in Stuttgart.

Why did you decide to become an interior architect?

My father is a photographer, my grandfather is a plasterer. I was growing up with aesthetics, proportions and shapes and creating something with your hands. Interior spaces fascinated me – and still does today.

How do you start a new project?

I first deal with the context in a very fundamental way and try to ask the right questions. It's not like “I'm the designer and I tell you what's right,” not at all. Every project starts with understanding the client.

What tools do you use in your day-to-day?

For presentations we use InDesign. Our visualizations are 99% digital, we work with Vectorworks, SketchUp, 3ds Max and Enscape. And then of course Outlook and other Microsoft office applications.

What else do you absolutely need for your work?

What I need most is quiet and a tidy desk. I like to prepare on my own first and then enter a dialogue. Ideas have to grow, and design is always an open process in which we try out ideas and directions together with our clients.

What’s the best thing about your job?

There is always something new. New contexts, new team constellations, new customers. I’m dealing with questions about current and future forms of working, living and society from many different perspectives.