--- title: "Aust & Amelung" url: "https://www.stylepark.com/en/news/aust-amelung" language: "en" type: "article" description: "New Delivery: Miriam Aust and Stefan Amelung met at Kunsthochschule Kassel and on graduation founded their own studio in 2011." published: "2014-08-13T00:00:00+02:00" modified: "2019-11-29T12:39:17+01:00" image: "https://www.stylepark.com/assets/articles/2014/aust-amelung/l2_v353418_1046_237_237-1.jpg" --- News & Stories Aug 13, 2014 # Aust & Amelung ![](https://www.stylepark.com/assets/articles/2014/aust-amelung/l2_v353418_958_621_414-1.jpg) ![](https://www.stylepark.com/assets/articles/2014/aust-amelung/l2_v353418_958_308_318-2.jpg) What seems to be folded paper, is made out of slewed concrete: “Like Paper”. Photo © Minu Lee, Merlin Laumert Creative couples often form a small powerhouse, and this is certainly true of Miriam Aust and Sebastian Amelung: The two met at Kunsthochschule Kassel and on graduation founded their own studio in 2011. With “Like Paper”, a luminaire made of concrete that nevertheless looks like folded paper, they take typical material properties to the point of absurdity – and bring a smile to our faces. Their latest trick, living room furniture in a DIY look that they presented at the Salone Satellite 2014 in Milan, demonstrates their feel for things devious and delightful: The angle of the large wooden standing lamp can be adjusted by a counterweight – in homage to traditional approaches, so the power duo from Kassel quip. ## Whowhatwherewhenhow? 01 Where would you like to live? ***Miriam Aust:* Our work does not bind us to a specific place. I can imagine any number of things, including remaining in Kassel.** 02 Your favorite character in the history of design? ***Sebastian Amelung:* I don’t really have a favorite designer. There are any number of works and designers who fascinate and inspire me in many ways.** ***Miriam Aust:* For example, Alvar Aalto’s tea trolley. It’s a product that was designed not only in line with functional aspects as it also has a narrative, semantic level. It’s great if every detail of a product is justified in terms of its function, and yet there’s scope for a playful approach to shapes and proportions.** 03 Which qualities do you admire in a designer? ***Miriam Aust:* I love the liberty designers have to constantly immerse themselves in new topics. Essentially, the discipline is very unspecific. Each topic we work on teaches us a lot. For me, designing also means researching, exploring, trying things out.** ***Sebastian Amelung:* And that means that you sometimes become an expert in areas you would not have expected at all.** 04 What do you enjoy doing most? – 05 Your main personality trait? – 06 Your biggest mistake? – 07 Your idea of happiness? – 08 What do you find really annoying? – 09 Your favorite material? ***Sebastian Amelung:* Our favorite material keeps on changing, as we choose a suitable material depending on the application. It gets exciting if the material is chosen not just with a view to its technical properties, but also the associations that go with it.** 10 Your favorite flower? – 11 What kind of music do you listen to when you work? ***Miriam Aust:* At the moment we’re listening to the music made by our fellow studio user, which is almost always the case. It’s a mix with music by Horace Silver.** 12 Which design achievement do you most detest? – 13 Which talent would you like to have? ***Miriam Aust:* Getting to the point, easily and leisurely.** 14 Can you describe your present state of mind? – 15 Your motto? – ![](https://www.stylepark.com/assets/articles/2014/aust-amelung/l2_v353418_958_772_554-3.jpg) The seat cushions of “A Bench“ allow themselves to be arranged modularly. Photo © Minu Lee ![](https://www.stylepark.com/assets/articles/2014/aust-amelung/l2_v353418_958_480_639-4.jpg) ”Vase & Leuchte” is the result of exceptional combinations and unusual things. Photo © Jan Köhler ![](https://www.stylepark.com/assets/articles/2014/aust-amelung/l2_v353418_958_420_350-5.jpg) “Vase & Leuchte” was the graduation project of von Miriam Aust at Kunsthochschule Kassel. Photo © Aust & Amelung ![](https://www.stylepark.com/assets/articles/2014/aust-amelung/l2_v353418_958_480_680-6.jpg) Four position thanks to the sandbag: „A Floor Lamp“. Photo © Minu Lee ## Bio Miriam Aust, born in 1984 in Braunschweig, studied Product Design with a focus on Furniture and Exhibition Design at Kunsthochschule Kassel, where she met her partner and colleague Sebastian Amelung. In her graduation project Aust addressed residential and plant cultures and with “Vase & Leuchte” she produced won the Grand Prize in the Young Designers section at the Biennale Interieur 2010 in Kortrijk, Belgium. Since fall 2011 she has collaborated with Sebastian Amelung; their company is named Aust & Amelung. Sebastian Amelung, born in 1981 in Giessen, likewise studied Product Design with a focus On Furniture and Exhibition Design at Kunsthochschule Kassel. Amelung concerned himself with concrete, a project that resulted in 2012 in the pendant luminaire “Like Paper”. In addition to the “Grand Prize” at the Biennale Interieur 2010 in Kortrijk, Aust & Amelung also won Gold in 2013 Gold in the “Design Awards of the Federal Republic of Germany” bestowed by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Technology in the “Young Design” category. [www.aust-amelung.com](http://aust-amelung.com/)