OEO Studio
OEO Studio’s Head of Design and Founding Partner, Thomas Lykke (b. 1971) trained as a fashion designer in Copenhagen and San Francisco before moving into the design industry as Interiors Editor at Wallpaper* Magazine 2000–2003. He established OEO Studio with Managing Partner Anne-Marie Buemann in Copenhagen in 2003, and the pair subsequently opened a project office in Tokyo, Japan.
OEO Studio is a cross-disciplinary studio working across product design and interiors architecture. Inspired by a global viewpoint, the studio offers premium brands a fresh perspective and strategic direction through creating compelling, intelligent and, ultimately, emotional connections. OEO Studio reaches people on a personal level by creating engaging design universes with a cosmopolitan outlook that justify its reputation for having the passion and commitment to deliver genuine impact.
OEO Studio instills a sense of necessity – something Lykke and Buemann call ‘compelling minimalism’ – into everything they do, reflecting their shared belief that great design is driven by passion and shaped by the vision to make a difference in a relevant, natural and respectful way.
HUMAN INTERACTIONS
This approach is evident in their particular sensitivity to working with materiality and textures through contrast and with meticulous attention to detail. Each project is defined by the inherent warmth of its natural materials – often applied in novel and unexpected ways, inspired by their cultural context to support human interactions.
OEO Studio undertakes immersive and creative journeys with their clients and partners. This approach, along with their incisive understanding of a brand’s personality and their conceptual approach to creating designs that unlock new and meaningful dimensions, has enabled them to engage in a wide range of design assignments worldwide. OEO Studio has a refined ability to discern the unique DNA of each brand – its heritage, its qualities and its core ethos. The studio then takes that essence and brings it to the fore, creating products, bespoke interiors and spatial experiences with outstanding qualities and aesthetics that last for generations.
OEO Studio has created award-winning designs for a broad spectrum of discerning clients, from two-starred Michelin restaurants: NOMA’s first permanent outpost – Inua in Tokyo – and Kadeau in Copenhagen; to the Coco Collection for GUBI, and aspirational objects that have earned their place in the permanent collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, at the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum in New York, at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, and at the Design Museum in Copenhagen. More than 20 award nominations and wins in just eight years include the 2012 Elle Decoration International Design Award for Best Furniture, at least one Danish Design Award nomination or win every year 2012–2019 and a first-time nomination for both the Dezeen and Wallpaper* Design Awards since 2018.