About Raphael Gielgen / From the workbench to the world
From making
to meaning.
Carpenter by training.
Curious by nature.
Raphael’s path connects practical work with an expansive interest in people, spaces and change. His research at Vitra explores how the world of work is evolving.
Craft study / Val Vesa / Exchange image
Not Raphael’s workshop; personal archive material to follow.
01 / The practical beginning
A feel
for things.
Raphael trained as a carpenter. Working with furniture and workplace environments followed — a path rooted in the tangible world.
A joint has to hold. A material has to be understood. Craft offers a way into the larger story: how an idea becomes something people can experience.
Editorial interpretation — to be enriched with Raphael’s own memories.
02 / A path, not a straight line
I
Learning through the hands
Training as a carpenter. A practical beginning with materials, tools and the process of making.
II
Working with spaces
Furniture and workplace environments. Looking at how physical settings support the activities within them.
III
Research at Vitra
A wider field of enquiry: work, technology and social change. Learning journeys become part of the practice.
IV
Sharing a perspective
Conversations, presentations and the Vitra WORK PANORAMA. Observations become material for collective thinking.
03 / Out in the world
New places.
Other people.
Better questions.
Companies, universities, architects, start-ups, makers and researchers: Raphael’s learning journeys bring him into contact with different ways of thinking and working.
A conversation can challenge an assumption. A building can reveal another way of working together. A small detail can open a much larger enquiry.
A change of perspective / Duc Nguyen / Exchange image, not a documented visit.
04 / Bringing it back to the room
The journey continues
in conversation.
Explore the themes and perspectives Raphael brings to the stage, and the questions they can open up for an audience.
Discover speaking ↗