On Design: Ilse Crawford

In praise of the simple yet elegant Bellman drinking glass

When asked to choose an everyday, perhaps overlooked item with brilliant design, the British academic, designer and creative director Ilse Crawford chose the hand-blown ‘Bellman’ drinking glass—devised by Ingegerd Råman for the storied Swedish brand Skruf Glassworks—as the object of her enduring affection.

“My obsession is with the idea of ‘extraordinary ordinary’—things that upgrade the everyday”

Called upon for her impeccable interiors for Aesop, Vitra, and the award-winning Ett Hem hotel in Stockholm, Crawford has also designed everything from champagne flutes to sofas, and helped brands Soho House New York and Cowshed define their aesthetic. “My obsession is with the idea of ‘extraordinary ordinary’, things that upgrade the everyday and these glasses really do that,” says Crawford. “There’s the miracle of glass, because the idea of drinking a liquid from a liquid is quite poetic. Their sensual quality puts you in the moment, elevating a simple act like drinking a glass of water into something really quite special.”

Natalia Rachlin is Design Editor-at-Large at NOWNESS.