Interior designer Josephine Akvama Hoffmeyer on adding soul to your space

It’s been one whirlwind of a week for Josephine Akvama Hoffmeyer, founder and creative director of Copenhagen-based design studio File Under Pop. Her brand has just launched paint shop Color Lab, a way to illustrate how certain colours work together. She’s grateful for all the attention, without a doubt, but being this busy is not quite her shtick. Better yet, in her design process it’s crucial for her to take things slow.

This morning we catch her over Zoom, all smiles and a warm honey filled voice streaming through the speakers. The team is in the midst of 3 Days of Design, after just returning from Salone del Mobile in Milan. "In this field it’s like a carrousel, going up and down. I usually make a point out of slowing down, to be conscious, present, and aware of all I do," she tells me. "You see, at File Under Pop we treasure products – tiles, paints, wallpapers, fabrics –that have been produced over time, crafted by individuals. It’s about honoring the materials, putting in your humanity, your love, because I feel everything we interact with, whether people or objects, should have a soul. In the end, I want this sense of honouring our time to inspire how I feel we should all live."

Her daily routine therefore includes transcendental meditation. "I’m the boss in my life, so I need to allow myself those twenty minutes in the morning and evening to be still and not be anything to anyone."

Her journey into the art of tiles catapulted after visiting the ancient volcano Mount Etna in Sicily, while living in Italy. "I fell completely in love with lava stone, this massive soil, just lying there for thousands of years. It vibrates with tremendous power! And when transmuting into carefully glazed wall and floor stones you include all the elements: fire, water, soil, air. That makes it a very emotionally charged material," she explains. Back then, the tile industry was rather bland. "Just white tiles used for practical purposes in the bathroom."

Consequently, it was rather easy for her to explore a different avenue and make herself known. Twenty years on, she cladded multiple spaces in hand-made tiles and dyes: from Hermès stores to private apartments the world over, from entire living rooms, floor to ceiling, to baseboards. In turn, she gave up a career as a musician, having studied music in New York. Fun fact: many of her paint colors are named after popular songs like Jimi Hendrix’s Purple Haze and Prince’s Raspberry Beret. Not to mention, her daughter Alba has recently entered composition at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory.

Steeped in Danish design heritage while growing up in Copenhagen, this has unconsciously yet undeniably influenced her. "Yes, I feel very much grounded in the tradition of carpenters slash architects such as Finn Juhl, Arne Jacobsen and Hans J. Wegner who greatly inspire me." Simplicity, functionality, authenticity, Josephine is proudly carrying on the torch in a long lineage of iconic Danish design. Emanating a still beauty, her way of "staying close to my own truth".

Yet it was only until recently that she discovered how much of her aesthetic and philosophy was additionally informed by Ghana, the land where her father was born. Only one and a half year ago, she visited the country for the first time. It turned out to be quite the revelation. "Most of all, it was a recognition of a part of myself that all throughout my childhood I couldn’t quite fathom. I finally saw this piece of my identity mirrored in the surroundings, the people, the crafts," she explains. She references the wildness and vast openness of the landscape, the infinite universe of rich colours and the generosity of the locals. During her trip she stumbled upon phenomenal, age-old craftsmanship and learned more about her ancestry: her roots lie with the royal Ashanti tribe. "Moreover, in most of Ghana I found they use patterns as a way of communicating." Transcending the decorative and, instead, becoming a language that’s an integral part of the different communities.

As soon as she got home from Africa, she started experimenting with hand-painting curtains as works of art. "It’s an interesting interplay between a certain stiffness where the fabric is painted and parts that are left unpainted so the daylight can filter through. I’m very much into creating spaces that extend your self-awareness and heighten your wellbeing."

Through all her vivid memories she doesn’t like to be led by nostalgia. "I just went to this talk of Indian architect Anupama Kundoo who said: 'The future is not so much created by our past, but by our imagination.' That’s very much how I work. All the while leaning into the trust that it requires to let your fantasy flow freely."