1973           born in Munich / Austrian

1992           American Diploma, Austrian Maturite, partial I.B. at American
                  International School Vienna

1993           studied Product design at Art Center College of Design (Europe)

1995           Internship Vignelli Associates New York

1996           transferred to Art Center College of Design(Pasadena)

1997           Bachelor of Science in Transportation Design

2000-2003   studied Design Products a course by Ron Arad at the
                  Royal College of Art, London

2003           received the Master of Art

2004           designer at mike smith studios

2004           assistant at Silent Light project by Tord Boontje for
                  V&A Museum London

2005           development of light series Label sophievalerie

Since 2005  co-partner of Claassen & Partner

CLAASSEN&PARTNER

Since 2005, CLAASSEN&PARTNER have been working with a range of
clients from various different fields. Designers Sophie
Birkmayer and Tammo Claassen see their challenge not only in
transforming function into form; they always also integrate their work into a larger, cultural context. Once they get a drift, they incorporate it into a project and feed the result back into the cultural flow. From this value set emerges the goal of sustainability: to achieve human and ecosystem well-being together. It follows that the 'result' against which the success of any project or design should be judged is the achievement of, or the contribution to, human and ecosystem well-being together. Seen in this way, the concept of sustainability is much more than environmental protection in another guise. It is a positive concept that has as much to do with achieving well-being for people and ecosystems as it has to do with reducing stress or impacts.

The fields claassen&partner work in range from Corporate Design to Product- and Interiordesign to Digital Solutions. The diversity of their projects allows them to sustain a fresh perspective and the high quality of the studios' output. The core qualities of their work could be characterized as being consequent, straight, reduced to the essential and always focused on finding new approaches, materials and techniques.

website: www.claassen-partner.com