P van b: Luscious Wallpaper Ornaments

7 Apr 2008 Category: Arts & Crafts, Graphics, Worldwide

P van b: Luscious Wallpaper Ornaments

Berlin's P van b put their delicate handmade patterns on the walls of hotels and shops. From their "Pomp" line, variation "Pretty Rich" with an unapproachable poise as theme. Design by Andrea Poessnicker. © Andrea Poessnicker

Tastefully hand-printed wallpaper is the speciality of P van b, a Berlin-based duo of German Andrea Poessnicker and Erik van Buuren. At a closer look, their intricate patterns sometimes reveal more luscious details than at first glance; exposing rampantly growing typography to hidden naked boys as patterns… Erik told PingMag what’s behind the designs and how they keep their handmade feel while producing on a grand scale.

Written by Verena


“Dutch Pomp” of the “Pomp” line, detail… © Andrea Poessnicker

… baroque patterns to reflect a dandy’s lifestyle… © Andrea Poessnicker

First, we saw these lovely baroque patterns and elegant beads on your Pomp line… How did it all start?

The concept of Pomp was about having erotism glued on the wall. It all started back in Hamburg, Germany, where Andrea originally founded the company. Back then, in the 90s, many brothels in the entertainment quarters of St. Pauli closed down and got converted into clubs, such as Washington Bar, Gun Club, Tempelhof, etc. Their compartments all had these wonderfully pretentious, dark wallpapers and Andrea tried to revive their atmosphere with her collection. Each of its three variations has its own story: Dutch Pomp is based on the theme of the dandy with a pleasantly hedonistic life and many women. Then there is Lady Light, the girl that is hard to get with bead-like patterns; Pretty Rich is the unapproachable poise, its patterns are a mixture of all three kinds of ladylike tendril, as I’d put it.

Again, the “Pomp” line, variation “Dutch Pomp” - with the hedonistic dandy as theme. Design by Andrea Poessnicker. © Andrea Poessnicker

You silk-screen print everything by yourself?

We all print it ourselves by hand in our atelier in Berlin. For that, we developed our own silk-screen technique that is faster to meet the clients’ demands. However for Pomp, at one point, we had so much printing work we simply couldn’t keep up with all the orders by ourselves. So, we went to a well-known Belgian wallpaper manufacturer, ARTE. And since Andrea used to collaborate with them for a long time, we asked if they would posssssibly manufacture the line in higher numbers. And with their help, we were able to retain our hand-printing character despite its mass production. Since its three basic patterns consist of many dense metallic colour pigments that are characteristic for hand-printing, the result is beautifully dark wallpapers. This really pushed the limits of the printing machine… For that, we made a product licence contract and, since last year, it has been distributed worldwide.


“Dutch Pomp” on apparel… Photo by Stephan Goettlicher © Andrea Poessnicker

… and all over P van b’s Berlin studio. © Andrea Poessnicker

Wow, it looks so unique - and still it’s manufactured in high numbers. We bet that hand-printing is quite labour intensive…

For example, with the Trash Your House line, each wallpaper consisted of three layers of silk-screen printing with three colours and three different patterns that are set out differently each time.


“Trash Your House:” Playfully deconstructing typography as ornaments and… © Andrea Poessnicker

… using the proof with mistakes deliberately - variation “True Grace.” © Poessnicker

Oh, that’s why it has this three-dimensional feel! We totally adore this line from a couple of years ago and how wonderfully it uses typography as flourishing ornaments. Kind of psychedelic! How did you develop this motif?

All is based on graphical patterns. It comes from when we started: because the final proof always had lots of mistakes, we had many complaints. So, Andrea defiantly wanted to take it even further and make even more mistakes, so she took the master pattern of an old line and printed it in a even worse quality - and renamed it Trash Your House. Surprisingly, this took off! And over four, five years it was quite popular.


A restaurant with P van b’s wallpaper art. © Andrea Poessnicker

What is the message of your Panorama Pin-up line? It features lines such as Anti Flatscreen, Fertility or Increase of Prosperity…

It broaches the issue of people spending too much time getting distracted in front of the flatscreen or the telly, instead of dealing with life, meaning going outside, being fertile, having kids, and so on. The motifs are pin-ups, and Andrea took her inspiration from the playmates in 80’s Playboy magazines. Back then, the depiction of the female in the media seemed to be more voluptuous, more feminine - compared to today’s asexual scrawny figures and the absence of kids. Panorama Pin-up features lush trees and fertile soil as kind of reminder of where you originated from. It’s a call for reflection, a call to cultivate your own food to be independent. Hence the Anti Flatscreen, as people tend to be seduced by the media.

The “Panorama Pin-up” line was inspired by voluptuous 80’s Playmates. Design by Andrea Poessnicker… © Andrea Poessnicker

… featuring lush trees for a little bit of nature at home. Design by Andrea Poessnicker. © Andrea Poessnicker

Lush motifs for the living room! But you also do a lot of interior works for hotels and restaurants…?

For example, we worked with a German textile manufacturer on a project for hotel interiors, decorated the levels of a department chain, Breuninger, in Southern Germany. But we also did the club solar in Berlin, Berlin-based lingerie brand Blush, shoe designer Ricardo Castiglione in Berlin; internationally, we have been working for Kookai Australia, or did the interiors of the Dolce Vita chain in the US.


Wallpaper motif for Mark Rees’ exhibition… © Andrea Poessnicker

… and on the bunker replica. Photo by Stephan Goettlicher

By the way, what was your Shed Light wallpaper project about? I only saw a photo of a bunker with a green leaf-like pattern all over, somewhere in nature…

That was a temporary project for Welsh artist Mark Rees who had an exhibition in Cardiff in 2005. His topic was about ‘homosexuality in public.’ For that, Berlin-based architect Benedict Anderson built a bunker that resembled the one Reese had his first sexual encounter in. But since, in Cardiff, those public spaces are shut down pretty quickly by the authorities and soon the buildings are overgrown with ivy, we had the idea to create an ivy pattern with homosexual motifs as wallpaper for the bunker. If you look at the pattern, you can make out homo-erotic scenes…

The pattern for Mark Rees’ bunker - ivy hiding certain boys within. Do you spot them? Design by Andrea Poessnicker. © Andrea Poessnicker

Interesting idea! It took a while to see them… Lastly, any new motifs we will adore in the future

We just exhibited our new Bricks foam wallpaper at the Seoul Design Festival. It was quite popular, since you can customise it, scratch off the foam and draw on it. And people started playfully scribbling their names all over the wallpaper - and couldn’t stop taking pictures of it. They liked the pink colour a lot!

P van b’s newest creation - the “Bricks” line, consisting of foam. For doodlers that love customisation! Design by Andrea Poessnicker. © Andrea Poessnicker

How nice! We want that in our office! Thank you, Erik of P van b.

37 Comments

  1. The brick one is love ♥

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  2. nice! but next time put the groovy one from the 70’s

    Posted by: Alessio on April 7th, 2008 at 11:06 pm

  3. Very, very ugly.

    Posted by: oo on April 8th, 2008 at 1:16 am

  4. COOL WALLPAPERS. I love it!!!

    Posted by: Ferma on April 8th, 2008 at 1:55 pm

  5. Beautiful and interesting

    Posted by: Yuu on April 9th, 2008 at 10:49 am

  6. THANK YOUUUU, PM!!!
    I really really LOVEEEE this pattern!
    No, in fact, i ADORE this style! Beautiful and elegant!
    The hidden image & its applications are just wonderful.
    I also want that wallpaper in my home! :-)

    Posted by: Naomi on April 9th, 2008 at 4:10 pm

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