1. “Love the life you live, and live the life you love” Bob MarleyEXECUTIVE LIFE
JULY 2015 | www.executive-magazine.com80
A BRAND AMBASSADOR ON A MISSION
JOHANNES TORPE FOR BANG & OLUFSEN
Words by Sara Ghorra
the late Carl W. Buehner once stated: “They may forget
what you said — but they will never forget how you
made them feel.”
Indeed, there is one thing that will always stand
out in a person’s memory, and that is a strong feel-
ing. Bang & Olufsen (B&O), the famed manufacturer
of luxury electronics, knows this, which is why it has
been trying to sell its customers magic rather than
mere products.
Their magician? Johannes Torpe, the first ever
creative director of the company, appointed back
in 2013.
On the occasion of B&O’s 90th anniversary, the
Danish designer and creator of unique spaces (who
has been on a mission to revamp all of B&O’s shops
in accordance with the company’s brand identity
and with his praised holistic approach) came to Bei-
rut to take part in 2015’s Beirut Design Week (BDW),
which ran from June 1 to June 7. A few days prior to
the event, he gave a talk at the Académie Libanaise
Des Beaux-Arts (ALBA) where he addressed a crowd
of structural and interior architects, before leading a
two-day conference for BDW at the Beirut Souks with
a presentation for designers from all fields.
It doesn’t take more than a few minutes of Torpe’s
lively talk for the audience to become captivated by
his unique aura and moved by his high energy and
positively contagious enthusiasm.
Torpe is a refreshingly unconventional man
whose childhood was spent in a camp among bohe-
mians, surrounded by nature, and nurtured on princi-
ples of freedom up until the age of 12 when he made
the decision to move to Copenhagen. One would
never imagine that this multi-talented man who did
not attend school, let alone university, has managed
to reach the level of success that he has so far.
But Johannes Torpe is one of those passionate

2. www.executive-magazine.com | JULY 2015 81
people who operate on a different level. He likes to
think of himself as ‘a skipping stone’ and has always
allowed his intuition to be the chief compass lead-
ing him from one remarkable adventure to another.
When he describes his personal journey from drum-
ming professionally in front of hundreds of people, to
designing concert light installations, to creating and
owning the world-renown NASA nightclub in Copen-
hagen, to founding a multi-disciplinary design studio,
one is stirred by his philosophy.
Yet the most striking thing about this brand am-
bassador would be his attentiveness and closeness
to people. Although flying 200 days a year between
Copenhagen, Padova, Beijing (where the Johannes
Torpe Studio offices are) and much of the rest of the
world, he has managed nonetheless to keep his feet
firmly on the ground and stay true to what he claims
to be the most important thing: relationships.
It is mainly his natural approach and genuine
desire to understand people, their mindset and emo-
tions that allows him to engage with them on a deep-
er level and design holistic spaces that touch them.
“I want to spark people’s imagination,” he says.
But anyone who meets him would agree that ulti-
mately he does more than that: he breathes air into
the desire to go beyond what’s expected and simply
aims for magic.