Lukas Dahlén is a designer and architect, originally from the island of Gotland, but now based in Stockholm. With a background in fine art at Cumbria College of Art and Design, design and architecture at Konstfack University Collage he is now strongly driven by the passion for materials and manufacturing techniques, as well as the meeting between the old and the new. With the recently started production by his studio he wants to give his vision of modern ecological crafts a physical form.

We met him at Milan Design Week for a exclusive interview at the New Makers and Doers exhibition.

Mirrors are surrounded by much superstition and even the less apprehensive may feel uncomfortable shattering a mirror. The mirror, MIRRO, strives to give that little tingle by hanging the mirror glass freely from the ash frame.

The cabinet SPÅNA is manufactured in collaboration with Grötlingbo Möbelsnickeri AB in Gotland. The cabinet´s frame, made out of Gotlandish pine, is manufactured by the company’s carpenters while the finishing touches, like the installation of the shingles, are done in Dahlén’s studio.

Cleaved shingles of pine is a traditional technique for roofing. Selected logs are split into four parts, cleaved into 6mm thin shavings and then placed so that they overlap each other and thereby draining the water from the roof. To manufacture a cabinet covered in shingles is a way to draw attention to the material in the hope that this traditional craftsmanship can survive on anything other than old churches.

On the theme of cleaving, the KLYVA copper candle holders, are also exhibited. The tubes are actually not cleaved but laser cut and bent. Visually, however, they give that impression. The initial challenge with the candle holders was to find a simple and refining application to the use of common pipe.

In the exhibition New Makers and Doers at Milan Design Week  we meet twelve different Swedish entrepreneurs, all having in common the strive for independence, yet finding their own individual solutions in producing their designs. Some of them are stretching the use of traditional materials, going back to the roots of craftsmanship and bringing new value and meaning to artisanal form. Others are choosing to explore
new materials and translating those new attributes into design. We have also invited some of Sweden’s established design companies, working with consistency and high quality, always searching to introduce new talents and ideas in their production.

Participating designers: FOLKFORM, KLONG, LITH LITH LUNDIN, LUKAS DAHLÉN STUDIO, RUMBLER, SAMI KALLIO STUDIO, SIGRID STRÖMGREN, SNICKERIET, FÄRG & BLANCHE, STUDIO GREILING, VERY VERY GOLD AND WOODSTOCKHOLM.

The lounge is a collaboration with furniture and pots by Nola, carpet by Kateha and flexible lamps by Gärsnäs.

See our article on Swedish Design goes to milan.

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