SWEDISH DESIGN will mark its presence again in Milan, Tortona Design Week (9th-14th April 2013) this year with more than 30 exhibitors in a joint Swedish pavilion in Superstudio Più [LINK 3] in via Tortona. In this unique collaboration between private and public partners the Swedish pavilion presents Scandinavian style in furniture design.
Swedish design, with its long tradition and humanistic perspective is more in demand than ever. According to Cluster Observatory, Sweden is positioned as one of Europe’s top three design regions when it comes to furniture. The design history of Sweden is deeply connected to our rural heritage. Some of our strongest design brands have their roots in the Swedish countryside, where the nature was the place of recreation and a great source of materials and inspiration. Bruno Mathsson, Carl Malmsten, Yngve Ekström, and other masters of design all found the Swedish nature and its magnificent forests as an important source of inspiration.
The international success of Swedish design is also due to the many bold manufacturers willing to invest in new talent and innovative solutions without compromising long-term quality. An increasing number of producers base their work on an environmental awareness that generates more added value and international competitiveness.
The visitor will experience Swedish design, materials, the sound of Sweden and real frozen winter ice in the icebar installation by Icehotel from Swedish Lapland.
A series of established furniture companies are showing their latest news as will also a group of twelve newcomers in the exhibition NEW MAKERS and DOERS, a collaboration between Business Sweden and Svensk Form (the Swedish Society for Crafts and Design).
In the exhibition New Makers and Doers you will 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.
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.
FÄRG & BLANCHE is a French-Swedish design studio based in Stockholm, Sweden. This year FÄRG & BLANCHE launches a brand new collection of chairs called the F-A-B collection that is produced and designed by the duo.
Fredrik Färg and Emma Marga Blanche started their design studio in 2010 after several years working on their own. Today FÄRG & BLANCHE works with furniture and lighting companies such as Gärsnäs, Zero, Design House Stockholm, Materia, David design and more. The duo produces exclusive furniture and have been working with galleries in New York, Milan and Tokyo. They also work as curators with exhibitions like 20 Designers at Biologiska, Beyond Couture, Design Walk and with art projects, events and lectures.
See our interview with them where you can find out more
Since forming Folkform in 2005, the duo of Anna Holmquist and Chandra Ahlsell have become rising stars on the design scene across the Scandinavian countries and beyond.Their work has been bought by The Norwegian National Museum of
Art and Design, and The Swedish National Art Museum.
Describing their work as an investigation of old industrial processes and craft techniques, Folkform has at all times sought to challenge general perceptions and spark debate, showing a great consciousness of the evolving world of design.
Klong is a sound, a clang. Klong is also a trademark that values timelessness. Klong wants to surprise and give unexpected experiences.
Klong combines the obvious with something extra, something special. Let Klong be lingering. Be a statement in the room.
Klong develops products where the combination of functionality, materials and shape make something worthy of caring for, something lasting. Every piece is a product to be enjoyed for years to come by its owner. The intention of Klong is to offer products that respectfully take the human being and nature in consideration.
Lith Lith Lundin is a startup furniture company from the small village of Torsåker in the countryside of central Sweden.
The business concept is based on sourcing raw materials from within a 50 kilometre radius of the workshop, and having all design and processing of said materials take place within that same radius. All work is conducted with complete transparency in all aspects of production, being open about pricing and profit margins for example. Customers can feel certain that they are buying a sustainable piece of furniture at the right price, and that all withdrawals from nature are offset by, for example, planting seedlings to replace harvested trees.
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.
Swedish design company Rumbler produces a range of contemporary interior furniture where the playful designs offer well-considered functionality combined with distinctive character and charm.
Designer Lars Hofsjö founded Rumbler in 2005. The modern, multifunctional furniture reinvents many traditional concepts, giving interior design new possibilities. The concept behind Rumbler is to bring out the very essence of every piece with functions that make the product not only beautiful, but also well adapted to today’s flexible lifestyle.
Sami Kallio is an interior architect and furniture designer from Gothenburg. Born in Helsinki in 1975 Kallio holds an MFA in Interior Architecture from HDK (Gothenburg) & UIAH (Helsinki).
Sami Kallio Studio designs furniture and interiors with a focus on high quality, detail and function. The aim is to create an enhanced value in the product itself, so the durability stays – both in an emotional sense and in terms of quality. The inspiration often comes from daily life, with the process starting and finishing in the wood workshop.
Sami Kallio is also a founder and active designer of the renowned furniture producer Brikolör.
The noise that things make is something Swedish Designer Sigrid Strömgren, founder of Quiet Design, carefully considers.
By the time she graduated from her Masters degree in 2007, she had her first piece in production. The project was an attempt to redesign the two noisiest products in furniture design – a tubular steel chair and a laminate table, and make them almost entirely silent. The result was the Silent Whisper table and the Quiet Chair. Silent Whisper was picked up by the Swedish manufacturer Materia and has been a quiet revolution on the design scene.
Snickeriet are designers Karl-Johan Hjerling and Karin Wallenbeck plus cabinetmakers, Gunnar Dahl and Karolina Stenfelt.
Snickeriet combines traditional craftmanship with contemporary design and materials. Each product is considered a project in its own right, rather than part of a collection. There is no thematic approach to any of Snickeriet’s releases, other than the concepts being realised as purely and clearly as possible.
Tata is a sofa series produced in rattan, crafted in Indonesia.
The use of rattan is motivated through is exceptional properties in building convex and concave volumes, and being a renewable and biodegradable natural resource.
The series includes 2 different sized sofas, a chaise longue and a daybed, both in two different heights with additional cushions. Tata is produced in collaboration with D.tales.
Founded in 2012, Very Very Gold is a creative studio that breaks down, refines and reassembles.
Everything it does revolves around reconstruction; reconstruction of themselves, the materials and the elements. Through its research, development, curiosity and adventurous spirit Very Very Gold wants to expand our realm of consciousness.
WOODSTOCKHOLM started in the fall of 2010 as a reaction against the traditional structures within the art and design world.
WOODSTOCKHOLM is an agency and producer that seeks long-term, personal relationships with its designers. Through its business model, WOODSTOCKHOLM looks to contribute to the active discussion around the economic and artistic conditions for today’s designers.
NEXT WEEK: Interview with NEW MAKERS and DOERS