Scandinavian countries are known for their inspirational, nay aspirational creative sensibilities where designers showcasing work at trade shows go on to influence both their contemporaries and craftsmen on the come up, whose product is then brought to market just before their ethos is distilled to aesthetics where it trickles down to luxury department stores and big box retailers. Sweden, as evidenced by this year’s Stockholm Furniture Fair, has contemporized their craft by applying technical advancements to traditional form making using organic materials without losing the warmth or whimsy that their Nordic neighbors forego in the pursuit of forward-thinking practices. It makes this exhibition and the corresponding city-wide programming for Stockholm Design Week 2024 a romantic idyll for creativity and collaboration. Visitors realize the value of such alignments at every scale through copious partnerships like that of interdisciplinary Note (design studio) and heritage brand Lammhults to choreograph user experiences of objects on view from designers like Gustav Winsth. While the show has closed, its impact echoes through international institutions. Continue reading to see the ways in which many exhibitors reach beyond their booths to address current issues including local production, waste management, and the perception of beauty all the while celebrating the strengths of their community.
Photo: Courtesy Grand Relations
Nexus by Abstracta x Wall of Art
Abstracta continues to collaborate with Wall of Art extending their sound-mitigating solutions further with the Nexus series designed by illustrator Lena Wigers. Available in three color-sizes – blue, green, and pink – the elegant oak frames and corresponding contemporary compositions can stand alone or be staged as an ensemble of panels with varying acoustic capacities.
Photo: Courtesy Grand Relations
Alt by Form Us With Love (FUWL)
Heritage furniture maker Stolab taps FUWL to redefine the stick chair’s classic form within their Alt collection. Elastic in design with 58 permutations, clients can mix and match options, which include the standard solid wood structure, upholstered back and seat, and swivel stand, to accommodate a variety of applications.
Photo: Courtesy LAMMHULTS
Tension by Lammhults
This mobile side table-cum-skateboard deck tempers bold hues from the late 60s with an industrial form inspired by the sleek minimalism contemporary interiors often expect. Designed by Gustav Winsth for Lammhults, Tension’s quiet trolley profile can be made loud with a variety of color applications and additional leather accents.
Photo: Courtesy Grand Relations
Relief by String Furniture x TAF Studio
The Relief modular system, as designed by TAF Studio, is room-ready from any angle arranged as a standalone unit, combined for a custom grouping, or positioned as a partition. Comprising this collection is a chest of drawers and corresponding hook rails for a variety of storage in three scales and five finishes.
Photo: Courtesy Grand Relations
FRAKTUR by Reform Design Lab
Reform Design Lab tapped a variety of innovators working in sustainable mediums like recycled denim, paper, and now natural sand. Designer Alexander Lervik utilized 3d-printing technology to unlock its potential to produce complex geometries when novel materials are applied to home furnishings. An interior snake light activates the sculptural form for visual expression.
Photo: Courtesy Linie Design
Slanted Self by Linie Design
Danish designer Urd Moll Gundermann lends her talents to the fair with this graphic textile that uses dynamic black line weights to create a graduated framework of contrasting materials, colors, and textures in a singular abstract composition. It is woven from a mixture of New Zealand wool, mohair, and silk for added tactility.
Photo: Courtesy Matilda Hunyadi
Piscis Couture by Sloydlab
Helmed by designer Matilda Hunyadi, Sloydlab is unabashed in – and rightfully so – pioneering Sweden’s “Folklore Modern” visual language. Piscis Couture, a collection of sculptural glass vases in three colors, is an amalgam of inspiration from 18th century liquor bottles, 80s high fashion, and forms derived from creatures of the sea.
Photo: Courtesy Essem Design
Clothing House by Essem Design
Known for practicing “the art of welcoming,” Essem Design tasked Helsingborg-based furniture-maker Ola Giertz with transforming the mundane. His solution for a portable clothes rack imbues this utilitarian object with a sense of comfort suggested by the traditional shape associated with the house and home.
Photo: Courtesy Adrian Bursell and Siri Svedborg
Burn and Turn by Bursell / Svedborg
A collaborative exercise by furniture makers Adrian Bursell and Siri Svedborg, the Burn and Turn side tables celebrate craft and contrasts through four robust material explorations including glass, aluminum, stoneware, and wood. The pedestal’s center column is showcased in a variety of silhouettes to complement the highly articulated textural base.
Photo: Courtesy Oblure
Lightbone By Oblure
The Lightbone collection for Oblure by French-Swedish design studio FÄRG & BLANCHE reimagines a familiar shape in three solid oak wood finishes and borrows from anatomy to fashion connections between each element. Available as a floor lamp or pendant, users may group them according to need for utility or visual impact.
