NEXT STOP: STOCKHOLM
I am already busy writing and taking photographs for HÅNDVÆRK bookazine no 9, which has INTERIORS
as its theme. As part of my research, this past week,
I went to Stockholm to take part in the city’s Design Week and Furniture Fair.
February 2023
The fashion industry is under pressure, a topic I discuss here. So is the furniture industry, and to be quite honest, the fair as a whole seemed awkward, faltering and ‘so last season’: who on earth would want to buy another new chair, another new sofa, a new height-adjustable desk and so forth? We know that wood is in short supply, and we know that if we are going to reach the Paris Agreement’s goals for 2030, we are behind on points and should stop felling trees just because we can. ‘Frankly, we should only buy reused things,’ said designer Emma Olbers during an event on the main stage for the Stockholm Furniture Fair Talks under the heading ‘Now or Never: The Future Forest’. The event was a conversation with Antti Hirvonen of Vaarnii; Magnus Berg, director of Public Affairs Skogsindustrierna; and Stig-Olof Holm, associate professor in the Department of Ecology and Environmental Science at Umeå University.
By contrast, the interior design industry seems to have little concern about the use of textile fibres. Home furnishing fabrics in the form of curtains, rugs and wall hangings are more prominent in interior design trends 2023 than they have been for a long time.
Textile was also a key focus for the fair’s guests of honour, the Swedish design duo Front, who presented their high-profile design collaborations in the lobby at the fair.
In galleries and showrooms around the city and at Alvsjögård – the fair’s experimental lab – unique furniture and art objects were the stars of the show. In this field, known as Functional Art, the Copenhagen gallery Tableau is a leading venue.
At the fair itself, the most convincing section was the Gallery, which presented a small collection of high-quality products, including rugs and lamps by the design duo Folk Form, which you can read more about here. During the Design Week, Folk Form was awarded the prize as designer of the year. The Gallery also featured the far from new but eternally beautiful day bed from The Safar Series by Berlin-based Katrin Greiling, aka Studio Greiling.
I was pleased to note that Studio Greiling has used fabric from the Danish weaving mill Kjellerup Væveri for upholstery on the top mattress. The Safari Series is made on demand in a social enterprise in Malmö.
‘Made on demand’ is also a key concept for Gabriel Stuart, who presented a beautiful and aesthetically clarified and appealing version of flat-pack 3D printed furniture made of sawdust with bioplastic as a binder. The concept is new and has yet to find its final form, but the goal is to produce items on demand and deliver them within sustainable distances from the production facility in Sweden. Instead of delivering all over the world, Gabriel Stuart aims to partner with production facilities closer to clients in more distant locations.
For me, the professional highlight of the week took place outside the Design Week and Furniture Fair: a talk with Andreas Nobel, whom I first met last time I was in Stockholm.This time, we met at Malmstens Linköping University, where he is a professor, to do an interview for HÅNDVÆRK bookazine no. 9. You can look forward to the article, which will be out in September.
Jeg er i fuld sving med HÅNDVÆRK bookazine no 9, som jeg skriver og fotograferer under temaet INDRETNING. Af den anledning har jeg i forgangne uge været i Stockholm til Design Week og Furniture Fair.
Modebranchen er under pres, skriver jeg her, det samme er møbelbranchen, og for at sige det som det er, oplevede jeg messen i sin helhed som krampagtig, famlende og ”so last season”.
Hvem pokker vil købe endnu en ny stol, endnu en ny sofa, endnu flere hævesænkeborde, fortsæt selv rækken, når vi ved at træ er en mangelvare, og at skal vi leve op til Parisaftalens 2030 mål, så er vi bagud på point og skal ikke fælde træer bare fordi vi kan?
”Ærligt talt, så bør vi kun købe genbrug eller upcyclede produkter”, sagde designer Emma Olbers fra messens store talkscene underoverskriften ”Now or never – The Future Forest”, i samtale med Antti Hirvonen, Vaarnii, Magnus Berg Director of Public Affairs Skogsindustrierna, og Stig-Olof Holm Associate professor at Department of Ecology and Environmental Science Umeå University.
Til gengæld synes indretningsbranchen ikke at bekymre sig over belastningen ved brug af tekstile fibre. Det længe siden tekstiler i boligen i form af gardiner, gulvtæpper og vægtæpper, har fyldt så meget som de gør det i boligmoden 2023.
Tekstiler var også i fokus hos messens ”guest of honor” den svenske designduo Front,som opviste deres højt profilerede designsamarbejder i messens forhal.
I gallerier og showrooms i byen og på på Alvsjögård, som var messens eksperimentarium var kunstobjekter og unikamøbler det store nummer. Funktionel Art kaldes retningen, i den sammenhæng brillierer det københavnske galleri Tableau
På selve messe var det mest overbevisende område ”Gallery” med en lille samling højkvalitetsprodukter herunder tæpper og lamper fra designduoen Folk Form, som du kan se mere til her. Folk Form modtog under Design Week modtog prisen som årets designer. I galleryområdet sås også Berlinbaserede Katrin Greiling alias Studio Greilings smukke, på ingen måde nye, men evigt smukke, daybed fra ”The Safar Series”.
Til min store glæde har Studio Greiling benyttet tekstil fra Kjellerup Væveri, i den nærværende udgave. The Safar Series produceres på bestilling på et socialøkonomiske værksted i Malmø.
”Made on demand” er også i fokus hos Gabriel Stuart, som på messen præsenterede et fint og æstetisk forståeligt og tiltalende bud på flad-pack 3D-printede møbler fremstillet af savsmuld bundet sammen af bioplast. Konceptet er nyt og har ikke fundet sin endelige form, men målet er at fremstille på bestilling, og at sende inden for bæredygtig rækkevidde i forholdet til produktionsfaciliteten i Sverige. I stedet for at sende til hele verden håber Gabriel Stuart at kunne samarbejde med internationale produktionsfaciliteter i forholdet til internationale kunder.
Ugens faglige højdepunkt lå uden for Design Week og messen, og var gensynet med Andreas Nobel som jeg mødte første gang, sidst jeg var i Stockholm.
Denne gang traf jeg ham på Malmstens Linköpings Universitet, hvor han er professor, for at lave interview til HÅNDVÆRK bookazine no. 9. Den artikel, som du kan få fingrene i til september, kan roligt begynde at glæde dig.
Du kan købe bookaziner her
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