14 Highlights From Stockholm Design Week Worth Writing Home About
Famna 2020
Estrid Ericson founded Svenskt Tenn in 1924, but the furniture company wouldn’t gain widespread acclaim until architect and designer Josef Frank joined her in 1934. This year, Svenskt Tenn launched the Famna 2020 sofa with Stockholm-based studio TAF. Inspired by the experience of reclining in a bathtub, it’s the first contemporary design Svenskt Tenn has released since the 1980s.
The Famna 2020 sofa in Josef Frank’s Brazil print.
Flora Collection
Malmstenbutiken, the showroom of historic furniture designer Carl Malmsten now in its 80th year, unveiled its Flora Collection. Designed together with Eva Schildt and Örsjö Belysning, the eight-piece collection serves as a subtle modernization of Malmstenbutiken’s original lighting designs.
The plant screens are handcrafted by Vanja Sorbon Malmsten, the great granddaughter of Malmsten himself.
Color Accent
In an effort to redefine the color palette often associated with Swedish design, Design House Stockholm launched the boldly hued Color Accent collection. The collection reflects the work of designer Karin Larsson. Karin’s husband, Carl, arguably Sweden’s most famed painter, frequently depicted their family home, celebrating Karin’s eye for vivid color.
Color Accent includes nine pieces in four rich colorways.
The Sculptor’s Residence
In central Stockholm, an epic apartment was transformed into “The Sculptor’s Residence,” the imagined home of an enigmatic artisan. A collaboration between Swedish furniture brand Dux, Menu, and Norm Architects, the four-room apartment oozed livable luxury.
The envy-inducing bedroom at The Sculptor’s Residence.
The Sculptor’s Residence installation also debuted Denmark-based St. Leo, an eco-friendly paint brand whose wall finishes and plaster added depth and texture to the space.
The living room at The Sculptor’s Residence.
The Museum of Furniture Studies
The Museum of Furniture Studies, a hidden gem in the far reaches of Stockholm’s Östermalm neighborhood, features the private collection of designers Kersti Sandin and Lars Bülow. Amassed over the span of 40 years, the collection now boasts 800 pieces by more than 300 designers.
For Stockholm Design Week, Möbeldesignmuseum curated Female Traces, an exhibition to highlight the work of 60 female designers whose significant contributions to the field of design have historically gone overlooked.
Puffy Brick
Hem debuted their new Stockholm headquarters. The design studio commissioned London-based practice Soft Baroque to design Puffy Brick, a playful spin on the traditional office reception.
The counter reimagines the Puffy Brick piece Soft Baroque produced exclusively for Hem’s London Pop-Up Store in 2018.
Imaginations x12
In Imaginations x12, Sven Harrys Art Museum exhibited the work of industrial designer Alexander Lervik, whose irreverent pieces explore function as the great divider between art and design. The exhibition included a rug that depicts flight traffic paired with—naturally—a paper plane machine; a bronze chair stretched to a bewildering scale; and a pair of glass lamps that transmit light and warmth to one another.
Alexander Lervik’s Imaginations x12 on view at Sven Harrys Art Museum.
The idea for the Vanitati Carpet stemmed from the Lervik’s fear of flying.
FORGO
Stockholm-based design studio Form Us With Love debuted FORGO, a line of sustainable personal care products aimed at upending the industry’s immense waste.
FORGO’S first product, a just-add-water foaming hand soap, uses discarded timber scraps and orange peels to create two distinct, earthy scents.
Boxen
ArkDes, Sweden’s Center for Architecture and Design, spotlighted the work of 29 young artists in this structure devised by Dehlin Brattgård Arkitekter, an emerging architectural practice.
Titled Boxen, the structure provides a physical space for young designers to showcase their alternative perspectives.
Doshi Levien’s Installation
London-based studio Doshi Levien received the Guest of Honor distinction at Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair. Inside the convention center’s vast entrance hall, the design duo carved out a tranquil sanctuary to demonstrate their design process. Juxtaposing early sketches with prototypes and finished pieces, the chapel-like structure brilliantly transmuted the abstract experience of design into a hallowed physical space.
Barrel vaulted ceilings in Doshi Levien’s installation evoke the spirit of traditional cathedrals.
Design Bar
Also at the Furniture & Light Fair, Swedish wunderkind Fredrik Paulsen created the Design Bar, a central hub for fair attendees evocative of a tropical vacation: “We looked at many amusement parks around the world and other types of fun destinations—such as seafront promenades on the French Riviera, Hollywood, and Las Vegas. It’s a mishmash of all the wonderful places you can imagine.”
The cheerful space served as a respite to Stockholm’s chilly February weather.
An early sketch of Fredrik Paulsen’s Design Bar.
Discussing the Rope Chair’s dynamism, Artek explains, “When the sitter rises, the chair’s frame bears the traces of the body it last supported, the imprint of a user who co-defines its shape.”
70 Years of Scandinavian Design
An anniversary exhibition curated by design journalist Dan Gordan showcased 70 years of Scandinavian design. Says Gordan, “The objects on display were all created during the respective decades and—importantly—are also in production today.”
For the Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair’s 70th anniversary, journalist Dan Gordan curated a design-by-the-decade exhibition. 1970s Swedish design is featured here.
Positano Yes
A special press dinner took place at Positano Yes, a new restaurant inside Stockholm’s famed NK department store. A collaboration between Monica Förster Design Studio and Wingårdhs Architects, the buzzy eatery channels the lively spirit of the Amalfi Coast in the most unexpected of places.
Bosnia-based company ZANAT designed the restaurant seating using sustainably sourced wood; Monica Förster serves as ZANAT’s Creative Director.