Besides the highly anticipated Milan Furniture Fair, the Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair is another design exposition that has gained international recognition as a key industry event showcasing emerging trends.
photo COURTESY OF BAUX
Held in the Swedish capital in February, the world’s leading fair for Scandinavian furniture and lighting ran parallel to Stockholm Design Week.
Spread over a 70,000 sqm space and held just before Covid-19 spread to Europe, around 700 brands and designers – with at least 80 per cent from Scandinavia – participated in the 2020 edition, which attracted 40,000 visitors from 99 countries in February.
Highlights included an installation by the guest of honour Neri&Hu that spotlit social issues in China. Other favourites were the Design Bar – a mix between an exhibition space and a top-class restaurant marrying Scandinavian atriums and Japanese aesthetics – by Anderssen & Voll of Norway, the Temperament showcase by set designer Sahara Widoff, and the NM & A New Collection exhibition highlighting the design process of the Nationalmuseum’s Restaurant.
Also, the Greenhouse exhibition showcasing emerging designers and students, and the award programme Born Classic, which crowned a mirror made from scrap wood and designed by design studio Front for Swedese as this year’s winner. Here are five trends that emerged from the fair.
TREND 1
THE MAGIC OF SOUND
Eco-awareness, high performance and beautiful design characterised several sound absorber pieces. “In the face of climate change, environmental pollution and excessive consumerism, we as an industry can no longer afford to ignore the part we play,” says Fredrik Franzon, CEO of Baux. “Designing and prototyping for the future is not enough. We need to create a sustainable future today.”
BAUX ACOUSTIC PULP PANELS
These were produced in collaboration with design studio Form Us With Love and are 100 per cent bio-based and biodegradable. They combine high performance, in terms of sound absorption, with aesthetics and sustainability.
SOUNDSTICKS
Soundsticks was co-created by furniture brand Offecct Lab and Italian-Hungarian industrial designer Andrea Ruggiero, who describes it as “an innovative room-dividing concept that helps reduce ambient noise in public spaces or open-plan workspaces.”
photo COURTESY OF OFFECCT
SKY
This modular system, available as Sky Ceiling and Sky wall, was developed by Abstracta and designer Stefan Borselius. “My aim with Sky was to make it not just possible but simple as well to liven up spaces and radically change their look while dampening ambient noise at the same time,” Stefan says.
photo COURTESY OF ABSTRACTA
TREND 2
RENAISSANCE IN WOOD
The growing interest in wood, particularly in pine and spruce, was apparent at many booths. “Wood is a fantastic material,” says Torbjorn Anderssen, cofounder of Anderssen & Voll, that created the Design Bar. “We chose pine for our installation because it grows here in the Nordic region, it is a living material and it smells good. It also has a natural warmth and is easy to work with.”
HUNTSMAN CHAIR
Furniture brand Carl Hansen & Son reissued the classic Huntsman Chair that was designed by Borge Mogensen and debuted at the Copenhagen Cabinetmakers’ Guild Furniture Exhibition seven decades ago.
photo COURTESY OF CARL HANSEN & SON
MIRROR
Produced in limited editions by Swedese and designed by Front, the award-winning Born Classic Mirror was created from waste material.
www.swedese.com www.frontdesign.se
photo COURTESY OF STOCKHOLM FURNITURE & LIGHT FAIR
THE FLIP TABLE
Designed by Jesper Stahl for Design House Stockholm, the Flip Table is part of a three-piece furniture suite made for small spaces that also includes a desk and a sideboard.
photo COURTESY OF DESIGN HOUSE STOCKHOLM
TREND 3
SCULPTURAL FORMS
Adding both volume and interest to any interior space, sculptural furniture and lighting make a strong visual statement. With their curvy shapes, these products evoke comfort and create a sense of movement while looking decidedly contemporary.
APIALES
Inspired by the shape of a flower and designed by Danish designer Sofie Refer for Danish brand Nuura, the Apiales chandelier – with nine or 18 mouth-blown glass globes – comes finished in brushed brass and satin black.
photo COURTESY OF NUURA
FONT
According to its designer Matti Klenell, the sofa system Font by Offecct “is based on a simple form with a round backrest, which gives the furniture its graphic expression and character, and inspired its name.”
photo COURTESY OF OFFECCT
NEST
Designed by Form Us With Love and presented in Stockholm by +Halle, the Nest System Tables is a modular solution that turns and bends to allow different configurations.
www.formuswithlove.se www.plushalle.com
photo COURTESY OF FORM US WITH LOVE AND +HALLE
TREND 4
EARTHYTONES
Browns, terracotta, walnut... Versatile and useful for creating inviting atmospheres warm colours dominated this year’s fair.
THE RELIEF MASK
Designed by Kristina Dam, this wall sculpture was inspired by an ancient depiction of the world using pictures and patterns carved in wood. Available in two different sizes, it can be placed on the floor or mounted on the wall.
photo COURTESY OF KRISTINA DAM STUDIO
THE LOAFER SOFA
By Space Copenhagen for &Tradition, the Loafer, available as a two- and three-seater sofa, is a new addition to the family of lounge seating of the same name designed for the former SAS Royal Hotel in Copenhagen.
photo COURTESY OF &TRADITION
NICHE CHAIR
Based on the larger version originally designed by TAF studio and made exclusively by Fogia for the Restaurant in the renovated Swedish Nationalmuseum, Niche is a modern interpretation of the club chair.
photo COURTESY OF FOGIA
TEXTURES CREATE CONTRASTS AND ADD ELEMENTS OF TACTILITY. THEY ARE AN EXCELLENT WAY TO ADD PERSONALITY AND SHAPE A SPECIFIC AMBIENCE.
TREND 5
TEXTURED FABRICS
These are an excellent way to transform an interior space, giving it personality and shaping a specific ambience. Textures create contrasts and add elements of tactility. Whether on the floor as carpets or against the walls as curtains, textured fabrics with different colours and patterns offer many possibilities.
PANORAMA, DIORAMA AND SUITE
Exploring the relationship between stripes, colours and bindings, Panorama, Diorama and Suite are satin-woven curtains by Margrethe Odgaard.
photo COURTESY OF KVADRAT
ROPE RUG
Created by French designer Pauline Deltour and available in four colours and three sizes, the Rope Rug is the first cotton rug from Hem and was inspired by the Japanese tatami pattern.
photo COURTESY OF HEM
DIVERSITY
Bolon’s 2019 collection, Diversity, celebrates variation, participation and inspiration through three patterns, Bling, Buzz and Bouquet, that are available in 12 colourways.
photo COURTESY OF BOLON
STOPOVER MUST-VISITS
Both elegant and dynamic, Stockholm is one of the best cities to discover different aspects of the Scandinavian culture, from food to design and art.
RADISSON COLLECTION STRAND HOTEL, STOCKHOLM
Located between the harbour and the medieval centre, this iconic hotel (above, right) by architect Ludwig Peterson originally opened for the 1912 Olympic Games. The newer parts of the building are by architecture firms Wingardhs and DOOS while the furnishings are by brands like Jensen Hilding, Gubi, Normann Copenhagen and Baccman & Berglund Sweden.
www.radissoncollection.com/en/strandhotel-stockholm
COURTESY OF RADISSON COLLECTION HOTEL, STRAND STOCKHOLM
COURTESY OF NATIONALMUSEUM/PIA ULIN
COURTESY OF NATIONALMUSEUM/BRUNO EHRS
NATIONAL MUSEUM
After a complete renovation led by Wingardhs and Wikerstal, the Nationalmuseum, with its collection of paintings, sculptures, drawings and prints from 1500-1900, as well as applied arts, design pieces and portraits from the early Middle Ages to present day, reopened in the fall of 2018. Matti Klenell, TAF studio, Carina Seth Andersson and Stina Lofgren were in charge of creating the sublime Restaurant and the Glass Bar and Cafe.
KAVALLERIET CAFE
Situated in the city’s oldest industrial building, its name means “the cavalry” and is a nod to its location from which a bakery supplied the military with fresh bread. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, Kavalleriet – as charming inside as it is on the outdoor terrace – is known for its speciality drinks and fancy sourdough toasts.
photo MARTA VARGAS
ARTIPELAG
Set on a 22ha property and offering breathtaking views of the Stockholm archipelago, Artipelag is the venue for art, culture, design and food. In addition to the art gallery and other features such as two restaurants and beautiful footpaths, the site also hosts Artbox, a concert, event and studio space.
photo ARTIPELAG
text KARINE MONIE
