Hasta La Ideas

Stockholm 2011: Copenhagen designers Aleksej Iskos and Boris Berlin of Iskos-Berlin present this armchair made from a single sheet of felt at Stockholm Furniture Fair this week.

Called Spook, the design for Swedish brand Blå Station is completely hollow with no frame or support.

The seat is made from a sheet of polyester felt, pressed and made rigid.

The two designers met through their work for Danish studio Komplot – see their Nobody Chair made of pressed felt in our earlier story.

Stockholm Furniture fair continues until 12 February. See all our coverage of the event here »

The information that follows is from Blå Station:

Spook by Iskos-Berlin

Design is normally preoccupied with the idea of having full control over functions, forms, materials and so on. But why not be more forgiving and let materials behave as they “want” to behave according to their nature? Why not give an object the freedom to be “abnormal”? To be unique? Spook is a statement of opposition to the masculine striving for the submission of material, for overall perfection that tolerates no disobedience, no mistakes.

A flat felt mat, draped into a three-dimensional shape, creates natural folds that later stiffen in the production process – folds that never twice fall in quite the same way. Each chair, being almost the same, becomes different. “Mistakes” are forgiven. They give life, they are accepted – no discards, no rejects! Spook chair is a mono-block produced in a single process using only polyester felt material. There is no frame of any kind, nor any additional materials like screws, glue or reinforcements. It is a 100% recyclable material.

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Axel Bjurström at Stockholm 2011	Luca Nichetto at Stockholm 2011	Inga Sempé at Stockholm 2011

Stockholm 2011: Note Design Studio present a series of objects developed from doodles in the margins of their sketchbooks at their Stockholm studio this week.

Top: Tembo. Above: half-time objects

Called Marginal Notes, the pieces include armchairs, lighting and a shelving unit, alongside pieces that have no function but represent the early beginnings of ideas that may be used in later projects.

Above: Boop

Stockholm Design Week takes place 7-13 February. See all our coverage fo the event here »

The information below and captions are from the designers:

MARGINAL NOTES 2011 by Note Design Studio

One morning, over a cup of coffee, we decided to let go of all ideas about strategy and allow ourselves to play for a while.

We all went through our notebooks and looked at the sketches in the margin – those that appear in passing, intuitively and suddenly – those that never really got the attention they deserved. We fell in love with these scribbles and embraced their odd proportions, diverse materials and lack of clever functions. Some were left for later but others were pushed further, into the physical world.

Above: half-time objects

Among prototypes and sketches we also developed some half–time forms; early seeds that influenced later objects.These not yet functionally defined forms acted as catalysts throughout the process. In the end it became an exhibition. Maybe it will give you some new ideas.

Above: Yesterday Island

HIGH TIDE/LOW TIDE – shelves

The tidal range is the vertical difference between the high tide and the succeeding low tide. Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon and the Sun and the rotation of the Earth. The shelves in these two floating pieces of furniture mark the tidal ranges of the Strait of Magellan, the calmer Pacific versus the more dramatic Atlantic.

Above: Boop sofa

OBJECTS

Among prototypes and sketches we also developed some half–time forms; early seeds that influenced later objects. These not yet functionally defined forms acted as catalysts throughout the process.

Above and below: High Tide/Low Tide shelves

BOOP  – sofa, chair and lounge chair

1. boop: The mystery of the boop shall never be revealed. But when saying “Boop” you must poke a random person on the nose.

2. boop: To poke an animal or something cute on the nose.

TOMORROW ISLAND/YESTERDAY ISLAND – lamps

The Diomede Islands are located in the middle of the Bering Strait between Alaska and Siberia, and their awkward man-made separation inspired us. The islands are sometimes called Tomorrow Island (Big Diomede, Russian territory) and Yesterday Island (Little Diomede, U.S. territory) because the time difference between them is 20 hours, but the distance only three kilometers.

Above: Tomorrow Island lamp

SIBLING – table

Just like sister and brother this table and table grew up together. Their genetic and physical closeness is marked by a strong bond of colour and material. They sprung from the same root but ended up quite different.

TEMBO – high table and stool

Tembo is Swahili for elephant. When elephants walk, they always have at least one foot on the ground. They don’t run. Because of their straight legs and large pad-like feet elephants can stand for very long periods of time without getting tired. Just like our table and stool.

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Axel Bjurström at Stockholm 2011	Luca Nichetto at Stockholm 2011	Inga Sempé at Stockholm 2011

Bees and strawberries inspire furnishings at Stockholm Design Week’s premiere satellite show

With the world’s press and monochrome-clad fans of design descending on Sweden for a glimpse of the distinctive “Scandi” style at Stockholm Design Week, we checked in on one of the most promising satellite shows, “Check In 11: Unpacked” to see what the ten promising new designers exhibiting there had to show. Curated by Frida Jeppsson (author of In Case of Design—Inject Critical Thinking“), this ambitious show seeks to let the work of the ten do the talking in a “work in progress” format.

We were happy to see the geometrically exuberant work of the furniture designers Zweed, but the show includes some exciting furnishings from Daniel Svahn, whose work focuses on the form of the beehive. Svahn’s two cabinets (below) and tactile drooping lamp (above right) twist the hive form into something that we can enjoy without getting stung. Stained legs and gentle external coloring in green and gray play against the honey-colored interiors of the two cabinets, while the semi-translucent white of the lamp gives it an almost ghostly quality—devoid of the buzz of frenzied bees.

Young design practice Glimpt collaborated with artisans in South Africa on a range of lighting inspired by strawberries (top right and above). The two lights on view, called “Last Fruit Standing” and “Forbidden Fruits,” mix the colors and vibrancy of the region with Swedish aesthetics, drawing the viewer’s attention to reward it with the charming little touches. Each ceramic element has been hand detailed, while the colorways of the shades are enhanced by more accent colors, instead of taking a safe road with neutrals. Each of Glimpt’s lamps command attention and are all the more covetable for their bold, almost carefree use of coloring.

This wooden children’s drawing case by Japanese designer Kana Nakanishi of Oiseau folds out to form a stool. 

Called Atelier Book Chair, the case is made from Japanese cypress and houses a sketchbook in one side and pouches for drawing and painting equipment in the other.

A trapezium-shaped piece of wood can be slotted onto pegs in the open case to form a seat.

Photographs are by Asaco Suzuki.

The information below is from Kana Nakanishi:

“ABC – Atelier Book Chair”

Oiseau Inc. released a product designed by Kana Nakanishi under the brand called “mother”. The product is called “ABC” standing for Atelier Book Chair. It is a portable “drawing set” that can carry drawing tools and becomes a stool. The user can take ABC anywhere they like and the place will instantly turn into one’s own atelier.

ABC is made of hinoki (Japanese cypress) from Nishiawakura village Okayama prefecture. It started as a project to utilize thinned wood from forests which is a big issue in the Japanese forest industry. The production is done by Masakyuki Oshima, a skilled craftsman residing in Nishiawakura.

ABC looks like a wooden suitcase which is light enough for a child to carry. Once opened like a book, there are detachable pockets to store drawing tools and a place for a sketchbook. The seat board is also stored inside and when the board is attached to the body, ABC will turn into a stool.

Oiseau Inc. established “mother” brand for its range of products. The name “mother” has a philosophy that the products should be used for a long period of time and the designer who produces them should be the “mother” of the product and consider carefully about the whole “life” of a product. ABC became the first product to be released under this brand.

Product name: ABC – Atelier Book Chair-
Materials: hinoki /wild cherry tree / leather
Size: W390xH260xD70 SH=270 (Weight 2000g)
Production: Masayuki Oshima (wood working shop: Youbi)
Design: Kana Nakanishi (Product Designer/Oiseau.,Inc)
mother Brand Art Director: Chikako Oguma (Graphic Designer/Oiseau.,Inc)

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Bookinist by Nils Holger Moormann	Monster by Tomáš Král and Camille Blin	Het Kruikantoor by Tim Vinke

coffee table constitued by 2 panel elements wich give an hexagon form