Studio visit, Copenhagen 2018
“I’ve always worked from home. I’ve moved a lot and my atelier follows me wherever I go. I’m in a flat in the Eastern area of Copenhagen now. I find that there’s a certain intimacy to working at home.
It’s a space where I feel free and can be at ease. I always do my work seated on the floor. I think it’ll always be like that. No matter how small a space I’d end up in, there’ll always be room for a piece of paper on the floor.
Most crucial to me though, is that I’m alone with my work. Working from home gives me a feeling of control that, over time, allows me to immerse myself completely into whatever I’m working on. In that sense, I believe that our surroundings affect as just as much as our thoughts do.
Some need visual stimulation to feel inspired and I’m the same way, though what I find the most inspiring is a large, white, naked wall. That sense of nothingness inspires me and allows me to dream up things in my mind to unfold on the canvas.”
Text by muuto
Portrait of photographer Evelina Carborn
2011 Kärrtorp/STHLM
Studio visit, Copenhagen 2018
“I’ve always worked from home. I’ve moved a lot and my atelier follows me wherever I go. I’m in a flat in the Eastern area of Copenhagen now. I find that there’s a certain intimacy to working at home.
It’s a space where I feel free and can be at ease. I always do my work seated on the floor. I think it’ll always be like that. No matter how small a space I’d end up in, there’ll always be room for a piece of paper on the floor.
Most crucial to me though, is that I’m alone with my work. Working from home gives me a feeling of control that, over time, allows me to immerse myself completely into whatever I’m working on. In that sense, I believe that our surroundings affect as just as much as our thoughts do.
Some need visual stimulation to feel inspired and I’m the same way, though what I find the most inspiring is a large, white, naked wall. That sense of nothingness inspires me and allows me to dream up things in my mind to unfold on the canvas.”
Text by Muuto
Pictures for the American magazine Women's Wear Daily.
The pictures were taken for an article about Byredo’s 10th Anniversary.
Film still form Danish movie “Before the frost” 2018.
In the picture actor: Jesper Christensen & Elliott Crosset Hove.
Pictures for Totally Stockholm & Ladygunn Magazine
photographer / Jonas Jacob Svensson stylist / Koko Ntuen hair + makeup / Angelica Adolfsson @ Face Stockholm photo assistant / Sofia Karin Persson shot @ Katarina Kyrka and Pelican in Stockholm, Sweden
Studio visit, Copenhagen 2018
“I’ve always worked from home. I’ve moved a lot and my atelier follows me wherever I go. I’m in a flat in the Eastern area of Copenhagen now. I find that there’s a certain intimacy to working at home.
It’s a space where I feel free and can be at ease. I always do my work seated on the floor. I think it’ll always be like that. No matter how small a space I’d end up in, there’ll always be room for a piece of paper on the floor.
Most crucial to me though, is that I’m alone with my work. Working from home gives me a feeling of control that, over time, allows me to immerse myself completely into whatever I’m working on. In that sense, I believe that our surroundings affect as just as much as our thoughts do.
Some need visual stimulation to feel inspired and I’m the same way, though what I find the most inspiring is a large, white, naked wall. That sense of nothingness inspires me and allows me to dream up things in my mind to unfold on the canvas.”
Text by muuto
Pictures for Totally Stockholm & Ladygunn Magazine
photographer / Jonas Jacob Svensson story / Weronika Perez Borjas + Koko Ntuen stylist / Koko Ntuen hair + makeup / Angelica Adolfsson @ Face Stockholm photo assistant / Sofia Karin Persson shot @ Katarina Kyrka and Pelican in Stockholm, Sweden
STORIES OF A NERD — YVONNE KONÉ
Yvonne Koné launched her eponymous label in 2011, creating and reflecting an effortless sense of style that upholds story and heritage over trend by grounding the design with colors, forms and textures. Driven by her dynamic cultural background, Koné is one of Denmark’s preeminent designers within luxury leather goods and wardrobe staples.
Having designed her own clothes throughout her youth, it was not until visiting her family in the Ivory Coast at the age of 20 that Koné became intrigued by design as a career path: “I fell completely in love with the colors and structures of West Africa and decided that I wanted to work with colors and materials in my professional life somehow”, she says.
When asked if she would consider herself a nerd within craftsmanship and compositions, Koné says: “When it comes to craftsmanship, I’m more of an observer as I don’t master any traditional craft myself. I have an understanding for good craftsmanship and one of my favorite occupations is to watch skilled hands at work,” and adds: “Turning to compositions, I think it takes a little nerdiness to work in this field. It is all about the details and balance and, as with everything aesthetic, it is also very personal”.
On her approach to balancing being nerdy with her design philosophy, Koné notes: “I like to refine the products I develop, and this often takes years, even for the simplest looking products,” and ends: “I get to be nerdy around my very own personal color universe without developing too many new products. I’ve always liked to keep things as simple as possible”.
Click here to see publication.
Text by Muuto
Designer Portrait: Margrethe Odgaard in her studio 08/18
Inspired by the sensuous feeling of walking across a pebbled stone beach, the Pebble Rug by Margrethe Odgaard brings a new perspective to textile design with its tactile character, unique expression and refined forms.
“My work is driven by a continuous exploration of colors and patterns within the materiality of design”, says Margrethe Odgaard on her design philosophy. As a means of seeking to uncover how design can have a sensuous appeal in a positive, stimulating manner, Odgaard designed the Pebble Rug for Muuto.
Being a loop rug with a physical character, Pebble Rug has an at once physical yet subdued character: “I wanted to create a rug that made people feel at home in its presence, almost inviting them to take off their shoes and walk across it barefooted—it was about creating a rug that felt right, both from a visual and tactile standpoint,” notes Odgaard.
Pebble Rug is made from a canvas base layer in jute with friendly, woolen loops atop. On the materiality of the design, Odgaard remarks: “The idea was to use materials that activated the interplay of light within a space. By combining jute—a material that reflects light—with wool—being light absorbing—the Pebble Rug gets a modern and refined expression.”
Looking towards the aspect of colors within Pebble Rug, Odgaard ends: “The jute has been dyed in colors that are derived from that of natural materials—Oregon pine, stone and oak—to interact and complement the surfaces of homes while the wool has been left undyed in its natural state to complement and enhance the color palette of the jute.”
Text by muuto
Pictures for Totally Stockholm & Ladygunn Magazine
photographer / Jonas Jacob Svensson stylist / Koko Ntuen hair + makeup / Angelica Adolfsson @ Face Stockholm photo assistant / Sofia Karin Persson shot @ Katarina Kyrka and Pelican in Stockholm, Sweden
Studio visit Sigve Knutson, Oslo 2018
visiting three creatives across Scandinavia to hear about their workshops, how surroundings can affect your creativity and how having a space dedicated to your work shapes your creations. Here’s the second of our three creatives is Sigve Knutson, an Oslo-based experimental designer, speaking on his workshop.
"I moved to Oslo in the summer of 2017 after finishing my studies in Eindhoven. I spent the first six months commuting to my mother’s outhouse in my home town to work before finding a space in Oslo. It’s a big space of 100 m2 that I share with a friend and fellow designer. It’s quite rough with lots of traces and wounds from the previous tenants. There’s 4,5 meters to the ceiling and it often gets cold during winter. It’s all worth it though, having such a large space to work in.
Having a space that’s big enough to make your ideas possible is one of the most important things in your work. You often see students graduating from school with large and impressive works yet when the grand workshops of the schools are changed into smaller studios, the work of the designer changes accordingly. I think that a lot of work suffers from change in this way.
I work best in a space that allows me to make a mess of things. I’m more productive that way, being in the workshop surrounded by materials and tools everywhere. Even when I don’t have a clear idea for what I want to work on, I just ”
Having a workshop that’s dedicated to making new pieces is a crucial part of my work. While I leave for home every day, the things that I create remain in the workshop. As such, the workshop becomes home to the objects that I create."
Text by Muuto
Visiting the Copenhagen studio of sustainable brand Aiayu to explore their ideas for the Aiayu for Muuto range of home textiles along with their thoughts on creating products with lessened environmental and greater social impact through the use of natural materials.
Founded in 2005, Aiayu is created from a belief that the origin, sustainable character and environmental, social impact of a product is just as important as its visual aesthetics, creating timelessly modern objects for everyday life.
“Aiayu is rooted in nature’s own materials—our inspiration stems from finding natural, sustainable materials and colors. We refine the things that nature has created through our gentle natural palette, revealing materials and yarns primarily in their natural color, made without the use of chemicals dyes”, says Aiayu founder and Head of Design, Maria Høgh Heilmann.Spanning across the designs of Layer Cushion, Rhythm Throw, Twine Cushion and Ample Throw, the range of Aiayu for Muuto home textiles are made in Bolivia using baby llama wool.
Speaking on the production in Bolivia and the process behind it, Høgh Heilmann notes: “After visiting Bolivia for the first time nearly 16 years ago, I saw a huge potential in creating our wool and knitting production in the country. Back then, Bolivia was an undiscovered gem with traditional craftsmanship within knitting and refined materials alongside the baby llama wool and its superior quality. Creating our production in Bolivia allowed for us to do things in different ways than what the rest of the industry was doing; it allowed us to do things our way.”
On the series of Aiayu for Muuto home textiles, Høgh Heilmann explains: “The series is a well-balanced variation of the core values that are important to us in relation to Bolivia. Our ambition is to emphasize that it is possible to run a profitable business through a sustainable production. Some of the products are machine-made while others express the traditional craftsmanship of Bolivian hand knitting. Common for all products in the series is the use of baby llama wool, being both hypoallergenic and highly durably as it does not peel. Products made in baby llama wool are very resistant to stretching and will retain their shape over time.”
Baby llama wool describes the highest quality of llama wool with the word “baby” referring to the inherent softness of the llama wool. The llamas from which the wool is sourced walk freely in flocks with their herders in the Bolivian highlands. The llamas are owned by multiple families who identify their llamas by the colored tassels on the llama’s ears.
Once the hair of the llama has reached the desired length, the llamas are sheared to obtain the raw fiber for the baby llama wool—this happens about twice a year as it takes roughly six months for the hair of the llama to naturally regenerate to once more.
Speaking on Aiayu’s approach to Scandinavian design and how the brand is connected to it, Høgh Heilmann says: “Scandinavian design is unpretentious, simple and durable—all values that Aiayu stands for. With our changing seasons, we like for our homes to be a domestic base; a natural extension of the fact that we use our homes more during the darker months.”
On what Aiayu and Muuto have in common, Høgh Heilmann ends: “Our heritage is founded in Scandinavian design—we both dare to create products in new ways, giving Scandinavian design a new perspective.”
Text by muuto
STORIES OF A NERD — YVONNE KONÉ
Yvonne Koné launched her eponymous label in 2011, creating and reflecting an effortless sense of style that upholds story and heritage over trend by grounding the design with colors, forms and textures. Driven by her dynamic cultural background, Koné is one of Denmark’s preeminent designers within luxury leather goods and wardrobe staples.
Having designed her own clothes throughout her youth, it was not until visiting her family in the Ivory Coast at the age of 20 that Koné became intrigued by design as a career path: “I fell completely in love with the colors and structures of West Africa and decided that I wanted to work with colors and materials in my professional life somehow”, she says.
When asked if she would consider herself a nerd within craftsmanship and compositions, Koné says: “When it comes to craftsmanship, I’m more of an observer as I don’t master any traditional craft myself. I have an understanding for good craftsmanship and one of my favorite occupations is to watch skilled hands at work,” and adds: “Turning to compositions, I think it takes a little nerdiness to work in this field. It is all about the details and balance and, as with everything aesthetic, it is also very personal”.
On her approach to balancing being nerdy with her design philosophy, Koné notes: “I like to refine the products I develop, and this often takes years, even for the simplest looking products,” and ends: “I get to be nerdy around my very own personal color universe without developing too many new products. I’ve always liked to keep things as simple as possible”.
Click here to see publication.
Text by Muuto
Film still form Danish movie “Before the frost” 2018.
In the picture actor: Jesper Christensen & Elliott Crosset Hove.
Workshop Chair by Cecilie Manz is named after its place of origin: the workshop. Designed from the idea of an everyday chair, the chair came to be through a free design process that experimented with forms and shapes in the workshop until ending up at the final design. We wanted to take the concept of our Workshop Chair further, visiting three creatives across Scandinavia to hear about their workshops, how surroundings can affect your creativity and how having a space dedicated to your work shapes your creations. The first of our three creatives is Matilda Beckman, a Stockholm-based multidisciplinary designer
“My workshop is in an old area of Stockholm’s Södermalm area. It used to be a sugar factory and is surrounded by cobbled streets and old brick houses, built throughout the 1700s and 1800s. Just outside the studio is the steepest slope in Stockholm, known as Trouble Hill.
I’m very affected by the environment that’s around me. Sounds, smells and how the light falls influences my work in some way. It can sound very nineties-kitsch but I think there’s a force within nature and your surroundings that affect you. Imagine working in a clean, white-painted cubicle: There’d be nothing there to inspire you! Spending time in an old building with its own history and adding your touch to it gives something back to you and your work.”
“Having a space that’s dedicated to working in allows you to put everything else aside for a while. It’s almost like a retreat in the sense that taking a break from your daily life allows you to place all that energy into your work as well as the other way around.”
“I think it’s interesting how we as humans can have an on-and-off switch for our work. We need that switch and having a space to work helps you flick that switch. We need spaces that feeds the thought, fuels our imagination and allows us to be the protagonist of own workshop.”
Text by muuto
Pictures for Malou Reymann Debut film “En helt almindelig Famillie”
A nerd can be many things but to us, it is those who head in new directions through a passionate and nerdy approach to their craft. Our Nerd Chair series by David Geckeler was designed from this idea of perceiving the nerd as a positive force of change—someone who shines through in their ways of creating new perspectives within their work.
Wanting to explore this notion of the Nerd even further, we visited three creatives across the world to hear their thoughts on being a nerd, the first being graphic designer and art director Veronica Ditting.
Being the art director of award-winning magazine The Gentlewoman along with creating visual direction through her editorially-driven approach for the likes of Hermés and White Cube, Ditting is considered at the forefront of art direction and graphic design within the editorial and creative realm.
Though visual at heart, Ditting’s allure for graphic expression initially arose from being bilingual as she was born in Argentina and raised in Germany. Having this relationship to communication sparked a natural interest in Ditting as to how information could be emphasized through context. Noting on that, she says: “It was a natural interest that was present throughout my upbringing though it wasn’t until attending art school that its true potential actually revealed itself.”
Being nerdy was something that sneaked up over time, mentions Ditting: “The more I explored my profession in depth, the more meticulous I became: being specific about even the smallest things such as office supplies and the hidden sentiments of a typeface to the overarching aspects of the ideas behind a concept and its strategy,” and adds: “Being nerdy about every singular element of a project allows me to create a visual expression that permeates its every level.”
When asked about her own perspective on being a nerd, Ditting says: “To me, it’s having an ingrained awareness of each and every element of your work, layering and filtering them along the way. A person who holds a passionate dedication to even the smallest aspects of their work,” and end: “I find that being nerdy and being slightly obsessive often overlap—you can’t have one without the other. It allows you to revisit your work again and again to reach a point of satisfaction where you can appreciate and understand every tiny detail of the final design.”
Click hear to see the publication
Click hear to see the publicationto explore the work of Studio Veronica Ditting. You can also follow her on Instagram here.
Text by muuto
Inspired by the sensuous feeling of walking across a pebbled stone beach, the Pebble Rug by Margrethe Odgaard brings a new perspectives to textile design with its tactile character, unique expression and refined forms.
“My work is driven by a continuous exploration of colors and patterns within the materiality of design”, says Margrethe Odgaard on her design philosophy. As a means of seeking to uncover how design can have a sensuous appeal in a positive, stimulating manner, Odgaard designed the Pebble Rug for Muuto.
Being a loop rug with a physical character, Pebble Rug has an at once physical yet subdued character: “I wanted to create a rug that made people feel at home in its presence, almost inviting them to take off their shoes and walk across it barefooted—it was about creating a rug that felt right, both from a visual and tactile standpoint,” notes Odgaard.
Pebble Rug is made from a canvas base layer in jute with friendly, woolen loops atop. On the materiality of the design, Odgaard remarks: “The idea was to use materials that activated the interplay of light within a space. By combining jute—a material that reflects light—with wool—being light absorbing—the Pebble Rug gets a modern and refined expression.”
Looking towards the aspect of colors within Pebble Rug, Odgaard ends: “The jute has been dyed in colors that are derived from that of natural materials—Oregon pine, stone and oak—to interact and complement the surfaces of homes while the wool has been left undyed in its natural state to complement and enhance the color palette of the jute.”
Text by Muuto
Inspired by a contemporary take on the Scandinavian design tradition, the Nerd Chair and Bar Stool by German designer David Geckeler elaborates on his new perspective of the traditional wooden chair.
Join us for a visit to Geckeler’s Berlin studio to learn more about the designprocess and his underlying ideas of the Nerd Chair Series.
“While being “nerdy”, in the sense of being a bit strange, modern and different, the Nerd design possesses the inherent qualities of timelessly relevant design through its calm, well-proportioned silhouette and pleasing curves,” Geckeler explains.
Based in Berlin, Geckeler is exploring the wider area of industrial design, focusing on furniture, interior, tableware and lighting. With its unique classic Scandinavian feel condensed into the design, the Nerd Chair won the Muuto Talent Award in 2011 with the Nerd Bar Stool joining it in 2013.
When asked on his inspiration for the Nerd design, Geckeler notes: “The inspiration came from a desire to communicate a new vision to the existing traditional wooden chair designs while adding a contemporary way of rethinking the possibilities of veneer”.
The Nerd family consists of the Nerd Chair and the Nerd Bar Stool, available in a number of colors. On the uniqueness of the design, Geckeler explains: “Flipping the bent veneer seat shell upside down creates an almost pillow-like appearance. The main detail of the slot in the backrest results in a unique intersection of the two chair shells—it gives the design an iconic detailing and character”.
On the materiality of the design, Geckeler adds: “The design is made from simple 2D bent veneer shells, forming a strong sculpture through its innovative composition”. With seamless integration of the back and seat rendered in wood, the design is both comfortable and aesthetically pleasing: “The shells are sitting on a solid wooden frame holding the legs and handling the interplay of the construction, allowing the user to rotate, sit at different angles and find even more comfort while talking to their neighbor,” he ends.
Click here to see publication
Text by muuto
Visiting Rotterdam-based Earnest Studio, founded by American-born designer Rachel Griffin, to uncover the thoughts and ideas behind her Kink Vase design for Muuto, combining traditional craftsmanship with a playful design language.
“The Kink Vase—named for the two sharp bends that create its suggestive, humanoid form—was an experiment in combining digital and analogue processes. Specifically, I was experimenting with Rhino, a digital tool, and slip-casting, a traditional, analogue process, to create a form that would not be possible by other means of production,” tells Rachel Griffin when asked about her inspiration for the Kink Vase.
With a background in graphic design, Griffin of Earnest Studio spent five years producing exhibitions and books before moving to the Netherlands to study at the Design Academy Eindhoven in 2007. In 2012, she launched her own studio with a focus on furniture, lighting and accessories.
“I often begin projects with something physical, such as a tool, a material or a production technique. I rarely have finished products in mind; exploration in and around the starting point eventually defines both form and function. I’m most interested in simple shapes that have a strong relationship to process and material”, says Griffin on her work.
Speaking on the thoughts behind her design philosophy and approach, Griffin explains: “I’m interested in themes of modularity and multiplicity; I prefer simple, flexible structures that do more with less,” and continues: “The crossover between graphic and product design is probably most evident in the products which have a simple, bold silhouette, and in the modular pieces—in the sense that they’re built using a structure being repeated again and again.”
With its characterful kink, the design brings a contemporary form to the archetypical flower vase through a combination of modern technology with traditional ceramic craftsmanship: “The Kink Vase combines modern technology and traditional craft to produce a unique form, which is simple, graphic and humorous, and represents my identity most clearly with its simple, bold form.”
The Kink Vase is made in porcelain that has been glazed on the inside for a refined touch and is available in two colors: Sand and Light Blue.
Designer Portrait: Rachel Griffin / Earnest studio in Rotterdam 02/2020.
Text by muuto
Studio visit: From Us With Love STHLM 2018
The Unfold Pendant Lamp brings a new perspective to the archetypal industrial light through its silicone rubber, making for a playful and tactile design. Now, we're introducing it in three new colors: Burgundy, Clay Brown and Beige-Green. Wanting to learn more about the ideas for the design, we visited designers Form Us With Love in their Stockholm studio.
How did you initially get the idea for the Unfold Pendant Lamp?
We wanted to bring a new perspective on the archetypal industrial lamp without doing something that was visually crazy and noisy—it should be a simple and friendly design that’d work in different spaces and have a cozy, atmospheric light to any setting. Opting to explore materiality for the design, we sought one that both had a nice touch and would put a smile on people’s faces when they encountered the design; this is how the idea for the silicone rubber material come to be. Using this material also allowed us to fold the Unfold Pendant Lamp to half its size, allowing for environmentally-friendly shipping.
What triggered the use of the silicone rubber?
There’s an ambient warmth to the material and a tactile touch that gives it a matte yet refined surface.
What was the design process for the Unfold Pendant Lamp like?
The process was very much about joining the soft material of rubber with a design that is traditionally made in metal, figuring out the shape and details to get everything just right.
What do you personally like the most about the design?
That the Unfold Pendant Lamp adds something new to any home without using larger means—it’s very subtle and elegant in the room, serving the functional aesthetic of lighting, while being brought even more to life when felt and played with.
How do you think the design is tied to Scandinavian design?
It’s created from a rational approach, paired with a simple and straightforward approach to design. The Unfold Pendant Lamp strikes the balance between having no filler or fuzz at all and still having a certain degree of wittiness to it.
Text by muuto
Studio visit
Wang & Söderström is a Swedish-born, Copenhagen-based artist and design duo consisting of Anny Wang and Tim Söderström.
Motiveringar för vinnarbilden som valdes av fotografen Jens Olof Lasthein:
Ljuset antyder tidig morgon. Det är tyst. Händer inte ett dyft. Luften står helt stilla. Varför är jag inte redan uttråkad? Varför dröjer sig blicken kvar? Motorn under bilhuven är kall. Ska kanske inte ens startas. Mannen kanske bara tar en paus undan livet på den enda platsen som är hans helt egna. Han har somnat. Eller har han? Är han djupt försjunken i plågade tankar? Eller är hans huvud fullständigt tomt? Befriande rent och klart.
Nej, motorn är rykande varm efter en hetskörning tvärs igenom stan. Bromsarna har just tystnat efter den sista tvära inbromsningen. Han tar sig två, nej tre sekunder för att samla tankarna och energin, och nu, nu! ska han gå in och säga henne ett sanningens ord.
Eller. Näh. Ska nog inte det. Nog bäst att åka hem igen. Och ta det lilla lugna. Denna bild vinner för att den på ett smygande omärkligt sätt bemäktigar sig min fantasi.
Visiting the studio of designer Jens Fager to uncover the thoughts and ideas behind his Tip Lamp Series for Muuto, combining subtle details with simple, modern lines for a friendly design.
“The Tip Lamp Series are simple and friendly designs, characterized by their unique architectural silhouette with its angled shape, creating an asymmetrical light. I wanted to reduce the design to the essence of its purpose; creating something that was intuitively understandable and functional in daily life”, tells Jens Fager when asked about his inspiration for the Tip Lamp Series.
Located in an old barn in the southern part of Sweden, Jens Fager’s design studio is a welcoming, bright space, lined with shelves of utility tools and the designer’s own design pieces.
Speaking on his initial idea for the Tip Lamp Series, Fager says: “The idea for the identity of the Tip Lamp Series came through reduction—a reduction of the expression while creating a lasting impact. I wanted the design to be quiet and to achieve that sentiment all moving mechanical parts were reduced into a seamless, smooth sculptural form.”
On his idea of translating the existing Tip Table Lamp into the new designs of the Tip Floor & Wall Lamp, Fager says: “Translating the Tip Table Lamp into new typologies allowed me to bring forward the unique characteristics of Tip even further: the Tip Table Lamp is designed for active situations, such as studying or working, while the Tip Floor Lamp is designed with a rotatable head and arm alongside a dimmer button positioned in the middle of its stem, allowing for the user to simply reach out their arm from a seated position to alter the volume of light emitted. As for the Tip Wall Lamp, the simple design easily fills any space with repeated light while also functioning as a reading lamp above the bed.”
With their bodies in molded aluminum with a matte touch, the Tip Lamp Series feature a clean and precise look, highlighting their structural form: “The design is permeated by its caring surface, giving one a human presence and elegant tactility. Throughout the design process, I spent a lot of time polishing every single detail and combining them with the lamp’s inherent functionality. It’s a design that doesn’t necessarily shout for attention, but its great functionality will hopefully stand out,” says Fager and ends: “The idea of designing objects used by people all over the world in daily life is amazing. That’s what’s pushing me and my studio further.”
Text by muuto
Studio visit Normal Studio, Paris 2018
Polaroid photo of Rebecca & Fiona, Stockholm 2010
Portrait of photographer Evelina Carborn
2011 Kärrtorp/STHLM
For Ukurant Perspectives 2021, the exhibition design will be created by Copenhagen-based architectural design practice, Frederik Gustav. We ventured out on a warm Danish summer day to visit the duo, comprised of Frederik Weber and Gustav Dupont, in their workspace to hear more about the origins of their collaboration, their ideas for the exhibition design for this year’s edition of Ukurant and to ask them what they believe makes something a new perspective.
When approaching the Factory Of Art & Design in the southern neighborhood of the Danish capital from afar, one is struck by the industrial grandeur of the building, echoing that of a traditional production facility. However, upon entering the site, a wealth of small creative workspaces unfold as the building is home to no less than 49 creative studios and ateliers. Within one of these is Frederik Gustav, a practice founded in 2017 and named after its two founding partners.
“We first met when we both were studying a bachelor’s degree in Furniture Design at the Royal Danish Academy and found ourselves quickly gravitating towards one another from where we became close friends and sparring partners. However, it wasn’t until we both signed up for a design competition in 2017 that we actually started working together,” says Gustav to which Frederik adds: “I think we both remember that first experience of collaborating on something as quite troublesome. We suddenly had to accommodate each other's viewpoints when we up until then only had to consider our own. It was a challenge but we realized that it could be turned into a driving force for pushing ourselves to a new level that we wouldn’t have been able to as individuals. We’ve been more or less inseparable since then.”
When viewing the duo’s body of work at a glance, one is instantaneously struck by a sense of simplicity yet in a highly experimental and advanced way, paired with an inherent allure for traditional craftsmanship. Speaking on that, Frederik says: “Our work rests highly on practical experimentation that encompasses studies in static principles and tectonic systems that we want to explore from both an artistic and functional perspective. We strive for our work to reflect our curious and playful approach to our craft, often leading to us pushing the static and material properties to the furthest.” Pondering upon how this influences their process, Gustav notes: “As opposed to pursuing a specific function, we instead revolve around the idea of concepts that are at once flexible in their function, scale and context. This makes for work that is cross-disciplinary and touches the areas of small-scale architecture, crafts and design.”
Walking us through the grand workspace to which the duo heads from their smaller studio to put their ideas into the world, we ask Frederik and Gustav about their motivations for joining Ukurant Perspectives 2021 as exhibition designers: “We see Ukurant as a platform within which we can unfold our ideas from both a playful and experimental point of view. The exhibition presenting a unique opportunity to break free from the traditional way of presenting design and art objects; an opening to do things in new ways,” says Gustav.
Delving further into their thoughts on the universe of Ukurant, Frederik remarks: “We’ve talked a lot about Ukurant’s ability to position and amplify forward-thinking design, be it exploratory or experimental, that pushes our understanding of what design is and can become. They present design that possesses a depth which extends far beyond the mere physical identity of the work while bringing designers who demonstrate new ways of thinking, working and creating into the spotlight and, as importantly, into the eyes of the established industry.”
The duo moves towards their work desk upon which textile swatches and sketches used in the process for the exhibition design for Ukurant Perspectives 2021 are scattered. On their thoughts behind the design, Gustav says: “We knew from the get-go that we wanted the design to be an experience that strayed far away from the often polished exhibition formats that are shown at 3daysofdesign,” to which Frederik continues: “For Ukurant Perspectives 2021, the idea is really to get a sense of theatrical scenery. We’ll be using tangled backdrops and exposed stage equipment to create this feeling of a lively exhibition that represents the creative process and the endless paths and possibilities that come with it.”
One thing that becomes apparent when looking around the workspace of Frederik Gustav is the fact that they share a slight obsession with craftsmanship and the tools needed to excel within the field. When noting this to the two, Gustav states: “We’re working from this shared notion of craftsmanship being a language through which we communicate knowledge and ideas. The process always leads us down unexplored paths with each project bringing inspiration for the next. We seek to create new perspectives through the challenging of conventions and, through that, attempting to alter our perception of what design can be and creating objects that have an artful depth while awaking wonder and joy in their materiality, composition and function.”
Text by muuto
Studio visit
Bettina Nelson is a Swedish-English experimental designer based in Copenhagen. She obtained an MA in Object Design from The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts School of Design (2017). Her practice is motivated by a fascination for the playful and intuitive based on the exploration of the intrinsic movement and transformative memories in relation to shapes and material tactility.
For Ukurant Perspectives 2021, design duo Davide Ronco and Pablo Dorigo have created pieces that explore the concept of negative space in the Muuto universe. The pieces can be experienced at both the Ukurant exhibition and the Muuto HQ during 3daysofdesign. Today, we visit the duo to see the work in progress and hear their thoughts behind the sculptural pieces.
We met the duo outside of Ronco’s Copenhagen studio where they’re hard at work, working at sculpting the pieces for the Ukurant Perspectives 2021 exhibition. It’s a sunny day in the end of summer, meaning a perfect opportunity for working outside. They seem like they know what they’re doing as well, Ronco and Dorigo. After all, they’ve worked together for quite some time.
Speaking on their collaboration, Ronco tells: “We met while studying our bachelor’s degrees in Venice and became friends then. After graduating, I went to Copenhagen to study ceramic design while Pablo went onto Lausanne and studied product design. However, Pablo relocated to Copenhagen in 2019 where our paths cross once more and we started collaborating from there.”
Now, the duo looks ahead on the coming Ukurant Perspectives exhibition for 3daysofdesign 2021. When asked about their motivation to create pieces for Ukurant and Muuto, Dorigo ponders: “It was an occasion that allowed us to work at the exact intersection that is home to our collaboration—being in-between the spheres of contemporary art, design and craftsmanship. It allowed us to begin the process at a very specific and tangible point, being the Muuto universe, and then let our imagination loose from there.”
Ronco also partook as an exhibiting designer in the first edition of Ukurant in 2020. On his participation then, he says: “We need innovative perspectives such as Ukurant to lead the way for new ways of thinking and working in the design field. In a world that can often seem too commercialized from afar, Ukurant’s holistic approach is crucial as it allows us all to discuss the status quo and raise the quality of design that is put out into the world.”
Zooming in on the actual pieces and how they went about them, Dorigo explains: “We chose the Fiber Armchair, Kink Vase and Ambit Pendant Lamp as we found them to be easily recognizable while embodying the codes of Muuto. From there, we explored the counterforms of the designs; being the empty space surrounding each object. In that sense, the work represents the importance of the void that is present before a design is created—it’s like a hidden element that is invisible to the eye yet the very thing that breathes shape and form into the objects of daily life.”
Before we leave the duo to power through with casting, sculpting and pondering on how best to depict the empty space that is found within our designs, we asked them what they find to be defining of a new perspective: “To us, a new perspective is something that is unexpected; a way of thinking that takes you out of your comfort zone and oversteps boundaries in a sense.”
Text by muuto
Press picture and record cover for Bells fell silent
Are there any elements that you find permeate your work?
There is always this constant exploration into how we as individuals interact with the elements around us; how we collect them and have emotional ties to them. This is an aspect that has always intrigued me and something that I seek to approach from different angles throughout my work.
What are the most important elements in your work?
I find that it is very dependent on the context of the given work. However, there’s always this sense of coherence that flows throughout materiality, form, color and texture, as if they’re all playing together in unison. In a broader sense, I seek to create form languages that speak to the curiosity of the viewer through details or texture, allowing for the work to invite the viewer in to explore more.
The work of Kaldahl is defined by a constant intrigue around the relations that we as individuals form with the objects that we surround ourselves with in daily life.
What were your thoughts behind partaking in last year’s Ukurant exhibition?
When I first met the team behind Ukurant, I became very curious about this group of young people who were still studying, just like I was, but who had these amazing ambitions, larger than any other design exhibition that I’d heard about in years. They had this energy about them, like: “Let’s tear traditions up and create new ideas” that I really found myself gravitating towards.
What do you find that Ukurant brings to the world of design?
To me, Ukurant embodies a genre of design that has been around for some years but had never had a place to call home in Scandinavia. It’s an expression that borders between design, arts and crafts. I felt like it was something that had been lacking in our part of the world; this idea of breaking free from the classic notions of Scandinavian design to instead bring a more curious and explorative approach to it.
What is a new perspective to you?
I find that a new perspective is when I encounter an object that I don’t necessarily understand but would like to know more about. Something that I haven’t seen before. That’s how it is with the best things out there; they’re the ones that get stuck in your head; the ones that take time for you to become familiar with.
How do you create new perspectives in your own work?
I’m terrible at continuity, at doing the same things over and over. Once I’ve seen an idea through to its end, my mind immediately races towards other projects that I’d like to pursue, exploring unknown techniques that can force me to look at my work from unexplored perspectives and allow me to evolve the narrative within the things that I create.
Justin Townes Earle
Backstage 2011
Press picture and record cover for TTW
Work for Stockholm library 2012