6474 & Ola Gillgren
Words by MPDClick’s Home & Interiors Editor.
For this week’s ‘Design Focus of the Week’ we take inspiration from the hotly anticipated emerging talent showcase Greenhouse from last week’s 2012 edition of Stockholm Furniture Fair.
With Stockholm Design Week and Stockholm Fashion Week taking place at the same time next year, organisers of Stockholm Furniture Fair decided to promote the unexpected encounter between design and fashion at Greenhouse. As well as a unique and specially constructed catwalk called Fusion Walk by designer Jens Fager, Greenhouse showcased the best from independent designers and design schools under the overriding theme of ‘Fabrics and Transparence.’ The idea was to use catchwords that are important to both field of design; words such as distinctive design expression, sustainability, handicrafts and detailing. The result was an exciting and often unexpected mix of designs, with seating concepts focusing heavily on tactility and sensory-enhancing designs.
Design Focus of the Week pays homage to designers including Sandra Cohen Callman and Maria Johnsson who have made use of ‘inviting-to-touch’ fabrics, smooth cocooning forms and enveloping volumes to convey an organic sensuality, or who have utilised the season’s new found energy to revitalise new a repertoires of forms. Highlights include Sandra Cohen Callman’s hyper-tactile chair, Novia’s felt flower embellished rocking chair, Maria Johnsson’s colourful armchair-come-bookcase design and Ola Gillgren’s innovative fish-scale covered chair.
From a business perspective, the desire to create functional objects that enhance our senses through the playful investigation of material and ideas appeals to the consumer demand for relaxing environments as well as a move towards more free-spirited expression and optimism in the design process.
Clockwise from left: Bruhl, Novia, Mathias Hejgaard Wiik and Maris Jonsson
