Discover the best of Stockholm Design Week 2023: TDC’s highlights and trends
Stockholm Design Week was initiated in 2002. It supports the Stockholm Furniture and Lighting Fair in making Stockholm the place to be for purchasers, architects, designers and journalists.
Since its foundation in 1951, the event has made the Swedish capital a must-visit destination in chilly February for designers, architects, journalists and buyers eager to see the latest designs that northern Europe has to offer. And so its cancellation in 2021 and 2022 was significant.
However, after three years of postponement, Stockholm Design Fair returned this year with a dedication to Swedish & Scandinavian design.
Design events took place in a variety of venues across Stockholm, from galleries and showrooms to dinner parties, opening cocktails, museums and cultural institutions. These were some of our highlights.
Massproductions
In an exploration of the relationship between industry and art, Sven-Harrys konstmuseum invited furniture brand Massproductions, to curate a playful exhibition, ‘Sculptures from the Factory’. The exhibition reveals the manufacturing processes behind the design and craftsmanship through a poetic narrative. The result was a fun and engaging experience of design and craft which showed clearly how designed objects are made using modern technology.
Front
The guest of honour at the fair was Swedish design studio Front, who created a captivating installation for the fair in collaboration with Moroso, Kvadrat and Moooi carpets. An ode to naturethrough technology and craftsmanship, the installation pointed to a new energy for Swedish design; one that ties tradition with a forward-thinking, investigative, and nature based approach. Following a journey through the studios’ many collaborations overthe year, visitors ended their experience in a serene and immersive moment intertwining soothing soundscapes, projection art and furniture.
Now or Never: 1 Kg of CO2
Swedish designer Emma Olbers curated the Now or Never exhibition providing a much needed lens to view the many new products at the fair. Emma very visually showcased the climate impact of materials commonly used in architecture and furniture design by exhibiting 1 kg of CO2 through various materials. It was arresting to see the vast difference between a wooden chair (0,6 kg CO2) and steel chair (67 kg CO2), not to mention the astoundingly little amount of brass you can produce for 1 kg of CO2.
Form us with Love
In collaboration with Samsung the design studio reimagined the sofa, considering how its role within a living environment might change with future technological habits. Multi-screen homes, consumption of media in our living spaces as well as the nature ofthe sofa as a basis for multiple activities from snoozing, to eating, to working were key design considerations for the concept. Designed to be hung, SHIFT is the ultimate flexible and portable seat. Moreover, its soft webbing provides an alternative to the typically unecological foam-based materials used in standard sofa design.
Shelter
The light installation Shelter was designed by designer Daniel Rybakken, who also presented a new product with Vestre at the fair this year. The project pays tribute to Norwegian explorer, scientist and humanitarian Fridtjof Nansen, who was the first highcommissioner of what later became the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The installation aimed to remind us of the millions of people forced to flee their homes, our common responsibility to protect them.
