The best-looking doormat

Moooi had the best looking “doormat” outside their showroom on Norr Mälarstrand. Inside, the Nordic Collection, a new collection of carpets by Scandinavian designers was on display. On the floor, we see Maze by Note and in the window hangs Reflection by Luca Nichetto. Although he is from Venice, with a studio in Stockholm, he qualifies as a Scandinavian.

 

Several products won the Editors’ Choice Award

Choosing the fair’s best product was difficult this year. Many of the products from the recently re-opened National Museum could have become prize winners. The jury panel made the fair decision to award the prize to the entire collection.

The exhibition NM& - A New Collection had its own stand that presented the joint creation of the National Museum’s new restaurant. Here the process was designed around the interior of the restaurant with 80 new interior items, as well as the work on the renovation of the museum. If you have not yet visited the National Museum in Stockholm,
I encourage you to do so!

This year’s trend is sober and homogeneous in two color scales

It is about two distinct color scales that are not mixed. One scale featuring terracotta, orange, light pink, beige and sober yellow. Another scale with pale green tones and light gray. A few splashes of chrome but otherwise all forms of metal are notable by their absence. Stands and details for the two color scales go in black. There were many furniture pieces and details in wood, preferably solid wood. Mixing with leather and cork feels quite right.

Below left you see Årsring, a stool made of pine sand blasted for maximum structure. Coming from Källemo with design by Kristoffer Sundin for the National Museum’s restaurant. To the right is Pop, designed by Patrik Bengtsson and Pierre Sindre for Gärsnäs.

 

Baux was mostly best

Baux won Editors’ Choice for the best stand and generously offered delicious oysters with a glass of bubbly to finish the time at the fair.

But the very best was their new soundproofing paneling called Acoustic Pulp. Made from pulp from sustainable Swedish spruce and pine and recycled water mixed with non-GMO wheat bran, potato starch, herbal wax and citrus fruit peels. It provides a product that is 100% bio-based, 100% recyclable and 100% bio-degradable. It also means 0% contamination or waste, light weight while being flame-retardant and water-repellent.

For four weeks, the designer group From Us With Love, folded sheets of paper to find the designs that could both match the aesthetic and meet the acoustic requirements.

Acoustic Pulp was not even nominated for the fair’s best product. I wonder how the jury could miss it when they gave Baux the prize for the best stand, which was entirely dressed in Acoustic Pulp, both out and inside?

 

Recycle your furniture with Sajkla

Since 2015, the Möbelbruket project, along with the furniture industry, has examined how a professional handling of furniture for recycling should work. The solution became “Sajkla” (a Swedish word play for the term “to cycle”), which through a large network of manufacturers can effectively take a holistic responsibility for renovating furniture for public environments. Some furniture requires more effort, while others (chairs above) only need a new design. Before renovation (right) and after renovation (left).

Carpets and clothes of fishnet

The store Arket on Drottninggatan is part of H&M and maintains a high environmental profile. Here, Tom Dixon talked about his collection, Industrial Landscape for Ege Carpets. The common denominator for the collection and Arket is ECONYL®, a yarn made from recycled fishing nets. The material is available in Arket’s clothing collection and in Industrial Landscape’s carpet collection.

Ege’s textile plates all have a backing of felt made from recycled PET plastic bottles. The Ecotrust patent makes them certified according to Cradle to Cradle™. The combination with the quality Highline 1100, made of ECONYL®, makes the product 100% environmentally friendly. All carpets in Arket’s showroom are of the same high quality.

Floating adjustable tables

The table top for Gravety (left) from Polish designers MDD can be up to 2,200 mm in length. The furniture that seems to cancel the laws of nature has been created by the designer Dymitr Malcew.

Ragnars showed a prototype from their Design Lab (right). Looks great without supports or braces under the table top. The motors are recessed in the legs. The table top has a hollow core with honeycombs of recycled paper where you can fold in all the wiring.
 

Salvador Dali, Mats Theselius and Staffan Scheja

During the furniture and antique fair, Salvador Dali appeared in Stockholm city with three large sculptures. In front of the Riksbank at Brunkebergstorg stood the 3-meter-high and 5-ton Persistence of Memory (right). Dali’s melting clocks are said to symbolize the flight of time while we dream. He himself said that he was inspired by having seen camembert melt in the sun and that the painting was just a surreal interpretation.

At Stockholms Auktionsverk (established in 1674) the exhibition Ögats slitage (“The eye’s wear and tear”) was shown. The exhibition was a collaboration with Källemo where iconic works from several of Sweden’s most prominent designers were shown in interaction with “real” antiques. One of them was a unique grand piano (left) designed by Mats Theselius for Gummifabriken in Värnamo, which was previewed during a performance by concert pianist Staffan Scheja.

One lamp becomes two

Ingegerd Råman has designed the quirky Virvel (“Whirl”) lamp for Örsjö (right). The same round paper plate is folded into two forms. Two cones in each other or two cones with two light sources next to each other. Virvel was awarded Form Magazine’s prize for best lighting.

Flos showed Philippe Starck’s, mirror La Plus Belle (left) with built-in lighting.

FLOKK showed its DNA in environmental work

This year, FLOKK presented its environmental work in a tangible way as proof that recycling is in the company’s DNA. In response to the question from where the material for some of their popular chairs comes from, some raw materials were displayed:

WOOL: Few people realize that sheep are part of the natural carbon cycle. When the animals eat plants, organic carbon is bound, which in turn is converted into wool, which then becomes a sustainable fabric.

PLASTIC: In 2017, the amount of recycled plastic in the products was 607 tons. The goal for 2020 is to have increased to 1,000 tons.

WOOD: Before 2022, all production must be made with 100% certified or recycled wood, paper and cardboard.

ALUMINUM: The parts consist on average of 95% recycled material. Energy consumption is only 10% compared to the production of raw aluminum.

Dare to buck the current

For a couple of years, a lot of products, new and old, have been equipped with sockets for charging electricity and USB. And so did last year’s table Jack from Blå Station. For this year, the designers Thomas Bernstrand and Stefan Borselius have “downgraded” Jack to Jackless, without a socket.

And then design firm Horred went and did a “no-no” and showed their sofa and storage combo - Mute Floor and Tetris - in the color combination petrol and gold. So outdated (but looking so good!).

 

Beech wood that can withstand a shower

Polish designer Paged Meble has produced beech wood for an outdoor environment that also includes thin veneers. It can handle salt water, be left out in the rain and withstand sun and temperatures of 5–60 degrees. WBR (Weather Resistant Beech) is available on all beech furniture in the Paged range. Before it gets a final protective coating against UV light, it can be stained in any color. It creates great design possibilities compared to the competing rattan furniture for outdoor use. Paged Meble is marketed in Sweden by Svea Contract.