Cool in Sweden

Hej!

This MOD report comes to you from the capital of Swedish style and culture, Stockholm, and the annual Stockholm Furniture Fair where MOD editors where checking out the latest Scandinavia has to offer... and, like in years past, we weren't disappointed. Although this years fair and accompanying events were on the mellow side (a possible result of a scheduling overlap with Copenhagen's Fashion Week), there were several standouts and of course the exciting part is that you may see them soon this side of the Atlantic thanks to yours truly. Check out the featured designers and manufacturers below.

As always,

The MOD Team

Stockholm Design Week is the world's largest meeting place for Nordic design with the Stockholm Furniture Fair, Northern Light Fair and an ever increasing number of high-profile events, showrooms and design activities around Stockholm. Some 40,000 visitors and 750 exhibitors from the entire world meet each year at the Stockholm Furniture Fair to do business and get inspiration. The whole of Stockholm is involved and the city is teeming with design activities, exhibitions and events. Every year an important designer is comissioned to create a central meeting place at the fair. this year is was one of MOD's favorites, German designer Konstantin Grcic. Konstantin Grcic's lounge in Stockholm International Fairs' entrance hall will offer visitors a moment of tranquillity in a warm and satisfying setting. This usually cold and hard area has led him to adopt a very special approach to staging, creating an artificial garden. Using plants, textiles and a surprising mix of objects and furniture, he will be creating an environment in which to rest, meet and listen. " The sensation of living plants in this installation is a new element for me to work with.The plants will create a living oasis in the middle of the busy crowd," explains Grcic. Stockholm Furniture Fair

Broberg Ridderstråle Every year at the Stockholm Furniture Fair, an architect or designer is commissioned to create a special Design Bar. This year the honor goes to Broberg Ridderstråle Design & Architecture. Based in Stockholm, BRDA is a mixed architecture and design practice founded by Mats Broberg and Johan Ridderstråle. The design duo have created a range of simple yet smart products that are often tinged with a sense of humor ( Bird Table for Offecct for example). Broberg and Ridderstråle strive to inject a subtle emotional element into their designs, sometimes through the use of symbols and at other times simply through the product's functionality. To us, the cleverness of their designs nearly always inspires a feeling of “Now why didn’t we think of that?” An example of this is one of MOD's favorite new designs, speakers that recently won a Wallpaper Magazine award. BRDA moved away from the traditional black, box-shaped speaker and created a set of white ceramic speakers, using the symbol of sound as their inspiration. ‘It’s the universal icon of noise,’ says Ridderstråle of the truncated cone shape, which sits at the perfect angle to produce optimum sound. BrobergRidderstråle

Greenhouse was started in 2003 as a forum enabling independent designers to meet producers in the furnishing industry. Greenhouse aims to act as a springboard into reality for creative talents and a platform for exchanging ideas and new trends. An exhibition entitled 'The Greenhouse Effect' is being held to celebrate the fifth anniversary. One of the standouts was Wis Design (www.wisdesign.se) above. Architects' firm TAF Arkitektkontor, run by Gabriella Gustafson and Mattias Ståhlbom (Mattias is everywhere... from Greenhouse to Zero to the Underground exhibition), is behind the structure of Greenhouse and the exhibition. They will be working with themes such as multiplication, diversity and standard materials. In the middle of Victoria Hall there will be an asymmetric staircase, which spreads out and also serves as an exhibition area and a bar with seating. There will also be 'boulders' covered with mats in various shades of grey. Greenhouse

Offecct kicks it!... again. Yes it's true, Offecct works with the top designers in the world to bring the best products to the market. "Together we develop furniture for consumers, offices, conference and leisure environments - design that stimulates creative meetings." OFFECCT was established in 1990 in Tibro, southern Sweden. Their mission, then as now, has been to allow the needs of the individual to steer our design and development work. To guarantee the highest possible quality, we retain full control over all the stages of a project - from concept to the finished piece of furniture. That said, as you all know Offecct is one of our favorite companies to work with. MOD has been instrumental in making their designs available in the US market. And the fact that they keep ahead of the curve with their new introductions (including their new graphic identity - see below) and work with designers such as Eero Koivisto, Marten Claesson, Ola Rune, Marre Moerel, Monica Forster, Khodi Feiz, Alfredo Haberli, Anki Gneb, Jean-Marie Massaud, Thomas Eriksson, Thomas Sandell, Karim Rashid and Norway Says... just to name a few... OFFECCT

War against white walls! The first time Eero Koivisto, Brand Consultant for MOD's favorite line Offecct, came across Slobodan Dizel and Thomas Sate they were simply a couple of graffiti artists that were tagging trains and walls in Sweden. A couple of years later, he heard that they’d started a graffiti school and design studio with the slogan “We declare war on walls”. Fast forward a few years, when Eero stumbled across their new offices in a small back street of Stockholm and they’d become Wall Design and were painting murals on the walls of shops and offices. These days they are known as Dizel & Sate (formerly known as Wall Design) and their commissions range from illustrations to entire interior design concepts. We’re not sure what’s up with the latest name, perhaps they’re ensnared in some sort of legal dispute much as The Artist Formerly Known As Prince was. Anyway, Eero convinced Offecct to hire the two artist/designers to not only create an awesome environment during this years Stockholm Furniture Fair (the offsite "Urban Jungle" presentation) but to create a new brand identity for web and print as well.. Rumor has it that it was only a matter of weeks before the fair that this decision was made.. And bravo to Offecct for taking the plunge.. And the dynamic duo pulled it off - it was an amazing success! We even used (please don't sue us) the new identity for this newsletters banner design. Check out Offecct's new website and Dizel & Sate's as well.. hopefully you will be as inspired as much as we are! dizel & sate

Nothing Less Than ZERO Once again, here is a company that understands the value of good design and designers. The Zero story: Roland Gill and Andris Nolendorfs were both working with lighting at Orrefors Glassworks when they got the idea of starting their own business. Weary of glass fittings hanging crooked, they decided: no more glass, sheet metal is the right material! Both had made the acquaintance of designer Börge Lindau and their confidence in him was so great that they decided to start their own business if Börge would join them as designer. Börge was convinced by the bold idea and said he would support them with his interest and skills. When the newly formed company was christened, it was Börge who suggested the name Zero. MOD was fortunate to check out a preview of designs headed to the Salone in Milan in April and although we will make you wait to see most of the designs, some of the designers are featured above... from left to right above: Ingegerd Raman, Front, Fredrik Mattson and Mattias Ståhlbom. Also included in the new collection is work from Thomas Bergstrand, a designer whose work MOD has been following for quite some time. ZERO

VUJJ - Swedish by Nature, Global by Design Vujj is a young company dedicated to producing fine quality designs for the international market. It is a company well versed in, but unshackled by, the traditions of Scandinavian design, that seek to add a little provocation to the story. MOD was fortunate enough to run into the Vujj team, at their offsite party, and at the fair where they sat for an extensive video interview (to be presented soon - we will keep you informed). Artur Moustafa and Jonas Nordgren, who design collectively under the title Artur & Jonas, joined forces with Grupo Selther in order to set up Vujj in early 2006. Vujj has its roots firmly linked with the Skåne region of southern Sweden where the pair grew up; it is close to the border of Denmark and has a notable history of furniture craftmanship. Look for Vujj to bring their concept to New York at MOD in the coming year.. The name may be unique, but the design is timeless and MOD is at the forefront of bringing the best design available in the world to the US market. www.vujj.se

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