Nordic Design

At this year’s Stockholm Furniture and Light Fair the Scandinavians show how much we long for homeliness.

Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec have designed roller blinds for Kvadrat. In an interview with Martina Metzner, Erwan Bouroullec reveals the ideas behind the new product and how design stimulates the senses.

Swedish designer Alexander Lervik asked famous photographer friends of his to portray his output. Powerful pictures that lend Lervik’s furniture an extraordinary character are the result.

Danish design has a contemporary look to it, despite many of the ideas being over 50 years old. At Copenhagen’s “3daysofdesign” there was much talk of tradition and values, and of updating classics.

Stockholm Design Week revealed that noise reduction can look good and smartphones are also changing our furniture. But just what is behind “New Nordic”?

News from the North? Yes, indeed! Even though the makers of the Stockholm Furniture Fair have completely revised the hall layout we managed to glimpse the hottest innovations – here are the 12 most exciting ones.

In his book “Ett Hem” painter Carl Larsson talks about the way that Swedes used to live about a century back. What has remained of their predilection for adorning their homes? A trip to Stockholm provides some answers.

Vitra Design Museum is focusing on Alvar Aalto. And the result is more than just another show on that Grand Old Master of Modernism.

The “Helsinki Design Week” took place for the 10th time this year. For all those who may have forgotten what makes Finnish design so special – the trade fair complex and Helsinki’s Design District provided a lot to bring things back to mind.

Soon it’ll be book fair time again in Frankfurt. And as always, the fair’s Guest of Honor country gets to shape the face of culture in the city for a short time. So what does Finland have to offer in addition to vodka and forests, sauna and Saarinen, Artek and Aalto?

And we continue our explorations at "3DaysofDesign" in Copenhagen to find out if it's really true the Danes produce their wares sustainably and in their own country.

Is there anything nicer than having a cool dip on a scorchingly hot day? Best of all downtown.

As regards design, Denmark certainly has its finger on the pulse of things. Is this anything more than a re-edition of Danish Modernism? Are objects being made sustainably inside Denmark? A trip to “3DaysofDesign” in Copenhagen provides the answers.

Take a backrest, a seat and four legs, add a touch of Scandinavia, pack it all in a box, and you’ve got “Kitt”, the breezy chair Stefan Diez designed for Hay.

In recent years, the Stockholm Furniture Fair has morphed into a serious contender that can hold its own alongside interior design heavyweights imm cologne and Milan’s Salone. This is partly the product of the great range of fringe events during the Stockholm Design Week, held at the same time.

What would Verner Panton’s furniture be like without the bright fabrics from Kvadrat? From the very outset, the Danes collaborated closely with designers to create striking highlights. Now there’s a book describing the company, which is one of the world’s leading makers of home textiles today. A glance behind the scene.

Bjarke Ingels Group architectural firm (or BIG for a not exactly modest acronym) also succeeds on the small scale. For a school complex in Hellerup nr. Copenhagen the architects dug deep to sink a new gym into the grounds of the old schoolyard. A walkable gigantic sculpture is the result.

Scandinavian design stands for simplicity, reliability and high-quality craftsmanship. At this year’s Stockholm Furniture Fair we were met with attempts to redefine such values in the 21st century.

Scandinavian design is known for its clear forms, durability and careful craftsmanship. Do students from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland still design in accordance with these principles today? Juliane Grützner asked some of them.

There is a noticeably large number of women in design in Scandinavia. From Nanna Ditzel to Front Design, female designers have always played an important role in Nordic countries. Does this have something to do with design style? Or is it quite simply a question of equality?

Creativity, quality and economic viability can all be associated with the term design. The Scandinavian governments have taken advantage of this and are investing in promoting both the discipline and their own image.

Sometimes they use original plan, other times they rely on an aged furniture item – Erling and Egon Petersen, two brothers from Ormslev, Denmark go to endless lengths in their quest to breathe new life into an original design from the previous century.

Be it park benches, conference tables or outdoor chairs – there's always an additional use to Thomas Bernstrand's designs, even though they stand in the tradition of classic Scandinavian design.

How much are titles, prizes and other distinctions really worth? What some consider a mark of quality is seen by others as a red rag. The Finnish capital Helsinki has been selected as the World Design Capital 2012 – and is definitely worth a visit.

You only need to step out of the plane to be enjoying good, plain contemporary design. What the Stockholm Furniture Fair has to present in its halls does not exist in isolation. It comes to life in the city.

Danish designer Kasper Salto dreamed up new chair for Fritz Hansen, a shell chair that allows for any number of different seating positions. Because you only sit healthily if you keep on changing your position. Nancy Jehmlich in conversation with Salto about today's challenges of designing a chair.

This year, and despite the economic crisis, the Stockholm furniture fair has consolidated its leading position in the Scandinavian market. And looks like emerging as a real alternative to Cologne and Paris.

In the works by Swedish design group "Front" the divides are blurred. After all, what you see is not always what you feel. During the Cologne furniture fair the magazine Architektur&Wohnen and Audi awarded the "A&W Designer of the Year" prize. Nancy Jehmlich talked to the designers about animals as designers, good design, and working as a threesome.

So much is evident: The big furniture fairs face tough competition. After all, while they are moaning in Cologne about vacant booths at roughly the same time Stockholm successfully hosted a small event that was booked out. Moreover, the Stockholm Furniture Fair & Northern Light Fair have even expanded their capacities and proven that they can certainly play in the first league of the design fairs.

He plays piano in a jazz band, is a trained carpenter, and studied design in Stockholm: His friends like to call Fredrik Mattson the Chick Corea of Swedish design; although a mere 35 years old this Nordic talent, humorous yet serious has already received many prizes. Only recently Mattson received a Red Dot and some time ago the Golden Chair.