Colorful Standouts at Stockholm Furniture Fair 2015
Designers bring a heavy dose of fresh, bold color to the first of the year’s big international fairs
Kicking off today, the 2015 Stockholm Furniture and Light Fair is the first of the year’s big international fairs and certainly the biggest in the Scandinavian region. While there is certainly much in the way of the archetypal Scandinavian pared-down tones, this year sees a few names bringing a heavy dose of fresh, bold color to proceedings.
Inspired by the action of knock-knocking on a door, new brand NakNak seeks to knock on people’s mental door and spur them into organizing their lives a bit better. Launched at Stockholm Furniture and Light Fair, the newcomer sees a family-owned metalworking business in Taiwan collaborating with a vibrant array of young Nordic and Taiwanese designers including Afteroom, John Astbury, Erik Olovsson, Kyuhyung Cho, Matti Klenell, Yenwen Tseng and TAF Architects. The results are simple storage solutions and decorative items in stark powder-coated tones that lift the senses. They’re aesthetically pleasing and a real showcase of both NakNak’s metalworking tradition and the bright young talents it’s chosen to work with.
Erik Olovsson warrants additional attention for his showcase in the Greenhouse area of the fair, as part of an ongoing collaboration with the aforementioned Kyuhyung Cho. They previously worked together to create a hybrid shelving unit and storage space called the ROOM Collection, which we came across at last year’s Milan Design Week, as well as creating sine wave-inspired hanging rails for COS stores. Here in Stockholm, the pair show work, loosely titled “Serious Play,” that includes lighting, table decorations, wall-hangings and storage systems. The pair use color as it was made to be used: boldly and intelligently. It’s an effortlessly creative collection from a coupling whose creativity feels almost infectious.
In the main halls, feeling daisies fresh is Baux, whose second collection finds this creator of sound insulation tiles stretching its wings after last year’s launch. Visitors can explore Baux on an Oculus Rift headset or simply gaze at its bright poppy pastel tiles made from Träullit—a mix of wood, wool and concrete available in large panels for big interior spaces. Baux makes the mundane world of sound insulation feel like you’re feasting your eyes on the very cutting-edge of design.
Erik Olovsson image by Richard Prime, all others courtesy of respective designers
