What does an object do to us, to a room, to the conversations we are having? What does it say about the community where it was made? In issue four we look at the things we surround ourselves with and what they mean to us. We visit the architect Petra Gipp on her island abode and spend some time at home with brand director Petrus Palmer, who uses his family home as a testing ground for new products and furniture. We discuss the concept of home with the renowned artist Miriam Bäckström and the architect Eero Koivisto, of architecture and design practice Claesson Koivisto Rune, who shares his favourite objects with us. In his home a bowl is never just a bowl, it is a bowl with a story. “When you cease to see something, it’s time to replace it with something else,” Koivisto says. Elsewhere in the issue, we visit a home resembling a spaceship, and one built to celebrate wood. We highlight some great initiatives and some really good pieces of furniture. “I’ve never fully understood how people can be so attached to new furniture”, says design writer Hugo McDonald when asked about what he is drawn to. “It takes several decades of heavy bottoms to shape a good chair into something irresistibly comfortable. There can be no greater proof of furniture’s quality than time.”
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Swedish architecture practice Tham & Videgård was given carte blanche to experiment on a plot of land on the outskirts of Stockholm. The result is an intriguing and playful family home with a 360-degree view and a hide-and-seek interior.
...Swedish artist and illustrator Siri Carlén’s graphics have appeared in children’s books, as window displays, pattern designs for clothing and art installations. She recently opened an exhibition on Swedish island Gotland, with a permanent outdoor installation of sculptures. We paid a visit to her family-run studio in Stockholm – a world full of colour and creativity.
...In the bustling city of Stockholm, there is a small enclave where you can travel back in time to another era. Step through the door in the red wooden fence and you enter into an enchanting, meditative place – the backdrop to stylist and set designer Tina Hellberg’s creative world.
...During the pandemic, hungry for cultural activities and visual sensations, we invited celebrated fashion designer and textile artist Diana Orving to stage a sculptural installation in an empty museum exclusively for us. It was a day of quiet magic, watching her large scale textile art pieces slowly come to life as a beautiful but temporary installation where movement and choreography played a central role. The temporary nature of the installation – only up for a day while we captured it on film and camera – also added to the poetic experience.
...Outdoor sculptures, a new restaurant with a focus on local produce and a debut collection inspired by nature. We pick some design and interior favourites from the past week.
...This week the ambitious new restaurant Oxenstiernan opens in a beautiful and historical building dating back to the 18th century in Östermalm, central Stockholm. The brainchild of Swedish gallery owner and silversmith Sebastian Schildt, it’s dedicated to local and sustainable produce at every level. “In a sense it‘s much more than just a restaurant. I see it as a platform where we can inspire with local food and local design; a place which speaks to all senses, and really touch the visitors. With a restaurant I can also attract a younger generation that doesn’t necessarily visit galleries to the same extent anymore,” Schildt explains.
...Mallorca-based architect Per Söderberg divides his time between architectural assignments and running his furniture brand No Early Birds, which recently celebrated 10 years. With a dedicated showroom in Stockholm, No Early Birds just launched its anniversary collection with furniture in exclusive materials. “When I started No Early Birds some ten years ago, the ambition was to create furniture that would become long lasting classics,” explains Söderberg about his first collection which is still in high demand today. “I thought through every step of the process from the beginning and I was never interested in one offs – if you make a collection of furniture they should support each other aesthetically as well as production wise,” he adds.
...Swedish wood artisan Daniel Wester uses carving as therapy, creating beautiful wooden sculptures with a fragile sensibility. His remote summer abode in the south of Sweden is a celebration to making, with plenty of space for him and his wife to experiment. His work, ranging from ebonised cherry bowls and spoons carved in hazel to vessels turned in birch, have been widely exhibited.
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