Day One from Stockholm Design Week 2024
The Dezeen team are reporting live from Stockholm Design Week in the Swedish capital (5-11 February) . Read on for all the coverage from the first day (Monday 5 February) – and follow the live feed for today's activity!
6:00pm As the sun sets over Stockholm on the first day of Stockholm Design Week, Dezeen editor-at-large Amy Frearson visited the studio of Stockholm-based designers Fredrik Färg and Emma Marga Blanche, founders of the studio Färg & Blanche.
The fair is really important to us; we would never be where we are today without it
The duo will be launching several new product collections at the Stockholm Furniture Fair this week – with highlights including The Thread sofa for Johanson Design and new version of the Lightbone lamps for Oblure – and they have also installed a bar, seating area and stage area.
Blanche told Dezeen that the fair is as important as ever in providing an international platform for Swedish designers and brands. "The fair is really important to us; we would never be where we are today without it," she said.
"The fair will be smaller this year, less big brands, but I think the content will be fantastic. People exhibiting seem to be really happy and there is a really good energy," Blanche continued.
4:30pm Ahead of its launch tomorrow (6 Feb), Dezeen has been given an exclusive preview of Fredrik Paulsen's Foundation of Joy exhibition at Stockholm auction house Bukowski's.
Paulsen was asked by Bukowski's to create 33 objects in 33 days including chairs, benches, shelves, tables and sideboards.
He used standardised aluminium extrusions as his starting point and limitation, from which he added hand-crafted elements to each piece such as seat backs and table tops.
The results are playful and a riff on the name of Paulsen's furniture brand Joy, which has been creating limited edition pieces with idiosyncratic marketing since it launched in 2022.
The objects are on display during Stockholm Design Week and will be sold via Bukowski's online auction. – Max Fraser
Read more about the Foundation of Joy on Dezeen Events Guide ›
4:00pm Tempted as he was, with a dodgy hip still recovering from a recent bike accident, Max Fraser settled for a pic of the ice skaters from the roof of the Sven-Harrys konstmuseum where he was taking in the Bruno + 35 Mathsson Prize Winners exhibition (see the 10:30am entry, further down).
3:00pm As part of Form Us With Love’s exhibition Testing Ground, Swedish brand Forming Function showcased its easily moveable, plug-in lighting design The Nomad Collection.
The playful lamp, which has a mushroom-like design, can be directly plugged in and taken out of light sockets and comes in a variety of sizes.
As part of @formuswithlove’s exhibition Testing Ground, Swedish brand Forming Function showcased its easily moveable, plug-in lighting design called The Nomad Collection. Discover more like this on our LIVE feed from Stockholm Design Week! https://t.co/1o3fdNQX0b pic.twitter.com/RyBi1pnUb6
— Dezeen (@dezeen) February 5, 2024
Footage by Cajsa Carlson
"The inspiration for the shape actually comes from the socket outfits," Forming Function head of product Linnea Montano told Dezeen.
"We wanted to create something very minimal, but we weren't sure about the shape in the beginning," she added.
"But then we thought, we have this round, soft radius in the foundation, and we wanted to incorporate that in the design of the lamp."
"It creates this groundedness and softness – a clean minimalist design that is still precious and refined."
2:30pm Dezeen editorial director Max Fraser stopped by the office of Nichetto Studio for a catch up with its founder Luca Nichetto. The designer will be launching the Eski Chair for Swedish contract furniture manufacturer Edsbyn this week in Stockholm.
The company, established in 1899, used to make wooden skis. Nichetto has designed a rocking chair on curved wooden sleds as a nod to Edsbyn's past.
Asked about the news that the Stockholm Furniture Fair is for sale, Nichetto pondered the future for Sweden's principle furniture trade show. "Considering what is happening in Scandinavia, it's going to be quite interesting to see if this fair becomes very local or if there is still a hope that it remains relevant in an international field, as it was before."
"I think if they find a way to be different from 3 Days of Design [in Copenhagen], which now looks like the design destination in Scandinavia, they need to work really hard in Sweden to compete with this new [citywide] format."
11:30am Copenhagen-based rug and tapestry brand Cappelen Dimyr's latest designs are on display in a showroom filled with antiques at Stockholm Design Week, served with pears, pistachios and cannoli. – Cajsa Carlson
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11:00am Design studio Form Us With Love has invited architects and interior designers to test out an experimental pop-up workspace called Testing Grounds.
Instead of creating a static exhibition for the design week, the studio has transformed the front of its Stockholm office into a co-working space featuring new furniture designs. – Amy Frearson
Read more about how Form Us With Love transforms its studio into a future workplace prototype ›
10:30am The Sven-Harrys konstmuseum – designed by Wingårdhs in 2011 – is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Bruno Mathsson Prize with a newly-opened exhibition of works by 35 previous winners.
Considered the most prestigious annual Nordic design award, the exhibition brings together designers from 1995's winner Ake Axelsson to last year's winner, Front.
Each designer was asked to display their signature design as well as an object that they did not design but that symbolises their design intention.
The exhibition design is constructed entirely from stacked cardboard painted in a "Stockholm pink".
Cardboard plinths display works by Ilkka Suppanen, Cecilie Manz, Daniel Rybakken, Claesson Koivisto Rune, Anderssen & Voll, Folkform, and Monica Förster. – Max Fraser
Read more about the Bruno + 35 Mathsson Prize Winners exhibition on Dezeen Events Guide ›
10:00am British designer Faye Toogood has collaborated with Finnish furniture brand Vaarnii to create the Peace outdoor furniture collection, which will be unveiled at Stockholm Furniture Fair.
"It brings a softness and generosity – the pine comes in chunky planks, the roundness invites you to sit," Toogood said.
Read more about Faye Toogood's lollipop stick-like chair and footstool for Vaarnii ›
9:30am For this morning's unveiling of the Together exhibition at Swedish department store NK, visitors were treated to traditional Swedish cakes. These included cream-filled Semla buns and bright-green princess cakes, all washed down with lots of coffee – Swedish-style. – Cajsa Carlson
9:00am Stockholm received a dusting of snow overnight, and Dezeen's editorial director Max Fraser, editor-at-large Amy Frearson, deputy editor Cajsa Carlson and junior reporter Jane Englefield are on the ground reporting from Stockholm Design Week, now in it's 22nd year after having been founded in 2002.
Dezeen Events Guide has created a Stockholm Design Week guide, highlighting the key events at the festival this year.
To keep you up to date, follow the live coverage from Stockholm Design Week.
Dezeen Events Guide has created a Stockholm Design Week digital guide highlighting the key events at the festival.
See Dezeen Events Guide for all the latest information you need to know to attend the event, as well as a list of other architecture and design events taking place around the world.
All times are London time.
The lead image is by Max Fraser.