Southern Sweden Creatives is a three-year project supporting small and medium-sized cultural and creative companies from southern Sweden to grow internationally (currently the largest export-related project for the cultural and creative industries in Sweden) and will bring 13 design companies to exhibit at the pavilion. Organising partner for the Swedish Design Pavilion is Form/Design Center – a hub for knowledge and inspiration in architecture and design.
“Following last year’s successful Swedish Design Pavilion we’re excited to return to London Design Fair this year with an even bigger stand and more exhibitors,” says Terese Alstin at Form/Design Center. “There is a growing international interest for the thriving design scene in southern Sweden and common platforms offer a great opportunity for a diverse range of designers to show their work to an international audience.”
Curator and exhibition architect Karin Sundberg has designed this year's pavilion in collaboration with partner Swedish Wood. Ateljé Lyktan is sponsoring the pavilion with lighting. Media partner is FORM Magazine.
Architect Karin Sundberg has many years of experience in urban, architecture and design projects. She is passionate about sustainable development and design and is inspired by an interaction between different scales and contexts. Since February, Karin operates her own business, KarIN, with a focus on concept development, exhibition architecture and interior design. Karin is an advocate for narrative design and strong design, something that is evident in this year's Swedish design pavilion.
Located in a prime location in the centre of the ground floor of London Design Fair, the Swedish Design Pavilion consists of several exhibition areas where products are exhibited including a shared lounge area where visitors can enjoy Swedish coffee from fine coffee roasters Koppi. Swedish Wood is sponsor of the pavilion, built entirely in solid pine.
“The Pavilion is a spatial sculpture, a dissolved volume, where the different products are highlighted and define the surface. The pavilion is built on a modular system where floor, wall and ceiling elements set up and form spaces with floating limits. The pavilion is given a powerful pink glaze, strengthening and unifying the overall appearance and elevating the exhibitors' products,” explains Karin Sundberg.
All 13 exhibiting designers are based in Skåne and its trend-setting capital Malmö, currently seen as one of Sweden’s leading design hotbeds. Providing exhibition space for these forward-thinking designers, the Swedish Design Pavilion will highlight some of their boldest, most innovative design work. There will also be an opportunity to try Swedish food and drink at the Swedish Design Pavilion in a reception hosted by Embassy of Sweden in London on the opening day of the fair.
Read more about the Swedish pavilion here!
EXHIBITING DESIGN COMPANIES:
Through an open call process during the period January 25 to February 22, 13 exhibitors have been selected.
Butler/Lindgård
Butler/Lindgård is a Malmö-based design studio specialising in textile design. The duo, consisting of Hanna Butler and Karin Olu Lindgård, creates exclusive statement objects using a concept-driven design approach based on the desire for a different future and a wish that our era’s overconsumption should be transformed into long-term, well-considered choices that last a lifetime. The two designers are driven by a burning desire for sisterhood and equality plus a determined commitment to sustainability and a small-scale approach. Their work is characterised by very close collaboration, which includes them sketching together on the same sheet of paper. There is no “mine”and “yours”– all their works are joint creations. butlerlindgard.com
Watch movie: Swedish Design Moves – Butler/Lindgård
Happy Ears
Happy Ears was founded in Malmö in 2012 by Karl Berglund and Jukka Viitasara with the goal of developing an earplug that checked all the boxes for function, design, and reasonable price. The result is Happy Ears earplugs. Soon after the product was launched, Happy Ears was chosen as the winner of “2012 Product of the Year” for its revolutionary earplugs. The products are manufactured to a high standard, in which the latest technology, the best materials and an appealing design are self-evident components. All the manufacturing is based in Sweden but Happy Ears is developing the earplugs with the whole world’s ears in mind. happyears.co
Jollygoodfellow
Jollygoodfellow is a duo consisting of Esa and Lisa Tanttu, who since founding the company have worked in the borderland between design, art and craft. Using graphic expression as their starting point, the designers create objects inspired by nature, the everyday and life’s contrasts. Sustainable and good-quality materials combine with timeless printing and thorough work processes to make the created object a “jolly good fellow” for a long time. jollygoodfellow.se
Watch movie: Jollygoodfellow - Design and printing studio
Karolina Brobeck
With handcraft running like a red thread through her life, ceramicist Karolina Brobeck designs objects filled with curiosity and energy. In her pottery, the delicate and the rustic meet, not infrequently topped off by a precise touch of humour. With the personal description of “a feminist with a touch of Asperger’s, a bit of a lone wolf”, she creates unique objects inspired by architecture, the body, and a desire to find new solutions. karolinabrobeck.com
Konsthantverk Tyringe
The Konsthantverk Tyringe lighting factory in Skåne manufactures lamps using solid experience and knowledge based on almost 100 years of manufacturing history. With a focus on handcraft, Konsthantverk Tyringe manufactures locally produced lamps that are accessible for everyone, with high quality and reasonable pricing as their starting points. The ambition is to create lamps that will last a long time and give pleasure for many years. konsthantverk.com
Kullaro
Kullaro is a small family-run company based in Lönsboda in northeastern Skåne.It works with local deposits of diabase (dolerite) to create contrast-rich, timeless forms and objects, each of which has its own form of expression, its own distinctive nature. The rock is often combined with other materials, which enhance it in an unexpected way. The creators’ vision is that each piece of jewellery or furniture, each work of art will have part of their heart and soul imprinted on it. kullaro.se
Myhlta by Lisa Hilland
Lisa Hilland runs her own design studio in Malmö where she creates contemporary design with a poetic twist. Myhlta by Lisa Hilland is a new design range, inspired by Scandinavian nature, combining its natural materials, quality craftsmanship, and modern production techniques. Myhlta is the traditional local name of the Arctic Cloudberry, growing in the Scandinavian mountain chain between Northern Sweden and Norway. A rare treasure, if you can find it. lisahilland.com
Nina Johanna Christensen
Nina Johanna Christensen is a glassblower, designer and artist from Malmö who produces both small-scale utility ware and unique objects. Inspired by the physical work of the glassblowing craft, Nina seeks in her works for what is simple, artless and raw. She allows the traces of her movements and the production process to put their unique stamp on the objects. The process is equally about developing beautiful objects in glass as it is about passing on the legacy of the ancient craft of glassblowing. ninajohannachristensen.com
Nola
Nola Industrier is a design company that is almost 40 years old and that is today the market leader in furnishing public space. Guided by the concepts of quality, function and environmental thinking in combination with interesting design, Nola strives to create movement and change in our public spaces. The ambition is to make the urban environment easier to appreciate, use and enjoy over time. Nola cooperates with skilled designers and architects from concept to manufacture, with the focus on local and sustainable production. nola.se
Nordgröna
Nordgröna is a Skåne-based company founded by Oscar Pressfeldt, Joris Oudendijk and Sander Oudendijk. Using handpicked reindeer moss from the mountainous areas of northern Scandinavia, Nordgröna creates inspirational and functional sound absorbers for public environments.In addition to its attractive appearance, versatile reindeer moss has a number of sought-after characteristics. It retains its colours, is fireproof, absorbs and releases moisture, stays soft, and is maintenance free. All the products are handmade, natural and made in Sweden. nordgrona.com
Scandinaviaform
Scandinaviaform is run by designer and creator Eva Levin. Scandinaviaform was founded from a curiosity and ambition to experiment with Scandinavian design in a new and innovative context. The glass vases Glasilium and Consilium with their cork necks and copper stalks present a flower, a blade of grass, a branch or a leaf in its most transparent form. The objects capture nature’s unique forms of expression and bring them indoors. With roots in the Scandinavian design tradition, Eva Levin is driven to continue exploring the borderland between creativity and simplicity. scandinaviaform.com
SNEGO
SNEGO consists of the Skåne-based design duo Katarina Hornwall and Gabriella Rubin. With the unique SNEGO building blocks, stylish design is balanced with playfulness. The objects are made of wood and dyed using only natural materials, including blueberries, turmeric and red cabbage. The concept behind SNEGO is that everyone, whatever their age, should have the chance to play freely without focusing on rules or results. Here there is no right or wrong use, which gives the user the freedom to be creative. snego.se
Swedish Ninja
Swedish Ninja designs and manufactures lighting and furniture with the aim of creating objects that will live on from generation to generation. Its best-known product is the table lamp Little Darling, whose design was inspired by the striking difference in height between the founder, Maria Gustavsson, and her husband. At the London Design Fair the company presented an inspiring collection of furniture and interior design details based on numerous design collaborations. swedishninja.com
Watch movie: Swedish Design Moves – Swedish Ninja
Best Stand Award 2018 – London Design Fair
After the fair, London Design Fair awarded the Swedish design pavilion "Best stand 2018". Read more here.
