Staffan Holm

Staffan Holm design studio is based in Gothenburg, Sweden. The studio is working with interior architecture, industrial design and furniture design.

Fascinated by inventions and craftsmanship at a young age, Staffan Holm later trained as a fine cabinet maker and gained his journeymans letter. He then continued to work as a carpenter for nearly four years and founded the Staffan Holm design studio 2008 after graduating School of Design and Crafts (HDK) in Gothenburg, Sweden.

In her presentation of Staffan Holm, Bruno Mathsson foundation board member Hedvig Hedqvist writes:
The stackable stool Spin is three-legged and has a famous predecessor but at the same time a totally unique radiance. The secret is in the leg construction. A structure that reveals that the author against all odds endeavoured a solution, which already on the drawing board seemed impossible. There are many unwritten rules about what can be done with wood. And laminating and bending veneer in two directions can be perceived as wasteful. The point of the stools wood technology construction, except that it is elegant, is that it hardly invites copying. Joiner’s art and the love of wood have been present as long Staffan Holm can remember. And the carpenter’s bench has been close to him since childhood. There were also role models. Grandpa was a carpenter, skilled at carving figures. Grandma encouraged early on carpentry grandson, gave him a lathe so that he could soon start experimenting at home in the basement. The dream was to become a cabinetmaker. Staffans journeyman’s work is a cupboard in cherry wood with finger-jointed drawers and intarsia inlays. Still the idea of becoming a furniture designer didn’t occur to him yet. Rather, it was something meditative in the slow woodworking process and the tactile experience of wood that attracted. Eventually however, the realization that one could become a designer started to pull. After the third request, he was admitted at HDK, Gothenburg and ended up in a world where especially the dialogue with all involved peers came to give unexpected impulses, broadened interest in design and the ideas of sustainable development. As it is not enough just with shapes controlled by practical function.
It’s always important to talk about the feeling. It must be included in any project, explains Staffan Holm.

Text: Hedvig Hedqvist