Norway Says | ScandinavianDesign.com

Norway Says was the Oslo design group that gave Norwegian furniture design a new international voice in the 2000s. Built around Torbjørn Anderssen, Espen Voll and Andreas Engesvik, the group worked across furniture, lighting, textiles and tableware until it split in 2009 into two studios that still shape Nordic design today: Anderssen & Voll and Andreas Engesvik.

Background

The group took shape around the turn of the millennium, partly as a reaction against what its founders saw as a lack of new thinking in Norwegian design. The members had trained as furniture designers and interior architects at the art and design academies in Oslo and Bergen. Their breakthrough came at Salone Satellite in Milan in 2000, Norway’s first presence at the furniture fair in decades, where the young designers drew immediate attention from the international press. Later collaborators included Hallgeir Homstvedt, who joined the studio before starting his own practice.

Design approach

Norway Says reworked the legacy of mid-century modernism with clear lines, playful shapes and strong colour. The pieces were often technically demanding, built on simple ideas executed with precision, and they treated comfort and character as equally important.

Key designs

The longest collaboration was with Norwegian upholsterer LK Hjelle, starting with the Break, Hal and Ugo collection in 2004, followed by the BOY pouf, the OK sofa and the Duo sofa and Hotel chair. For Offecct the group designed the Spline chairs, now in the collection of Norway’s National Museum, and later the Moon chair. Lighting includes the Ginko pendant for Örsjö, the Papermaster magazine rack was made by Swedese, and Muuto produced the Plus salt and pepper mills.

Recognition

Norway Says received the Bruno Mathsson Prize in 2004, cited for placing Norwegian design on the world map, and the Torsten and Wanja Söderberg Prize in 2007. A ten-year retrospective was shown in Oslo in 2009.

After Norway Says

Anderssen and Voll founded Anderssen & Voll in 2009, working with brands such as Muuto, Magis and &Tradition. Engesvik set up his own studio and today runs Grung Engesvik together with Jannicke Grung, known among other things for the Flora armchair for Fogia.

By Editorial Team, ScandinavianDesign.com