Crossing Borders – Smart Design

These are exciting times for the design world. New technology is creating new opportunities and major challenges. This exhibition showcases products by Swedish designers in the fields of digital communication and manufacturing and sustainable design.

28 June–30 September 2017
At Terminal 5, Arlanda Airport

In cooperation with Swedavia

Thanks to digital technology, not only can we communicate with the things we use daily, but they can communicate with us. For instance, the cycle can warn other road users if the cyclist has to brake hard, or transmit its geographical location if the wearer is unconscious.

Technology for three-dimensional printing is creating the opportunity to radically reduce the transport of goods and the associated environmental impact. A guitar designed on a computer and printed on a 3D printer shows the potential of this technology. Perhaps in future we shall be able to buy a digital file for a coffee maker or a mobile phone and have it printed at the supermarket.

New research coupled with lean design may reduce the burden on the earth’s natural resources. A smart power cord reminds the user of how much more electricity is needed to power a hairdryer than to charge a mobile phone. A special bag helps reduce the spread of cholera in densely populated areas with no sanitation. An enzyme inside the bag quickly breaks down excrement and turns it into manure.

This exhibition is part of a programme by Nationalmuseum and Swedavia to showcase art and design at Swedish airports. In 2014 an exhibition featuring photographic portraits of famous Swedes appeared at Arlanda and later went on tour to other Swedavia airports in Sweden.

Nationalmuseum in Stockholm has Sweden’s largest collection of applied art, design and industrial design, comprising 30,000 artefacts and ranging from the 14th century to the present day.