Culture and nature convene in Eva Schildt’s Gardener’s sofa. Nature will feel at ease: let wildflowers and plants happily twine around the double-coated steel structure. No maintenance is required; the fully ergonomic seating will easily become part of its surroundings. And while not in use, the sofa is in itself a sculptural presence in nature. The lattice-like bench is both strong and sturdy, and with a light expression apt for enjoying early mornings, midday sunshine, and calm evenings. ’I was pining for warmer climates back at Beckmans College of Design,’ Eva Schildt remembers, ’But you shouldn’t complain about the cold here in Sweden, you have to get out anyway! I designed this sofa along with a table, and even an insulated and waterproof picnic blanket.’

Eva Schildt launched her design even before the present trend for a closer connection with nature got hold. The sofa alludes to the modernist creed of creating habitable outdoor spaces when balconies, greenhouses, and porches abound in seamless continuation between indoor and outdoor. ’My degree work was all about integrating form and function of objects with nature. Gardener’s sofa is all about truly relating to context. Plants can grow on this trellis-like bench and in time cover it completely. Isn’t that an attestation to culture slowly blending with nature?’

Margot Barolo, design manager at Design House Stockholm, explains that interior nowadays fuses with exterior architecture. ’It is a playful and very poetic design, a perfect seat that lets form and nature fuse together. Use Gardener’s sofa in semi-enclosed or open outdoor spaces as well as out in the wild.’

Eva Schildt studied furniture and product design at Beckmans College of Design in Stockholm. Soon after graduation 2001 her Gardener’s Sofa received a number of significant design awards in Sweden with Young Swedish Design, and the year after also Excellent Swedish Design. The sofa is featured in the Design Collection at the National Museum in Stockholm.