Meet the future of design at Greenhouse
The jury is in! Our judges have finally selected the exhibitors for Greenhouse, the Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair’s hall for unestablished designers. The Whole Elements, TIEL, Studio Mutant, Anton Karlsson and Ryu Kozeki are among the selected exhibitors. In total, 39 designers or design teams and 27 design schools from 17 countries will be participating.
The Whole Elements – Anna Bera is a designer, artist and wood carver. Since 2014 she has been running The Whole Elements, a woodworking shop and studio in the Świętokrzyskie Mountains in Poland. Anna creates hand-crafted furniture with a focus on wood. Having physical contact with the material is crucial for Anna. That’s why her studio since its launch has been a unified space together with the workshop where she realizes all her projects. At Greenhouse, she will exhibit her latest collection, Fossils, which consists of objects that demand a certain degree of engagement. The user cannot remain indifferent to these objects – he or she must inspect, touch and play in order to use them.
“Participating in Greenhouse isn’t just a good opportunity for inspiring encounters, but it opens up the possibility to find new collaborative partnerships. And, it provides an excellent opportunity to reflect on oneself as a designer in the context of the Scandinavian design industry,” says Anna.
TIEL is a multidisciplinary creative studio based in Seoul. It was founded in 2016 by the Swiss-Korean duo Charlotte Therre and Joong Han Lee. Both graduated from the Design Academy Eindhoven, and have worked together and gained experience in the United States, the Netherlands, Norway, South Korea and Switzerland before starting their own studio. TIEL provides creative direction as well as product, graphic and spatial design with a focus on research, concept development and collaboration with professionals in different areas.
“We want to make discoveries through geometric phenomena and contextualize them in the design in our own unique way. We always play around and explore freely by experimenting with different shapes and materials and their different physical characteristics,” says TIEL.
At Greenhouse, they will exhibit projects including an anatomical saddle stool, a low table inspired by traditional carpentry and a flexible hanging lamp.
Anton Karlsson lives and works in Amsterdam, where he also graduated from the art school Gerrit Rietveld Academie in 2016. He is currently working on a bathroom concept.
“This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, because it seems like bathrooms always get overlooked. Not so exciting, maybe, but there are a lot of interesting topics to explore. In general, I’m happy if my works convey satirical qualities or at least something humorous about them, but everything you do has its own set of rules,” says Anton.
Studio Mutant – Emma Persson, designer, fashion designer and artist, holds an MA degree from Konstfack in Stockholm and a BA from HDK Steneby. She launched Mutant in the beginning of 2017 as a desire to start up sewing production in Sweden. Mutant’s products take form at the intersection of toy and decoration. Mutant strives to create products that will appeal to adults and children alike and last through the generations. Shape, quality and choice of materials are paramount. Tactile sensation plays a big part in the experience. All of its products are certified as toys and are produced in Sweden using organic cotton, textile waste materials and reindeer skins from Norrland.
“It’ll be fun to test our products with our target audience at the fair. It’s always fun to see people’s reactions when they interact with our products. I expect to get many new contacts like new distributors, but even collaborative partners for future productions,” says Emma.
Ryu Kozeki is a product designer and art director based in Tokyo. After graduating from Tama Art University in 1998, he began working under Toshiyuki Kita, one of Japan’s and Italy’s most influential product designers. In 2011, he started up his own design studio. He has received design prizes including the Good Design Award in Japan and iF Design Awards in Germany.
“I think that design is like a message from the creator or the owner, and the task of any designer is to translate that message to the product. If our translations fit the people, then the design works very well. It’s the same as with a personal letter to the important people in your life, like friends, family and so on. At the fair, I’ll exhibit a new light object – a prototype. Making a prototype or realizing an idea is one of the best ways to unleash my passion,” explains Ryu.
