Malmstens is the fourth design school in Stockholm. After Konstfack, Beckmans and Handarbetets vänner it is now time to look at the graduates of this wood and carpentry school.
The schoool of Malmstens is always a gem. Here you can find amazing new thinking and talents. Some of our most prominent designers started their training here. Just like at Handarbetets vänner I am always impressed with their love for craft and the material.
The pictures here are terrible since I tried to combine watching an exhibition and attending a vernissage at the same time, but you can see better pictures on the link above.
A good example of the interest for historical craft but in a contemporary approach. Klara Fahrman worked with smoke marble. You could for instance see this way of marbelling on interior design at churches or old mansions. Here on contemporary furniture. The design stands back for the experimentation of the surfaces. Nice. Easy to like.
Unexpected and creative. And actually a bit mindblowing. Is this the most interesting exam project of the year? Ragnar Peterson Bodrow made a chair with low CO2 emission. He has been working with mycelium. Instead of glue or resin he added mycelium as a component to bind pieces. The seat is actually not chipboard but loose pieces of wood glued together with mycelium. Big love.
Second picture is more experimental. The mycelium is put in molds together with woodshavings (träspån, in Swedish) and will actually “build” a chair.
Isn’t this crazy? Most innovative product of the year.
Kristina Englund made a chair with craft and chopped wood aesthetics. Then worked with machines to look how she could 3D print the chair instead. By doing this she saves a lot of material waste.
A collection with what we now can call a typical “sight unseen aesthetics”. I really don’t hate this, but we have a trendy aesthetics dominated and ruled by the New York based blog Sight Unseen. I am positive that this is a piece that will end up here. I do appreciate that this is an armrest chair that is actually open. Open for conversation. By Moa Dahl Blomberg.
A bit on the same note with this trendy aesthetic bu Matilda Lindstam Nilsson.
I always fall for things with an aesthetic that stands out and makes me tilt my head a bit… Liselotte Eriksson made a collection inspirered by contemporary dance. I can really see the feet and the movement. Nice.
I am actually not sure if these girls are ironic or serious. It is a really nice collection with a sofa, lamp and a sofa table. They talk about inspiration from a 70s club house and you can see it in the casual and relaxed social space and the bright colours. I am not sure I see a 70s reference but I do like the lamp and the table. By Rebecka Hansson and Starkenberg.
Sonething rare. It is not very common that a design student takes production into consideration. But that is exactly what Max Alexandersson made. The bookshelf is nice with the rounded shelves. You even have room for plants in it. The shape of the wood is coming back meaning that is is fairly easy and costefficient for a producer.
If we don’t see this with a furniture designer by Stockholm Design Week in February next year, then the world is mad. This should be on the market. Now.
Lisa Juhlin made a furniture piece where the hard (wood) meet the soft (textile)
And finally, perhaps a project that kind of “disappeared” in a setting like this. This cabinet is like a magicians hat, or the Russian dolls. You can fold it, and put it together so that it is almost “nothing”, and then open section by section depending on your need. By Rebceka Franzen.