Twice a year for years, Formex – the trade show for interior design at Stockholmsmässan – has been a reliable indicator of where things are going in the Scandinavian marketplace for interior design.
As I’m writing this, the second day of the January edition is drawing to a close. So what’s happening? Well, first let me tell you what’s NOT happening: Brass and clean wood, those mandatory markers of taste for many years (too many?) simply weren’t there this time. Instead there were a lot of ceramics, a lot of concrete, dirty pastels (again) and grays. Sounds boring? Well, occationally it was. But there was also a lot of truly great stuff:
Beeing a total sucker for innovation of traditional materials and techniques, one of the things I really liked was the Dancing Dune porcelain collection by designer Anna Elzer Oscarson and manufacturer Porslinsfabriken – a beautiful example of a product series rooted in tradition but made relevant for today.
Anna is not a ceramist, but a product designer working in CAD software, like Rhino. The collection is an exploration of movement, a line curving eternally, and of the interplay of color and glaze, made in close collaboration with the skilled craftsmen at Porslinsfabriken. That’s where true innovation happens, she says, in that place where ideas and craftmanship meet.
The starting point is classic Swedish ceramics from the 50’s and 60’s, but Anna wanted to create something contemporary and with her own artistic signature. And here’s the best part: a well thought through production process will make these great items affordable to most people. Well done!
