lifeiscarbon®

Inspirational Scandinavian Interiors

édition PAUMES is a small and dynamic family run firm of Japanese publishers, that work closely with artists and designers in Europe to produce beautiful interior design books. With a poetic and original approach, édition PAUMES explores the environments of those who stimulate the creative industries, and in doing has produced an impressive set of style bibles that overflow with inspiration.

Luckily for all of us in Scandinavia, after a debut tour in Paris, édition PAUMES went on to discover Stockholm, then London and most recently Copenhagen. Even better news is that the publishers promise that the creative link, which they’ve forged between Tokyo and Europe, is only just beginning.

Distribution is still relatively limited but the publishers suggest that ordering books by email via their website is possible. Alternatively, if you happen to find yourself in Scandinavia, the édition PAUMES covering Scandinavian cities are available at Design Torget stores. Not that the pictures here can do justice to the beauty of these books, but take a look below at images from various editions covering Scandinavian interiors:

New Nordic Lighting

The young Norwegian lighting company, Northern Lighting, has come a long way since first wrote about them in 2006 and this year has seen the introduction of an impressive range of new products. Moo, their homage to the humble Scandinavian elk, is hard to miss these days since it’s quickly become the favorite design object to adorn the walls of design based businesses in Oslo.

Bucket, another of their new designs, looks at first like a standard floor lamp but the humorous kink in its stand and oversized proportions have made it another instant success. Having long been irked by the lack of popularity of Norwegian designs from the 1950’s, we also applaud the fact that Northern Lighting have updated and re-issued Birger Dahl’s design classic Pendel S/10053 as the Dokka pendant lamp.

Due to their quirky sense of humor and eclectic range of designs, Northern Lighting are fast becoming one of lifeiscarbon®'s favorite Scandinavian design companies. Take a look below at a selection of their latest products:

Naturally Inspired Design

Given that Monica Förster is the creator of some of the most internationally renowned objects in contemporary Swedish design, it’s taken far too long for lifeiscarbon® to mention her in their pages. Even more so because she is the designer of the legendary Cloud, one of our all-time favorite pieces of Scandinavian design.

Now based in Stockholm but having grown up close to the artic circle in the far north of Sweden, Monica Förster’s work is categorized by a strong sense of pure form mixed with a never-ending curiosity for new materials and technology. Often working in a cross-disciplinary way, Förster invents and renews typologies in industrial, furniture and object design. She was awarded Designer of the Year, Sweden, in 2007 and 2006, Excellent Swedish Design, at Design Plus in Germany, and the FutureDesignDays Award 2002. 

Monica Förster’s design studio works with an impressive list of clients across the world, including Poltrona Frau, Tacchini, Modus, E&Y Japan, Offecct and Swedese. Take a look below at a selection of our design favorites from Monica Förster:

New Art Of Glass

Lipsticks, high-heels and phalli. Power, gender and consumerism. Just some of the icons and ideas explored in the work of glass artist, Åsa Jungnelius. Often using stereotypically charged objects as reference points in order to either hyper-emphasize or subvert their established meaning, Jungnelius creates larger-than-life objects of feminine beauty at the Åfors Glassworks in Småland, Sweden.

Following her studies at the Pilchuck Glass School in the Unites States and Konstfack (the University College of Arts, Crafts and Design) in Stockholm, Åsa Jungnelius started her career at the Orrefors School of Glass. The artist has recently returned to the Kingdom of Crystal (Glasriket) as a new designer at Kosta Boda, the world renowned Swedish glassworks.

One of the artist’s favorite themes is consumption as the creator of personal identity and the question of who we become in today’s shopping culture? Take a look below at a selection of the beautiful and occasionally provocative work of Åsa Jungnelius:

Shhh! Swedish Fashion Secret

Whilst braving the bitter coldness of an early winter to stroll around Oslo during the weekend, lifeiscarbon® briefly popped into NorwayDesigns in attempt to stay warm. Something of a misnomer, NorwayDesigns is predominantly a collection of fashion, furniture, design objects and handcrafts from Sweden, Denmark and Finland rather than from Norway. Be that as it may, the store often showcases upcoming Scandinavian designers and we were happy to stumble across the latest collection from Swedish fashion brand, Nygårdsanna.

Featuring a limited color scale from nature’s palette, lines that flatter and adorn rather than demand attention and making use of natural materials such as linen, cotton and silk, Nygårdsanna somehow manage to turn Swedish folklore into avant-garde creations. Founded by the talented Swedish designer Anna Bengtsson, the brand won the prestigious design award Guldknappen in 1998 and has since received the distinction of winning an Outstanding Swedish Design award.

Nygårdsanna is based in Linköping, in southern Sweden, and has three wonderful stores in Gothenburg, Malmö and Stockholm but the brand name itself comes from Nygården, a farm in Dalarna where Anna Bengtsson’s ancestors lived long ago. People in the know ensure that they make the annual pilgrimage to Dalarna to visit Nygårdsanna’s yearly warehouse sale, which is still held at Anna’s grandparent’s house. Nygårdsanna is possibly one of Scandinavia’s best kept secrets but probably not for long, and we warn you; once bitten forever smitten. Take a look below to see what all the fuss is about:

Magazines We Love

Admittedly, we’ve written some of them before on lifeiscarbon® but many of our readers were interested to find out which Scandinavian magazines we just can’t do without. Perhaps it smacks of Nordic imperialism but, since Berlin is fast becoming the art capital of Scandinavia (more about this at a later date) and given the similarities between Teutonic and Scandinavian aesthetics, we’ve taken the liberty of including a couple of superb art/fashion magazines from Germany in our list of glossy must-reads.

Since no words of our will do justice to the stunning photography, über cool fashion and editorial eclecticism of these magazines, we’ll leave it up to you to follow the links after the jump to check out Carl's Cars and Nytt Rom from Norway, Dansk, Cover and Vs from Denmark, Acne Paper from Sweden and Sleek, Tush, Booklet and Zoo from Germany. Take a look below:

New Norwegian Cushion Designs

It seems we becoming somewhat predictable in our old age (did we mention that lifeiscarbon® is almost 2 years old). Last time we were inspired to write about cushions, snow was lying thick on the ground outside and it’s no different this time. Much of Norway got a shock yesterday morning when it awoke to face a winter wonderland outside and many took the decision to stay at home rather than face the traffic chaos caused by the early arrival of snow. We were no different, and perhaps spending a day lounging about on the sofa with a Powerbook reminded us of the need for some new cushions.

Yet again, our friends at Funkle have come to the rescue with the launch of Gravenhurst, their latest line of cushions. Striking a careful balance between heritage and modernity, the new cushions feature elegant typography embroidered onto luxurious pin-striped wool suiting cloth. The designs themselves have been inspired by the lyrics of the English musician Gravenhurst with text quoted from the song The Diver, taken from the album Flashlight Seasons. Each cushion is a numbered limited edition. Take a look below to more of Funkle’s stylish new range and to read more about Gravenhurst:

New Danish Design Toy

One of the great things about being a parent is that fact that, despite being an adult, one has the perfect excuse to buy all the toys that one never had as a child. Given that many of us live in open plan spaces these days, toys have ended up becoming interesting design objects liberally scattered about the home, well used and highly visible. Perhaps this explains the Scandinavian trend of creating beautifully crafted toys that often end up becoming highly collectable design objects for children and adults alike.

We’ve never made a secret of our love of simple wooden toys from Scandinavia, having previously written about lifeiscarbon® favourites such as Playsam, Brio and Micki Leksaker, so you can imagine our delight at the fact that Normann Copenhagen have announced the launch of their first toy. 

Plane is a simple wooden aeroplane for children of all ages designed by the Danish graphic designer Ole Søndergaard. In the summer of 2005 Ole Søndergaard wrote the following in his diary: “Above me, in the distance can be heard the sound of the engine of a little sports plane. It is summer and the air is completely still. The sky is a brilliant blue and as always I am drawn when I see a plane in the sky. With an almost childlike joy I can permanently forget both time and place and soar up into the wide blue yonder". This extremely simplistic, minimalistic and almost symbolic approach to product design is rather characteristic of Ole Søndergaard’s work. Honored with design prizes and distinctions he has, during the course of his career, created innumerable pictograms, logos and the font ‘FF Signa’. Take a look below at more images of Plane and to read more about Ole Søndergaard:

Yellow Is The New Black

Despite our penchant for all things monochromatic (did we mention that lifeiscarbon® love white and also happen to love black?) we have to admit that, with the hours of daylight shortening fast and the gloom of Winter descending upon us, we’ve fallen for a shockingly cheerful new color. Quite out of character for us but, in Scandinavia at least, yellow is the new black. And luckily for us, it seems that our Danish design favorites, Muuto love yellow too.

Take a look below at a selection of new products by Jens Fager, Mattias Ståhlblom, Ole Jensen, Norway Says and Teppo Asikainen, all of which are available in the same wonderful shocking yellow. The future is bright, the future is yellow:

21st Century Scandinavian Modern

It’s been way too long since lifeiscarbon® has written about its Scandinavian design favorites Muuto, and now there are simply too many great new designs to squeeze into one post. So we hope you’ll forgive us for writing two quick articles about this remarkable Danish design company, a company that’s almost single handedly defining the look of Scandinavian Modern in the 21st century.

The founders of Muuto, Peter Bonnén and Kristian Byrge, have signed up an impressive roster of Nordic designers including Norway Says, Claesson Koivisto Rune, Harri Koskinen, Ole Jensen, Matte Klenell and Louise Campbell, among many others and given them the freedom to express their highly individualistic ideas through the design of everyday objects. Objects made more sublime through their fresh perspectives on traditional Scandinavian forms. Make a pilgrimage to museums like Skansen in Stockholm or Folkemuseum in Oslo and you’ll begin to understand where the inspiration for many of the designs, for example Jens Fager’s Raw candelabra or Louise Campbell's The More The Merrier candlestick, comes from. Despite the modernity of Muuto’s designs, there is an increasing use of traditional materials that are hand crafted to create unique pieces. Take a look below at some of favorites from amongst Muuto’s latest products:

Homage To Ingmar Bergman

 

Whilst we’ve never been tempted to re-mortgage in order to stump up the massive $6000 required to purchase a copy of Helmut Newton's SUMO (complete with sturdy metal book stand) we are still considering getting hold of a copy of the slightly more affordable Araki limited edition that's also published by Taschen. One of Taschen’s books that we certainly will be buying is the newly published Ingmar Bergman Archives, which promises to be as highly collectable as our copy of The Stanley Kubrick Archives. 

The Ingmar Bergman Archives is an in-depth exploration of the director’s professional and private life and serves as an homage to one of the most esteemed film and theater artists of all time. The book was begun in cooperation with Bergman himself, before his death last year, and was made with full access to his archives. The many photographs in the book were collated by Bengt Wanselius, Bergman's photographer for 20 years, who discovered previously unseen images from Bergman's films, and selected unpublished images from the personal archives of many photographers, including the legendary Lennart Nilsson. Rare texts by Bergman, as well as interviews never previously published outside Sweden, have now been made available, thanks to the book's editors receiving unrestricted access to those packing cases at Bergman's foundation, as well as various theatres and film studios. 

The 592 page hardback volume comes with a couple of special bonuses; an original film strip from a copy of Fanny and Alexander that has been played on Bergman’s own film projector and a DVD containing over 110 minutes of new and rare documentary footage. The book has already been nominated as Best Non-Fiction Book 2008 for the August Prize, the Swedish equivalent to the Pulitzer and many of the photographs can currently be seen in an exhibition at the Nobel Museum in Stockholm. Take a look below to see images from The Ingmar Bergman Archives:

Swedish Japanese Diffusion

Following successful collaborations with Karl Lagerfeld (2004), Stella McCartney (2005), Viktor & Rolf (2006) and Roberto Cavalli (2007), H&M look set to top them all with their latest creative partnership, with Commes des Garçons. Rei Kawakubo, one of the most significant figures in modern fashion and one of lifeiscarbon®’s favorite designers, has created two full collections, one for men and one for women collection, complete with accessories and a unisex fragrance.

The new women’s collection includes jackets and skirts that play with deconstruction, with incredible seam patterns, and some classic Comme des Garçons style boiled wool and gabardine pieces. There’s a perfect trench coat, beautifully cut shirts and jersey pieces bedecked in the signature Comme des Garçons’ polka dot. Accessories for women include polka dot weekend bags, canvas shoes, canvas and a new version of Comme des Garçons’ celebrated wallets. For men, suits and shirts have been cut on the bias, while other shirts use the typical Comme des Garçons’ patchwork technique. There are classics like a double-breasted belted trench coat and a boiled wool pea coat, together with less formal pieces such as hand-drawn polka dot shirts and t-shirts and accessories including a hat, scarf and canvas shoes.

Those of our readers based in Tokyo will get to see the new collection at H&M’s impressive new Ginza store on November 8th, as for the rest of us, we’ll have to wait until November 13th when the range hits 200 selected stores around the world. In the meantime, take a look below to see a selection of images from the lookbook and read more about Commes des Garçons:

Innovative Danish Designer

Born in 1972, Christian Flindt is one of the bright new stars to have emerged in recent years from the Århus School of Architecture in Denmark. Having first gained international prominence in 2005 with his visually stunning Orchid chair, an organic lounge chair in polished fiberglass, Christian Flindt is in the news again with not just one but two stunning new designs; FlindtLamps for Louis Poulsen and Ripple chair for Paustian have both gone into production this year. The design of Ripple once again demonstrates the designer’s particular ability to redefine form through the introduction of subtle elements from nature, in this case the ripple effect in the chair’s shell that references waves moving over water.

Luxus, an earlier design by Flindt, explores the connection between physical movement and the visual perception of it. The light in the chair is activated directly by rocking and gives the impression of being filled with liquid light. Varying the movement affects the pattern of light emitted with the aim of inspiring the user to maintain or change the pattern of rocking in order to affect the direction, speed or intensity of light.

Rainbow, another lifeiscarbon® design favorite, gives a whole new meaning to meaning to the word stackable. Until now, stacking chairs has tended to involve putting one on top of another but Flindt has fundamentally challenged this preconception by choosing to stack sideways and thereby rather cleverly created a further use for stored chairs. When stacked, these chairs fit together to form a bench and the translucent colors create a rainbow effect. Take a look below to see further designs by Christian Flindt including the visually stunning Orchid, intriguingly interactive Luxus and poetically clever Goldilock:

Modern Swedish Classics

It’s rare that official company showrooms are as inspirational as the eclecticism of smaller independent design stores but together with Normann Copenhagen’s showroom in Copenhagen, the Swedese Shop in Stockholm ranks as one of lifeiscarbon’s favorite stores in Scandinavia. Of course, much of the store’s appeal is do to Swedese’s own range of furniture but it’s also due to their careful selection of Scandinavian design classics that accessorize the interior.

Swedese is a Swedish furniture manufacturer that produces innovative designs that, whilst looking highly modern, seem so familiar that they feel like classics that have been around for years. Highly functional pieces that often incorporate timeless Nordic themes as decorative elements (snow, trees, clouds etc) and are always subtly imbued with a quirky sense of humor.

Creating furniture for the future that builds on the foundations of Scandinavian modern traditions by commissioning forward-looking designers who share in the timeless ideals of architecture, are the principles that Swedese have managed to hold onto for the past sixty years. We applaud them for that. Take a look below to read more about the company and to see a selection of our favorite pieces from their current range:

Innovative Swedish Menswear

Despite being born in Stockholm (1982) and displaying a strong sense of Scandinavian aestheticism, Julia Hederus appears to have been very keen to escape her native Sweden as quickly as possible. Firstly by moving to Denmark to study art at Holbæk Art School and going on to gain a degree in fashion at Kolding Design School, then moving to London to study menswear at Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design before collaborating with Los Angeles based K-Swiss.

Having been inspired by the classic Danish toy brand Lego, the clothes in Hederus’s debut show at London Fashion Week in 2007 had been cut into rectangular box shapes before being carefully glued back together. Part of the collection included three trainers that had been developed in collaboration with K-Swiss and have subsequently gone into production. High Block, Block and Cube are based on the K-Swiss Original (first designed in 1966) but have all been highly modified to include Hederus’s trademark building blocks together with some innovative touches such as removable Velcro-backed panels. Menswear, sport and transformability have long been essential to Hederus and are still areas that the designer believes will take fashion forward.

“Shoes are very different from clothes, and architecture has always been a great inspiration for me in fashion. So to design trainers feels even more natural. I often imagine very complex and futuristic shapes”

Having now established her own studio, Julia Hederus recently presented her A/W 09 collection entitled Kites at the +46 fashion show in Stockholm and is currently working on second collaboration with K-Swiss. While we wait to see her new lookbook, take a look below at her previous collection and the results of the Hederus For K-Swiss collaboration: