students from HDK present 'stories by the water' at stockholm furniture fair

students from HDK present ‘stories by the water’ at stockholm furniture fair
image © stories by the water

seven students from the school of design and crafts (HDK) at gothenburg university were chosen to showcase their work in the greenhouse exhibit at this year’s stockholm furniture fair. under the title ‘stories by the water‘, the students were given a site – the dalsland canal – and a brief to explore and create a strong connection between the education and the area of dals långed – a village in sweden. after detailed analysis of their chosen site, each student interpreted it into conceptual piece, product or artifact influenced by their unique location along the water.

sophie hardy’s breaking surface table uses paper to create the distinctive colored layers
image © stories by the water

for sophie hardy, her end product culminated into a circular table made intricately of 65 layers of paper. the concept stems from the deep-rooted history of the recently closed-down paper mill in the village where the university is located. with a focus of exploring the diversity of the village and the disappearance of the paper industry, this layers reflect the hidden potential in the people and history of the village.

‘it is this history of the paper and the identity of dals långed that I wanted to work with, so I took paper as the material and multiculturalism as my concept…’ comments designer sophie hardy ‘for me, I come from a background where I enjoy making products and the concept needed to be stronger than the purpose so I tried to not worry as much about the usability.’

jonatan appelfeldt, ‘marbelous’
image © stories by the water

defined by the combination of form, material and the marbled pattern on its surface. the curved and elevated shape is influenced by the hooks which were mounted onto pink granite stone to prevent boats from drifting away. the end result sees an object that instills reaction of flowing water and the granite stone and the way they connect with each other.

the seven pieces selected all embodied a similar color palette and a sensitivity to its context
image © stories by the water

the seven student projects displayed at the ‘stories by the water’ stand was chosen and curated by swedish design collective NOTE. see all seven projects displayed at the fair here.