blå station initiates experimental process for stockholm furniture fair

blå station initiates experimental process for stockholm furniture fair
all images courtesy of blå station 

what happens when three strong designers suddenly have to monitor each other’s process? sit and examine every detail. criticize and simultaneously be criticized. do they fight? or is all peaceful and calm? 

blå station decided to ask two of its creatives, thomas bernstrand and stefan borselius, to take part in a project called ‘experiment 2015’. the brief was to create three classics for public environments in an entirely open course where they should coach, debate, and criticize each other. when the duo accepted the challenge to each imagine a self-confident, audacious, typical blå station product, they also took on the task of selecting a third designer, preferably a woman, a team, or a practitioner from another country. after much deliberation, they surprisingly concluded that it should be the studio’s own design manager, CEO, and producer, johan lindau. in close cooperation they now present their three individual armchairs at the stockholm furniture fair 2015.

the design process with stefan borselius, thomas bernstrand, and johan lindau

thomas bernstrand’s ‘honken’ is an inviting armchair or an intimate, flirtatious two-seater sofa, constructed of robust sheet and expanded metal but with sensually turned legs. ‘I love products sold at flea markets and auctions’, says thomas, ‘which people buy even though they are terribly scruffy. some pieces of furniture can be in very poor condition, but you buy them anyway, straighten them out, apply a new layer of varnish, make them a new cushion or polish them. the result may not always be perfect, but that’s not important, because these layers create a beautiful patina of history.’

honken by thomas bernstrand

the sheet metal wraps around the turned legs

concept sketch behind the furniture piece

‘poppe’ by stefan borselius is, with its exact sitting angles and the thinnest possible shell, an exploration of just how narrow an armchair can really be. despite having minimal dimensions, it is also an elegant and comfortable creation that seems to be a distant relative of another item named ‘oppo‘. according to stefan, ‘this wasn’t to be an armchair that you sit in or a stool that you sit on, but rather an armchair that you sit with. a narrow style that provides mobility. I didn’t want it to be merely easy to move around and furnish with, but also easier for the user to move with the chair.’

poppe by stefan borselius

the work an exploration of just how narrow an armchair can really be

poppe compositional sketches

characteristics of johan lindau’s ‘morris jr.’ have been derived from an old masterpiece called ‘morris’, which was designed by borge lindau and bo lindekrantz 50 years ago. this updated version is a mobile, generous, and easy-to-place armchair where the strict shape is softened by the backrest cushion. ‘I also wanted to work with mobility as a natural interplay with the user’, notes johan. ‘I’m one of those people who want to tidy up and make things look nice when I enter an attractive public space which the users have furnished according to their particular needs and functions. with wheels on the armchair, the furniture becomes both usable and easy to move without injury.’

morris jr. by johan lindau

the strict shape is softened by the backrest cushion

the original version was designed by borge lindau and bo lindekrantz 50 years ago

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.