Does the nature and climate of a country influence the country’s furniture design? Many people believe that the ever changing seasons and the scattered population have made Norwegians an inventive and adaptive people, and that this is reflected in the Norwegian furniture design. See for yourself when Norwegian furniture designers exhibit their work at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF).
ICFF, “America’s singular showcase for contemporary design”, is being held in New York City on May 17th to 20th, 2008. ICFF provides 145,000 net square feet of the newest trends in furniture design, presented by over 600 exhibitors from 38 different countries. The fair was visited by over 25,000 people last year.
The Norwegian exhibitors
Several Norwegians are attending the showcase. One of them certainly draws on inspiration from the Norwegian nature; the recently established Mokasser presents their Whole in One, a chair inspired by the patterns a body leaves when sitting in the snow.
Another exhibitor at this year’s ICFF is Aksel Hansson, the company behind the Aksel chair, that focus on functionality and a clean, simple design. First produced in 1938, this chair’s distinct form has become a characteristic of Scandinavian design.
Founded in 1929, Fora Form is one of Scandinavia’s leading suppliers of chairs, seating, groups and tables for the contract market. Their design includes the pop arty Planet chair, and the 3D-veneer produced Copenhagen chair.
Mokasser, Aksel Hansson, and Fora Form can be found at booth 302 and 402 on ICFF, together with Variér Furniture. This company sticks to the simple, yet challinging idea of “intelligent sitting”: “If humans can move in a natural way, even when sitting, the body will feel better and possibly also last longer.” Their designs include the Peel chair, inspired by a peeled orange; and the comfortable, sculptural and organic formed Date chair.
Also present at the ICFF, at booth 1873, is Designers Go Playground - a modular and expendable furniture system designed by Johan Ørbeck Aase, with textiledesign by Sari Syväluoma. With a playful design and bright colors, Designers Go Playground allows you to create your own composition, rearrange and add elements. Aase chares his booth at ICFF with the furniture producer KLOSS.
Simplicity and Functionality
Traditionally, the Norwegian furniture producers found their inspiration in classic models, but from the 1930s they started cooperating with professional designers, and the 1960s are usually seen as the first golden era of Norwegian furniture design. During this time, an independent style was developed, focusing on simplicity, functionality and quality. Today, despite high wages and a lot of international competition, as much as 50 per cent of the furniture sold in Norway is made in Norway.
From the 1990’s we have seen the growth of a range of young designers with cutting edge furniture. Functionalism and the pioneers of the 60’s are still inspirations, Insidenorway.no explains on their website, but the designers are more and more open to impulses from the international market. The industry consists of about 400 companies, and more than 30 per cent of the production is exported. Internationally renown Norwegian furniture products include The Ekornes Stressless chair and The Stokke Tripp Trapp children chair.
For more information about Norwegian furniture design, visit Insidenorway.no. The site is a part of a greater project called Innovation Møbel (møbel means furniture), which promotes Norwegian furniture on the domesticc and international markets.
When: May 17-20, 2008
Where: Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, 655 West 34th Street
Info: Open for trade only May 17-19, 10am-5pm, and to the general public Tuesday May 20, 10-4pm. Call 800-272-SHOW or 603-665-7524, or email info@icff.com