Imagine the scene: soft, classical music playing in the background, the smokey aroma of Byredo’s Bibliotheque candle burning, and a cosy setting with creative inspiration around every corner. At Stockholm Design Week, we were invited into The Sculptor’s Residence. Norm Architects, DUX and Menu came together to create an elegant apartment curated with simple furniture, design and objets d’art, evoking the home and atelier of an imaginary artist and collector.
The Sculptor’s Residence, a collaboration between Norm Architects, DUX and Menu, took place at Nosh & Chow as part of Stockholm Design Week 2020. Styled and curated by Linnea Ek Blæhr. Images: Cate St Hill.
The Sculptor’s Residence blurred the boundaries between art and furniture, and home and work. Limestone and marble podiums by Ostersjosten, and panels and plinths made of a sustainable plaster surface by St. Leo offered a backdrop for tactile sculptures by British object-maker Nicholas Shurey.
As someone who lives and works in the same space at home, I understand how the two worlds can inspire each other – the home becoming a playground for creative expression. Says Katrine Goldstein, partner at Norm Architects:
‘Our thoughts went back to the famous artists of previous centuries, such as Picasso and Cezane, and we started thinking about a place where we could see the artist working, where everything is messy and they’re constantly moving between private home and the space of work. We imagined that the artist would be looking and touching something that he or she had curated, finding it beautiful and using all this inspiration. The idea was to create a narrative setting for the pieces.
‘The bridging between art and design is obviously blurring and this is wonderful for us. Everyone’s allowed to curate something they find beautiful and it becomes art. It makes you look at things differently, suddenly your brain is working, you get inspired, you see a detail on the table or on a sofa, and that grows in a completely different way when you’re looking at other objects that have a shape.’
Talking about the act of collaborating with DUX and Menu, Goldstein added: ‘I think brands would do much better if they opened up and allowed other people to come in. If you’re standing next to someone who is good, you’ll become good yourself. This is something that we can all learn from, so let the guards down a bit and see what can blossom or happen from there.’
At The Sculptor’s Residence both furniture brands DUX and Menu showcased new designs in their collections.
This year Swedish company DUX, perhaps better known for their beds and mattresses, are relaunching a series of design icons. One such design is the Domus chair (seen above), originally designed in 1955 by the Swedish designer Alf Svensson for the international exhibition of architecture and design in Helsingborg. It’s a low, modular chair and it comes with a separate footstool.
Says Henrik Ljung, DUX CEO: ‘We periodically like to dig into our archives and this time around, together with Norm Architect, we took a deep dive. A lot of our designs have a nice, sustainable, timeless design to them. We spent a couple of days taking out seven potential designs, going through some of the technicalities and rights issues until we narrowed it down to a couple of pieces. It’s exciting how we’ve been able to revitalise them and see them come alive 50 years later.’
Elsewhere, a spotlight was cast on Menu’s new Hashira collection by Norm Architects, originally designed for a restaurant in London. Another fusion of East meets West, the cylindrical design takes inspiration from traditional Japanese rice paper lanterns and visits to traditional Japanese Washi papermakers. The name comes from the Japanese word for column or pillar. Set on a wooden base with a translucent fabric shade, the Hashira lamp offers a soft, diffused light that gives any room an instant sense of cosiness. Available as a floor, table and pendant lamp.
The Reverse Table Lamp by Aleksandar Lazic mirrored the organic forms of the sculptures on display. Inspired by Italian marble tables from the 1970s, the design features a conical travertine base and a curved, bronzed aluminium shade.
Meanwhile, Menu’s Eave Dining Sofa by Norm Architects takes its direction from the blurring lines between private and public spaces. A hybrid between a sofa and a bench, the solid form stands on slender metal legs with a low, curved back. The new Afteroom Dining Chair Plus by Afteroom has a simplistic form, with a three-legged plywood base and an upholstered seat and back.
I could have happily moved in and made myself comfy in that big bed…
