People flocked to Stockholmsmässan to enjoy the Nordic region’s biggest interior design event, Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair. Once inside, they were met by a stimulating and inspiring range of furniture and home furnishing products. Visiting architects were clearly taken with the bigger picture, in displays where the building and the furnishings integrate to achieve the best function and achieve a low carbon footprint in both public spaces and interiors.
In a business world increasingly made up of service companies, the greatest climate impact comes from the premises you use and business travel. Many companies are keen to show how seriously they take sustainable development. They are therefore careful to choose the right offices and furnishings from a climate perspective, as part of a wider drive towards sustainable development.
The Swedish furniture industry is a great success, particularly the section focused on public and commercial environments. This position is rooted in good ergonomics, skilled design, awareness of climate impact, smart concepts and efficient manufacturing. It is interesting to note how furnishings for the public and the home environment are merging. New ways of working, increased digitalisation and urbanisation are changing people’s needs. This year’s fair also included a distinct focus on reusing old furniture, but also on giving new products a longer service life by simplifying reuse, repair and material recycling.
Wood has been a significant feature not only of the products, but also the exhibitors’ stands, underlining their sustainable and natural credentials. Swedish Wood has a few items that we feel deserve particular attention. One is the “Future Village” installation by architecture and design firm Neri & Hu, this year’s Guest of Honour. A striking shell of a house in solid, black-stained pine, with a variety of different rooms sprinkled with designer objects, greeted visitors in the entrance hall and enveloped them in an almost sacred sense of calm at the otherwise buzzing fair. The popular Design Bar on the entrance level, designed by Anderssen & Voll, took inspiration from Japan in its use of pure pine and spruce. Taking an integrated approach to choice of materials, functionality and design creates a sustainable whole.
