Green was a big trend at the Stockholm Furniture Fair; from the color of products, to a genuine move to bring the outside in. “Grow” was no exception. Under the guidance of teachers Franz James and Asa Nystrom, furniture designer and guest curator Peter Andersson, landscape architect and guest critic Simon Irvine, students from University Gothenburg, Steneby Craft and Design, were challenged to find unexpected and playful ways to bring chlorophyll, oxygen and plants into people’s homes. Jacob Grant’s The Sound of the Forest (above) was inspired by findings that spending time in a leafy forest can reduce stress and mental illness and is a call to “bring trees inside.”
Carl Johansson and Elias Malmberg created three stackable units to dry grown and foraged herbs, berries and peel preserving both their taste and their health benefits (above and below).
Lena Louisa Meyer took her inspiration from traditional weaving to create Sprout Table, which can be used as a breakfast table in homes or restaurants, providing ‘green tablecloths’ and increasing appreciation for food, craft and sustainability.
On a more practical level, Anna Manqvist offers Grow, a table with six water-resistant zinc boxes that can be lifted in and out of the table, providing space for storage, germination and cultivation.
Wanting to encourage a closer, more respectful, relationship between plants and people, Felix Wink, has designed Closer, a chair that brings the positive effects of plants up close and personal.
Lea Hein’s Veggiepot, a hydroponic system, offers high-rise dwellers the chance to grow vegetables inside their homes. Designed to add to the interior aesthetic of the home and to fit into small spaces, it gives city dwellers the chance to grow their own.
And finally, Seed of Friendship by Per Ingvad is about collecting, exchanging and traveling with plants. A fantastically quirky way of bringing plants closer to people – where ever they are.
Our trip to Paris for Maison & Objet 2012 was supported in part by Airbnb.com.