Kinnarps part of exciting design collaborations at this year's furniture fair in Stockholm
"For us, it is important to participate in design collaborations such as this. It is always interesting to see what kinds of innovative design thoughts and ideas students have in the areas we work with. We have seen a lot of positives in both these projects - HDK-Valand Academy of Art and Design's design for aging where consideration must be taken to the user and Beckmans College of Design where we jointly focused on different kinds of meetings and how they come about."
HDK-VALAND ACADEMY OF ART AND DESIGN – DESIGN FOR AGING
One of the design collaborations was between Kinnarps and students of the Wood Oriented Furniture Design programme at HDK-Valand Academy of Art and Design. They have worked on design for aging on the theme of "Touch Sense". The extensive research the students did in the area featured KINNARPS NEXT CARE® (a concept and method for creating healing spaces) and the "Handbook for Creating Healing Spaces". The project was part of a course called 'Design Meets Industry', in which, students learned of how topics such as aging are approached in the industry, in relation to the artistic process. The students collaborated with an elderly care home and had discussions with residents. The results differ wildly, many of which are conducted on a more philosophical, poetic level, where "Transition" (aging) is one of life's processes, not a condition or illness. The Beyond time exhibition is in collaboration with students of Kobe Design University in Japan. These students worked with the same topic, but with a focus on movement and physical activity.
The result will be displayed at the Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair, Greenhouse, booth C04:48
BECKMANS COLLEGE OF DESIGN – NATURAL MEETING PLACES
The second project is a product of the cooperation between Kinnarps and Beckmans College of Design's Form programme. Two students, in collaboration with Kinnarps, were to design a piece of furniture. The design brief contained terms such as 'creative', 'unexpected', 'sustainable' and 'family'. When a work space or school is in the making, many areas must be studied. There is a great need for natural meeting places, formal and informal alike. The students did substantial research on how people interact and on how this can be facilitated and developed. The scope was to develop a product that could be a natural meeting place. A place, space or product in which people can naturally gather and interact in an informal manner - the theme of the project created by students of the Visual Communications programme is "Epilogue - A Love Story". Epilogue is the place for creating new beginnings. The product was named EVY after one of Kinnarps' founders, Evy Andersson.
"The Kinnarps logo inspired the form. Primarily the dot (star) over the 'i'. In the last few weeks we have had a lot of thoughts and ideas on how the form of furniture can facilitate people's meetings. Can we make a swivel mechanism on a daybed? Or can we make modules out of the staves?"
The result will be displayed at the Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair, Greenhouse, booth C05:35.
GREENHOUSE - WHERE UNEXPECTED AND INNOVATIVE IDEAS ARE PRESENTED
Greenhouse is one of the most popular areas at the Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair. Here, design schools and not-yet-established designers are given the opportunity to display their prototypes for the industry's most important producers, journalists and trade visitors.
DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS?
For more information, please contact:
Kristina Hjalmarsson
Internal communication, PR & Event Executive, Kinnarps AB
Tel.: +46 (0) 706 38 52 87
kristina.hjalmarsson@kinnarps.se
Jenny Hörberg
Director Global Range & Design, Kinnarps AB
Tel.: +46 (0) 515 380 30
jenny.horberg@kinnarps.se
About Kinnarps
Kinnarps delivers interior design solutions for offices, schools and healthcare & nursing facilities. The entire value chain is characterised by high quality and low environmental impact – from raw materials to finished solutions. Kinnarps is one of Europe's biggest manufacturers of interior design solutions for workplaces, with operations in 40 countries and a Group turnover of over SEK 4.2 billion. Kinnarps was founded in 1942 by Jarl and Evy Andersson. It remains a wholly-owned family business.
Press images
