Associative Design (AD) will showcase “The Best of Portugal” at the upcoming Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair. Originated by the Portuguese Association of Wood and Furniture Industries (AIMMP), Associative Design promotes Portuguese brands and products globally.
Sweden is a nation that thrives on its cultural heritage, its musical prowess, a love of nature, the capacity to innovate and a penchant for design. The Swedish approach to design is typically stylish, functional and sustainable. More than just minimalism and IKEA, Swedish design embraces tradition, craft and a contemporary outlook. The Stockholm Furniture Fair is representative of Sweden’s exceptional design industry and the country’s ability to attract an international design audience. For this reason, Associative Design will exhibit an expertly curated mix of Portuguese design and innovation—including furniture, lighting and objets d’art—at the Stockholm Furniture Fair.
AD Challenge ’17
Launched in 2017 by Associative Design, the AD Challenge invited fifteen Portuguese and international designers to submit proposals exploring new and innovative furniture designs. Designers were asked to use wood in their concept and to work alongside furniture makers in Portugal’s northern region. The AD Challenge goal: to encourage and support the evolution of Portuguese furniture design. With exciting results, many of the designs will be presented at the Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair.
Designers and brands at Associative Design—Stockholm
&blanc is a collection of small-scale home accessories made with Corian® and expertly designed by several Portuguese designers. The collection showcases the creative potential of Corian® and includes: the playful Hat Vessel and artistic Knot Napkin Rings by Miguel Flores Soeiro; the minimalist Fold Mirror by Marco Sousa Santos; the well-balanced Hills Bottle Holder by Gonçalo Campos. Experimental Portuguese designer André Teoman created the imaginative Galinha Sideboard for the AD Challenge ’17, working in collaboration with Portuguese furniture manufacturer Johema. Given Portugal’s affinity with the rooster (the Barcelos Rooster is deemed the unofficial symbol of Portugal), Teoman’s design characterises this cultural norm in a wonderfully curious manner: the Galinha Sideboard rests on wooden eggs, sports brass chicken feet handles and Kvadrat “feathers”, and offers a quirky surprise within its interior.
Christophe de Sousa is a French—Portuguese designer with a keen eye for shapes and details, and the ability to convey emotion in design. His Slim chair—a 2017 winner of the European Product Design Award—combines minimal, simple shapes, to create a cost-effective chair for industrial production. As part of the AD Challenge ’17, de Sousa was tasked with generating an object that connects an individual with his/her work/hobby. The Bridge desk, a piece inspired by Porto (“the city of bridges”), is a metaphor for this connection. DAAO Concepts (a trademark of DAAO Architecture and Design), is a collection of functional furniture pieces designed by Portuguese designer Danilo Olim. The collection includes: the flexible 13 table/desk; the clever wall-like 17 bookshelf; the robust 21 chaise longue, a chair made up of two parts that rotate 360º; the square-shaped adaptable 22 modular shelving solution and the hexagonal 77 variant.
Designers Ana Fonseca and Brimet Silva, proprietors of multidisciplinary design studio Digitalab, make use of new technologies to produce original forms and spaces. Plug-in, a high-tech modular furniture system designed by Digitalab for the AD Challenge ’17, is inspired by the computational concept of shape grammars (generating shapes), co-created by tech-savvy theorists George Stiny and James Gips. The Digitalab modular system, with aesthetics motivated by kinetic (movement) art, investigates the relationship between wood and Bluetooth connectivity. Working with Gencork—a brand of cork covering solutions exploring the interaction between this sustainable, super material and high-tech digital fabrication processes—Digitalab created several cork covering designs: Corkdelaunay, a topographical pattern made up of differently sized triangles; Corkmetamorph, a pattern that considers the mathematical and geometric art of M.C. Escher, the Dutch graphic artist; Corkwhirl, a pattern with a whirling movement that generates fluid, organic shapes.
Likecork is a brand that combines Portuguese tradition and a respect for nature, bridging ancient knowledge and new technology, to craft innovative and eco-friendly designs. Furniture pieces by Portuguese designer Sandra Louro are unfussy and include the Cork Stool, Cork Stopper Bar Stool (like a giant champagne cork) and Table. Lighting designs such as the Lágrima, Ball and Algarvio lamps, all by Sandra Louro, are inspired by Algarvian chimneys and combine cork with glazed clay. Portuguese furniture brand Mo-Ow was established by architects Ângela Frias and Gonçalo Dias (of A2G arquitecturastudio). Dedicated to the art of woodworking and sustaining the traditional techniques of Portuguese carpentry, Mo-Ow’s handmade furniture exudes an aura of modernity and tradition. Mo-Ow products, designed by Gonçalo Dias, include: the contemporary solid wood Cane.01 sideboard, with doors and drawers made using traditional cane work; the HK 0.75 sideboard, a modern piece with roller-style wood doors; the O—desk, an elegant, solid wood desk; and the Chair Nº 24, a chair with identical proportions across its seat, back and legs.
Viarco, a historic Portuguese pencil manufacturer (in the business since 1907), worked with Digitalab to create the Risko drawing desk. This beautiful, clean and modern desk is ideal for drawing, sketching and painting, and incorporates storage areas for paper and varied stationery needs. Across its work, Portuguese brand That Place explores the concepts of fluidity, simplicity and functionality. Designs by Lígia Soromenho include the modern Memmo table, side table and bench, and the sculptural Moon chair. Established in 2010, Wewood is a Portuguese brand that employs accomplished joinery techniques to produce superlative solid wood furniture. Working with Suricata Design Studio, Wewood created the appealing Touch sideboard, a fine and tactile chest of drawers with a rounded silhouette.
Notes to Editors
Associative Design presents “The Best of Portugal” at the Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair
Hall C / Stand C15:31
Date: 6 - 10 February 2018
Location: Stockholmsmässan Mässvägen 1 älvsjö Sweden
For further information, press loans or high-res images please contact David or Alice at Seen PR on info@seenpr.com | Tel +44 (0) 1273 722 469 | @seen_pr
About Associative Design
Associative Design is a project by the Portuguese Association of Wood and Furniture Industries (AIMMP). It aims to develop and promote the production of Portuguese products and launch challenges that will contribute to innovation in the use of both technology and design. A brand of excellence, Associative Design will support, represent and promote companies that share this vision, taking their products further into exciting new markets.
Associative Design’s partners are brands approved by its Technical Committee (made up of three members of the design and crafts community), for their performance in product design, market alignment, trend standing or design-led re-industrialisation. www.associativedesign.com @associativedesign
About AIMMP: Portuguese Association of Wood and Furniture Industries
AIMMP’s mission is to represent, promote and protect the interests of Portuguese companies from the five sectorial divisions that make up the wood and furniture sector: cutting, felling, sawing and wood packaging; panels and panelled wood, carpentry and alike; furniture and alike; export, import and distribution of wood and derivatives. These industries account for sales of €2.3 billion and exports of €1.1 billion. www.aimmp.pt
About Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair
Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair is the world’s largest meeting place for Scandinavian furniture and lighting design. Domestic and international visitors will find the most comprehensive selection of Scandinavian furniture, office furnishings, design, textiles, lighting and other interior furnishings for both homes and public spaces. Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair runs in parallel with Stockholm Design Week.
www.stockholmdesignweek.com @sthlmfurnfair #stockholmfurniturefair
