Published on : Thursday, February 9, 2017
At the Stockholm Design Week from February 7 to 11, the installation “124° – Artek on Skeppsholmen” showcases the new collection designed by Daniel Rybakken for Artek at the dance theatre MDT located on the island of Skeppsholmen in central Stockholm.
Two new families of furniture and accessories by Norwegian designer Daniel Rybakken address the question of what it is to be a contemporary Artek product. The Kiila range of storage and seating and the 124° series of mirrors cleverly utilise systems of industrial manufacture in their making and explore the point at which art and technology converge.
The Kiila range includes small furniture products designed to help organise and tidy; a coat stand, a coat rack, a podium and a bench, whilst the 124° series consists of three different sizes of wall-mounted or freestanding mirrors. All the pieces are new additions to Artek’s long-established compilation of furniture objects that support and work in concert with the main events of any interior; the ‘Domestic Helpers’.
The installation design by the architecture office Meyer-Grohbrügge from Berlin is keeping with the current program of MTD as a space for performances and aims to transform the furniture of Artek into a stage design to be inhabited by its visitors. Derived from the 124 degree angle at which the central pieces of the exhibition –Daniel Rybakken’ s mirrors – are made, the stage is similarly split creating three distinctive settings. These three scenes depict an interior, a landscape and a skyline, and create dynamic spaces for lectures and meetings while also allowing for more spontaneous interactions among visitors.
With Kiila, the challenge was to create objects that could exist in harmony with the iconic Artek collection whilst also pushing boundaries and asserting an original language of his own. The Kiila collection is the first result; a family of useful and versatile small furniture objects designed with hallways and entrances in mind. The sturdy coat stand and coat rack can hold heavy coats without losing their centre of gravity and toppling (Rybakken applied the simple engineering principles of a tripod) whilst a bench and podium are multi-functional pieces to aid interior organisation.
Rybakken’s Kiila system includes a unique wedge-shaped joint (Kiila translates as ‘ wedge’ in Finnish) made from powder-coated metal onto which solid wooden legs are fitted. They are secured with metal pins which double as hanging pegs on the coat stand and coat rack. Rybakken has purposefully kept all aspects of the construction visible. The Kiila family of objects is robust, designed for longevity. This quality has been articulated visually in the heft of the wooden rods used; they are unapologetically heavy.
The 124° wall-mounted mirrors have an unmistakable sculptural quality. Two faces are placed 124 degrees apart creating an unexpected dual-aspect reflection of the surrounding space. The mirrors are functional objects designed for use, made from mirror polished sheet steel, and are available in three different variations including one with an integrated wooden shelf. They are also an evolution of Rybakken’ s extensive work around the subjects of natural light and image and as such they punctuate the wall with their strong form, curious reflected image and fragments of refracted light. The mirrors have endless applications; they might be hung in a hallway, bedroom, bathroom or on any wall that might be enhanced by their form and qualities, alternatively they can be used freestanding on a table, shelf or horizontal surface.
Tags: Artek, bench, coat stand, Daniel Rybakken, furniture, Kiila range, Kiila system, metal, mirrors, shelf, Stockholm Design Week, table, tripod, wall-mounted mirrors, wood, wooden legs
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