Icelandic design fix….
Whats not love about Icelandic design? I cant get enough of it – but then I am biased….I’m sure you agree though, its totally inspirational, especially when you read the story behind the design….
BY GUDRUN LILYA GUNLAUGSDÓTTIR/STUDIOBILITY
The inspiration behind this artwork came from working on a project in Eindhoven with refugees. Gudrun stripped the chair back of everything, leaving only the frame and springs…something like when a person as a refugee comes to a new country and has nothing except what he is built from to create a new life. She then started to weave the springs with felted wool thread, then connected the springs together one by one until the seat was whole, the connecting the springs to the frame of the chair using the same thread to make it functional again.
BY ÁSDÍS JÖRUNDSDÓTTIR
I love, love, love this…it is on my wish-list. The words about her design from her website….
Three birds are sitting on a branch.
When the wind blows, the branch moves.
The Birdy coathanger moves gently when overcoats are put on or taken off it, it moves from the constant activities of humans.
All the while, the three birds sit quietly on their branch.
BY SNÆFRIÐ THÓRSTEINS AND HILDIGUNNUR GUNNARSDÓTTIR
A very cute calendar that lets you count the days by tearing each one off as you go….
ASKUR
BY THÓRUNN HANNESDÓTTIR AND KARIN ERIKSSON
Nordic heritage, midsummer partys and family life are the inspirations behind Askur, a handcrafted picnic basket, traditional in Iceland over the past centuries. The collaboration of these two designers (from Iceland and Sweden respectively) began when they met and became friends and then business partners when studying product design at Central St Martins college in London.
Askur is the modern day version of askur, the traditional container of food, historically used in Iceland instead of your typical plates. Askur is made out of Icelandic birch, which is spray-coated in white to protect the wood. The strap is constructed of leather. It was revealed for the first time at Design March in Iceland 2010.
The picnic set is designed to serve mainly traditional Nordic food such as rye bread, potatoes herring and eggs…
BY INGA DÓRA JÓHANNSDÓTTIR
The 47-8 Milkjug by Inga Dora Johannsdottir, a project done for her 105 Sustainability course at the Design Department of the Iceland Academy of the Arts. (The 105 Sustainability course was founded by designer Hrafnkell Birgisson and is supervised by product designer Tinna Gunnarsdottir, and aims to “stress the importance of sustainability and diversity in local areas.”) Here she talks through the explanation of her designs…
“The relationship with the traditional milk churn in 47-8 is further explored in the shape of the spout, which is inspired from a milk churn. I also decided to put the lid of the milk churn in the bottom of the milkjug to make the concept about the silver dollar prolonging the freshness of the milk stronger. The shape of the jug itself I got from the ladles that were used to get the milk from the milk churns. Every producing farm in Iceland has a farm number. These numbers were imprinted on the milkchurns to show where the milk came from. I chose to put the number 47-8 on the spout of the milkjug for two reasons: Silver’s atomic number is 47, and the farm number of Grimstunga a Fjollum, where my husband lived, is 478″
The idea for this blanket came from the Icelandic virtue cloths of the early18th century. This blanket was designed with modern day values in mind. The ten virtues are in Icelandic, but translated are: Faith, hope, charity, devoutness, modesty, humility, patience, temperance, purity and steadfastness. It was important for a 17th or 18th century wife to be blessed with these virtues.
