This document summarizes trends in interior design presented at the Salone del Mobile exhibition in Milan last spring. It discusses how some furniture makers are recycling classic designs to succeed during economic downturns, while others focus on innovation through new materials and production processes. It also explores trends like monochrome color schemes for entire rooms, the use of textiles and wallcoverings, movable and adaptable furniture, and multifunctional objects that allow a more nomadic lifestyle.

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In times of recession, it is said, we long for the classic,
the familiar. This leads to furniture makers recycling
old products and ideas that are sure to work. In order
to succed and remain in the public eye today, furni-
ture makers need to be extra brave and
creative. Traditional, Finnish Artek,
keeping the legacy of Alvar Aalto’s
products alive, celebrates the 80th
anniversary of a stool called Stool.
They also adopt the recycling trend
by selling old, worn vintage furniture
in their web shop, 2nd cycleArtek. A
good example of keeping one’s legacy
alive, I think. We are becoming more
and more interested in and knowl-
edgeable about interior design, and
rather more fastidious in our choice of
furniture.Artek are fond of promoting
and re-using classics from the vaults and adding that
little extra which might make the piece of furniture a
classic in its own right, for example a new colour.This
means that one can obtain one’s old favourite with a
twist and newly produced to boot.
Some manufacturers concentrate on innovations
and develop new materials. Patience and smart ma-
chines give rise to new possibilities. Blå Station is a
sterling example, a design company which dares to
question production processes. They proudly exhibit-
ed design duo o4i’s lumpy shell chair at Stockholm
Furniture & Light Fair. A revolutionary chair, accord-
ing to manager Johan Lindau, since it is challenging
both technically speaking and as a design.This elegant
chair is made from a very thin material that looks like
crumpled paper, but at the same time it is comforta-
ble and possible to stack. Technically speaking, it was
well-neigh impossible to manufacture it of veneer
bending in three different directions.
Classic style with a twist,recycling
and multifunction,but also high-level
innovation.Z Magazine’s interior
designer and stylist Camilla Julner has
investigated,listened,and seen.Here she
tells us about her favourites and her sources
of inspiration.Some of what was on display
at the exhibition Salone del Mobile in Milano
last spring is now available in Scandinavia.
By: Camilla Julner
style
with a
Classic
recycling and
twist,multifunction
Interior design Interior design
photo:RalphLaurenHome

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The chair is the result of hard work and the ability to turn
limitations to advantages.
Comeback is a modern version of an old armchair,
moulded in plastic and wood, and designed by Patricia Ur-
quiola for Kartell.It took seven years to manufacture and is
yet another example of impressive, innovative ability.
Also fascinating is Nendo, the design studio whose
founder Oki Sato was the Stockholm Furniture & Light
Fair's guest of honour. His installation at the entrance was
gorgeous and reminiscent of a large fountain. Minimum
use of material for maximum effect.
The first time he attended, he be-
longed to the new, young, and un-
established designers at the section
Greenhouse. Thus it was extra exciting
to see him back in Sweden, where he
now has several collaborating partners,
such as Swedese, David Design, and
Berga Form. Oki Satos has been called
the most brilliant designer of the 21st
century and his designs are celebrated for their sublime
humour and incessant wish to tell a story. Regarded as a
star in the industry, Oki Satos has also worked with Cap-
pelini, De Padova, Foscarini, and others.
Monochrome – entire rooms in one nuance of
colour
Colour is becoming more and more prevalent, and nowa-
days one might see entire rooms, including the objects, in
one colour, such as navy blue with elements of black. This
makes a wide variety of personal choices possible.
A great source of inspiration for me is to create a
sophisticated and lively home in nuances of red for ex-
travagant persons who dare to be unconventional, wildly
mixing wine-red colours with burnt orange and raspberry
red. However, it takes some courage and patience to at-
tain the right feeling. One does not design a home in a
day. The ambience will be exclusive and sophisticated and
confer warmth and a sense of security. We use real rugs
and worn leather, resulting in a cosy, classic style. Play with
the thought of including traces of various ethnicities and
subcultures, such as gypsies, hippies, sailors, and aborig-
ines - or, for that matter, Berbers and Tuaregs draped in
enormous lengths of cloth. Or think of the adventurous
explorer and scientist, telling a story about inner and
outer rooms. Thus the home has become something of
a stage, where we want to tell a story about ourselves or
somebody else. Since a few years back, this approach is
also seen in hotels, bars, and restaurants.
Blue, the new elegance with a touch of ro-
mance
We Northerners love blue as an accent. Nowadays I’m
inspired by interior designs done in elegant dark blue.
With new approaches and a mixture of nuances in deep
blue, incorporating strains of soft grey and elements of
metal, cosy becomes elegant in a wholly new way and of-
ten in monochrome or geometric,graphic patterns.Black
was also a dominant colour in Milan last spring, as was
the accent colour: black. A real aestethic experience was
a whole room with beautiful, damast woven silk textiles
in humorous patterns and artfully made ravens in fabric
by Li Edelkoort, Rubelli at Rossana Orlandi. Black on
black is romantic and sensual, creating drama in a home.
Midnight blue verging on aubergine, with strains of
shining black and in the form of large embroideries and
jacquards, is truly beautiful and elegant. Block stripes
and pinstripes, speaking directly to our subconscious, are
never out of place. I have to admit that I feel affected
by all sorts of stripes and in this I am hardly alone. One
of the founders of a large, international textile company,
Colourisbecomingmoreandmoreprevalent,andnowadaysonemightseeentirerooms,includingtheobjects,inonecolour,suchas
navybluewithelementsofblack.Thismakesawidevarietyofpersonalchoicespossible.
Somemanufacturers
concentrateon
innovationsanddevelop
newmaterials.
Interior design
photo:johanssondesign

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for protection and solace. Ikea has realised this and are
now going big time on textile collections of their own, and
on top of that piece-goods and a sewing machine. Hurrah
for one’s own creativity! We’d love to see home-made inte-
rior design details, not least our curtains and pillows. I and
many others like to show off still lifes of various kinds of
collections. It could be timeless, unique objects of ethnic
provenance, a beautiful seashell or an object of art. Ex-
pensive or inexpensive is of no importance. Old-fashioned,
unique or simply a loved piece of furniture showing signs
of long use. There are truly well-made, newly manufac-
tured, comfortable ”antiques” of high quality, as opposed
to the newly manufactured, ”old” shabby chic that one
soon tires of. A new furniture collection
is RHL Collection, exciting since it is
reminiscent of the already classic Ralph
Lauren style and with a feeling of an-
tique, handpicked furniture, although
the result of hours and hours of pains-
taking work and with a long life span.
Stripe patterns playing with
light
Tatou, the latests lamp designed by Patricia Urquiola
for Flos, is an example of open-worked elegance with a
beautiful stripe pattern, inspired by ancient, Japanese ar-
mour and creating beautiful shadow play. The lamp is
available in many different designs and will probably be-
come a classic. Marcel Wander’s mirror clear ceiling lamps
Valentine and Baby Valentine are sparklingly glamorous
and stylishly humorous, the manufacturers Mooi being
among my favourites.
The urban nomads, consciously selling out
their lifestyle
I love to travel and the sense of freedon it entails, but I
have a tendency to bring to much stuff. Does that sound fa-
miliar? I would prefer to live more in accordance with my
ideals,like an urban nomad.I would prefer an exciting,playful
life, without too much bothering stuff. I like things to have
several functions and attractive colours. Objects serving sev-
eral purposes give one freedom to move around, but I haven’t
quite attained that goal yet. But the new design generation,
Manuel Canovas di Lorca, says that practically all pat-
terns designed by them have to have a couple of stripe
patterns complementing the colourful ones.
Movable and adaptable like nomads
We live in a transition period. We are flexible in our
day-to-day lives and able to work practically anywhere.
There are more free lancers around and about than ever
before, and places of work have become less hierarchical.
We work at home, in hotel lobbies, in cafés, and maybe
even in an office. Strictly speaking, we don’t need a desk
anywhere permanent - the laptop is our desk, with the
family pictures on the screen instead of on the shelf. We
can be anonymous or choose to sit near whatever col-
leagues we like to be around that day. Also, new places of
work are being created, a sort of cross between the office
at home and the place of work. Coffice in Stockholm
is such a place, where members can share office space
with colleagues or people in other professions. Here one
can book a conference room or a room with private tele-
phone in a café environment, in accordance with one’s
needs for the day. This I regard as more stimulating and
conducive to creativity than working from home.
More textiles to the people!
- The more time we spend in front of screens, the
greater our need to feel and experience textiles will be-
come, trend guru Le Edelkoort predicts. A textile wave
will wash over us, with enormous lenght of cloth, both
Oki Satos has been
called the most
brilliant designer of
the 21st century
lnterior design
Colour Carpet presents a sourishly cool colour palette.
Designed by Scholten & Baijings, Hay mat. Ingenious
and rather funny shelves. Studio Job’s new collection Alt
Deutsche comprises, apart from a grandfather clock, a
chest of drawers and a cupboard with doors featuring
humorous, mystic symbols. Mooi.
Interior design

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rising out of a cultural, urban melting pot, combines well-
known patterns with unknown,electric colour palettes,cre-
ating a very energising mix.Fascinating,technical solutions
such as wilderness tents have been sources of inspiration
for the lamp Jehanna by Zero. Flowery ornaments, techni-
cal materials, and ultra-light constructions play with light
and reflections. Lively colours, bold patterns gleaming like
candy wrappers, green and pink combined with white - all
this makes for endless freshness. Pink is big in art and in
interior design pink is now invading the living room as
the basic colour. An unexpected mix of Band-Aid pink
and pure light pink proves to be a sensuous and wonderful
combination. Pink will become the dominating colour in
home design in future and I for one look forward to it!
Patricia Urquiola’s puffy armchairs and wonderful silk rugs
for Moroso, which I saw in Milan last spring.
Paper and pop up
Japanese origami and paper in flat dimensions are
appearing everywhere and paper is a cheap material to
work with. And the need for the tactile and the hand-
written is growing. There is talk about the pop up gen-
eration, favouring interactivity and creative solutions
lnterior design
according to one’s needs and without any rules, and this
is something we will definitely see a lot more of. The
future is already here and we are currently adjusting and
adapting to it, and begining to see the possibilities. We
might be forced to make more conscious choices - what
is really important? A person with a great deal of in-
sight and a source of inspiration is, quite naturally, Li
Edelkoort.
- Now that we can go online in the forest, our need
for the urban lifestyle is no longer as great. On top of
that, it is hard to motivate oneself to live in a one-room
flat costing as much as a country-house. This has to do
with our increased awareness. We choose our lifestyle
and our habits with care, says Le Edelkoort. Demands
on form, function, and environmentally friendly materi-
als are a given for any and all.
Thusthehomehasbecome
somethingofastage,wherewe
wanttotellastoryaboutour-
selvesorsomebodyelse.