The “5 Studies for Nature” project – a collaboration among the Nikari Oy furniture company and five different universities- wraps up with the fifth and final project, from Konstfack in Stockholm, Sweden.
THE FINAL STUDY: STOCKHOLM
At Konstfack the task to design a stool for Nikari’s “5 Studies for Nature” was introduced to bachelor and master students at the programs Interior Architecture & Furniture Design and Industrial Design. Both programs have a long tradition of designing proposals for furniture, products and interiors. With access to large workshops, students make ideas into prototypes in a variety of materials using many different manufacturing techniques. In the search for solutions, they apply a wide range of perspectives like user studies, material experiments, form studies, critical reflection and artistic exploration.
The chosen contribution is designed by Jari Devad, a second-year bachelor student at the industrial design program. At the program the students are encouraged to explore various techniques for conceiving form, and to experiment with physical and virtual media, moving for example between prototypes in wood or clay to 3D modelling and then to 3D print.
In his proposal, Devad used his skills in a playful manner. Rather than seeking minimalistic shapes, he embraced the expression of traditional Swedish wood carving, mastered by Axel Robert Petersson, also known as “Döderhultarn.” By using 3D modelling as a technique for exploring forms that look like they were made by hand, he bridges the gap between physical and virtual media. The result is a stool that balances between different entities and opens up for reflection.
The Stockholm study is made of dark walnut, which emphasizes the shapes and shadows of the stool surface.
For more info, visit www.nikari.fi/stockholm
ALL ABOUT NIKARI OY
Nikari Oy, founded in 1967, is a manufacturer of sustainable wood design products of exquisite quality. The company produces wooden furniture and custom-made furnishings of the local certified wood to public premises as well as private homes. Its founder – master cabinet maker, designer Kari Virtanen – has worked with the greatest Finnish architects and designers such as Alvar Aalto and Kaj Franck. Through decades his determination to concentrate on wood and its ecological benefits has gained the company great knowledge about Finnish wood and surface treatment materials like oils, waxes and soaps.
The Nikari studio is located in the beautiful, unique Fiskars village in southwest Finland, in the oldest machinery workshop of the country.