PROJECTS

Good things come from taking risks and cabinetmaker Karolina Stenfelt certainly took a risk when she gave me free hands to design her journeyman project at Carl Malmsten School of Furniture. Our latest design project at NOTE Design Studio was the ”Marginal Notes exhibition” and it was anything but the easy way out and this complex project turned out to be nothing less.

The brief was to design a desk that didn’t reveal everything at first glance and would stand out in a discreet way.

The choice of a desk was the result of that a journeyman project demands certain elements of construction and functions to be accepted for judgment by the jury.

I designed an architects ”black box” desk that combined the old analogue approach of built-in rulers and sketchpaper rolls with new needs like USB and power outlets.

”Pine is fine” is a shared motto of Karolina and Kristoffer and his idea of basing the desk solely on Swedish pine truly put the cabinet maker Karolina to the test. And if that wasn’t enough he wanted to use charred wood as surface finish. Pine is a soft material and the charring was hopefully going to give the wood a hardened surface. There was no approved technique for charring pine veneer and especially no approved technique to create and conform the intricate intarsia pattern that covers the desk. Weeks of experimenting with burning veneer finally gave results and the work could commence.

Contrast was the keyword through the project. Pine is a versatile material and Kristoffer wanted the desk to express pine from its very best side to its very ”worst”.

The exterior is covered with the experimental burned veneer in a fishbone pattern and when you open the desk the inside is covered with the finest selection of golden pine in the same pattern.

Kristoffer designed a tar burned steel frame to carry the ”black box”. The tar burning of the steel covered the shiny welding forges along with the rest of the frame with a varied sooted surface.

Custom made brass fittings as locks, rulers and hinges gleam against the sooted surface, referring to the fire used for burning the veneer.

Cabinet maker Karolina Stenfelt and NOTE Design studio investigates the possibilites of developing a limited edition series of the desk.

Photos by Mattias Nero

The ecological kitchen textiles ”Bergianska” for Swedish Åhléns includes
kitchen towels, aprons, grill- and oven mitts.

The bench, originated from the Konstfacks outdoor café project, has evolved into a product carefully developed by NOLA industrier. The PYLON bench.

This sleek seat is based on a traditional bench shape, wich has been dramatically transformed into a strikingly futuristic design. Taking inspiration from the pylon towers that support power lines we constructed the base of the bench from twin uprights that anchor the seat to the floor. Two layers of thick pine slats are glued together to form the seat, which is gripped between the upper reaches of the base supports. Pylon is a perfect complement to high-design interiors and cutting-edge architecture, or any setting where design takes centre stage. A one seater version is also available.

Designed by: Kristoffer Fagerström A&D  & Marcus Abrahamsson
Photo by: Jann Lipka
Produced by: NOLA industrier

O.P Oskar Persson konst & ramar, today.

I’m proud to be a part of the reopening of Oskar Persson konst och ramar. With Ulf Paulsson as the new owner of the renowned gallery in central Helsingborg, I redesigned the O.P brand including a new graphic profile along with new interior custom  designed for the O.P store.

Divisible expo desks.

Client: O.P Oskar Persson konst & ramar
Photos: Lisa Paulsson

Konstfack outdoor café with the furniture concept FRAME.
Bachelorwork (2009) Collaboration with Marcus Abrahamsson.

Text from spring exibition catalouge:
How can Konstfack communicate its inner soul in its external space?

On the basis of our new professional role as interior architects and furniture designers, in our degree project we have taken on Konstfacks outdoor café. The project has been an opportunity to work on this location as a whole and to design a series of site specific items of outdoor furniture.
The current concrete floor, which is part of the main entrance to Konstfack, has been converted from a windy no mans land to a well kept and pleasant outdoor café. Through clear choices of materials and generous design we have made it into a place for relaxation and spending time together in the sun. No pretentions, just a nice lunch in pleasant company.
With the aim of creating an interdisciplinary space, we have created a framework that lets the space react to influences and allows it to change over time. In the future when the wood content of this framework is worn out it is up to the current students to decide the content. By this we hope that the space will develop into a collage of materials. We are leaving something behind us that not only represents us and Konstfack at present but can also represent Konstfack in the future…

The galvanized FRAMES filled with untreated Swedish pine.

The perforation separates the heavy duty FRAMES from the concrete floor through the use of light and reflections.

The FRAME bench filled with Multicolored Swedish pine.

The FRAME parasolls allows the students to easily change the fabric.

The Outdoor Cafe at Konstfack was recently awarded with I.D:s Design Destinction Award at I.D Annual Design Review 2010.

“It shows that with a very simple set of materials—and without changing them much—you can create this playful, optimistic situation.” –Judge Manuel Miranda

Designer: FAGERSTRÖM & ABRAHAMSSON, Kristoffer Fagerström & Marcus Abrahamsson
Thanks to: Felix, Jimmy, our photographer LillyMay, and our sponsors: Södra Timber, Tibnor SALS and Ferex

My ambition was to enlighten the value of time spent. Hour after hour I colored the simple stool with a thin marker. It became  an act of love, I now know every inch of that stool.

Date: 2008
Photo: Kristoffer Fagerström
Location: DESIGNGALLERIET, STOCKHOLM