Ten standout student projects from Stockholm Design Week
Stockholm Design Week's showcase of emerging talent, Greenhouse, has switched to a digital format for 2021. Dezeen editor-at-large Amy Frearson picks out 10 of the best student projects on show.
Greenhouse usually forms part of the Stockholm Furniture Fair, offering a platform for young designers and graduates to present their work to industry professionals.
However, this year's Stockholm Design Week – running from 8 to 14 February – does not include the furniture fair. In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the organisers had no choice but to cancel this headline event.
While there are still a handful of events taking place around the city, many have switched to digital formats. Greenhouse is among those now taking place online – it's possible to see every exhibitor via the Greenhouse website.
Here are 10 highlights:
Dag by Gustav Winsth and Teresa Lundmark
In an exhibition called Room Service, Beckmans College of Design is presenting six designs that explore how furniture can adapt to the increased blurring of workspace and living space.
This daybed, designed by Gustav Winsth and Teresa Lundmark in collaboration with furniture brand Gärsnäs, is designed to offer casual seating in both private and social contexts. Tubular cushions are separate from the beech frame, making the piece easy to recycle.
Etage by Elsa Frisén and Matilda Olsson Borg
Another Beckmans design, this sculptural side table was designed by Elsa Frisén and Matilda Olsson Borg in collaboration with family-run furniture company Källemo.
Combing wood and stone, circles and rectangles, the multi-level table is designed to work with an armchair or sofa.
Rendezvous by Linus Olofsson
Linus Olofsson, a student on the industrial design programme at Konstfack University College of Arts, Craft and Design, has created a stool that is made out of salt.
Intended as a temporary design, this product is completely biodegradable. When exposed to water it will naturally dissolve.
Fireplace by Ingrid Segring Björklund
The fireplace was once the heart of the home, says Konstfack student Ingrid Segring Björklund, but has now been reduced to a plastic, electrical device. Or worse, a video on YouTube.
This project aims to brings tactility back to the hearth, even in a small home. Using a five-axis CNC-mill, the designer has created a carved wooden object that shows the hands of the maker on its exterior, while its interior is a glowing hollow illuminated with LEDs.
Dunsta by Alexandra Fransson
Lund University's school of industrial design presents an exhibition called Earth to Table, featuring 19 products that explore how food production, packaging and transportation can be designed to minimise waste.
This design by Alexandra Fransson is for a modern version of the root cellar, allowing fruit and vegetables to be kept fresh without the need for electricity.
Fó by Daniel Larsson
As more and people switch to plant-based diets, Lund University's Daniel Larsson has created a product for producing home-made oat milk.
While many people buy this type of milk premade in a carton, this simple mixing device offers a more cost-effective and sustainable alternative.
Otis by Amanda Do
Lund University student Amanda Do also had plant-based eating in mind when she created this design – a series of stone tableware pieces that can also be used in the preparation of various types of vegan food.
Do realised that what many vegan foods have in common is the use of beans and peas, which are usually curdled and pressed. So she created a bowl, colander and plate that combine to create a press-drainer, for preparing foods like tofu, cashew cheese and bean patties.
Knitting Decay by Alberte Holmø Bojesen
Swedish School of Textiles student Alberte Holmø Bojesen presents a project exploring how textiles can replicate natural decay.
Combining hand- and machine-knitted elements, her pieces are intended to provoke. The designer wants to question "the conventional disgust for the concept of decay".
By by Jessica Rijkers
Another Swedish School of Textiles student, Jessica Rijkers has been experimenting with bioplastic to see whether it could be used to create more sustainable textiles for the fashion industry.
Her colourful textiles combine both strips of unwoven bioplastic and a unique yarn she has developed.
Südseite by Carlotta Simon
Students from Weißensee School of Art and Design Berlin are showcasing lighting designs that explore new technologies. Carlotta Simon saw this as an opportunity to enhance the most valuable of lighting sources – the window.
Combining LED strips with a panel of translucent fleece, this fixture senses the light levels of a window and supplements it. The aim is to make a window facing north, east or west offer the same quality of light as one facing south.
Greenhouse is taking place digitally from 8 to 14 February, as part of Stockholm Design Week. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.