The annual design calendar is undeniably saturated with various established events taking place around the world almost every other week. Traditional convention center trade shows have largely operated along the same lines for decades. Visitors with a legitimate interest enter one of these poorly lit, poorly insulated and cavernous voids only to find rows and rows of white cubes and narrow, overcrowded passages between them. The proposition is clear: bringing a wide range of brands – specialized in different types of design products – under one roof.
For over a decade now, a few of these exhibitors have been trying to break out and show in exhibition spaces outside of the city center. welcoming visitors in a more intimate and spontaneous way. These not necessarily opposite and perhaps more complementary forms are now the norm at major events such as Milan Design Week, New York Design Week and the 3Days of Design in Copenhagen. Until now, no one has really challenged duality.
To the palpable dismay of Stockholm’s ever-thriving design scene—easily overshadowed by the bustling Danish capital to its south—the annual design week and furniture fair has been canceled this year. Rather than throw up their hands and accept this fate, the Swedish capital’s small but internationally impressive collection of independent studios and producers organized a series of more informal and sordid events. Inherently—by the nature of these laborious collective efforts—the resulting but not necessarily aligned program felt more authentic. The exchange was less restrictive. fresher and more honest.
One such venture was the industrial design practice of local power plants Form Us With Love’s (FUWL) Test showroom project. Bringing various local and international industry players to the fore, the studio chose to re-evaluate the effectiveness of this model as well as the larger form of exposure.
FUWL brought in Dutch textile producer BYBORRE, Swedish headphone company BAUX, modular storage brand String, office chair manufacturer Savo and French sustainable flooring company Tarkett for a four-month showcase (running until the end of May). FUWL worked with each for new ideas.
Lasting far longer than any exhibition, even a conventional gallery show, the presentation champions a hyper-contextualized approach, putting these complementary solutions to the test in a frankly evidentiary way. It allows those previously mentioned visitors to slow down a bit and really engage with the concepts. they have time to make their own essentially critical assessments. In a more traditional setting, these myriad releases would be disjointedly displayed in a sprawling convention center.
Connecting Everything Together is a series of live event workshops that go far beyond the typical panel talk. The carefully curated program seriously addresses the main question of what an exhibition space is today through a wide variety of lenses. Topics range from color accuracy in digital workflows and the role audio technology plays in communicating brand value to how showrooms themselves can become the most effective decision-making devices.
To learn more about the innovative brand, visit formuswithlove.se.
Photo courtesy of Form Us With Love.
