Art and design duo Folkform interprets Josef Frank’s pattern universe in a new lighting collection for Svenskt Tenn. The series of sculptural and pleated table lamps and lamp shades are launched together with a large exhibition that opens in connection with Stockholm Design Week 2023.
Pleated lamp shades have been part of Svenskt Tenn’s range ever since the 1930s. The new collection Pleated for Frank consists of two table lamps and a series of pleated lamp shades that can be used for selected Josef Frank fixtures. Traditional craftsmanship is innovated in the products as classic pleating techniques are given a new construction, developed by Folkform:
“Our fixtures are different from many other pleated lamps because the base of the lamp is a pleated shape as well, not just the shade. We have even updated the traditional pleating technique by hiding the entire lamp structure on the inside without any visible holes or cords, something that has not been done before,” says Anna Holmquist, Folkform.
Folkform’s pleated table lamp has previously been shown in other varieties, but never in patterns and fabrics by Josef Frank and Svenskt Tenn. The collection includes fixtures and lamp shades in Josef Frank’s classic patterns Aristidia (1920s), Brazil (1940s) and Poisons (1940s), as well as with monochrome variations in Svenskt Tenn’s own linen fabric. Brazil has one of the largest pattern repeats amongst Josef Frank’s patterns, which gives every lamp its own print composition. The green elements from the lamps also form the foundation for the exhibition that can be seen in Svenskt Tenn’s store at Strandvägen, Stockholm, during spring 2023:
“For this year’s design week, we worked together with Folkform to create a monochrome space where everything from walls and ceiling to furniture and floor are showcased in different shades of green. This places the lamps in focus, creating spots of light around the green room, comments Karin Södergren, Head Curator at Svenskt Tenn.
Ever since designers Anna Holmquist and Chandra Ahlsell founded Folkform in 2005, they have been creating unique design objects that border on crafts and industry. In 2019, the design duo was awarded the Bruno Mathsson prize, the largest design prize in the Nordic countries. Folkform is currently represented in the collections of the National Museum in Stockholm and the National Museum in Oslo, among others. The duo have been nominated to the award as Designer of the Year at the newly founded Scandinavian Design Awards, 2023 (winners to be announced on February 6).
Pleated for Frank is the third collaboration between Svenskt Tenn and Folkform, of which the first was made in 2012, with the exhibition Masonite Memoriam.
- To be invited by Svenskt Tenn for a new collaboration - an entire collection of lighting as well as an exhibition, eleven years after the first one, is of course incredibly honoring, concludes Chandra Ahlsell, Folkform.
The exhibition Pleated for Frank, in collaboration with Folkform, is shown in Svenskt Tenn’s store at Strandvägen 5 in Stockholm between February 7 – May 19, 2023. The products are launched in store and online on February 6.
For more information, please contact Lisa Nordlund, PR Manager Svenskt Tenn:
lisa.nordlund@svenskttenn.se
For questions about imagery and editorial inquiries, please contact Emma Björck, Press contact, Svenskt Tenn:
emma.bjorck@svenskttenn.se
Please note that while lamp shades from Svenskt Tenn ship globally, our lamps are bound to delivery restrictions. Currently, lamps and fixtures ship to the following countries:
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden.
About the patterns seen in Plated for Frank
Josef Frank designed more than 160 prints for Svenskt Tenn, the majority of which contained imaginative botanical motifs. For Josef Frank, using nature’s colours and forms in interior design was a way to breathe and feel free in the enclosed space of a room.
Aristidia
Josef Frank designed Tang, a bold print for its time, while in the coastal region of Falsterbo in the late 1920s. The name is derived from the Swedish word for seaweed, as the design contains several elements of the sea in the form of seaweed and starfish. The name Tang was later changed to Aristidia, after the Greek writer Aristides (150-100 B.C.).
Poisons
The colourful Poisons is decorated with plants of wine, hops and tobacco. Josef Frank designed the print during 1943-1945. In a 1952 Nationalmuseum (“The National Museum” in Stockholm) exhibition on Josef Frank, Svenskt Tenn showed an interior with a sofa covered in this print.
Brazil
Brazil contains two-thirds of the world’s remaining rainforests, and the country is the biggest in South America - the Brazil print by Josef Frank has one of the largest repeats (seamless patterns) among all of Frank’s textile prints. Josef Frank designed this print of the rainforest with its myriad of strong colours in 1943-1945.
