Ten years of change: Form Us With Love present a retrospective in Stockholm

Ten years of change: Form Us With Love present a retrospective in Stockholm
On show at Konstakademien – Sweden’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts – during Stockholm Design Week, ’I-X’ was a ten-year retrospective on the work of Swedish design studio Form Us With Love
(Image credit: press)

Collaborating with international brands including La Cividina, Cappellini, DePadova and IKEA, Swedish design studio Form Us With Love describe themselves as ‘design-led investors’. The eight-strong collective have approached their designs more as travelling tales of experimentation, challenges and learning curves since they started out in 2005. Their ten-year design story was recently told in the form of an exhibition during Stockholm Design Week at Konstakademien, the country's Royal Academy of Fine Arts.

Titled 'I-X', the show delved into the studio’s ethical ethos of ‘designing real change’; exploring various case studies across an an oeuvre that spans oversized 'Hood' lighting (that creates a private area in a public space) and their work with the Swedish material Träullit (a wooden wool used to make sound absorbing acoustic tiles called ‘Baux’). All of these creations were presented as a dossier on the walls of the academy, showing how each design has solved a logistical problem.

For example, their 'Janinge' chairs for IKEA – conceived with the remit of durable affordability – set the studio on a two year investigation into creating furniture with progressive materials and dynamic shaping (at an IKEA pricepoint). The final products from all of their design trials – including their newest collection of high sofas and chairs for +Halle and a 2012 set of watches for Petrus Palmér and Ola E Bernestål – were on show throughout the exhibition.

'The design industry as a whole has matured,’ explains studio co-founder John Löfgren about their decade-long revolution. ‘A new, stronger strategic sense is prevailing – as if the "yet another product" designers, who were around when we first started, have finally been outgrown.’

Unlike a lot of other retrospectives, the installation didn’t just bathe in self-appreciation but addressed issues that have arisen in the studio's journey. 'This exhibition,' concludes Löfgren, 'is about the lessons we’ve learnt.' The team are also celebrating their decade of design with the release of an accompanying book of their accomplishments, available for purchase.

Ten years of change: Form Us With Love present a retrospective in Stockholm

The installation delved into the studio’s ethical ethos of ‘designing real change’, with the process of their works shown from start to finish

(Image credit: press)

Ten years of change: Form Us With Love present a retrospective in Stockholm

All of the studio’s creations were presented as a dossier on the walls of the academy, showing how each design has solved a logistical problem

(Image credit: press)

Ten years of change: Form Us With Love present a retrospective in Stockholm

Pictured left: afforable yet durable ’Janinge’ chairs for IKEA. Right: 2012 ’TID’ watches for Petrus Palmér and Ola E Bernestål

(Image credit: press)

Ten years of change: Form Us With Love present a retrospective in Stockholm

Unlike a lot of other retrospectives, the installation didn’t just bathe in self-appreciation but addressed issues that have arisen in the studio’s journey

(Image credit: press)

Ten years of change: Form Us With Love present a retrospective in Stockholm

The studio has worked with local materials, including Swedish Träullit; a wooden wool used to make sound absorbing acoustic tiles, called ‘Baux’

(Image credit: press)

Ten years of change: Form Us With Love present a retrospective in Stockholm

’The design industry as a whole has matured,’ explains studio co-founder John Löfgren. ‘A new stronger strategic sense is prevailing – as if the "yet another product" designers, who were around when we first started, have finally been outgrown’

(Image credit: press)

Ten years of change: Form Us With Love present a retrospective in Stockholm

The team are also celebrating their decade of design with the release of an accompanying book of their accomplishments, available for purchase

(Image credit: press)

INFORMATION
For more information, visit Form Us With Love’s website

Sujata Burman is a writer and editor based in London, specialising in design and culture. She was Digital Design Editor at Wallpaper* before moving to her current role of Head of Content at London Design Festival and London Design Biennale where she is expanding the content offering of the showcases. Over the past decade, Sujata has written for global design and culture publications, and has been a speaker, moderator and judge for institutions and brands including RIBA, D&AD, Design Museum and Design Miami/. In 2019, she co-authored her first book, An Opinionated Guide to London Architecture, published by Hoxton Mini Press, which was driven by her aim to make the fields of design and architecture accessible to wider audiences.