Autumn season 2019: Swedish Design Moves Paris at the Institut Suédois September 8 – October 27

Situated in the heart of Paris, the Institut Suédois places design at the core of its program once again, starting September 2019. Swedish Design Moves Paris comes back with two exhibitions – Hem x 6 and Designprocesser – a series of talks and visits of
the renovated private apartments of the Institut Suédois in Paris, in wings that aren’t usually open to the public. This season’s program is focused on collaboration as a means to foster creativity, on the importance of innovation in the making process and the importance of showcasing artisanal know-how in support of quality, durable and traceable craft.

Protagonists: Gärsnäs company and Färg & Blanche design studio.

Gärsnäs is a family business that originated in 1893. Since 2003, the company has been run by the Swedish famous furniture designer Åke Axelsson, his daughter Anna Klockby and her husband Dag Klockby. The spirit of the brand hasn’t changed since it first started: durable furniture with a special taste for wood and noble material, with an artisanal approach. That isn’t to say Gärsnäs isn’t close to design, the brand works in collaboration with big figures in the field, like for example Inga Sempe who designed the Österlen chair and table, David Ericsson the designer behind the Madonna chair and the Petite chair, Pierre Sindre who designed Dandy easychair and the Day chair family, just to mention a few. Färg & Blanche, a Stockholm- based design studio founded in 2010 by Swedish designer Fredrik Färg and Franco-Swedish designer Emma Marga Blanche, is one of Gärsnäs’ many collaborations. Nestled in a big old garage in the centre of Stockholm, the duo experiments oscillates between design and art with a very recognizable style. Their exploration is mainly textile-related but also focuses on techniques, such as the association of sewing and wood. Among the high profile collaborations of this duo, there are Petite Friture, Bernhardt Design and BD Barcelona Design. Färg & Blanche have also designed numerous pieces of furniture for Gärsnäs, such as the Emma armchair, the Mr N, Elin and Lina chairs, the Julius sofa and armchair… This project, arranging one of the studios, was particularly dear to Emma Marga Blanche who used to visit the Institut suédois regularly as a child, basking in her second culture with her mother.

Intention:

The established collaboration between Gärsnäs and Färg & Blanche spans years and is fully present in this project. Alternating between the respect for the artisanal mindset and the hunger for new technology, the space reveals the creativity of this producer-creator duo. They have dreamt up a project that respects the existing architecture while adding a distinctive touch, modern and custom-made.

It is with their innovative Wood tailoring technique (pieces of wood are sewn together directly with a sewing machine) that Färg & Blanche sign the space. In the entrance, a 6m long oak plywood board bears a sewn motif that was designed to enhance elements like the mirror, the shelves and the mural table.

Treated with tones of light grey and natural wood, the studio offers a warm and welcoming cocoon under the mansard roof of one of the Hôtel de Marle’s wings. Some of the pieces, like the lighting, are especially created for the space and have never been shown before.

Hem x 6 Designprocesser
From September 8 to October 13 2019

The Insitut Suédois is open from
Wednesday to Sunday, from 12.00 to 18.00.
11 rue Payenne – 75003 Paris

Admission free.

The hours of the guided tours are available on www.institutsuedois.fr