Design everything
As cities keep growing, living conditions are getting more cramped. To us, this means that design must encompass much more than pure aesthetics. We are collaborating with renowned Scandinavian designers, and it is equally important for our products to look good, serve a practical function, and cause the least possible impact on the environment.
Our designers
Our design philosophy affects the products all the way from conception to completion and placement. We give free rein to designers in the concept development phase, where they often collaborate closely with landscape architects and other planners.
Nordic design includes a social element – the notion that design should be accessible to everyone. This is the reason why we always refuse to do hostile design, like benches with spikes to prevent people from lying down.
Being recognised is a great inspiration for further innovation. In 1987, our bench Hvilan was the first outdoor furniture ever to win the prestigious Norwegian Award for Design and Architecture. Since then our solutions have won numerous awards all over the world.
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“We want to design products with qualities which ensure that people have positive experiences, visually, socially and functionally, and which take responsibility for both the present and the future.”
Morten Skjærpe Knarrum and Jonas Norheim met when they were students and they both have a master's degree from Bergen Academy of Art and Design in Norway. Together, they started the Morten&Jonas design studio, which is based just outside of Oslo. Their work is characterized by curiosity and imagination, combined with a desire to challenge established boundaries within the field of design. Morten&Jonas have worked with many well-known brands and regularly win awards for their work.
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“I’m searching for elegance, not necessarily aesthetic elegance, but a smartness in concept, manufacturing technique, efficiency and uniqueness.”
Norwegian designer Daniel Rybakken graduated from Oslo School of Architecture and Design and the Academy of Art and Design in Gothenburg, Sweden. In 2008, he set up his own design office in Gothenburg. Rybakken’s work explores the boundary between art and design and has won many awards, both nationally and internationally.
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"I want to create lasting value through sturdy and carefully considered projects."
Jonas Ravlo Stokke has an MA in Industrial Design from the Oslo School of Architecture and Design. In 2007, he teamed up with Øystein Austad to found the design studio StokkeAustad. They have won numerous awards, including the prestigious Wallpaper Design Award in 2010 and Red Dot Best of the Best.
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«With my work, I want to create good, independent and responsible products for the future.»
Andreas Engesvik has a BA in Art History and an MA in Design. In 2000, he co-founded the design group Norway Says and has run his own design studio since 2009. He has won many national and international awards.
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«Today, ARDE is playing a leading role in bringing about change, working at the exciting interface between nature, architecture and product design.»
ARDE has decided to make a difference and utilise our expertise to design projects and products that support circular thinking and sustainable development.
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“Creativity is about searching for what is missing, to constantly realign thoughts and expressions to find that moment of insight when everything clicks. At Note we collaborate intensely, with personal passion and our design disciplines to share our insights with the world.”
Founded in 2008 by Johannes Carlström and Cristiano Pigazzini, Note is a Stockholm based design studio working across the fields of architecture, interiors, products, graphic design and design strategy. Now comprising a large and varied team of designers, Note has grown to become one of the most internationally admired names in Scandinavian design, working with a wide range of international design brands and winning a steady stream of design awards.
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«My objective is to design products that enrich the user in everyday life and last for generations.»
Kristine Five Melvær holds Masters degrees in Industrial Design from the Oslo School of Architecture and Design (AHO) and Visual Communication from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts (KHiO). Melvær creates furniture, lighting, tableware, textile objects and graphic design. She has won a number of prizes in both her disciplines.
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"My designs must be in harmony with people and the space, nature, the city, and they must be natural, honest and friendly and have a timeless contemporary feel."
Sanna Lindström has been running her design studio since 2007, when she studied furniture design at Carl Malmsten in Stockholm. Sanna has designed a wide range of furniture and products. She has a background as a professional dancer, and she has also studied art and industrial design.
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«Good outdoor furniture reflects the architecture and the landscape - almost like an echo.»
Industrial designer Espen Voll qualified at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design and the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. He is the former founder of Norway Says. He is currently a partner and designer at Anderssen & Voll. He has received a considerable number of national and international awards, including the Wallpaper Award, the IF Award and an Honorary Award for Best Design in Norway.
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"We want our Folk series to have a familiar expression, evoke curiosity and create places that feel inclusive and welcoming for everyone."
Anna Lindgren and Sofia Lagerkvist are the Front designers. They met at Konstfack in Stockholm, when they were studying MA in industrial design, and founded Front in 2004. Their works are based on common discussions, explorations and experiments and they collaborate in all projects from initial ideas to the final product.
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"Everything begins with Quality. - With big Q. »
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«Outdoor spaces are the largest spaces. They should be designed in order to connect people to nature and the urban environment.»
Furniture designer Einar Smette-Blålid qualified at the Oslo National Academy of Arts. He obtained a Master’s degree in furniture design in 2007. Mr. Smette-Blålid received an Award for Design Excellence in 2010 for the DIALOG litter bin which he and Allan Hagerup designed for Vestre AS.
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«Our products reflect the strict requirements relating to aesthetics and functionality which are expected of products delivered by Vestre.»
Qualified as a mechanical engineer in England. Partner at Designpartnership AS, along with Jahn Aamodt and Jarle Slyngstad. Vestre’s City range, which he designed with Aamodt and Slyngstad in 1990, is still in production after 24 years.
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«Good designs provide good, simple answers to complex questions. The aesthetics of design emerge from the simplicity of the solution.»
Furniture designer Jarle Slyngstad submitted his diploma paper to the Oslo National Academy of Arts in 1985. Just one year later he received an Award for Design Excellence. Vestre’s City range, which he designed with Aadmodt and Friddaman in 1990, is still in production after 24 years. These products confirm the designer’s concept of life as being the most important environmental factor.
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«Good industrial design is primarily all about ensuring that products reach users who will be happy with them over time.»
Geir Øxseth is a qualified industrial designer and engineer. He is interested in designs which involve organic shapes which will visually stand over time in functional products with a high utilitarian value. Mr. Øxseth has received five Awards for Design Excellence as well as a Design Effect Award for designs which create added value.
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«Get the job done within the agreed framework and you'll win the confidence of your client, get more projects and achieve greater freedom.»
Bjarne Peter Aasen is a Norwegian landscape architect with a long list of accolades. In 2004 he received Norsk Form’s Commendation Award for his contribution towards the development of Norwegian landscape architecture and public spaces in Norway.
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«Design should unite and it must have a personality. It must have a duration and function which will satisfy the requirements of its users, manufacturers and society.»
Jahn Aamodt is a member of NID (the Norwegian Association of Industrial Designers) and an Interior Architect MNIL (member of the Norwegian Association of Interior Architects). He qualified as an industrial designer at Industridesignerutdanningen in Oslo in 1980, and as an interior architect/furniture designer at the National College of Art and Design in 1976.
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«Outdoor spaces are the most important architectural arena. It is between our houses that we find our democratic society.»
Landscape architect Lars Jørstad Nordbye has worked for Snøhetta since 2000 and in this capacity he has been involved in designing many outdoor spaces. BØY was created as a location-specific piece of furniture for the Bjølsen student village in 2001, but has subsequently been used in a number of other outdoor space.
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«When designing outdoor furniture we strive to achieve a simple design expression with the emphasis on good details and sturdy materials.»
Smedsvig Landskapsarkitekter AS possesses interdisciplinary experience of cooperation, where the design and decoration of buildings and landscapes is addressed in an integrated process when designing open spaces, squares, streets, esplanades, schools, nurseries and parks. Our furniture designs are one result of this.
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«Furniture in public spaces can serve as utility articles which are simply there, year after year without making much of a statement. However, every now and then urban furniture provides us with something a bit more unexpected such »
Ola Bettum qualified as a landscape architect and town planner at the University of Ås and the Oslo School of Architecture and Design. He is a professor at the Institute of Landscape Architecture in Ås, runs IN’BY AS in Oslo and is a keen urban cyclist.
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"Good industrial design is mainly about ease of use, the rest is aesthetics, price and ecology."
Product developer Kai W. Moe holds the Diploma In Art & Design from the Bath Academy of Art in England (1972) and the Diploma from the ID Education in Oslo (1981). Moe delivered the drawings to the Hvilan series, which won Vestres' first Good Design Award in 1987.
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«The main intention of my work is to help define industrial design activity as a vital force in the field of urban design.»
Artur Wozniak qualified at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design, the SHKS (the Norwegian College of Art and Design) – Institute of Industrial Design – Diploma 1987, and the Academy of Art in Krakow. He is most well known for projects relating to public spaces: Oslo Sporveier, Publicus, Urban – Award for Design Excellence 1996, Via and Acceptor.
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«Outdoor furniture becomes interesting when it balances functionality, human interaction and environments.»
Hong Ngo-Aandal graduated from Central Saint Martins in 2004. He has worked for El Ultimo Grito and Barber Osgerby in London. In Norway he has worked for several well-known Norwegian companies. He is interested in pushing the boundaries for outdoor furniture.
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«Design has no special value in itself. Only in the interplay which exists between people can a product or project be either good or bad.»
Hallvard Jakobsen qualified at the SHKS (Norwegian College of Art and Design) – Interior and Design Department – and received a diploma for industrial designer studies in Oslo in 1981. In addition to undertaking work for private companies he has worked on public design for a number of organisations such as NSB (the Norwegian State Railways), the University of Oslo, Oslo Sporveier and Statsbygg.
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«Great design is about creating something that has an emotional, aesthetic and functional appeal and achieving the right balance between these values.»
Kristin Schanche is a Partner & Studio Director at Hareide Design, one of Norway’s most well-known industrial design studios. The studio’s work has received multiple awards from the Norwegian Design Council, the German Red Dot Award, Red Dot Best of The Best Award and the German iF-Design Gold Award and has been internationally recognised by museums such as The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) and the Norwegian Museum of Decorative Arts and Design in Oslo.
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"Although design is an idea subject and not a craft subject, this has been important to me in managing the transformation from idea to physical object. ”
Andersen graduated from Bergen Academy of the Arts in 2002. Together with Andreas Engesvik and Espen Voll he started the design group Norway Says in 1999. Torbjørn Anderssen has participated in a number of international exhibitions through Norway Says, including "100% Norway" in London, as well as exhibitions in Tokyo, New York, Milan and Stockholm. As a group, Norway Says has received a number of awards, including the Swedish Bruno Mathsson Prize in 2004
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«If you are going to leave a "footprint" in your surroundings, it should create a positive experience. »
Interior architect/furniture designer Michael Olofsson qualified in 1993 at the Danish College of Design in Copenhagen and the Oslo College of Art and Handicrafts.
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«I just try to carry out my design assignments to the best of my ability within the framework provided. And I remind myself that "God is in the details" (Ludwig Mies van der Rohe).»
Furniture designer Tore Borgersen graduated from the Oslo College of Arts and Handicrafts in 1997. He specialised in industrial furniture design at the Royal College of Art in London, 1995.
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«City life is dynamic. People are looking for new ways to experience the city. As new spaces are explored new needs and opportunities for creative design and exciting development unfold.»
SOLA develops solutions for landscapes, urban spaces and urban forms that prioritize people, nature and the interaction between them. We look at sustainable, functional, user-friendly and attractive urban and landscape spaces as fundamental in people’s lives and as the basis for living cities and towns.Our goal is to create innovative and inspiring outdoor areas designed across traditional boundaries between different design and discipline disciplines, adding new dimensions to the way we appreciate and participate in public spaces. SOLA was started by Ole Rydningen and Ashley Conn in 2015.
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«Design is perpetual motion which adds energy to a process when new ideas are born, constantly resulting in innovative products. Doing something new always involves a certain amount of risk, but without new solutions no energy would be added and at best you would risk repeating yourself until all the energy has been lost»
Since completing his studies at the Institute of Industrial Design (Aho) in 1989, industrial designer Johan Verde has run his own design studio in Oslo. During this period he has designed and made a wide range of products in various product categories and materials and there is a common thread which links all his works, constituting an integral whole despite their variations and tremendous range.
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“Design is a process where you go from complicated to immediately understandable and intuitive. In other words, design is complicated, but the result is simple. ”
Atle Tveit is furniture designer MNIL with a master's degree from the School of Arts and Design in Bergen. He has won several awards for his work, and develops furniture for leading furniture manufacturers both independently and in collaboration with other designers. His design often consists of clear lines, which give the product a minimalist and distinctive character, exemplified in the outdoor furniture series BLOC and AIR for Vestre.
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«I believe that outdoor furniture provides us with a meeting place between people, nature and architecture. As a designer I allow this relationship to inspire the shape, materials and quality of a product.»
Furniture designer Allan Hagerup qualified at the Oslo National Academy of Arts. His 2007 Master’s project in furniture design resulted in the DIALOG bench and litter bin, which won the Norwegian Design Council’s Award for Design Excellence in 2010. Since then Mr. Hagerup has devoted his work to designing products for outdoor environments.
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«Urban spaces should be humanly designed, politically engaged, financially viable, structurally realistic, and of course, skatable!»
Julien De Smedt is the founder and director of JDS Architects and co-founder of Makers With Agendas. His designs and architecture have received worldwide recognition and numerous awards.
