After winning a design competition in the early 1940s, devout modernists Peter Hvidt and Mølgaard Nielsen established their eponymous studio, which would eventually create more than 250 pieces of furniture and lighting. They became a pioneering force in Danish design by the 1950s, especially in the advancement of industrialized production for furniture. Some of their designs, however, never saw the light of day. After receiving a series of old sketches, Danish furniture brand &Tradition decided to reissue both unknown and career-defining works by the duo, including the Drawn Chair, Pinwheel Table, and sculptural Tripod Lamp.
One of the fair’s more curious debuts, this seat’s flexible backside responds to a variety of seating positions and invites sitters to get creative with their posture. A weight-bearing polyester or natural flax rope snakes through a steel tubing frame, evoking a line drawing rendered in three dimensions. Elaborating on this theme is the Tupla Wall Hook, also by the Bouroullec brothers, which debuted alongside the chair and comes in powder-coated die-cast zinc.
The British designer’s understated refresh of the classic library lamp became a clear-cut highlight, so to speak, for Wästberg, the Swedish purveyor of pared-down lighting fixtures. Its clever construction completely obscures the light source behind a high-gloss copper, brushed aluminum, or eggshell white surface, imparting a warm, unintrusive ambience for optimal focus.
Folk Collection by Front for Vestre
Outdoor furniture gets a stylish upgrade at the hands of Vestre, the Norwegian legacy brand known for sustainable seating interventions across Oslo, Milan, and Times Square. Among its latest releases is a freestanding extension to Sweden-based Front Design Studio’s durable Folk Collection, which employs hard-wearing materials such as extruded aluminum to withstand inclement weather. Vestre’s green factor also ventures beyond materials: Calculating the carbon footprint for its entire product lineup helped the brand secure the prestigious Best Stand award for its park-like booth by Stockholm’s Note Design Studio.
“Flowing like the wind. Opaque as smoke. Cool as moonlight,” Nipa Doshi, cofounder of London’s Doshi Levien studio, has said of Maya, the firm’s latest fabric for Danish textile mainstay Kvadrat (it’s also the Hindi word for “illusion). To wit, Maya’s gridded construction, which combines light, gentle notes with bold tones, resembles a striped pattern from afar, evoking the subtle nuances and transparencies of Indian saris.
Named after the workers who assemble welded steel barriers at congested public events, the Roadie Bench suggests the beauty of crowd control. Despite appearing in cities since the early 1950s, “[the barriers] are interesting as there’s no common standard for them,” says lead designer Chris Martin, who used recycled, heat-treated aluminum that’s powder-coated in silver, blue, or pastel yellow to make the seat. Its gently curved shape, which riffs on the brand’s Dandy Sofa, is deceptively simple and lightweight: Two horizontal rods form the frame, while a row of vertical rods bend to create a high-back chair that weighs just 35 pounds.
In 1958, Danish furniture designer Børge Mogensen unveiled the BM0865 Daybed at the Copenhagen Cabinetmakers’ Guild Furniture Exhibition in response to his own prediction of increasingly hectic lifestyles. (“A good resting spot is always needed. It is now and will continue to be in the future,” he said at the time.) Complete with cylindrical cushions and solid oak construction, the daybed forms part of Mogensen’s “building furniture” concept, which can be expanded over time to adapt to changing living situations. Pair it with the BM0488 Table Bench, also being reissued, which features a woven surface that sits at the same level as the daybed’s cushions.
Smart Wood Collection by Philippe Starck for Kartell
Kartell extends its track record in producing innovative plastic furniture to an unexpected material, as well as one of earth’s noblest: Wood. Designed by Frenchman Philippe Starck, the Smart Wood Collection of seating and a footrest uses patented technology to mold razor-thin slivers of wood to the human body’s contours, nearly replicating an embrace. Plus, Kartell sources wood exclusively from Forest Stewardship Council–certified forests, maximizing the line’s sustainability factor.
