Iittala
Scan Magazine | Design | Scan Design guide Summer 2009
Glass Act the range, and fashionable graphic designer Klaus Haapeniemi is putting his charming folk-based patterns, with imagery of animals and trees, onto plates, mugs and cups-and-saucers. Iittala's endearing motto is "lasting design against throwawayism." So something from their wedding list service should last a lifetime. Iittala: 126 Regent Street, W1; 020 7287 5600; www.iittala.com
Swinging Sweden
Furniture at BoConcept is uniquely flexible ("bo" in Danish means "life" - or living, if you like). Ranges have a huge choice of components which can be combined into any number of individual pieces. Overall style is in the best traditions of Danish modern design, being simple, elegant, well-made and unlikely to date. Products include sofas, dining/coffee tables, chairs, beds and storage. A free interior design service includes home visits by appointment.
Design House Stockholm, on London's famously fashionable King's Road, Chelsea, brings a fresh new attitude to Swedish design, with its quirky motto of "fantasy and function." Thus useful everyday items such as furniture, tableware, vases and other home and fashion accessories get a modern touch of design magic. Newly arrived are Bjork rugs and interior cushions by Lena Bergstrom and Silver Light Candle holders by Magnus Lofgren. Don't miss the wonderful fabrics printed onto heavy cotton at a traditional Swedish mill.
BoConcept: 158 Tottenham Court Road, W1 and at 18 to 24 Westbourne Grove, W2. It is also in Harrods, SW1, and Selfridges, W1; 0845 605 0565; www.boconcept.co.uk
Design House Stockholm: 205 Kings Road, SW3; 020 7352 8403; Also in Selfridges Oxford Street (lower ground floor) 0207 318 377; www.designhousestockholm.com
Life-Enhancing
16 | Issue 9 | June 2009
Designhouse Stockholm
value because they are so difficult to produce. Find also contemporary ceramics and long-lasting, quality kitchenware. Iittala's glass factory was founded in Southern Finland in1881, in the little village that bears its name. It is best known for modernism, and the perfect pared-down shapes of Alvar Aalto, his wife Aino, and Kaj Franck (produced from the thirties onwards). More recently, however, Aleksi Perala has added stacking glasses in five rich colours to
BoConcept
Clearly visible from London's Regent Street is the stunning back wall "picture" of the Iittala glass shop. This "pixilated" design on closer inspection turns out to be a meticulous assembly of tea lights, called 'Kivis'. For Iittala is Finland's iconic brand for glass and ceramics, and this cool enclave of Scandinavian design is in markedly modernist contrast to the capital's imposing classical terraces outside. Shelves are filled with glass in a rainbow of colours, the red and purple colours commanding a higher