Alumni nominated in Design S
Park bench with recognition from the living room sofa
Sanna Gripner and Märta Hägglund are the design duo Gripner&Hägglund. Their park bench Cushy consists of a sofa and an armchair that take their inspiration from the living room and especially from the soft, rounded shape of the upholstered sofa product design. The furniture is made of a metal mesh that gives it an airy and light impression.
"With Cushy, we've wanted to make the park a living room for everyone and show that design makes public space more inclusive," he said. Unlike traditional park furniture, Cushy is more ergonomic and it is nice to sit in for a long time, says Sanna Gripner and Märta Hägglund and continues:
"It's been great to see that Cushy has been used and appreciated by both young and elderly people. The best part was when we got an email from a 14-year-old girl from the area who wrote how much Cushy meant to her, we couldn't have imagined that!
Part of internationally acclaimed Superbenches
Cushy was created just over a year ago when Gripner&Hägglund was invited to create alternative park benches for the kvarnbacken area in Järfälla. In addition to the relatively newly established design duo, nine other designers were invited to the Superbenches project, which gained international attention, including by CNN.
"It has been great that the project has been widely distributed abroad and that we have had the honour of being part of it together with big names such as Max Lamb, Philippe Malouin and Scholten &beijings.
About Design S
Design S - Swedish Design Awards is Sweden's foremost and broadest design award that the entire design industry supports. The award is aimed at professional designers, architects, individual practitioners, producers and companies working with design and product design in a broad sense.
Design S – Swedish Design Awards is a jury-judged award and the jury, led by Lisa Lindström, CEO of Doberman, has nominated over 60 entries. The list of all nominees is here. The award ceremony will take place on 11 June at Kulturhuset Stadsteatern, where a total of nineteen prizes will be awarded.
