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Beckmans School of Design

Work by Beckmans alumni at Nobel Week Lights – 7 December 2024

December 2, 2024
Person in headphones photographs a lit installation of white winding tubes along a railing, above a city square at night.
Lit installation of white winding tubes along a railing, seen from below against the night sky.
Three people stand behind a railing wrapped in glowing white tubes, a light installation in the city at night.
Four smiling people in winter coats stand beside a lit installation of white winding tubes, in the city at night.
Person in headphones films a lit installation of white winding tubes on their phone, city lights in the background.
Sculpture of white ribbed tubes twisted into a knot and lit from within, against a grey background.
STUDIO DUKTIG created Beckmans College of Design’s installation for Nobel Week Lights 2024. Photo: Benoît Derrier

Inspired by the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

Anneli Wihlborg and Fanny Johansson—the duo behind STUDIO DUKTIG and both graduates of Beckmans’ Product Design programme in 2023—are creating this year’s installation for Beckmans College of Design at the Nobel Week Lights festival, taking place from 7 to 15 December.

The installation Nematode, located near Sergels torg in the heart of Stockholm, is inspired by this year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, awarded to two researchers for their discovery of how gene activity is regulated.

Nobel laureates Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun studied the one-millimetre-long worm C. elegans, a roundworm also known as a nematode. Through their research, they discovered that microRNA—a new class of very small RNA molecules—plays a crucial role in gene regulation. Gene regulation enables muscle, nerve and intestinal cells, for example, to develop the distinct functions they need. When this process is disrupted, it can lead to serious conditions such as cancer, diabetes and autoimmune diseases.

Playfulness as a tool for exploring complex phenomena

In Nematode, STUDIO DUKTIG uses humour and playfulness to explore a complex phenomenon. By combining existing materials to create something new, the work shows how something very small—microRNA—can influence larger processes in the body, and how the same material can take on different forms.

Come and experience Nematode by Sergels torg, 7–15 December!