Maharam is proud to support Formafantasma, guest of honor at the Stockholm Furniture Fair, with their Reading Room and first installation in Sweden.
Serving as a space for reflection, the Reading Room’s aim is to acquaint visitors with the ideas that shape Formafantasma’s work. The Reading Room is furnished with the Artek Forest Collection, which was created in collaboration with Formafantasma to pursue reduced environmental impact by embracing wood’s varied appearance including knots, insect trails, and color shifts and thus utilizing more of each tree. Tables and stools provide areas for respite alongside a selection of books pertaining to sustainability, ecology, and forest ecosystems. At one end of the room, Formafantasma’s films produced for their project Cambio display on an LED wall and highlight ongoing research that includes the extraction, production, and distribution of wood products.
Maharam’s contribution of over 350 meters of textile Gemma by Sander Lak hangs as a four-meter-high curtain that defines the expansive 61-meter elliptical perimeter of Formafantasma’s Reading Room. A saturated pink hue boldly visualizes the installation’s location within the entrance hall while a soft, felted-wool hand offers visual and physical warmth. In recognition of the environmental impact of trade fairs, Formafantasma and Maharam worked with the Stockholm Furniture Fair to extend the textile’s life beyond the fair through its donation to educational institutions, including Stockholm University of the Arts and Beckmans College of Design for reuse.
About Formafantasma
Studio Formafantasma is a research-based design studio investigating the ecological, historical, political and social forces shaping the discipline of design today. Whether designing for a client or developing self-initiated projects, the studio applies the same rigorous attention to context, processes and details. Formafantasma’s analytical nature translates into meticulous visual outcomes, products and strategies.
In 2020, Formafantasma set up Cambio, an ongoing investigation into the extraction, production and distribution of wood products. In collaboration with Artek, Formafantasma examines the changing conditions of Finnish forests in the light of industrialization and climate change. Since 2022 Formafantasma has been curating the multi-disciplinary symposium Prada Frames, which delves into the complex relationship between the natural environment and design.
About Maharam
Founded in 1902 in New York, Maharam is a leading creator of textiles for commercial and residential interiors. Recognized for its rigorous and holistic commitment to design, Maharam embraces a range of disciplines from product, graphic, and digital design to art and architecture. Maharam textiles are included in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Stedelijk Museum, among others. Maharam is the recipient of the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Design Patron Award for its longstanding support of art and design.
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