now
How long is now? NOW is NOW Whenever NOW occurs The foor of Café de Flore in Paris is the frst thing that visitors encounter on entering the café, as always – in the past, the present and in the future. And in a strange way, this ties together the story of our three major new items this year: Kaffe, Code 27 and Ginkgo. Why? You’re sure to fnd out soon… This is a small status report, about the new things we’re doing, about the places we’re infuencing, about the time we’re living in. About NOW. Later is where we’re heading… Mimi & Johan
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Intro bild
Cafe de Flore has been the best meeting and people-watching place in Paris since 1887.
Kaffe
Design: Thomas Bernstrand 2O14
A few words about the KAFFE series: It started as an assignment to produce drawings for interior design solutions in a new residential area called Ursvik in Solna, but it came to nothing. Then Johan saw my presentation of it and liked it very much. I think it is easy to relate to. The concept for the item of furniture that Blå Station is now making is that it should work both outdoors and indoors. It should withstand outdoor environments and meet all the requirements placed on outdoor furniture, but be equally suited to indoor use. That’s why its seat was designed to create a cosy and comfortable impression. It looks upholstered, slightly “worn in”, and warm, snug and inviting. As we know, outdoor furniture is often made with wooden slats. Its shape is like a classic café chair but with a somewhat more formal touch. It feels simple and natural, as do its colours: light-grey, grey and black. This also applies to the tables, of course. But the tables have an added advantage in that you can dismantle them in the winter so that they don’t take up space. Thomas Bernstrand
Kaffe
Kaffe
Knock-down for transport or storage
Easy to disassemble if needed
Kaffe KAFFE, JAVA, CAF…… we fnd many names for those we love… Cafés have been part of our history for as long as we can remember; they are watering holes, breathing spaces and meeting places. Socialising in cafés is part of our culture. We go there to meet friends, grab a quick coffee or hold a business meeting. We take a seat and rest weary feet during a day of shopping and watch the world go by… we treat ourselves to a touch of luxury. To make us feel welcome, the atmosphere and service are just as important as the furnishings, both outdoors and indoors…in sunshine or pouring rain, winter or spring, we fnd our way here, whenever we feel like it or the opportunity arises.
Code Ginkgo 27 Design: Stefan Design: BorseliusCutu & Johan Lindau Mazuelos & 2O14 Eva Prego 2O13
Cracking the code for how – from an industrial perspective – a specifc shape can become a free shape and how specifc designs and fnishes can become adaptable variations was quite a challenge for me in my standard sofa at home. This sofa with its fxed shape – the sofa we love and cherish, that shares our lives with its unchanging appearance in the winter, spring, summer and autumn. What happens to the sofa, happens – and remains part of the sofa. But there, in that very sofa, the idea was born of coding a product with adaptability, a product that can be changed from one moment to the next – to infuence both you and the room it stands in. And just imagine if this ability to adapt could be made to be obvious, simple, inviting – and infnite. From small to large and even bigger still. We entered a modular code of 27cm and made the cushions identical on both sides by creating a visual divide down the middle, so that they can all be turned over and used in the same way. No top or bottom, no right or wrong. Then it’s up to you how to combine cushions – small, medium or large – and to choose whether to line up the joins or not. It became a coded alphabet, a system of A, B, C + 27. That’s why we chose to call our system Code 27. Code 27 – for all those who refuse to limit their options. Stefan & Johan
A
B
C
Code Ginkgo 27 Design: Cutu Mazuelos & Eva Prego 2O13
Code 27
Code 27
Code 27 – for those of you who like variation
Code Ginkgo 27 Design: Cutu Mazuelos & Eva Prego 2O13
Ginkgo acoustic panels In Japan, the ginkgo tree is venerated. Several ginkgo trees survived the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945 and are still alive today. For this reason, the trees are considered a “bearer of hope� and a symbol of resilience and peace on the island nation. That is why the distinctive fan-shaped ginkgo leaf is a popular motif in Japanese art and is used in the logos of the city of Tokyo and the railway company Toei. In our case, we discovered the beauty of the ginkgo trees six years ago, when we were walking around Tokyo and noticed how beautifully the grey colour from the buildings contrasted with the natural colours, and how they change with the seasons. The ginkgo shows a wonderful range of colours during the year; for instance, a lush green turns into an intense yellow during the autumn. We thought that we could use this concept to create something new: combining a European point of view with Japanese tradition would give us a beautiful and very useful acoustic panel. Ginkgo makes you dream of nature and brings the most amazing landscapes from all over the world into your indoor environment. Ginkgo can be a cloudy sky in the winter or a colourful forest during the autumn. By just changing the colours, this simple shape can become millions of different inspirational landscapes. We create the ginkgo panels to connect people directly with mother earth. Stone Designs
Ginkgo
Design: Stone Designs 2O14
Ginkgo
Ginkgo Sometimes when you’re sitting in your own offce and think about your own needs that arise, something suddenly and unexpectedly comes your way as a solution to that problem. That’s what happened when Stone Design’s little acoustic panel was brought to our attention – at exactly the time we were wondering what to do about the sound level in our new offce. It was never our self-imposed task to produce an acoustic panel of our own, but then, like on so many other occasions in life, various coincidences and circumstances create the future. And when we assessed Stone Design’s proposal, it was precisely the solution we were looking for, which became a product. Our own acoustic panel.
Koja Element Design: Fredrik Mattson 2014 The Koja series is all about space and rooms. That’s why it feels natural to expand the series with walls/elements and complete the room. Over the years we have seen many competing sofa systems that build their versions by linking two sofas with an end section. We view this as an excessively static solution in a fexible, modern offce. It can also easily create an awkward situation for someone wanting to sit down on or get up off the sofa – a bit like sitting by the window in a train, needing the toilet and not wanting to disturb the person sitting next to you in order to get out of your seat. With Koja Element you are not forced to group the sections in one specifc way. Instead, walls can be moved as and when new needs arise. It also creates several corridors in the room, with free access from all directions, avoiding cramped spaces. The room formed using these elements becomes surprisingly quiet and private. When you sit in a Koja room, people don’t just barge in seeing as you are simply indicating that you want to be left alone there. Fredrik Mattson
Koja
Design: Fredrik Mattson 2O1O
Koja Easy-chair Koja Hotel – 2-seater Koja Sofa – 3-seater High and low With or without additional table
No, the inspiration for DENT doesn’t come from a crumpled piece of paper, but it’s the easiest way of explaining the theory in practical terms. In exactly the same way that you can shape a crumpled and then smoothed-out piece of paper into a bowl, for example, the designers O4i have cracked the code for how you “trick” traditional veneer into bending itself in different directions without breaking and folding. We made the impossible possible and created a three-dimensional shape with traditional veneer.
Dent
Design: O4i 2O13
The Dent chair challenges the idea of what is sleek and beautiful. It is the antithesis of perfect. It is a chair that has never been seen before and, dare we say it, that won’t leave anyone unmoved. The story of the Dent chair began with the idea of trying to achieve the impossible: to create a three-dimensional surface out of regular veneer. At the same time, the story of Dent is the story of how the rejected became the selected. We have had years of experience of designing chairs using traditional plywood moulding, always trying to push the limits of what is possible without “cheating” by using expensive 3D veneer. With Dent we decided to push even more, to venture into unchartered territory and out of our comfort zone. To fnd the unknown. For us, the beauty of Dent lies in the resistance of the material – and the memory of that sudden and magical turn a project can take, when you manage to think out of the box...or...don’t think at all! After many prototypes and when we were on the verge of almost giving up, we suddenly found a new perspective and realised, as crazy as it may sound, that the irregular dents and wrinkles are not our enemies – they are our best friends! O4i
Dent
Design: O4i 2O13
Dent Nostack 2013 Dent Stack 2013 Dent Offce 2013 NEW! Dent Wood 2014
Dent Wood
Design: O4i 2O14
Size + Vivi Design: Thomas Bernstrand 2O13
Size table NOW available with cable-managment
Straw table
Design: Osko + Deichmann
NEW Straw table with three legs and three legs always reaches the ground...
Straw
Design: Osko + Deichmann 2010
Straw Chair – from large (2010) to small (2014). It started off as a large chair – too large. Then it shrank considerably, but remained excessively large. After that, its dimensions were reduced slightly more, and NOW it’s perfect!
No, we have not destroyed the properties of steel, we have simply stretched the limits of what is possible. We have bent, folded and kinked the steel in a functional way instead of bending it in a traditional manner. Placing the kinks in these positions has made the construction strong, and the kinks integrate with the independent expression.
Superkink Design: Osko + Deichmann 2013
Visp
Sparta
Pall
B4-47
B4-65
B4-82
Hรถvding
Hippo
Dent
Dent
Dent
Sting
Sting
Gecco
Gecco
Chair 69
Vivi 2
Vivi 2A
Vivi 4
Vivi 4A
Latte
Straw
Straw
Straw
Dundra
Dundra
Dundra
Dundra
Dundra
Dundra
Dundra
Dundra
Boo
Boo
Peek Swivel Peekaboo
Wilmer C
Wilmer CS
Wilmer S
Wilmer T
Innovation C Puppa
Oppo
Oppo
Oppo
Oppo
Oppo
Oppo mini
L1
Clip
Ping-Pong
Level
Bit
Size
Babel
Bimbo
Bimbed
B25, B26 & L25
Bimbord
Sรถndag
PM
Koja
Koja
Koja Sofa
Taylor
Taylor Sofa
Superkink
Superkink
Dundra
Dundra
Dundra Sofa
Dunder
Dunder
Dunder
Qvarto
Big Island
Small Island Dundra
Big Island
Small Island Antoinette
Polstergeist
Ally
Ally Sofa
Dunder
Dunder
Fellow
Qvarto
Qvarto
Qvarto
Pond
Cabin
Mono High Mono Low
Mika
Fellow
Klim
Does the world need companies like Blü Station that go against the tide, refuse to take the easy way out and refuse to bow down to market preferences for cheap products, and that instead continue to test the ingenuity of designers, to question convention and needs, and to support the development of exciting new materials, products and processes in the industry, in order to produce the products that the market truly needs and deserves? We certainly think so. We are totally convinced that the grass can be greener where we are standing – and we are continuing to keep it well watered. That’s the choice we have made. Mimi & Johan
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is now.� Chinese proverb.
Denmark Niels Kilian Tel +45 6253 1331 Mobile +45 4032 0704 nielskilian13@anderledes.dk Norway Canvas Tel +47 994 24 050 info@canvas.no United Kingdom Inform Furniture Ltd Tel +44 20 7228 3335 info@informfurniture.co.uk Holland BOL Interieur Agenturen Tel +31 653 26 33 15 info@mooiwerken.nl Germany 0-6 Objektagentur van Laar Tel +49 421 6966 7600 beratung@objektagentur.de Germany 7-9 One11, Rainer Schäfer Mobile + 49 177 6429268 rs@one11.co
Austria Objekt Direkt Agentur Tel +43 662 88 3151 agentur@objektdirekt.at Spain Casa Contract Tel +34 932 432 677 Mobile +34 639 239 004 blastation@casacontract.com Italy Giovanni Aita – Agente Tel +39 02 565 661 78 Mobil +39 339 666 59 59 giovanni.aita@blastation.it France PPCM Tel +33 (0)3 81 40 36 00 ppcm@ppcmsarl.fr Finland Stanza OY Tel +358 40 737 0871 stanza@stanza.f Russia Aversia OY Tel +358 40 737 0871 elena.airas@phnet.f
2O14
Blå Station AB Box 1OO S-296 22 Åhus. Sweden Tel: +46 (O)44 24 9O 7O Fax: +46 (O)44 24 12 14 Showroom: Blå Station Sibyllegatan 9. Stockholm info@blastation.se www.blastation.se