Atelier Collection
Built to Last: The Aesthetics of Utility
In seeking universal form, TAF Studio has connected to the essence of Nordic modernism
At a display of the beautiful patched boro textiles of northern Japan, shown at Stockholm’s Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, visitors are invited to stitch their own cloth, creating beguiling decorative patterns as they repair the tears. As they work, they rest on the slender yet sturdy wooden form of TAF Studio’s Atelier Bar Stool – its simple, clean aesthetic a perfect match for these exquisite yet utilitarian fabrics.
Just five minutes’ walk away is the Nationalmuseum, where the stool’s elder sibling, the Atelier Chair, originally saw the light of day in 2018. Charged with designing a universal, stackable seat for the restaurant, Stockholm-based TAF Studio chose to work in wood, drawing on modernist precedents they admire, including chairs by Alvar and Aino Aalto, and those of their Swedish contemporary Sven Markelius.
The material gave an attractive warmth and a quiet practicality that suited the surroundings – and also offered the ideal opportunity to collaborate with Artek. Co-founder Mattias Ståhlbom reveals, “Designing a stackable chair from scratch, and one that can survive in a museum environment, is one of the biggest challenges, so you definitely need professional help – you have to get the looks and functionality right, and give guarantees too!”
In the Atelier Chair, TAF Studio wanted to create an accessible, enduring design: “We always knew that we wanted this project to go out into the world. We loved the idea that it would sit inside the museum surrounded by rare, expensive, ornate furniture, but visitors can see this simple chair, use it, like it, perhaps even buy it. There’s a Swedish word, bruksföremål – it’s hard to describe in English, but it means everyday objects, items that are made to be used, that have a place in the world, and hopefully are built to last forever – it’s a nice feeling when the things that you design have that sense of purpose.’
The pursuit of beauty in the everyday is fundamental to Nordic modernism, as it is to the oft-mended garments of boro. The philosophy was shared by the Aaltos – much of their furniture was created for the demands of public institutions, yet its mix of austerity and warmth has proved to be perfectly suited to the comfort of the home as well. And it’s an ideal that has been realised by TAF Studio too in their tightly composed yet elegant designs for the Atelier Collection.
Alvar Aalto and Sven Markelius
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When designing the Atelier Chair for Stockholm’s Nationalmuseum, TAF Studio drew on a striking precedent – the Orchestra Chair, designed by Swedish architect Sven Markelius for his new concert hall in Helsingborg in 1931. Echoing the geometry of the Bauhaus, yet with a warmth all its own, the chair features ingenious connecting bars that wrap around its legs to give structural integrity and stackability.
Image © Bukowskis -
The Helsingborg Concert Hall was a bold modernist statement. For its furniture, Markelius turned to birch, with its organic beauty, easy availability and acoustic qualities. In the process, he created a popular icon – the Orchestra Chair. As Mattias Ståhlbom of TAF Studio recalls, ‘In Sweden, all generations, young and old, have a close relationship with it. It’s associated with our community spaces – churches, schools, auditoriums – as it’s so easy to use!’
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And it was inspired by Aalto. In September 1932, Markelius sent a letter inviting his fellow architect to the concert hall’s inauguration. He enclosed photos of his new chair, worried that his admiration for Aalto’s furniture might have tipped over into plagiarism, with the ‘considerable stir’ that might create. Signing off, Markelius jokes that he is now ‘aggressively boasting that I know Alvar Aalto, who designed the Paimio Sanatorium’.
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Markelius was referring to Aalto’s pioneering Chair 611, designed for his Civil Guard building in Jyväskylä. Like Markelius in Helsingborg, and TAF Studio in Stockholm, the challenge of creating a modern chair for a public space produced a timeless design, transcending context. Reflecting on the genesis of the Atelier Chair, Ståhlbom muses, ‘Designing for a particular environment can be productive – it provides framing and purpose, resulting in something completely functional, but also enduring.’
