Blå Station launches the Röhsska-chair by designer Fredrik Paulsen

Röhsska Museum has commissioned Fredrik Paulsen to interpret the meaning of democratic design. For the exhibition Unmaking Democratic Design, Paulsen has designed a Swedish-made flatpack-furniture together with furniture manufacturer Blå Station. Now the Röhsska-chair is being launched at the Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair 2019.

The ambition with the upcoming exhibition Unmaking Democratic Design: Fredrik Paulsen, is to give Paulsen a platform to create a piece of furniture, where the process is carefully documented as a creative and practical exercise through which Paulsen, the museum and Blå Station seek to unpick the meaning of so-called democratic design through the design and making of a chair.

In traditional design history, chairs are used to signify material, technological and cultural developments. Here, the same piece of furniture is, rather, used to dismantle, pick apart, and question the notion of democratic design. The exhibition examines perspectives on usage, design, production, materiality and aesthetics.

-When design is called demoratic, it´s often from the consumer-perspective. We wanted to challenge this notion. To us, one part of the project is about highlighting an economic model – an often secret or hidden part of the design and manufacturing process, says Johan Deurell, Curator for the exhibition.

To make theory into practice, the Röhsska museum challenges the furniture manufacturer Blå Station and Fredrik Paulsen to produce an affordable product, produced by Swedish materials and under Swedish labour law. The result is a chair made of solid beech and spruce plywood, which is delivered in a flat package, that will be launched at the Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair, 5 February 2019.

-The collaboration with Fredrik Paulsen and Blå Station is important for the museum. Their attitude to working with design, production and communication is that design is developed in constant dialogue with the outside world. As consumers, we all participate, whether we are aware of it or not, in the conversation about the role of design in society. As a design museum, Röhsska offers visitors a forum for deeper reflection on what design is can be, says Nina Due, Museum Director.

In the exhibition, the visitor can follow the transformation of the beech tree into a finished chair in a photo installation by Jason Evans. In addition, the cost of such a design process is documented in detail in a catalogue designed by Europe, where all costs of work and materials are accounted for.

Facts
Title: Unmaking Democratic Design: Fredrik Paulsen
The exhibition is presented at the Röhsska Museum 23 February–19 May 2019
Curator: Johan Deurell
Exhibition Design: Fredrik Paulsen
Graphic Design: Europa/Mia Frostner

Contact
Helene Karlsson, Communications Officer
+ 46 (0)31-368 35 07
helene.karlsson@kultur.goteborg.se

Johan Deurell, Curator
+ 46 (0)31-368 31 68
johan.deurell@kultur.goteborg.se

Nina Due, Museum Director
+ 46 (0)31-368 31 55
nina.due@kultur.goteborg.se