Hello! – Anatomy of Communication

The final edition of Hello! gets under way on 5 February at Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair. Running for a three-year period and initiated by the Fair, the project has chosen communication as its theme this year. Architect Gert Wingårdh and Finnish illustrator Kustaa Saksi have joined creative forces to design the installation. They have each started out from their own perspective while adhering to a shared vision.

“From the very beginning, the idea has been to create a spatiality for communication in which furniture and design have a presence in words and images, as well as a physical presence. To explain the concept behind an item of furniture, what you were thinking and how you arrived at the design, gives a deeper dimension to the object. This is something we’ve wanted to focus on more this year and so we’re giving furniture companies a chance to introduce themselves, their products and designers by communicating through a new program item we call Show 'n Tell,” explains Sanna Gebeyehu, the Producer of the project.

Just as in previous years, there will be debates about and around the workplace, design and communication in the popular The Hello! Show. Moderator Johanna Agerman Ross – founder and chief editor of Disegno design magazine – gets the ball rolling and her show immediately follows the project’s press briefing. The theme is design communication and the international discussion panel consists of Marcus Fairs (dezeen.com), Justin McGuirk (Strelka Press) and Hanna Nova Beatrice (lecturer, author of "Behind the Scenes - stories from the Design Industry"). 

“I wanted to take this opportunity to talk about contemporary design culture, which is extremely focused on images and which places extremely little weight on debating the subject of design. Most design communication is carried on via online images these days, instead of op-ed articles or design reviews. The panelists are sure to provide insightful observations on this contemporary phenomenon,” predicts Johanna Agerman Ross.

The interior design suggests a church interior, with rows of high tables in front of an ‘altar’ where The Hello! Show panels hold sway. The table tops are made of a mirror laminate and balance on stacks of A4 paper sheets – 700,000 in total.

“When Stockholmsmässan got in touch, we instantly felt that this was something we wanted to be a part of and that fits in perfectly with our ‘Inspiring the world with sustainable papers’ motto,” explains Ylva Haglund, Marketing Communications Manager at Stora Enso.

 “It’s a creative and inspiring project, and it will be exciting to follow how the furniture takes shape and how visitors react to the stand. Paper is the most widely used means of communication there is, and it’s important to show that it’s manufactured from a renewable raw material and is 100 percent recyclable. Once the fair is over, we’ll be donating the paper to organizations that support children and young people, and this means it will be used several times before eventually being recycled into newspaper or corrugated cardboard,” concludes Ylva.

The entire dome-like structure consists of stacks of paper sheets that hang from the roof in a Venetian blind-like construction. The lowest sheet in each stack carries part of a gigantic illustration that forms the dome-shaped ceiling.

“I’m fascinated by architecture and antique ceiling paintings in temples all over the world, and the way they’ve attracted people to share their thoughts and ideas. I’ve wanted to create a similar esthetics, mixed with orientalism, art, mathematics, science and psychedelia, by depicting communication as Darwinistic evolution. Constantly on the move and a work in progress, like bacteria and marine animals when they crawled out of the depths of the sea millions of years ago,” says Kustaa Saksi, the illustrator behind the work.

Preparations for construction have been going on for months and the actual raising of the dome is something of a never-ending task.

“Precision in all the preliminary work is crucial. 1,120 stacks consisting of a total of 11,000 A3 sheets in 44,000 points of attachment are being installed across an area of 200 sqm and are then gradually hoisted up,” reports Sanna Gebeyehu. “Sometimes you wonder what you’ve got yourself into, but when you see the end result it’s always worth it!”

Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair is taking place at Stockholmsmässan 5-9 February 2013.

To find out more, please visit www.stockholmfurniturefair.com or contact:

Jessica Agert, Media Relations Manager at Stockholmsmässan, tel +46 8 749 4336, jessica.agert@stockholmsmassan.se

Cecilia Nyberg, Event Manager for Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair, tel +46 8 749 4386, cecilia.nyberg@stockholmsmassan.se