From Norwegian Daniel Rybakken, who used LED lighting to mimic daylight inside windowless spaces, to Elisa Strozyk, who won the 2010 German Design Award for Newcomers, Dwell Magazine has cataloged 27 designers-on-the-rise from around the world.
The list ranges from lighting designers to furniture makers to fabricators, all on the cutting edge. Some highlights:
Elisa Strozyk, based in Berlin, makes wooden textiles (see image above) that Dwell describes as “hybrids between parquet floors and fabrics.” She says water-warped parquet flooring inspired her work. She told Dwell: “You know how wood is supposed to feel when you touch a tabletop or a shelf, but the concept of wrapping it around your body is a new experience.”
The Oslo-based duo Jonas R. Stokke and Øystein Austad have designed everything from street signs for Abu Dhabi to a parfumery in Norway. They’ve also redone the calendar, challenging the conventional approach of rigid grids by allowing the user to arrange the days and months as they see fit.
Japanese designer Yota Kakuda has a penchant for traditional building techniques. His Tenon furniture collection is made using mortise and tenon joints. His other work, such as the Nambu cast iron casserole and the winding charger, a retractable phone charger (why hasn’t Apple offered this yet?) also harken back to old-school objects.
