DesignMarch 2024: Celebrating Icelandic Innovation
Reykjavik recently concluded DesignMarch 2024, a vibrant five-day festival that celebrated the forefront of Icelandic design, architecture, and fashion. This year's iteration, the 18th of its kind, underscored the nation's rising international influence in the creative sphere, despite its relatively small community. The festival served as a dynamic platform for over a hundred exhibitions, presenting groundbreaking work that prioritizes innovation, sustainable practices, and cross-disciplinary collaboration. The showcased projects ranged from ingenious uses of local waste materials to thoughtful explorations of cultural identity and minimalist aesthetics, all reflecting Iceland's unique approach to design.
Among the standout presentations was 'Potential,' an exhibition by the Iceland University of the Arts' product design department. This collection brilliantly transformed overlooked local resources into objects of value. A particularly innovative piece was a lampshade crafted from discarded skate skin, meticulously dried and molded by Kári Jóhannsson, demonstrating how waste can be reimagined with distinction. Another notable item was Erla Lind Guðmundsdóttir's 'Værð,' a springless mattress made from Icelandic sheep's wool, which revitalized traditional materials through modern manufacturing techniques, specifically a 3D-printing inspired felting process.
Logi Pedro Stefásson's solo exhibition, 'Heimur,' offered a deeply personal exploration of design. The Icelandic-Angolan designer filled a staged interior with twenty self-designed and fabricated objects, from cutlery to display cases. His work challenged contemporary trends by emphasizing individual expression over showroom aesthetics. Stefásson drew inspiration from the Danish 'Total Design' concept, where every object holds equal importance, while also reflecting on his bicultural background and its influence on design traditions.
The festival also presented 'Inherited Matter – A Finite Resource,' a poignant exhibition curated by Ólafur Ólafsson and Hrefna Sigurðardóttir, relatives of the late craftsman Ólafur Andrés Guðmundsson. This installation, comprising tools and materials from Guðmundsson's studio, served as both a tribute to his life and a meditation on resource conservation. It highlighted the importance of slowing down consumption, repairing, and valuing possessions for longer, drawing wisdom from past generations' practices.
Architecture enthusiasts were treated to tours of innovative buildings, including the experimental Frakkastígur housing block. Designed by Arnhildur Pálmadóttir of S.ap Arkitekter, this project focuses on minimizing carbon footprint through extensive use of recycled and local materials. Reclaimed road barriers, on-site stone, and salvaged waste glass were ingeniously integrated into the building's facade, offering a critical commentary on Iceland's high CO2 emissions in construction, predominantly due to concrete usage.
'Hæ/Hi: Vol V | Night Night' was one of the more whimsical exhibitions, a collaborative effort between Icelandic and Seattle design studios focused on bedroom product development. Highlights included Jón Helgi Hólmgeirsson's softly glowing 'Tiltekt' lights, crafted from studio clear-out materials, and Thorunn Arnadottir's 'Bloom,' a playful scent diffuser. Hage Studio contributed a chunky blackout blind made from natural black Icelandic sheep wool, designed with countable stripes to aid sleep, playfully referencing the traditional act of counting sheep.
'Thrown into Design' showcased the enduring trend of designing with waste, featuring products created from hardware store Húsasmiðjan's discarded materials. Alice Sowa's 'Timber Dyed' project, which utilized natural dyes made from food waste to color waste wood, exemplified this approach. Sowa's work posited waste as a resource with untapped potential, suggesting that new qualities and value can emerge from an open-minded approach to materials.
For the first time, the Museum of Design and Applied Art hosted '!Hannannah!,' an exhibition dedicated to its children's design education program. Led by Sigríður Sunna Reynisdóttir and her collective ÞYKJÓ, the display featured imaginative creations like a cardboard house with a rooftop bath and elaborate paper fashion designs. This initiative underscored the critical importance of introducing design and architecture to children early, fostering an appreciation for the thought and decision-making behind everyday objects and their impact on quality of life and the planet.
The 'Órar' collection, presented by emerging Icelandic studio Orar, led by Elsa Jónsdóttir and Júlíanna Ósk Hafberg, transformed wood into fluid, sculptural furniture. Displayed in the Parliament Hotel lounge, the collection, comprising chairs and suspended lights, blurred the lines between art, design, and imagination, reflecting the duo's aim to create pieces that evoke a sense of continuous motion and artistic expression.
Theodóra Alfreðsdóttir's 'Core Collection' offered a masterclass in minimalism at the design store Mikado. Her curated selection of works, crafted from wood, metal, and ceramics, occupied a space between functional design and miniature architectural studies. Pieces like a wooden bench with contrasting curved and sharp edges, and a coffee table with geometric legs supporting a seemingly precarious glass top, showcased a refined aesthetic and meticulous craftsmanship.
Elliðaárstöð, an adaptive reuse project by local studio Terta, was another architectural focal point. This initiative reimagined a former industrial power plant as an educational exhibition space, public area, and restaurant, surrounded by interactive installations for children that explain energy systems. Lead architect Magnea Guðmundsdóttir presented this transformative project at DesignTalks, highlighting a successful blend of historical preservation, community engagement, and environmental education.
DesignMarch 2024 unequivocally demonstrated Iceland's flourishing design ecosystem. The festival served as a powerful testament to the creativity, ingenuity, and collaborative spirit that define the nation's design community. Through its diverse range of exhibitions and events, DesignMarch not only showcased individual talents but also reinforced Iceland's position as a significant contributor to global design trends, with a particular emphasis on sustainability, cultural identity, and experimental innovation.