- Norwegian design is clean, honest and on it’s way up, says Petter Knudsen. He is one of 40 promising designers exhibited at the Contemporary Space Athens.
Petter Knudsen is one of the up and coming Norwegian designers and just recently started his own company in Bergen. The 38 year old is part of “EUROPE 40 UNDER 40”, which exhibits works by 40 young European designers.
- It was my Belgian producer “Dark” that entered me into this competition and I did not know much about it. But after I was selected, I have read about the previous winners and their works have been impressive. It’s fantastic to be in such great company, Knudsen told us.
Unique lamp
It is his “Loop Lamp” that is being exhibited in the Contemporary Space Athens, Megalou Vassiliou 46-48. The unique lamp is 60x30 cm and uses LCD bulbs.
- I started with the lamp during a course at the National Academy of the Arts. The course revolved around a competition by the lights company Luxo, and we were encouraged to submit our designs. The focus was on using new sources of light and to be energy effective. I chose to use LED bulbs – they are so small that you have much more creative freedom and you don’t need a lamp screen, explains Knudsen.
Two Norwegians
- The “Loop Lamp” is mainly a desktop lamp that you for example can use to light up your keyboard, but it also has other uses.
Knudsen isn’t the only Norwegian in the “EUROPE 40 UNDER 40”. Also Leif Steven Verdu-Isachsen has been selected and both his Armadillo Body Armor (picture) and Futu Chair can be seen in Athens.
A redecorating people
Knudsen says Norwegian design is on it’s way up.
- There has been a lot of progress over the last years, with a lot of publicity in national and international media. Myself and five other designers from Bergen were recently at the London Design Week, and got a lot of attention. It seems the interest for Norwegian design is increasing.
- How would you describe current Norwegian design?
- It has very clean forms and we are very honest about which materials we use – we are not hiding it. There are also a lot of strong colours. You can say it is a continuation from Scandinavian design in the 50s and 60s, with simple and clean forms.
- For the moment it seems the media is more interested in design than the average Norwegian, but we are a people that likes to redecorate a lot, and I think more and more are looking for something unique.
By Aslân Farshchian
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Europe 40 Under 40 (from www.dexigner.com)
Europe 40 Under 40 is an annual awards program that celebrates the next new talented generation of European architects.
The program is directed to support new and emerging design talent that will influence the near future of European architectural design, thinking, and theory with the direct consequence of impacting future environments and future European and international cities.
The key is to bring wider recognition to 40 of the most promising emerging architects working in the European Union and other countries inside Europe, fostering and encouraging new talent and new creative thinking at the forefront of tomorrow's profession.
Every year, architects under the age of 40 are invited to submit projects (built or unbuilt) to be judged by a panel of distinguished architectural practitioners, developers, architectural journalists, educators, and critics.
Participating architects under 40 can be either working as individual practitioners or collaborating inside an established firm as the principal lead designer of the projects submitted.
In addition to the 27 European Union member countries, architects from the following European nations are invited to participate: Norway, Switzerland, Russia, Turkey, Liechtenstein, Albania, Monaco, Andorra, Serbia, Montenegro, Georgia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Moldavia, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Canary Islands, Faeroe Islands, San Marino, and Iceland. |