Winners of Born Classic Award

Born Classic – tomorrow’s design classics

In 2019, Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair created a new design prize – Born Classic – in collaboration with Bukowskis auction house, which has put together a jury comprising Eva Seeman, Henrik Åberg and Jonatan Jahn. The award goes to a new product with the qualities to make it a design classic of the future. The winner was announced on Saturday, February 8 on the Stockholm Design & Architecture Talks stage.

The Born Classic 2020 winner is:

Åsa Jungnelius, "Ettore", coffe table, Källemo, stand A10:14

Motivation:

"The furniture knocked us out with its immediate expression. With its historic references and the designers typical symbolic and personal character, we truly believe that this table will be a future classic. The table is made by a designer that moves interdiciplinary between art and design as she defines a clear contemporary style. It's a limited edition piece and every table is painted individually by the designer herself which makes this a piece of furniture that attracts art and design collectors. The collaboration between designer and producer feels like an obvious progress typical to Källemo."

The nominees were:

Åsa Jungnelius, "Ettore", coffe table, Källemo, stand A10:14
Furniture that playfully mixes geometric shapes and materials. Unique details, combined with light effects produce something akin to a kaleidoscope that changes color depending on the light and viewing angle. Furniture that is as brave as it is a perfect fit for our age.

Matti Klenell, "Laulu", cabinet, Made by Choice, stand C10:29
With an expression that stimulates the imagination and made from locally-produced materials, the furniture has a contemporary Nordic personality.
What is normally seen as a heavy and dominating piece of furniture has been given a sculptural, airy character, topped off with an architectural transparency and a playfulness highlighted by volume and geometrical elements.

Anna von Schewen, "AVS", lamp, Bsweden, stand A03:12
With a refined, paper-like expression, the AVS lamp has a considered design that delivers a very pleasant light. The lamp is equally at home in both modern and classic settings.

Thomas Sandell, "Goma", chair, Made by Choice, stand C10:29
The designer's playful and inviting lines bring a lively touch to any contemporary space. Its bentwood construction is an interplay with proportions where the exaggerated scale contributes to the personal, humorous character of the chair and highlights its uniqueness.

Andreas Engesvik, "Lyra ", chaise lounge, Fogia, stand C09:28-30
A traditional item of furniture packaged in a new format gives the armchair a contemporary feel and a unique character. Larger than an armchair, daintier than a chaise longue, this chair has new areas of use, filling a gap in contemporary interior design contexts.

About Bukowskis Born Classic Award

Born Classic is a collaboration between Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair and the Bukowskis auction house. The award goes to a new item of furniture or lighting that is judged to be a potential design classic of the future. The objective is to recognize and encourage good, sustainable design. The jury, comprising three experts from the prestigious auction house, will nominate five products. Bukowskis will also hold guided tours of the nominated items and share why they consider them to have the qualities of a Born Classic.

“A lot of very good design is being created in Scandinavia today, design that is high-quality, sustainable and innovative. We want to draw attention to and encourage this, and we are very pleased that Bukowskis will form the jury. We believe that Bukowskis’ specialists could offer new perspectives on how we view design. It will be very exciting to see and hear why they think the nominated products have qualities that could make them auction items in the future,” says Cecilia Nyberg, Project Area Manager, Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair and Stockholm Design Week.

“It is great that Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair wants to establish this prestigious award, and Bukowskis is proud to present a jury that focuses on sustainable design from several perspectives with different backgrounds and experience. Quality and sustainability have always been key words for Bukowskis, and we hope that this award will encourage more young designers to be creative and innovative, particularly from a sustainability perspective,” says Björn Extergren, Head of Consignment & Sales at Bukowskis.

The expert jury members from Bukowskis are:

Eva Seeman: Eva studied at Christie’s in London and has worked at Bukowskis since 1987 as a specialist in design and 20th century works of art.
Henrik Åberg: Henrik is a trained art historian. He works at Bukowskis as a specialist in furniture and works of art and has more than 20 years’ experience in the industry.
Jonatan Jahn: Jonatan works at Bukowskis as a specialist in design and 20th-21st century works of art and has extensive experience from MoMA in New York and Nationalmuseum in Stockholm.