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Stefan Borselius
Educated at the Konstfack University College of Arts, Crafts
and Design. He attended Carl Malmstens School and
Steneby School and studied furniture carpentry and design.
Stefan Borselius is an ingenious designer with a brain bursting
with ideas. He can be quiet and thoughtful, but when he
speaks out, he’s quite the verbal gymnast, an art he balances
with being an equally inventive and an aesthetically pleasing
designer. Stefan’s choice of career was inspired by his
grandfather and great grandfather who were both skilled
furniture carpenters. Stefan prefers to call himself a carpenter,
and he believes that hands, thoughts, and precision are all
important tools of his occupation. Right from the function and
material of an object through to the final product, Stefan
wants to create furniture for our time and our way of living,
our here and our now. When he works with a product, Stefan
Borselius leaves nothing to chance, but goes methodically and
whole-heartedly through every single detail, every function
and every characteristic which a material or a technique can
offer. He pushes the boundaries of what is possible to produce
and would rather give up and pursue another route than not
produce anything at all. He leaves no stone unturned in his
quest for a solution. As a result, his products have a strong
sense of identity which already answer unasked questions in
their strong expressionism.
BOB DESIGNERS
Borselius & Bernstrand
Thomas Bernstrand
Konsthögskolan, Stockholm 2005-2006 | Konstfack, Crafts
and Design, Stockholm 1994-1999 | Denmarks Designskole,
Industrial design, Copenhagen 1996 | Inchbald School of
Design, London 1988-1989.
Thomas Bernstrand’s objects are not meant to be placed
on a pedestal. They are meant to be used. Yet not in the
customary manner: not as one usually uses furniture, lamps,
coat hangers, ladders, and everything else he has designed.
But more… intensively… You should be able to swing from
Thomas’ things. Dance on them. Dismantle them. Cause they
can take it. They are made to use. All designers, of course,
say they would never design something simply for the sake of
design. But Thomas isn’t just talk. When he comes to work,
his thoughts are not, “What should I design today? Should I
design a chair?” But instead, “Should I design something to
work in, relax in, bounce in or whatever?” He thinks in terms
of verbs, rather than nouns. In actions, rather than typologies.
He is an enormously sharp-sighted observer of people, noting
behavior that goes unseen by us. To others these may be:
“trivialities” or “silliness”. For example, what happens at a
party when the volume is turned up to the maximum? Or how
do teenagers treat, climb, besiege, and dominate objects?
Thomas’ work encourages such disobedient behavior.
“Cause the designs can take it. They are made to use.”
