pressrelease february 8, 2016
Smaller Objects introduces new items designed by Nendo, Luca Nichetto, Ingegerd
Råman and Jin Kuramoto.
Smaller Objects, founded in 2015 by architects Mårten Claesson, Eero Koivisto and Ola Rune,
is now launching its second collection which this time includes work by several international
designers.
”We have really enjoyed being able to invite our friends to join Smaller Objects”, says Mårten
Claesson, ”We have expanded the range, and together with them we are introducing some
new materials, such as leather, steel and paper.”
The long-term perspective is still in focus: Well-designed everyday objects that last and can be
passed on to the next generation.
”Smaller Objects is close to our hearts. One of the criteria is that the objects in the collection
are things that we want for ourselves, in our homes”, says Eero Koivisto.
”We are seeing a growing interest for the smaller scale of things”, says Ola Rune who
compares Smaller Objects with the Slow Food-movement. ”We are working with smaller
suppliers, smaller editions, far from the mass production industry.”
The nine new products will be presented in conjunction with Stockholm Design Week from
Feb 8 - 13.
The collection will be sold at shop.smallerobjects.com and from international retailers.
For more information:
Press: Hans Hjelmqvist phone +46 708 295 661
Karin Sundin, CEO Smaller Objects, phone +46 722 409 888
karin@smallerobjects.com
Press images: smallerobjects.com/press
pressrelease february 8, 2016
Claesson Koivisto Rune
Claesson Koivisto Rune is a Swedish architectural partnership, founded in Stockholm, in 1995,
by Mårten Claesson, Eero Koivisto and Ola Rune. It started as an architectural firm, but has
since become an internationally-acclaimed, multi-disciplinary office with an equal emphasis on
both architecture and design. Founded Smaller Objects in 2015.
Nendo
Nendo was founded in Tokyo in 2002 by Canadian born Oki Sato. In 2005 a second office was
established in Milan. Nendo belives in recognizing and reconstituting the hidden everyday ”!”
moments by collecting and reshaping them into something that’s easy to understand. Nendo is
constantly working on some 400 design projects for the top brands of the world.
Luca Nichetto
In 2006 Luca Nichetto founded a multidisciplinary design studio in Venice, Italy. A second studio
was opened in Stockholm in 2011. With a deep passion for, and knowledge of, industrial and craft
manufacturing processes Nichetto works with a variety of world brands and clients. The design has
earned a worldwide recognition that extends far beyond the confines of the design industry.
Ingegerd Råman
Ingegerd Råman is the Grand Dame of Swedish design. Since six decades she creates objects
of pure and simple design, often in tableware. Råman was head designer at famous Swedish
glassworks Orrefors for many years. In 1995 she was honoured with a professor’s title for life
by the Government of Sweden.
Jin Kuramoto
Jin Kuramoto Studio was founded in Tokyo in 2008. Kuramoto engages in various product
design developments such as furniture, home electric appliances and automotive. His method
of approach is to introduce the essence of things by a clear formative expression.
Giulio Cappellini
Giulio Cappellini is a Milanese architect who has been working since 1979 in his family’s
furniture company. Through the years he successfully established the Cappellini brand into one
of the biggest trend-setters worldwide. As art director he introduced designers such as Marc
Newson, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, Jasper Morrison, Tom Dixon, Marcel Wanders and
Claesson Koivisto Rune. Cappellini furniture is found in the permanent collections of the most
important international museums.
new products 2016
The Smaller Objects collection expands with the following objects.
cold cooler wine cooler
flat iron trivet
one happy cloud bowl
saddler’s tag luggage tag
puntino pillow
little big ear espresso cup
tab note notebook
phantom mesh bowl
panama hat rest
Smaller Objects AB is a registered brand and company. The term Smaller Objects
was first coined by Claesson Koivisto Rune for an exhibition at the Stockholm
Design Week in 2010. The exhibition later travelled to Tokyo, Japan.
Smaller Objects is welcoming new retailers.
For information and inquiries, please contact:
Karin Sundin, CEO
+46 722 409 888
karin@smallerobjects.com
more information www.smallerobjects.com
01
cold cooler
The Smaller Objects wine cooler is made from solid soapstone. Like with the Smaller Objects
Cold Coaster, what is especially appealing with soapstone is its unique permittivity; the ability
to hold a temperature. So, placing the wine cooler in the freezer or fridge before use allows the
stone time to accumulate a good chill – keeping your champagne or wine bottle cold at the
table.
”Tactile and natural. The Cold Cooler’s inherent quality is in parity with any fine wine. Aged for
400 million years,” says Mårten Claesson. Adding, ”and there is no need to fumble with ice
cubes or water.”
Made in Finland.
measurements 14 x 21 cm
material Soapstone.
design Claesson Koivisto Rune
RRP 150 EURO incl VAT
02
flat iron
In the typical 19th century wood-burning iron stove the size of the hotplates was adjustable
by a set of rings. The stove – and its rings – was entirely made in blackened cast iron, an ideal
material. Blackened sand-cast iron is still an ideal material to place hot cooking pots on, heat
enduring and forgiving for heat and grease stains.
“With this pair of trivets we wanted to pay homage to the old iron stove, still today present in
many old country houses in Sweden”, says Mårten Claesson.
The inner plate rests in the outer ring. If you need a second trivet lift the plate aside and you
have two, one trivet for the frying pan and one for the saucepan.
The way the sand-casting is made it produces different surface structures on the up and down
sides. The two parts of the Flat Iron are turned diametrically, telling the tale of the casting
process and indicating that they can be separated.
Made in Czech Republic.
measurements 12 / 18 x 0.6 cm
material Sand-cast blackened carbon steel.
design Claesson Koivisto Rune
RRP 50 EURO incl VAT
03
one happy cloud
The bowl was designed by Ingegerd Råman in 1997 for the legendary – but since closed –
Japanese Stockholm restaurant One Happy Cloud by Claesson Koivisto Rune. The restaurant
was one of the architects’ first commissions. They had become
close friends with Råman from their work on the conversion of an abandoned school building in
Baldringe into her home.
”When the boys asked, I was delighted. At the time I was handcrafting myself much of my
pottery. I hand-threw all the bowls for the restaurant. The inside of the rim has an in-fold to serve
as a support to help grip food like noodles with your chopsticks. I have always believed that
function and beauty should weigh equal,” says Ingegerd Råman.
The One Happy Cloud soup bowl for Smaller Objects is moulded in matt anthracite glazed
stoneware by historic Swedish manufacturer Gustavsberg.
Made in Sweden.
measurements 19.5 x 6.5 cm
material Stoneware.
Dishwasher safe. Oven proof.
design Ingegerd Råman
RRP 85 EURO incl VAT, sold in pairs.
04
saddler’s tag
A personalized luggage tag in heavy-duty tooling leather, the same kind of leather used for
horse riding equipment, by legendary Tärnsjö Garveri in Sweden.
“We are travellers ourselves, and luggage to us is a very personal thing. The need to instantly
identify our luggage on the carousel at the airport is something we share with one another,”
says Ola Rune.
The Saddler’s Tag is a way to “tag” your own luggage.
The Saddler’s Tag is made of the highest quality full grain vegetable tanned leather from one of
the world’s last original vegetable tanneries, Tärnsjö Garveri in Sweden. The production process
is entirely without chrome, fully ecological and hand made. The tag is ordered in a pair of two,
in either black or natural leather. Within up to three lines you specify initials, name, telephone
number or a salute. The letters are laser etched. On a black tag the lettering is very discrete.
The natural tag will patinise beautifully.
Made in Sweden.
measurements 8.5 cm
material Full grain 3.5 mm vegetable tanned tooling leather.
colours Black or natural . (Natural will patinise/darken over time.)
Please note: Even if made in sturdy leather, luggage handling over time may
tear or destroy anything.
design Claesson Koivisto Rune
RRP 70 EURO incl VAT, sold in pairs.
05
puntino pillow
Puntino is the second pillow to be included in the Smaller Objects collection. Giulio Cappellini is
the legendary founder of Italian furniture manufacturer Cappellini. When designing the Puntino
pattern in 2005 he was asked by Claesson Koivisto Rune – then art directors for Swedish
furniture textile weavery Väveriet – to contribute with a pattern that would bring the kind of
elegance of tailor’s bespoke suit fabrics to furniture. Claesson Koivistio Rune had several
times before been on the other side of the table presenting their designs for Cappellini. Giulio
Cappellini, always the stiff upper lip gentleman, later confessed he’d been extremely nervous
presenting his own design.
Made in Sweden.
measurements 45 x 45 cm
material Wool 88%, Polyamid 12%
design Giulio Cappellini
RRP 100 EURO incl VAT
06
little big ear
An espresso cup that works equally well in a professional café as in your home. Luca Nichetto,
a native of Venice, is a designer who knows glass and ceramics as he knows his coffee:
”The espresso cup is exactly the right balance between mass and tactility. It is
small – because that’s how an espresso should be served. But the sculptural quality is as
meticulously studied as had it been a much larger piece. There is no need to entangle, the
closed ear just fits the grip of your thumb and index finger.”
Bosa in Borso del Grappa in the Venetian countryside makes the Little Big Ear espresso cup.
Made in Italy.
measurements 4.5 x 6 cm
material Made in a newly refined version of ’gres’ porcelain with a close to 0%
water absorption and then glazed.
design Luca Nichetto
RRP 50 EURO incl VAT, sold in pairs.
07
tab note
The notebook for the designer, for the journalist, for the researcher or just anyone who
appreciates plain and clever. The designer Nendo explains:
”The L-shaped perforations along the sides of the pages can be folded out to create
customised indexes. Up to five different indexes can be formed on each page, making it easy
to organise and keep track of the notebook’s contents, just by simple letter or
colour demarcations.
Let’s say you’re a foodie and collect recipes. The first tab is for starters, second for vegetable
mains, third seafood, forth meats and fifth for desserts.
As the book itself has been crafted in the style of traditional Japanese bookbinding with
matte-finish thread, the pages can be neatly torn away from the perforations along the seams,
allowing you to give away or file each page individually. Also, the pages are free of any lines or
margins, and the covers are all plain-coloured, designed to be as unobtrusive and aesthetically
pleasing as possible when stacked together.”
Made in Japan.
measurements 15 x 10.5 cm
material White paper 70 g / m2
number of pages 160
design Nendo
RRP 25 EURO incl VAT
08
phantom
In French the term ’vide-poche’ is used for a small container – in your entry hall or at bedside –
where to put your keys, small change etcetera. What would be the lightest way to provide this;
to make your small valuables lightly float in suspension before
returning to your pocket next day?
Originally, the technique of heat pressing polyester mesh was used for producing oil filters of
car engines. When designer Jin Kuramoto met the Japanese manufacturer NBC Meshtech Inc.
they used the same technology to supply the quality food industry with a product for sifting
wheat flour.
”I was intrigued by the beauty. I really saw some design possibilities in this up-until-now solely
industrial product,” says Kuramoto.
Together with the manufacturer he researched and developed a bowl that would use the least
amount of material, yet be rigid enough to hold the weight. The result is a vide-poche, which
appears almost non-material; like a phantom.
Made in Japan.
measurements 14.5 x 3 / 26 x 5 cm
material Heat pressed polyester mesh.
design Jin Kuramoto
RRP 25 / 35 EURO incl VAT
09
panama
A hat rest made in wood. Keeps your hat uncompressed, free breathing and away from
damage by the clutter of the shelf.
Mårten Claesson:
”The hat is back. For a couple of decades the hat was so out of fashion that many of us
believed it was something belonging to the past. But really, it was not so. The hat – whether
masculine or feminine – is such a basic piece of clothing or accessory that we forgot it is
timeless.
Now, a good hat deserves good care. A hat maker may have put a week of manual labour
and a lifetime of experience into your hat. So you want it to last. Don’t just throw it. Don’t lay it
wherever. Put it on a purpose-designed hat rest.”
Made in Sweden.
measurements 10 x 40 cm
material Ashwood. Hidden steel counterweight in base.
design Claesson Koivisto Rune
RRP 100 EURO incl VAT
10