The Bruno Mathsson Award 2017 is given to the architects and designers Gabriella Gustafson (b 1974) and Mattias Ståhlbom (b 1971), working under the name TAF. The Bruno Mathsson Award is one of the largest design awards in Scandinavia, with a prize sum of 250 000 SEK.
The Karin and Bruno Mathsson Foundation, which hands out the award, writes in their citation:
”TAF are committed to honing their design idiom towards a refined simplicity, which they combine with humour and a measure of cheekiness to achieve a powerful appeal. A container on the street, or a board resting on trestles are everyday sources of inspiration that challenge them to create intriguing and sustainable new versions of archetypical products.”
Gustafson and Ståhlbom started their collaboration already as students at the University College of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm, and since 2002 they jointly run the firm TAF, also in Stockholm. Their assignments range from exhibition scenography and interior design to furniture and lamps for several internationally renowned producers.
TAF finds a lot of inspiration in the everyday – both in forms and materials. Spilled milk can be converted into a plate, the volume control on the stereo into a lamp, and the backside of a framed panting into a sofa.
The process can also begin with an ordinary material that TAF finds an innovative way of using. In this exhibition it is cardboard that has caught their attention – a material that is dominating the packaging industry, but which is rarely used in other contexts. By creating both the exhibition scenography and the open studio in cardboard, TAF shows the versatility and beauty in a material that is normally only apprciated for its functionality.
TAF, photo: Nicho Södling
The exhibition is produced by Vandalorum in collaboration with the Karin and Bruno Mathsson Foundation
The exhibition is made possible by Kulturrådet, Region Jönköpings län and Värnamo kommun
Thanks to DS Smith, Kvadrat and Skeppshultstegen
