Hold On

This sustainably focussed Norwegian design studio has a 100-year plan.

Hold On

This sustainably focussed Norwegian design studio has a 100-year plan.

Nedre Foss is a Norwegian design studio directed by the internationally renowned furniture design studio Anderssen & Voll, founded by Torbjørn Anderssen and Espen Voll. The pair have worked together for nearly two decades, and are responsible for an output of clean-lined pieces that feel true. Anderssen once described working together as “wearing an old pair of shoes with a pebble in them… It feels familiar but not very comfortable.” 

After 20 years serving other manufacturers, the pair set out to create their own brand, with sustainability and making at its heart. There are pieces designed by them, and pieces designed by collaborators, but all must adhere to the idea of the “century product” and sculptural utility.

In short, it means objects that will last for 100 years – aesthetically, practically and emotionally. There’s something particularly powerful about a product that has been designed to outlive us – but it’s also one of the most sustainable things we can do.

Perhaps not surprisingly, they tend to be things that have been part of the human experience for a long time – as with Ildhane, a cast-iron candlestick holder made for the interior of Nedre Foss Gard, a restaurant in a 19th-century building in Oslo. The design is both evocative and functional, with the finger groove in the tail allowing you to carry it from room to room.

Similarly, the brand makes a water jug, Vannfall, in mouth-blown glass. Designed by Japan’s Jin Kuramoto, it has a delightfully handmade feel, and now comes in green glass. Glo, meanwhile, is a tea-light holder by Anderssen & Voll, also made from cast iron, with a handy lip for carrying. They are beautiful pieces, for elemental purposes.

Nedre Foss at Everyday Needs

everyday-needs.com

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