Matter of contact
"The Matter of Things" , Beckmans College of design at Stockholm Furniture fair 2011
The starting point for this casted handrail has been an interest in the significance of physical touch. Touching is not only a way of expressing care for someone or something. It is also through touching, holding and feeling, we learn about things: their texture, weight, material and temperature. A handrail is a piece of furniture that will be touched. Hands will grab and slide, bodies will lean. Kaja Solgaard’s choice of design is therefore congenial. The piece is a module that can be put together in various ways. The shapes have been created with respect to the hand – what it can do and what it wants to grip, i.e. Shapes that feel good to touch. The outcome is an appealing visual appearance with the benefit of sculptural and tactile moulding. To support, both in the case of a handrail supporting somebody leaning on it and a friend supporting a friend, at the bottom of it, is a matter of physicality.
Photo Erik Whålström