One Day Exhibition showcases private flat filled with unusual design pieces
Swedish studio MatssonMarnell invited Stockholm Design Week visitors to the home of co-founder Magda Marnell, where local designers showcased beeswax candles, sculptural chairs and hairy lamps.
The design duo, which works in interior design as well as creating collectible objects and furniture pieces, chose Marnell's flat as its exhibition space because they thought it represented their aesthetic well.
"We realised that this piece of art that we're standing in represents our practice pretty well and shows a part of the Stockholm design scene that we really love," co-founder Katarina Matsson told visitors at the Stockholm Design Week event.
Each room in the flat featured art and design pieces by 15 designers and artists alongside botanical installations by local firm Stockholm Slow Flowers.
In the living room, MatssonMarnell's own wooden tables – kept rough and organic to evoke the forest – were at the centre.
"In here, the idea was to not really know what is the home and what is the exhibition," Matsson said. "We have so many of our favourite designers represented here."
"Even though it's quite a broad collection of designers and artists and brands, they all come together very naturally here," co-founder Magda Marnell added.
In the same room, the duo showcased other pieces including a spiky ashtray by Gnilmyd Kcab and Hyfer Objects' undulating armchair Eel Lounge.
The designers underlined that the exhibition space wasn't an art gallery or a museum, encouraging visitors to touch and feel the objects on show.
In the bedroom of the apartment, recently renovated by local studio Norell/Rodhe, visitors could admire Gnilmyd Kcab's Standing Lampshade Lamp adorned with a lilac wig.
It jostled for attention with Björnlundaarvet's sculptural beeswax candle, melted onto a tree branch to create a light installation with a pagan feel.
One of the kids' rooms was decorated with wooden mobiles by designer Michelle Eismann, who also made artful mirrors that were dotted around the apartment.
The idea to create a house show, which isn't very common at Stockholm Design Week, came from historical precedents, according to MatssonMarnell.
"We've always both had a dream of the French salon in the 1910s, like Gertrude Stein," Matsson said.
Once the concept was decided, finding the collaborators proved easy as many of their designs were already represented in the home.
"We looked at 'who do we have in our network?'" Marnell said. "Both of us want to have a personal connection when choosing objects, to choose objects that say something and come with a meaning."
"Many of them had a lot of pieces and we could choose what we wanted to use," Matsson added.
While many exhibitions this Stockholm Design Week were dominated by male designers, MatssonMarnell's One Day Exhibition – so-called because it was only on for one day – featured a majority of works by women, though this wasn't a conscious choice by the designers.
"I've chosen objects and art from women for a long time," Marnell said.
"I think it was a subconscious choice," Matsson added.
Other pieces on show at the exhibition included glass vases and marble windowsills by local firm Public Studio, a paper holder by designer Alfred Sahlén and sculptures by artist Kajsa Melchior.
The photography is by Caroline Borg.
Stockholm Design Week 2025 took place at various locations around the city from 3 to 9 February. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.
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