
07.01.24
Sight Unseen Presents
Want to Have Your Work Judged by Sight Unseen in Stockholm Next Year? Apply to Greenhouse Today!
I’ve now been to Stockholm in the dead of winter, when the ground is often covered in ice, on four different occasions. I’ve visited in the throes of summer — season of archipelago-hopping, 10PM sunsets, and simple but chic country houses — a grand total of zero times (a ratio I’m hoping to correct this September with a visit to the Scandinavian capital!) But there’s a non-masochistic reason why I keep returning: The Stockholm Furniture Fair, which in 2025 runs from February 4-8, is one our longtime favorites, and it’s become even moreso in the last couple of years as we’ve developed our partnership with the fair’s organizers, adding a Sight Unseen Best in Show award to the fair’s emerging design showcase, Greenhouse. We’re excited to announce we’ll be returning to the fair in 2025 — having bestowed last year’s honor on the exciting up-and-coming duo Bursell/Svedborg — and we’re hoping to convince more than a few of you today to submit your work to the jury in the hopes of being selected for next year’s fair.
We’ve written extensively about Greenhouse before, but here’s the TL;DR: Founded in 2003, it’s open to emerging designers around the world, and it’s where studios like Nendo, GamFratesi, MSDS, and Front have launched their careers. For Sight Unseen’s Best in Show award, applicants will first be evaluated and selected by the Greenhouse jury; then, Sight Unseen will be present at the 2025 fair to select and award the Best in Show honor. The winner will receive a feature story and Instagram post on Sight Unseen, along with other social media promotion, and will be showcased on all Stockholm Furniture Fair social media channels as well. The link for more information and to apply is here, with applications due September 16. But in case you need more convincing here are a few reasons you might consider applying:
1. It’s a great place to make connections
Participating in Greenhouse means having your work judged by some of the most respected names in design — including me! The jury for 2025 includes some of our favorite designers: Kristoffer Fagerström, a partner at Note Design Studio; Ruxandra Halleroed, a founding partner in the firm that’s designed all of your favorite Acne stores; and Fredrik Paulsen, founder of Joy Objects, erstwhile curator of Ornsbergsauktionen, and one of the most interesting talents in the design world, period. Obviously, I’ll also be traveling to Stockholm to give our Best in Show Award, and the fair is greatly expanding its press program this year. In 2024, the fair had over 18,000 visitors, of which 76% were architects, buyers, designers, and interior designers.
Note Design Studio
Halleroed
Fredrik Paulsen
2. You’ll be part of a lineage of designers who have put work into production with top brands
A partial list of former Greenhouse exhibitors who have put work into production with major brands: JUMBO, whose Fortune chair — which once showed at Offsite! — is now in production with Heller; Gustav Winsth, whose Tension trolley debuted at the Lammhults booth last year; Jamie Wolfond, a 2019 Greenhouse participant whose Set table lamp is currently in production with Muuto; Earnest Studio, who developed her Loop family of products for Design Within Reach; and Tom Chung, who makes the beautiful EQ3 bench you see below.
JUMBO for Heller
Gustav Winsth for Lammhults
Jamie Wolfond for Muuto
Earnest Studio for DWR
Tom Chung for DWR
3. You’ll have the opportunity to be part of a yearlong mentorship program
One of the most valuable parts of participating in Greenhouse is the opportunity to be paired with a experienced mentor in the industry. All independent designers exhibiting in Greenhouse will have the opportunity to submit an expression of interest to the mentor they’d like to work with; the mentor then evaluates all applications and selects the designer they feel they can help the most. Last year’s mentors included Paulsen; Thommy Bindefeld, a senior advisor at Svenskt Tenn; Dag Klockby, chairman of the Swedish company Gärsnäs; and Margot Barolo, head of design at Design House Stockholm, who mentored one of our favorite talents at the fair, Christoph Hauf. Hauf explained: “The romantic notion of living and working as a product designer in the classic sense — living off royalties and having multiple companies to work for — is an illusion. Instead, product designers are branching out, working collaboratively, questioning the environmental impact we are inherently involved in, and finding alternative income sources. Having a mentor like Margot gives me the opportunity to have open discussions on how to navigate this changing landscape. I enjoy these kinds of conversations as they challenge me not only creatively but also in understanding my role in the industry.”