Massproductions creates "sculptural objects for everyday use" with Arket

Furniture brand Massproductions has collaborated with its Stockholm neighbour, lifestyle brand Arket, on a capsule collection that features both new products and reimagined existing designs.

The five-piece collection includes three signature Massproduction pieces – its Buffer Bookend, Universal Door Wedge and Silo Wine Rack – in new colours.

It also features a wool blanket made in collaboration with Swedish mill Klippan and a canvas tote bag.

The collaboration marks a change for Massproductions; despite its name, the Swedish brand usually makes its products in smaller batches than those created together with Arket.

"It's true that we're not used to the volumes that Arket asked for," Massproductions co-founder Magnus Elebäck told Dezeen.

"But it is in our DNA to include elements of mass production in all of our designs," he continued. "We genuinely believe that the responsibly mass-produced item brings the best result to everyone in the product's life-cycle."

The decision to collaborate with H&M-owned Arket on the collection came about as the Massproduction studio is close to the brand's headquarters in Stockholm's hip Södermalm area.

"It was an easy 'yes' when Arket invited us to collaborate," Massproductions co-founder Chris Martin told Dezeen.

"We are not only admirers and customers of Arket stores and their products, but also neighbours on the island of Södermalm in central Stockholm," he continued.

"That made the project easier to manage, but probably also meant that we have similar values in terms of culture, design, and outlook on what a product should embody."

Since Arket doesn't sell furniture, Massproductions chose smaller items to reproduce for the collaboration, rather than pieces such as its laminate-wood lounge chair.

"We are pretty sure that the Arket customer from time to time likes to get cosy under a woolly blanket, perhaps accompanied by a glass of wine and a good read, while letting some fresh autumn air in through the open patio door," Elebäck said.

"As the saying goes 'it's the little things in life that make all the difference'."

To mix things up, the studio changed the colours on its Buffer Bookend and Silo Wine Rack for the Arket collaboration.

"Sometimes it could be interesting to mix exclamation marks with full stops!" Martin said.

"The thinking behind the palette is to do just that. For example, mixing the natural material – oiled ash – with a strong electric blue creates an interesting dynamic to the eye."

Overall, the aim of the collection was to create pieces that would reflect "a Nordic vision of everyday beauty," Arket said.

This is exemplified by "the simplicity, the functionality and the undisputed rationality in how these objects are made," Elebäck said.

"All boils down to these sculptural objects for everyday use."

The collaboration "felt natural from the start," Arket head of design and creative Ella Soccorsi told Dezeen.

"At Arket our focus is very much to create products that are the perfect versions of themselves, and I strongly feel that we share that with Massproductions where every object has a great attention to detail and function," she concluded.

Massproductions has previously created a directory of reupholstery "to give furniture a second chance".

The photography is courtesy of Arket.

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