Martin Thübeck, Rå

Stockholm, Sweden

Wood: red oak

While confined at home with his young children, Thübeck found inspiration in the way they adapted their surroundings for play, challenging conventional ways to use furniture: ‘Limitations became possibilities,’ he comments. After looking at traditional furniture and playground equipment, he developed a piece (Rå, meaning ‘pure’ in Swedish, also referring to a mythical forest creature from local folklore that can change its appearance) whose construction is informed by Swedish craft, and whose function can be interpreted either as a chair or a slide, as it is flipped upside down. He chose red oak for his design, based on the way the wood soaks up pigment and gives depth to it. ‘This piece is a symbol of coexistence, and the act of turning it is like moving between worlds,’ he says, citing an approach that merges the indoor and outdoor, staticity and movement, adults’ and kids’ points of view. ‘My intention is not to fully merge the two functions, but to see what happens when they are so close to each other that they are perceived as one,’ he says. @mratin