 | |
| Industry | Textile design |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1968 |
| Founder | Poul Byriel Erling Rasmussen |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | Anders Byriel, CEO |
| Products | textiles and textile-related products |
| Website | www |
Kvadrat is a Danish textile company that produces and supplies textiles and textile-related products to architects, designers and private consumers in Europe and worldwide. Kvadrat was established in Denmark in 1968 with deep roots in Scandinavia's design tradition.
The company Kvadrat was founded by Poul Byriel and Erling Rasmussen in 1968 in Ebeltoft, Denmark. They worked closely with designers such as Nanna Ditzel, Finn Sködt, [1] Nina Koppel [2] and Gunnar Aagaard Andersen and created a portfolio of furniture textiles. [3]
Kvadrat's close collaboration with designers resulted in the creation of classic textiles such as Nanna Ditzel's Hallingdal that has kept a strong presence in private homes, hospitals, airports and trains, most prominently on the Danish National Railways (DSB). National critical recognition of Kvadrat's contribution to design came in 1986 when Danish Museum of Art and Design staged the exhibition Kvadrat Textiles through 20 Years. [4]
In the early 1980s Kvadrat joined the international design scene when they started to work with Italian-based American designer Ross Littell. The company resisted international trends and kept its distinctive Scandinavian style. Kvadrat textiles were used as the bearer of national political symbolism when British architects Foster and Partners were commissioned to design the interior of the Debating Chamber of the Bundestag in the Reichstag, where cobalt blue Topas textile was used "to represent a strong image of Parliament".[ citation needed ]
The direction of Kvadrat passed to the next generation in the 1990s, when Poul Byriel's son Anders Byriel took over as the CEO along with Erling Rasmussen's daughter Mette Bendix as the product director. [5]
In 2011, Kvadrat bought a 49% share of Wooltex in the UK. [6] In March 2017, Kvadrat announced the purchase of 52% of the Danish sustainable materials company Really. [7]
Kvadrat (which means the square in Danish) is a producer and supplier of textiles and textile-related products for architects, designers and private consumers in Europe and worldwide. [5]
Kvadrat also develops acoustic panels made of acoustic-absorbing textiles to eliminate the echo in large buildings and open spaces. [8] Its brand Really specializes in upcycling end-of-life textiles into solid textile boards for reuse. [9]
Kvadrat has collaborations with external designers and artists. Throughout the years Kvadrat has worked with designers, architects and artists including Raf Simons, [10] Alfredo Häberli, Peter Saville, Olafur Eliasson, Akira Minagawa, Hella Jongerius, Tord Boontje, Miriam Bäckström and Werner Aisslinger. [11] In June 2017, Kvadrat released 3 models of the Adidas Stan Smith in a partnership with the sports brand. [12]
Kvadrat's design collaborations have resulted in products and projects such as B&O PLAY speakers and Vifa loudspeakers.
Kvadrat textiles have been used in architectural developments such as The Gherkin in London, Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, The Reichstag Berlin, Guggenheim Bilbao in Spain, the Copenhagen Opera House in Denmark, Foster & Partners studio in London, Yves St. Laurent in Paris and the Oslo Opera House in Norway. [13]
Kvadrat has actively engaged in projects with artists, museums, galleries and designers. Such projects include: [14]
The Serpentine Galleries are two contemporary art galleries in Kensington Gardens, Westminster, Greater London. Recently rebranded to just Serpentine, the organisation is split across Serpentine South, previously known as the Serpentine Gallery, and Serpentine North, previously known as the Sackler Gallery. The gallery spaces are within five minutes' walk of each other, linked by the bridge over the Serpentine Lake from which the galleries get their names. Their exhibitions, architecture, education and public programmes attract up to 1.2 million visitors a year. Admission to both galleries is free. The CEO is Bettina Korek, and the artistic director Hans Ulrich Obrist.
Olafur Eliasson is an Icelandic–Danish artist known for sculptured and large-scaled installation art employing elemental materials such as light, water, and air temperature to enhance the viewer's experience.
Raf Jan Simons is a Belgian fashion designer. Beginning in furniture design, Simons launched his own menswear label in 1995. He was creative director at Jil Sander (2005–2012), Christian Dior (2012–2015), and Calvin Klein (2016–2018). As of 1 April 2020, he is the co-creative director of Prada, in partnership with Miuccia Prada.
The ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum is an art museum in Aarhus, Denmark. The museum was established in 1859 and is the oldest public art museum in Denmark outside Copenhagen. On 7 April 2004, ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum opened with exhibitions in a brand new modern building, 10 stories tall with a total floor area of 20,700 m² and designed by Danish architects Schmidt Hammer Lassen. Today, ARoS is one of the largest art museums in Northern Europe with a total of 980,909 visitors in 2017.
Scandinavian design is a design movement characterized by simplicity, minimalism and functionality that emerged in the early 20th century, and subsequently flourished in the 1950s throughout the five Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Iceland.
MAD Architects is an architectural design firm based in Beijing, China, with offices in Los Angeles, New York City, and Rome. MAD Architects is currently led by Ma Yansong, Dang Qun and Yosuke Hayano.
Nanna Ditzel was a Danish furniture designer.
Danish design is a style of functionalistic design and architecture that was developed in mid-20th century. Influenced by the German Bauhaus school, many Danish designers used the new industrial technologies, combined with ideas of simplicity and functionalism to design buildings, furniture and household objects, many of which have become iconic and are still in use and production. Prominent examples are the Egg chair, the PH lamps and the Sydney Opera House (Australia).
Danish modern is a style of minimalist furniture and housewares from Denmark associated with the Danish design movement. In the 1920s, Kaare Klint embraced the principles of Bauhaus modernism in furniture design, creating clean, pure lines based on an understanding of classical furniture craftsmanship coupled with careful research into materials, proportions, and the requirements of the human body.
The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Design, more commonly known as the Danish Design School is an institution of higher education in Copenhagen, Denmark, offering a five-year design education consisting of a three-year Bachelor programme and a two-year Master in design as well as conducting research within the fields of arts, crafts and design. Danmarks Designskole is an institution under the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Higher Education.
Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec are brothers noted for their design work, which has been featured in publications and museums globally — and spans a wide range from tables and chairs to tableware, rugs, textile walls, office furniture, ceramics, art objects and urban projects.
Events from the year 1989 in Denmark.
Events from the year 1923 in Denmark.
Events from the year 1943 in Denmark.
Mariebjerg Cemetery is located in Gentofte north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It was laid out between 1926 and 1933 to the design of the landscape architect Gudmund Nyeland Brandt and is considered an important example of European Modernist landscape architecture. Its design has inspired many other cemeteries both in Denmark and abroad.
Harpa is a concert hall and conference centre in Reykjavík, Iceland. The opening concert was held on May 4, 2011. The building features a distinctive colored glass facade inspired by the basalt landscape of Iceland.
House of Denmark, on 142 Champs-Élysées in Paris, France, is a building which houses exhibition space used for the presentation of Danish culture and commercial interests. The main venue of the house is the Salle du Danemark on the second floor. It also contains a Danish restaurant on the ground floor and office space rented out for international companies.
Hostrups Have is a famous functionalist housing estate and associated green space located at the corner of Falkoner Allé and Rolighedsvej in the Frederiksberg district of Copenhagen, Denmark. Designed by Danish architect Hans Dahlerup Berthelsen in 1935–36. Hostrups Have is named after the playwright Jens Christian Hostrup. It has its own post code.
Studio Other Spaces (SOS) was founded by artist Olafur Eliasson and architect Sebastian Behmann in Berlin in 2014. The studio works on interdisciplinary and experimental building projects and artworks for public space. Eliasson and Behmann's partnership offers a platform for art and architecture to intersect and enrich each other.
Olayinka "Yinka" Ilori is a British artist and designer. He is known for his bold use of bright colours and playful designs for furniture and public spaces. His work includes architecture, interior design, graphic design, textiles, sculpture, and furniture. It includes storytelling using design as a medium, referencing his British and Nigerian heritage.
| 18th century |  | |
|---|---|---|
| 19th century | ||
| Early 20th century | ||
| Mid 20th century |
| |
| Late 20th century | ||
| Early 21st century | ||
