80 PETER COHEN
THE EXPLORERS
P
E
T
E
R
C
O
H
E
N
HOW TO USE ADVANCED
TECHNOLOGY TO ACHIEVE
THE ULTIMATE SIMPLICITY
Peter Cohen has a feeling for
details. Possibly because he made
his debut as a designer at the age
of 60, after a long career as a
storyteller, mainly in film. Anyone
who is familiar with making
movies knows that it is a long
process with many steps. The
filmmaker must bring together
a myriad of details to create
one enchanting story. A keen
eye for detail affected how
Cohen created his award-winning
shelf Cell.
“I set out to design a shelf for
someone who owns a lot of books. It had to be very
effective in spatial terms, yet aesthetically attractive
– strong yet lightweight.” The solution appeared one
night.
“The idea sneaked up on me from behind, while I was
sleeping,” says Cohen. “I pictured a bridge, with wires
and pylons. I also saw the shape of the double helix, the
structure of DNA, with its long, thin strings.”
He started working on a construction featuring
parallel metal wires with bead-shaped carriers attached
at regular intervals.
“I had to search the whole world to find someone
who could make them. I found there are only two manu-
facturers, and one of them is Swedish. Sadly, they
didn’t show any interest”. Fortunately, they later changed
their minds. Together the designer
and the engineers developed the
wire Cohen needed.
The shelves also called for
some innovative thinking and
clever construction.
“I wanted them strong yet
slender. Thinness played an
important role for the look, and
I needed the shelves to carry a
lot of weight without sagging.”
To meet this goal, the shelves
are made from high-strength
steel. It’s the same type of steel
used to make cars crash-proof.
The white laminate has a layer of
black underneath, to make the
edges visible as thin lines, cutting
light, white, airy composition.
horizontally through the
When the prototype for Cell premiered, it gave Cohen
an immediate break-through as a designer. By the time
String Furniture launched Cell in 2008, it had already
been awarded “Furniture of the Year” and several other
prizes in Sweden. That year Nationalmuseum added it
to its collection of contemporary design.
In 2021 String Furniture relaunches Cell, after a few
years pause.
Refined, both technically and visually, it’s not just
sturdily constructed but uniquely crafted. Perhaps we
can credit Cohen’s background for this. When you’ve
spent more than half of your life making movies, you
understand the value of details – and never give up, no
matter how many years it takes to get it right.
PETER COHEN. PETER COHEN IS A SWEDISH WRITER, DIRECTOR, FILM PRODUCER
AND FURNITURE DESIGNER. A GRADUATE OF STOCKHOLM UNIVERSITY’S COLLEGE
OF FILM, RADIO, TELEVISION AND THEATRE, HE HAS PRODUCED SOME OF SWEDEN’S
MOST BELOVED ANIMATED FILMS, AND DIRECTED SEVERAL DOCUMENTARIES.
IN 2007, HE WAS AWARDED SWEDEN’S “FURNITURE OF THE YEAR” PRIZE
FOR HIS HANGING BOOK SHELF CELL. COHEN’S WORK IS REPRESENTED AT
STOCKHOLM’S NATIONALMUSEUM.
THE ARTIST
M
A
T
S
T
H
E
S
E
L
I
U
S
MATS THESELIUS
81
THREE WAYS OF CELEBRATING ANNIVERSARIES
OF A TIMELESS DESIGN
Mats Theselius’s collaboration with String Furniture
has resulted in three anniversary models, released as
limited editions. All three are based on different
interpretations of Nisse and Kajsa Strinning’s original
design, taken to its artistic limit.
Theselius points out that originally String
®
was a simple
piece of furniture. Having been a symbol of the Swedish
post-war welfare state, it “faded away and vanished,”
only to then be resurrected and become a cult object.
Theselius’s first contribution to this revival was
launched for String’s 60th anniversary in 2009. It was
celebrated with his version of the small String
®
Pocket,
festively dressed with rosewood shelves and golden
panels. “In jest or seriousness? It’s in the eye of the
beholder,” Theselius wrote at the time.
In 2015, String
®
Pocket celebrated its 10th anniversary.
According to the artist, this occasion called for a shelf
made entirely from stainless steel – a symbol of the
amazing longevity of String
®
. Theselius’s choice of
material means the shelf can last for hundreds of
years, and it opens up the possibility of using it outdoors
as well as inside the home. “It’s a way for an already
timeless classic to be canonised for all eternity”, as he
put it.
In 2019, the 70th anniversary of the String
®
System
was also celebrated with a Theselius shelf based on
String’s light-weight elegance, thanks to its open panels
and the thin steel wire construction. With shelves of glass
and wall panels painted in the soft blue-green colour of
the edge of the glass, the shelf becomes “transparent,
almost intangible,” as Theselius describes it.
MATS THESELIUS. STUDIED INTERIOR ARCHI-
TECTURE AT KONSTFACK (UNIVERSITY OF ARTS,
CRAFTS AND DESIGN) IN STOCKHOLM, 1979–84.
PROFESSOR AT HDK SCHOOL OF DESIGN AND
CRAFTS, UNIVERSITY OF GOTHENBURG, 1995–96.
MEMBER OF THE ROYAL SWEDISH ACADEMY OF
FINE ARTS SINCE 2011. THESELIUS WORKS AT
THE CROSSROADS OF ART AND DESIGN, AND IS
BEST KNOWN FOR HIS INVENTIVE AND EXCLUSIVE
CHAIR DESIGNS. HIS AWARDS INCLUDE THE
BRUNO MATHSSON AWARD AND TORSTEN & WANJA
SÖDERBERG’S DESIGN PRIZE IN 1997, AND THE
KING OF SWEDEN’S PRINCE EUGEN MEDAL IN 2018.
