Stroll in the heart of the Nordic culture

Paris Design Week is a unique opportunity to discover foreign cultural centers, many of which, like that of Mexico or the Czech Republic, participate in the event. They offer a nice opening to the world -at this precious moment- in addition to the visit of exceptional places. Focusing on our Nordic friends, whose dynamism is as lively as ever.

Friendship is the theme of the year chosen by the Swedish Institute to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary. Some Parisians already know this cultural center housed in one of the most beautiful private hotels in the Marais, the Hotel de Marle.

Each year, a few artists earn the privilege of obtaining a one-year residency in one of the six studios of the only Swedish centre abroad. These small apartments, furnished in the purest Scandinavian style, will be open to visitors during Paris Design Week.

It will also be an opportunity to take a break in the course, in paved courtyard, gardens and charming coffee shops. There will also be some exhibitions, including a selection of ceramics by the NeC Design Gallery, between art and design, by Swedish artists Ellen Ehk Åkesson, Eva Hild, Mårten Medbo and Gustaf Nordenskiöld

The Finnish Institute has established itself in Rue des Ecoles, in the Latin Quarter. Opened in 1990 at the place of a former cinema, it was recently renovated by Littow Architects. The elegant interior architecture, designed by Joanna Laajisto, invites you, to enjoy sweetness of living in a furniture Made By Choice. The new visual identity designed by Piëtke Visser won the Red Dot Award. At this place of excellence, we must not miss the exhibition of the ceramist Matias Liimatainen, dedicated to young designers of the year in Finland, whose virtuosic creations will not fail to make mention of him. The House of Denmark equally offers an exceptional setting, as it overlooks the Champs-Elysées on the top floor of a building with stunning views of the Arc de Triomphe.

Its exhibition space, Le Bicolore -a nod to the French tricolour flag- has just been redesigned by the architecture and design company COBE. In line with the theme of Paris Design Week on «desirable development», we will be able to see the exhibition «Aux Vélos citoyens!» which traces a hundred years of development dedicated to two wheels in Copenhagen

Our Danish friends are often cited as examples in this area and they analyse here the complex and simple task of making practical, functional and elegant in a large metropolis.  They also point out that Danish design is expressed only in the fields of furniture and decoration: drawing the shared public space by contributing to a smart urbanism is a mission of which they will show here a beautiful illustration.

Photos:
Institut Suédois : Courtesy Galerie NeC nilsson et chiglien/Mårten Medbo
Institut du Danemark : Mikael Colville-Andersen
Institut Finlandais : ©lowres