Textiles, architecture and the human being in dialogue: nya nordiska

‘We make it home. Make it the office. Make it the hideaway. Make it your base. Make it your anchor. Make it yours. Make it part of you.’ Founded in 1964, the textile editeur nya nordiska celebrates its 55th anniversary this year. It is focused on the task that is at the same time its most obvious core competency: using extraordinary fabrics to give spaces character and creating an ambience of all-round comfort for the people who inhabit them.

Textiles are much more than just interwoven threads. They are an essential component of interior architecture and design. And they are often the secret soul of a space – regardless of whether one lives or works there. The new range of home and contract textiles from nya nordiska offers architects, planners and interior designers an optimal starting point for their projects. These outstanding textiles are available in a great diversity of design options and fulfil the highest functional demands as well.

The fresh and minimalist, the modern and innovative, the Scandinavian – all of this is contained in the fibres of nya nordiska textiles. The company feels strongly tied to its origins and tradition, but develops its ever-contemporary collections with an eye to the future. And, in the truest sense, it knows how to perfectly connect what is essential.

The designs grow out of ideas inspired by the worlds of art and culture, of architecture and fashion – but without ever losing the characteristic Nordic thread. The fabrics are sometimes more opulent, sometimes just a wisp. Selected with great sensitivity, the colours, the fibres and the fall of the folds render a picture in harmony with its surroundings. Architecture, with its hard corners and edges, is given a gentler touch by the custom-made textiles. At the same time, architectural spaces profit from such positive characteristics as considerably improved acoustics and the regulation of light incidence and warmth. Add to all this the incomparable vitality of the transparent and semi-transparent fabrics of the architects’ collection from nya nordiska, which with their interplay of light and shadow conjure in the space a feeling of the lightness of the Scandinavian attitude towards life.

The fabrics from nya nordiska lend certain spatial situations a special face by flirting with trends – for example the sober Bauhaus style or the tendency towards compact, minimalistic forms of dwelling – without putting themselves in the foreground. A particular emphasis is given to developing a distinctive aesthetic language. This may find expression in a surface texture, as in Elsa CS, the delicate structure of which recalls fine brushstrokes on canvas. This is just one of many examples that also represent the fabrics’ proximity to nature. The best qualities for living spaces come from textiles made from the natural products wool (e.g. Lima), cotton (e.g. Cord 2.0) and linen (e.g. Alabama).

In the area of contract textiles as well, the company remains true to itself and successfully bridges aesthetic ambitions with the demands of protecting against fire and keeping light out – from the decorative fabric Twist CS and the in-between series around Soufflé CS, right through to Astoria FR. Even fabrics that have to meet higher technical performance requirements have a natural appearance, such as Milan CS with its captivating linen look.

The focus lies in the dialogue between textiles, architecture and the human being, which form a harmonious unit and optimally complement each other. The fabric in this synergy becomes the elegant connecting link between the architecture and the human being.

The company’s head office in Dannenberg are further confirmation that nya nordiska has always thought in architectural dimensions. On this site, which has evolved over 300 years, Staab Architekten expanded the facilities with a new building. Its combination of shed roofs and a reddish anodised metal facade is itself a design success and also seamlessly ties in with its surroundings.

Thinking in terms of contextual relationships and making and implementing the right choices in any given situation are doubtless strengths of nya nordiska. Beyond the awards the new building has been singled out for by the Association of German Architects – the BDA architekturpreis Nike 2013 and the BDA Preis Niedersachsen 2012 – the company is proud of its more than 330 international honours and prizes, which arguably testify to one thing above all: the innovative strength and design language embodied in nya nordiska’s products.

© Architonic