HELSINKI.- The young Icelandic designer Brynjar Sigur餫rson received the Torsten and Wanja S鰀erberg Prize, the world’s largest design award, in 2018. His prize exhibition is on view in Design Museum’s Gallery. This exhibition presents Sigur餫rson’s original idiom of form and working method, which have achieved international recognition in a very short time. The S鰀erberg Prize exhibition is now being seen for the last time at Design Museum, because the Torsten S鰀erberg and Ragnar S鰀erberg Foundations have stopped awarding the prize.

Designer Brynjar Sigur餫rson’s unique works, falling into the interstices of utility objects and sculpture, represent conceptual design in which narrative has an important role The designer’s connection with the natural environment and local traditions of his native Iceland has a strong presence in his work. In his furniture designs, Sigur餫rson has applied hundred-year-old net weaving techniques, among other methods.

The award committee of the Torsten and Wanja S鰀erberg prize described its choice as follows:

Brynjar Sigur餫rson’s work has strong roots in two of the fundamental elements of Icelandic heritage, namely storytelling and fishing. The authenticity of his work springs from the ability to connect with the past but at the same time stand firmly in the present where international influences and new opportunities have greeted him. Brynjar磗 ability to collaborate with people from different disciplines such as fishermen, filmmakers, writers, musicians, archaeologists and crafts people is a key factor in all his work.

Brynjar Sigur餫rson was born in Reykjavik, Iceland, in 1986. He is currently living and working in the South of France, where he has had a German-Icelandic design studio with designer Veronica Sedlmair since 2015. Sigur餫rson has a bachelor’s degree in product design from the Iceland Academy of Arts and a master’s degree from ECAL in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The S鰀erberg Prize awarded for the last time
The Torsten and Wanja S鰀erberg Prize was established by the Torsten S鰀erberg and Ragnar S鰀erberg Foundations and awarded for the first time in 1994 on the centenary of the birth of Torsten S鰀erberg. S鰀erberg’s wife, Wanja n閑 Aminoff was one of the donors of funds for the Torsten S鰀erberg Foundation. The S鰀erberg Foundations have been Sweden’s leading patrons of research. Worth SEK 1,000,000, the Torsten and Wanja S鰀erberg Prize was the largest of its kind in the world. It has been administered until now by the R鰄sska Museum and awarded annually to a Nordic designer or craftsperson. Previous recipients of the prize include Mats Theselius (Sweden), Peter Opsvik (Norway), Steinunn Sigur餫rd髏tir (Iceland), Harri Koskinen (Finland), Ann-Sofie Back (Sweden), Henrik Vibskov (Denmark), Margrethe Odegaard (Denmark) and Daniel Rybakken (Norway).

The Brynjar Sigur餫rson exhibition is on show at Design Museum from 7 June to 25 August 2019.