Jonas Wagell
Jonas Wagell is a Swedish architect and designer. He was born in 1973 and he graduated from Konstfack in Stockholm in 2007. Soon after he went along and opened his own studio where he continuously amazes the world with his design. His studio, Jonas Wagell Design & Architecture (JWDA), is now located in the centre of Stockholm, Sweden, in an old converted car repair shop. Until now he collaborated with other design brands from Scandinavia to China, Italy and the USA.
As an architect, his most notable work is the prefabricated house concept "Mini House", where he studied small space design by approaching architecture as product design. Using his experience with architecture, now he focuses primarily on product and furniture design, and occasionally, the studio takes care of art and design direction.
Style and Vision
His work is characterized by reduction - "I try to take away details to enhance an expression or specific character and make a product aesthetically stronger." as Jonas states. By using reduction in his designs, all the unnecessary details are swept away, making the communication much easier.
His vision to design is very simple, and yet very personal. Every furniture piece or other products are very expressive in their way and they look like drawings on a piece of paper. His graphic experience is felt through each of his designs.
Even though his designs fall into the category of Scandinavian minimalism, his approach is rather different. His designs are rooted in his personal life, where, as he stated, he likes an organized space, that is also comfortable and has a certain warmth. This way, his design approach can be characterized as “generous minimalism”.
Collaborations
Through the years, his studio collaborated with many other well-known design brands, like the Scandinavian companies Menu, Normann Copenhagen and Muto, and some international brands as Tacchini from Italy or Design Within Reach in the USA.
These collaborations transformed into a great outcome. Some of the products were very successful and continue to be, like the JWDA lamp collection made in collaboration with the Danish brand Menu in 2014. They are a bestseller even today, which proves their timeless characteristics which can be rarely found in the ever-changing design world today.
Another important collaboration was with the Italian brand Tacchini, which materialised itself into the Julep Sofa collection, with their surprisingly hemispheric form, colours and textures that bring a fresh and soft look to any space.
His latest work is the Brace Armchair, made in collaboration with Mitab from Sweden. The chair is a reinterpretation of the traditional steel tube chair, "composed by a light frame of tubular steel and generously curved seat and backrest of thin laminated veneer." It is a simple design, elegant and functional, manufactured in Sweden with local resources.
The unique approach to design and the never-ending pursuit of simpler and functional products for a meaningful everyday life are the main concepts that characterize the work of Jonas Wagell.
Website jonaswagell.se