Swedish architect Gert Wingårdh and Finnish illustrator Kustaa Saksi have joined creative forces to design the installation that will set the stage for talks on design and architecture at the fair. They have each started out from their own perspective while adhering to a shared vision.

“From the very beginning, the idea has been to create a spatiality for communication in which furniture and design have a presence in words and images, as well as a physical presence. To explain the concept behind an item of furniture, what you were thinking and how you arrived at the design, gives a deeper dimension to the object. This is something we’ve wanted to focus on more this year and so we’re giving furniture companies a chance to introduce themselves, their products and designers by communicating through a new program item we call Show 'n Tell,” explains Sanna Gebeyehu, the producer of the project.



The design suggests a church interior, with rows of high tables in front of an ‘altar’ where panels hold sway. The table tops are made of a mirror laminate and balance on stacks of A4 paper sheets – 700,000 in total.



The entire dome-like structure consists of stacks of paper sheets that hang from the roof in a Venetian blind-like construction. The lowest sheet in each stack carries part of a gigantic illustration that forms the dome-shaped ceiling.



Preparations for construction have been going on for months and the actual raising of the dome is something of a never-ending task.



“Precision in all the preliminary work is crucial. 1,120 stacks consisting of a total of 11,000 A3 sheets in 44,000 points of attachment are being installed across an area of 200 sqm and are then gradually hoisted up,” reports Sanna Gebeyehu.