A CONVERSATION BETWEEN EVA-LOTTA AXELSSON AND PHILIP WARKANDER AT THE OPENING OF NUDE ATELJÉ’S NEW SHOWROOM AT NORR MÄLARSTRAND 12 IN STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN.

PHILIP WARKANDER (PW): Can you tell us something about where we are?
EVA-LOTTA AXELSSON (E-L A): We are actually in the entrance of what used to be a bathhouse. But today, Norr Mälarstrand 12 is home to Nude Ateljé. Nude Ateljé consists of three entities: Architecture by Nude (ABN), which focuses on consulting assignments in architecture and interior design, Materials by Nude (MBN), which develops furniture and furniture collections in collaboration with our clients, and Production by Nude (PBN), our carpentry workshop in Latvia where we manufacture our items.

 

PW: It sounds like you work in different forms and scales?
E-L A: Exactly, I work with private and corporate clients, here in Sweden and abroad. Right now, we’re designing a villa in the Stockholm archipelago. This sideboard was developed with Lydmar Hotel, the wardrobes where you hung your jackets were created with a private client in Djursholm, and this room fragrance is a collaboration with a perfumer. But in this place, I bring everything together, showcasing the context of Nude Ateljé. Regardless of scale, from large to small, we create spaces. These three companies collaborate, but the different activities also function independently. Here in the studio, I can demonstrate how the three parts relate to the various aspects of how I build and design. This place is a space, a context, and a gallery, but at the same time, it reflects how I perceive and create space.

 

PW: It reminds me of how the classic fashion houses were structured.
E-L A: That’s right. I’ve always been interested and inspired by the classic fashion houses, and especially how they were organized. They were everything at once, a curated place. Both studio, shop, and catwalk. A place where everything was somehow possible. Wild creativity and visions could lead to fantastic creations at their own premises. And customers chose this, whether it was a collection or tailor-made; they bought into the expression and got the context and belonging. Nude Ateljé creates unique spaces based on location, function, and client. We work for the customer but also for the customer’s customer.

 

PW: There are not only connections to fashion; the room can also be understood from a more philosophical perspective. There are different types of spaces. Spaces have different functions, and we all carry our inner space as we move through the outer…
E-L A: I have always had a great interest in spatiality; I studied architecture in London, and even then, 20 years ago, it was the relationship between people and space that fascinated me. How we are affected by space. We constantly move through spaces, the outer and inner spaces, and are influenced by what happens in between, in the intermediate space. But I have also been greatly influenced by how spaces change during the day and year, or how we perceive different types of spaces depending on different cultural perspectives. Such a simple thing as a corridor is perceived in a completely different way in Japan compared to in Sweden. And we humans have an inner space, and when you add that in, it starts to get really interesting. The eyes are the windows to the soul.

 

 

BACK TO A MORE CONCRETE DISCUSSION ABOUT NUDE ATELJÉ

 

PW: How do you work more concretely?
E-L A: We listen. A lot, and often. The customer is extremely central; we usually say that we interpret the assignment based on location, function, and client. Our projects with Lydmar Hotel and Dennis Pop Awards are two good examples of this. Dennis Pop is also a good example of the cross-border collaborations that I am happy to seek. With them, I want to broaden the understanding of creation, to inspire but also to be inspired. Then sustainability and quality are important, both in terms of materials and people. I often return to old customers. And we know where our materials come from. For example, we buy our own trees to ensure that we get the material we want, and we always recycle when possible, both in the carpentry workshop and if customers have furniture or items that we can take care of.

 

PW: What distinguishes the spaces and objects that you create at Nude Ateljé? E-L A: As I said, all spaces are unique based on location, function, and client. And the common thread in the expression is elegant, eclectic, and bold. But it’s okay to have a certain amount of dissonance, a friction. Something that creates tension.

 

PW: How does this manifest itself here in the gallery?
E-L A: I want this to be a modern version of the classic fashion houses. A studio. Here, I create, and here, I showcase. This place should be an expression and a context that our customers can be part of. Here, there’s the opportunity to buy collections but also to get custom-designed pieces. The context applies not only to customers but also to collaborations. I also reach out to everyone from musicians and artists to designers whom I invite to be part of this place. It creates an additional layer. Parts of the art, for example, are by Micke Becker if you know who he is, once a DJ and founder of Spy Bar. Then I collaborate with an antique shop, and they have contributed fantastic items. And right now, I’m also working on developing a garment with designer Martin Bergström. A garment that will fit perfectly in one of our rooms!