“You will know our design because it has ‘muutos’,” they explain – a Finnish word meaning ‘new perspective’.  Muuto began, several years ago, with bold ambitions to represent the best and brightest in new Nordic design – and to see Danish and Nordic design regain a leading position, internationally.   True to the spirit of Scandinavian design (think back to Alvar Aalto), Muuto’s “New Nordic ‘affordable luxury’ line of everyday objects” follows the mantra ‘beauty lies in simplicity’ – but differs, according to the company, in that it has new and original perspective. 

Plugged Pendant. Designed by Muuto.

Plugged pendant from Stockholm-based design duo Mattias Broberg and Johan Ridderstråle exemplifies the young company’s work. Understated and original, “The Plugged pendant lamp plays with the elements most lighting armatures try to hide,” the duo explains.   Rather than merely serving as a functional and necessary component, suspending the lamp and providing it with electricity, the textile cord enhances the design and “emphasizes how the lamp is ‘brought to life’” (also check out the V/i.a.g.r.a lamp by nonesiste which takes a similar approach to a wall-mounted fixture).  “The space between the shade and the ceiling is highlighted by the pattern of the textile cord – and the placing of the plug on the side gives the lamp a dynamic appearance and brings life to an otherwise static typology,” explain the designers.  Simple concave and convex forms serve as the diffuser and ceiling mount respectively – made from painted aluminum.  E27, another lighting design in Muuto’s collection, is a perfectly round oversized naked bulb on a colorful silicon rubber cord that extends to 4 meters.  Designed by Mattias Ståhlbom, E27 is about celebrating “the essence of the lamp” – the socket. There seems to be a theme emerging in Muuto’s lighting collection…

As Finnish designer Alvar Aalto stated, “We should work for simple, good, undecorated things…in harmony with the human being and organically suited to the little man in the street.” Muuto is striving to do just that – “with objects made sublime through new perspectives, enjoyed across the world, representing the best of Scandinavian design today,” in the words of the company.  Muuto launched in 2006 at Maison et Objet and has expanded to a collection of 30 products – now including furniture, with works by 25 designers (up from the original 11).   We’ve come across Muuto once before at 3Rings, with the Raw Side Table designed by Jens Fager, and are likely to come across them time and time again.