Monica Förster takes a hands-on approach to furniture design. In her Stockholm studio, she whips up a flurry of tiny paper models—“3-D sketches”—that rival their full-scale progeny for beauty and craftsmanship.

“The computer is a tool; I can’t do without it,” says Förster. “But the nice thing about making models is that in the process of doing, I’m more open to mistakes—maybe I put the tape in a way that I don’t intend, but it shows a new possibility. In a computer everything is perfect. When I make models, it’s intuitive and rough: I take a flat piece of paper, I cut it, I tape it. It’s very quick. I find it very refreshing.”

 

 

 

 

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Förster’s studio is in a turn-of-the-century building that used to be a porn shop. Taking over the space, she says, was “a feminist action.”

Although Förster favors paper, she occasionally makes models out of fabric, including this foot-long, 2.9-inch-tall Grand sofa. “I wanted it to have an improvised feeling, very casual and sexy looking,” she says.

The Vika chair was inspired by the braided rivers of far northern Sweden, where Förster grew up.

The studio’s front room is a makeshift showroom, open to the public three days a week. On view are Förster’s yellow Circle lamp (bent sheet metal with a matte rubber finish), a mauve Spoon chair inspired by Japanese spoons, the Umbrella pendant lamp, Mix bowls and vases made of crystal and plastic, and three low pieces—the Cake table, the Breeze coffee table, and the asymmetrical Drop stool.

Förster recently collaborated with fellow Swede Björn Kusoffsky on an exhibition and film about Josef Frank fabrics.

“I get a lot of assignments from companies who want something based on Scandinavian tradition, but with a fresh kind of poetry,” says Förster. She’s currently developing a series of floor lamps, one of which will be made from resin-molded fabric in its final form.

Photo: Felix Odell (unlabeled standalone image).

Förster named this chair the Antelope because “it looks almost like it’s going to jump or run.” Designed for Swedese in 2010, it’s made of ash wood with a fabric or leather seat. While working on the model, she once changed the angle of the back simply by taping it down.