TAF

Architects and designers Gabriella Gustafson and Mattias Ståhlbom began their collaboration during their studies at Konstfack and have been running the joint office TAF in Stockholm since 2002. Their work ranges from exhibition scenography and interior architecture to furniture and lighting for several internationally renowned producers.

TAF finds much of their inspiration in the everyday – in both forms and materials. Spilled milk can be transformed into a plate, the volume control on a stereo into a lamp, and the back of a painting into a sofa. The process can also start with an ordinary material that TAF then finds an innovative way to use. In this exhibition, corrugated cardboard has caught their interest – a material that almost completely dominates the packaging industry but is rarely used in other contexts. By creating both the exhibition's scenography and its open studio in corrugated cardboard, TAF showcases the versatility and beauty of a material that is usually only appreciated for its functionality.

The Bruno Mathsson Prize 2017 goes to Gabriella Gustafson (b. 1974) and Mattias Ståhlbom (b. 1971). The jury's motivation: "TAF has purposefully refined their design language to a sophisticated simplicity, which, with ingredients of humor and doses of audacity, evokes an engaging appeal. A container on the street or a board on trestles are everyday inspirations that challenge them to move forward and create an interesting sustainable renewal of archetypal products."

Thanks to: The Karin and Bruno Mathsson Foundation, DS Smith, Kvadrat, and Skeppshultstegen

^{Photo: John Nelander}