Alexander Lervik

Press / 2003

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Sweden's largest housing market SVENSKA ST(

Plank. Börge Lindau got the inspiration from the man on the beach who had stuck a plank into the sand and rolled up the newspaper as neck support. The playful swivel chair was created in 1985. Plywood, leather, and metal in balance between material economy and comfort. (From the book "Svenska stolar", Byggförlaget.)

Vacation homes, Part 1 page 20 Rental market, Part 2 page 14

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Condominiums, Part 2 page 2 Abroad, Part 2 page 2 Building new, Part 1 page 22 + Villas, Part 1 page 16 Part 2 page 2

How to build a garden path

Everything depends on the sub-base when the garden path or driveway is to be laid. PAGE 2

Brilliant design for the outhouse

Alexander Lervik has made a glowing handle — red for occupied, green for vacant. PAGE 3

Apartments in southern suburbs six percent lower in price

In Enskede, Stureby, Björkhagen, Hammarbyhöjden, Enskededalen, Kärrtorp, Svedmyra, and Tallkrogen — what is called North-Eastern Söderort in the diagram below — apartment prices have fallen by 6.5 percent since the peak six months ago. Prices are now back at roughly the same level as autumn 2000. Also in South-Eastern Söderort — that is, Skarpnäcks gård, Bagarmossen, and Farsta parish excluding Svedmyra and Tallkrogen — prices have fallen by just over six percent since the peak before the turn of the year. Here, however, prices are still above the level from a year ago.

Villa prices in the neighboring municipalities of Upplands Väsby and Upplands-Bro have tracked each other during the six years that DN Bostad's price statistics go back. The dips on the Upplands-Bro curve are considerably more frequent, however, a consequence of considerably fewer villas being sold in the municipality, which makes the statistics uncertain. In Upplands-Bro, the average sales price was barely 2.1 million kronor. In Upplands Väsby, villa prices fell by five percent compared with the previous quarter and if assessed tax values are also taken into account.

CONDOMINIUM PRICES IN GREATER STOCKHOLM THOUSANDS OF KR

Thea was two years old when her parents Karin Nyquist and Peter Näsström started their long-term project to bit by bit rebuild an old cottage into a modern villa while living in the house. In the meantime she got a little brother, Elias. Today Thea is eight and Elias is five.

Östermalm

SVENSKA STOLAR

Alexander Lervik's latest proj... stands for knowledge, development... and this summer will shine red for occupied and green for vacant.

Alexander Lervik

Born: 1972. Education: Graduated from the design program at Beckmans in 1998.

Family: Wife Anja, graphic designer, and children Måns, 3 years old, and Lisa, 1 year old.

Lives: In a villa on Lidingö. Influenced by: Everything from robotics researchers to dance choreographer Virpi Pahkinen.

designer and initiator of an exhibition at Kulturhuset with the theme "How do we live in 2050?"

Price examples: Door handle Brighthandle 1,900 SEK, table Apollo 11,500 SEK, Advent candlestick Traditio, 690 SEK. Hobby: Website: www.alexanderlervik.com

BRIGHTHANDLE IS A DOOR HANDLE that communicates with the help of light. Starting this autumn, the handle will glow red for "occupied" and green for "vacant", not least on the toilet doors in a new entertainment establishment at Mariatorget in Stockholm.

It is not the first time Alexander Lervik produces his products himself. He also has a company which under the name...

...was not originally part of the Design Year. But Alexander is pleased that it turned out that way: — It is important to have an independent... to the government's initiatives. Our goal is to be the most innovative and visionary... during the Design Year.

— I have a hard time sitting still. That is probably why I make sure to start projects. When he was little, he went to a Waldorf school. Mom is an artist, dad is an engineer. As a designer, he ended up right in between. That seems to have influenced both his way of looking at design and his way of dressing: a young designer doesn't usually wear a freshly ironed white shirt.

Alexander Lervik often emphasizes the importance of learning from other professional categories and finding new constellations. — In the initial stage, "Inspired" was a more personal and egotistical project about creating encounters between different professional categories; I wanted to see what happened when I collaborated with, for example, an artist, a lighting technician, or someone from the business world. That was what the idea looked like when I sold it to Kulturhuset. But over time I realized that it was more interesting to make an exhibition with a future focus and to become a small link in a large chain oneself.

Design-Sweden needs to take new approaches, Alexander Lervik believes. He himself has just started a company with Fredrik Arnander, who among other things was the one who founded the e-commerce company Fondex. Together they are developing Alexander's intelligent door handle Brighthandle. Since it was launched at the furniture fair in...

PHOTO: ANETTE NANTELL

"Where did the visions go?" wonders Alexander Lervik, the man behind the project "Inspired 2050". Among his latest products is Transit, bench seating intended for airports, schools, and hospitals.

The World's Greatest Treasures

The UN agency UNESCO's World Heritage list gathers the best on earth — everything from the most beautiful nature areas to the greatest cultural treasures. 172 of the world's countries have committed to joining forces to protect all of these unique and irreplaceable sites.

Now you can buy a practical DN poster in four-color print showing all 730 world heritage sites. Furthermore, on the back of the map, a spread about the twelve Swedish world heritage sites with a focus on the latest in line — the mining area Stora Kopparberg in Falun.

The world heritages cost 39 SEK each incl. VAT, when ordering at least 10 copies 29 SEK each incl. VAT. Postage according to the postal service price list will be added.

...scattered. I have always been that.

The fact is that Alexander Lervik is scattered even in his thirst for knowledge:

— I am mostly interested in technology and science, the future, and art.

— In principle everything, then?

— Yes, in the whole. That is why I am so pleased with the Inspired project. Recently, Ewa Kumlin and I had a meeting with the world's leading robotics researchers. I just sat there smiling. I gained so much knowledge. To get to have these conversations. To get to be part of something big. It is bigger than anything I can achieve on my own.

ANNICA KVINT dn.bostad@dn.se 08-7382333

Previous articles on young Swedish design in DN Bostad: Thomas Bernstrand May 26, 2002, Monica Förster September 15, 2002, Anna von Schewen November 17, 2002, and Matti Klenell April 6, 2003.

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English translation of the original article. Text read from the scanned original; small transcription errors may occur.