Self-congratulatory company monographs normally go straight into our reject pile. But when the subject is Danish textile innovators Kvadrat, you know it's at least worth a quick flick through. Interwoven: Kvadrat Textile and Design is worth much more than that.
A collaboration with the publishers Prestel and Robert Violette, designed by GTF and with a foreword by Peter Saville, the book, and it's a whopper, is a celebration of more than 40 years of creative partnerships with artists, architects and designers. That list of collaborators is a remarkable roll call that stretches from Verner Panton and Nanna Ditzel through Tord Boontje and the Bouroullecs to David Adjaye, Thomas Demand, Olafur Eliasson and Saville himself. With contributions from many of those on the list, the book is the story of a company that has defined the use of textiles, and in many ways colour, in architecture. And for almost half a century. But also it tells of relationships that go way beyond the standard designer-client and artist-commercial patron arrangements.
A lot of space is given over to the brand's collaboration with the Bouroullecs - which seems right, given the perfect fit between Kvadrat and the brothers' particular poetic functionalism. But there is also a fantastic photo essay from Wallpaper* regular Joël Tettamanti, tracing the production of Kvadrat fabrics from yarn suppliers in the rolling English countryside to precision-printing equipment in Switzerland. And while Kvadrat's engagement with artists is relatively recent, its ongoing relationships with Eliasson and in particular Demand, are evidence of what is possible when an artist is given the chance to explore new materials and new technologies. As Saville says: 'Kvadrat is not part of some marketing strategy, deliberately making inroads into art to communicate their brand. That has not yet contaminated the way Kvadrat work and I hope it never will. They get more involved than that, supporting, developing and fabricating amazing things, and with a real spirit of liberal, creative endeavour.'
The book, entitled 'Interwoven', is bound in woven wool
A spread from the book shows Kvadrat's stand during the Stockholm Furniture Fair 2013. , the installation was constructed to create an intimate space inspired by Weeping Willow trees within a giant exhibition hall
An image taken from the book features a structure built from 'North Tiles', with whom Kvadrat has developed a strong working relationship
'North Tiles' is a system of textile tiles that slot together to create or divide space, contributing colour, texture and soundproofing
'Textile Field', brothers, was installed in the Raphael Gallery of the Victoria and Albert Museum during London Design Festival 2011. It created a playful environment measuring 30mx8m in which visitors were invited to sit back and take in their surroundings
Polymath artist and designer Gunnar Aagaard Andersen's textile piece, 'Letters' was designed in 1955 and produced by Kvadrat in 2002. Here, his preliminary sketches and the final product are shown
In this archive image from the book, artist, entrepreneur and facilitator, Baron Percy von Halling-Koch presents Kvadrat's founders, Poul Byriel and Erling Rasmussen with a fabric-themed tandem bicycle in 1980
Architect-designer Nanna Ditzel and Percy von Halling-Koch lounge in the Halling-Koch Design Centre showroom, an independent design company set up in 1964
'Hallingdal Table',in 2012 uses Kvadrat's classic Hallingdal fabric, designed by Nana Ditzel in 1965. Packed tightly using an industrial ratchet strap, the fabric becomes strong and solid like wood. Famous for its durability and rich colour palette, Hallingdal is still one of Kvadrat's best-selling products
For this piece, 'Selvedge', Raw-Edges deconstructed Hallingdal fabric, emphasising the beauty of its structural qualities
Claiming a 'surface that has to appeal both visually and tacitly as well as looking good under any lighting conditions' as his rule for fabric design, fashion textile and colour advisor Giulio Ridolfo worked with designer Patricia Urquiola to create 'The Dwelling Lab' in collaboration with Kvadrat and BMW. The installation was shown during the Salone del Mobile in Milan in 2010
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