How Claesson Koivisto Rune rethinks design for a sustainable future

Founded in Stockholm in 1995 by Mårten Claesson, Eero Koivisto, and Ola Rune, studio Claesson Koivisto Rune is renowned for its multidisciplinary approach that integrates architecture and design, drawing significant inspiration from contemporary art. Over the years, the studio has gained an international reputation for its innovative projects, which range from homes and hotels to art galleries and cultural buildings.

Claesson Koivisto Rune became the first Swedish studio to exhibit at the Venice Biennale in 2024 and has received numerous prestigious international awards, including ten Good Design Awards, the Red Dot Design Award in five different categories, and the Bruno Mathsson Prize, the highest accolade for furniture design in Scandinavia.

Their aesthetic is characterised by a balance of essential shapes and contemporary style. With a refined approach that combines design rigour and artistic sensitivity, each creation exemplifies Nordic design culture.

This philosophy led to their collaboration with Frezza, resulting in the iconic Radar collection. Initially comprising a pouf, sofa, armchair and coffee table, the collection was expanded in 2024 to include Radar Executive and Radar Lounge. The soft, sculptural shapes of these products redefine the volumes of classic seating products, transforming them into focal elements that enhance the environments in which they are placed.

At the core of this design concept is a shared vision emphasising the importance of dialogue and collaboration in the design world: “We all have to be part of the solution. We must all do our part. Participating in an ongoing dialogue and the sharing of information points the way forward.” This perspective underscores a commitment to creating products born from open discussion, blending innovation, sustainability, and quality.

We interviewed studio Claesson Koivisto Rune to gain an in-depth understanding of the creative process dynamics, analysing the ideas and inspirations that lead to the realisation of projects that consider the entire product life cycle. Their vision speaks of a design capable of adapting to new lifestyles and responsible consumption needs, where collaboration between designers, companies and suppliers plays a key role in the transition towards a more sustainable future.

  1. How is design reinterpreted according to today’s new lifestyles and sustainable consumption choices?

    Although there were tendencies before, perhaps more as a business strategy than a truly holistic response to emerging lifestyle choices, recent events such as the pandemic have accelerated the intermingling or crosspollination between the spheres of work and home. In many respects, progressive working spaces are being designed to express more of the values prized within more informal spaces, such as the domestic environment. To this end, there is an increasingly intense studying and adoption of materials and methods of production that offer more sustainable ways of meeting today’s demands for healthier, people-centric spaces while also reducing the impact on our shared biosphere. The new European Eco design regulations (ESPR) will only serve to bolster our collective strive towards greater circularity, energy performance and sustainability.
  2. Today, those who design products and services must tread the path of climate neutrality and sustainability. What opportunities and what obstacles could be encountered on this journey? How is eco-design evolving?

    There are many opportunities for those creating and designing new products and services to offer solutions that capitalise on materials and energy sources that are more sustainable and in many cases are now derived from renewable sources. A challenge or obstacle can also be viewed as an opportunity. For example, working not just towards a net zero carbon footprint but going beyond that to establish systems and materials that have exceptional performance but also have, directly or indirectly, the ability to sequester carbon is a challenge that is already being tackled.
    Eco-design is evolving to not only be about the type and amount of materials and processes used: it is looking further and further down the supply chains, looking at where parts are made and working in partnership with suppliers to facilitate the successful compliance with the new ESPR regulations. Eco-design has become not just about using more ecological materials and production processes but about designing products with a high level of separability, allowing for greater upgradeability and repairability as well as making them easier to recycle.
  3. The recently approved new Ecodesign Regulation sets the guidelines for eco-design: which criteria have been considered in this project? (e.g. durability, materials etc.)

    From the outset of the Radar Lounge seating collection, which we actually began discussing in the first days of the pandemic, Frezza’s ambitions for the scope of the project were really forward-thinking. Our initial response to the brief continued the theme of modularity established in the previous Radar designs, however, the new Radar Lounge items take this to a completely new level.

    Each component has been carefully analysed and optimised for its complete lifecycle. For example, both the rigid seat shell and soft padding are actually made of the same highly recycled and recyclable polymer technology, just with different densities, allowing both the padding and shell to be recycled at the same site, using the same process. The seat and padding have been carefully engineered to interlock, with no glue needed, while being kept in place by the upholstery cover, making them easy to separate for both replacing or upgrading of parts or recycling.

    The seat shell has just the right amount of material in the right places to provide a reassuring rigidity yet offers impressive durability, allowing the product to survive things like untoward bumps in transport. Furthermore, in order to offer a range of product functions to a variety of customers, a number of options have been seamlessly integrated into the seat, such as a selection of adjustable headrest sizes and types, and tilt controls for individual comfort needs. This is just one example of how Radar Lounge has truly been designed with durability, reusability, upgradeability and repairability in mind.
  4. Eco-design means minimising the impact of products placed on the market and considering their entire life cycle. The role of the designer is becoming increasingly central in the sustainable transition of companies: how is this responsibility perceived?

    We all have to be part of the solution.
    We must all do our part.

Participating in an ongoing dialogue and the sharing of information across disciplines, with the early inclusion of people with specialist insights, informs the way forward for the realisation of robust and compelling proposals that have a future-orientated outlook and are well-equipped to meet the coming challenges.