The Silent Village

In the project commissioned by Galerie kreo, Brynjar Sigurðarson employs a knitting technique used by Icelandic fishermen to create a furnishing collection.

Brynjar Sigurðarson is from Reykjavik, Iceland, and expresses the attachment to his home country in the collection “The Silent Village” for Galerie Kreo.

Brynjar Sigurðarson, The Silent Village, long table, Galerie Kreo, 2013. Photo © Alejandra Duarte – Courtesy Galerie kreo

“The Silent Village” connects to the field trip the designer took in 2009 for his senior year project at the Iceland Academy of the Arts, where he travelled by himself to the small town of Vopnafjörður in North East Iceland.

There he spent four weeks lost in the wilderness, wandering the harbor, meeting locals and discovering the natural heritage of his country. Sigurðarson met by chance a 70-year-old shark-hunter (Hreinn) who taught him a remarkable knitting technique using a netting needle and nylonstring to build nets for the 100 days lumpfish season.

Brynjar Sigurðarson, The Silent Village, long table, Galerie Kreo, 2013. Photo © Alejandra Duarte – Courtesy Galerie kreo

“When I discovered this roping method at the fisherman's workshop it felt like I connected with a hidden Icelandic craft . And even though I had no special use in mind, when I started to experiment with the ropes, I found it had a large variety of aesthetics.”

Brynjar Sigurðarson, The Silent Village, long table, Galerie Kreo, 2013. Photo © Alejandra Duarte – Courtesy Galerie kreo

Taking this intricate roping method out of its environment and then applying it to the design of furniture, Sigurðarson completely transformed the intent and aesthetic of the pieces produced for Galerie Kreo. With a strong sensibility for durable design, noble material such as wood, ropes, Krion, the designer reinvents a new form of furniture. Mixing craft and production, as all the roping of theses pieces is done by hand in his atelier.

Brynjar Sigurðarson, The Silent Village, long table, Galerie Kreo, 2013. Photo © Alejandra Duarte – Courtesy Galerie kreo