Lounging with Anderssen & Voll and Muuto at Myran

For those who don’t know them yet, Anderssen & Voll are pioneers of Norwegian industrial design, who have collaborated with some of the largest Scandinavian design brands. Over the 18 years of their collaboration with Muuto, they’ve defined to a great extent the brand’s visual and design identity. They’re also one of Myran’s oldest friends. In fact, since we first opened in Exarcheia in 2006, there hasn’t been a single day without an Anderssen & Voll product in our stores. In other words, we cannot imagine living without their beautiful and friendly designs.

Torbjørn and Espen flew to Athens for the first time to celebrate with us, escorted by their entire team — 13 people in total, which was like a Norwegian invasion. Thankfully, the Norwegian ambassador in Athens, Lajla Brandt Jakhelln, was also present at the event to ensure that this wouldn’t cause a diplomatic incident. We thank her and everyone involved for their collaboration and support.

If you missed our Anderssen & Voll event in Athens, keep reading for an interview with Torbjørn Anderssen, Espen Voll and Ilaria Bancila of Muuto, the result of a live discussion moderated by Greek designer — and another Myran friend — Yiannis Ghikas. In a nutshell, here’s what they talked about:

Yiannis Ghikas (Moderator)
So how did you two meet each other? 

Espen Voll (A&V)
It’s actually a nice story. Back in 1999, we started a design group called Norway Says. Some of us were still students and we were trying to gather a lot of people to do something together in Milan. I saw this cupboard by a young student in Bergen and I thought he should be part of this group. That guy was Torbjørn. We actually didn’t meet until we were on our way to Milan with all our furniture. I think there’s a documentary that even shows the exact moment when we first met and said hello. 

Yiannis
So after that, you decided to keep working together and make a brand? 

Torbjørn Anderssen (A&V)
Well, we didn’t really have a plan. We were just going to Milan Design Week with the hope that maybe some of the magazines would pick up some of the pieces we did. But then we were invited to do a show in London. Then Stockholm, then Milan and New York. It all snowballed from there and in 2002 we decided to start the studio, which was also called Norway Says. In 2009, this studio… I wouldn’t say it broke up, I’d say it broke down, more or less. [Laughter] And then, we decided to form Anderssen & Voll. And here we are, 25 years later.

Velkommen folkens!

Espen and Torbjørn joined Myran’s 20th anniversary in Athens in October 2024 with their entire studio team and their families. Velkommen folkens! The two-day residency at our Apenanti apartment-showroom included an exhibition with Muuto, Nedre Foss and Røros Tweed products, a private dinner in the company of some special Myran friends, and a public talk.

Yiannis
Ilaria is here, on behalf of Muuto. Which was founded in 2006…

Ilaria Bancila (MUUTO)
Yes, it was. When it started, it was more of an accessories brand. Something quite funky, as you can actually see in some of the older packaging back there. Peter Bonnen and Kristian Byrge wanted to explore new perspectives on Scandinavian design, which is how they came up with the term ‘New Nordic’. Then one day, they put all their products in the back of a van and drove all the way to Paris for Maison & Objet… The rest is history.

Yiannis
I remember the first Muuto collection was just three objects. No furniture at the time. 
So how did Muuto meet you guys?

Torbjørn
Basically this random dude called us one day (it was Peter) and said: “Hey, guys. Can I come to Oslo for a meeting?” And we were like, okay. You can come. But they didn’t have anything at that moment, they didn’t even have a brand name! We were sceptical at first, because we’ve done this so many times, you know? Jumping on a train with no destination and driving off into the dark. Some trains arrive at a nice place and some unfortunately don’t… But Muuto really did! Another fun fact is that, when Muuto decided to switch from accessories to furniture, we were strongly advising against it. Luckily, nobody listens to us most of the time.

Ilaria
I don’t know how many people know this, but in the 18 years of our collaboration, Anderssen & Voll have designed all of our sofas, lounge chairs, and now we have our first soft outdoor seating designed by them as well. So a big chunk of what Muuto furniture is, it’s thanks to these guys.

Rapid prototyping

Yiannis
What is the design process like at Anderssen & Voll studio? Do you always work as a duo?

Espen
In the beginning we had to work a lot. My wife called him my second wife. [Laughter] We did everything together: sleeping, working, sleeping, working, or partying, sometimes. But to answer your question, our ideal is to be involved in all projects together. That said, one of us may be more passionate about a certain product and spend more time with it. But it’s important for us that we are both involved before it’s finished.

Yiannis
Were there times that you loved a product and he hated it?

Espen
It can be like that in the beginning of a process. What we came to realise over the years is that we’re in fact quite different persons. And, you know, when we have to make a choice between two things, I’ll choose the one and he’ll always choose the other. That happens a lot. There’s, like, a constructive struggle together in order to find the best product.

Yiannis
Do you think someone can tell when they see a product that it’s Norwegian?

Torbjørn
I don’t think so. I remember when the first wave of new Norwegian designers was entering the international stage, there was this big need to explain Norwegian design, to create a common platform. But what we have in common in Norway as designers is that we have a very weak industry. We have to leave the country in order to be able to work and to establish a career. Which means that, if you have to go to the airport, you might as well go to Japan or the US, or the north of Italy, or Finland, like we recently did, or Athens, or Copenhagen… This means that you’re much more able to follow your own line of interest and your own strengths, and find the right collaborator for your tone as a designer.

Espen
Also, Sweden, Denmark and Finland have a very strong design history. This means that, as a student, you have the feeling that you have to compete with your own history. Can I be Arne Jacobsen, or Alvar Aalto, or Bruno Mathsson? Probably not. In Norway on the other hand, the tradition is not so strong. Which comes back to what Torbjørn was saying: there’s no national identity in Norwegian design, but individual designers that have their own identity.

Ilaria
Imagine in a few years, students are going to be like: “Can I be Anderssen & Voll? Probably not.” [Laughter]

Yiannis
What is your best-selling product?

Torbjørn
It’s the Outline series for Muuto, for sure. We’ve made so many sofas and the Outline is definitely the biggest success. I think this has to do with the way it keeps its proportions in every version. In other sofas we’ve done, you have the original design which has the right proportions — when it comes to the Oslo sofa, for instance (which is right there), the two-seater is the best. For the Rest sofa, it’s the three-seater… But with the Outline, because they are very slim, the identity is not in the shape, but in the proportions and how these change. As a result, the two-seater is just as good as the studio version (which is just 1,30m), the three-and-a-half seater, or the high back, or the daybed. I think this is the key to its success.

Yiannis
A few years ago you launched your own business, called Nedre Foss. How did you come to this decision?

Espen
We used to do a lot of interiors as well. And we did this major interior project in Oslo that’s called Nedre Foss Gård. It’s one of the oldest buildings in Oslo…

Yiannis
What does Nedre Foss mean?

Espen
It means “lower falls”, as in a waterfall. It’s a place along the river that goes through the city centre of Oslo, and the building is right next to that. I think it was 1300 square metres, a very traditional building. So we did a very traditional interior, which was new to us, but we found it really challenging and fun to do something not expected from us. We designed everything, from the chairs to the lamps, to the trimmings… And then we had this idea for a candle holder, which we thought would be cool for the restaurant. So we made it.

Yiannis
The cast iron one with the difficult name… [Laughter]

Espen
It’s called Ildhane, which means fire rooster! We thought that the product was so good that we could put it out to our manufacturers. So we tried Muuto and they said no. Then we asked everybody else, but nobody wanted it… We were so mad. [Laughter] So we decided to produce it ourselves. We made 300 and placed them in one of the nicest stores in Oslo. We didn’t really have any expectations… But they reordered within a week, and then reordered again…

Torbjørn
So we said: “We have the product, we have the box, we have the retailers. Let’s make a brand!” It all went very organically… This was also a shift for us, you know, where sourcing and product development shifted from the resources of the big brands to something you could source yourself, like a service. Then we tried to understand why this object was such a success? Because it just sold and sold, and we never had any claims or complaints. So we kind of deduced a design dogma for a successful product. It should be in categories that are part of our history for at least 100 years, because this means they’ll be with us for the next century too. Then, it needs to be more of a solid material with open surfaces and rounded shapes. It should also be e-commerce ready, in the sense that it shouldn’t break in shipping. And it should be sculptural as much as it should be useful. So if you buy something from Nedre Foss, you should never want to put it away in a cupboard or in a drawer. It should always be on the table, on the shelf, on the windowsill, to be an ambassador for the brand. So, we came up with this term, ‘brug skulptur’, which translates as “sculptural utility” or “sculptural usables”.

Sofa party

Myran’s showroom is our second home, so technically speaking our parties are house parties. We barely need an excuse to invite friends over for a soiree, and the “Lounging with Norwegians” event was more than reason enough. Shoutout to Metaxa, Manousakis Winery and Dathenes for supplying all the liquid joy.

Yiannis
How do you feel when you travel far from home, you go to a place and you see a product of yours?

Torbjørn
This is so great, because if Angeliki and Martin hadn’t made this possible with the exhibition, we wouldn’t have been here, you know. So thank you! If you go to the other room, there’s a big poster, which is like a lineup of all the work we did together with Muuto for 18 years. It’s been really great to do that wall piece, because it’s been a walk down memory lane. And then we had a very nice dinner yesterday, and I was talking to people who have a personal relationship with some of the Muuto designs we did 15 years ago. This is what design is all about.

Images: Alexandra Papoutsi
All designs by Anderssen & Voll for Muuto, Nedre Foss and Røros Tweed