Serious about ceramics

Ikea designer Anna Efverlund says she was puzzled at first when she heard that her new ceramic tableware series had been named Allvarlig, the Swedish word for serious.

“But I quickly realised why,” she adds, glancing proudly at the table displaying the tableware during the recent launch at the Swedish ambassador’s residence in Bangkok.

“It reflects the serious ideology between Ikea and our partner, the Doi Tung Development Project of Mae Fah Luang Foundation under the Royal Patronage. Both our organisations share the same vision, one of promoting sustainability in everyday life in Thailand and the rest of the world.”

The new tableware series, produced at Doi Tung in Chiang Rai, is the result of the collaboration between the two organisations that has been in place since 2007 and started from a conversation between Lars Svensson, the project marketing manager of Ikea Thailand, and Khunying Puangroi Diskul Na Ayudhya, the executive director of Doi Tung Development. Efverlund has involved in the project from the beginning.

“What we’ve learn from Ikea and its ‘I way’ has taken us to another platform. Yet the collection remains small scale simply because our craftsmen and small factory at Doi Tung do not allow for large- scale production,” says Khunying Puangroi.

Efverlund says her inspiration comes from the Doi Tung Development Project’s history, its surroundings, as well as the traditional skills of Northern Thailand’s ethnic minorities.

“I’ve been in Thailand many times, and I like it very much,” she says. “I spent six months working here 18 years ago working on toy designs. My young son was with me then and he was so upset at leaving, he cried all the way back to Sweden.”

This month, Efverlund celebrates 32 years working with Ikea and while she has endless stories to tell, she is proudest of the company’s principles and philosophies.

“I’d like to make everyday life happier. That’s reflected in my designs, which are about fun, practicality and affordability. I am also very aware of sustainability,” she says.

Efverlund is the brains behind Smalland, the most popular place in Ikea with children, which is reigned over by another of her creations, Angna, a giant red furry heart with two hands and legs. “Children are honest. They can’t be happy without showing they are happy. If they like something, it’s written all over them.”

When Efverlund was introduced to Doi Tung, she brought with her the principle of Ikea’s manufacturing based design process under which the most is made of local knowledge, facilities and raw materials.

She was inspired by what she saw and learned and also passed on her knowledge to the project’s design team and management.

“When I went to the small factory. I realised immediately we could so something with ceramics and textiles. I visited a lot of ethnic minorities. I was looking at the plants, the coffee and the macadamia trees. I helped with the planting too. I was thinking about the poppy seed pods and also the colours of the natural surroundings. The collection is very good because we didn’t really have a sushi set and rice bowls at Ikea.”

The Allvarlig collection comes in three series: Black, Yellow and Dark Brown.
Yellow is inspired by the characteristics of the poppy seed pod. The brushed stripe running on the sides represents the traditional opium harvesting technique where small side incisions allow the latex to seep out from the side of the pod. It’s a particularly appropriate design because the Doi Tung Development Project was successful in eliminating opium cultivation in the heart of the notorious Golden Triangle.

The Black series has a soft organic look and is inspired by the fruits and seeds of northern Thailand’s hill flora.

Dark Brown has symmetric rectangular and square minimalistic shapes set off with the brush stroke like patterns that also can be found in the millennium old Thanaka face and bodypaint traditions.

Asked which Ikea products appeal to her the most, Efverlund says she loves all the corners. “Our homes all have stuff that’s been handed down through the generations. I think it’s good to mix this with newer furnishings. Ikea offers lots of practical solution. We think a lot about small space living, the price, of course, and we also try to make homes more beautiful with the ceramics we design.”