Artär av August_Håkansson_Orsvall
Weland´s design competition is concluded, the winning spiral staircase will be presented Nordbygg
2023-12-13
The winner of Weland’s great design competition for architectural students has been chosen. His name is August Håkansson Orsvall, and the contribution called ‘Artery’ can be seen at Nordbygg during April 23-26, 2024.
Weland, from the Småland region of Sweden, produces and delivers staircases and ramps and this year for the first time arranges a design competition for architectural students. The competition is carried out in collaboration with Sveriges Arkitekter (Swedish Architects) and has received 28 impressive contributions from creative students all over the country. The architectural student August Håkansson Orsvall is the happy winner.
Prototype will be erected
The competitors were competing for prize money, but the greatest win was the opportunity to have the contribution erected during Nordbygg 2024. The prototype will therefore be viewed by large parts of Sweden’s construction and property people.
– Orsvalls winning spiral staircase is characterised by impressive minimalism and consistent design. Nothing was superfluous – each element was as important as the next, says Mattias Andersson, Head of Marketing at Weland on the winning contribution.
The winning staircase will be revealed with pomp and grandeur in Weland AB’s stand. It is expected to be a catalyst for discussion on how the design concept can form the future of staircases.
Trends among the competition contributions
Considering that sustainability is a watchword for the construction industry, the jury was surprised that there were so few contributions that prioritised circularity.
– Sure, we saw some greenery among the contributions, but we had expected that even more of the next generation of architects would highlight sustainability, for instance through recycling in their ideas. What most impressed us, however, was their brilliant ideas in modular thinking, where design and function smoothly cooperated, often assuming a sculptural feel without losing functionality, says Mattias Andersson, Head of Marketing at Weland.
That Weland chose Nordbygg to draw attention to the winner is because it is the greatest meeting place for the construction and property industry in the Nordics, the ultimate platform to promote the innovative concepts and highlight the future development of the industry.
Weland and the winning spiral staircase can be seen in stand C15:47.