Designer In Residence – Sophia Lithell

This month, the second guest of Designer in Residence program Sophia Lithell, arrived to Nova Iskra, where she will work and get acquainted with the local design scene and culture over the course of one month. All costs of the stay, as well as stipendium, workspace and professional support of the host organization are provided by the program, kindly supported by the Swedish Institute and realized in collaboration with several partners from Sweden.

Sophia Lithell born in 1983, is a designer/maker based in Malmö working locally with self-produced objects and furniture in small series and limited editions. She has a BFA from Beckmans College of Design and a MFA in Interior Architecture and Furniture Design from Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts & Design in Stockholm. In 2011 she moved to Malmö and worked as an intern at Studio David Thulstrup and the furniture company GUBI in Copenhagen. Since April 2014, she is working fulltime with her own company and has an office/showroom in Malmö.

In her work, Sophia aims to achieve authenticity and honesty in the product, the appearance and the materials. With this idea in the back of her mind, she became increasingly fascinated by crafts and trades. And to this day this plays a very important role in all her designs. Sophia has a clear message that she wants to convey through using old, often Swedish customs and trades in a new context.

Sophia Lithell is the second of three visiting guests from Sweden at Nova Iskra. After her stay, Nova Iskra will welcome Jenny Nordberg throughout December. Pontus Johansoon was our guest in October this year.

Create In Residence is a platform through which the residency format itself is placed in a different context by developing a new model of cooperation that can be applied in other creative fields and geographic areas. Designer In Residence program is part of the pilot project of this platform realized in 2014