In Downtown Los Angeles, Fredrik Carlström has curated a well-rounded collection of Scandinavian design at his concept shop Austere. "I imagined the physical space like if a lifestyle magazine with all my favorite things came to life," he says.
How did you come to be involved with design?
My first job out of high school was working at an ad agency. I answered phones and made coffee but around me they were doing more interesting things. One of those things was re-branding Iittala. This company, with its amazing design heritage, was somehow no longer relevant to younger consumers and the job of the agency was to change that. The way this was done was by building on the company's rich design history with new pieces—a method very much in keeping with the design process itself. This is when I first came in to contact with work by designers like Thomas Sandell, Thomas Eriksson, Konstantin Grcic, Ross Lovegrove, Marc Newson, and Jasper Morrison and photographers like Björn Keller, who plopped a goldfish into an Aalto vase for one of the advertisements.
I eventually stopped answering phones, became a copywriter, a creative director and even ran a few agencies, but the belief that design can transform a company has stayed with me, so to me Austere is like coming full circle.
Louis Poulsen's PH Artichoke Lamp hangs above a platform decked out with Quistgaard candlesticks and an ice bucket, Aalto stools, and a wine rack by Nissen Langaa Denmark. The pink stool by Marie-Louise Hellgren is made from upcycled textile waste from airbag production.
Why did you pick Downtown L.A. for Austere’s location?
I was planning to open the first Austere in New York until I met with Volvo who asked if I would consider doing LA first. After speaking to Mikael Schiller (Chairman of Acne Studios) who was just opening their Easter Columbia location, I visited downtown and fell in love. I imagine it's like what SoHo was 20 years ago and we are so proud to be part of "the Broadway A's" (Ace, Acne, Aesop, A.P.C. and Austere). The proximity to so many of LA's architecture and design firms doesn't hurt either.
What’s the significance of she shop’s name?
For many, Scandinavian design is pale wood and pared-down interiors. In reality, Scandinavian homes are warm, relaxed and welcoming, filled with furniture and objects that are practical, functional and beautiful. Out of Austerity comes great design—I don't think it's a coincidence that some of the most amazing lighting designs comes from a place that's dark for large parts of the year.
A wooden mold for an Aalto vase.
Tell us about the mix of classic and contemporary design, fashion and automotive, plus grooming services under one roof.
I imagined the physical space like if a lifestyle magazine with all my favorite things came to life. So that you could walk into it, and touch the stuff and sit in the chairs and try the clothes and eat the food. My wife commented the morning after our opening: "You say it's a magazine you can walk into, but what it really is, is a a piece of your brain that you can walk into." I think she has a point. I like how new and classic help each other. You might come for one thing and stay for another. When it comes to Austere, I believe in the idea that rising tides lift all boats.
How did you select the pieces for the shop? What’s the most significant/personally meaningful item to you?
Very undemocratically I chose them and everything is there for a reason. They all have different meanings; the Aalto vase was the first decorative designer piece I bought myself; the Lego set I played with as a child; I had Arne Jacobsen's "Seven Chair" in my first apartment; I wrote copy for the Teema dinner plates. What they have in common is that I think they are all exceptional pieces of design.
Books and vintage magazines atop a Poul Kjærholm coffee table by Fritz Hansen. The piece in the background is a PK80 daybed.
Can you tell us a bit about the shop’s architecture? What was the space like when you found it? What drew you to it? How did you recast it for Austere?
The building was constructed in 1927 (the same year as the Universal Picture building and new home to the Ace hotel and the same year Volvo was founded) as the May Company Parking Structure—a garage for the neighboring May Department Store. The architects were called Curlett and Beelman.
Most recently it had been a car showroom and a locksmith but it had sat empty for a long time when we took it over and it looked like a set from "Silence of the Lambs." But it had great bones and I took one look and fell in love.
We did no structural changes to the space. I got the help of Swedish design studio Form Us With Love, to design the tables and pods we display objects on, with the fabrication being done by Guild Los Angeles. Guild also co-designed (with me) and fabricated the railing and a bunch of other stuff. The construction firm is called J-R Builders and also built the Acne Studios flagship in the Eastern Columbia building and is currently constructing Kinfolk restaurant in the basement of the Eastern.
Excerpts from the journal artist Brian Rea wrote in while he was traveling in Sweden adorn the storefront's glass.
Scandinavian design, food, music, and culture is having a moment right now in the United States. What do you think of its popularity now? Why do you think that it’s resonating so much?
I have been reading about Ellen Key lately. She was a Swedish philosopher, feminist, critic, and a founding voice of what has become known as “Scandinavian design.” She wrote a text in 1899 entitled “Beauty in the Home” that was translated and re-published by MoMA in 2008. Being alive—let alone being a woman—in Sweden in 1899 could not have been easy and she basically argued design could be a means for cultural and social change. She made the case for fewer, better things at home: objects that are functional, do what they are supposed to and look beautiful. I think those ideas are very relevant today and is one of the reason we are seeing so many people take an interest in things from Scandinavia.
Aëdele VK1 Classic Edition headphones at Austere, Los Angeles.
What are your favorite places in Downtown L.A. to visit?
The Wooden Spoon is an amazing Brazilian restaurant where I eat almost every day. Terroni is a great Italian in a huge space that used to be a bank. I get my coffee from
Il Caffe. A drink at the Ace hotel roof is nice. Dinner at Alma is to die for. The Acne store is amazing and so is the Aesop store.
Austere
Founder: Fredrik Carlström
Opening Date: May 2014
Address: 912 South Hill Street, Los Angeles, California, 90015
Phone: 323-977-9280
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