Caroline Olsson’s Turn light, inspired by artisan craft in her native Norway.

We’ve often featured Scandinavian creativity on EcoSalon, but it’s usually Danish or Swedish. Now the Norwegians are claiming their portion of the design smörgåsbord.

At this year’s London Design Festival, a whole separate space was dedicated to designers from Norway. One of these was Caroline Olsson, whose pieces are beautiful, simple and functional; modern, but referencing tradition.

Her latest piece, Turn, is a lamp with a screw to switch on and off the light, adjusting the brightness by turning the handle. This twisting dimmer looks like an old-fashioned vice, and Olsson says she was inspired by workbenches used in wood workshops in her native country. Turn is made from untreated birch and hand-blown glass, which gives it a natural, solid feel.

Curious, which won the Blueprint Award for best new product at last year’s London design fair, is a two-in-one light which can be used either as a retractable reading light, or a mood-creating table lamp. When closed inside its box, the shade of the lamp works as the box’s cover, with a soft glow emanating from inside. Olsson got the idea from old wooden pencil boxes.

These are sneak previews of tomorrow’s products: Olsson is looking for a company to manufacture her lights. But with the buzz caused at London’s design show, for a second year in a row, we don’t think we’ll have to wait too long to have them in our houses.

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