Kvadrat

Why it is renowned

Kvadrat textiles have been used in buildings across the world, among them the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the Guggenheim in Bilbao, 30 St Mary Axe in London and the Oslo Opera House.¹ The house has worked with Raf Simons, Olafur Eliasson, Hella Jongerius, Peter Saville and Tord Boontje, and with museums such as the Palais de Tokyo, the Whitechapel Gallery and the Serpentine Gallery.¹ In 2017 Dezeen, showing its Wooltex mill in Yorkshire, described Kvadrat as best known for its work with designers such as Raf Simons, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec and Doshi Levien.² It sells to architects, designers and private buyers across Europe and beyond.³

The story

Poul Byriel and Erling Rasmussen founded Kvadrat, Danish for square, in Ebeltoft in 1968.¹⁴ They worked from the start with designers such as Nanna Ditzel, Finn Sködt, Nina Koppel and Gunnar Aagaard Andersen; Ditzel's Hallingdal became one of its classic textiles.¹ In 1986 the Danish Museum of Art and Design marked twenty years of Kvadrat textiles with an exhibition.¹ In the 1990s the founders' children took over, with Anders Byriel as chief executive.¹ The company keeps its headquarters in Ebeltoft.⁵ It owns weaving mills in England, Norway and the Netherlands.⁴ The house also makes acoustic panels, and its Really brand turns discarded textiles into boards.¹

What to know it by

• Hallingdal¹Nanna DitzelFurniture textile
• Really¹Boards made from discarded textiles