Interior and furniture designer who delves into the details of production.
Mårten Cyrén is an interior and furniture designer who often manages to make the impossible possible when it comes to casting. Taking the main function of the object as a starting point, he ensures that lines and proportions are on point, while remaining open to the new and unexpected.
Mårten was born in Uppsala in 1958, but grew up in Orrefors in Småland where his father worked at the glassworks. He thus had Orrefors Glasbruk as his playground and his interest in glass and the glass industry has never left him.
After studying interior architecture and furniture design, Mårten worked as a consultant at several architectural firms, before setting up his own practice. His collaboration with Byarums Bruk has been ongoing since 2001.
“It’s about creating designs that make the most of Byarums Bruk’s unique casting technique”
To bring a degree of freedom to his work in cast aluminium, Mårten is keen to understand the technical and practical details of the production process. “With that knowledge, I can sketch and think about the shape and look of a product idea and decide for myself what might be possible and appropriate,” he says.
He is also no stranger to challenging what is considered feasible, drawing on Byarum’s collective expertise. By pushing new ideas, he hopes to help drive the company’s development, in terms of both product range and technology.
“It’s about creating designs that make the most of Byarums Bruk’s unique casting technique. I sort my thoughts carefully, discarding objects that can be made in steel tubing or sheet metal and prioritising ideas where I know the casting technique comes out on top,” Mårten explains. The Blom planters are a good example of this, with their double-curved lines, the top rim and the legs at ground level. The whole thing is cast in one go and welded together with chamfered joints. The result is a fantastic representation of Byarums Bruk and Mårten Cyrén as a designer.
