Press Release – 7 February 2023
VESTRE PRESENTS DANIEL RYBAKKEN’S
YPSILON BENCH
Durable, sustainable, and well-designed benches for urban environments are one of Vestre’s distinguishing features. This spring, the Norwegian design brand launches the architecturally magnificent Ypsilon bench, designed by Daniel Rybakken.
Daniel Rybakken is one of Norway’s most celebrated and award-winning contemporary designers. From his studio in Gothenburg, Sweden, he creates designs and interiors, installations and prototypes for clients from all over the world. His list of prestigious awards and prizes is long. Despite his nationality, he had never before collaborated with a Norwegian producer. It was no coincidence that his first Norwegian collaboration was with Vestre.
”I created the design for this bench back in 2005 and have often thought about it over the years. Just before the summer, I contacted Vestre, and they immediately liked the concept. Then it was a quick route to take it into production”, says Daniel Rybakken, and adds that the shape of the bench has not changed since his very first design prototype.
Daniel Rybakken had the form and concept of Ypsilon clear to him from the start. A bench with a simple yet very stable design, which does not feel visually large, while offering a high level of comfort. Ypsilon has a stripped-down design, but at the same time, the bench is instantly recognizable with its angled, linear solid glulam beams, which rest on laser-cut and bent sheets of galvanized steel. The angled beams have several functional advantages: they provide a very comfortable seat, while the slope means that water quickly runs off the bench, instead of accumulating on it. The use of glulam beams also makes very long standard lengths possible.
”The contrasts between the materials are also interesting, both between the steel and the glulam and in the space between the beams of the seat. The bench is also proof of how much you can do with steel. Nothing in the main element of the base is welded, instead, the steel evokes folded paper. It highlights the quality of both steel and wood. I like form-wise innovation where you can work with traditional materials and still create something new”, says Rybakken.
At the same time, the simple and clear concept also requires a different approach to the production process. Daniel Rybakken says it was rather similar to the production of indoor furniture, where no details were left to chance. The precision in the manufacturing also means that Ypsilon fits just as well on a beautiful stone or marble floor indoors as in parks, squares, and other outdoor environments.
Ypsilon is available in a straight and a round version and can be equipped with both armrests and backrests, as well as a flexible metal table top. The seat is available in either impregnated pine or ash. All Vestre products are manufactured in hot-dip galvanized Swedish steel, Nordic wood from sustainable forestry and are available in 200 RAL colors and have a lifetime guarantee against rust.
Product information Ypsilon Bench/Sofa
Design: Daniel Rybakken
Colour: Green
Material: Hot-dip galvanized Swedish steel. Impregnated pine or ash.
Dimensions: H: 47/71 cm D: 30/44 cm L: 244 cm
Price: From 1,040 EUR
Product information Ypsilon Bench Circle
Design: Daniel Rybakken
Colour: Green
Material: Hot-dip galvanized Swedish steel. Impregnated pine or ash.
Dimensions: Inner circle: 280 cm,
Outer circle: 350 cm
Price: On request
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About Daniel Rybakken
Daniel Rybakken was born in 1984 and grew up in Oslo, Norway. He studied design at the Oslo School of Architecture and the School of Arts & Crafts in Gothenburg, Sweden. After graduating with a Master of Fine Arts in 2008, he opened his own design studio in both Oslo and Gothenburg.
Rybakken has received numerous awards, including Bo Bedre Design Award: Furniture of the Year, 2021, Bo Bedre Design Award: Innovation of the Year, 2019, Archiproducts Design Award, 2018. NYC x DESIGN Award, 2018, Wallpaper* Design Award for 124 ° Mirror, 2018, and The Torsten and Wanja Söderberg Prize 2017.
Read more at danielrybakken.com
About Vestre
Vestre is one of Scandinavia’s leading producers of urban furniture and has created social, sustainable meeting places for millions of people for over 70 years. Sustainability, locally produced materials, and the least possible environmental impact are pivotal to the company’s furniture production. Vestre is a Norwegian family business, the products are manufactured in Norway and Sweden, and are available in almost 200 different colours with a lifetime anti-rust warranty.
The factory in Torsby in Värmland, Sweden was designed by architectural firm Snøhetta, which is behind many high-profile international projects, including the library in Alexandria, the 9/11 Memorial Center in New York, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and Oslo Opera House. The firm also designed “The Peace Bench”, which Vestre and Hydro created in 2019 on behalf of the Nobel Peace Center. Vestre has been voted “Brand Builder of the Year” by the Federation of Norwegian Industries and cited as the “Best for outdoor furniture” by the prestigious design and lifestyle magazine Monocle, which has readers worldwide. In 2019, the company was voted “Entrepreneur of the Year” at the Norwegian EY gala. In January 2020, Vestre was awarded their 16th DOGA award by Design and Architecture Norway. The company was given the award for its partnership with Front in the creation of Folk. In February 2020, Vestre was awarded “Best Stand” at the Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair in Stockholm for its sustainable stand, developed together with Note Design Studio.
The opening of Vestre´s new factory The Plus Colour and Wood Factory in Magnor Norway took place in June 2022. The factory, which has been designed by the leading architect firm Bjarke Ingels Group, is the most environmentally friendly furniture factory in the world and is also the largest investment in the Norwegian furniture industry for decades.
Read more at vestre.com and theplus.no