Thau & Kallio

Jakob Thau and Sami Kallio are fascinated by materials and methods. They share a deep affinity for wood and hand craftsmanship, with a firm focus on the components that make up any given design. Together they are revitalising the Nordic narrative by applying classic techniques in new expressions.

Finnish-born Sami Kallio grew up in Sweden where he was awarded a master’s degree in design from the Gothenburg School of Design and Crafts. Trained as a cabinetmaker, he fuses his in-depth understanding of wood and highly adept skills as an artisan with modern methods of manufacturing. In doing so, classic concepts from the past are reworked to a contemporary context.

Jakob Thau was born in Sweden and raised in Denmark. Also trained as a cabinetmaker, he received his master’s degree from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Design. Concentrating on the timeless, Thau draws on a treasure trove of traditional techniques, principally woodworking, exploring known and new materials in his quest to create easy-to-execute designs that everyone can relate to, live with and love.

One of the upshots of their design collaboration is Betty, a new chair imbued with an old soul. Named after Copenhagen’s Betty Nansen Theatre, originally built in 1857 and housed in a wooden pavilion, the chair thinks beyond the walls of the theatre and is the result of the duo’s fascination with the needs of any space to have comfortable seating, regardless of its purpose.