Emma Olbers Design

Emma Olbers Design is a design studio focusing on sustainable development in the interior and furniture industry. A research-based approach is applied throughout the design process — whether designing a chair or an interior, the same design principles apply, with material and circularity at their core. Form follows planetary boundaries.

For over 25 years, Olbers has worked as a designer, interior designer and sustainability strategist from her studio on Södermalm in Stockholm, developing furniture, products and interiors guided by a consistent approach: honest materials, considered production and design made to last — and then to circulate.

She grew up on a farm outside Gothenburg — a childhood rooted in land, season, growth and making. That closeness to and understanding of nature shapes how she works. Design, for her, is not a surface discipline. It is a way of thinking about cause and effect, about the systems that underpin what we make, the environments we inhabit and the future of our planet — our only home.

Sustainability is not a feature of her work. It is its premise. Materials should have a low carbon footprint, be recycled, recyclable, or of natural and compostable origin. Production should be considered and traceable. Objects should age well and, at the end of a long life, return to the earth without leaving harm behind. These are not aspirations but working parameters — present from the first sketch to the circulated product.

Her practice spans product design, furniture, interiors and creative direction. She has collaborated closely with a number of Scandinavian producers, among them Eldvarm, Skultuna, Asplund, Tre Sekel and Skaargarden. Interior projects include Ersta New Hospital and the Old Library at the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm.

Exhibitions: Material Dialogues (2025), 1kgCO2e - Now or Never (2023) Where does it come from, where does it go? (2016), Talking Pieces (2016), Om trä, möbler med tanke (2014), Home Sweet Home (2013), Ett, två, trä! (2013), Stockholm Wood (2012).

Educations: World Eco, Stockholm Resilience Centre (2019), Sustainable Fashion Academy (2008), Beckmans Design School, Product Design (1997-1999), Nyckelviksskolan (1996).