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Interview with Björn Dahlström |
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You have to wonder whether there is something extra in the water in Scandinavia. There seems to be an unnatural distribution of quality designers there and Björn Dahlström is no exception.
Over the years Björn has been involved in a wide range of projects which include toys for Playsam and Aqua Play, soldering equipment for Primus, tents for Fjällräven, tools for Atlas Copco, cookware for Iittala and furniture for Magis, Plank and David Design. When you take into account his original roots in graphic design and animation it makes sense that he has also worked with the likes of Marimekko and Kasthall. Björn’s work is highly awarded and if you could bottle his experience I don’t think production could keep up with demand. In the following interview Björn talks about working with Skeppshult and you can still sense his excitement on seeing one of his designs become reality for the first time. It’s been more than 10 years now since he designed the Z bike but it’s obviously still a vivid memory.
 The original Z
Q. Did you ever imagine a bike you designed would end up in Australia?
A. No, not really. I am thrilled to hear this.
Q. You designed the Z27 some time ago. Did the design just come to you or did it evolve over a few iterations?
A. There was quite an exciting design process regarding the Z. The original idea was to break up the shape that makes up the traditional bicycle frame into 2 triangles that meet at the centre of the bike and to see what this could do to the riding comfort and stability. To arrive at this took some time; all design processes have their ups and downs.
Q. For products such as bicycles do you tend to sketch then make a prototype, design purely in CAD or a combination of both?
A. The first part of the project was a typical CAD process. We took it as far as we could in the computers in the design office. This means you can get a very realistic visual input of how the project can look. I found that the design experiment gave a positive impact on the looks of the frame, the frame became quite open and in my mind very elegant.
Q. Once you had shown the Z to Skeppshult, did you end up tweaking the dimensions such as steering head angle, wheelbase and specification of steel etc with the help of Skeppshult?
A. I developed the idea together with Skeppshult over a period of one and half years. This gave me the opportunity to learn a lot from their experience and also get to know some really great people. Yes, you could say that the real process began with making the prototypes at the Skeppshult factory. We had a great collaboration and they do have a huge amount of experience that needed to find its way into the bike. We made several prototypes with different angles on the frame and also slightly different wheelbases. This was extremely helpful to finetune the personality of the bike. Also very interesting for me since this was my first bike project.
I will never forget the first prototype meeting we had at the factory. We had agreed on the general design and prepared the drawings for the first sets of two working prototypes with slightly different angles. I came down to Skeppshult on an early autumn day and I was naturally very excited to see what they had done. They took me walking through the factory and out to the back yard. There in the yellow sun light was the two prototypes casting long autumn shadows. I can say they were far beyond the usual mock up finish that I am used to. The prototypes were so beautiful. Now after learning to know the people at Skeppshult I can say this was a prenotion of their high standards and sense of quality.
Q. After the Z you designed the Soft. Was it the curvaceous top tube which was the seed for the soft design?
A. We worked a lot to give this bike a balanced and clean “Scandinavian” look. It was important to reach an uncomplicated and harmonious flow to the frame. Therefore the two tubes follow each other in parallel.  Soft
Q. Your 3rd model has just been released, the V bike which we will talk about later, do you think you have any more bicycle designs up your sleeve?
A. At the moment we will focus on the V-bike. It has this idea of connecting different transportation accessories to its basic frame. I think we will develop this idea. Then we will see. I will gladly keep on working with the guys at Skeppshult.  The new V Bike
Q. Have you ever had the pleasurable coincidence of seeing a Z bike ride by you while you were walking in the street or driving your car?
A. Yes, it happens from time to time. Just recently I spotted one from my car in the centre of Stockholm. It always makes me excited; I had to look quick though so as not to loose concentration on my driving.
Q. Thanks for your time and maybe we will see you down under some time?
A. My pleasure, I hope that I will have the opportunity to visit Australia, it would be really exciting. |
