June, 2022

Pin sofa - The Pin family has expanded

The Pin sofa must be part of a family, a context. Therefore, it was not possible to start working on the sofa even though the idea or thought of it has been with the designer Nirvan Richter since the 90s. The first sketches appear in his notebooks already in the early 2000s. Mostly as a way to put the ideas on paper to remember, because the time was not ripe then. Only now, when both the Pin chair and Pin armchair are in place, was the furniture family ready for a kitchen sofa. The Pin family has finally expanded with a well-crafted and long-awaited Pin sofa. A space-creating piece of furniture that invites to long sittings and invaluable time together.

[Malmö, june 2022] In designer Nirvan Richter's office, located directly adjacent to Norrgavel's prototype workshop, the bookshelf is laden with books and folders. Everything is arranged in the same neat and harmonious order that prevails throughout the rest of the room. A folder containing newspaper clippings about various pin furniture over the years lies open on the desk in front of Nirvan. When asked about the history behind the Pin sofa, he is silent for a moment. It's as if he turns his focus inward, letting his thoughts wander back in time with a concentrated look. But then the smile comes, and the words begin to flow.

–The Pin sofa has long been on my wish list. One thing is the vision of a seating experience combined with a certain expression in the furniture, but the form is a completely different process. And the kitchen sofa must fit into its context, which made it difficult to start with the sofa earlier. Instead, we had to start with the foundation, which is the Pin chair in this case. It went into production as early as 2010. In principle, we could have made a sofa right after the Pin chair, but since I also longed for an armchair, we had to make the Pin armchair first. And it joined the pin family last year, in 2021.

“The kitchen sofa must fit into its context, which made it difficult to start with the sofa earlier.”

The idea behind it

A pin sofa often creates a strong sense of space; the eye is drawn to it, and the room seems to center around it in a beautiful way. At a table, it enhances the feeling of togetherness. That's why the Pin sofa has long been on my wish list. Its design is inspired by pin sofas from the mid-1900s, but the dimensions are more generous to provide better comfort for up to three people. The final form was determined by the Pin armchair. Various details have been adjusted to increase stability without sacrificing elegance, and the deeper seat allows for loose back cushions. My early visions exuded the atmosphere of the 20th century, with cushions in casually changeable printed or striped cotton fabrics. Perhaps today, one prefers solid-colored, beautifully coordinated linen covers.

Nirvan Richter
The designer and founder of Norrgavel.

The Pin chair has its well-worked-out dimensions, and with that as a starting point, it was a relatively straightforward process to create the Pin armchair, with slightly more generous measurements. The challenge primarily lay in the manufacturing of the almost perpendicular bend where the last back pin transitions into an armrest. To achieve maximum strength and avoid a visible joint, it became a laminated construction. On the Pin sofa, you can see exactly the same solution where the armrest seamlessly merges with the sofa's form.

– If the Pin sofa had been made as expected, it would have been more similar to the Pin armchair, but instead, I went back to the vision that was clear even in the early sketches. I wanted there to be room for loose feather cushions in the back, which wouldn't fit in the Pin armchair. Therefore, the depth of the Pin sofa is unusually large compared to traditional pin sofas from the 1950s. They work well as kitchen sofas but feel too narrow, so we made the Pin sofa a bit more generous. It's meant to be a sofa for long meals, says Nirvan.

“It's meant to be a sofa for long meals.”

The kitchen sofa is a piece of furniture that often evokes warm and positive associations; childhood memories of the cozy kitchen sofa at grandparents' homes blend with images of a traditional kitchen sofa with storage drawers underneath. The kitchen sofa is a piece of furniture that invites socializing and draws attention. The dynamics of the room change with a kitchen sofa at the dining table, creating a different kind of togetherness around a table when a sofa is included in the furnishings. Moreover, the kitchen sofa has a strongly space-defining function. A lively and inviting atmosphere is created in the room when you mix the Pin chair, Pin armchair, and Pin sofa around a table.

“The kitchen sofa has a strongly space-defining function.”

– Only chairs around a table in the middle can certainly be beautiful, but then it's the table that takes center stage with a lamp above. The room revolves around the table. It becomes a completely different spatial experience with a Pin sofa replacing two chairs. With the kitchen sofa, new dynamics are created as the main focus shifts from the table to the Pin sofa, and other seating furniture relates to the sofa. A direction is established in the room, drawing the gaze there. One can see parallels to the space-defining elements used in higher social environments for centuries, but in Norrgavel's case, it's reinterpreted in a casual manner that's easy to relate to, says Nirvan.

“With the kitchen sofa, new dynamics are created as the main focus shifts from the table to the Pin sofa, and other seating furniture relates to the sofa.”

By complementing the Pin sofa with loose feather cushions, for example, with cushion covers in solid linen fabric or cotton fabric with printed block stripes, it's easy to change the character of the sofa and increase comfort. In addition to the dining room, kitchen, or veranda, the Pin sofa also fits very well in the conservatory. The Pin furniture is crafted in a traditional way and consists only of solid wood and adhesives - not a single screw is used.

– Many people perceive pin furniture somewhat dismissively, but I think it's exactly the opposite. It's like in architectural culture, where the house is often at its most beautiful before it's clad, when you can still see the structure itself. On a Pin sofa, the construction is always visible. The fact that you can create so much experience with these pin furniture pieces, I find it magical, says Nirvan.

“The fact that you can create so much experience with these pin furniture pieces, I find it magical."

But what memories and associations does the kitchen sofa evoke in the designer Nirvan Richter? And what does the Pin sofa mean to him?

– I remember my father's parents' home in Dalarna - there was always a kitchen sofa in those homes. At my grandparents' house, the kitchen sofa stood by the kitchen table, with a window behind it filled with geraniums in lovely clay pots. It's a forgiving piece of furniture. Often, there was a soft seat on it, and it was easy to lie down for a while and rest after lunch. The Pin sofa is actually a bit like a Lounge chair because even though it's simple, the Pin sofa is like a throne or a little nest. If there's a throne, you crawl up there. You kind of own the room when you sit in that type of furniture - then you're automatically at the center of the room.

“You kind of own the room when you sit in that type of furniture - then you're automatically at the center of the room.”

The Pin sofa is available in solid birch or oak and with several different finishes - soap, oil, white oil, brown oil, lacquer, or tempera. The Pin sofa is especially beautiful when it's together with the rest of the pin family - combine it with the Pin armchair, Pin chair around the table, or create a common thread in the interior design with the Pin sofa in the kitchen and Pin table and Pin stool round or straight in the adjacent room.