Swedish interior architect Maja Bernvill believes above all in creating memorable spaces. She has envisioned thought-provoking, future-facing retail, hospitality, residential, and office environments for brands around the world, including ON, Acne Studios, and Belstaff, that succeed in being sleek, sensual, and conceptually novel. For example, the “Magic Wall” for ON stores in multiple cities is a steel shelving system that houses the entire shoe inventory in hidden drawers, enabling quick, interactive try-ons of the latest running shoes.
Bernvill is currently the design mind behind all of AHLEM’s new retail outposts, beginning with the atelier in Paris, influenced by abstract Isamu Noguchi drawings and the sculptures of Constantin Brâncuși, and extending to brand-new stores in Los Angeles and New York’s Meatpacking District. Her controlled palettes and sensitivity to materials such as concrete, wood, rock, and mirror, along with her balance of purpose and play, propose new experiences in striking physical surroundings. Her work tells stories as much as it provides structure.
Bernvill was previously Chief Creative Officer at the collective design firm Specific General. Two years ago, she embarked on her own practice. She sees her work as an architect as inherently collaborative: “I’m always in a dialogue with someone else. I’m not in focus in the same way as an artist is.” Beyond her professional commitments, Bernvill has plenty to do at home: a landmark house dating to 1810, set in the Swedish countryside, that serves as her headquarters, sanctuary, and ever-evolving personal project. She lives with her husband, two dogs, and a vast library of books and material samples that inspire her daily.
How did you get started as an artist?
My grandparents had a flower shop where I spent quite a lot of time as a kid. That was the first place I started to understand composition. There was a dialogue about composition and a dialogue about beauty. We didn’t have that much money. I couldn’t have my own TV set, but I could choose the color of my wallpaper. So I was starting to understand the value of choosing one color over another. Architecture was a way for me to get the opportunity to explore, get curious, and learn new things. Every time you have a new client, a new space, a new city, it’s always a newness.
In what environment do you feel most inspired?
When I’m travelling. Travelling is the most important source of inspiration. When my husband and I travel, we always go to art museums and see architecture. It’s also the everyday mundane things. When you travel, you see them in a new light.
During the pandemic, we moved from Stockholm to a huge old house in the countryside. That means I work and live in the same space, and I’m starting now to move around to different rooms. I have a library with all my material samples, but now I’m in a period where I’m working in my dining room. Variation is very important.
What rituals or routines do you practice?
I struggle to keep routines. I want days to be different. But I need to have my coffee in the morning, and my dogs make sure my day starts at the same time every day. I can be slow to get into the flow, but then when I am in the flow, I have a problem stopping. But as an architect, I have deadlines, which helps.
In the fall, I like to go into the forest and pick mushrooms. It’s a very ancient or fundamental human way of searching. You’re looking for the shape of the mushrooms against the moss of the forest floor. When you come home in the evening after many hours, and you close your eyes, you’ll see mushrooms. It’s amazing. When you’ve been working so intensely with your eyes, your brain is somehow stuck in the image.
What material is essential to your process?
I need all of my images that I’ve been collecting over time. One could say I have two libraries: all the images, both in books and digital, and then my material library of wood, stone, and all those kinds of samples. I’m constantly collecting images wherever I find them. When I have a new project, I have a map of the needs for that project imprinted in my mind. Then I’m kind of flooding myself with all these images, and I’m searching for patterns. That input/output flow of images is really the start of every process.
Who or what has had the biggest influence on your work?
I have one of those door-openers in my career, and that is Andreas Bozarth Fornell. We met when I had just finished school. He gave me employment and put me in a position where I had the opportunity to work with clients with the highest ambition, who understood the segment of architecture I wanted to get into. Two years ago, he left the field of architecture, and I started my own business. He gave that space, somehow, to me. Through him, I met Ahlem.
Do you have a favorite space?
For my 40th birthday, my husband and I travelled to Marfa to see Donald Judd’s work there. He moved there to find the perfect place for him and his art. His thinking about the whole landscape and how everything ties together is so architectural. The whole town is the scene for his work. It’s so much more than just pieces of art. The first space we visited was his home. When you open the gates, it’s so minimal, but you’re still going into a completely different world. We had a morning session to ourselves in the hangars with his aluminum pieces, which were so beautiful. The art that moves me most also has the function of being a meditation partner.
What do you hope people see in your work?
The most important thing is that it’s something they remember, so it’s not just one more thing they’ve already seen. It doesn’t have to scream, it doesn’t have to be loud, but it should be an experience in a different way.
What are you excited to create next?
There’s a saying: “The shoemaker’s children go barefoot.” I look forward to finishing more of the project that is my own home. It’s a landmark building from 1810 with a super-rich and long history. It’s of significance for this town, which is a UNESCO heritage site. We are doing a lot of careful renovation using traditional methods and traditional craft. It’s a lot of fun to learn more, but that also means it’s quite slow. Last week we just finished the chimneys [laughs]. In some of the rooms, there are beautiful painted wallpapers from 1850. One room has a panoramic view of Venice, and another room has Ceres, the goddess of agriculture.
What album do you listen to on repeat?
Rosalía’s new album LUX. I love it. My friend said she thinks it’s an album for people who really love music. That’s completely correct. There is another level to it that makes it so interesting in the time we’re living in now. In interviews she’s done, she talks about getting her inspiration from medieval European strong women like Hildegard of Bingen. Who would think of that as a reference for pop music? And that she actually pulls off taking inspiration from opera. I think she’s maybe the first one to do that. That’s the amount of work you have to put in to do something original.
When’s the last time you cried?
Random TV. It could be the crappiest thing. If someone is crying, then I’m crying too.
What sound do you love most?
My dogs crunching on cucumber.
Do you have any vices?
The phone. Can I just get of rid of it?
Favorite scent?
The scent of flower shops, that mix of all the flowers and plants. It’s a very specific scent, and it’s also the moisture. That just transports me back to my childhood.
Where do you find sanctuary?
The act of collecting is so fundamental. I have dogs, and there is a law in Sweden that if you have dogs or cats, you have to provide them with the opportunity to simulate hunting. If it’s so important for these animals, then it should also be for us. When I’m in the forest picking mushrooms, I feel this state of concentrated calm, like a really good type of meditation.
Photographs by Mats Liliequist