John Astbury

John Astbury’s journey into the design world is a nuanced tapes­try woven with diverse influ­ences. Initially study­ing anthro­pol­ogy and soci­ol­ogy in his native England, he later relo­cated to Sweden to delve into product design at Konst­fack, the coun­try’s preem­i­nent arts, crafts, and design univer­sity. His early expo­sure to boat build­ing sparked a deep appre­ci­a­tion for crafts­man­ship, while his musical pursuits ignited a passion for infus­ing emotion into design.

Estab­lish­ing his epony­mous design studio in Stock­holm, Astbury chan­nels these passions into a unique creative process. At the heart of his approach lies a commit­ment to re-exam­in­ing the funda­men­tal elements of arche­types, seeking inno­v­a­tive expres­sions and purpose­ful forms that push design into new realms.

Astbury’s notable contri­bu­tions include the Column shelv­ing series for &Tradition, where he rein­ter­prets archi­tec­tural accents from Clas­si­cal, Gothic, and Geor­gian styles, such as pillars, corbels, and dentils. Focused on the essence of support­ive struc­tures, the designs within the series are marked by simplic­ity with a poetic touch. Astbury’s work is char­ac­ter­ized by an endeavor to elevate util­i­tar­ian objects, playing with propor­tions, surface textures, and materials.