All those lovely design and interiors magazines sitting on the coffee table – don’t you sometimes wish you could step inside the pages, have a wander around and really engage with what you’re seeing in a three-dimensional way? Well now you can. No, this is not a cruel joke, you really can. It helps if you like the Scandinavian aesthetic and happen to be in downtown Los Angeles, as that’s where Austere has opened its doors to a world of product design from northern Europe, curated by Austere and its founder Fredrik Carlström.
Austere is a multi-storey, 4,800ft² showroom, events and retail concept store in the same ‘hood as We Heart favourites Acne and Ace Hotels. It’s a 1927 car park that has been converted by Stockholm agency Form Us With Love, so the Volvo parked on the ground floor level should feel right at home. The car is just one of 100 items curated by Fredrik, who found himself missing Scandinavian design after 15 years living in the States, and decided to gather together some of the best examples and share his passion with the folks of L.A.
