Gunnar Cyrén, one of Sweden’s most renowned and foremost designers and silversmiths, originally designed and introduced the Popglasses during the birth of pop culture and the ”swinging sixties”.
— Their signature bold colours of the time were inspired by a visit to the Copenhagen aquarium, the exotic fishes, and their unexpected colour combinations. The time for something more radical felt right. They became a great success, strongly contributing to Gunnar receiving the Lunning Prize [then considered as ”the Nobel Prize of Scandinavian Design”, Ed’s note] in 1966, his sons, Mårten, Henrik, and Gustav Cyrén, tell.
The brothers now celebrate their late father’s legacy, relaunching the Popglasses under the new brand Studio Gunnar Cyrén.
— All three of us remembered the glasses from our childhood — they are part of our family. Having realized that, about a year ago, we started looking for a suitable manufacturer. We found Ulven Art Glass Studio, a small glassworks an hour north of Stockholm run by brothers Stefan and Mikael Erlandsson, both master blowers with over 30 years of experience from Glasriket [The Kingdom of Crystal] in the Småland region, that was interested. And from there it grew, the brothers tell, continuing,
— We already had all three original glasses at home, but as we didn’t want to reproduce an original, we kept the shape and dimensions of the glass but gave it brand new colour schemes. We decided to use traditional techniques and go for a glass that would be a bit of a collector’s series but, above all, a popping somewhat sixties-inspired splash of colour on the table.
12 colour variants will be released — three glasses per year for four years.
— We believe that a table set with a creative mix of the glasses truly will make a set dinner table colourful, happy, and full of ”pop”, the brothers conclude.
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