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Students of HDK Gothenburg, Sweden have created a wondeful array of objects for this year's fair under the theme "Homo-Luden" - or "Playing-Man". The collection aims to highlight play as a fundamental part of human life. Objects such as Tian Tang's "Come and Draw" table (pictured above) and Jenny Palmborg's "Underbordet" secret den table engaged the crowd tremendously - proving the logic of the theme.

Play, as a theme, can be quite subjective, so the students drew upon their own personal histories to inspire their objects - Yoonji-Kim, for example, using traditional "Bojagi" wrapping cloth from her home Korea in her stool/table (below).

See more of the students work after the jump.

"Catalyst" synthetic rubber shelf by Ji Young Seo offers a playful, less regimented way to store your books.

Clever way to hide your clutter with "Jack-in-the-Box" by Niclas Andersson. The crank turns to lower or raise a set of shelves hanging from ropes. Nice translation of fun into function.

Molle by Sara Roxana Melvinson is a night light that embodies a child-like imagination. Supposedly "Molle is afraid of the dark...he has a special lamp that light up and scares all the stupid monsters away."

The beautifully produced "Styrbord" is a concept that challenges the serious nature of our working environments by David Qvick.

Not taking herself too seriously, in true spirit of the stall, Jenny Palmborg kindly embarassed herself in front of the crowds by demostrating her design for us. Jenny attributes the inspiration for her design to the experience of loosing hearing in one ear at the age of six. With a need for still and quiet, Jenny would play alone only with her imagination - "in a fantasy world".