Product design

Much like his buildings, the products designed by Palmar Kristmundsson are highly context-driven with a natural material palette reflective of Icelandic history and nature. Over the course of his career, PK have designed more than twenty products. many of which have been adapted over the years to suit new environments and contexts. The first piece of furniture - aptly-named the PK Chair - was designed in 1991 from heavy galvanised steel and steel rods. Though made of unconventional materials not normally associated with comfortable seating, the PK Chair coaxed the warmth from cold steel, allowing it to communicate a refined, inviting ruggedness. The products that followed also took inspiration from the buildings and materials for which they were created; the door handle Berlin, for example, was created of glass-blasted raw aluminium for the Nordic embassy in Berlin. 

Many PK products have been refined to suit the context of each new project, such as the lamp Karís, which was named after a type of candy produced in Pálmar Kristmundsson's childhood hometown, Þingeyri. Karís was designed in 1993 of steel and wood, and was Later adapted to the residential project Brúnastaðir in 1996. The second version was simplified to reflect to BrUnastai5ir's clean tines, and was composed of pure anodized aluminium. Lamps and lighting have also become an integral element of PK's design. The fixtures Lúsifer and Gajin earned PK the prestigious FORM Icelandic Design Award for lighting design in 1993.