Iceland's Haf Design House

Photography by Sarah Crumb

A ring sprouting moss, edible paper chips (zero calories!), and a hotel in which each floor represents one or two different weeks of the year are just some of the profound, and sometimes profoundly witty, projects that define the work of the Icelandic design house Haf.

Co-run by Hafsteinn Júlíusson and Karitas Sveinsdóttir, Haf specializes in environmental concepts rooted in a love of nature, like their earthy recycled packaging for Icelandair’s meal service. Hot meals, for example, are served in boxes labeled KVIKA, meaning “molten lava” in Icelandic.

“We wanted to introduce Icelandic nature to the passengers, and we looked at is as the first step into the country,” says Júlíusson. Even that handy airplane standby, the sick bag, received a Haf-style makeover. Named Loftslag, after the Icelandic word for “climate” (because who doesn’t long for a deep breath of fresh air 40,000 feet above the Atlantic?), it invites passengers reading the small print to “feel free to keep this bag and add it to your collection of aeronautical memorabilia.”

Which all depends on what you’ve put in it.