America and Norway are surprisingly similar when it comes to design. Both countries have far more skilled young talents than they do manufacturers, and, like American designers — who have shifted in the past 10 years away from a reliance on brands and more towards self-initiated production and distribution — Norwegian designers are also beginning to embrace their independence.

To highlight their shared entrepreneurship, Sight Unseen’s editors created a cross-cultural exchange called Norway x New York, pairing American studios with Norwegian studios to spend six months working together long-distance on objects that utilize an American workshop for fabrication and can be independently manufactured for future sales.