Participating designers
1. CHARLOTTE PERRIAND
(1903–1999) FRENCH ARCHITECT AND DESIGNER
”The extension of the art of dwelling is the art of living – living in harmony with man's deepest drives and with his adopted or fabricated environment."
Charlotte Perriand studied furniture design in Paris between 1920 and 1925.
At the very beginning of her professional career she was acclaimed by critics for her interior “Bar under the roof”, exhibited at the Salon d’Automne in Paris 1927, constructed entirely in nickel-plated copper and anodized aluminium.
The same year, at the age of twenty-four, she applied to work at Le Corbusier's studio. She was famously rejected with the reply "We don't embroider cushions here.” A month later, after Le Corbusier visited the Bar under the roof, he offered her a job in furniture design and she began a ten year long collaboration with Le Corbusier and his cousin Pierre Jeanneret.
Her presence in the Le Corbusier studio is visible in all the furniture designed. Perriand becomes a cornerstone adding a distinct dimension of humaneness to the often cold rationalism of Le Corbusier. She described the work as being highly collaborative between Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret, and herself; they were "three fingers on one hand.”
2. SAINA BARAZANDE
(*1988) SWEDISH FURNITURE AND INTERIOR DESIGNER
"Through my making I want to tell stories and hopefully awaken thoughts, feelings, memories, reflection... something!”
Scandinavian designers and architects have traditionally been inspired by nature and used wood as an important material in their work. Designer Saina Barazande is no exception. She studied crafts and design at Carl Malmsten Furniture Studies, graduated in 2014. Since graduation she has mainly been working as an interior designer.
One of Barazande´s most notable works is a stool called Umeå, created when she studied at Malmstens. She grew up in Umeå in the north of Sweden. Umeå is often called the "Birch City”, but not many of us know why. After a big fire in 1888, which destroyed large parts of the city center, the city council decided to plant birch-trees as a protection against future fires. A growing birch contains a lot of water and can therefor be an effective fire protection.
Barazande's stool is a well crafted piece of art and serves as a poetic reminder of Umeå's local history.
3. MONICA FÖRSTER
(*1966) SWEDISH INDUSTRIAL DESIGNER
”I sometimes say that I´m not interested in form, but that may not be entirely true. What I mean is simply that the idea behind each project is more important. When the idea is set I focus on shape, colour and detail”
Monica Förster, one of the top names in international design today, grew up close to the Artic circle in the very north of Sweden. Her work is characterized by a strong sense of pure form, mixed with curiosity for new materials and technologies. Always trying to work in a cross-disciplinary way, she invents and renews typologies in industrial, furniture and object design.
Förster studied at Beckman´s College of Design, followed by Konstfack– University of Arts, Crafts and Design. Her design studio is based in Stockholm and acts on an international level with companies such as Volvo, Tecno, Alessi, Cappellini, Poltrona Frau and De Padova.
Förster has also been involved in launching the recognized Bosnian company Zanat, listed for UNESCO World Heritage Site. She strives to move the Zanat brand on an international market, working with the vision, and initiating new collaborations.
4. KERSTIN HÖRLIN HOLMQUIST
(1925–1997) SWEDISH ARCHITECT AND FURNITURE DESIGNER
”It's mostly men who design furniture – that's why they become so angular.”
Kerstin Hörlin-Holmquist studied in England in the 1940s and later at Konstfack – University of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm. She started her design career in 1952 when designer Elias Svedberg discover her talents. Svedberg had just, in col-laboration with the architect Lena Larsson, become responsible for a new interior design concept at the classic department store NK.
The concept, named NK-Triva, was meant to attract a growing group of younger consumers with modern design and new and more free interior design ideas.
Hörlin Holmquist joined the project and worked for NK for many years. In 1952 she received a great deal of attention for the chair Kraal- in rattan with thin steel base. But most popular became her upholstery furniture in the series "Paradiset". They were built on a new technique with frames cast in frigolite, which was a light plastic material easy to mould into organic forms.
The interior magazines in Scandinavia praised Kerstin Hörlin-Holmquist collections.
”Her design is Swedish furniture tradition at the highest level".
– Leila Fåhraeus, Allt i Hemmet
5. ANNA CASTELLI FERRIERI
(1918–2006) ITALIAN ARCHITECT AND INDUSTRIAL DESIGNER
”It is not true that what is useful is beautiful. It is what is beautiful that is useful. Beauty can improve people’s way of life and thinking.”
Anna Castelli Ferrieri was the first women to graduate from the prestigious Milan Polytechnic School. She was a member of a generation of Italian designers who transformed the world of design with new technologies and materials. Castelli Ferrieri preferred to work with plastics. Her intuitive elegance became a signature of the Italian modern style.
In 1949, Castelli Ferrieri and her husband Giulio Castelli founded Kartell, which became a leading furniture company known for its high quality plastIc designs. With the success of Kartell, the couple lead the way in Italian modern design throughout the 60s, 70s and 80s.
In 1976, Anna Castelli Ferrieri became the Art Director of Kartell while still experimenting and designing for the company. Anna Castelli Ferrieri’s storage modules Componibili is one of Kartell’s oldest products and still a best seller. This modern plastic furniture modules can meet various functional needs in the home.
6. ANIKA REUTERSWÄRD
(* 1936) SWEDISH ARCHITECT, DESIGNER AND STYLE CREATOR
The Swedish interior designer Anika Reuterswärd was what we today call an influencer, long before the concept existed in the design world. During the 1980s, she dominated Swedish interior photography, mainly through the magazine Sköna Hem, where Reuterswärd arranged the most exclusive interiors for each issue. Sköna Hem met the spirit of the times and became a huge success. Reuterswärd to a large extent became a style creator and trend setter for the Swedish home furnishings of the 1980s.
Reuterswärd also designed several pieces of furniture for the company Fogia, usually ones she lacked for her image compositions. The Anika set table from the 1980s, with its diagonally arranged truss, is typical of her design language.
7. SONNA ROSÉN
(1920–2007) SWEDISH ARCHITECT AND FURNITURE DESIGNER
”Reasonably comfortable, frank and not too complicated in its structure.”
– Sonna Rosén´s brief to herself regarding the Solfjädern chair
Sonna Rosén, a Swedish architect and furniture designer, was trained at Konstfack– University of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm in the 1940s.
She is best known for having designed the updated version of the traditional Swedish stick-back chair, called Solfjädern, back in 1948. Rosén originally designed it as a chair for the elderly. Aiming for an elegant armchair both easy to sit down and rise. Its lightness, high comfort and well-balanced design made the Solfjädern chair immediately appreciated in private homes as well as in public interiors.
Rosén´s chair was next to Bruno Mathsson´s one of few Swedish furniture that was appreciated abroad at that time. Already in 1952 it was honored with the award "Good Design" by MoMa– Museum of Modern Art in New York, and is ever since included in their collection. With this beloved chair, Sonna Rosén made her ”one hit wonder.”
8. ANYA SEBTON
(*1966) SWEDISH FURNITURE AND INTERIOR DESIGNER
”Functional identity is the key theme of my work. Design is about combining aesthetic values with functional and technical needs, to create a unique product.”
When Anya Sebton graduated from Beckmans College of Design, in 1996 she was awarded the Young Nordic Design Award. This gave her a start in the furniture company Lammhult´s design team. Sebton´s work as a successful interior designer allowed her to gain an under-standing of the interior requirements of some of Sweden´s most important clients.
Combined with her collected educational experiences, this has produced a well-grounded artistic and functional approach to furniture design. Sebton´s designs offer unexpected details and a further characteristic is their unique graphic expressions.
Anya Sebton´s designs are found in airports, embassies, museums and other high profile locations Worldwide. Her studio is based in Stockholm, her products are manufactured by the Swedish companies Lammhults, Asplund and Abstracta.
9. MIA CULLIN
(*1970) SWEDISH ARCHITECT AND DESIGNER
Mia Cullin studied at Konstfack– University of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm, at the Danish School of Design in Copenhagen, and at Accademia di Moda e Design in Florence. She founded her Stockholm based design studio after having graduated from Konstfack in 1998. Her works span from interior design to design of furniture and smaller objects.
Among her clients are Swedish companies such as Materia, Zero, Nola, IKEA, Gemla, and Blå Station. Cullin is also collaborating with Finnish companies such as Adea and Woodnotes.
Cullin’s work shows an honesty and truthfulness that expresses her roots in a Nordic design culture, while at the same time aiming beyond. Her interior architecture excels with a restricted color palette, a thorough attention to detail, and not the least these intricate woven patterns playing with light and shadows.
Mia Cullin was in 2007 awarded the Interior Innovation Award in Cologne, and in 2019 the Elle Decoration Swedish Design Award.
10. CARINA HÄGG
(*1958) SWEDISH DESIGNER, INTERIOR DESIGNER AND ARTIST
The designer Carina Hägg is best known for her colorful prints that she uses on interior design products and furniture. Carina Hägg studied at Konstfack 1980-81 and fashion at Beckmans School of Design 1981-84. After graduation, Hägg founded her own design studio from which she designs textiles, interior design products and furniture. Hägg's design revolves around her colorful patterns, such as The Rose as you can see on The Rose Chair.
In 1996 and 2000, Hägg received the award Utmärkt Svensk Form for the fabric patterns Orange, Grasshopper and Ovals. Carina Hägg Design is based in Hammenhög on Sweden's southeast coast.
11. FRONT DESIGN STUDIO
SOFIA LAGERKVIST, KATJA PETTERSSON, CHARLOTTE VON DER LANCKEN, ANNA LINDGREN
SWEDISH INDUSTRIAL DESIGNERS AND ARTISTS
"Front's works are widely considered to be the leading edge of the young design scene.”
– German print media
Front Design Studio was founded in 2004 by four female industrial designers, graduated from Konstfack – University of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm.
Today the world famous studio runs by Lagerkvist and Lindgren. Their works are based on common discussions, explorations and experiments and they collaborate in all projects, from initial ideas to the final result. Front’s design objects often communicate a story to the observer about the design process, about the material they are made of or about conventions within the design field.
In their work they have assigned part of the making of design to animals, computers or machines. They have created objects with explosions, robotic furniture and furniture inspired by their fascination with magic.
Front work for a number of international brands such as Moooi, Kartell and Moroso. Their designs are represented at MoMa, Victoria & Albert Museum, Nationalmuseum, M+, Vitra Design Museum and Centre Pompidou.
“Hanger” and “Bin”, designed for Materia in 2005, were Front´s first industrial products.
12. BEBAN NORD & ANN ZETTERMANN MORSING
(*1956/*1956) SWEDISH ARCHITECTS, INTERIOR DESIGNERS, FURNITURE DESIGNERS
Beban Nord studied woodcraft at Nyckelvikskolan 1979-80 and interior architecture and furniture design at Konstfack 1981-89.
Ann Morsing graduated from Konstfack and the Department of Furniture Design and Interior Architecture in 1986. Prior to that, she also studied at an art school in San Francisco.
Morsing and Nord met at Konstfack and in 1992 they founded Box Design where for ten years they designed and produced furniture such as. the coffee table Cosmo (1998) and the cabinet Frost (1993). Box Design participated and often contributed to furniture fairs and exhibitions in Stockholm, Copenhagen, Milan, Cologne and New York.
Box Design later became BOX Arkitekter, where Nord and Morsing work with assignments for public spaces, exhibitions, media and product design. Among other things, they have worked with interior design for Stockholm University Library.
Nord and Morsing have designed objects, furniture and lighting for Örsjö, NC Nordic Care and Materia. Together, they have received several awards and accolades, such as representation in The International Design Yearbook 1997.
13. LENA LARSSON
(1919–2000) SWEDISH INTERIOR DESIGNER, WRITER AND EARLY INFLUENCER
”Every human being is a cabinet”
– ”Varje människa är ett skåp”, the title of Larsson´s autobiography
It is impossible to describe in a few words the architect Lena Larsson's work, significance and influence on Swedish interior art. She is remembered as a strong, out-spoken and charismatic professional who appeared in many different media for many years.
Larsson was trained as a carpenter at Carl Malmsten's crafts school. Later she began designing furniture in collaboration with the designer Elias Svedberg. Together they created the acclaimed furniture series NK-Triva. Larsson was creative director of NK's interior department (NK-Bo) for two periods between 1947 and 1965.
In the early 1940s, Larsson was commissioned by Svenska Slöjdföreningen (Svensk Form) and the Swedish Architects’ Association, to conduct a survey where she interviewed housewives about how they used their homes. The result of the survey was to be used as a basis for housing constructions and interior plans in the 1950s.
At H55-exhibition in Helsingborg Larsson showed an apartment with a new interaction between children and adults, which attracted a great attention and upset debate.
14. STINE GAM
(*1975) DANISH ARCHITECT AND FURNITURE DESIGNER
"When we show a product to a manufacturer we are quite far down the line in the process, as we always present a prototype, not just a drawing – so the finished product often stays very true to the original.”
– From an interview in ICON Magazine
Stine Gam, Danish architect with a master degree in furniture design and Enrico Fratesi, Italian architect graduated with a master in industrial design become GamFratesi. The duo gained experience as architects in Japan and Scandinavia before establishing their own design studio in Copenhagen in 2006.
GamFratesi’s design takes its creative drive from a fusion of tradition and renewal, and in an experimental approach to their chosen materials and techniques. With their dual traditional background they draw on the classic Danish furniture and craft tradition, as well as the classic Italian intellectual and conceptual approach. From this cross-cultural platform they create furniture that respectfully reflects tradition while also featuring unique embedded stories, symbols and associations.
GamFratesi has received significant international awards and collaborates with numerous international companies including Cappellini, Gubi, Hermès, HAY, Ligne Roset, Poltrona Frau and Gebruder Thonet Vienna.
15. AINO AALTO
(1894–1949) FINNISH ARCHITECT AND DESIGNER
Aino Aalto was a pioneer of Finnish design. She received her architecture degree in 1920, from Helsinki Polytechnic. In 1924, Aino joined famed Finnish architect Alvar Aalto’s firm. That step proved fateful for her both professionally and personally when she married Alvar Aalto, creating a lifelong partnership that built an international design legacy. The couple worked closely until Aino Aalto´s death, collaborating on several projects that left a significant mark on global design.
Alvar and Aino Aalto started the interior design company Artek in 1935, together with Maire Gullichsen and Nils-Gustav Hahl. Artek became a shop, a gallery and the marketing company for the Aalto range of furniture and lamps. Aino Aalto became design director and CEO of Artek from 1941 until her death in 1949.
Independently from her husband, Aino Aalto is known for her own individual contributions to bring modern Finnish design to the international arena. Her exhibitions for Artek received the Gran Prix at the 1936 Milan Triennial. She also won the gold medal at the same competition for her “Aalto Glasses” which were inspired by the circles created when throwing stones into the water.
16. MÄRTA FRIMAN & MARGOT BAROLO
(*1975/*1971) SWEDISH ARCHITECTS, DESIGNERS AND EDUCATORS
Märta Friman and Margot Barolo are two designers with a lot in common. For example the tray table Sunday Noon, designed to Svenkt Tenn in 2004.
Friman has been working as architect, running large projects at the studios White and Studio Stockholm. In addition she has been designing furniture for Gärsnäs and Materia. Barolo is an artist, craftsman and product designer for brands such as Rörstrands, Svenskt Tenn and Design House Stockholm. Lately she has been working with collaborative research and development in the project Kinship.
Today they both have new impressive and important roles in the design academy. Märta Friman has become the CEO of Handarbetets Vänner (HV)- a center for training, development, production and experimentation of advanced textiles. Margot Barolo is running the design department at Beckmans College of Design.
”There are great values in HV's broad business and history. With my knowledge from nearby areas, I hope to be able to enrich content and highlight new ideas.”
– Märta Friman
”What interests me most is how new technology already enables production in completely new ways. A production that is no longer synonymous with muscles in the form of large capital, factories and employees."
– Margot Barolo
17. LILLY REICH
(1885–1947) GERMAN MODERNIST DESIGNER
Lilly Reich was a prominent figure in the modern movement of architecture. In early age she joined Wiener Werkstätte, a visual arts production company led by the Austrian architect Josef Hoffmann. Later on Reich was the first woman appointed to the board of Deutscher Werkbund, whose purpose was to promote German design on the global market. In 1929 she became the artistic director of the German contribution to the Barcelona World Exposition.
Three years later Reich was asked to join the Bauhaus School to direct their interior design workshop, just before it was closed down by the Nazi party in 1933. Lilly Reich became famous after her death, mostly because of her collaboration with one of the most recognized architects in the 20th century, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Reich and van der Rohe were married and people publicly speculated that Reich may have been responsible for some of van der Rohe's successes in designing furniture.
”…It is interesting to note that Mies did not fully develop any contemporary furniture successfully before or after his collaboration with Reich.”
– Albert Pfeiffer – Knoll International
18. ESTRID ERICSON
(1894–1981) SWEDISH DESIGNER AND DESIGN ENTREPRENEUR
“The simplicity of the room – the richness of details”
Estrid Ericson was an oustanding entrepreneur and design manager, who played a very important role in the development of Swedish interior culture during decades. In 1924, only thirty years old, she founded Svenskt Tenn, a Stockholm based interior design company famous for its uncompromising design in furniture, textiles and accessories.
Ericson was responsible for some of the design herself, but she also had the talent to find the right designers to work with; Nils Fougstedt, Anna Petrus, Uno Åhrén and Björn Trägårdh among others. The Svenskt Tenn store quickly gained an excellent reputation among style-conscious customers.
In 1934 Ericson started her collaboration with the Austrian architect and designer Josef Frank, who came to Sweden as a Jewish refugee. With Ericson as a creative and strong client with a long term commitment, Frank designed a cultural treasure in furniture and textile art, still available at Svenskt Tenn.
”Ericson accepted everything Frank did, he did what she asked him to do”
– Eva Von Zweigbergk, 1967
19. KAJSA STRINNING
(1922–2017) SWEDISH ARCHITECT AND DESIGNER
It all started with a vision and a competition. In 1949, the leading Swedish publishing house Bonniers launched a competition calling for a book shelving solution that was affordable, easy to ship, easy assemble and easy to install. Married couple Kajsa and Nils Strinning entered and won the competition with their ingenious solution: a flexible, elegant and minimalist shelving system that could be mounted on any wall – the String System.
In the following years, the Strinning couple kept refining and expanding their ideas. Nils was fast and innovative with a steady flow of new concepts, Kajsa was thorough, artistic and patient. Together, they created a timeless system that could be modified with the addition of shelves, folding tables and cabinets.
From start the String design met with immediate success and got prestigious awards. Nils Strinning rose to fame as one of the most influential designers of the Scandinavian modern era, while it´s obvious that Kajsa Strinning´s role was not noticed after merit.
20. FOLKFORM: ANNA HOLMQUIST & CHANDRA AHLSELL
(*1978/*1973) SWEDISH ARTISTS AND INDUSTRIAL DESIGNERS
“We are interested in the hierarchies that we bestow on materials. We like to challenge our pre-conceptions of what we consider valuable.”
In 2019 the prestigious Bruno Mathsson Award was awarded to Anna Holmquist and Chandra Ahlsell- the art and design duo Folkform. The jury pointed out Holmquist-Ahlsell´s urgent investigations of how materials and manufacturing methods are valued in contemporary furniture production.
Prestigious and process-oriented, they immerse themselves in the traditional industrial and craft knowledge that is at risk of being lost, creating new artistic and distinctive expressions. Their projects are often realized in free processes, driven by equal measure of curiosity, courage and integrity.
They met at Konstfack– University of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm and founded their Stockholm based studio Folkform in 2005. To design a product, Holmquist and Ahlsell work very closely with manufacturing processes. They collaborate with Svenskt Tenn, Skultuna, Tärnsjö and Örsjö among others.
In 2018 Folkform got great attention for their handcrafted wood and leather benches designed to the reopened Stockholm Nationalmuseum.
21. ANNE HARVALA
(*1981) SWEDISH DESIGNER
Anne Harvala founded her design studio after graduating from Beckmans School of Design in 2017.
Harvala is driven by the desire to fulfill all the wishes of those who use her products. She strives to create products that meet real demand, while displaying easy-to-use features that enhance the user's daily life.
The Unify series is Anne Harvala's degree project and is a multifunctional collection: side tables, dinner tables, bar tables, conference tables – a table for all kinds of needs.
22. NANNA DITZEL
(1923–2005) DANISH ARCHITECT AND INDUSTRIAL DESIGNER
Nanna Ditzel studied at the Danish School of Arts and Crafts and at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, graduating in 1946. Later the same year she established her own studio together with her husband Jørgen Ditzel.
Trough-out her whole career Nanna Ditzel was productive, designing in a wide range of disciplines– furniture, textiles, wallpaper, jewelry and utility objects. Her world famous fabric Hallingdal was designed in 1965 and is still produced by Kvadrat.
In 1968 Ditzel moved from Copenhagen to London where she opened a studio. Notable among Ditzel´s designs from this period are some exiting experiments with furniture made of fiberglass, for example the OD 5301 from year 1969.
In 1985 Ditzel returned to Denmark, re-established her studio and worked for another twenty years. The Trinidad chair from 1993 is probably her most well known design from this period. It is still in the range of Fredericia Furniture.
Nanna and Jørgen Ditzel was awarded the prestigious Lunning Prize in 1956 and is represented in the Danish culture´s canon – masterpiece of Danish design.
23. KARIN SJÖKVIST TYREFORS
(*1962) SWEDISH INTERIOR DESIGNER, FURNITURE DESIGNER AND ARCHITECT
Karin Tyrefors holds a master's degree from Konstfack from the Department of Interior Architecture and Furniture Design in 1988. In 1990, she founded Karin Tyrefors Design Production in Södertälje.
Tyrefors works with both furniture design – mainly in exclusive editions – and interior architecture as well as art, design and production in stone for public spaces. Her works include Terra Firma, the artistic design of the Almedalen Library in Visby on Gotland in 2000 and Resa Sten, monumental limestone sculptures in Hagaparken and Frescati in Stockholm in 1998.
In 1992, Tyrefors received the award Utmärkt Svensk Form for the Seagrass chair (produced by I-form 1992-2000) made of oiled ash and seagrass. Five years later, she received the same price for the pillar table Tablette, which consists of a metal stand with a top of marble or diabase, and the lighting fixture Vicenza for the Swedish manufacturer Ateljé Lyktan.
24. LOUISE HEDERSTRÖM
(*1973) SWEDISH FURNITURE AND PRODUCT DESIGNER
Louise Hederström is a furniture designer based in Malmö. After graduating in 1998 from Beckmans School of Design in Stockholm, she now has an extensive business with assignments for furniture design, products, exhibition architecture and major interior design projects.
Among her clients are some of the most respected brands in Scandinavian design, such as Swedese, Maze Interior, Offecct, Skagerak, Nola, David design, Karl Andersson & Söner and Skandiform. Hederström often participates in exhibitions in Sweden and abroad and has also taught regularly at a number of design schools.
Under the brand Grefmar+Hederström, which is run together with the upholsterer Carina Grefmar, they make unique organic furniture upholstered in discarded leather. They have been represented by the Hostler Burrows gallery in New York and Los Angeles for a few years now and have exhibited at Design Miami in Basel and Miami, among other places.
Her upbringing on a farm in Skåne close to nature, is something that can often be found in Hederström's design; whether it is a carpet design that is inspired by the meadow of childhood or in Grefmar+Hederström's leather seats inspired by ticks. The functional aspect also has a clear role in the character of the furniture, where close collaboration with the production is of utmost importance.
25. GUNILLA ALLARD
(*1957) SWEDISH DESIGNER, ARCHITECT, TECHN.DR.H.C.
”… for her strict, minimalistic, elegant design. The proportions and details of her furniture show a genuine sense of quality.”
– The jury of the Georg Jensen Award 1996
With a background of working with several projects in the Swedish film industry, Gunilla Allard enrolled at Konstfack– University of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm, in 1983, to study interior and furniture design.
In 1985 Allard studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Copenhagen. When newly graduated, in 1988, Allard was selected, as one of five students, to participate in a student workshop arranged by the furniture brand Lammhults, which led to the start of her career as a furniture designer.
Allard became Lammhults first female designer and her continued work for Lammhults has resulted in a numerous range of furniture design. Cinema easy chair, designed 1994, is the most well known of her designs. Allard´s work in different disciplines; furniture, kitchens, glassware, lightings and carpets makes her one of the foremost names in contemporary Scandinavian design.
Allard has received the Bruno Mathsson Award and the Georg Jensen Award.
26. KARIN MOBRING
(1927–2005) SWEDISH FURNITURE DESIGNER
”The design is a hit, the price a sensation and the comfort is perfect”
– Krumelur Chair – IKEA catalouge cover in 1972. Price: SEK 68.
Unfortunately there is not much written about furniture designer Karin Mobring. Despite her considerable influence on IKEA's development for three decades, from the 1960s to the 1990s, she has remained a hidden star. Maybe she wanted it that way, or maybe she ended up in the shadow of her male colleagues.
Karin Mobring may be invisible as a person, but her design is definitely not. Many of Mobring's furniture has become classics, popular in the second hand market. Amiral, Diana, Natura are product names monitored by auction houses.
Karin Mobring was trained by Carl Malmsten, the icon of Swedish traditional furniture culture. In the 1960s Mobring joined the first generation of IKEA designers and engineers. They made sure that IKEA was part of the youth culture that was conquering the world at that time. Mobring clearly contributed to this development.
Krumelur chair, launched in 1972, is perhaps Mobring's most notable design from this era. Simple, functional and affordable. The fabric called Strax was designed by Inez Svensson (1932–2005), a highly visible Swedish textile designer.
27. RAY EAMES
(1912–1988) AMERICAN ARTIST, DESIGNER AND FILMMAKER
”What works good is better than what looks good, because what works good lasts”
In creative partnership with her husband Charles Eames, Ray made significant historical contributions to the development of modern architecture and furniture. They also worked in the fields of industrial and graphic design, fine art, and film.
Charles was mostly the public face of the Eames Office, but Ray and Charles worked together as creative partners for decades. They believed in "learning by doing”, before introducing a new idea the Eameses explored needs and constraints of the idea extensively. They worked 13-hour days and directed the work of a team of collaborators, included many notable designers.
For many years, Ray and Charles Eames explored the idea of a single shell, moulded to fit the contours of the human body. They finally achieved their goal with the 1950 Eames Shell Chair, a ground-breaking innovation that founded a new chair typology: the multi-functional shell chair. This fantastic chair came to inspire generations.
28. LISA HILLAND
(*1973) SWEDISH ARTIST AND DESIGNER
“As a designer, I am constantly exploring materials and how they influence our perception of an object.”
Lisa Hilland creates contemporary design with a poetic twist, combining modern high-tech production techniques with artisan quality craftsmanship. After graduating from Central St Martin's College of Art, she worked ten years as a designer in London before setting up her own studio in Sweden in 2005.
Her current clients include renowned furniture producers such as IKEA, Gärsnäs, Gemla, Design House Stockholm, Orrefors, Svenskt Tenn and Konsthantverk AB.
In 2018 Hilland founded her very own design range of furniture and accessories, called Mylhta.
Lisa Hilland has been awarded Furniture of the year, Designer of the year and Lauritz Icon Award.
”Natural materials are close to my heart. I use them in a careful, sustainable way, creating long lasting design. In my work I am aiming to enhance a material’s natural qualities, celebrating it’s specific character, functions and beauty. Excellent design triggers our emotions and according to me, materials have a great part to play while designing – or as I call it – giving an object a soul that can be loved.”
29. CHRISTINE SCHWARZER
(*1970) DANISH FURNITURE AND INDUSTRIAL DESIGNER
”The objective of my work is to make the world a happier, more playful, fun and beautiful place”.
Christine Schwarzer was born in Copenhagen. She was trained as a furniture and industrial designer at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen and at the University of Art and Design in Helsinki.
Schwarzer has always liked sketching, and as a child she made her own toys with needle and thread, hammer and nails. She became a designer, but could just as easily have become an artist. She enjoys making things. Her designs are simple and clear, graphically expressed, with no frills. Her passion lies in designing which is channelled into different forms of expressionism.
After graduating in 1999 Schwarzer has been designing furniture and products from her studio in Copenhagen – apart from a year spent designing in Vietnam.
Schwarzer also designs children´s furniture, together with her partner Anne Birgitte Balle, for their own company Room Mate. Schwarzer has participated in several exhibitions in Denmark, Sweden, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands. Room Mate has has been honored the Design Plus Award.
30. ANIA PAUSER
(*1984) SWEDISH CERAMIST ARTIST AND FURNITURE DESIGNER
“I design objects to be used, so they must be functional, but also have the ability to arouse feelings.”
Ania Pauser has got a bachelor degree in furniture design at Carl Malmsten Furniture Studies in Stockholm, and a master degree in ceramic art at HDK- the Academy of Design and Crafts in Gothenburg. She graduated in 2018 and runs her own studio i western Sweden.
Ania Pauser Studio is a multidisciplinary art and design studio that works in the border between art, crafts and design. Pauser creates sculptural works, objects, furniture and lighting. The driving force in her work is joy. Joy in the making and joy in the feeling the final object gives the observer.
Among Pauser´s clients are Klong, Kathea and H&M. She has been awarded ”Young Designer of the year” by Plaza Magazine and “Furniture of the year” by Elle Decoration, among other awards.
The Gryning Vitrine Cabinet Pauser designed together with Hannu Hietamäki to Klong Anniversary Collection in 2016. It was produced in a limited edition of ten.
31. KERSTI SANDIN BÜLOW
(*1950) SWEDISH ARCHITECT, INDUSTRIAL DESIGNER AND PROFESSOR EMERITA
”Design reflects the prevailing social climate, but can change our attitude and our way of life to the better.”
After graduated from Konstfack– University of Arts, Crafts and Design in 1977, Kersti Sandin Bülow started working with the legendary architect Erik Berglund at the Furniture Research Institute. Besides she studied ethnology/anthropology. Together with architect Lars Bülow, she founded her own studio in 1978. In the coming decade Sandin & Bülow got their breakthrough as furniture designers.
In 1992, Sandin & Bülow founded their own furniture company named Materia. The company grew rapidly and became a significant player on the market. Sandin & Bülow got numerous awards for their designs and their design management.
Kersti Sandin Bülow has received many important assignments over the years– in both private businesses and public sector. She has been a design expert within the Ministry of Culture and served on the board of Svenskt Tenn for over two decades.
From 2005 to 2017 Sandin Bülow was professor in design at HDK– Academy of Design and Crafts, Gothenburg and at Carl Malmsten Furniture Studies, Stockholm.
32. EILEEN GRAY
(1878–1976) IRISH–FRENCH ARTIST, ARCHITECT AND DESIGNER
”The interior plan should not be the incidental result of the façade. It should lead to a complete harmonious and logical life.”
Eileen Gray was born in Ireland but moved to Paris in early age. After training in lacquer work and cabinet making, she quickly established herself as one of the leading designers of the lacquered screens and decorative art deco panels.
During the 1920s and 1930s Gray became one of the leading exponents of the revolutionary new theories of design and construction. She exhibited her chrome, steel tube and glass furniture in 1925 - the same year as Mies van der Rohe and Marcel Breuer and well before Le Corbusier. The furniture was mainly used in Gray's own interiors.
The most famous of all of Gray’s work is her house, e1027— on the French Riviera. The house was built 1926-1929, in a modernist style often compared to the work of Le Corbusier. Their views differed, though, when it came to interior design. Where Le Corbusier thought of houses as "machines," Gray saw them as "living organisms”. Her interiors were for people´s lives.
33. MARIE-LOUISE HELLGREN
(*1958) SWEDISH INDUSTRIAL DESIGNER
”I hope the result of my work will be a reminder of what is truly important. Not the quick fix, the trendy wear and tear, but the spirit of our lives.”
Marie-Louise Hellgren is a Swedish designer with focus on sustainability, being in the forefront of the the international Circular- Up cycling movement. Hellgren dedicates her talent to objects of everyday use. Her signature designs are soft spoken, subtle, but still filled with radiating energy.
Hellgren studied industrial design at HDK- the Academy of Design and Crafts in Gothenburg and is currently working from her design studio Heart-eartH Production in Stockholm. She has been awarded with Elle Decoration Award and her designs are represented at the Nationalmuseum, in Stockholm and at Röhsska Museum of Design and Craft, in Gothenburg.
Hellgren collaborates with large international companies as well as smaller local design actors. To the Swedish chair manufacturer Stolab, Hellgren designed the stool Lilla Snåland– an up cycling product created from 14 pieces of waste from the production of Carl Malmsten´s iconic chair Lilla Åland.
34. SIRI SVEDBORG
(*1993) SWEDISH FURNITURE AND INDUSTRIAL DESIGNER
“Her design balances on the border of the impossible when she challenges both material and tradition. This year's Emerging Designer of the Year takes Swedish folklore into the future and shows that the simple and functional doesn’t have to be restrained or boring. True inspired carpentry that immediately captures the viewer, in new forms that suddenly feel obvious.”
– The jury for ELLE Deco Design Awards 2021, prize for Emerging Designer of the Year
Siri Svedborg is born and based in Stockholm, where she studied design and interior architecture at Konstfack. With a fascination for structure, patterns and geometry, she dreams of making furniture that is accessible to everyone. Since graduating in 2020, she has been working as a furniture designer and interior designer.
Ornamental but basic is Siri Svedborg's degree project and a furniture series with a focus on a combination of aesthetics and function. Maximum expressive form is combined with a clear, simple function. Siri Svedborg wants to create furniture that fits in an imaginary home, where you want to live simply with few objects but at the same time not ascetic.
