NORWEGIAN WOOD

December 22, 2015
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You might have noticed that my blogging is a bit heavy on the Swedish side of things. It has a simple explanation: I’m Swedish. But I would also like to add some depth to the idea of Scandinavian modern design. In America, the phrase Danish modern, is a bit of a catch all for Scandinavian design. Of course, nobody can argue against the fact that Danish furniture designers are some of the world’s most influential (and absolutely leading in Scandinavia), but what about Swedish glass and ceramics? And what about Norway?

Norway’s contribution to the golden age of Scandinavian design might not be as sizable, but that doesn’t mean that they weren’t contributing. Perhaps most well known in The U.S. is Ingmar Relling with his Fiesta series. Simple, functional and minimalist, the series continues to be a big seller.

In Norway, the designs by Alf Sture continues to be popular. Sture diverted from the modernism of his time by mixing in classical norwegian influences, in chairs such as Model 1036 and Windsor.

Sven Ivar Dysthe is another famous designer from the era. His breakthrough came with the 1001 collection that combined black leather, steel and rosewood in sleek and elegant ways. Another big seller of his is the Laminette chair.

Hans Brattrud designed the stackable Scandia chair in 1957 as a student project. It went on to be his big hit, eventually becoming a whole range with lounge chair, easy chair and tables.

Another stackable chair that is considered a Norwegian design classic, is the City chair. Øivind Iversen designed this chair as a diploma project while in school, making it Norways own riff on Jacobsen’s Series 7 chair.