Incollect Magazine - Issue 3

Incollect Magazine 101 2022 S candinavian designers have contributed so much to 20th century design that it is difficult to fully and accurately do justice to their importance and reach. We live, all of us, in some way in the long shadow of their extraordinary vision and talent — from the playful, geometric patterning of Maia Grottel and Mariimekko to the legendary Hans Wegner and his reinterpretation of cold functional modernism, which transformed the prevailing home furnishings style to a focus on warmth, simplicity, and excellent craftsmanship. Form follows function in Scandinavian design, but is frequently defined by an organic, even humanistic approach to modernism. Practicality was probably the most defining element — furniture, lighting and objects always were comfortable and stable, elegant in appearance and made to the highest standards of construction. Denmark was the center of the movement, with a coalescence of talent around Kaare Klint, who headed the furniture school at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, and where many top Scandinavian designers taught or studied. For this reason, Klint is often referred to as the “father of Scandinavian design.” It is tempting to believe the stories of the origins of Scandinavian design as a kind of ‘immaculate conception’ — an indigenous Nordic design style born of scarcity during and after World War II and a return to the traditions of craft-based design pioneers of modern Scandinavian Design Rare easy chair “Bukkestole” by Hans Wegner, in “Wegner Red” with tilting canvas back and canvas seat, chrome bolts. Produced by Johannes Hansen, Copenhagen, Denmark 1959. From Collage 20th Century Classics on Incollect. using wood and other natural materials. The history is one of influence and evolution, as many of the shapes and forms that came to define what we think of as ‘Scandinavian modern design’ have documented roots in designs from different cultures and centuries — the high modernism of the Bauhaus, and of Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe and Le Corbusier with their emphasis on functionalism. So, too, were English and Chinese furniture: Wegner’s ‘Wishbone Chair’, a classic design from 1949, with a splayed back splat, has its formal origins in 17th century Chinese furniture.