Scandinavian and Danish Design

This era of design was born in the 1950s. Called so, because its origins were in Scandinavian countries like Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland.

It is a style of simplicity, minimalism, and functionality. Many ideas in this style were influenced by the Bauhaus school, some still in use till this day like; the Egg Chair and the Sydney Opera House, Australia.

Egg Chair by Arne Jacobsen

Republic of Fritz Hansen. (no date). Arne Jacobsen Egg Chair in Gabriel Orange Fame. Available: http://www.stardust.com/eggchairfameorange.html. Last accessed 20th January 2014.

Sydney Opera House by Jorn Utzon

Waqar Ali. (no date). Travel Tourism. Available: http://traveltoursim.blogspot.com/2011/09/sydney-opera-house-australia.html. Last accessed 20th January 2014.

Designers wished to create beautiful, yet functional objects that were readily affordable by all. They tended to use new, low-cost materials and mass production methods like form-pressed wood, plastic and aluminium or steel.

Some of the most successful designers in this era were:- Borge Mogensen, Hans Wegner and Arne Jacobsen.

Shortly after the Second World War (late 1940s), emphasis was put on producing furniture. In Denmark industrial production began producing affordable, light wood furniture which added to popularisation of Danish design. So much so, that the furniture school at the Royal Danish Academy of Art was born. Ideas and influences grew and then the first industrially manufactured chair in Denmark was produced, the Ant Chair by Arne Jacobsen.

Ant Chair by Arne Jacobsen

Design Museum. (no date). Arne Jacobsen. Available: http://designmuseum.org/design/arne-jacobsen. Last accessed 20th January 2014.