Fair-haired folk producing sober beech furniture
That’s the clichéd view of Scandinavian designers. But, as Paul Simpson discovers, this vibrant industry is helping the region innovate and cushion the economic blows
If you had invited radical Danish designer Verner Panton to dinner, you could expect him to rearrange your furniture. Panton once said: “I can’t bear to enter a room and see the sofa and coffee table and two chairs, immediately knowing we will be stuck here for an entire evening. I made furniture to be raised and lowered to give a new angle on life.”
The launch of his famous one-piece plastic chair in 1960 was Panton’s declaration of independence, a bold alternative to the craft ethos dominating Danish design. Panton would design a remarkable array of products and interiors.
His womb-like Phantasy Landscape foam rubber room looks now like a rare blend of the sensibilities of Salvador Dali and Austin Powers. Panton’s career as the enfant terrible of Danish design is proof that to understand Scandinavian design, its economic and social role, you have to go beyond the myths.
Myth 1: There is such a thing as Scandinavian design.
In 1980, some disgruntled designers staged a mock funeral in Oslo for the concept of ‘Scandinavian design’.
The 1950s, the golden age of design in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, fixed a certain image of Scandinavian design – cool, craft-based, democratic, functional, reassuringly modernist, socially aware, using natural materials – which has proved both a burden and an inspiration.
Not every Scandinavian designer has felt it necessary to stage mock funerals, but the Norwegians had a point. The region’s design industries have, in the last 30 years, been driven by different influences, priorities and economic cycles.
A down-to-earth, modest culture could be seen as being at odds with design with a capital D, which is often a luxury
Union hit both Finland and Sweden hard in the early 1990s, and in 1992 the Swedish government had to rescue banks with a plan that became the template for later bailouts.
The pain is more widely spread now, although Iceland’s economic meltdown dwarfs the Finnish and Swedish recessions of the 1990s.
ln Finland, the reinvention of boots and wood pulp group Nokia as a telecoms giant has created a high-tech sector that accounts for 3% of GDP. In Denmark and Norway, the absence – and presence – of oil has proved crucial.
In Sweden, the large design industry is still overshadowed by IKEA, while Iceland’s tiny sector was starting to thrive when economic apocalypse struck.
Henrietta Thompson, the Wallpaper journalist who curates the ‘100% Norway’ design exhibition in London, gives a sense of the subtly different characteristics of Norwegian design: “It has many of the qualities Scandinavian design is famous for, but I often see a sense of humour, a wittiness, which is particularly Norwegian.
"Norwegians are also known for having a down-to-earth and modest culture – and these qualities could be seen as being at odds with design with a capital D, which is too often seen as rather elitist and a luxury. Norwegian design is rarely elitist. It can be expensive, but that’s a different thing."
Myth 2: Scandinavian design consists of "fair-haired folk producing sober beech furniture".
This was never the full story – Volvo anyone? – but became a powerful stereotype after the success of products like Hans Wegner’s Round Chair, used by John F. Kennedy when preparing for the first televised presidential debate in 1960.
The surprising fruits of Scandinavian design include Nilfisk vacuum cleaners being used in space by NASA; Flytoget, the express train service to Oslo airport (the first rail company in the world to introduce ticketless travel); and Linus Torvalds’ open source operating system Linux, uploaded onto the University of Helsinki’s server in 1991.
The stereotypes obscure the way some of the region’s most famous, long-established companies have reinvented themselves through design to remain competitive.
Royal Copenhagen started out in a converted post office in 1775, making blue and white porcelain for the Danish royal family.
When the company invited designers to pitch product ideas to celebrate its 225th anniversary, Karen Kjaeldgård-Larsen – a 26-year-old Dane – suggested they blow up the blue and white pattern that had been the company’s trademark.
Niels Bastrup, Royal Copenhagen’s creative director, says: “There was a lot of attraction towards this idea, and lots of fear. When a company has existed for so long, your heritage can be your strength – and your biggest enemy, an extreme force that can stop you developing.”
The Kjaeldgård-Larsen ‘Blue Fluted Mega’ range repositioned the brand. “Once Blue Mega was established, the natural thing was to pick another colour,” says Bastrup. “We chose to make a black-fluted range that took us out of grandma’s kitchen and made our product much more a part of the design world.”
After Scandinavia, Japan is now the largest market for Royal Copenhagen, accounting for 40% of turnover, and 70% of Japanese recognise the brand, Bastrup says: “In the last decade, Royal Copenhagen has gone from being a high-end porcelain manufacturer to a brand in its own right. Daring to invest means we’re still here today.”
Myth 3: Scandinavian design is all about craft.
First it was cars, now the fashion for ‘pimping’ products has reached the vacuum cleaner. Sweden’s Electrolux has produced a limited edition of its Ergorapido vacuum cleaner decked with 3,730 Swarovski crystals. The Ergorapido – sans crystals – spearheaded a cultural revolution within Electrolux which focused on user-driven innovation and design.
Launched in 2004, the Ergorapido won 60% of the European market for hand-held vacuum cleaners even though it cost 40% more than existing appliances. By studying user habits and creating multi-disciplinary global product development teams, Electrolux stopped being a consumer appliance group that had forgotten how to launch things.
I can’t bear to enter a room and see the sofa and table and chairs, knowing we will be stuck here for an entire evening
Despite the huge amounts written on the subject by American authors, user-centred innovation is not a US idea. In the 1970s, Denmark’s Aarhus University pioneered what was then called ‘human-oriented design’ and the manufacturing group Danfoss founded a user-innovation unit in the early 1990s. Quality and innovation, not the way things are styled, will, designers hope, become central to their pitch to the world.
Myth 4: Scandinavia is a green paradise.
No country can escape its landscape, and Scandinavian design showed a certain reverence for nature and natural materials long before ‘sustainability’ became a buzzword.But Scandinavia isn’t all ice hotels, endless forests and borrow free bikes so they could take their own purchases home, it did so in Copenhagen.
Because sustainability is at the heart of Scandinavian policy and culture, designers have a competitive edge. The idea of ‘sustainable fashion design’ can sound like so much greenwash. But in 2007, Norwegian designers launched FIN Fashion, the world’s first label to have Fairtrade accreditation. FIN is a pioneer, but in Norway’s booming fashion industry is far from exceptional.
Myth 5: There is no such thing as Scandinavian design.
The Norwegian designers who staged their bit of agitprop in 1980 would turn in their mock graves, but there is a consensus that Scandinavian design can only compete globally if the region becomes a design industry and market that transcends borders. Increased competition would, the theory goes, restructure the industry and the number of design-conscious customers in the home market would reach a critical mass.
Such restructuring sounds laudable in theory, but in practice? In a single Scandinavian market could the 18 firms that comprise the Icelandic design industry compete with the 11,199 Swedish design companies? And yet there is a growing sense that something must change. Even Denmark, home to one of the world’s most famous design industries, is struggling to maintain its global profile.
As Thompson points out, the different design industries draw strongly on their national roots. “Norwegian design is very often proud to be Norwegian. You can see it in the names and the constant references to Norwegian traditions… provenance and heritage is important when so much is globalised and homogenous.”
But she can see the logic behind one Nordic design market. “Norwegian design is world class, but relatively small. And when it comes to exports, more needs to be invested in education, training and support for manufacturers and designers.”
The potential fruits of collaboration can be seen in the deal Finnish fashion designer Marimekko struck with Swedish clothing company H&M to use some of its patterns. Under new owner Mika Ihamuotila, the Finnish group plans to develop into a global lifestyle brand.
Ihamuotila’s overhaul is ambitious, but he says: “Success will never rest solely on efficiency benefits from processes, as we would inevitably lose that game. Instead, Marimekko must walk its own path, creating a desired brand for which customers are willing to pay more than the one at the store next door.”
Ihamuotila, who had previously only run financial institutions, admits his decision to “invest my entire mental and financial capacity” looks “completely insane, considering the advice on diversification of risk in every business book” but, like Panton with his chair, he is happy to back his judgement against conventional wisdom.
The future is now
Design initiatives across Scandinavia
- Kolding, Denmark
Home of Designskolen Kolding, one of two university-level design schools.
- Samso, Denmark
This island runs renewable energy to the mainland.
- Hammarby Sjöstad, Sweden
CO2 emissions have been cut here by 50%, thanks to free public transport and energy-saving design.
- Lapland, Finland
The Sami herdspeople track their reindeer on the 300km migration from highland to coast using GPS collars.
- Tofte, Norway
A tenth of Norway’s energy will one day come from salt – Tofte is home to its first huge plant.
- Bastoey Island, Norway
Bastoey Prison has solar panels and inmates grow their own organic food.
- Øresund Bridge, Denmark
The longest combined rail and road bridge in Europe, with two rail lines and a four-lane road.
- Oslo, Norway
The new Norwegian Institute of Fashion opened its doors earlier this year.
- Aarhus, Denmark
Home to Kaos Pilot International,the top Scandinavian design school.
- Klädesholmen, Sweden
Sweden’s first floating hotel is designed to have minimum impact on the environment.
- Reykjavik, Iceland
Government-imposed limits on foreign exports have inspired a craft revolution.
- Helsinki, Finland
Helsinki’s Design District is 25 streets of design, antique and fashion shops.
The new wave of Nordic design
Charlotte Sinding
At an exhibition in Stockholm, the Swedish jewel artist displayed jewellery resembling trembling body parts. Other work includes rings adorned with four-inch silicon birds.
Politiken
This Danish daily paper was redesigned in 2006 in an attempt to stop readers migrating to online media: it fought the internet at its own game, framing its front page like a web page and taking other design cues from the net.
Harri Koskinen
The Finnish designer won the Compasso d’Oro prize in 2004 for his oak frame Muu chair, part of a range created for Italian manufacturer Montina. He’s also known for his Block light, for Design House Stockholm in 1998.
AutoSock
Norway’s award-winning sock for tyres, designed to cope with unexpected snowfalls, is so innovative it’s featured in New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Sales doubled between 2004 and 2006.
Rauhella
This Norwegian company uses environmentally friendly materials to create its Trollkid Fairytail Furniture. Meet the Throne Elk: chair, cupboard, hat-stand and friend all in one.
Monica Förster
What makes Scandinavian design distinctive
Monica Förster is a furniture and object designer based in Stockholm.
Twice Swedish Designer of the Year, her clients include Modus, Tacchini and Swedese.
What do you find exciting about Scandinavian design?
The variety – there are so many directions of design, rather than one single line working in a cross-disciplinary way.
We have everything from minimalist design to concept design and everything is accepted.That’s really something that creates an extra dimension.
What influence do you think Scandinavian design has in other countries?
We have a unique heritage, which is based on simplicity and functionalism. This often comes through in our work and can give our design a strong identity globally.
You can always react against your history, but you can never really escape it.
What impact does the environment have on your design?
We are surrounded by forest, so there is a tradition of working with wood and raw materials.
The climate is important too. For example, in Sweden we would tend to see an aluminium chair as being cold, but I don’t think they would view it like that in Italy.
The environment affects other people’s perception of objects and design.
Do you have to design your products for a specific market?
I work with between 20 and 30 companies, and all these companies aim for a specific market.
Of course, the choice I make to work with a certain company means that I am choosing to target my designs at a particular audience.
How is the current economic climate affecting you?
Maybe people are more careful at the moment, not experimenting as much, but from a creative perspective it’s not only negative.
The projects that actually come out during this time may be projects that were lost for a while, and I feel that’s a good thing for design.
Article first published in Design Council Magazine, Issue 6, Summer 2009