Sooo this is not something I’d publish normally but I figured heeey, since I wrote this article for school and it has been graded already someone else might take interest in it. Whether you hate it or love it, here it is.
What do you think of when you read the term Scandinavian design? While I can’t make any claims of being a mind-reader, I am rather confident that images in your head would revolve around the likes of Alvar Aalto, Hans Wegner, Arne Jacobsen, Poul Henningsen or their somewhat bleak copies. And if so, who are you to blame? I will elaborate on this further and tell you exactly why I feel that we are at, or at least reaching a stagnated state where very little development is to be seen. This may or may not be a good thing depending on the stance you take in pushing contemporary design to new heights.
A quick background…
Let us start with the Bauhaus movement and modernism in Germany during the 20’s. You might wonder why? Functionalism and Scandinavian modernism derived most of their stylistic traits from these styles and added a sense of locality, closeness to nature and craftsmanship. Without going into too much detail I can simply state that this isn’t quite true but rather an idealized image, favorably intensified by exhibitions and media coverage during the 20’s and onwards. If you’re not already familiar with designers from different countries and different eras let me give you a few examples as to show my train of thought. Marcel Breuer is one of the highly esteemed Bauhaus designers and with chairs like B33 or his ever so famous Wassily Chair he perfectly exemplifies what modernism is about: industrial production, tubular steel, rationality, functionality and simplified forms. Now consider a quite similar chair that was recently brought back in production, namely Sven Markelius EPA-chair from 1937. Not much has changed except some minor updates in design and upholstery. Nowadays you can also buy the EPA Chair in the new colors of black and “nature”. I only mention the last part for you to understand how companies and media sell Scandinavian design because let’s be honest, what is the color of nature, green, blue, red, brown, does it even matter? It’s a rather simple way of re-launching the chair, adding that Scandinavian twist and giving us a warmer feeling when chromed steel is hidden between leather. Källemo, a Swedish producer in this instance, also manufacture Gunnar Asplunds GA2 Chair which in more recent years has become widely associated with the postmodern design of Mats Theselius. Now don’t get me wrong, I understand that postmodernism makes historical references and takes playfulness to new levels. And while I really appreciate most of Mats Theselius designs, I don’t think he’s really made anything considerably new to be frank. It’s all about re-hashing history over and over and adding your own sense of flavor. So why am I overly critical of Scandinavian countries when the same criticism could be applied to a lot of nations? Well in reality I’m not since I expect copying between designers. We also share a somewhat naïve, neutral and very functional way of living in Scandinavia which is why I think that design from our countries directly alludes to the average person’s state of mind. We want to feel safe and I truly believe that forms of prior decades give us a feeling of certainty, a feeling of home and warmth and last but not least security. Because let’s be honest, people “invest” in this furniture, they define themselves by them so what better way than a known name or a classic form. But before I make the jump to present days let us discuss the 90’s and design collectives like Norway Says and their fellow countrymen. They make claims of creating something new while reality speaks for itself. They are treading in the same path as their predecessors, doing re-interpretations, which usually means using new materials and making small adjustments to existing designs. Take the Berliner Chair made for Swedese in -99, would it have been done without Le Corbusiers LC2 from -28? Never! So while they make bold statements calling Wegner furniture “Museum artifacts” and ignorant claims like “Modernism died because it forgot about emotion”, I truly wonder why they feel the need berate modernism when they’re clearly quite fond of it aesthetically. I also find it hard to understand why they consider Danish classics as artifacts, sure Wegners design might not speak to them but that doesn’t change the fact that he has the most media coverage, most sales and lastly and most importantly, inspires new generations of designers. They don’t, yet.You might already consider me slightly cynical and that’s fine, however design in Scandinavia hasn’t seen that much development outside changes in materials and ascribing furniture with pretentious, emotional and allegorical values which is why my tone is rather harsh. While I call the emotional and allegorical aspect pretentious I do however appreciate the ecological aspect of design that took place during the 90’s and onwards. Don’t get me wrong, I’m going to criticize this as well because the eco-thinking of Scandinavia goes perfectly in line with our humanitarian welfare systems, our closeness to nature and yes you guessed it, the naivety of the average person.
I don’t know whether you’re familiar with Normann design from Copenhagen but they produce what could be called contemporary eco-design. In their minds it entails using water-saving methods during ceramic production for instance, whereas most people hardly consider factors like electricity consumption, transports and similar aspects. So while you think you’re making a conscious choice buying design made with heart, mind and soul, please remember, it’s usually made with a computer, a hope for revenue and if possible a good media campaign indoctrinating us as consumers. Up until this point I’m pretty confident that I’ve made it seem as if not a single designer is worthy of mentioning in the same breath as originality and the very future of design which obviously isn’t quite true. Individual cunning and expression still exists, just look at some of Jonas Bohlins designs, Stokkes Zero Gravity Chair, Anna Lerinders organic wall tiles from 2002 and a wide array of lamps from the last 20 years or so. Originality still exists, you just have to look for it harder and since a somewhat conservative mentality is and probably always will be prevalent in our Nordic countries this is where I chose to put my main focus.
You might ask yourself, and rightfully so, is a relative standstill negative though? Furniture and other objects for that matter, were and are still well executed, utilitarian and beautiful at that, so why waste time designing new objects?
Availability vs. Sustainability
I’m born and raised in Lund, Scania, located in the south of Sweden. Since I was about 15 years old I’ve been fascinated by design and beautiful objects, visiting boutiques, auctions with my parents, secondhand-stores and virtually every outlet there is for design in my area. What I have learned through these years, and what has become increasingly obvious during the last five years or so is that retro design seems to be here to stay for a long, long time. Let me tell you why. The biggest and most high-end design stores in my city are named Miljögården and Tornbo Möbler, so I set out on a 3 min voyage with my Volkswagen to either validate my opinions or perhaps being schooled by the managers. Their answers were however unanimous, classics, retro design, highly esteemed names, re-launching of old designs is what sells. It’s simple as that. Both stores had tried selling contemporary or “innovative” design until a few years back. However without any positive feedback from customers and since money makes the world go around, they don’t anymore. If we move down the price scale we’ll find chain-stores like Bolia and ILVA, both Danish manufacturers. They use young designers to create re-makes of furniture, or rather watered down retro copies with a modern twist. It’s not really necessary to go further down the scale but I hope you get my point, for every step you take you will get cheaper materials, worse handicraft, less thoughtful design, i.e. watered down versions of something once beautiful or even remotely original. On the other spectrum we have auction houses, retro stores, second-hand stores and the internet, all increasingly popular and obviously the best and most natural way to sell or buy used objects nowadays. This is something I’m very positive of since I claim that this is ecological thinking at its finest while you’re also helping to save a bit of history by rescuing old objects. What also intensifies the image of doing good by buying consciously is a large number of retro blogs, magazines like Design, Retro, Antikmagasinet, TV shows like Antikrundan/Antiques road show, Danish shows like Skattejegerna and antikkduellen. What I’m trying to tell you is that if almost every outlet there is for design in my area, one of Swedens most populated areas, doesn’t believe or invest in design that strives forward and rather goes with the safe cards we’re going to continue seeing predominantly retro design or retro inspired forms.
Now consider the present day, we’re reaching the end of 2014, ecological thinking in the design field has been around for a good two decades and still I haven’t seen much criticism towards contemporary design and the way we waste natural resources. Again I’m taking the liberty to criticize instead of giving appraisal, but how could I possibly accept wrongdoings without uttering a word. Instead of producing “new” designs every year wouldn’t it be a lot better for our environment and economically sound to re-use old materials, upholster old furniture and stop wasting time with this everlasting re-hashing of history. I can assure you one thing, it would be the most organic, down-to-earth and eco-friendly design ever created.
As long as we as consumers don’t support avant-garde design manufacturers won’t produce it, which obviously leads designers to a somewhat stagnant state. They also have to put food on their tables after all. Now I don’t really have the slightest clue what the future holds in store, I can only hope for some individual or group that will eventually get tired of treading in old paths. Who knows, maybe the http://www.Uglycute.com collective from Stockholm will enchant us with something new and provocative; they’re on the right way it seems. I do however think something radical has to happen because even if design has become globalized the Scandinavian climate, socially, politically and culturally is slightly gray and neutral. Maybe president Putin or the crumbling swedish government has a nasty surprise in store for us? Until that day I shall quite happily enjoy my evenings sipping Amarone wine from my 50’s Reijmyre glasses, reclining in Bruno Mathsson’s Jetson 66 Chair, following the latest auctions hoping to win something, because quite frankly, I love retro design, and so it seems, does everyone else.
#School’s out! Mexxxxico heeeeeeeere I come……………….
