Books about mid-century Scandinavian design are a dime a dozen. Jacobsen chairs, Aalto stools, Juhl sofas — you know the drill. But if you’ve ever been to a design museum in Stockholm or Helsinki, you probably also know that some of the coolest objects made in the region date back to a more unexpected era: the ’80s, when good things weren’t just happening in Italy, believe it or not. A few months back, we spotted some examples of said amazingness on the Instagram feed of the Seattle design duo Ladies & Gentlemen Studio, which they’d noted were pulled from a vintage book they’d rediscovered while cleaning house. And so this column was born, a place for people to show off strange, beautiful, and mostly out-of-print volumes that wouldn’t otherwise see the light of day. Browse selections from Scandinavian Design Gallery (1987) in the slideshow here — complete with caption text plucked from the book and sporadic Ladies & Gentlemen accompanying commentary — then let us know if you have a gem of your own to share.
Ladies & Gentlemen on Scandinavian Design Gallery: “The ’80s is typically disregarded as a period of excess and gaudiness. The reality is that it was an extremely creative time and books like this give a better view of the variety and thought that went into design back then. Granted, there was ridiculous over-the-top stuff happening, but there were many simple, smart, restrained pieces too. Overall, we admire how expressive and artistic the profession was at the time. The ‘rules’ of design and art had already been thrown out the window, so designers were truly free to explore from more angles than ever before.
“Possibly the best part of this book is the styling — we find ourselves chuckling nostalgically on almost every page. Like the designs themselves, the photo styling is all-over-the-map creative: draped fabrics, crazy patterns, foggy atmospheric effects, random props… It really takes us back to our childhood and has us thinking we need a fog machine at our next photoshoot.”
“Etude upholstery fabric by Finn Sködt.” L&G: “We love this photo for styling reasons: Just drape fabric over a shape and call it gooood.”
“Sterling’s ‘Day & Night’ series is the result of product development for the world’s first Danish-made wristwatch, by the famous designer Jakob Jensen, best known for his work with Bang & Olufsen. The hands change color according to the background.” L&G: “The hands do whaaaaat?!”
“Extra, designed by Lars Liljekvist, is a super-light chair of laminated pressed-formed wood assembled with plastic screws and delivered in a flat carton.” L&G: “We’re ‘Extra’ attracted to the playful colors and the construction of this chair. It’s as if they all snap together like a little kid’s coat.”
“Forum series by Stig Herman Olsen and Per Kristian Dahl for Scanform.” L&G: “If we were ’80s power-architects we’d totally deck our conference out in this simple black and white set.”
“1. Blaus Bjerring, Box in gold and silver 2. Agnete Dinesen, Brooch in gold and black Danish stone. 3. Jan Lohman, brooch of silver, gold, titanium, niobium and steel. 4. Peder Musse, bracelet of silver and gold.” L&G: “We love the great mix of hard and soft lines, and dark and light materials.”
“Danish furniture design doesn’t rest on its laurels, but faces the classical challenges arising from a new age and its altered structures. Those challenges are more than met by Alta Form, which won attention with a collection of advanced models designed by a number of architects. Table and chairs with turned legs by Mogens Andersen; stacking stool and arch chair by Ole Schjøll.”
“Hans J. Wegner’s Chair 201, made in ash by PP Møbler and resting on a carpet woven in Norwegian wool by Vibeke Klint.” L&G: “This image summarizes one of the most endearing characteristics of Scandinavian design: its knack for achieving the right amount of warmth, simplicity, and modernity all at the same time.”
“A cozy Danish wood stove in white. Modern design — and why not? Fidanos Møbelexport has put this exciting new item on the market: A double-walled convection stove of steel with fire brick lining. Ash is shaken down into a special chamber, and there is a decorative log container at the bottom.”
“Clockwise: Ekko textile, Exil textile, and Epos curtains by Finn Sködt; Fuga curtain by Puk Lippmann.” L&G: The first three remind us of so many textiles we grew up with in the late ’80s and early ’90s. Prints and patterns like this really speak to that period of rebellion and people’s desire to be free — free to scribble nothing and have it be something, free to draw like a child, free from uniformity, and free to have geckos all over one’s pants and be the coolest kid in school.”
“Folle’s collection of desk accessories began with the late Henning Andreasen’s stapling machine, shown top left, which became famous as the most attractive and best-designed stapling machine in the world.” L&G: “Seeing this makes us want to de-clutter our own desk. We imagine that our efficiency would increase, especially with a container full of cigarettes and a photo of a young Demi Moore look-alike staring at us while we work.”
“Shelving unit and chairs by Niels Jørgen Haugesen.”
“Top: Chair design Bernt Petersen, color combinations and mobile LB Geersten. Bottom: Table by Niels Jørgen Haugesen, chair by Arne Jacobsen.”
“Antti Nurmensniemi designed the Antti for a Japanese telephone company. Antti has particularly enriched the Finnish furniture industry with notable and innovative furniture models.” L&G: “We’re especially inspired by the partnership between Antti and his wife Vuokko (textile designer for Marimekko). Like the Finnish equivalent of the Eameses, they used their separate interests and talents collectively to create some amazing work.”
“Patterns and surface decoration were such a huge influence at the time. This particular rug sought to ‘widen to cover the whole environment’ via an expanding pattern and color scheme. The rug manufacturer, Ege-Axminster, collaborated with 12 artists and gave them the freedom to integrate their artwork on the floor to create an impactful environment. Design Niels Nedergaard.”
The cover of the book, which unfortunately is long since out of print.
After Jean Lee met Dylan Davis while studying industrial design at the University of Washington, and after a string of successful school collaborations led them to start dating, the two of them did a semester abroad together in Rome. “Those were the good times,” laughs Lee. “We saw all these independent studios there, and designers working more as artists, and it was really inspiring for us. That wasn't happening at all in Seattle.” And so after they graduated in 2005, Lee went on to work for a messenger bag company based in Philadelphia, while Davis joined the team at Henrybuilt. They did a small trade selling vintage finds on Etsy for awhile, and eventually started repurposing those objects into new designs as a hobby. But what finally led them to join forces as Ladies & Gentlemen in 2009 were the first signs that they might be able to find in Seattle what they experienced in Rome after all: Not only had studios like Iacoli & Mcallister and Grain begun to flourish by making and selling their own work, their new coalition Join was gathering together local designers to collaborate and exhibit together. “Jamie Iacoli asked us to contribute to a show, and were like ‘What the hell? Let’s do it!’”
Just walking into Bodega Gallery in Philadelphia’s Old City and being greeted by one of its five cool, young founders — or browsing its online archive of past exhibitions, which is peppered with names like Sam Falls and Travess Smalley — you could easily file it alongside similar edgy, high-brow art establishments in cities like L.A., New York, or Paris. And then you find yourself conversing with a few of said cool, young founders (all of them artists themselves and graduates of Hampshire College), and you hear them say things like “stuff is for sale if people want to buy it, but that’s not the driving force,” or “this is just a space — everything happens around it, and nothing happens at it,” and you realize that the economics of a place like Philly can be even more freeing for projects like this than you’d imagined. Bodega really is just a space, one that's run by Elyse Derosia, Ariela Kuh, Lydia Okrent, James Pettengill, and Eric Veit, but where it feels like almost anything could happen.
It’s possible you’ve spent hours foraging flea markets, wondering how a Russel Wright pitcher or an Eames shell chair or a Jens Risom credenza might fit into your home décor. But did you ever stop to wonder how those pieces may have figured into the homes of their own makers? Leslie Williamson, a San Francisco–based photographer, did — and the result is Handcrafted Modern, a new book that offers an intimate glimpse inside the houses of 14 of America’s most beloved mid-century designers.
