Artek. 1935

- Artek is a name meant to manifest the desire to combine art and technology.

Artek is a Finnish furniture manufacturer known for its timeless aesthetics and functionality

Artek was founded in 1935 in Helsinki by the young idealist couple Aino and Alvar Aalto, art agent Maire Gullichsen and art historian Nils-Gustav Hahl to "promote a modern culture of life through exhibitions and other educational means".

Artek is functionality, sculptural lines and the poetry of simplicity.

Artek has always stood for innovation, and created new paths at the intersection between design, architecture and art

One of Artek's founders is the architect Alvar Aalto, who created Artek for his furniture. Alvar Aalto was constantly at the forefront of development and technology and pushed the boundaries of what would work. He experimented with different materials, especially wood and he found different ways to bend wood.

The most famous piece of furniture from Artek is the Paimio Chair, which is permanently exhibited at MoMA in New York

ALVAR AALTO

Alvar Aalto (1898 –1976) was a Finnish architect, urban planner and designer. In 1923 Alvar Aalto started an office in Jyväskylä together with Aino Marsio who was also an architect. They married the following year. In the following years, they worked intensively and competed in a number of architectural competitions.

He was internationally recognized in 1935 after the library in Viipuri was completed.

During a long and productive career, Aalto designed buildings for almost all central public institutions, as well as standardized housing and private homes.

Alvar Aalto is one of Finland's most successful people ever and is hugely appreciated in his home country.

Alvar Aalto's glass objects are sold by Ittala, with products such as the Savoy vase, also called the Aalto vase.

Aalto left a legacy with lasting resonance. Together with his wife Aino Aalto, he began designing furniture as a natural extension of their architectural thinking, and his first modern furniture design was created in 1929 for the tuberculosis sanatorium in Paimio, Finland. Artek was established in 1935 to market and sell Alvar and Aino Aalto's furniture, lighting and textiles, especially in international markets.

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FRITZ HANSEN. 1872

ARNE JACOBSEN

One of Fritz Hansen's designers is Arne Jacobsen (1902-1971)

Arne Jacobsen was born in 1902 in Copenhagen. He came from a bourgeois family with a Jewish background. at a young age he dreamed of creating things.

He first trained as a bricklayer, before studying architecture at the Academy of Fine Arts' School of Architecture in Copenhagen 1924–27 under Kay Fisker and Kaj Gottlob. His major breakthrough as an architect came in 1929 with the winning proposal for the competition for Fremtidens hus. The following year he opened his own office in Hellerup. At this time, Arne Jacobsen also began the successful collaboration with Fritz Hansen, who still produces his furniture.

In 1943, Arne Jacobsen was forced to flee to Sweden across the Øresund from German-occupied Denmark because of his Jewish background. He stayed in Sweden for two years and during the years in Sweden designed a couple of holiday houses, fabrics and wallpapers.

Back in Denmark, the collaboration with Fritz Hansen resumed and in 1952 he designed the Mauren chair for the staff canteen at the pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk. Fritz Hansen was initially skeptical of the design, but Jacobsen believed in his design so much that he promised to buy back all the Mauren chairs that were not sold. Jacobsen was right, Mauren was a success and is still a design icon and bestseller.

Arne Jacobsen created the world's first design hotel – SAS Royal Hotel Copenhagen in 1958–1960, he was responsible for the entire interior, including the furniture. It was here that several of the design classics Egget, Syveren, Svanen, the 3300 series and the AJ lamps were created.

During his lifetime, Arne Jacobsen received a number of awards.

Others who have also worked for Fritz Hansen include Poul Kjærholm, Hans J. Wegner and Piet Hein. Fritz Hansen also collaborates with contemporary furniture architects, including Hiromichi Konno, Cecilie Manz and Kasper Salto

CARL HANSEN & SØN. 1902

The history of Carl Hansen & Søn began in 1908 when the Danish cabinetmaker Carl Hansen opened his first small furniture workshop in Odense, Denmark.

Since then, the company's success has depended on two core ideas: an uncompromising commitment to the finest craftsmanship, and alliances with exceptional designers who continually reinvent and advance the concept of contemporary design.

Carl Hansen & Søn's development has been deeply influenced by the long-term relationship with one of the greatest designers of all time: Hans J. Wegner.

The creative collaboration began in 1949, when Carl Hansen's son Holger Hansen took a chance on the then unknown designer, and Wegner developed a successful furniture series that included the now iconic Wishbone Chair.

This collaboration and the many that followed demonstrated what can be achieved when outstanding design and uncompromising manufacturing come together.

In the 1950s, Wegner emerged as a driving force in the international success of the Danish modern design movement. He has since become Carl Hansen & Søn's best-known and best-selling designer, his works recognized as modern classics and treasured collectibles around the world.

Hans J. Wegner

Hans J. Wegner (1914-2007) was born in 1914 in Tønder, a town in southern Denmark. He began an apprenticeship with the Danish master carpenter H.F. Stahlberg when he was only 14 years old. He later moved to Copenhagen and attended the School of Arts and Crafts from 1936 to 1938 before starting as a furniture designer.

In 1938, Wegner was approached by architects and designers Arne Jacobsen and Erik Møller, and began designing furniture for the new Aarhus Town Hall. In the same period, Wegner began to collaborate with master cabinetmaker Johannes Hansen, who was a driving force in bringing new furniture design to the Danish public at Copenhagen's Snedkerlaug exhibitions.

- At the heart of Wegner's legacy is his focus on showing the inner soul of furniture through a simple and functional exterior

FREDERICIA FURNITURE. 1911

Fredericia Furniture is a family-owned Danish company founded in 1911.

Fredericia has built a strong tradition of craftsmanship and design, developed in close collaboration with a circle of internationally recognized designers. They all play a role in the design and craft brand Fredericia is today.

The company is associated with the furniture architect Børge Mogensen, and has received international recognition for his and others' classic designs.

Frederica Furniture collaborates with some of today's best Danish designers, which has meant that the brand has received new attention in recent years

The company was originally established as Fredericia Stolefabrikk. Right from the start, Fredericia became known for furniture of extremely high quality in various traditional styles.

In 1955, the visionary businessman Andreas Graversen integrated Fredericia's heritage of high-quality furniture with modernist ideals in a close, well-known collaboration with Børge Mogensen. Mogensen's intuitive understanding of materials and strong sense of proportion led to a series of iconic pieces celebrated to this day - by collectors, museums, architects and designers worldwide.

Ever since Mogensen's untimely death in 1972, Fredericia has continuously developed by keeping up with the times.

Børge Mogensen

Børge Mogensen (1914-1972) was a Danish furniture designer. He was one of the most influential designers in the design of the concept "Danish Modern" known throughout the world. and he was Fredericia's founding designer.

He found inspiration all over the world in his quest to create everyday objects that would last for generations.

In the period from 1942 to 1950, he was head of FDB's drawing office. There he designed less expensive furniture. He himself stated that designing furniture for ordinary people was a social task. And in 1950 he established his own drawing office.

Mogensen's most recognized design was developed during his collaboration and friendship with Andreas Graversen, Fredericia's managing director from 1955 - 1995.

Børge Mogensen was a pioneer who helped establish Denmark as a furniture design culture.

His lifelong ambition was to create durable, useful furniture that would enrich people's everyday lives. Functional furniture for all parts of the home and society.

Among Mogen's best-known works are The Spanish chair, J39 and Boligen's construction cabinet.

 FJORDFIESTA. 2001

- Our long-term goal is to lead the way towards becoming completely circular and sustainable

Fjordfiesta is a Norwegian furniture manufacturer established by architect Pål Lunder in 2001. They are a modern design brand based in a fjord, on the beautiful west coast of Norway.

Scandinavian aesthetics and design culture with modern values is something they value, they also focus heavily on ethical and environmental considerations, and aim to create furniture that will last for generations.

​Designers from different eras reflect Fjordfiesta's belief in Scandinavian design; both classic and modern.

They are proud to work with creative minds such as Anderssen & Voll, Tron Meyer and other talented Norwegian designers.

Sven Ivar Dysthe

Sven Ivar Dysthe (1931-2020) was a Norwegian furniture and industrial designer.

Dysthe began an apprenticeship with cabinetmaker Edvard Eriksen in Trondheim in the period from 1947 to 1950. He then did an internship with master carpenter Reidar Hansen in Bærum before passing the exam was rated as "special" by the Craftsmen's Guild in 1951.

He continued his studies in Great Britain at the Royal College of Art in London, the school's newly established line of industrial design, where in 1953 he graduated in industrial design.

After graduating in 1954, Dysthe got a place in the design office of the Danish architects and furniture designers Peter Hvidt and Orla Mølgaard Nielsen in Copenhagen. In Denmark, he got to know and understand Danish furniture art, and was inspired.

In the period 1956–1957, Dysthe was employed as a furniture designer at the furniture manufacturer Hiorth og Østlyngen. In an assignment from the company, he participated in the autumn exhibition, together with interior architect Trinelise Dysthe. The exhibition attracted great interest. He exhibited a dining chair in black lacquered tubular steel with wooden slots, a curved, horn-shaped wooden back and a light, almost floating seat.

Sven Ivar Dysthe established a design office together with Trinelise Dysthe in 1958. In the same year, he participated in Askim Gummivarefabrikk's furniture competition and won two first prizes.

For Dokka, Dysthe designed the armchair 1001 AF, which was exhibited at the furniture fair in Cologne and the Triennale in Milan in 1960. The chair can be considered one of the main works in Norwegian 20th-century design history

In 1963, he designed the Laminette chair, which has gained wide public use and is considered the best-selling chair in Norway. The hemispherical chair Planet, which Dysthe designed in 1965, is considered another of his main works.

He designed the chair Pop Corn for the Henie Onstad art center, which was opened in 1968.

He is also known for having designed the furniture in the waiting hall at Oslo Airport Gardermoen.

Dystge's design is particularly known for the use of lamination techniques in the production of wooden furniture.