Scandinavian Design

Kjetil Fallan is Associate Professor of Design History in the Department of Philosophy, Classics, History of Art and Ideas at the University of Oslo, Norway, and the author of Design History (Berg, 2010).

Most 20th-century accounts of Scandinavian design have depended on clichéd descriptors such as 'humane', 'democratic', 'organic' and 'blond'. The authors of the twelve highly stimulating essays in this new anthology on the subject, skilfully assembled by design historian Kjetil Fallan, overtly reject those tired terms and, instead, offer 21st-century readers a reinvigorated account that is richer, more diverse and, most importantly, more analytical and scholarly. The book brings together new information, new approaches and a new set of narratives that make us look again at the idea of Scandinavian design. These alternative histories challenge existing orthodoxies and, as such, are guaranteed to become key design historical texts of the 21st century.

• Introduction, Kjetil Fallan, University of Oslo, Norway1. A Historiography of Scandinavian DesignKjetil Fallan, Anders V. Munch, University of Southern Denmark, Pekka Korvenmaa, Aalto University, Finland; Espen Johnsen, University of Oslo, Norway, Sara Kristoffersson and Christina Zetterlund, both Konstfack University College of Arts, Crafts and Design, SwedenPART 1: NETWORKS2. 'What's Worth Copying Is Worth Protecting': Applied Art and the Evolution of Danish Copyright Law, Stina Teilmann-Lock, University of Copenhagen, Denmark3. Hand-Woven Fabrics by the Yard: Unveiling Modern Design Industry of the Interwar Period, Leena Svinhufvud, Design Museum Helsinki, Finland4. Designing the 'Consumer in Infinity': The Swedish Co-operative Union's New Consumer Policy, c. 1970, Helena Mattsson, Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden5. Designing a Hole in the Wall: The Reverse Vending Machine as Socio-Technical System and Environmental Infrastructure, Finn Arne Jørgensen, Umeå University, SwedenPART 2: APPROPRIATIONS6. Just Decoration? Ideology and Design in Early Twentieth Century Sweden, Christina Zetterlund, Konstfack University College of Arts, Crafts and Design, Sweden7. Goldfish Memories: Recounting Oslo's Streamlined Aluminium Trams, Kjetil Fallan, University of Oslo, Norway8. Creature Comforts: Soft Sofas and the Demise of Modernist Morality in 1970s Finland, Minna Sarantola-Weiss, Helsinki City Museum, Finland9. Jacob Jensen and the Lifa Kitchen: Branding the 'Lifestyle Kitchen' with Designer Personality and Mythology, Hans-Christian Jensen, University of Southern Denmark, DenmarkPART 3: MEDIATIONS10. Something Old, Something New, Something Stolen, Something Blue: Designing a Chocolate Bar, Stig Kvaal and Per Østby, both Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway11. Exhibitable Furniture: Interpreting Images of Design, Malene Breunig, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark12. The Advantages of Being Swedish: Volvo in America, Jeff Werner, Stockholm University, Sweden13. From Policies To Politics: Finnish Design on the Ideological Battlefield in the 1960s and 1970s, Pekka Korvenmaa, Aalto University, FinlandEpilogue, Kjetil FallanBibliographyIndex