Scandinavian design and mid-century

Pale wood, soft forms and everyday objects for everyone – Scandinavian design became a byword around the world.

After the Second World War, Scandinavian design became known worldwide through the exhibition Design in Scandinavia, which toured the United States in 1954–1957. It stood for quality, function and human warmth.

Danish furniture architects such as Hans J. Wegner, Arne Jacobsen and Finn Juhl designed chairs in teak and moulded wood. In Sweden, Stig Lindberg made ceramics for Gustavsberg, while Bruno Mathsson and Greta Magnusson Grossman designed furniture and lamps.

In the United States, Charles and Ray Eames created furniture in moulded plywood and fibreglass, and in Germany Dieter Rams designed austere appliances for Braun. Towards the end of the period came plastic and the colours of Pop Art, with Verner Panton's chair made in a single piece.

• Design in Scandinavia – how the Nordic countries became a brand
• The Danish chairs
• Swedish design: Gustavsberg, Orrefors and Mathsson
• Finland, Arabia and Marimekko
• IKEA and democratic design
• Charles and Ray Eames – moulded wood and fibreglass
• Ulm, Braun and systematic form
• Close reading: the Panton Chair – a chair in a single piece
• Women in post-war design
• Afterlife: classics, copies and new narratives
• Bruno Mathsson
• Greta Magnusson Grossman
• Stig Lindberg
• Astrid Sampe
• Hans J. Wegner
• Arne Jacobsen
• Charles Eames
• Ray Eames
• Dieter Rams
• Verner Panton