Ergonomics, critique and new form

Design was questioned: it was to be fair, ergonomic and environmentally friendly – and in the 1980s also personal and artistic.

In the 1970s criticism was directed at the consumer society and at design that served only the well-off. Ergonomi Design Gruppen developed aids and tools for people with different abilities. In 1976 the Swedish Society of Crafts and Design changed its name to Svensk Form.

In the 1980s a new generation of designers arrived with artistic ambitions. Jonas Bohlin's Concrete chair of 1981, made of concrete and steel, was produced by Källemo and became a symbol of a new, sculptural Swedish design.