The post-war years and Scandinavian design

Reconstruction and welfare: teak and glass from the North, plywood and plastic from the United States, scooters and lamps from Italy and good form from Ulm and Braun.

After the Second World War Europe had to be rebuilt and millions of new homes furnished. The Nordic countries, which had come through better than many others, became known for furniture, glass, ceramics and textiles that combined the quality of craft with serial production. The exhibition Design in Scandinavia toured the United States and Canada in 1954–1957 and made Scandinavian Design a household term.

In Denmark cabinetmakers and architects such as Hans J. Wegner, Finn Juhl, Børge Mogensen and Arne Jacobsen made chairs that count among the classics of the twentieth century. In Finland Tapio Wirkkala, Timo Sarpaneva and Kaj Franck won prize after prize at the Milan Triennale. In Sweden Stig Lindberg worked at Gustavsberg and IKEA began selling furniture in flat packs.

At the same time the United States and Italy shaped post-war styles of their own. Charles and Ray Eames experimented with moulded plywood, fibreglass and wire for Herman Miller; Italy set society in motion with the Vespa and the Fiat 500. In West Germany the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Ulm and the company Braun pursued an austere, systematic design known as die gute Form, good form.

• Scandinavian design
• The post-war era
• Post-war modernism