Synopses & Reviews
Although Swedish design has exercised an extraordinary influence on Modern architecture and interior furnishings internationally since the early twentieth century, the intellectual background from which it emerged is far less familiar, for many of the crucial, generative writings on the subject by Swedish thinkers of the time have not been widely translated. Modern Swedish Design Theory collects three of these seminal essays for the first time in English. In the earliest of the group, Beauty in the Home (1897), written for a general audience, the social reformer Ellen Key (1849-1926) promotes simplicity and clarity of purpose in functional and decorative objects. Gregor Paulsson (1889-1977), director of the Swedish Society of Industrial Design from 1924 to 1934, was instrumental in the spread of ideas like Key's; his essay Better Things for Everyday Life (1919) similarly argued that design objects should be honest and simple in function, but went further in calling for a Modern design language that would reflect new materials and methods. Finally Acceptera (1931), co-written by the architects featured in Paulsson's Stockholm Exhibition of 1930, engages in a debate between traditionalists and Modernists--between handcrafted buildings and goods and design idioms emerging from industrial mass production. Accompanying these texts in the book are introductory essays and a postscript by the renowned architectural historian Kenneth Frampton.
Synopsis
Crucial generative writings exposing the intellectual background of modern Swedish design
Although modern Swedish design has exercised an extraordinary influence on international architecture and interior furnishings since the early twentieth century, some of the crucial generative writings on the subject have not been widely translated, and the movement's intellectual background is not well known.
Modern Swedish Design collects three of Swedish design's founding texts for the first time in English. In
Beauty in the Home (1899), philosopher and critic Ellen Key (1849-1926) promotes simplicity and clarity of purpose with the goal of social reform. Art historian Gregor Paulsson (1889-1977) was instrumental in the spread of ideas such as Key's; in
Better Things for Everyday Life (1919) he contends that design should be true to its time and available to all, and calls for a modern design language reflecting new materials and methods. Finally,
acceptera (1931), cowritten by Paulsson and architects featured in the famous Stockholm Exhibition of 1930, engages in a debate between the proponents of handicraft and those of design idioms emerging from industrial mass production. Lively illustrations and near-facsimiles of the texts' original publications, scholarly introductions by the editors, and an essay by architectural historian Kenneth Frampton, accompany the translations.
Synopsis
Edited by Lucy Creagh, Helena Kaberg, Barbara Miller Lane. Text by Lucy Creagh, Kenneth Frampton, Barbara Miller Lane, Helena Kaberg.
Synopsis
Although modern Swedish design has exercised an extraordinary influence on international architecture and interior furnishings since the early twentieth century, some of the crucial generative writings on the subject have not been widely translated, and the movement's intellectual background is not well known. Modern Swedish Design collects three of Swedish design's founding texts for the first time in English. In Beauty in the Home (1899), philosopher and critic Ellen Key (1849-1926) promotes simplicity and clarity of purpose with the goal of social reform. Art historian Gregor Paulsson (1889-1977) was instrumental in the spread of ideas such as Key's; in Better Things for Everyday Life(1919) he contends that design should be true to its time and available to all, and calls for a modern design language reflecting new materials and methods. Finally, acceptera (1931), cowritten by Paulsson and architects featured in the famous Stockholm Exhibition of 1930, engages in a debate between the proponents of handicraft and those of design idioms emerging from industrial mass production. Lively illustrations and near-facsimiles of the texts' original publications, scholarly introductions by the editors, and an essay by architectural historian Kenneth Frampton, accompany the translations.