Bruno Mathsson (13 January 190717 August 1988) was a Swedish

furniture designer This is a list of notable people whose primary occupation is furniture design. A * Alvar Aalto (1898-1976) * Eero Aarnio (born 1932) * Robert Adam (1728-1792) * Thomas Affleck (1745-1795) * Franco Albini (1905-1977) * Davis Allen (1916-1999) * ...

and

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

whose ideas aligned with functionalism,

modernism Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

, as well as old Swedish crafts tradition.

Biography

Mathsson was raised in the town of

Värnamo Värnamo (), historically known as Wernamo, is a town in Jönköping County in the south of Sweden. It is situated on the river Lagan just north of the lake Vidöstern. It is the seat of Värnamo Municipality and has 19,778 inhabitants as of 31 ...

in the

Småland Småland () is a historical province () in southern Sweden. Småland borders Blekinge, Scania, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name Småland literally means ''Small Lands''. The Latinized fo ...

region of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, the son of a master cabinet maker. After a short time of education in school, he started to work in his father's gallery. He soon found a great interest in furniture and especially chairs, their function and design. In the 1920s and 30s he developed a techniques for building

bentwood Bentwood objects are those made by wetting wood (either by soaking or by steaming), then bending it and letting it harden into curved shapes and patterns. In furniture making this method is often used in the production of rocking chairs, cafe c ...

chairs with hemp webbing. The first model, called the Grasshopper, was used at Värnamo Hospital in 1931.

Edgar Kaufmann Jr. Edgar Kaufmann Jr. (April 9, 1910 – July 31, 1989) was an American architect, lecturer, author, and an adjunct professor of architecture and art history at Columbia University. Early years He was the son of Edgar J. Kaufmann, a wealthy Pittsbu ...

, director of the Industrial Design Department at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

(MOMA), collected Mathsson's chairs and included them in several exhibitions in the 1940s. Kaufmann considered Mathsson's importance in furniture design on par with that of

Alvar Aalto Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto (; 3 February 1898 – 11 May 1976) was a Finnish architect and designer. His work includes architecture, furniture, textiles and glassware, as well as sculptures and paintings. He never regarded himself as an artist, see ...

. Kaufmann and his family also had a Mathsson chair at their house

Fallingwater Fallingwater is a house designed by the architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1935 in the Laurel Highlands of southwest Pennsylvania, about southeast of Pittsburgh in the United States. It is built partly over a waterfall on Bear Run in the Mill R ...

. Mathsson was also an accomplished architect; he completed about 100 structures in the 1940s and 50s. He was the first architect in Sweden to build all-glass structures with heated floors. His furniture showroom in Värnamo (1950) was a significant example; it is well-preserved and open to the public today. For his glass houses, he developed double- and triple-pane insulated glass units called "Bruno-Pane". He traveled extensively in the United States and was strongly influenced by the solar houses of

George Fred Keck George Frederick Keck (1895-1980) was an American modernist architect based in Chicago, Illinois. He was later assisted in his practice by his brother William Keck to form the firm of Keck & Keck. Biography Keck was born in Watertown, Wisconsin, ...

. Mathsson's architecture was also influenced by a visit to the

Eames House The Eames House (also known as Case Study House No. 8) is a landmark of mid-20th century modern architecture located at 203 North Chautauqua Boulevard in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles. It was constructed in 1949, by husband- ...

Charles and Ray Eames Charles Eames ( Charles Eames, Jr) and Ray Eames ( Ray-Bernice Eames) were an American married couple of industrial designers who made significant historical contributions to the development of modern architecture and furniture through the work of ...

in March 1949 just as it was being completed.

Works

Furniture

* Grasshopper (1931) * Mimat (1932) * Pernilla (1934) * The Eva Chair (1935) * Folding table (1935) * Paris Daybed (1937) * Swivel chair (1939-1940) * Pernilla Lounge * Jetson Chair * Super-Ellipse™ table series, with Piet Hein (1966) * Annika nesting tables (1968)

Architecture

* Bruno Mathsson furniture showroom, Värnamo (1950) * house at Danderyd (1955) * Villa Prenker, Kungsör (1955) * Kosta Glassworks exhibition hall and residences, Kosta (1956) * weekend cottage at Frösakull (1960) **"one of the most daring examples of his glass houses." * Södrakull, outside Värnamo (1965)

References

External links

* * 1907 births 1988 deaths Swedish furniture designers 20th-century Swedish architects Recipients of the Prince Eugen Medal People from Värnamo Municipality {{Sweden-architect-stub