Maria Benktzon (born 1946) is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

designer, she is known for

industrial design Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical Product (business), products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in advan ...

with human factors. She is a co-founder of Ergonomi Design Gruppen which later became

Veryday Veryday was a Swedish industrial design consultancy, headquartered in the Bromma area of Stockholm, with additional studios in New York City, Singapore, Dubai, and London. It was formally named Ergonomi Design Gruppen (English: Ergonomic Design G ...

, an industrial design consultancy located in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

. The company aimed to design improved everyday objects for the home and work. In November 2016, Veryday joined forces with

McKinsey & Company McKinsey & Company is a global management consulting firm founded in 1926 by University of Chicago professor James O. McKinsey, that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. McKinsey is the oldest and ...

, and today operates under the name "McKinsey Design."

Biography

Maria Benktzon was born in 1946 in

Nyköping Nyköping () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Nyköping Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden with 32,759 inhabitants as of 2017. The city is also the capital of Södermanland County. Including Arnö, the locality on the ...

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 ...

. and studied at the Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm. In 1968, Benktzon was at a conference and saw a talk given by Victor Papanek concerning design for social good, which inspired her user-centred and inclusive approach to design. In 1969, Maria graduated and joined Henrik Wahlforss’ group, established as Ergonomidesign. In 1972, Maria Benktzon and collaborated with in-depth ergonomic and physiological studies to investigate the grip of knives and bread saws, among other things. Their efforts were able to raise the standards of facilities for the disabled regarding for accessibility and functionality. They designed kitchenware, cutlery and personal hygiene tools; in order to allow people with limited hand strength or movement to continue using these items. Much of Maria Benktzon’s work has been recognised as landmarks of inclusive design. One of the first products resulting from her collaboration on studies with Sven Eric Juhlin was the world’s first angled kitchen knife, designed for Gustavsberg in 1973. In 1978, they designed the revolutionary Knork Fork, which acts as a knife and fork and was aimed at people incapable of using two hands to eat. In the same year, they also designed the Eat and Drink Plate. Other notable design objects include the

Scandinavian Airlines Scandinavian Airlines, more commonly known and styled as SAS, is the flag carrier of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. ''SAS'' is an abbreviation of the company's full name, Scandinavian Airlines System or legally Scandinavian Airlines System Denmark ...

(SAS) coffee pot (1987), various Tupperware knives, Doro phones, and Ejendals work gloves. Maria's work is in various public museum collections, including at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, the

Röhsska Museum The Röhsska Museum ( sv, Röhsska museet, earlier named ''Röhsska konstslöjdsmuseet'', also known as Design Museum), is located in Gothenburg, Sweden. It is a museum focused on design, fashion and applied arts. The museum collection consists ...

, and the

Nationalmuseum Nationalmuseum (or National Museum of Fine Arts) is the national gallery of Sweden, located on the peninsula Blasieholmen in central Stockholm. The museum's operations stretches far beyond the borders of Blasieholmen, the nationalmuseum manag ...

. Maria has received various awards recognising her innovative, ergonomic and consumer-friendly designs of household objects. She was presented with the Ron Mace “Designing for the 21st century” award in 2000 and a lifetime achievement award at the Include Conference in London in 2005. In 2023, Maria received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the DesignEuropa Awards, organised by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).

References

{{Design-stub Living people 1946 births Swedish industrial designers