Required Reading: Scandinavian Modern - Remodelista
In her frugality (borne out immigrant pragmatism), my mother unwittingly inspired my spare design sensibilities. Ever since she picked up an unloved Alvar Aalto Artek High Chair at a New England yard sale in the 1970’s for a song, I have gravitated to Scandinavian design. I recently indulged my now obsession and spent an afternoon reading Scandinavian Modern, the latest in a series of books on Scandinavian design by Magnus Englund and Chrystina Schmidt, founder of UK Scandinavian design chain Skandium. We particularly like Danish ceramicist Grethe Meyer‘s earthy, warm house designed and built in the 1960’s. Filled with her own tableware, as well as furniture that she designed with good friend and Danish design compatriot Bí¸rge Mogensen, her rooms present ideas about modular systems that remain fresh and influential today. The open shelves in Grethe Meyer’s dining room are filled with decades worth of ceramics of her own design. The Shaker table and chairs are by Meyer’s friend and collaborator Bí¸rge Mogensen, created for the Danish Consumer Co-operative in 1944. The í˜resund kitchen system designed by Mogensen and Meyer was a precursor to many of the built-in kitchens we see today (we have a feeling Ikea’s designers have taken note). The brass pendant lamp, another Meyer design, is reminiscent of one of her bowls turned upside down. In her living room, Meyer used the Model 2213 sofa, a 1962 Mogensen design originally made for his own home. A Mogensen and Meyer collaboration, the 1952 Boligens Byggeskabe wall unit broke new ground in modular design and went on to become a best seller. See 11 other Scandinavian interiors in Scandinavian Modern by Magnus Englund and Chrystina Schmidt, published by Ryland Peters and Small; $29.95.