Art Appreciation: Scandinavian Design: An Introduction

This three-hour session offers a look at the evolution of Scandinavian design during a period of immense social and aesthetic transformation. From the restrained elegance of the 1930s to the playful futurism of the 1960s, we’ll explore how designers from Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Norway developed a distinctive approach that fused modernist ideals with craft traditions and democratic values.

We begin by tracing the emergence of Functionalism and Nordic Classicism in the interwar years, spotlighting early pioneers like Alvar Aalto and Kaare Klint.

In the postwar decades, Scandinavian design gained international acclaim for its human-centred approach—emphasising comfort, durability, and understated beauty in domestic objects. We’ll examine key figures such as Arne Jacobsen, Hans Wegner, and Greta Magnusson Grossman, as well as the material innovations that made their work iconic.

In the final section, we turn to the 1950s and 60s, when Scandinavian designers embraced bold colour, synthetic materials, and futuristic forms. With figures like Verner Panton and Eero Aarnio, we’ll see how the region’s design ethos evolved into playful expressions of space age optimism.