What is Scandinavian Design?

Sanna Gebeyehu is a concept developer in the field of design and architecture, working with brand identity in a range of formats, for example communicating Swedish and Scandinavian design to the world. But what is that really?

“Designers, artists and architects often work with clients in different countries, so exactly separating what is what can be hard. A Swedish designer could be working in France, an Italian in Sweden – whose design would you call Scandinavian? Also, different styles naturally influence one another.”

“Broadly speaking, however, you could perhaps describe Scandinavian design as simplistic, of high quality, and in the forefront with new, innovative materials and methods of production. We are also ahead of the curve when it comes to sustainability – most producers of furniture can say what their footprint looks like, with transparency all the way.”

“It is quite common for observers to see our designs as ‘simple’, but within the simplistic and pure, there is not a lot of room for mistakes, neither from the designer’s nor the producer’s point of view.”

“About 70% of furnishings produced in Sweden are exported, with Germany, Norway, Denmark, and Finland being the main recipients and biggest markets.”

“We have also had a special relationship with Japan for a long time – despite the cultural differences, we are attracted by one another’s design aesthetics.”

“They would say that we provide high-quality designs that focus a lot on sustainability. We have a reputation of mainly doing stylistically pure designs with blonde woods and few colors. But our design history shows that we are quite colorful. If you, for instance, look at our Allmoge, Kurbits, and our amazing folk costumes, we are really polychromatic.”

“Interiors like those of the House of Carl Larsson – red houses with white corners and ‘snickarglädje’ – are designs and architectures that still today inspire us and lend themselves to new interpretations” Sanna concludes with a smile.

The focus on quality and sustainability, along with the stylistically pure designs that Sanna mentions can be found in Aritco lifts which proudly carry the traditions of Scandinavian design on to future generations around the world.