Nordic Design Cultures in Transformation, 1960–1980: Revolt and Resilience

Since the turn of the millennium, design historians have sought to move beyond the myths and stereotypes of 1950s “Scandinavian Design” and reveal what took place in the decades that followed. Scandinavian Design beyond the Myth (Halén and Wickman 2003) kicked off a re-evaluation in 2003, and subsequent scholarship has taken a more critical position on the hegemony of Scandinavian “good taste” and uncovered little-known and alternative histories. This scholarship includes those marginalized designers who simply didn't fit the overarching narrative constructed by the Nordic design associations. Norwegian design historian Kjetil Fallan's previous anthology, Scandinavian Design: Alternative Histories (Fallan 2012) revealed lesser-known design histories, and in Nordic Design Cultures in Transformation, 1960–1980, he is joined by co-editors Christina Zetterlund from Sweden and Anders Munch from Denmark for this excellent and timely anthology. Together, they have brought together an impressive group of scholars from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, covering a wide range of previously uncharted design histories with contemporary relevance.Nordic design is better-known to most of the world as “Scandinavian Design,” a stylistic category of objects primarily for the home that was successfully created through discourse in the 1950s. Its associated myths have obscured developments in the Nordic region ever since. Perhaps this is, as the editors state in their introduction, largely due to an emphasis on mid-century exhibitions, objects, and individuals that permeates most discourse. Indeed, a revolution had begun in the late 1950s. In 1958, the American journal Crafts Horizons first proclaimed this revolution, stemming from the dissatisfaction of young designers with the limited boundaries of “Scandinavian Design” (Brown 1958). There have been previous studies, referenced by the authors in their introduction, that speak to the aims of this volume; however, they have largely been published in Nordic languages. Therefore, it is heartening to see increased attention to the revolutionary period that followed in the 1960s and 1970s, particularly as an Open Source work in English. Globally, these decades represent a period of transformation in design with the rise of environmentalism and various rights movements, yet how this played out in the Nordic countries has remained unexplained until now. Nordic Design Cultures in Transformation asks the overarching question of “How do we move beyond the traditional narrative of ‘Scandinavian Design’”? The authors do so through the lens of discourses, institutions, and practices in its aftermath, where they claim that “the roots of the most prominent features of Nordic design's contemporary significance” (p. 1) are to be found. For the casual reader, that there was an aftermath is a revelation, and given the recent popular interest in Scandi-this and Hygge-that, this volume provides an illuminating counter-narrative of Nordic design activism, social design, ergonomics, user participation, and ecological sustainability.The anthology was developed through a series of funded workshops between 2019–2021 engaging collaborative and multidisciplinary approaches. The chapters cover industrial production, marketing, consumption, public institutions, design education, and trade journals through sources that include oral histories, “grey literature,” and private archives. To be true to the collaborative design processes that are discussed in the anthology, the editors used a collaborative approach of co-authorship that allows comparative perspectives across borders. Oral histories and interdisciplinary approaches from outside of the cultural sector strengthen the transnational relationships and move away from problematic national histories.Organized into three parts across three themes of transformation—discourse, institutions, and practices—the anthology features fourteen chapters covering a fascinating range of material focused on previously neglected subjects and topics between 1960–1980. The strength of this anthology lies in the breadth of design historical research that places the revolution and transformation taking place in parallel with international events.Part I, “Transforming Discourse,” consists of six essays. Fallan's contribution in chapter 1 examines the rise of environmentalism and distinct industrial design organizations, the result of dissatisfaction with the limiting applied arts organizations. The early development of participatory and user-centred design practices discussed here is an important Nordic design innovation set against the role of student organizations in challenging traditional modes of design education. Next, Munch and Jensen in chapter 2 focus on a cluster of agendas around “Environment” in debates on design and architecture in Denmark around 1970. They unpack the role of Papanek, Panton, and Ditzel in empowering users in the design and use of everyday spaces and reveal that without consensus across disciplines, domain-specific approaches to the redesign of homes, public spaces, and consumption obstructed the impact. Labuhn in chapter 3 examines exhibitions on the environmental crisis in Sweden and Norway that led to environmental awareness infiltrating political agendas. Zetterlund in chapter 4 demonstrates how critical and experimental approaches to exhibitions, counter to 1950s tropes, are crucial in illustrating the revolutionary period. This is done in conversation with Swedish journalist, educator, curator, and activist Gunilla Lundahl, who was part of the activism that resulted in the exhibition ARARAT at Moderna Museet in 1969, discussed by Labuhn in the previous essay. This is evidence of the value of oral histories in capturing important histories and perspectives through the act of making exhibitions. Graesse and Savola in chapter 5 investigate a sort of Arts and Crafts revival in Finland and Norway in the wake of increased urbanization, which they label “domestic colonization.” Part I concludes with an essay by Westman Kuhmunen in chapter 6 examining the Sámi mobilization AIDA project and exhibitions in the 1970s. The project seeks to establish design archives from a Sámi perspective and presents two exhibitions as case studies to illustrate the differing processes related to audiences—an important contribution to global discussions on Indigenous peoples.Part II, “Transforming Institutions,” includes four chapters. First, Valle, Rossau, and Svinhufvud in chapter 7 examine the meaning of design in three Nordic exhibitions, demonstrating the shift from luxury items to industrially mass produced and essential everyday objects and how this new culture of design was exhibited from libraries to schools and museums. The transformation in language, display, and content to speak to different stakeholders is developed through “Norwegian Industrial Design 1963,” where objects of mass production were exhibited alongside more familiar luxury objects; Denmark's FORM 68, a critical exhibition that was anti-crafts and presented design as process and social discourse; and Finland's “Object and Environment 1968–71” that took everyday design objects into the suburbs to Finnish schools, libraries, and local exhibition spaces. An excellent comparative approach illustrates the changing presentation of design culture across the three countries. Korvenmaa in chapter 8 provides a chronological account of the collision of design education, activism, and politics in Finland through the transformation of the Central School of Applied Arts into Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture between 1949 and the 1990s. Riisberg, Munch, and Nielsen in chapter 9 turn to oral histories interviewing former students involved in activism and protests at the Copenhagen School of Arts and Crafts in 1969. Munch, Clarke, Riisberg, and Pedersen in chapter 10 conclude Part II in an essay examining the divergence of ideals between Victor Papanek and the protests of Danish design students in 1969. Despite activism, protests, and a search for a new form of design education, the students were prepared for neither the realities of Danish industry nor the social designers ready to realize Papanek's vision.Part III, “Transforming Practices,” is focused on more peripheral areas of Nordic design history, including several excellent crafts histories. Göransdotter in chapter 11 draws our attention to a history of Swedish user-centered and participatory design, another well-known Scandinavian design export. It provides detailed insights into design practices, including the pioneering work of Benktzon and Juhlin, in design for accessibility and the crucial role of trade unions in the development of participatory design in the late 1960s. Rasch and Petersen in chapter 12 examine the rapidly changing textile industry in Norway and Denmark in the late 1960s. Through case studies of “transitional figures” (p. 190), the Norwegian weaver Sigrun Berg and Danish textile printer Grete Ehsstergaard, they reveal the tension between craft and commerce complicated by the professional identity of textile and fashion designers. They point to a fundamental divide between “design” and textile and fashion design in design histories, making the inclusion of this research in a design anthology more compelling. Lenskjold in chapter 13 examines the way in which feminism was manifest through the first grassroots collective craft store in Copenhagen, Everhøj, founded in 1971. Rarely do we find crafts collectives such as this in design histories, emphasizing the fresh and multidisciplinary approach to this anthology. To conclude Part III, Nordby in chapter 14 sheds light on a transformative period in Norwegian graphic design history through case studies of the designers associated with Gyldendal Norsk Forlag and H. Aschehoug & Co., Norway's largest publishing houses. The essay illustrates the way in which graphic designers emerged from these publishing houses and became professionalized, and how relationships transformed between designers, institutions, and markets in 1960s Norway.The editors argue that Nordic activism is unique in this period as projects were more public and garnered greater institutional support. They acknowledge the limitations and omissions in what is a vast area of relatively new study, noting that the Nordic design associations and organizations were beyond the scope of this anthology. However, the Nordic design associations are often cited as one of the reasons for revolt and activism. Thus, their changing roles, internal transformations, and conflicted motivations remain unaddressed—specifically, their involvement in perpetuating 1950s “Scandinavian Design” myths (and perhaps bolstering its own resilience) in both Nordic and international exhibitions between 1960 and 1980 (and beyond). Nonetheless, the scope and quality of Nordic Design Cultures in Transformation, 1960–1980 is to be commended. It reveals a rich and important series of new histories that allow us to better understand a more complex and nuanced Nordic design reality. A particular strength is the strong collaborative approach best demonstrated through the chapters that actively cross-reference one another, which interweaves and contextualizes the individual essays. The publication leaves the reader with little doubt that Nordic designers and practices were at the forefront of environmental and inclusive design. These histories are indeed relevant in our current time, despite their impact not being explored beyond Nordic borders. Written in an accessible manner, the anthology will appeal to a large audience from historians to those with a casual interest in Nordic Design. Nordic Design Cultures in Transformation, 1960–1980 achieves its overarching aim to move beyond 1950s “Scandinavian Design” myths, and provides an important and solid foundation for further studies of this neglected period.