Nordic Design: The Answer to the Bauhaus

Opening: 23 October 2019, 7 p.m.

To conclude the year of the Bauhaus centennial, Bröhan-Museum will be holding the exhibition “Nordic Design: The Answer to the Bauhaus”, looking at the reaction of the Nordic countries to German functionalism. The show presents the Scandinavian path to modernism, which involved an intense engagement with the ideas of the Bauhaus. Beginning with the Finnish architect and designer Alvar Aalto, then moving on to the founder of Swedish functionalism Sven Markelius and the internationally celebrated Danish designers Hans J. Wegner and Arne Jacobsen, the exhibition’s emphasis will be placed on the 1950s and 1960s. Beside developments specific to each country, childhood, democratic design, and “hygge,” themes common to all four countries, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, will also be present. The exhibition will conclude with futuristic designs by Verner Panton, Eero Aarnio, and Marimekko that marked the final break of the Nordic countries with functionalism.

Curator: Dr. Tobias Hoffmann
Exhibition design: Katleen Arthen
Advertising motif: Gerwin Schmidt, Munich