Anna-Greta Eker (1928-2002) was a Scandinavian jewellery and metalwork designer. Born in Åland in Finland. She attended the Ateneum School of Crafts in Helsinki, graduating in 1951. Between 1952 & 1955, Eker worked at Hopea Keskus in Hämeenlinna. Later on, she went to work for Auran Kultaseppä Oy in Turku.
In 1959, she moved to Fredrikstad, Norway where she began making jewellery for Plus, the Applied Arts Centre. That same year, she married Erling Christoffersen who was head of the silver department at the company. They first met 3 years earlier in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany at Staatliche Höhere Fachschule für das Edelmetalgewerbe where they both studied goldsmithing. Plus was established in 1958 and closed in 1978. The aim of the not-for-profit centre was to unite artist and industry.
My favourite of her designs is the Tre series (a few examples are shown in the montage above). The pieces are composed of silver and stained birch, the latter being the national tree of Finland. Tre translates as ‘three’ the number of wooden beads in each set of rows. There would be beautiful kinetic movement when worn.
I also love her Kule series which translates as ‘ball’. The range, which she made from 1962 while working at Plus, consists of sterling silver rings, bracelets and armbands with differing numbers of entwined balls.
Last week we featured a gorgeous Detroit townhouse designed by a very famous architect. It was only then that we realised that we’d never really highlighted him – just the occasional mention in passing about some of the furniture that he designed.
Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969) is probably the most influential modernist architect to have ever lived – and we’re not saying that lightly. The skyscraper would not be what it is today without his forward-thinking ideas. The concept drawing (first image below) was created with the idea of using soaring glass and steel on the outside of a building – something that had never been done before. It was 1921 and the architectural world wasn’t ready; the design he submitted was unsuccessful.
He was a contemporary of other eminent Bauhaus architects and designers such as Walter Gropius, Le Corbusier, Marcel Breuer, Wassily Kandinsky and László Moholy-Nagy. He become director of the Bauhaus in 1930, remaining until he emigrated to Chicago in 1937 to become head of the architecture department at Illinois Institute of Technology.
You get an understanding of Mies van der Rohe, his methods and his beliefs from some of the quotes that have been attributed to him:
We must be as familiar with the functions of our building as with our materials. We must learn what a building can be, what it should be, and also what it must not be
We must be as familiar with the functions of our building as with our materials. We must learn what a building can be, what it should be, and also what it must not be
Architecture has the power to create order out of unholy confusion
We’ve selected just a few of jis many and varied ground-breaking buildings; he’s designed houses, apartment blocks, a kiosk, a petrol station and a public library.
We’ve placed them in chronological order, according to the date they were completed, to illustrate his progression.
Unsuccessful 1921 design entry for the Friedrichstrasse skyscraper competitionGerman Pavilion designed for the 1929 International Exposition in Barcelona, SpainVilla Tugendhat in Brno, Czech Republic. Built between 1929 & 1930Interior of Villa Tugendhat in Brno, Czech RepublicKiosk built in 1932 as part of the Bauhaus buildings, DessauLandhaus Lemke, built in 1933 in Alt-Hohenschönhausen, BerlinLandhaus Lemke, built in 1933 in Alt-Hohenschönhausen, BerlinFarnsworth House, designed & built between 1945 and 1951 in Plano, IllinoisInterior of Farnsworth House, designed & built between 1945 and 1951 in Plano, Illinois860-880 Lake Shore Drive Apartments, completed in 1951 and situated on the Shore of Lake Michigan in Streeterville, Chicago, IllinoisS. R. Crown Hall (built 1950–1956) – College of Architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, IllinoisSeagram Building, 375 Park Avenue, Manhattan, New York City. Completed in 1958Gas station, Nun’s Island, Montreal – 1969Gas station, Nun’s Island, Montreal – 1969Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, Washington DC, completed in 1972
Viola Gråsten (1910-1994) was a leading Finnish textile designer. Her most well-known pattern is probably Oomph (pictured at the very top of the montage above) which was printed in a number of colourways.
Some of the fabric patterns that she designed include Sparv (1959) and Hassel for Ljungbergs; the striped Snark blankets (see above) for Tidstrand; Tulipuu, Såpbubblor, Casa (1954) and Kalas (1955) for Swedish department store, Nordiska Kompaniet (NK) and Pelagonia (1965) and Kastanj (1966) for Mölnlycke Tuppen AB.
Her eye-catching rug designs produced for Elsa Gullberg’s Textiles and Interior in Stockholm have come to be known as Gråstens colours. She also produced a great many rug designs for the aforementioned, NK Textilkammare.
There are currently a number of her textile designs available on Etsy – including rugs, blankets and lengths of fabric.
We’ve featured quite a few Scandinavian designers in this series however, we think Barbro Nilsson is the first textile designer.
Barbro Nilsson (1899-1983) was a Swedish designer who specialised in weaving floor rugs, wall hangings and carpets. Her pieces are hugely commercial and sought after; some selling for over $100,000 at auction and over double that at retail outlets!
The Swedish Rug Blog has a very in-depth article about Nilsson and many of her works – go check it out!
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