Nisse Strinning

Nisse Strinning in May 2003

String bookcase system

Nisse Strinning (actually Nils Strinning ; * December 8, 1917 in Kramfors ; † May 10, 2006 ) was a Swedish architect and designer.

He comes from a Swedish family with origins in Ångermanland in the 17th century . The name was taken over from the Strinningen family farm ( map ) north of Härnösand at the beginning of the 20th century .

Nisse Strinning was best known for the String bookshelf system that he and his wife, the designer Kajsa Strinning, designed in 1949 for a competition organized by the Swedish book publisher “Bonniers folkbibliotek”.

In the 1940s he studied architecture at the Royal Technical University of Stockholm . As a student, he designed a crockery basket made of plastic-coated metal wires. The ELFA dish rack (not to be confused with the electronics company of the same name) became very popular.

In 1952 he founded the two companies String Design AB and Swedish Design AB. Together with his wife, he designed numerous pieces of furniture between 1960 and 1970. Today, Nisse Strinning's works are considered contemporary design classics.

Awards and exhibitions (selection)

• 1949 First prize in the Bonnier bookshelf competition
• 1954 gold medal, Triennale, Milan
• 1954 Design exhibition in Scandinavia , USA
• 1955 exhibition h55 , Helsingborg
• 1993 & 1999: Award for first class Swedish design from the Swedish Society for Crafts and Design (Svensk Form)
• 1999 Svensk Form design award
• 2004–2006 Exhibition Scandinavian Design - Beyond the Myth , Berlin, Milan, Ghent, Prague, Budapest, Riga, Glasgow, Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Oslo
• 2005 Exhibition H05 / Allrum , Helsingborg
• 2006 Exhibition H05 / Allrum , Paris, City Hall
• 2006 Exhibition Stars & stripes mixed with yellow & blue , Embassy of Sweden, Washington, DC, USA
• 2010 Swedish love stories , Superstudio Piú, Milan

Web links

• Official website for the String shelving system
• Catalog (PDF file; 3.82 MB)