Yngve Ekström
Yngve Ekström (born June 16, 1913 in Hagafors, Vaggeryd municipality , † March 13, 1988 ) was a Swedish furniture designer , wood carver and architect .
life and work
Ekström was born in the southern Swedish town of Hagafors as the son of a furniture factory worker. The father died early, even before Yngve and his two year older brother Jerker started school. The wood carvings that the father made in his spare time and his job as a cabinet maker certainly influenced Yngve Ekström's future. At first, when he was only 13 years old, he worked in a sawmill, but also studied drawing, painting, music and art history. Gradually, specialization came into home furnishing . Basically, however, he was self-taught .
In 1944 he founded the successful furniture factory "ESE-möbler" (later "Swedese AB") together with his brother Jerker. The breakthrough came in 1953 when Yngve Ekström's work was exhibited in the renowned Stockholm department store Nordiska Kompaniet , NK. In 1955 he showed a new furniture collection at the Helsingborg exhibition in 1955 .
Swedeses furniture was and is for a long time dismantled and sent in a "flat package" and assembled by the customer. Using the angled hex wrench and socket head screw in connection with furniture construction was an idea of Yngve Ekström's brother Jerker long before Ikea made the hex wrench its trademark.
Lamino
His best-known work is undoubtedly the Lamino armchair , which came onto the market in 1956 after many experiments with lines, construction and manufacturing technology. An armchair made of glued plywood , clad in sheep's clothing. Lamino was exactly in the taste of the time: light, comfortable, beautiful to look at and inexpensive, transported in a "flat package" and self-assemble. It has a lot in common with Pernilla , the armchair by Bruno Mathsson , another Swedish furniture designer of the time. Ekström's design ideal was elegant simplicity, and in the Lamino chair he has succeeded in fully realizing this ideal. In 1999 , Lamino was named “Swedish Furniture of the Century” by the readers of the Swedish interior design magazine Sköna Hem. That was good testimony to an armchair that has been manufactured in over 250,000 copies to date and is still in production.
Quote
"Att ha gjort en bra stol är kanske inget dåligt livsverk."
"Having made a good chair may not be such a bad life's work."
Exhibitions
Ekström's work was represented at many international exhibitions, here is a small selection:
- 1953, NK-Bo, Stockholm
- 1955, Helsingborg Exhibition 1955
- 1966, Stedelijk Museum , Amsterdam
- 1968, Kunstgewerbemuseum , Vienna
- 1968, Werkkunst exhibition , Munich
- 1970, Victoria and Albert Museum , London
- 1987, Scandinavian Design: A way of Life at the Museum of Modern Art, Toyama , Japan
literature
- Brita-Lena Ekström: På spaning efter Lamino . Bokförlaget Arena, 2007.
- Uuve Snidare: Hemma i Sverige 1900-2000 . Bokförlaget Prisma, 2000.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Ekström, Yngve |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swedish furniture designer, wood carver and architect |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 16, 1913 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Hagafors, Vaggeryd (municipality) |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 13, 1988 |