The Möbeldesignmusuem is a little unexpected, located in a warehouse space in the shipping terminals East of the city. Being that it is only open on Wednesday afternoons, I was lucky that my itinerary happened to have me in Stockholm on a Wednesday, since I hadn’t done much planning. The museum is the private collection of Kersti Sandin and Lars Bülow, a couple that is well-established in the Swedish furniture industry, notably for their furniture company MATERIA.
Their collection consists of 700 pieces of furniture and other artifacts of applied design, however, there is only room to display 500 of them in the museum. The pieces are arranged in chronological order, and kept in original condition, rather than restored.
The pieces are displayed with just a title, year, designer, and manufacturer, and without any explanation of their historical significance. However, I was able to recognize and appreciate many of them, having just recently visited several design museums that shared some of the more iconic pieces. The Möbeldesignmusuem, however, has much better examples that are in better condition than what I saw at any of the other museums I had been to.
1) ‘Wassily Chair’ (1925) Marcel Breuer - Produced by Thonet
2) ‘MR 533 Chair’ (1927) Mies van der Rohe - Produced by Thonet
3) ‘Cesa Armchair’ (1928) Marcel Breuer - Produced by Thonet
4) ‘Mod 81 Table’ (1935) Alvar Aalto - Produced by Artek
5) ‘Mod 68 Chair’ (1935) Alvar Aalto - Produced by Artek
7) ‘Mod 66 Chair’ (1933) Alvar Aalto - Produced by Artek
6) ‘Mod 900 Tea Trolley’ (1936) Alvar Aalto - Produced by Artek
8) ‘Mod 81 Table’ (1935) Alvar Aalto - Produced by Artek
9) ‘Mod 60 Stool’ (1933) Alvar Aalto - Produced by Artek
1) ‘ Cabinet National Geographic (1990) Mats Theselius - Produced by Källemo
While it was not feasible for me to photograph every piece in the collection (although I was at first attempting to), the museum is in the process creating a digital catalog of their entire collection, so at some point that should be available on their website.
In addition to the main exhibition, there is a smaller exhibit titled “Déjà Vu - Design Themes Over the Ages, which explores how old themes, whether consciously or unintentionally, reappear in new designs.
Left: ‘MINNI Chair’ (1996) Antonio Citterio - Produced by Halifax
Right: ‘Hoffman Side Chair’ (Josef Hoffman & Josef Franck (1925) - Produced by Thonet
Left: ‘Mod 60 Stool’ (1933) Alvar Aalto - Produced by Artek
Right: ‘SPIN Stool’ (2011) Staffan Holm - Produced by Swedese
Front: ‘Master’s Hybrid Chair’ (2010) Phillipe Stark - Produced by Kartell
Left: ‘Plastic Side Chair DSX’ (1950) Charles and Rae Eames - Produced by Herman Miller Inc
Back: ‘Tulip Armchair’ (1957) Eero Saarinen - Produced by Knoll International
Right: ‘Series 7 Chair’ (1955) Arne Jacobsen - Produced by Fritz Hansen
The Möbeldesignmuseum likely represents the most comprehensive furniture collection in the world. I was very impressed by the both the completeness of the collection, as well as the quality of the examples. While it’s not something that can be appreciated by someone without prior knowledge in furniture design, it is certainly a mecca for any furniturephile who knows the history and icons.