Carl Malmsten (December 7, 1888 – August 13, 1972) was a Swedish

furniture Furniture refers to objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., Stool (seat), stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (table (furniture), tables), storing items, working, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Furnitur ...

designer,

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

, and educator who was known for his devotion to traditional Swedish

craft A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale pr ...

manship (''slöjd'') and his opposition to functionalism. He "considered the rationalization of the home according to functionalist principles a debasement of its traditional role as an intimate place for gathering and repose".

Biography

Malmsten was born in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, Sweden. He was the son of Karl Malmsten and Inez Cadier. Malmsten's career took off when he won a competition in 1916 to design furniture for the

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

(''stadshus''); in 1917, he exhibited alongside well-known Swedish architects such as

Gunnar Asplund Erik Gunnar Asplund (22 September 1885 – 20 October 1940) was a Swedish architect, mostly known as a key representative of Nordic Classicism of the 1920s during the last decade of his life. At this time, he was a major proponent of the mode ...

and

Uno Åhrén Uno Åhrén (6 August 1897 – 8 October 1977) was a Swedish architect and city planner, and a leading proponent of functionalism in Sweden. Biography Uno Emrik Åhrén was born in Stockholm, Sweden. He graduated as an architect at the KTH R ...

. Malmsten founded an eponymous furniture store on the riverfront of Stockholm. The store is currently run by his grandson. In the 1920s he was invited to furnish a room for the crown prince, Gustaf VI Adolf, and his wife Louise in

Ulriksdal Palace Ulriksdal Palace () is a royal palace situated on the banks of the Edsviken in the Royal National City Park in Solna Municipality, 6 km north of Stockholm. It was originally called ''Jakobsdal'' for its owner Jacob De la Gardie, who had it ...

. He was honoured with an inaugural Prince Eugen Medal for design in 1945.

Legacy

Malmsten has had a lasting influence on Swedish furniture design through the two schools he founded—the Carl Malmsten Furniture Studies (''Carl Malmstensskolan''), which has been a part of

Linköping University Linköping University (LiU; ) is a public university, public research university based in Linköping, Sweden. Originally established in 1969, it was granted full university status in 1975 and is one of Sweden's largest academic institutions. T ...

since 2000, is situated on the island of

Lidingö Lidingö (), also known in its definite form Lidingön and as Lidingölandet, is an island in the inner Stockholm archipelago, northeast of Stockholm, Sweden. In 2023, the population of the Lidingö urban area on the island was 48,162. It is the ...

on the outskirts of

. The school had been situated in the city centre until 2009. Malmsten's second school, ''Capellagården'', is located on the island of

Öland Öland (, ; ; sometimes written ''Oland'' internationally) is the second-largest Swedish island and the smallest of the traditional provinces of Sweden. Öland has an area of and is located in the Baltic Sea just off the coast of Småland. ...

in Vickleby. It offers courses in

textile Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...

craft and design,

cabinet making A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood (solid ...

furniture design Furniture refers to objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., stools, chairs, and sofas), eating ( tables), storing items, working, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Furniture is also used to hold objects ...

, interior

carpentry Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. C ...

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcela ...

s, and

organic horticulture Organic horticulture is the science and art of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, or ornamental plants by following the essential principles of organic agriculture in soil building and conservation, pest management, and heirloom variety pres ...

Personal life

In 1917, he was married to Siv Munthe (1894-1972). Together with his wife, he founded the Siv and Carl Malmsten Memorial Foundation (''Stiftelsen Siv och Carl Malmstens Minne''). The Foundation owns the intellectual property rights from Carl Malmsten. Malmsten was the paternal grandfather of author

Bodil Malmsten Bodil Malmsten (19 August 1944 – 5 February 2016) was a Swedish poet and novelist. Malmsten was born in Bjärme, Östersund Municipality. Due to her parents' early separation, she grew up at her maternal grandparents and at foster care in V� ...

(1944–2016).

References

External links

Carl Malmsten Furniture Studies websiteCapellagården website
1888 births 1972 deaths Swedish furniture designers Recipients of the Prince Eugen Medal Litteris et Artibus recipients Swedish architects People from Stockholm {{Sweden-architect-stub

Biography

Legacy

Personal life

See also

References

External links