Industrial and Scandinavian design

Nordic design started to change after the World Wars. People wanted to change from crafts to high-quality production. In 1950s Europe and United States there were big exhibitions about designing and arts and crafts. Nordic designers took part in exhibitions and gained unbelievable popularity. Finland and Denmark were famous for their design and Sweden became known by its glassware and industrial design.

One of the best-known design companies in this area is the Finnish design company Iittala. The history of Iittala dates back to 1881, in small Finnish village called Iittala, which is now part of the city of Hämeenlinna. The reason a factory was built there was typical for the time: all the materials – sand, water and wood – were found nearby the Iittala village. However, there was something that could not be found from nearby: the craftsmanship of glass blowing came from Sweden. At those times, there were no skilled glass blowers in Finland. So, the skill was brought over to Finland from Sweden from whom Finns learnt the skill and developed it into something of their own.

Eventually, functionalism and designers such as Aino and Alvar Aalto changed Iittala’s product catalog completely. These designers wanted to make design objects using mass production methods, and Iittala factory was more than suitable for this. Due to this the Iittala factory became the producer of artistic glass objects also. Later designers like Tapio Wirkkala, Timo Sarpaneva and Oiva Toikka became renowned designers for the company, all creating the fame for the Scandinavian design of glassware coming from Iittala.