Lamino Armchair: A Classic Design For All Time
The Lamino armchair was designed by Yngve Ekstrom in 1956. It is a very popular yet classic looking armchair made in the Swedish style. The armchair includes both a seating piece and an ottoman, or footstool, piece. It is made by the Swedish company called Swedese and is an excellent example of Swedish furniture.
Yngve Ekstrom was born in Sweden in 1913. As he grew up, he became interested in all types of art and design, particularly sculpture, drawing, and painting. He eventually settled on furniture design by way of learning furniture carpentry. Yngve and his brother Jerker together started a furniture company called Swedese in Vaggeryd, Sweden in 1945. Yngve Ekstrom led the Swedese company up until his death in 1988.
A Lamino armchair is typically made of two different materials. The frame is made of wood, may be made of various kinds of wood, including beech, oak, cherry, teak, or walnut. The wood may be laminated, lacquered, oiled, or stained with the most popular option being lamination. The upholstery cushion is usually made of either leather or sheepskin, but other kinds of fabric have been used.
In 1999, the Lamino armchair was voted the "Twentieth Century’s Best Swedish Furniture Design" by a major Swedish interior design magazine. It has also been called the best example of "Scandinavian Modern" style furniture to date. Both are remarkable commendations, as Sweden is a hotbed of furniture design.
2006 marked the 50 year anniversary of production of the famous armchair. In celebration, the Swedese company launched a small children’s version of the chair. It is three quarters the size of the original, but retains the original wood laminated frame and sheepskin upholstery. It has been a popular item, particular in Sweden. Both the large and small versions continue to be produced to this day.
While Yngve Ekstrom and the Swedese company designed several other styles of chairs and other furniture throughout his career, none were as popular as the Lamino armchair. All have been exhibited in Berlin, Amsterdam, Vienna, and Munich, among others. Permanent collections are at the National Museum in Stockholm, Sweden and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Tags: lamino | lamino | mbler | mbler | ekstrmlamino | ekstrmlamino
August 12th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
Very interesting article. I had seen the chair, now I know the history of it.
September 15th, 2008 at 4:16 am
outdoorfurniture geek: i’ve got a furniture blog with a couple of lamino & mathsson articles if you’re interested. the english articles are at the bottom of the front page. the rest is in swedish.
john
www.nordicmobler.com