'Berlin' Daybed in Birchwood by Bruno Mathsson, Sweden 1972

With its long mattress gently elevated on a molded wooden frame, the Berlin daybed created by Bruno Mathsson (1907–88) offers a simple space for relaxation and reveals the Swedish architect as a pioneer in ergonomic furniture design.

While outwardly minimal, its four tapered legs with their sculptural details reflect Mathsson’s technical innovations in working with wood. The Berlin daybed — an update of the “lounge bed” he introduced at the 1937 Paris Exposition — debuted at the 1957 International Building Exhibition in Berlin, which showcased contemporary urban living.

Each element of the Berlin daybed was conceived with optimal support in mind. Mathsson was influenced by the aesthetics of fellow Scandinavian designers Alvar Aalto and Gunnar Asplund, but he prioritized human comfort. Mathsson observed how people positioned themselves on furniture and made anatomical studies of posture. This guided his furniture design, which began in the 1930s. Born into a family of cabinetmakers, Mathsson also understood the properties of wood and its untapped potential. By laminating and bending the material, he molded lightweight forms that would fit the body. Mathsson conducted various experiments with seating and chair backs, all of which had curved dynamic lines, a contrast to Bauhaus-style hard angles, which were then dominating modernism.

Despite his international success, Mathsson never opened his own firm. His Berlin daybed entered production at his father’s studio, Firma Karl Mathsson, in his hometown of Värnamo, in 1964. Such intimate oversight gives this and the other pieces of Mathsson’s furniture that were manufactured by his father’s firm — all constructed with the natural materials that characterize Scandinavian mid-century design — an enduring quality.

As the descendant of four generations of Swedish master cabinetmakers, Bruno Mathsson was born to design furniture. Mathsson was known as a methodical perfectionist who made usefulness the fundamental attribute of his iconic lounge chairs, tables, armchairs and other works, yet he was also a ceaseless experimenter, who constantly searched for improvements in form, materials and methods of design.

Like the Finnish designer Alvar Aalto, Mathsson was one of the first Scandinavians to embrace undulating, biomorphic forms in furniture. His early pieces such as the Eva and Pernilla series of chairs incorporate dramatically flowing bent beechwood frames, making them some of the most instantly recognizable works of 20th-century design.

Mathsson was also a pioneer of ergonomics — he is said to have based the contours of his chairs on the impression his body made when he sat in a snow bank — and used supple, accommodating woven webbing for seats. His concern for practicality is shown by pieces such as the Maria table. An elegant design with gate legs and hinged leaves, the table measures more than nine feet long when fully extended, but folds down to just nine inches in thickness.

From the mid-1940s through the 1950s, Mathsson focused on architecture, designing and building houses with insulated, triple-glazed window walls and heated floors — construction that flew in the face of traditional wood-clad Swedish residential design, and consequently met with some skepticism. He returned to furniture in the 1960s, employing an entirely new suite of materials: Stainless-steel framing and mesh seats feature in pieces like the Jetson chair; with the mathematician Piet Hein, Mathsson designed the Super-Elliptical table, which has a laminate top and four-part tubular steel legs that sprout like flower stems from a single base. 

Bruno Mathsson’s stylistic flexibility as a designer made him a creator whose pieces meet all tastes and needs.

Find vintage Bruno Mathsson dining tables, seating and other furniture on 1stDibs.