Scandinavian Functionalist Wooden Stool, G. A. Berg, Sweden, 1930s

Gustaf Axel Berg — also known as G. A. Berg — was a pioneering figure in Scandinavian modern design, and his vintage armchairs and other seating helped pave the way for modern-day ergonomic furniture for home and the workplace. 

Berg was born in Jönköping, Sweden. As a young junior engineer, he traveled the world, working on projects in Finland, China, Brazil, the United Kingdom and the United States. He returned to his home country of Sweden to assume the role of Technical Secretary for the Swedish Chamber of Commerce. Though successful in this role, he pursued his dreams of furniture design and established his workshop in Stockholm in 1933. 

Berg’s reputation for quality office furniture designs broadened and he was hired to create several interiors in the Swedish pavilion for the 1939 World’s Fair in New York. There he was also given the opportunity to showcase his furniture designs alongside the likes of Josef Frank and Carl Malmsten. Berg went on to become the first retailer to import the work of Finnish modernist Alvar Aalto to Sweden.

While Berg’s factory produced mostly office furniture for a period, as functionalism became a selling point for the discerning residential consumer, the designer focused on creating goods for the home during the 1940s. He showed his bentwood seating at the Röhsska Museum in 1943 and corresponded with like-minded Swedish designer Bruno Mathsson about ergonomics. 

Berg created the Torparen and Patronen armchairs — both hailed by some as iconic models for ergonomic design and produced only between 1942 and 1945 — which feature wide and high armrests, webbed hemp seating and bentwood frames. Today his designs can be found in the permanent collections of several museums including the Stockholm National Museum in Sweden, the Canterbury Museum in New Zealand and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

On 1stDibs, find vintage Gustaf Axel Berg seating and other furniture.