Oak and rattan bookshelf by Alf Svensson, Bjästa, Sweden 1950s

Swedish architect and furniture designer Alf Svensson worked with a range of organic materials that are today commonly associated with Scandinavian modernism, utilizing rosewood, oak and teak in his cabinets, chairs, tables and other furniture, and opting for leather when it came to creating upholstery for his sleek seating. He worked for several manufacturers including String Seffle AB, Bergbom & Co., Nybrofabriken and Nesto but is best known to collectors for the designs he created for DUX. 

As creative director at Bergboms, Svensson worked with brass and opaline glass to create a range of lighting. He designed sculptural tripod-style floor lamps with bodies of steam-bent solid teak — a popular material with furniture makers of the mid-20th century — while his hanging ceiling lights featured lacquered metal shades that bring pops of color into living rooms and entryways.

Svensson’s role at the lighting manufacturer, which was founded in 1940 by Efraim Ljung — also the founder of Ljungs Industrier — saw him collaborating with the likes of legendary designers such as Greta Magnusson Grossman and Edward Wormley, a favorite of mid-century modern furniture collectors and the longtime director of design for the Dunbar furniture company. 

Svensson also served as the creative director at Ljungs Industrier. In Sweden, Studio Ljungs Industrier AB is the large family-owned parent company of Duxiana (in America, DUX). In 1950, Folke Ohlsson, then leading Ljungs Industrier’s design team, decamped to the States to explore how he could expand DUX’s business, which at that point included a wide range of furniture. It was during this time, in the postwar era, that American tastemakers really sold the citizenry on the warmth and good craftsmanship that characterizes Scandinavian modern design.

Ohlsson established a DUX office not long after he arrived in California, first in San Francisco and later in Burlingame. Svensson, a chief designer in the Malmö, Sweden, office of Ljungs Industrier, was among the top-tier furniture design talent with which DUX collaborated (a list that included Wormley and Bruno Mathsson). Svensson’s Galaxy chair, a comfortable upholstered swivel seat attributed to a partnership between the designer and Yngvar Sandström that exudes Space Age charm, is highly sought after, and Svensson's relationship with DUX yielded similarly attractive sideboards, lounge chairs and other furnishings that are some of his most celebrated works.

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