The Almost Nearly Perfect People
The Almost Nearly Perfect People

Author: Michael Booth

Publisher: Picador

Published: 2015-01-27

Total Pages: 400

ISBN-13: 1250061970

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NAMED THE #1 BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, A WITTY, INFORMATIVE, AND POPULAR TRAVELOGUE ABOUT THE SCANDINAVIAN COUNTRIES AND HOW THEY MAY NOT BE AS HAPPY OR AS PERFECT AS WE ASSUME Journalist Michael Booth has lived among the Scandinavians for more than ten years, and he has grown increasingly frustrated with the rose-tinted view of this part of the world offered up by the Western media. In this timely book he leaves his adopted home of Denmark and embarks on a journey through all five of the Nordic countries to discover who these curious tribes are, the secrets of their success, and, most intriguing of all, what they think of one another. Why are the Danes so happy, despite having the highest taxes? Do the Finns really have the best education system? Are the Icelanders as feral as they sometimes appear? How are the Norwegians spending their fantastic oil wealth? And why do all of them hate the Swedes? In The Almost Nearly Perfect People Michael Booth explains who the Scandinavians are, how they differ and why, and what their quirks and foibles are, and he explores why these societies have become so successful and models for the world. Along the way a more nuanced, often darker picture emerges of a region plagued by taboos, characterized by suffocating parochialism, and populated by extremists of various shades. They may very well be almost nearly perfect, but it isn't easy being Scandinavian.

Scandinavian Design
Scandinavian Design

Author: Kjetil Fallan

Publisher: Berg

Published: 2013-05-09

Total Pages: 484

ISBN-13: 0857852183

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Scandinavian design is still seen as democratic, functional and simple, its products exemplifying the same characteristics now as they have done since the 1950s. But both the essence and the history of Scandinavian design are much more complex than this. Scandinavian Design: Alternative Histories presents a radically new assessment, a corrective to the persistent mythologies and reductive accounts of Scandinavian design. The book brings together case studies from the early twentieth century to today. Drawn from fields as diverse as transport, engineering, packaging, photography, law, interiors, and corporate identity, these studies tell new or unfamiliar stories about the production, mediation and consumption of design. An alternative history is created, one much more alive to national and regional differences and to types of product. Scandinavian Design analyses a century of design culture from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden and, in so doing, presents a sophisticated introduction to Scandinavian design.

Performing Nordic Heritage
Performing Nordic Heritage

Author: Lizette Gradén

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-05-13

Total Pages: 365

ISBN-13: 1317082362

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The performance of heritage takes place in prestigious institutions such as museums and archives, in officially sanctioned spaces such as jubilees and public monuments, but also in more mundane, ephemeral and banal cultural practices, such as naming of phenomena, viewing exhibitions or walking in the countryside. This volume examines the performance of Nordic heritage and the shaping of the very idea of Norden in diverse contexts in North America, the Baltic and the Nordic countries and examines the importance of these places as sites for creating and preserving cultural heritage. Offering rich perspectives on a part of Europe which has not been the centre of discussion in the Anglophone world, this volume will be of value to a wide readership, including cultural historians, museum practitioners, policy-makers and scholars of heritage, ethnology and folkloristics.

Danish Modern
Danish Modern

Author: Mark Mussari

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2016-06-16

Total Pages: 209

ISBN-13: 1474223680

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Danish Modern explores the development of mid-century modernist design in Denmark from historical, analytical and theoretical perspectives. Mark Mussari explores the relationship between Danish design aesthetics and the theoretical and cultural impact of Modernism, particularly between 1930 and 1960. He considers how Danish designers responded to early Modernist currents: the Stockholm Exhibition of 1930, their rejection of Bauhaus aesthetic demands, their early fealty to wood and materials, and the tension between cabinetmaker craft and industrial production as it challenged and altered their aesthetic approach. Tracing the theoretical foundations for these developments, Mussari discusses the writings and works of such figures as Poul Henningsen, Arne Jacobsen, Hans Wegner, Nanna Ditzel, and Finn Juhl.

New Scandinavian Design
New Scandinavian Design

Author: Raul Cabra

Publisher: Chronicle Books

Published: 2004-11-04

Total Pages: 586

ISBN-13: 9780811840408

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In New Scandinavian design, design journalist Katherine E. Nelson pairs with designer Raul Cabra to produce a comprehensive survey of cutting-edge Scandinavian design, delving deep and taking a critical look at the exciting contemporary work from the northern countries. Central to the endeavour was the question posed to hundreds of designers, curators, policy makers and entrepreneurs: is there still such a thing as Scandinavian design? Featuring examples of contemporary furniture, housewares, textiles, consumer electronics and lighting.

Dwell
Dwell

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 2005-07

Total Pages: 186

ISBN-13:

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At Dwell, we're staging a minor revolution. We think that it's possible to live in a house or apartment by a bold modern architect, to own furniture and products that are exceptionally well designed, and still be a regular human being. We think that good design is an integral part of real life. And that real life has been conspicuous by its absence in most design and architecture magazines.