Walnut and Birch Desk by Axel Einar Hjorth for Nordiska Kompaniet, 1930s

Swedish architect and industrial designer Axel Einar Hjorth (1888-1959) was a major contributor to the burgeoning Swedish design culture that began to be recognized internationally in the 1920s. He was also instrumental in introducing Swedish decorative arts and architecture to the United States.

Axel Einar Hjorth was born in 1888 in Krokek outside Norrköping, Sweden. In 1908, Hjorth relocated to Stockholm to study architecture and design at Högre Konstindustriella Skolan, which was later known as Konstfack. After the death of his foster-father who came into Hjorth's life at the age of twelve, he discontinued his studies. Although Hjorth never graduated, his education was enough to acquire a position designing furniture and interiors for Stads Hantverks Förening for the city of Stockholm in 1918. Hjorth’s designs from this period were inspired by neo-classism, often referred to as Swedish Grace.

Throughout the 1920s, Hjorth worked with various manufacturers including H. Joop & co, Myrstedt & Stern, Jonssons, and Svenska Möbelfabrikerna in Bodafors. Notably, in 1923 Hjorth was the head of the assembly section of the Jubileumsutställningen (Jubilee Exhibition) in Gothenburg—an exhibition which, the British critic P. Morton Shand characterized as the beginning of Swedish dominance in the decorative arts. Wishing to spread Swedish design further around the world, Hjorth, together with his contemporaries, Carl Hörvik (1882-1954) and Carl Malmsten (1888-1972), represented Stockholm at the exhibition of contemporary Swedish Decorative Arts at the Metropolitan Museum in New York 1927. This exhibition was instrumental in introducing Swedish decorative arts to America.

From 1927 until 1938, Hjorth was the chief architect and designer at the department store Nordiska Kompaniet (NK) in Stockholm—which was known as one of the most important producers of modernist furniture in Sweden. During this time, Hjorth designed both public and private interiors, and worked with international clients including Iranian royalty. His first project for NK was a stand for the World Fair in Barcelona in 1929, during which he exhibited the Louis Cabinet and Caesar Cabinet. In the 1930s, Hjorth designed furniture out of pine meant for serial production for the summer houses he designed. These (usually unlabeled) pieces mixed handicraft with international modernism, and were named for Stockholm's archipelago islands including Blidö, Sandhamn, Toro and Lovö.

Hjorth's designs—from the luxuriousness of neo-classicism to the severity of functionalism—are sharply distinct in style, materials, and character. Unike many of his contemporaries however, Hjoth did not conform to the socially-oriented ideas produced by Svensk Form (the Swedish Society of Crafts and Design). He often incorporated playful ornamentation from different historical periods from which he was inspired, such as French Art Deco—using mixed exotic woods, bright colors, and textiles. Often omitted from historical discourse on early-20th century Scadninavian design, Hjorth has become a rather unknown entity in the design world and his achievement are under-appreciated. The lack of published or archived works contributes to his anonymity and obscurity. Although Hjorth did not follow the design narrative of the era, he certainly played a significant role in the development of Sweden’s international design reputation, his style eventually absorbed into design characteristics of modernism in Sweden.

Over the course of his career, Hjorth exhibited his works at many international exhibitions including the Stockholm Exhibition in 1930, the exhibition at the Dorland House in London in 1931, and the World Fairs in Chicago (1933), Brussels (1935), Paris (1937), and New York (1939). Hjorth also prepared and curated annual exhibitions for NK.

Hjorth passed away in 1959 in Stockholm.

Stirred by the eye-catching grandeur and service possibilities of early-century Parisian and Londoner high-end shopping, Swedish businessmen Josef Sachs (1872-1949) and Karl M. Lundberg established Nordiska Kompaniet in 1902, laying the foundation for what would become Scandinavia’s first and, in time, most influential entry into the realm of luxury retail.

In 1915—after a twelve-year jaunt in a repurposed space at Stureplan Plaza and following Lundberg’s departure from the company—Sachs began construction of an entirely new and substantially more opulent store on Stockholm’s major Hamngatan corridor. The building was designed by one of the country’s leading architects at the time, Ferdinand Boberg (1860-1946), of Stockholm’s Rosenbad and Central Post Office fame. Nordiska Kompaniet emerged as Stockholm’s premier department store: modern and multi-tiered, centrally located, offering a lavish smorgasbord of services and Nordic-inspired merchandise capable of enticing the region’s most elite clientele. 

Beyond jewelry, fashion, cosmetics, food, Sweden’s first escalator, and endless panoramas of mahogany (which, noteworthy upon its opening, lined most of its interior), Nordiska Kompaniet Hamngatan offered shoppers its own line of custom-made furnishings crafted in workshops in Nyköping (est. 1904). The design aesthetic reflected the general ethos of the company: high quality production, pared-down lines with touches of genteel elegance, and, above all, an air of exclusivity.

As the century progressed, the in-house design and production wing of the Nordiska Kompaniet operation attracted some of Scandinavia’s most salient design innovators. Swedish architect-designer Axel Einar Hjorth headed up Nordiska Kompaniet’s furniture and interiors department between 1927 and 1938, a clout-expanding time for the company on the international stage. He directed Nordiska Kompaniet’s showcases at a number of important industry exhibitions, such as the 1929 World Fair in Barcelona, the 1930 Stockholm Exhibition, and the 1933 World Fair in Chicago. Along the way, Hjorth garnered acclaim for his often pine-crafted interiors designed for a range of prestigious public and private clients, including Stockholm’s Gunnar Asplund-designed city library and a train carriage for the Shah of Persia. During Hjorth’s tenure, Nordiska Kompaniet commissioned iconic work from Asplund—namely, his tubular steel Karmstol Side Chair and GA-2 Armchair (both 1931)—as well as esteemed Swedish architect-designer Carl Malmsten, who created furnishings for Stockholm’s Concert Hall (1928), the House of the League of Nations in Geneva (1934), and more.

While bespoke interior design in public spaces remained Nordiska Kompaniet’s main focus in the midcentury—especially in 1950s, when Nordiska Kompaniet furniture filled Swedish banks, hotels, embassies, steamers, and restaurants—this era also saw the rise of the company’s furniture designs for serial production. Of particular note is the Trivaserie (alternatively, Triva-Bygg), designed by Elias Svedberg and launched in Malmö in 1944, which featured standard furniture items distributed in flat packages to be constructed by consumers themselves at home (one of the first instances of the knock-down furniture later made famous by fellow Swedish heavyweight Ikea).

Under designer Lena Larsson’s direction from 1947-1965, the Trivaserie line was subsumed into Nordiska Kompaniet’s experimental NK-bo (NK “Living”) label. During these years, the Triva series moved beyond knock-down furniture and expanded to include designs like Kerstin Hörlin-Holmquist Paradiset Sofa (ca. 1958) and Yngvar Sandström’s Tokyo Bench (ca. 1964). Other notable midcentury Nordiska Kompaniet designs include the Annette Dressing Table (1943) and Trienna Chair (1957) by prominent architect, interior and industrial designer Carl-Axel Acking. 

Aided by the consumer influence of the department store, which gave the space and context to present single products not just exclusively, but also within full room settings, Nordiska Kompaniet enjoyed decades of manufacturing success before declining profitability forced the closure of their Nyköping workshop in 1973 and turned their focus to trade. Today, the company is still renowned as a high-brow supplier of goods and services, operating from two outlets: the original NK on Hamngatan, and another in Gothenburg (est. 1971).