Articles

Mathsson Fällbord - Impact On Furniture Design

by Richard Guilfoyle

Architect and furniture designer, Bruno Mathsson, is celebrated for his chairs and well insulated houses. His designs are extremely practical, versatile and beautiful. Mr. Mathsson's acclaimed home furnishing credits also include computer desks, daybeds and tables. An example embodying his fine taste for design is the Mathsson Fällbord table which incorporates and exemplifies beauty, elegance, versatility and practicality.

One familiar with Mathsson's heritage would find it only natural that his primary focus would involve wood pieces. Five generations of his family had all devoted their lives to fine furniture and woodworking. As a boy, Mathson was given the knowledge required to excel in this art. His chores involved hands on experience with the technique, tools and woods he would need to continue the tradition throughout his life.

Because nothing was available in his small town of Varnamo, Mathsson sent away for books and consulted experts regarding engineering and technical factors of building furniture. By so doing he developed a base of mentors who he could count on later in his career. His lack of advanced formal education was allayed in part by the awards he was given for his furniture designs.

All of Mathsson's different furniture (annorlunda möbler) styles were designed to provide the utmost in comfort and beauty. He also knew that people love furniture pieces that are flexible enough to be moved around and used in new and different ways. His modular furniture, which can be used in a variety of applications, proved to be very popular.

You can use a Mathsson Fällbord table in so many different ways. While "fällbord" only translates to "folding table" in the language of Sweden, this piece offers more than the name implies. It was initially made in the year 1935, and the major components of its base were crafted from birchwood. The surface of the table was laminated in white after also having been crafted from birchwood. Other versions were manufactured from lumber such as oak, beechwood, cherry, ash, etc.

The Mathsson table folds into a tiny 23 cm bundle when completely collapsed and expands into a table 280 cm long when fully extended. It can be arranged with a dropped leaf at one or both ends and could serve as a tiny writing table in a coffee nook or expand into a banquet table with nearly every size in between possible. For those not accustomed to metric measurements, that is a range of a bit over 9 inches to about 110 1/4 inches.

In Swedish country homes it was popular to use folding tables in crowded spaces to allow more flexibility. Bruno Mathsson very likely based his popular Fällbord table on these folding tables of his homeland. His designs, though, have a personality of their own with pure lines and construction. In the 1960s Mathsson began using more modern materials in his furniture designs, such as metal tubing and synthetics. Even so, the elegant Fällbord table and other wood designs continue to be held up as his finest work.

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Bruno Mathsson is most well known for his chairs and for his architectural designs such as his incredibly well insulated and beautiful glass houses, but he made other fine home furnishings (möbler) including computer desks, daybeds and tables. One of the most versatile and well known is the bruno mathsson fällbord table, a design that is elegant and beautiful but extremely practical as well. All of Mathsson's different furniture styles were designed to provide the utmost in comfort and beauty. In Swedish country homes it was popular to use folding tables in crowded spaces to allow more flexibility with the interior design (inredning).

Published December 5th, 2007

Filed in Art, Hobby, Home, Recreation