Short Film on Greta Magnusson Grossman

I’d like to see more women getting coverage for their great design, so I’ve brought across a short film celebrating the work of Swedish pioneer Greta Magnusson Grossman, which was kindly put together by the good folks over at Gubi in Copenhagen. Gretta was known in the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s for her iconic lighting, although she did venture into many facets of furniture and design throughout her forty year career. One of her designs that’s still widely coveted today is the grasshopper floor lamp notable for it’s sleek figure and simplistic aesthetic.

Although this project has been curated by Gubi I was surprised to see Evan Snyderman, one of the founders of R20th Century, offering up his opinion in this piece. It actually turns out that Evan organised Greta’s touring exhibition “a Car and Some Shorts” which we also featured back in April of 2010. It never ceases to amaze me how connected the mid-century design circle is, I love that in collaborating in this way the legacy of so many great designers are preserved so hopefully this is a path that will be continued by others in the future.

One of the reasons Greta is held in such high regard by her peers was because of the fact she was one of the first few women to win the national design award in her homeland of Sweden. Greta and her few female counterparts created a window of opportunity for aspiring young designers, much like the success of Ray Eames in America. To create such iconic and timeless objects in the face of adversity is a huge inspiration in my eyes, but I’d still like to see more lady designers in the present day so perhaps this can be the fuel to somebodies fire, watch below and enjoy!

www.gubi.com

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