Josef Frank (1885-1967) Austria/Sweden

Josef Frank was an Austrian-Swedish architect, designer and professor. A pioneer of functionalism, Frank made a deep impression on the history of Swedish design. He fled rising Nazism at 50 years old, and despite his brief time in Sweden, he is considered one of Sweden’s most important designers of all time. Estrid Ericson, CEO of Svenskt Tenn, gave Frank a great deal of support and confidence. She had a remarkable sense of aesthetics and was an exceptionally artistic producer. By transforming bare and factual functionalism with the inclusion of color and pattern, together they designed something unique and, at the time, un-Swedish. Ericson gave Frank a place of refuge at Svenskt Tenn, and today, there are over 2,000 furniture sketches and 160 textile patterns with Frank’s signature in the Svenskt Tenn archives. Frank designed five houses that were built between 1927 and 1936 in Falsterbo, Skåne, Sweden. They were considered Sweden’s first functionalist buildings.