Ohlsson Folke Biography
Folke Ohlsson was born in Malmo, Sweden, in 1919. He studied at the School of the Gothenburg Society of Industrial Design before starting his working career at the Swedish furniture and bedding manufacturer, Dux. In 1950, Ohlsson moved to the United States, bringing with him only a suitcase containing clothing and precisely designed miniature models of his furniture. Additionally, he had with him a cardboard box that contained the broken components of one of his chairs. Many other Swedish designers tried to introduce "modern Swedish" design to the U.S. market, especially during the 1939 World's Fair, but, as Ohlsson once stated in the newspaper Vestkusten, they all acted "haphazardly." As soon as he arrived in the United States, Ohlsson presented his suitcase and cardboard in hotels across the country, inviting salesmen, department stores and decorators to view his miniature drawings and watch him disassemble and reassemble one of his chairs. This quickly gave him a reputation for his innovative patented "knock-down" construction, a system that reduced shipping and storage costs and helped make Dux a household name in the United States. Early in his design career, Ohlsson predominantly made furniture from natural blond beech wood, but critics urged him to quickly switch to darker woods, such as walnut and teak. By 1955, during its peak production period, the Dux line was sold in all 50 U.S. states, including Alaska and Hawaii, and generated sales in excess of $1,000,000. In 1951, Folke Ohlsson won a gold medal at the Milan Triennale and received the Good Design Award from the Museum of Modern Art in New York. His furniture was among the first exhibits at the Stanford Art Museum. Ohlsson's innovative disassembly concept revolutionized furniture manufacturing and transportation, helping to create global companies like IKEA today.
