Torbjorn Bekken & Adolf Relling Biography
Torbjørn Bekken (1919-2009) Norwegian designer Torbjørn Bekken graduated from the National Academy of Crafts and Artistic Industry in 1946. Fresh out of school he was chosen by the cutting-edge furniture and interior design company Rastad & Relling Tegnekontor , where he worked for most of his career. They were known for spotting design talent and their practical understanding of how the brand worked. Together with companies such as Bruksbo Designstudio, Rastad & Relling were one of the pioneers in shaping the Norwegian design scene after the Second World War. Bekken played a significant role in the design trends of the 1950s and 1960s. All Scandinavian countries loved wood, and it was the obvious choice at the time. It seems that he did not seek the spotlight, but rather preferred to work quietly behind the scenes.
Adolf Normann Relling (1913-2006) was a Norwegian interior architect and furniture designer from Sykkylven in Sunnmøre. It had a great impact on the functionalist furniture style in combination with traditional craftsmanship. He grew up in a craft environment, did a furniture making apprenticeship at furniture workshops in the local community before starting at Ulsteinvik folk high school, then traveling to Oslo and starting at the Norwegian School of Crafts and Arts under architect Arne Korsmo and the painter Arne E. Holm. His craft background was strengthened and further developed with work in the company Hjort & Østlyngen in Oslo, a study stay in Stockholm and a study trip to Finland. In 1943, together with Rolf Rastad, Relling founded the design studio Rastad og Relling, which after the war was integrated with a furniture store in central Oslo. His interior and furnishing commissions include: the living room and Palmen of the Grand Hotel; Norwegian Employers' Association; The Royal Ship; The reconstruction of the Storting building: furnishing in collaboration with the architect Nils Holter, the Televerket building in Pilestredet/Universitetsgata/St. Olavs plass, Oslo: furniture in collaboration with Nils Holter; NRK Marienlyst, Oslo: Furnishings in collaboration with Nils Holter. As a furniture designer, he worked for many furniture manufacturers, including Gustav Bahus in Bergen.
