Oak and Brass Car Cabinet by Bjørn Engø, Norwegian Modern, Norway, 1950s

Bjørn Engø was a particularly productive and versatile designer and exhibition architect. His works are characterized by architectural simplicity and sensitivity to the nature of the materials. Engø is today best known for its anodized works in aluminum for Emalox.

In 1946, Bjørn Engø took his diploma exam at the Norwegian School of Handicrafts and Art Industry. The following year, he exhibited several pieces of furniture for A/S Gjøvik Møbelindustri, such as some rectilinear cabinets in a post-functionalist spirit. Worth noting was Engø’s desk chair with stretched skin in an airy design. In many ways, it prepared the ground for the organic design that made Scandinavian design world famous a few years later. In 1948 he designed a range of exclusive furniture for master carpenter Alfred Enge. In the same way as other furniture architects, Engø showed an interest in manilla furniture. For Foreningen Brukskunst wicker furniture exhibition in 1948, he made a chair, table and a wall lamp. In the same year, he also established his own practice.

In 1948, Bjørn Engø established his own design office. Around 1950, he began a fruitful collaboration with the furniture manufacturer Gustav Bahus Eftf. At Norway Designs for Living in Chicago in 1951, some of Engø’s furniture for the company was exhibited. According to architect Arne Korsmo, these were adapted to the American market. Engø also showed great interest in laminated wood furniture. From around 1951, Gustav Bahus made Eftf. some trial models which later resulted in the Bahus-Engø line. Certain models, and in particular the series with fire-lacquered tubular steel legs and laminate constructions, bore the mark of American design influence.

Exhibitor at H-55
In 1955, Bjørn Engø designed a chair with a tongue-shaped seat and back in laminated wood and chair legs in split laminate, which was shown at the H-55 exhibition in Helsingborg. The chair’s expression was more sublime and stripped down than the earlier Bahus-Engølinjen chair models. Few of Engø’s pieces of furniture were widely distributed. This is partly because they were far too radical for the tastes of the time.

Designer: Bjørn Engø

Manufacturer: Gustav Bahus

Year: 1940-50s

Condition: Very good (Minor restoration on the back corner).

Dimensions: W. 120 D. 43.5 H. 122 cm.