Peter Brandt

The pragmatic and unpretentious work of furniture designer Peter Brandt (b. 1959) is representative of the rich Lagom ethos, the understated yet stylish Swedish modern design approach that roughly translates to “just the right amount.”

Brandt’s legacy is claimed by a two nations. Born and active in Stockholm yet technically of Danish heritage, his design sensibility is heavily informed by his foundational experiences in both Sweden and Denmark. He attended both Konstfack and Copenhagen’s Royal Academy of Fine Artsj—not unlike Gijs Bakker, Kerstin Hörlin-Holmquist, and Gunnar Asplund, who are Konstfack-educated designers with bi-national academic degrees. 

Brandt got his professional start in 1994 with Blå Station, the avant-garde Swedish furniture manufacturer. This appointment, according to legend, was won thanks to the stackable stool design that Brandt illustrated on the back of the envelope he sent to the company. Named Bimbo, this brilliantly simple sketch so enthused Blå Station founder Börge Lindau that he immediately put it into production, making Brandt the first external designer to collaborate with the firm since its 1986 inception. Bimbo eventually grew into a family of stools and small tables for Blä Station and received a Forsnäs Prize and Great Swedish Design Award. 

Although his activity since this tour de force debut has chiefly been in architecture—he is a practicing partner at Stockholm’s Thomas Erikkson Arkitekter—Brandt has maintained a presence in product and furniture design, most recently for the Mälmo-based Nola Industrier. This work includes the Hjorthgen and Vejby families of garden furniture and the double-seated Nova Park Bench (all ca. 2010s), all of which reinvent traditional wood-painted furniture in durable year-round contexts.