Superellips Bord - Tables Before There Was Ikea

Bruno Mathsson (1907-1988) was the son of a fourth generation Swedish cabinet maker. He loved architecture and interior design (heminredning). While raised working with beautiful woods of the cabinetry business, he was pulled in a different direction by the functionalist movement of the early twentieth century.

An early artist of the functionalist movement was Mathsson whose works were misunderstood: people thought them so ugly that they would not sit on his chairs in a hospital in 1931. Those pieces were eventually stored in an attic and weren't understood until 1939 when his work was shown in New York. Ultimately, his interior design (heminredning) revolved around pieces in a home that each had a specific purpose.

Mathsson believed that his designs should be both functional and aesthetically pleasing. As a designer, he felt that any given design of his was not complete, if it did not serve a purpose and please him visually from all possible angles. His superellips design is a popular example of his work.

A particularly unique design is the superellips. This piece of furniture was created around an equation created by a brilliant Danish mind. The scientist and the furniture maker put their heads together during the decade of the 1970's, and ended up with a best selling product.

The superellips table is popular for office meetings in a business setting. However, it's had multiple makeovers since Bruno Mathsson first introduced it. The top of the design has remained the same shape, but the legs have varied from their original incarnation so it would function more efficaciously in office settings that require accommodating rolling office chairs (especially those in larger sizes) that are in use today. The design and functional elements have remained true to their original design, but it's been updated to incorporate modern materials and other improvements.

Although two decades have passed since Bruno Mathsson's death, his designs are continuing in production all over the world. Licensed production and sale of his designs in Japan stem from valuable contacts he made while visiting and showcasing his work there. The superellips is just one example of Mathsson's ability to show beauty in simplicity.

Bruno Mathsson (1907-1988) was the son of a fourth generation Swedish cabinetmaker. He loved architecture and interior design. The superellips table is one of Mathsson's most popular designs. The table was actually designed around a mathematical formula that was popularized by a Danish scientist, mathematician, inventor and author by the name of Piet Hein. Hein and Mathsson collaborated on the now popular elliptical design of the table in the 1970s. It has changed many times since Mathsson first invented it. While the top stays the same shape, the legs are often different from his original design.