The J.A. Grundberg Foundation for Wood Oriented Furniture Design
To commemorate her grandfather, the master carpenter J. A. Grundberg, Gunda Svedung has made a donation to benefit students of furniture design oriented towards wood. She has also donated an extensive furniture archive which has been placed on Campus Steneby.
Through Gunda Svedung's donation of three million kroner The J.A. Grundberg Foundation for Wood Oriented Furniture Design was created. The foundation will award scholarships to master's and research students in furniture carpentry and woodcraft at the Artistic Faculty. Funds from the foundation will also be used for strategic development projects with the goal of developing activities and the research environment within the area.
The furniture archive will be located on Campus Steneby and used in teaching to understand, see and learn different assembly techniques, design development and knowledge of wood.
“Access to the furniture will be an excellent reference material for the students. They can physically study how carpentry is done and thus build on their knowledge base. Reading and looking at pictures is not enough, it is necessary to touch the furniture and study how it is made”, says Torsten Hild, professor of furniture design at the Design and Crafts Steneby Unit.
The archive consists of about ten pieces, including chairs, benches, kitchen sofas and tables but also some traditional tools and carpentry accessories.
“Normally, archives are only for looking at and not physically examining, so it is very grateful that we have been given permission to use them in a purely practical way.”
"They have always been used and have been a part of life"
“I am happy that the furniture will not just become exhibition pieces but will be used by students and others who know how to handle wood. They have always been used and have been a part of life”, says
Gunda Svedung.
“It is especially fun that they came to the Artistic Faculty because my grandfather studied at Slöjdföreningens skola.”
Gunda Svedung grew up with his grandfather's furniture. The furniture archive that she donated consists entirely of objects designed and manufactured by J. A. Grundberg. They have been in the possession of Gunda Svedung or her sister since the grandfather passed away in 1962 and in many cases, they have served as everyday furniture.
“We are enormously grateful for Gunda's generous donation. Private donations like this are extremely important to us. They enable things that we normally don't have the muscle to do, and it is valuable for us to strengthen our ties with actors outside of academia, says Henric Benesch, dean of the Artistic Faculty.
Johan Alfred Grundberg was born in 1873 and grew up in Munkedal under simple conditions. In 1888–1889 he studied at Slöjdföreningens skola (which was founded in 1848 and after a number of name changes and reorganizations was finally incorporated into what is today HDK-Valand). Before he started his own furniture workshop in Gothenburg, he worked for, among others, the well-renowned furniture company A. Selander & Söner.
In 1899, he moved with his wife to a newly built house, next to where Överåsvallen is today. At that time, he had a workshop both in the house and together with another cabinetmaker on Stampgatan. When that collaboration ended, he moved his entire business to his home where, in addition to designing and making furniture for clients, he created furniture for himself and his wife and their five daughters. During his professional life, J. A. Grundberg's furniture style developed in step with the trends and changed from eclecticism and art nouveau to funkism, while always maintaining a personal style.
Gunda Svedung has written a book about her grandfather, Möbelsnickaren J. A. Grundberg. After diligent work in archives and museums, she has been able to compile as complete a picture of his life and work as possible.