Åke Axelsson is an interior architect, furniture designer and cabinet-maker with his own workshop. For decades he has designed public spaces ranging from the Swedish parliament to restaurants and the royal palace. But he is also famous for his chair designs which have been manufactured and sold in large numbers ever since the 1960s. His furniture can be found in public meeting places throughout Sweden: at libraries, museums, cafés, art galleries and schools. Most of us have sat on an Åke Axelsson chair, often without realising it. But we have sat unusually comfortably.

Åke Axelsson has been working with wood since he was a child. He trained as a cabinet-maker in the 1940s. Being able to make his furniture designs and to use the skills of his hands have been fundamental to his career which has lasted for 60 years. Åke is a partner in furniture manufacturers Gärsnäs, with a factory in the south of Sweden. He is a manufacturer himself and he regards hi-tech manufacturing as an essential condition for producing the furniture that society needs. Now he is launching small-scale industrial craftsmanship as a complement to factory-made items.

ABOUT ÅKE

By making furniture in his workshop at Engarn in the vicinity of Stockholm Åke Axelsson wants to give his own furniture production a natural place in the world in a unique fashion. His idea is more than mere selling. It is a matter of concern for sustainable development. In his well-equipped premises Åke Axelsson works with his skilled assistant Daniel Ericsson. At the workshop, ideas come more freely and can be realized more rapidly. Furniture is created using quality materials and a long-term perspective. Åke Axelsson is no romantic carpenter. He believes in organic production for everyone, with furniture that functions well both at home and in the public domain. That his chairs are comfortable to sit on is a natural condition. The ÅA burn-mark is a guarantee of quality.