Grethe Meyer: Designing Danish Modernism

An illustrated biography of the pioneering female designer who shaped a distinctly modern vision of domestic life for the postwar generation

The story of Danish midcentury architect and designer Grethe Meyer (1918-2008) spans the fields of design, culture and women's history. It illustrates the complexities of being both a single mother and a pioneering architect at a time when her male colleagues dominated the field. Her iconic designs, informed by the rhythm and needs of family life, shaped a new vision of domesticity rooted in the ideals of modernity and freedom shared by the now-canonized postwar generation of idealist architects and designers.
Organized chronologically, Designing Danish Modernism presents her remarkable story in lively detail, as informed by extensive archival research as well as lengthy conversations with Meyer's friends, colleagues and family members. The volume also amplifies Meyer's own voice, integrating quotes from her notes and speeches. While paying particular attention to her table service Blue Line and her renowned stoneware series Firepot, Designing Danish Modernism also highlights Meyer's early modular cabinets, late cutlery and many other innovative designs in between.