(in Polish) Scandinavian design: cultural narratives WH-KON-E-ScanDes

The course touches upon questions of Scandinavian culture through the lens of design and its broad cultural contexts. Scandinavian design is a term used to briefly describe most of the artistic activities which arose in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Sweden, and Norway. The term itself is highly misleading as the adjective Scandinavian is historically and properly used to describe three kingdoms only: Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Nevertheless, semantically, it can at times include Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and Finland, as countries situated in the same region. The terms the North or Nordic Countries are much more significant and proper, but, at the same time, far less common, especially among non-nordic scholars and writers. Because of its originally unique character, Scandinavian design is often emphasized as essentially distinct from the rest of Europe, mostly because of the geographical position of Scandinavia, as well as because of sharing a common history and linguistic roots (except for Finland). There are many unifying factors determining the Scandinavian design, concisely present in it: simplicity of the form, strong devotion to local traditions, high quality of used materials, democratic approach to design, the social role of everyday life objects and a significant role of designers. Hence there might be a reason for reducing those cultural phenomena to a common denominator, known worldwide as Scandinavian Design.