Östen Kristiansson and Vittsjömöbel

Östen Kristiansson (Swedish, 1927 – 2003) was a highly skilled wood sculptor and furniture designer. He was associated with Swedish mid-century design " Svensk retro möbler " and Swedish post war functionalism design.

Born in southern Sweden in 1927 in Vittsjö, Skåne, His father Evert Kristiansson was a renowned cabinet maker and owner of Vittsjö Möbelfabrik. His principle has always been to reach the highest quality to match the work of the biggest renowned Swedish cabinet makers. This has always been his objective since he took over the factory in 1932. Regardless of the changes of directions over the years, he always aimed to maintain the quality of his craftsmanship.

Östen studied wood carving and sculpture which became his signature and this we can easely distinguish in the Luxus teak lamp structures.

In 1950, Uno Kristiansson, his older brother, founded his own manufacturing company, Luxus, also in Vittsjö.

From 1952 Uno Kristiansson began to increasingly use his father's factory Vittsjö möbelfabrik to produce his lighting structures and furniture. Due to the high demands for Luxus products the production of Östen  furniture slowed down.

In 1957 Östen published his last collection for Vittsjö möbelfabrik that he called Vittsjömöbel and after that he joined his brother Uno and worked exclusively for Luxus. We can easily notice the change in the sculpture quality of the teak lamps and other furniture, Östen brought his wood carving techniques that marked the whole range of luxus products.

Vittsjömöbel catalogue in 1957 marked the end of Östen furniture design for Vittsjö möbelfabrik and started a new era where he designed with his brother Uno for Luxus and produced by their father's factory until Östen took over the factory in 1966 and named it Östen Kristiansson AB.

Östen died in 2003 leaving behind an amazing collection of furniture that marked the history of Swedish mid century modern design.