String Ash Shelving System by Kajsa & Nisse Strinning

The Swedish designer couple Kajsa (1922-2017) and Nisse Strinning (1917-2006), a trained architect from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, won a competition held by the publisher Bonniers in 1949 for an affordable bookshelf that was easy to ship and to assemble oneself. This gave rise to the String shelving system of slender steel wire side panels and wooden shelves, which can be flat-packed, assembled without tools and extended at will. In 1952 the Strinnings founded the companies String Design AB and Swedish Design AB for production. Nisse Strinning had previously developed a dish rack of plastic-coated metal wire for the Elfa brand, whose construction principle was incorporated into the String system. Kajsa Strinning played a key role in the construction and drawing of the system.