Carin Bryggman was an interior architect that was the first woman to found a interior decorating bureau in Finland.
Bryggman studied at the University School of Arts, Design and Architecture 1940–1944 and won the Arts and Crafts Association’s design competition allowing her to display her designs at the Ateneum school. As there was little work for women architects in Finland after the war, Bryggman continued her career by working at three architectural firms in Sweden and focusing on lighting design from 1945 to 1948. She also started working on interiors with her father, the architect Erik Bryggman. In 1949 Bryggman founded her own company in the field – the first one by a woman in Finland. About half of all interior architects at the time were women, whereas just about all architects were men.
She exhibited at furniture fairs and conducted study trips to Italy, Germany, France and the US. Her most known design is the SAB chair, made for the Arts and Crafts Association’s 75th anniversary exhibit in 1950 as Finland’s first foam padded chair.
Bryggman designed restaurants, hotels, pharmacies, shops, cafés, banks, exhibitions and public spaces during her long career. Perhaps her best known work is the renovation plans and interior designs she made together with her father for the castle in Turku, Finland for more than 40 years. She also made interior plans for the Sibelius museum in Turku, the Åbo Akademi University School of Business, the Turku Academy house, the Finnish embassy in Stockholm and the archbishop’s official residence. The Bryggman archives hold more than 450 completed works by Carin but because her designs were most often custom works and not mass produced, few designs have survived.
Carin Bryggman was married to the interior designer Uolevi Nuotio from 1952 to 1962, running the firm and working on projects together. They had no children.
- Carin Bryggman
- 1920-1993
- Interior decorator and designer
- Awarded the Order of the White Rose of Finland in 1961, the State Industrial Design Award in 1982, the Svenska Kulturfonden Prize in 1986, the Aurora medal in 1987 and Turku City art prize in 1990.
- Honorary member of SIO – the association of interior decorators
- Founded the Inredningsarkitekt Carin Bryggmans och professor Erik Bryggmans fund that awards and supports young architects.
Sources:
Carin Bryggman, sisustusarkkitehti
Carin Bryggman ja Lasse Ollinkari sisustusarkkitehdin ammatissa 1940– ja 1950–luvulla
Meillä on koivureunainen n 5cm korkea peili, jonka kaltainen näkyy Bryggman Ollinkari kirjassa. Lopullista varmuutta ei ole löytynyt, onko se Bryggman.