The Coral Gables Times

GREETINGS FROM SCANDINAVIA

■ When one traveler was asked what he would most like to take home from Scandinavia, he said his first choice would be a Scandinavian. But until the Norwegians, Danes, Finns, and Swedes become available for export, we outsiders must settle for the fruits of their extraordinary imagination and uniquely creative hands. Design of all kinds has become a major tourist attraction in Oslo, Copenhagen, Helsinki, and Stockholm. Here, from this year's Scandinavian Design Cavalcade, is a sampling of products and ideas for our own houses, reported by SUBURBIA TODAY's special correspondent. BY LYDIA RATCLIFF SIZZLE AND SERVE Finland's new flame-proof earthenware cooking utensils are as efficient on an open burner as they are aesthetic on the dinner table, and their steady, heat-holding character is a boon to all cooks, the beginners and the demanding experts alike. Designed by a well-known artist, Ulla Procope, the "Liekki"—"flame"—pots and pans stand to eliminate the housewife's juggling act from stove to table to refrigerator. Simple and good-looking, the new casseroles are available—like the Model T Ford—in one color only, Finnish "earth brown." CANDLES FOR YOUR CHANDELIER One Swedish designer has gone so far as to put the candle back into the chandelier: the ones shown here shine through blue glass pendants that reflect the chandelier's wrought-iron lacework. The Swedes light up their gardens as well as their houses with candles in clusters of glass globes, reminiscent of Stockholm's glittering outdoor park lights. The Danes take a dripless variety off the vertical and lean them out from low wooden stands in a "candle burst." POOR-MAN'S POT Designers in both Norway and Finland have taken a new look at an old material for the kitchen—enamel. Good cooks have long maintained that enamel rates among the best cooking surfaces: it cleans easily, doesn't add its own flavor to delicate foods, and it is inexpensive. They have also lamented the fact that "bathroom white" enamel is an eyesore outside the kitchen and that it tends to chip. Scandinavian technicians have devised an unbreakable variety, and artists have dressed up enamel in a host of new colors and designs. Result is a series of brightly colored teapots, cheerful plates and pans, and salad bowls—some gaily decorated—that need no apology anywhere in the house. FURNITURE FOR FUN A typical Scandinavian craftsman, Erik Heglund, is a sculptor, ceramist, glass blower, woodworker, and architect all rolled into one, and recently he has turned his hand to children's furniture. His down-to-earth designs for the destructive set include rockers like the one shown here, "tunnel" chairs, and pig-shaped benches made out of redwood and bright woven cloth. They have all been tried out first on Heglund's own three bumptious offspring. AN OVEN FOR YOUR GARDEN The American garden can now be graced by a Danish ceramic confection: the outdoor oven. Reaching to the Orient for its inspiration, the charcoal-burning oven is made of a heavy stone and clay mixture. A big improvement over the rusty, gangling barbecue set, it holds its heat for hours, once its thick walls have warmed up, and can be used not only for tea and plate-warming but also for cooking, or simply cutting the chill of an afternoon. Continued on page 15 Suburbia Today, December 1962 13