Nils Strinning – Swedish designer & innovator of the String shelf

Nils Strinning 1917 - 2006

Nils Strinning was born in 1917 in Kramfors, Sweden and was one of the leading Swedish furniture designers of the 20th century. He studied architecture at the Stockholm School of Technology and during his studies created the prototype of the dish rack that later became the Elfa shelf.

Over the years, Nils also developed some other variants of this design, such as a holder for binbags, changing tables and not least the wire trays which became a completely new way of decorating a wardrobe and which are still popular features in many homes.

Strinning is mainly known for having designed, together with his wife Kajsa, the so-called String Shelf which was developed for a competition announced by Bonnier and the Swedish Handicraft Association in 1949. The String Shelf became popular immediately after it was presented in the magazine Form and during the H55 exhibition in Helsingborg. In the early 50s Bonnier established the separate company String Design in collaboration with Nils Strinning. Meanwhile, Strinning continued the work of developing the shelf, designing both the floor-standing models and the String Plex Pocket with plexiglass sides.

The success of the String shelf led to several collaborations with Nordic and European furniture manufacturers during the 1960s, including Deutsche String, Thonet and Casala. Strinning also designed seats, chairs and tables, and it is said that the spindle table was his invention, which Bruno Mathsson and Piet Hein then developed further.