History

Anders Beckmans Skola was founded in 1939 in Stockholm by Anders Beckman and Göta Trägårdh.

Anders Beckman was a multi-talented representative of the emerging Swedish advertising industry. As a designer, he is famous for his characteristic posters for several well-known Swedish companies. He is also acclaimed for his contribution to the World's Fair in New York in 1939, where he created Sweden's exhibition and graphic design. The graphic profile for the ground-breaking exhibition H55 in Helsingborg in 1955 was yet another of his triumphs. Anders Beckman's career as an artist, with frequent solo exhibitions, naturally influenced the plans for his future school, which came to have an unmistakable artistic base.

Göta Trägårdh studied at Tekniska skolan in Stockholm (now the University College of Arts, Crafts and Design - Konstfack) and was active as a textile pattern designer for several of Sweden's leading textile companies. Her patterns were colourful and graphic and soon became highly popular on the Swedish market. Alongside her career in textile design, Göta Trägårdh was also one of the most frequently-engaged fashion illustrators of her time, often reporting in the press on Paris fashion shows and other events.

Anders Beckman's and Göta Trägårdh's idea of starting a small-scale art school for advertising and fashion materialised during their trip to the World's Fair in New York in 1939. On their return to Stockholm, they advertised for students, and the response was overwhelming. The basic concept was a free, creative alternative to the large, government-operated Konstfack. Open, spontaneous collaboration with the community, including businesses and institutions, was characteristic of the College profile from the start. Professionally active colleagues with large networks of contacts within their respective fields were recruited as teachers. In this way, the students were introduced to the labour market they would eventually be working in.

Monologue 1971, textile pattern by Göta Trädgårdh

After the death of Anders Beckman in 1967, his wife, Nunnie Beckman, took over and ran the College as a private enterprise. In the mid-1980s, it was reconstructed into a limited company and became Anders Beckmans Skola AB. The principal owners were now a group of Swedish design-oriented companies, including H&M, IKEA and Svenskt Tenn. However, the Beckman estate is still a shareholder. In 2003, the College became an approved examining body with full government funding, under the name of Beckmans Designhögskola/Beckmans College of Design. Tom Hedqvist has been its rector since 2000.

Since gaining university status, the College has worked continuously on the development and quality assurance of the College's fundamental ideas within the framework of applicable regulations. Artistic and theoretical undergraduate studies, an intense creative pace, close contact with society, professionally active teachers, frequent guests and interdisciplinary collaborations are the main focus. Sustainability with regard to the global environment, economy and culture inform the study programmes. Beckmans College of Design is committed to a humane and multicultural perspective on society.

About Beckmans

• Beckmans College of Design
• History
• Sustainability at Beckmans College of Design
• Art