Björn Hultén studied during the early 1950’s at what later came to be HDK-Valand – Acedmy of Art and Design at Gothenburg University. There he designed his best known chair- the foldable recliner chair H55 for the exhibition with the same name in Helsingborg 1955. Although the chair was well received by the press and public, it didn’t come in production until the 1990’s then by the Swedish out-door brand Berga From.
For H55 Hultén also designed a villa, and until 1963 he designed furniture such as the collection Ranrike in 1959 and the armchair Wasa in 1963. From 1963-1988 Hultén worked as an interior architect for 40 of the Swedish embassy’s in a.o. Moscow, Cairo and Washington DC. He also designed schools in Kenya through a commission from Sida -the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.
In the late 1980’s Hulten resumed to work as a furniture designer creating pieces such as the chair Georgia for the manufacturer Gärsnäs in 1988. Georgia was inspired by the iconic Gothenburg chair, often produced by small workshops in the village Lindome. Hultén first designed the chair named Sally Brown with a hole in the back that could be perceived as a cross. When Gärsnäs started to get large orders from the Arabic countries, Hultén chose to altered the design with a horizontal moon instead of the cross.
During his life, Hultén designed over 200 furniture models for manufactures such as Gärsnäs, Gemla, Karl Andersson & Söner and Källemo. In 1970 he was appointed professor while also teaching at his alma mater, HDK-Valand Academy of Art and Design at Gothenburg University.
Hultén is represented at the Röhsska Museum of Design and Craft in Gothenburg – where he also had a solo exhibition in 1988-89 – and at the Museum of Furniture Studies in Stockholm. Björn Hultén passed away in 2008 at the age of 80.
