Knut Hagberg studied interior architecture and furniture design at Academy of Interior Design and Fredrikberg’s Technical College in Copenhagen from 1973 to -78. In 1979 Knut and his sister Marianne began working for IKEA, when they designed the series Tving and Torsby. Since then, the siblings have designed over 1600 products for the company, ranging from furniture to toilet brushes.
Hagberg's were also involved in the design of the iconic blue IKEA bag in 1990’s. One of their most well-known pieces for IKEA is the children furniture set Pussel from 1986. The colourful range made of yellow and red polyurethan seat and back on a blue lacquered steel pipe construction received the Excellent Swedish Design Award in 1988 and is a part of the collection at the Nordiska Museet and the Museum of Furniture Studies in Stockholm, together with the chair Omtänksam (thoughtful in English) from 2018.
The Hagberg-duo was also awarded the Excellent Swedish Design award for the rattan chair Talus (1987), the nickel silver tableware Line in 1993 as well as the children stool Patrull in 1998. For the table series Lisabo, ground-breaking with its construction that allowed its legs to be “clicked” into place with no need for tools, the Hagberg’s received the Red Dot Award in 2016.
Knut and Marianne Hagberg have been represented in the International Design Yearbook three times (1999, 2000 and 2007) and won the Elle Interior Bedroom Product of the Year in 2013 for Duken bedframe. In 2021 to 2022 Knut and Marianne Hagberg are the focus of the retrospective exhibition “Hagberg + Hagberg” at the IKEA Museum in Älmhult, Sweden.
