Overview

The “H55 International Exhibition of Applied Arts of Housing and the Interior” was held in Helsingborg, Sweden, from June 10 to August 28, 1955. A special exhibition under the 1928 Convention, it was organized by the City of Helsingborg and the Swedish Association of Arts and Crafts (Svenska Slöjdföreningen, today Svensk Form). Its theme was "Modern Man in the Environment," and 10 countries took part.

Origins and the bid

H55 was the first major exhibition in Helsingborg since the industrial and crafts exhibition of 1903. Åke H. Huldt served as general commissioner, and the supervising architects included Carl-Axel Acking, a native of Helsingborg who was responsible for the exhibition halls on the pier, together with Bengt Gate, Torbjörn Olsson and Sven Silow. The grounds, about 50,000 square meters, were divided between the Gröningen area and the harbor parapet, linked by a footbridge more than 200 meters long built by the Royal Göta Engineer Corps.

Theme and subthemes

The exhibition set out to adapt the everyday environment to people's needs and to raise public taste in design and interiors, with color and form as recurring themes. Exhibitors came from Denmark, Finland, France, Japan, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and West Germany. Alvar Aalto's studio shaped much of the Finnish section, and the designs on view included Arne Jacobsen's stackable Series 7 chair, Björn Hultén's adjustable H55 lounger, Nils Strinning's String shelves and Stig Lindberg's Terma stoneware. Anders Beckman created the exhibition's visual identity and logo, which the BIE describes as an "ambitious and innovative approach to public communication."

Legacy

The BIE credits H55 with marking "the arrival of 'Scandinavian Modern' as a new genre," and notes that several of the furniture models shown there remained iconic more than half a century later. The Concert Hall, the Parapet Restaurant and Bar 55 still stand in Helsingborg. Expo 1955 Helsingborg brought the Nordic approach to everyday design before an international public.