These designers were some of the founding members of the Danish Modern movement in the 1950s and 60s, and their designs are as popular now, as they were back when they were launched.
I remember in my university course featuring the Egg Chair by Arne Jacobsen (another renowned Danish modernist) in one of the presentations I made for my professor while I was completing my Interior Design Diploma. His famous quote around “a chair should look as good from the back as it does from the front” has always stuck with me.
Follow on as I take you through the three chair designs I so admire, and what makes them special to me.
Pelican Chair designed by Finn Juhl
A surrealist furniture masterpiece, the Pelican Chair is iconically shaped and instantly recognisable. Quite sharp, distinctive curves and angles, are married with soft upholstery and quilting to provide unexpected comfort. It is still upholstered and crafted by hand in Denmark, after all those years since it’s conception in 1940.
I use this piece when I need to make a statement, or to bring in some distinctive shapes to the interior.
PK22 designed by Poul Kjærholm
Simple, functional and subtle, the PK22 was designed in 1956. A Modernist icon, Poul Kjærholm spent his years perfecting the ideal form and dimension. Particularly interested in steel work, Kjærholm used this material frequently to perfect his designs. Steel was as important to design as wood he thought. A distinctive cross is seen on the back rest, and you can choose the chair to be upholstered in canvas, or leather, and for a natural contrast, cane weaving.
Elbow Chair (CH20) designed by Hans J. Wegner
This is one of my favourite dining chairs. A go to for many interior designers is the CH24 Wishbone chair also by Wegner, but this has the most beautiful subtle curve to the armrest, I can’t resist it. It is a work of art and I love to play around with upholstering in different fabrics and leathers to give each version its own identity. CH20 is stackable, supportive and the solid wood frame is elegantly crafted.
Has J. Wegner was a prolific designer, completing over 500 chair designs, with this one being 1956 only to be launched in 2005 by Carl Hansen & Son. Considered as the ‘master of the chair’, Wegner’s designs are true classics that have stood the test of time.