Esben Klint, EK61 Opal Pendant

Esben Klint was born into a family of architects and designers and, throughout his life, he worked as an architect and cabinetmaker, creating his own distinctive style in lighting, furniture and large buildings.

Esben Klint

1915 – 1969

Esben Klint was born on June 18, 1915. His father was the world-famous architect, Professor Kaare Klint, who is generally considered the father of modern Danish design and the man behind such iconic pieces of furniture as the Safari Chair and the Faaborg Chair. At the time of Esben Klint’s birth, the family was living in Java, Indonesia, but a few years later they moved back to Copenhagen where Esben Klint grew up.

Esben Klint opened his own design studio in 1954, and following Kaare Klint’s death, he took over several of his father’s unfinished works. Esben Klint regarded his work on the completion of Grundtvig’s Church in Copenhagen as one of his greatest achievements – a work that his grandfather P. V. Jensen-Klint had begun in 1921, continued by his father Kaare Klint and completed by Esben Klint, the third generation of the family.

Esben Klint

EK61 Opal Pendant

Danish architect and cabinetmaker Esben Klint joins Carl Hansen & Søn’s prominent group of designers with the EK61 Opal Pendant. A classic lamp, designed in 1961 but never been in production before, is now launched in mouth-blown opal glass and certified oak. Created by the son of prominent designer Kaare Klint, the understated and elegant pendant, available in three sizes, emits soft, indirect light thanks to its careful combination of classic materials.

Originally imagined in pleated plastic, the design was too complicated to produce at the time and remained stored in the family archives until now. The new iteration features a pleated, super-elliptical shape with distinctive top and bottom pieces, evoking traditional Chinese lanterns. The lamp’s materials – mouth-blown opal glass and oak, meticulously turned and honed by hand, give it a classic look, ennobling the original design.

Elegantly complementing Carl Hansen & Søn’s existing collection of lighting, the Opal Pendant blends in beautifully above the dining table, in the hall, in the living room or in the bedroom.