THE PRIMARY FACTOR IS PROPORTIONS. -AJ
J
E N AR SEN B O AC 02 9 1
-
71 9 1
ARNE JACOBSEN
1
Arne Emil Jacobsen, Hon. FAIA (11 February 1902 – 24 March 1971) was a Danish architect and designer. He is remembered for his contribution to architectural Functionalism as well as for the worldwide success he enjoyed with simple but effective chair designs. His way into product design came through his interest in Gesamtkunst and most of his designs which later became famous in their own right were created for archi-
tectural projects. Most of his furniture designs were the result of a cooperation with the furniture manufacturer Fritz Hansen with which he initiated a collaboration in 1934 while his lamps and light fixtures were developed with Louis Poulsen. In spite of his success with his chair at the Paris Exhibition in 1925, it was during the 1950s that his interest in furniture design peaked.
2
SWAN &EGG
3
Arne Jacobsen designed the Swan as well as the Egg for the lobby and lounge areas at the Royal Hotel in Copenhagen, in 1958. The commission to
design every element of the hotel building as well as the furniture was Jacobsen’s grand opportunity to put his theories of integrated design and ar-
chitecture into practice. In 1958 the Swan and the Egg chair were a technologically innovatives: No straight lines – only curves.
4
Designed in 1955 for the Munkegaard School in Denmark, the Tongue is the second great chair design from Arne Jacobsen. Introduced right after the famous Ant chair, it was later used to furnish the Jacobsen-designed Royal Hotel in Copenhagen. In 2013, HOWE restored the Tongue. The chair’s aesthetics are exactly as Jacobsen specified, with additional strength provided through precision engineering and the application of high-quality materials, in line with Arne Jacobsen’s own vision for the Tongue. Today’s Tongue is the very essence of structural simplicity – a real design enthusiast’s chair.
THE TONGUE
5
6
THE DROP Arne Jacobsen designed the Drop Chair (1958) for his masterpiece, the legendary SAS Royal Hotel (now the Radisson Blu) in Copenhagen. It was originally manufactured along with Jacobsen’s Swan and Egg Collections but in very limited quantities. In hibernation for more than 50 years, Drop has finally returned. This compact chair with rare heritage is as fresh and vibrant today
7
as it was back then. Constructed of strong ABS plastic with nylon reinforcement, the seat embraces the occupant while still allowing freedom of movement, resulting in a surprising level of comfort. Minimal tubular steel legs provide stability without stealing too much attention from the sculptural seat. This is the authentic Drop Chair manufactured by Republic of Fritz Hansen. Made in Denmark.
8
THE GRAND PRIX The Grand Prix by Arne Jacobsen was introduced by Fritz Hansen at the Spring Exhibition of the Danish Museum of Decorative Art in 1957. Later that year, the chair was displayed at the Triennale in Milan where it received the Grand Prix - the finest distinction of the exhibition. After which the chair has always been called the Grand Prix Chair. Originally, the Grand Prix chair was introduced with a wooden and steel base and was in production for a number of years. It was put into production again in 1991, this time only with the wooden base, but taken out again 4 years later. Today, the chair is available with a chromed base. It is lightweight and stackable and comes in walnut and beech and 9 painted versions.
9
10
THE ANT The classic Ant chair was originally designed by Arne Jacobsen in 1952 for the canteen at Novo Nordisk, a Danish healthcare company. The name of this design stems from the outline of the Ant chair, which resembles an ant with its head raised. Arne Jacobsen designed the Ant chair to be light, stable and stackable. Originally the Ant chair had three plastic legs and a seat made from laminated veneer. It is now available with steel legs, and in both a three-legged and four-legged version.
11
12
The Jacobsen Dot, model 3170 was developed by Fritz Hansen in the 50’s around the same time as Arne Jacobsen created the Ant chair. While creating the Ant, Arne Jacobsen spent lot of time at the Fritz Hansen factory testing, refining and finalizing his project. During this process the Dot caught his interest and he included it in his work. The result of the collaboration was presented to the market in 1954 as a three legged stool in veneer. In 1970 the stool was revitalized as we know it today, with four legs.
THE DOT 14
‘Hammer’ stacking chair was designed by Arne Jacobsen for Fritz Hansen in Denmark in 1955. It has a teak laminated plywood seat and chromed steel legs.
15
THE HAMMER
16