Profile. designers. collection. content. writing desks. Dining / conference tables. Bookcase / Storage. Frames & Posters

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2 1 2 rud. rasmussen

3 collection Profile designers Bookcase / Storage Chairs & stools Easy Chairs Sofas & Daybeds Coffee Tables Dining / conference tables writing desks Frames & Posters Bookcase system Cabinet for drawings The Red Chair / 3758, 3758A, 3949 and 4571 Propeller Stool / 8783 The Faaborg Chair / 9662 Folding Chair Easy Chair with canework /4488 Easy Chair / 5313 Safari Chair Wing Chair / 6212 Easy Chair / Addition Sofa / 4865 Sofa with low sides / 5011 The Greek Sofa / 6092 Sofa with high sides / 4118 Daybed Folding Table Side Table / 4486 Round Coffee Table / 6687 Egyptian Table The Folding Dining Table The Addition Table / Writing Desk series / 454 The Writing Desk Writing Desk and Professor Desk The Red Gate Poster Picture frame system, London / The Story of Rud. Rasmussen 4 Kaare Klint Mogens Koch Poul Kjærholm Bernt Petersen Jørgen Rud. Rasmussen Mogens Lassen content

4 The story of Rud. Rasmussen First generation Rudolph Rasmussen Rud. Rasmussen produces its own furniture as the company has been doing since 1869, when Rudolph Rasmussen set up his cabinetmaking business in Copenhagen. The story of Rud. Rasmussen Rudolph Rasmussen did his apprenticeship with a cabinetmaker in Aarhus in 1857, and his career took off four years later, when he moved to Copenhagen and began to work for the royal cabinetmaker I. G. Lund. At Lund, the young Rudolph Rasmussen was given ample opportunity to develop his draughtsmanship and became adept at using cabinetmaking machinery. Rasmussen was entrusted with several important commissions, including building Lund s stand at the industrial exhibition in Stockholm in 1866 a project that earned him enough capital to start up on his own. He worked out of small, rented premises in central Copenhagen for the first few years, moving to his own premises in St. Kongensgade in Shortly after, while Rudolph Rasmussen was involved in a large job making furniture for Hotel d Angleterre in Copenhagen, his workshop burned down. However, the furniture maker used the insurance payment of 10,000 Danish kroner to finance a move to the vibrant street of Nørrebrogade in Copenhagen. Together with his brother-in-law, the master cabinetmaker J.C. Groule, who specialized in polished mahogany and walnut furniture, Rudolph Rasmussen bought the plot on the corner of Stengade and Nørrebrogade where the company remains to this day. Factory for oak furniture Groule and Rasmussen first built a residential property overlooking Nørrebrogade and a four-story factory building facing Stengade, from where they ran their furniture business, in There was a boiler in the basement of the factory building and a steam engine and a small group of other machinery on the ground floor. The upper floors were fitted out as workshops for the craftsmen. Rudolph Rasmussen named his company Rud. Rasmussens Fabrik for Egetræsmøbler (Rud. Rasmussen s Factory for Oak Furniture). In using the word factory, it is likely he wished to signal a focus on streamlined, large-scale operations. Machinery had transformed the furnituremaking trade, making it possible to cut wood to exact and uniform dimensions and freeing up resources for tasks such as carving the wood as well as varnishing, polishing, and assembling the furniture. Rud. Rasmussen soon established a reputation for well-made oak furniture, and demand grew. When Martin Nyrup s new City Hall was completed at the beginning of the 20th century, the local authority in Copenhagen became one of Rud. Rasmussen s biggest customers. Rudolph Rasmussen often designed the furniture 4 5

5 The story of Rud. Rasmussen himself, but was also assisted by well-known Danish architects such as Vilhlem Dahlerup and Thorvald Bindesbøll. Second generation Rudolph s sons, Rudolf and Victor When Rudolph Rasmussen died in 1904, his sons Rudolf and Victor Rasmussen took over and jointly realized their father s plans to build a new, larger factory, which was completed in The new facility no longer used belt drives, but only electrical machines powered by a new steam engine with a dynamo in the basement a setup that freed up space for a machinery workshop on the ground floor and a cabinetmakers workshops on the first floor and on parts of the second floor. The old factory was converted into offices, storage facilities, and showroom. Commissions to supply furniture to the public authorities rolled in. The police station, the postal service, various ministries, the technical university, and hospitals all commissioned furniture from Rud. Rasmussen, but the company also accepted orders for smaller pieces of furniture or e.g. new windows for private homes. It is these small, one-off commissions that keep a furniture maker from becoming set in his ways, said Rudolf and Victor. Functional furniture In the beginning of the 1920 s, functionalism was making an impact on Danish architects and furniture designers a development that had a bearing on the furniture industry in general and on Rud. Rasmussen in particular. Kaare Klint became a decisive influence on the design of functional furniture in Denmark due to his systematic approach and his position as a long-standing university lecturer and later professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts furniture school. Rud. Rasmussen s partnership with Kaare Klint started in 1926 when, together with his friend and colleague Ivar Bentsen, Klint was commissioned to convert and furnish the former King Frederik s Hospital on Bredgade in central Copenhagen into a museum. Rud. Rasmussen manufactured a number of display cases and pieces of furniture for the new Da nish Museum of Decorative Art (now the Design Museum Danmark) among them the Red Chair, which Klint had designed for the museum s lecture hall. Working closely with architects In the years that followed, Kaare Klint designed several pieces of furniture, including his Addition Sofa, Greek Sofa, one of the first knock-down chairs the Safari Chair which could be completely dismantled and reassembled, and a number of desks and coffee tables. Rud. Rasmussen produced all of Klint s works on its premises. In the late 1920s, architect and professor Mogens Koch began to work with Rud. Rasmussen, and in 1932, the company produced the first elements of his now-renowned Bookcase System. For Mogens Koch, it was crucial that customers who started to collect his shelves could always add to the system. This was a promise Rud. Rasmussen was happy to make and one that the company has honored for over 80 years. The collaboration with Kaare Klint and Mogens Koch was seminal. It was at that time, in 1930, that the company changed its name to Rud. Rasmussens Snedkerier Rud. Rasmussen s Cabinetmakers. Third generation and the Danish Modern concept In 1944, Erik and Aage Rasmussen, the sons of Rudolf Rasmussen Jr. and the third generation of the Rasmussen family to run the company, took over after their father s death. During the 1950s, to accommodate fast-growing demand, Erik and Aage Rasmussen reduced the company s investments in smaller, one-off projects and shifted focus towards mass-produced furniture while maintaining a focus on traditional craftsmanship. The firm flourished in the 1950s and 60s, producing approximately 5,000 Kaare Klint 6 7

6 Safari Chairs every year and several thousand Mogens Koch bookcases. At the same time, Rud. Rasmussen gradually enlarged its range of machinery while keeping the labor force relatively stable at about 50 employees. The period marked a new direction is the company s business, and in the decades that followed, Rud. Rasmussen concentrated on producing these beautifully designed, classic pieces of furniture. designer furniture. Through Carl Hansen & Søn s international sales organization, the work of Danish design icons like Kaare Klint and Mogens Koch can now be showcased on a global stage alongside the classics of masters like Hans J. Wegner a stage they all deserve to be on. The story of Rud. Rasmussen Fourth generation In 1979, the reins were handed over to the fourth generation of Rasmussens when Jørgen Rud. Rasmussen, who had been employed at the company since 1967, was appointed Managing Director. From threat of demolition to historical listing of premises In the early 1980s, dark clouds appeared on the company s horizon. The City of Copenhagen had started redeveloping the local district, and both the showroom facing Stengade and the factory building in the courtyard were due to be demolished. This would have spelled the end of Rud. Rasmussens Snedkerier. However, at the last minute, the authorities relented, and a new idea of establishing a craftsmen s center arose. In 2007, Rud. Rasmussen was made a national industrial monument, with the buildings listed by the Danish Agency for Culture in Normally, a company would not be interested in having its production facilities listed, but for Rud. Rasmussen it meant continuing producing furniture on Nørrebrogade, as it has always done. Carl Hansen & Søn takes over In autumn 2011, Carl Hansen & Søn bought Rud. Rasmussens Snedkerier, which continues to exist as an independent brand. The two companies have a clear common ground founded in a strong tradition for craftsmanship and timeless design. Together, the companies can now appeal to a larger target group with a wider assortment of high-quality, Sources: Rud. Rasmussen s centenary catalogue Danish Agency for Culture Gorm Harkær, Klintiana Kaare Klint Project 2013 Studies of Rud. Rasmussens Snedkerier by Jakob Ingemann Parby MA 8 9

7 Bookcase System / Mogens Koch bookcase system 10 11

8 Because there was always a very close correlation between Mogens Koch s own life and the furniture he designed, none of his designs can be regarded as purely artistic manifestations. Rather, every piece of furniture resulted from a particular commission or was created for a particular purpose. This is also true of what became his popular Bookcase System, a solution originally intended for his own home in Hulgårdsvej near Bellahøj in Copenhagen. The house s small rooms called for flexible storage, so in 1928, Koch drew the first sketches for a square bookcase that, thanks to its relatively compact size, could be used in a multitude of different ways. In 1930, In 1991, Mogens Koch was awarded the Danish Design Award (previously ID-Prisen) by the Danish Design Centre for his spacesaving shelving system. Rud. Rasmussen produced the first prototype, and in 1932 production started up in earnest. Mogens Koch s Bookcase System has since been in continuous production for more than 80 years. bookcase system The elements are manufactured in particularly thin dimension of solid wood, with traditional dovetail and rabbet joints bringing incredible strength and stability to every single module

9 The Bookcase System comprises several modules: a bookcase, a deep bookcase unit, a cabinet unit, a half bookcase, a two-thirds bookcase, a showcase unit, a cabinet for drawings, a wardrobe, a sofa module, and a picture frame system. All the modules are based on the same dimensions 76 cm x 76 cm with a depth of either 27 cm or 36 cm. The system either rests on a base directly on the floor or is mounted on the wall. bookcase system It is manufactured in six different types of wood: oak, ash, mahogany, Oregon pine, European cherry, and teak

10 Easy Chair with canework 4488 / Kaare Klint Kaare Klint showed his easy chair with canework, also known as the English Chair, at a 1931 exhibition. The chair is essentially a copy of another chair that Klint had seen and found so perfect that he had to recreate it. The chair is made of mahogany with Brazilian rosewood sections on the edges and front panel. The seat, back and sides are made of handwoven French canework. The seat cushion is upholstered in oxhide, Niger goat hide, or fabric, as requested. Easy Chair with cranework

11 Easy Chair 5313 / Kaare Klint Kaare Klint designed this easy chair with a loose seat cushion for an upholstered furniture competition organized by the Upholsterers Guild to celebrate the Guild s 475th anniversary in The chair was first exhibited in The easy chair is produced in mahogany or European cherry and upholstered in Niger goat hide, oxhide, or fabric, as requested. The chair is finished with piping. EASY CHAIRS

12 The Red Chair 3758, 3758A, 3949 and 4571 / Kaare Klint Between 1927 and 1932, Kaare Klint designed a series of chairs named The Red Chairs. The Red Chair is available in mahogany, oak, and European cherry, and can be upholstered in Niger goat hide, oxhide, or fabric. The chair is finished with piping or brass nails. The chair comes in three sizes; the largest (model 3758) is also available with armrests (model 3758A). The name stemmed from Kaare Klint s favorite material, the red Niger goat hide, which was originally used to upholster the chair s seat and back. Klint designed the first chairs (model 3758) especially for the Danish Museum of Art and Design s lecture hall and placed them in the central pavilion facing Bredgade in central Copenhagen, positioning the chairs side by side in many rows. the red chair 3758, 3758A, 3949 and 4571 The seats width ensured that people had a comfortable amount of space between them as they sat, but when Klint wished to use the chairs for his Addition Tables, a narrower version was required. The chair acquired armrests in 1930, when Klint furnished the Danish Prime Minister Thorvald Stauning s ministerial office. Four chairs were produced for guests and a larger version for the prime minister

13 The Propeller Stool 8783 / Kaare Klint propeller stool 8783 The drawings and watercolors in the frames are all by Mogens Koch (except the portrait) and are kindly on loan from his youngest son, Mogens S. Koch. This folding stool has two propeller-shaped legs that form a round stick when folded, and came into being in 1930 as a school exercise by one of Kaare Klint s students. The stool was not produced during Klint s lifetime, likely because the teacher and student could not agree on the rights. A prototype was made in 1956, and the stool was put into production in The Propeller Stool is produced in light or smoked ash with a natural canvas, oxhide, or Niger goat hide seat

14 The Faaborg Chair 9662 / Kaare Klint In 1914 Kaare Klint, then a young employee of Danish architect Carl Petersen s, designed the Faaborg Chair for Faaborg Museum, which was built in The faaborg Chair The Red Gate Poster Kaare Klint made the sketches for this poster, featuring the Røde Port (Red Gate), in Kaare Klint, Mogens Koch, and Biilmann Petersen cut the poster into linoleum. It has been reprinted by Permild & Rosengreen. The chair was carefully designed to fulfill its intended function: A light, moveable armchair that museum visitors could easily place in front of the painting they wished to study in detail. Rud. Rasmussen has produced the chair since It was originally produced with a French canework seat, sides and back so as not to entirely obstruct the view of the gallery s beautiful mosaic floor. Since 1964, however, the chair has been manufactured with a fixed padded seat, which can be upholstered in Niger goat hide, oxhide, or fabric. The chair is produced in mahogany, European cherry, ash, or oak, and comes with handwoven French canework on the sides and back.

15 The writing desk writing desk series The Writing Desk / Bernt Seeking to create a more suitable table for smaller home workplaces, both in terms of size and price, Bernt designed a new writing desk in The desk is produced in mahogany, European cherry, and ash by the cabinetmakers C. N. Jørgensens Møbelsnedkeri, and sold by Rud. Rasmussens Snedkerier. Writing Desk series 454 / Bernt In 1964, Danish architect Bernt designed a writing desk that came in two sizes, with either one or two drawers on each side. The desks are produced in oiled and lacquered versions and in several different types of wood, including mahogany, European cherry, and ash, with maple drawer interiors. The design is produced by the cabinetmakers C.N. Jørgensens Møbelsnedkeri, and sold by Rud Rasmussens Snedkerier. The Folding Dining Table / Jørgen Rud. Rasmussen The Folding Dining Table, designed by cabinetmaker and architect Jørgen Rud. Rasmussen in the late 1990s, is a round dining table with a foldable frame that can be extended with two additional leaves to provide seating for people. Jørgen Rud. Rasmussen had repeatedly asked Mogens Koch to design a dining table to match his Folding Chair, but as it was not forthcoming, he designed one himself. The table can be separated into six frames as well as two semicircular tabletops and two leaves. The table is available in beech with pear wood veneer or in mahogany and is oiled

16 Folding Chair / Mogens Koch Designed in 1932, Mogens Koch s Folding Chair is part of a small series of folding furniture that includes a stand for six folding chairs, a child s chair, a stool, and a side table. The Folding Chair is inspired by the well-known director s chair, in which the main element is a traditional folding stool fitted with front and back supports to carry the armrests and backrest. What is so ingenious about the design is that the chair is self-stabilizing in other words, sitting in it gives it stability. In addition, the chair folds up easily. With its consistent yet simple construction, the chair has been extensively imitated. When Koch drew the chair for the first time in 1932, it was, however, too radical a design to be put into production, which did not happen until about The Folding Chair is produced in oiled beech and mahogany with brass fittings. The seat and backrest are available in natural canvas, Niger goat hide, or oxhide. A cushion is also available for the chair for extra comfort. Folding Table / Mogens Koch The Folding Table was designed in 1960 as part of a series of folding furniture. The Folding Table is a light and practical coffee tables that can easily be folded together and stoved. A full-grain leather strap and an accompanying brass bracket also make it possible to hang the table on a wall. The folding table is available in three different versions: beech with a pear veneer tabletop, ash, and mahogany; all three variants are oiled. Folding chair Folding table 28 29

17 The Safari Chair / Kaare Klint At the end of the 1920s, Kaare Klint read about the American cinematographer Marin Johnson and his wife s impressive and dramatic travels in Safari: A Saga of the African Blue. the safari chair The photographer and his young wife spent more than three years in Africa, documenting in words and pictures the African civilization, landscape, and wildlife. The book fascinated Kaare Klint; but what particularly caught his attention was an illustration of the couple s safari home a double tent they used during expeditions away from the permanent camp in the African landscape. In one picture, the couple could be seen comfortably reclining in chairs at the tent opening. They were simple camp chairs with canvas backs and seats; old officer chairs from London that could be folded together and transported from place to place. In 1933, Kaare Klint designed his own version of this lightweight, portable easy chair. The chair could still be used in the field: possibly one of the first self-assembled item of furniture, it can be assembled and dismantled without the use of tools, and easily rolls up and transports in its accompanying box. The Safari Chair is made of oiled light or smoked ash. It is available with seat and back in canvas, oxhide, or Niger goat hide

18 Wing chair 6212 / Kaare Klint Side Table 4486 / Kaare Klint Kaare Klint designed the Wing Chair in For this high-backed chair, Klint designed a textile together with Lis Ahlmann, who wove it in linen. They used plain-colored indigo on the outside of the sides and back, and checked indigo in unbleached yarn for the chair s inside surfaces and cushion. Later, the chair was upholstered with a similar textile in wool and cotton, which Lis Ahlmann designed for Cotil. The chair is produced in mahogany and finished with piping. It is shown here upholstered with Lis Ahlmann s fabric Cotil 863, but can be upholstered in fabric or leather according to customer wishes. This small side table is a square-topped variation of Kaare Klint s coffee tables. Kaare Klint referred to it as a radio table, since it offered a suitable surface for a radio. He designed the table in The Side Table is produced in mahogany, European cherry, ash, and oak. It is available lacquered or oiled and made in two sizes. Wing Chair side table

19 The Addition Sofa 4865 / Kaare Klint Kaare Klint designed the Addition Sofa in Originally inspired by a French rococo sofa. Klint wished to simplify it by designing a sofa with easily moveable sections that could be placed together as desired. The Addition Sofa comprises two modular elements, one with a back and one without. The sofa is hand-stitched and trimmed with piping to ensure beautiful, simple seams between the surfaces. To protect the hide, every single rhomboid section is edged with a tuck that opens when pressure is applied to the upholstery. The modules can be upholstered in Niger goat hide or oxhide, with the seat and back featuring deep-tufted rhomboid panels secured with leather-covered buttons and legs in solid mahogany or European cherry. The addition sofa

20 Round coffee table 6687 / Kaare Klint As far as Kaare Klint was concerned, the term coffee tables did not exist. Instead, he drew various small tables with space for pipe tobacco, cigars and cigarettes, ashtrays and matches. He realized, however, that space for cups and glasses was needed, too. All the resulting solutions were variations on the same theme a tabletop and a square shelf on a square base. Kaare Klint designed this round coffee table in Round coffee table 6687 The coffee tables are available in mahogany, European cherry, oak, and ash, and come in two different sizes

21 Sofa with low sides 5011 / Kaare Klint Kaare Klint designed this sofa, which features low sides and eight legs with side and crossbars, in The sofa is available in mahogany and European cherry as either a two- or three-seater. It can be upholstered in oxhide or fabric and finished with piping, as requested. sofa with low sides

22 The Greek Sofa 6092 / Kaare Klint Kaare Klint designed this upholstered sofa in 1940, at a time when Børge Mogensen was his employee and when his furniture designs were slightly changing from rigid classic designs to softer, more modern pieces. This piece, known as The Greek Sofa, gets its name from the fabric used for the upholstery. Inspired by an old ticking from Greece, Kaare Klint, working together with weaver Gerda Henning and dyer Einer Hansen, recreated the textile with black, red, blue and white stripes of different widths. The fabric was initially hand-woven at Gerda Henning s workshop, and later by weaver and textile artist Lis Ahlmann. Today, the fabric is machine-woven in a satin weave. The fabric was first used in 1932 to upholster the first Addition Sofa and two Red Chairs for the New Carlsberg Foundation. The Greek Sofa is available in mahogany and European cherry as either a two- or three-seater. The sofa is upholstered with the Greek-striped fabric or with fabric chosen by the customer, and finished with piping. The greek sofa

23 Sofa with high sides 4118 / Kaare Klint One of the first box-shaped sofas in three sections with eight legs and crossbars designed by Kaare Klint for the Danish Prime Minister Thorvald Stauning s office in Today, the sofa is available in mahogany or European cherry as a two- or three-seater. The sofa can be upholstered in Niger goat hide, oxhide, or fabric, and finished with either piping or brass nails. sofa with high sides

24 Easy Chair 4396 / Kaare Klint Working closely with his student Edvard Kindt-Larsen, Kaare Klint designed the Mix easy chair (Model 4396) in about 1930, writing a mix of Kindt and Klint on the working drawings. Egyptian Table / Mogens Lassen The chair is available in mahogany, European cherry, and oak, and can be upholstered in Niger goat hide, oxhide, or fabric, as requested. The chair is finished with piping or brass nails. There are loose cushions in the seat and back. Mogens Lassen first exhi bited this round coffee table, which features a folding stand and brass fittings, at the Cabinetmakers Guild Exhibition in easy chair 4396 Egyptian table He christened it the Egyptian Table, having been inspired by the folding stands found in Tutankhamen s tomb in The Egyptian Table is produced in mahogany, oak, and European cherry. The table is supplied either lacquered or oiled, and comes in two different sizes

25 Daybed / Jørgen Rud. Rasmussen Picture frame system, London 7575 Kaare Klint was the architect behind the Danish Art Treasures Through the Ages exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London in 1948, for which he designed a series of picture frames in the proportions 2:3 and 3:4. Over the years, the frames have been produced in a variety of different wood types. Today, they are made exclusively of oregon pine. Jørgen Rud. Rasmussen s Daybed, shown here upholstered in natural Niger goat hide, was designed in 2010 as a one-off commission for a customer. Afterwards, the daybed, which is deep-tufted with leather-covered buttons, was put into production. The accompanying cylindrical cushion is 15 cm in diameter. The daybed is available in oak, European cherry, and mahogany, and upholstered in oxhide or Niger goat hide. daybed Picture Frame system London

26 The Addition Table 4036 / Kaare Klint The Addition Table, with square sections and two semi-circular ends, was designed by Kaare Klint in 1928 for the President s Room at Grosserer-Societetet, the Chamber of Commerce at Børsen, the Copenhagen stock exchange. The following year, the room at the Danish national pavilion at the Exposición Universal de Barcelona fair was furnished with a similar table. This table was subsequently presented to the Design Museum Danmark. The sections can be combined as desired to suit different spaces and needs. Today, the table is available in both mahogany and European cherry with a lacquer or oil finish. The addition table

27 Cabinet of Drawings / Poul Kjærholm Poul Kjærholm s Cabinet for Drawings was originally designed for the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts School of Architecture in The Academy s furniture school needed new furniture as the students and teachers had run out of space for working and storing their drawings. A new teacher at the school, Poul Kjærholm was made chief designer on the project, and as Rud. Rasmussen had previously helped him with prototypes for some of his chairs, they joined forces to produce furniture for the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. Cabinet of drawings The Drawings Cabinet is a chest of nine drawers made of solid Oregon pine resting on a black lacquered steel frame. The drawers are designed to take up to A1 sheets

28 Writing Desk and Professor Desk / Poul Kjærholm Poul Kjærholm s Writing Desk and Professor Desk were originally designed for the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts School of Architecture in The Academy s furniture school needed new furniture as the students and teachers had run out of space for working and storing their drawings. A new teacher at the school, Poul Kjærholm was made chief designer on the project, and as Rud. Rasmussen had previously helped him with prototypes for some of his chairs, they joined forces to produce furniture for the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. The two desks are available today with black or grey lacquered steel frames and an oiled reversible tabletop in oak, ash, or Oregon pine. Writing desk and professor desk 52 53

29 designers Designers 54 55

30 Kaare Klint Kaare Klint is known as the godfather of modern Danish design. As a member of the older generation, he was an influential founder and teacher at the furniture school of the Royal Academy (1924). There he helped create the fundamental approach and shape the views of some of most of renowned designers of the Danish Style such as Poul Kjærholm, Børge Mogensen and Ole Wanscher. Mogens Koch Like many designers of his generation, Mogens Koch had a background in architecture. He worked in many areas including house design, monuments, building extensions as well as with the interior design such as furniture design, textiles, silverware and graphic design. He was son of the artistically visionary architect Peder Vilhelm Jensen-Klint, who passed away in After that Klint spent a good part of his life completing his father s work. The most notable of these is the worldfamous Grundtvig Church in Copenhagen and also the Bethlehem Church based on his father s drawings. His first step towards becoming a designer was taken when he began his apprenticeship as a furniture maker at the tender age of 14. His father then taught him the architectural trade. Klint attended classes at a technical school and studied at the independent art school (Kunstnernes Frie Studieskoler) under the influential furniture maker Johan Rohde. Klint was one of the first movers towards functionalism, focusing on the inner and not the outer qualities of furniture. He took an interest in proportions and in the movement and demands of the human body in an attempt to discover standardised dimensions and then work them into both furniture design and the room layout. At the furniture school, he and his students pioneered the study of dimensions of household objects by measuring and then relating them to society s norms and the actual demands for functionality. Afterwards they based their designs on these scientific studies. This work was closely linked to the idea of creating furniture on a larger scale as opposed to the individual made-to-orderpieces of his mentor Rohde. Throughout his life, Klint worked in architecture and furniture design and also designed textiles lamps and organs. He started working with Rud. Rasmussen in 1924 always insisting on clear, logical design, clean lines, the best materials and superb craftsmanship. His first chair to come into production was the Faaborg chair in 1914 for Faaborg Museum and his most famous is probably the Safari Chair from In the 1940 s, he was part of the groundbreaking group of designers which included Hans J.Wegner and Mogens Koch among others. The group worked under the leadership of Børge Mogensen, who was under assignment for FDB and designed good and affordable furniture for everyday life in small apartments. From he worked in different design studios including Kaare Klint s where he gained hands-on experience in the principles and tradition behind Danish functionality. There he learned respect for the functional demands of an assignment, an understanding of the simplicity of form, respect for the experience of previous generations, and not least to work with module-based units that were often determined by the material. Especially the idea of modules became important as the basis for his two major successes: the bookcase system and the folding programme. Koch s furniture always arose from a given assignment and was created for a particular purpose. His bookcase was first designed for his own private home and reflected the small rooms in most people s houses that required a flexible bookcase or cabinet. In 1928 he drew the first sketches for the square bookcase, in which the relatively small module of 76 cm x 76 cm, provided great and varied functional usage. His works include only few objects but they are all essential, original and sometimes courageous or daring. His furniture designs are some of the most elegant and important solutions in terms of meeting the requirements to comfort, function and aesthetics and have been central to Rud. Rasmussen s production since Koch was also an influential professor at Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen for almost two decades ( ). In addition, he received numerous honourable awards amongst them, the Eckersberg Medal (1938), the C. F. Hansen Medal (1963), and the ID Prize (1992)

31 Poul Kjærholm Having trained as a cabinetmaker and graduated from the Danish School of Arts and Crafts (now the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Design) in Copenhagen in 1955, Poul Kjærholm became a teacher at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts furniture school, and in 1976 succeeded Ole Wanscher as a professor at the school. Bernt Petersen Architect Bernt Petersen, trained as a cabinetmaker with Werner Hansen in Nyborg, Denmark before going on to study at the Danish School of Arts and Crafts (now the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Design) in Copenhagen. During his time there, he worked for the furniture designer Grete Jalk, and after graduating landed a job with Hans J. Wegner. In 1963, he established his own drawing office. Among Kjærholm s many awards, which included several international prizes, he received the Lunning Prize in 1958 and the Eckersberg Medal in1960. Poul Kjærholm died when he was only 51 years old. Danish furniture design is generally characterised by high standards of craftsmanship and the extensive use of wood. Poul Kjærholm is an exception to the latter rule. He dismissed the dominance of wood and regarded spring steel as having the same artistic merit. Kjærholm worked with steel, glass and leather to create furniture expressed in a minimalist idiom a feat that made him one of the finest Danish representatives of international functionalism. As a new teacher at the Academy, Poul Kjærholm, however, designed the school s new furnishings the Drawing Cabinet, the Writing Desk and the Professor Desk in wood, which can only be seen as harking back to the Danish furniture design tradition. Kjærholm s leather sofa from 1956, folding stool from 1961, and deckchair from 1965 are all derived from types of furniture Kaare Klint had been working with. Poul Kjærholm s classic furniture style represented a new take on furniture s aesthetic quality. Simply designed and made from noble materials, his furniture is harmonious in its completeness, and unique within the furniture-making realm. Throughout his career, Bernt has had a penchant for designing furniture in wood, mainly in pale varieties such as ash and beech. His work with furniture structures has been based on a clear idiom, with his desire to minimise the use of materials remaining paramount throughout. Concurrently with his development of furniture designs in the cabinetmaking tradition, Bernt has worked with a simple idiom tailored to industrial production. His international breakthrough came in 1972, when he won the contract to design furniture and furnishings for the Olympic Games in Munich. From 1973 to 1978, Bernt taught at the Danish School of Arts and Crafts, and from 1978 to 1985 was a lecturer at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture, Department of Furniture and Interior Design under Professor Poul Kjærholm. In 1980, he became a member of the Danish Arts Foundation, and from 1987 to 1994 he chaired the Danish Ministry of Education s Committee for Design Programmes. Over the course of his long career, Bernt has received a number of distinguished prizes, including awards from the Danish Association of Cabinetmakers, the Danish Forest Association, and the Furniture Manufacturers Association. Moreover, he has received the Danish Applied Arts Award, the Danish Furniture Prize, and the Japanese Good Design Award

32 Jørgen Rud. Rasmussen Jørgen Rud. Rasmussen, son of Aage Rud. Rasmussen and the fourth generation in the company, was apprenticed to a cabinetmaker in Hellerup as a 16-year-old. After a few years of military service, Jørgen Rud. Rasmussen spent a year at a residential art school in Vejle, and then studied furniture design at the Danish School of Arts and Crafts furniture school (now the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Design) in He completed his education by studying for one year as a visiting student at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture, Department of Furniture and Interior Design under Poul Kjærholm. Mogens Lassen The architect Mogens Lassen became one of the pioneers of modernism in Denmark, where Le Corbusier s work and ideas fed Lassen s own cubist architectural ideals. As a building engineer, Mogens Lassen spearheaded the use of concrete as a technique for constructing buildings in Denmark yet always drew his inspiration from nature. Jørgen Rud. Rasmussen took over the company from his father and uncle in In addition to running the company, he has regularly undertaken special commissions for customers. Over the years, he has also designed furniture that has been put into large-scale production, including a writing desk, folding table and daybed. Jørgen Rud. Rasmussen has primarily been inspired by Kaare Klint and Mogens Koch, and has always sought to uphold the uncompromising material and quality standards that were so stringently observed by the previous three generations of the Rasmussen family. His long career has brought many interesting commissions from private clients as well as public institutions, but the real art has been forming a synthesis between employees, commissions, the physical environment, and an outside world marked by constant change to create a dynamic environment for beautiful, timeless design and craftsmanship. Having trained as a bricklayer in , Mogens Lassen was admitted to the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts School of Architecture, but also trained at a number of drawing offices with, among others, Danish architect Tyge Hvass in A trip to Paris in sparked Lassen s interest in Le Corbusier s ideas about the home as a tool for a freer lifestyle. Introducing mezzanine floors in high-ceilinged rooms, for example, offered one way to free the home from the constraints of habitual thinking. Applying a similar, experimental approach, Lassen designed homes where both function as well as the daylight flooding in through the windows shaped the rooms, and where outdoor spaces were just as carefully designed as the interiors. As an architect for The Permanent Exhibition of Danish Applied Arts and Industrial Design in Copenhagen in , Mogens Lassen was behind a number of exhibitions whose style of presentation helped Danish applied art win international recognition. In addition to his many projects, villas, high-rise buildings, sports complexes and shop interiors, he designed furniture, furnishings and furnishing accessories. Even if his steel furniture pieces from the 1930s are original examples of the innovations of international modernism, it is, above all, his pieces of simple, functional wooden furniture, like his folding Egyptian coffee table, that have gone on to become furniture classics. In 1971, Mogens Lassen was awarded the C.F. Hansen Medal

33 62 63 collection

34 36 Bookcase / storage Chairs & stools The bookcase system mogens Koch the red chair kaare klint Propeller Stool Kaare Klint MK bookcase MK /3 MK shelves ,5 33,1 0,9 shelve I , ,6 27,5 33,1 27,5 25, MK /3 deep 76 MK / ,2 33,1 33,1 0,9 shelve II 3758A the faaborg chair kaare klint 47,2 50, ,5 27, ,5 0,9 shelve V , MK /2 DEEP MK deep ,5 84,5 cabinet for drawings Poul Kjærholm 48 48,5 45 Folding Chair Mogens Koch MK cabinet , MK deep w/ 2 shelves , , ,5 Plinth I Plinth II 64 65

35 EASY Chairs Easy Chair with canework / Kaare Klint Wing Chair kaare klint Sofas & Daybeds Addition Sofa Kaare Klint Daybed Jørgen Rud. Rasmussen The Greek Sofa Kaare Klint EASY CHAIR kaare klint ,5 61,5 71,5 EASY CHAIR kaare klint Safari Chair Kaare Klint

36 Sofa with high sides Kaare Klint Coffee Tables Egyptian Table Mogens Lassen Round Coffee Table Kaare Klint Sofa with low sides Kaare Klint Side Table Kaare Klint Folding Table Mogens Koch ,5 71,

37 Dining / Conference Tables The Folding Dining Table Jørgen Rud. Rasmussen Writing Desks Writing Desk series Bernt Writing Desk and Professor Desk Poul Kjærholm 69, , The Addition Table Kaare Klint The Writing Desk Bernt ,5 73, Ø

38 Rud. Rasmussen Nørrebrogade Copenhagen N Denmark Carl Hansen & Søn Flagship Store Bredgade Copenhagen K Denmark

39 Rud. Rasmussen has always pursued an uncompromising approach to creating furniture of the highest quality through classic craftsmanship. For over 140 years, the company has taken pride in fostering close partnerships between cabinetmakers and furniture architects and has, through the years, created some of Denmark s greatest furniture classics in collaboration with designers such as Mogens Koch and Kaare Klint. Rud. Rasmussen s snedkerier Nørrebrogade Copenhagen N Denmark Carl Hansen & Søn Flagship Store Bredgade Copenhagen K Denmark Today, Rud. Rasmussen is part of Carl Hansen & Søn, the world s largest manufacturer of furniture designed by Hans J. Wegner. Carl Hansen & Søn s passion and respect for craftsmanship have been the foundation of its business for over 100 years, and have made it into one of Denmark s leading design companies.