DANISH DESIGN FROM THE 20TH CENTURY

Transcription

1 DANISH DESIGN FROM THE 20TH CENTURY

2 The catalog Danish Design presents a selection of works from the Danish Museum of Art & Design s comprehensive collection of design from the 20th Century. Danish design From the 20th Century The Danish Museum of Art & Design is the national Danish museum for design. The museum was founded in 1890 by the Society of Industries and the Carlsberg Foundation and since then it has collected international and Danish industrial design and craft. The extensive collections, archives and library at the museum today constitute an important centre in Denmark for design research. The museum was established with the purpose to bring about a conception of quality in design. The founders wished to inspire Danish designers and producers to develop the best industrial products through analyzing products of quality from different times and places. At the same time it was the intention to enhance the quality-mindedness in the Danish population. With its always expanding collections and numerous exhibitions the museum had a central part in the development of the Danish design culture during the 20th century. The Danish educational institutions for architecture and design have since the beginning of the 20th century worked closely with the Danish Museum of Art & Design and much teaching has been based on the historical and contemporary objects in the museum. Much of the best in Danish Design has been exhibited at the Danish Museum of Art & Design throughout the century. Danish Design became internationally known, when American magazines became aware of the new Danish furniture, which was presented at the exhibition of the Copenhagen Cabinet-makers Guild at the museum in Industrialisation came late to Denmark and it turned out to be an advantage in the international competition that the traditions had been upheld. Danish designers brought the virtue of craftsmanship across to industrial design, which is worked on with great understanding of the detail, the proportioning and perception of the material. Danish designers have always been more engaged in finding practical shapes that can enhance the utility and aesthetics of existing objects for everyday use, than in revolutionizing society with utopian ideas and theoretic artistic manifests. Danish industrial design is widely inspired by foreign revolutionary shapes and ideas and improves and refines these to fit the Danish pragmatic and democratic way of life. Danish designers of today have to consider the Danish design tradition, but they are also part of the global production reality and design debate, in which design is oriented towards sustainability as well as free art. 3

3 Thorvald Bindesbøll ( ) Label for beer bottle, 1904 Paper Thorvald Bindesbøll was one of the most original Danish craftsmen and graphic artists and a central figure in the Danish Skønvirke movement around 1900, similar to Art Nouveau, Jugend and Arts and Crafts movements. Bindesbøll worked in many areas of crafts and architecture. He was especially known for his powerful and original ornaments, which he displayed in his ceramic works, in jewellery, book bindings, silver works and graphics. Many people know Bindesbøll s style and expression from the label he designed for the Calsberg Hof beer, which is still in use and has embellished millions of bottles. The label tells a story with the little hop flower and the elephant s trunk above the word pilsner referring to the four metres tall granite elephants, who carry the gateway to the brewery buildings in Valby, Copenhagen. Knud V. Engelhardt ( ) Gentofte Municipality Road Signs, 1923 Iron, enamel Knud Valdemar Engelhardt was educated as an architect and already during his study years he emerged as the first functionalistic designer in Denmark, when he designed and equipped a new tram type for the Copenhagen Tramways. All equipment had rounded shapes and his credo was: Why add anything that use wears off? It was however as a graphics designer he mainly became known. I central Copenhagen his signs (from 1915) with street names in cast bronze letters are still seen. In Gentofte Municipality North of Copenhagen he is the originator of the black-enamelled street signs with white letters and the heart above the letter j as well as the characteristic mushroom shaped advertising pillars. The rounded solid shapes and easily legible letters are characteristic for Engelhardt, as well as the heart, which signals courtesy. Poul Henningsen ( ) Opal glass pendant, 1926 Louis Poulsen & Co Brass, copper, opal glass blown by mouth Poul Henningsen known as PH was educated as an architect and was born into a radical Danish cultural environment. PH was a multi artist architect, painter, light maker, song writer, educator, designer and kite builder. He was a convinced modernist and created a number of remarkable buildings, furniture and an original light design in cooperation with the lamp makers Louis Poulsen & Co. This led to the construction of his glare free PH- lamp. To solve the problem of lighting and create a warm and glare free light with pleasant shade effect and smooth changes became the driving force in all of PH s work as lighting designer. PH developed a complete shade system with varying numbers of shades in different positions, hues and materials. As a culture critic PH became the provocateur, who attacked thinking in authoritarian upbringing, Victorianism, sexual denial, conformism and commercialism. He advocated democratic design and a product culture that could unite beauty and utility. 4 5

4 Børge Mogensen ( ) J39, 1947 FDB Fællesforeningen for Danmarks Brugsforeninger Oak, paper yarn Kaare Klint ( ) Buffet, 1929 Rud. Rasmussen Cabinet Makers Cubamahogany, ebony, brass Børge Mogensen was trained as a cabinet-maker and was a student of Professor Kaare Klint. He continued Klint s rational, systematic and analytic working method. Like Klint he was engaged in further development of good historical types of furniture, to make them suitable for the contemporary needs. Mogensen succeeded in bringing the ideals of craftsmanship across to the industry. As head of the design office of the Danish Co-operative Society (FDB) he came up with the idea for an industrial furniture production that could satisfy the needs of an average family. Mogensen designed several dining tables which were inspired by the ascetic furniture of the American Shakers. He designed a cheap chair for the people based on Kaare Klint s church chair, which was a development of rustic furniture as it is known from the Mediterranean countries. Mogensen made the chair simple and cheap to produce and gave it a back rest with good support for the small of the back. Being the first professor in the art of furniture making at the Royal Academy of Arts in Copenhagen Kaare Klint educated and influenced a whole generation of Danish furniture designers with his pronounced attitudes and methods. Klint worked systematically, scientifically and analytically. The furniture should be adapted to man, the room and their functions it had to have standard measurements. But contrary to the modernists of the 1920 s in Central Europe amongst others he rejected the conception of throwing all experience over board and submit to an industrial aesthetic with for instance steel. He was a strong exponent for the new classicistic wave in Denmark in the beginning of the 20 th century. He continued the Danish cabinet-maker tradition and his design as well as his teaching were always based on the study of older types of furniture, the basic ideas of which could be reused in the development of furniture for his time. Much of Klint s furniture was developed as study projects in cooperation with his students. The Buffet from1929 is the best known example. Klint and his students measured a standard service for 12 persons and proportioned the piece of furniture to fit perfectly to the contents it was to hold. The idiom and the fine craftsmanship were as many of Klint s other pieces of furniture a continuation of the English furniture making in the 18 th century. Peder Andersen Fisker ( ) & Anders Fisker The Bumblebee, 1934 Nimbus, Fisker & Nielsen Metal, rubber, bakelite Fisker & Nielsen were known for their thoroughly solid vacuum cleaners in aluminium and marketed under the name Nilfisk. Their motorcycles were called Nimbus and were as dependable. The most successful model was produced in the period and was nicknamed the Bumblebee because of its humming sound. It was for many years the preferred motorcycle for the post office, the police and military in Denmark. It presented itself as a compact whole, all parts were integrated in the frame, which encompassed the engine and petrol tank in a characteristic unity. The production was inspired by Henry Ford s mass production and the first models were, like Ford s model T, only made in black. 6 7

5 Hans J. Wegner ( ) The Round Chair, 1949 Johannes Hansen Oak, bamboo weave Hans J. Wegner was trained as a cabinet-maker and had only attended the School of Arts, Crafts and Design for two years when he was employed by the architects Arne Jacobsen and Erik Møller. Wegner s work, encompassing more than 500 chairs, is a life long endeavour to understand the nature of wood and exploit its possibilities. His design is characterised by an expressive and sculptural functionalism. The chairs are often based on different historic types of chair, which he re-expounded again and again. The shapes of the furniture are inspired by old work tools like axe handles, scythe handles or oar blades and their joints constitute practically justified ornaments. The Round Chair, which became a major work in the international break through of Danish Design in 1949, was based on Wegner s work with historic Chinese chairs and the Danish tradition for classicistic chairs with a round back rest. This chair was named The Chair in American magazines and became an important representative for the organic modernism executed in fine craftsmanship, which made Danish Design internationally known in the 1950 s and -60 s. Finn Juhl ( ) Double Chieftain Chair, 1949 Cabinet-maker Niels Vodder Teak, bent plywood, leather Finn Juhl was a central exponent for the organic modernism during the decades after WW2 and furnished several buildings abroad, amongst others in the UN in New York. Finn Jul was an important figure in the break through of Danish Modern in USA and organised a number of exhibitions of Danish Design. His strongly sculptural hand crafted furniture was inspired by contemporary art, the tools of indigenous peoples and antique Egyptian furniture. The thin upholstery of the visually light sofa, the apparently hovering horizontal planes and the use of teak for indoor furniture became a part of the Danish Modern furniture style, which in fact was initiated by the Chieftain Chair and sofa in Kay Bojesen ( ) Monkey, 1951 Kay Bojesens Office Teak, limba Kay Bojesen was a silversmith and designer. He worked at first in a personal skønvirke ~ Art Nouveau style, which in some ways is characterised by his learning years at the workshop of Georg Jensen ( ). In the 1930 s he began developing a more simple, functionalistic style. His silver cutlery set from 1938 won in a stainless version first prize at the Milano Triennial in 1951 and was named Grand Prix. Bojesen is especially known for his design of toys in wood, for instance his guardsman from 1942 and he created a line of craftily devised animals of which several had movable arms and legs. The best known is the Monkey from 1951, but also the elephant and the parrot from the 1950 s are known by several generations and are still in production. Kay Bojesen also designed furniture for children, jewellery and objects for the home. 8 9

6 Arne Jacobsen ( ) The Ant, 3100, 1952 Fritz Hansen Plywood, cotton, steel tube, rubber hose and rubber glides Arne Jacobsen graduated as an architect and began to design houses in the Danish neoclassicistic style, but soon turned towards the international modernism. His keen sense of detail made him internationally known as a designer. As much as possible he insisted on designing all furnishing for the houses he built and through this most of his designs were created. The stacking chair The Ant, which was designed for the canteen of the newly built factory for the drug company Novo, became the first successful mass-produced chair in Denmark and it was the first chair with seat and back in one piece. The design was inspired by the experiments made internationally by designers such as Alvar Aalto and Charles and Ray Eames. The organic idiom characteristic of its time made The Ant remind one of a sculpture by Alexander Calder and made it stand out in contrast to Jacobsen s architecture. During the next two decades The Ant had six siblings with different shapes for the back rests. The most popular was series 7. More than seven millions of the series have been produced till Today. Sigvard Bernadotte ( ), Acton Bjørn ( ) The Margrethe Bowl 1954 Rosti Melamine In 1949 Bernadotte and Bjørn established the first office for industrial design in Denmark. Bernadotte, who was the son of the king of Sweden, had drawn silver hollowware for Georg Jensen in a classic idiom and he had studied industrial design with Raymond Loewy in USA. Acton Bjørn was an architect, but had experience with design from his work with the inside finish of SAS Douglas aircraft. The company designed everything from plastic utensils for the kitchen to lorries/trucks to kitchen machines. The design of office machines, like calculators and typewriters, was a major field for the company. The Margrethe Bowl is their most successful product. It was named after Bernadotte s niece, the present queen of Denmark. The simple shape in the new material melamine quickly showed its practical and aesthetic advantages. The flat handle level with the edge of the bowl provides a good grip and the thin edge of the lip makes it easy to pour from. The shape of the bowl itself fits the stirring spoon or the curve of the beater. A rubber ring was later added to the bottom of the bowl making it stand securely during stirring. Poul Kjærholm ( ) ECK22, 1955 E. Kold Christensen Mat chromium plated flat steel, round pith Henning Koppel ( ) Fish dish, 1954 Georg Jensen Sterling silver Henning Koppel was a designer, sculptor and graphics artist and he was a central exponent for the organic modernism, the style which developed in the time after WW2. Koppel was educated as a sculptor, but in 1945 he began to draw silver ware for Georg Jensen, where he was employed until his death. He shaped great hollowware works and renewed the tradition in Danish silver. These characteristics also emerge in the large Fish dish from With its smooth domed lid and the powerful fish jaws at either end the dish is an expression of a unique abstract, organic form. Professor Poul Kjærholm had a background as cabinet-maker, but already during his education as a furniture designer he was fascinated by the steel furniture of the international modernism. Kjærholm strived towards simple, palpable constructions and focused on the details, the joints. He considered steel as a natural product of the same value as wood, which patinates with age. Kjærholm designed the furniture for large austerely fitted rooms, where it was placed in strict easily understandable compositions. Kjærholm s graduation project at the School of Arts, Crafts and Design was a low chair in flat steel. Like his teacher Hans J. Wegner he was greatly impressed by Mies van der Rohe s Barcelona chair from In 1955 Kjærholm launched a new low chair in mat steel on which the steel was put together with visible Unbrako (Allen) screws and the few parts were laid on top of each other. The first version of ECK22 was upholstered with Pomeranian linen or leather. I 1957 the second version with round pith was launched

7 Verner Panton ( ) Panton Chair, 1960 (1967) Vitra Plastic Gertrud Vasegaard ( ) Tea service, 1956 Bing & Grøndahl Porcelain Verner Panton was abroad one of the most acknowledged Danish designers. Contrary to his Danish colleagues he was not inspired by historic types of furniture, elegant hand craft and the shapes of nature, but by the newest technology, consumer culture and the 1960 s international pop wave. His strong colours and provocative shapes were perceived as a reckoning with the good taste and social and moral responsibility in Denmark. A great part of his work were total designs. He arranged complete interiors, where colours, shapes, materials, light and ornaments dissolved the geometric room into an organic unity. The Panton Chair fulfils a dream that had been prevailing since the beginning of the 20 th century when the production of chairs in bent steel tube without the rear legs began. In the industrial age the goal had become a mass produced chair in one mould and one material. Panton became the first to realise the dream of a shell chair cast in plastic in a mould. Gertrud Vasegaard is out of one of Denmark s most well known pottery families - Hjorth from the island of Bornholm. She was educated at the School of Arts, Crafts and Design in 1930 and worked Bing & Grøndahl as well as for Royal Copenhagen, where she designed several services until she in 1975 created her own workshop and during a long and rich ceramic life created unica works of singular beauty and bearing the stamp of uncompromising perfection. The Tea service is an example of the combination of an impressive craftsmanship and aesthetic, artistic confidence with its Chinese inspired elegance and perfection in choice of material, glaze and expression. The eight parts of the service have each its own shape; the round handle less cup, the rectangular tea caddy and the hexagonal teapot, but they still interact like a homogenous unity. The service was already shortly after first production considered a classic. LEGO Lego block, 1958 Plastic LEGO, with a building block of plastic as its basic element, is an educational toy system for children. The name LEGO is made up of the words leg (play) and godt (good). The special feature of the system is that the LEGO block is based on a strict modular system in which all parts fit together and can be combined in countless ways. The LEGO system offers unique opportunities for children to play, construct and experiment. Apart from the toy LEGO A/S has developed the blocks for other purposes. For instance a series of smaller blocks has been developed especially for architects. LEGO was founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen ( ), who started up by producing wooden toys from 1934 under the name LEGO. In 1947 a die casting machine for plastic was acquired and by 1953 export was gradually established. With the founder s son, Godtfred Kirk Kristiansen, the company had its real breakthrough in 1958 with the patenting of the LEGO block and its coupling system. The company is continuously expanding its product programme with new elements and themes

8 Grete Jalk ( ) Sløjfestolen, the Bow Chair, easy chair, 1963 PP Jeppesens Møbelfabrik Laminated, folded wood Before her education at the School of Arts, Crafts and Design Grete Jalk had a background as a cabinet maker and designed hand made chairs as well as industrial furniture and products. She arranged numerous exhibitions about design as well as publishing a large work on the furniture exhibitions of the Cabinet-Makers Guild Grete Jalk was a pupil of professor Kaare Klint and was oriented towards the function and production method of furniture. Amongst other thing she was preoccupied with exploring the possibilities of laminated wood. The bow-shaped chair represents culmination of the development of the bent laminated plywood chairs. The Bow is bent in only one plane, but the two connected parts make the chair appear to be stressed to the point, which one could fear might be the limit. The chair does not ascribe to an organic form like the earlier bent plywood chairs, but is on the contrary very true to its construction and looks exactly as what it is a chair for resting nothing else. Grete Jalk deigned at the same time a set of three nesting tables, which repeat the curves of the chair. Gunnar Aagaard Andersen ( ) Polyether chair, Dansk Polyether Industri Polyurethane foam Gunnar Aagaard Andersen was an architect, sculptor, painter and designer of furniture, textiles, wallpaper etc. He was one of the post war most experimenting multi-artists in Denmark. As a visual artist he worked with a concrete/constructivistic idiom. Gunnar Aagaard began to experiment with furniture from the 1950 s and developed a series of remarkable furniture that challenged the ability of the cabinet-makers and the shape ability of the wood. Inspired by pop art and the abstract expressionism he created the foam chair Portrait of My Mother s Chesterfield from polyurethane foam. The whipped cream-like material could be poured out in layers and in this way he managed to create a chair in one continuous process and in one unbroken shape without the use of moulds. The chair is a piece of furniture as well as an object of art. The humour of the chair, its savageness and radicalism have provoked many in the Danish design environment, but they have also inspired younger designers to launch themselves into border breaking projects. Nanna Ditzel ( ) Hallingdal, 1965 Kvadrat Ltd Wool, viscose in linen binding 357a-h/2003 The furniture designer Nana Ditzel designed several textiles amongst these the upholstery material Hallingdal, which has been produced by Kvadrat Ltd. since It is still in use for furnishing public areas that demand strength for wear and tear. DSB, the Danish railways, used the material for the seats in the IC3 trains. Hallingdal is produced in a mixture of wool and viscose. The wool retains the dirt repelling qualities and adds elasticity while the viscose gives brilliance to the colour. During all the years Hallingdal has been woven in 200 different plain or shimmering colour variations that portray the prevalent changing colour tendencies. Nanna Ditzel ( ) Hallingdal, 1965 Kvadrat Wool, viscose in linen binding The furniture designer Nanna Ditzel designed several textiles amongst these the upholstery material Hallingdal, which has been produced by Kvadrat since It is still in use for furnishing public areas that demand strength for wear and tear. DSB, the Danish railways, used the material for the seats in the IC3 trains. Hallingdal is produced in a mixture of wool and viscose. The wool retains the dirt repelling qualities and adds elasticity while the viscose gives brilliance to the colour. During all the years Hallingdal has been woven in 200 different plain or shimmering colour variations that portray the prevalent changing colour tendencies

9 Jacob Jensen (f.1926) Beomaster 1900, 1976 Bang & Olufsen (B&O) Teak, extruded aluminium, plastic, steel Jacob Jensen was an interior decorator educated at the furniture department of the School of Arts, Crafts and Design. He was employed by Bernadotte and Bjørn, the first office in Scandinavia for industrial design, from 1951 to 1958, when he opened his own office. The stereo radio Beomaster 1900 presents itself as an extract of the design profile Jacob Jensen created for B&O during the 1970 s. The long, flat and top operated instrument with sunken operating buttons is a simple and rationally well worked out operating surface. Secondary adjustments are hidden under a lid. The choice of colours black and white (aluminium) signal sense and asceticism, but also a seductive magic that comes forth when the invisible black displays light up or when the lid is opened to reveal the secret cockpit of the instrument. Jacob Jensen transformed the international modernism known from architecture into instrument design. Erik Magnussen (f.1940) Thermos, 1976 Stelton Plastic, glass Erik Magnussen was educated as a potter at the School of Arts, Crafts and Design and worked for a number of years for the porcelain factory Bing & Grøndahl. His industrial designs are far-reaching, from furniture to the public space to articles for everyday use. The shape of Magnussen s design is always determined by the function of the product and its production, with emphasis on quality and inexpensiveness. The simple basic shapes and solutions consisting of a few parts joined in the most appropriate way are refined with consideration for the properties of the materials. His Thermos Jug consists of seven parts, which are clicked together. This makes the jug cheap and easy to clean. The jug is assembled at the top and contrary to other thermos jugs it has no opening at the bottom. If the gasket in the top leaks the coffee does not seep out onto the table, but stays in the outer shell. It can be handled by one hand as the lid tilts when pouring. Grethe Meyer ( ) Ildpot (Firepot), 1976 Den kgl. Porcelainsfabrik Stoneware Grethe Meyer was educated as an architect and already during her study years she showed distinct skills for a scientific approach to architecture. She published the book Byggebogen for which she had collected much relevant information about building and she collaborated with the furniture architect Børge Mogensen on the development of Building-cupboards for the home. I her large production of objects she emphasized utility value and production suitability. With the dinner set Firepot Grete Meyer combined the knowledge of the counteraction between angles and shapes with the foremost pottery insight and all parts were drawn with the knowledge she had of standardisation of the components for the home. The dinner set is produced with the technique jiggering in unglazed stoneware that is patinated by use and by which the visual impression is naturally enhanced. All parts can be stacked and be used for several functions. The set fulfilled the contemporary wish for cooking utensils that could go directly from the stove to the table and finally into the freezer. Ursula Munch-Petersen (f.1937) Ursula, 1993 Den kgl. Porcelainsfabrik Faience Ursula Munch-Petersen is a descendant of the pottery dynasty Hjorth of the island of Bornholm. She is educated at the School of Arts, Crafts and Design and her work is often inspired by popular simple artefacts. The Ursula service set exemplifies an example of her interest in taxonomy, the classification of living and extinct organisms. The beaked pitchers and bowls, that are part of the set, are a result of Ursula Munch-Petersen s work with formtypologies. Several of the parts of the set have deliberately been made distinctively larger than necessary, many shapes are asymmetric and the choice of colours distances itself from the neutral earth colours that were often seen on other services of that time. Ursula is not a complete set but rather a palette of choices for combination. Ursula Munch-Petersen herself calls it a family of cups, jugs and bowls. The service does not look like an industrially produced set and exactly therein lies the strength of modern craft

10 Nanna Ditzel ( ) Trinidad, 1993 Fredericia Stolefabrik Cherry, chomium-plated steel tubes Trinidad is a stackable chair designed by Nana Ditzel, who was educated as a cabinet-maker and furniture designer. She was one of the few women, who managed to penetrate the very male dominated furniture business. She was inspired by new materials and had great insight in production methods. Nana Ditzel used for example the first CNC milling machine in Denmark to cut Trinidad s characteristic thin lines in the seat and back of the chair. The design is inspired by the colonial jigsaw works in the Caribbean islands, where she went on vacation several times. With Trinidad Ditzel managed to create a new Danish breakthrough for the pressed wood. While Arne Jacobsen with his simple and naked Ant chair wished to create lightness as not to disturb the eye wandering through the room, Ditzel made the chair itself transparent. In this way Trinidad became visually even lighter, and at the same time more decorative and expressive. Ole Jensen (f.1985) Ole, Den kgl. Porcelainsfabrik China (porcelain) Ole Jensen was educated at the School of Arts, Crafts and Design as well as at the Royal Academy of Arts. He has added humour, play and artistic experience to the otherwise rational basic Danish design tradition, but he emphasizes the primary functions of objects in his designs. Ole does not in the traditional way consist of plates, cups, saucers and dishes, but consists rather of those parts of a service and utensils that have appealed to the designer like the lemonsqueezer, mugs, colander, and bowls. The forms are close to Japanese and traditional Nordic pottery. Ole is a functional series with humour added to help turn everyday into a play. Hans Sandgren Jacobsen (f.1963) Gallery, 1998 Frederica Furniture Ash plywood, steel tube Hans Sandgren Jacobsen was trained as a cabinetmaker and designer. He has worked in Japan and been attached to Nanna Ditzel s office for a number of years and continues to work within the tradition of the transparent constructions of Danish Design. Gallery is the first design from the time, when he started his own office. It is a very simple, bent plywood stool developed at the request of Gl. Strand for their exhibition rooms. The stool is made of 10 layers of rectangular plywood bent as much as possible and held together by two steel tubes. The design is based on a long Danish tradition for bent plywood furniture, which encompasses Grete Jalk s Sløjfestol (the Bow Chair) (1963), Nanna Ditzel s Trinidad (1998), and Arne Jacobsen s series of chairs ( )

11 Louise Campbell (f. 1970) Casual Cupboard, 2000 Bahnsen Collection Ash plywood, elastic band, Velcro Louise Cambell was educated at the London College of Furniture and at the Danish Design School. Although she is considered an heir to the continuation of the Danish furniture tradition her furniture can be perceived as a clash with the Danish design tradition based on the function of objects. Her designs are very experimenting with materials and shapes. Several of her works are on the border-line between design and art and they have a femininely decorative and graphic expression. Casual Cupboard draws on the classic Danish Design tradition for bent plywood. The cupboard is a new and flexible way to envision storage furniture. It can easily be moved around in the house and it stands or hangs both vertically and horizontally or be used as a bench. It contradicts the conception that clothes must be hidden and folded perfectly when it is placed in the cupboard. Kaspar Salto (f. 1967) Ice, 2002 Fritz Hansen Aluminium, plastic Kaspar Salto was educated cabinet-maker and graduated from the Danish Design School in He belongs to a group of younger Danish designers, who continue the 20th century s Danish furniture school, which amongst other things emphasizes good craftsmanship, high quality execution and thorough proportioning and detailing of the shapes. Salto s Ice is a modern mass produced chair in aluminium and plastic, designed for both outdoor and indoor use for instance at the dining table, for conferences or at cafés. It has a light and strong construction, which easily can be taken apart in order to have the materials melted for recycling. The pronounced graphic expression of the chair resembles the back it is meant to support. Cecilie Manz (f.1972) Hochacht, ladder chair, 1999 Jacob Trolle Rasmussen Ash wood Cecilie Manz is educated at the Danish Design School and her works cover a wide field from furniture and product design to jewellery and sculpture. Her designs express simplicity and lightness and she attempts to find the essence of the function of the product. Hochacht is in the category of furniture that - apart from the possibility to rest - invites to think about furniture their presentation and function. With this piece of furniture Cecilie Manz enrols into a humoristic, functional tradition, which Kay Bojesen advocated with his mantra Lines must smile. The duality of the ladder, in which the work function has been changed to a place of rest without being too comfortable, is a good example of Cecilie Manz s approach to design, which never becomes puristic functional but on the contrary possess humour, minimalistic aesthetic, surprise elements and above all high quality and utility

12 Johannes Foersom (f.1936) og Peter Hiort-Lorenzen (f.1943) Imprint, chair, 2006 Lammhults AB, Svweden Pressede cellulose fibre mats, powder coated steel, plastic glides The Danish furniture designers Johannes Foersom and Peter Hiort- Lorenzen are cabinet-makers and were educated at the Furniture Department of the Danish Design School. Together they have run a design office since 1977 and designed and developed furniture and other products using advantageous production processes. They have for a number of years experimented with new technologies and materials and through these created new solutions for shapes. The shell chair Imprint from 2005 is produced from cellulose fibre mats, a new and environmentally friendly natural material. The flecked look of the chairs is the result of various plant parts like bark and pine needles being added to the fibre mass. The design enters into a long tradition of fibre chairs pressed into shape, which dates back to Charles Eames fibre glass chair (1950) Boris Berlin (f.1953), Poul Christiansen (f.1947) Komplot Design Nobody, chair, 2007 Hay (Nordifa, Halmstad, Sweden) Synthetic felt (polyester/pet felt) The design duo Komplot, Boris Berlin and Poul Christiansen work with graphics, product design and furniture design. Their idiom and ideas are far-reaching, from the poetic conceptual and humoristic to the profoundly objective, functional and minimalistic. They often take in historic and foreign products for renewed consideration and their modus operandi is highly analytical and experimenting and based on new technologies. The chair Nobody is made of recycled PET felt made from used soda water bottles. Heavy upholstery has never been really acceptable in the modernism movement because it hides the construction. With the chair Nobody everything has been turned upside down as the upholstery itself has become the bearing construction. The body of the chair has been removed only the comfort providing cover remains. The material challenges us: Can that soft material really support? The chair is hyper modernistic created in one mould and one material meant for mass production. 22