Mid-century icon Nanna Ditzel is back in the spotlight with two newly reissued designs
The mid-century icon, whose style never stopped evolving, is back in the spotlight with two newly reissued designs
People who are familiar with the name Nanna Ditzel (1923-2005) tend to associate her with one thing: her ‘Hanging Egg’ chair of 1959, whose cocooning wicker form heralded the playful, freespirited mood of the 1960s. But there’s much more to Ditzel’s story, in fact, she was one of the most versatile talents of her day. As Danish brands Fredericia and Brdr. Krüger reissue two of her iconic designs, it’s time to bring her work back into the spotlight.
Born in Copenhagen, Ditzel inherited a passion for art and design from her mother. She studied cabinetmaking and then did a degree in architecture at London’s prestigious Royal Academy of Fine Arts, graduating in 1946. While she was there, she met her future husband, Jørgen Ditzel. They became the golden couple of Danish design, creating pared-down wooden furniture in their studio as well as minimalist jewellery for silversmith Georg Jensen. The latter won them the coveted Lunning Prize – the design world’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize – in 1956.
The first of several turning points in Ditzel’s life came in 1961, when her husband died aged just 40. Devastated but undaunted, she reinvented herself as a solo designer, experimenting with materials like fibreglass as well as producing a range of upholstery fabrics – ‘Hallingdal’ (1965), a plain wool now produced by Kvadrat, remains a classic. Identifying a ‘Ditzel look’ is all but impossible: for every nature-inspired wicker piece she made, there was one more brightly coloured and urban in feel, like her Sputnik-style hallstand of 1963. And she diversified again in 1968, opening the Hampstead store Interspace with her second husband, manufacturer Kurt Heide. It was one of the first places in London to showcase contemporary furniture.
After being widowed again in 1985, Ditzel returned to Copenhagen. Now in her sixties,