Great Danes
Denmark’s golden era of design occurred in the mid-20th century. In the 1930s and 40s, industrialism and exceptional artisan abilities were at their height, precipitating the development of a slew of designers whose creations remain classics today. These designers drew their inspiration from the German Bauhaus movement, producing furniture pieces in which functionality was key, along with simple, graceful and perfectlyproportioned forms. Kaare Klint was the first of the great Danish creators, and no description of Denmark’s talent at the time would be complete without at least a mention of his name. He was instrumental in setting up the furniture school at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen in 1924. Klint’s efforts laid the groundwork for the design elite who soon followed and who made Danish design what it is today. We take a brief look at Klint’s life, and at the lives of three key members of Denmark’s design elite: Arne Jacobsen, Danish design’s ‘renaissance man’, Hans J Wegner, the carpenter whose Wishbone chair is globally recognised, and Nanna Ditzel, one of Denmark’s best-known female designers. Half a century later, the works of each of these designers are still universally loved.
A PRESENTATION OF THE ICONIC DESIGNERS WHO PUT DENMARK AT THE FOREFRONT OF 20TH CENTURY DESIGN These designers drew their inspiration from the German Bauhaus movement, producing furniture pieces in which functionality was key