Test your design IQ
Who is the 20th century Danish designer known for iconic furniture pieces like the Egg and the Swan chairs which he created for the SAS Royal Hotel?
He was born on Feb. 11, 1902 in Copenhagen to a wholesale trader of safety pins and a banker mother who often painted floral motifs in her spare time. The family lived in a typical Victorian style home; and as a child painted the colored wallpaper in his room white, as a contrast to his parents’ overly decorated taste.
At the Naerum Boarding School, he met the Lassen brothers, one of which Flemming, was to become his partner in a series of architectural projects. He was later educated at Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture in Copenhagen.
Like a locomotive, he pushed through the landscape of Danish design and architecture for more than half of the past century. As a designer, he made prototypes for furniture, textiles, wallpaper, silverware, and other items.
Entering into a partnership with Fritz Hansen in 1932, their big break came in 1952 with the Ant, which he designed for the Novo Nordisk canteen. This was succeeded by the Series 7 in 1955, propelling their names into furniture history.
At the end of the 1950s, he designed the Royal Hotel in Copenhagen, and for that project the Egg, the Swan, the Swan sofa, and Series 3300, which have since achieved iconic status in furniture design. He also designed the Cylinda-Line of table ware in 1967.
In design, it is said however that he rarely knew what he wanted ahead of time.
Apart from the basic idea, conceived with a keen sense of proportion and an unusual talent for design and form, nothing was determined ahead of time. This was because he was always in search for the outer limits of the design idea, the technology, and the material.
Despite this intuitive approach, he went on to design Danish landmarks like the apartment blocks Bellavista in Kalmpenborg, the Bellevue Theater, and the Arhus Town Hall (in cooperation with Erik Moller), the Sollerod Town Hall (with Flemming Lassen).
Some of his other famous works included semi-detached houses in Klampenborg, the Rodovre Town Hall, the Munkeg- ard School in Copenhagen, the SAS Royal Hotel, Toms Chocolate Factories in Ballerup, the Dansmarks Nationalbank, and Saint Catherine’s College in Oxford.
He also designed a project for the Hannover Concert Hall, the Castrop Rauxel Mall, the Christaeneum Grammar School in Hamburg, and the administration building for the Hamburg Power Station in cooperation with Otto Weitling.
With a relatively small studio staff, he mastered the range from large complex building projects (like Danmarks Nationalbank) to the teaspoon in his cutlery. Through this range lay a consideration of every detail in the total design of the building, which was the invisible force that drove him to his goals.
Although he passed away in 1971, his designs have become a distinct part of our surroundings and the core of Danish design identity.
*** Last week’s question: Who is this Dutch furniture designer architect, one of the principal members behind the artistic movement De Stijl and known for his Red and Blue Chair? Answer: Gerrit Thomas Rietveld Winner: Cristine T. Mendoza of Sambahayan Condominum, Mandaluyong City
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