QUALITY AND CRAFTMANSHIP

Kaare Klint was exposed to architecture from a young age thanks to the work of his father, Peder Vilhelm Jensen-Klint, on the renowned Grundtvig’s Church in Copenhagen. The church is an architectural landmark of Copenhagen, and a unique blending of Gothic and Brick Expressionist styles. It is surrounded by a residential development, also designed by Jensen Klint. When his father died in 1930, it was Kaare Klint who completed the work over the following decade. It was as a furniture designer, however, that Klint made his indelible mark.

Considered the father of Danish Modern design, Klint co-founded the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts’ Furniture School in 1923, where he became a professor the following year. Many of the leading designers of the mid-century era, including Hans J. Wegner, Ole Wanscher, Børge Mogensen, Arne Jacobsen, and Poul Kjærholm came of age at the so-called ‘Klint School’.

Fritz Hansen’s unique office chair has had pride of place in the Hansen family’s office for 75 years. 

The office chair that Fritz Hansen made for himself in 1878 was very different from the furniture he made for his clients. It is the first and only example from the period of a chair constructed with laminated veneer, from which the backrest was made. A truly visionary choice, seeing that laminated veneer would become almost synonymous with the company with chairs like Ant™, Series 7™ and Grand Prix™.

But the office chair’s design was just as radical as the choice of material. Its aesthetics would not be common in Denmark until the 1930s – a whole half-century later. Thus, it was an early predecessor to the simple, thoughtful designs that would make the company inter-nationally renowned.