The Egg Chair

The LA Times LA At Home section recently did a piece analyzing the Original Arne Jacobsen Egg chair to some of the new reproductions coming out.  It mainly focuses on pricing and a few design details like stitching but it still give a nice overview on some of the latest reproductions and how they are presenting themselves.  You can read the full article here.

Image Credit: Restoration Hardware

Description + History:

In 1957 Arne Jacobsen created a minimalist cutlery for George Jensen, this set  made its prime time deput in Stanley Kubricks 1968 classic film 2001:a Space Odyssey.  The cutlery is created out of 18/8 stainless steel, and made with a matte finish.  It has been called "flatware without frills" its simple lines are extremely unique and are a great conversation piece. 

Where to purchase:

Moma Store
StudioLX
Unica (Best selection)
E Table Top.com (Cheapest)
Fjorn Scandanavian
Dansk Design
Ebay:

The classic AJ Handle manufactured by Carl F Petersen, available in matt nickel or polished unlacquered brass with 50mm diameter visible fixing roses, 8mm spindle, complete with bolt through fixings to suit doors 44mm thickness.

The AJ Handles comes in two different sizes, 97mm and 111mm.  When the handles were initially designed for the SAS Royal Hoel in Copenhagen the smaller Jacobsen handles graced the internal doors and the larger doorknobs were used as the hotels exterior doorknobs.  This handle blends in beautfiully with the furniture and designed objects that Arne designed for the hotel.

Sadly the AJ Door Handle is only used on internal doors these days, after remodels of the SAS hotel the main room entry comes courtesy of an electronic card reader.

Where to buy:

Although not offered at many places, I currently have found the AJ Handles at these stores:

Royal Shopping: $177
Homebits (uk): 97 pounds

Cylinda-line was awarded:
+The ID-prize 1967 by The Danish Society of Industrial Design and
+The International Design Award 1968 by The American Institute of Interior Designers.

The idea behind the line was to create a true line of tableware where the design correlation between individual items would a harmony between the entire table setting. The result is the famous Cylinda Line which launched in 1967.

Line Coffee Pot Details: $439 Unica	Stelton Jug with Icelip Details: $165 from DWR	Line Creamer Details: $75 from DWR
Line Sugar Bowl Details: $105 from DWR	Line Press Coffee Press Details: $315 from DWR	Salt and Pepper Shakers Details: $179 Unica
Line Serving Tray Details: $155 from DWR	Line Ice Tongs Details: $36 from DWR	Cocktail Shaker Details: $220 from DWR
Coasters Details: $89 Unica	Ash Tray Details: $105 Moss Featured in MOMA’s design collection.	Line Ice Bucket Details: $360 from DWR
Martini Mixer Details: $185 from DWR	Line Salad Bowl Details: $319 Unica	Line Saled Servers Details: $109 Unica

If your interested in picking up any of these, I found the biggest selections at Lumens andDesign Within Reach.  The prices seem fairly consistent, but do check out the specials page to see if a sale going on now.

Lamps

(1956)AJ Eklipta
Designed for the City Hall in Rodovre, Denmark. It was used inside for the staircases as well as a wall fixture outdoors.

(1960) Aj Floor Lamp
mimics the angles of his Series 3300 furniture (egg +swan)
Designed for the SAS Royal Hotel in Copenhagen

(1960) Royal Floor Lamp
Were placed in the entry of the Hotel Royal, bringing the the egg chairs into view while placing the lobby in the shadows.

AJ Eklipta  Details: $360 from DWR

AJ Floor Lamp Details: $775 from DWR

Royal Floor Lamp Details: $1340 Lumens

Doorknobs:

The AJ Handle

Clocks + Watches:

(1955) Ciy Hall
Designed for the Rodovre City Hall in Copenhagen.

(1971)Bankers
Designed National Bank of Denmark in Copenhagen in 1971

(1937) Romer
Designed for the National Town Hall in Aarhus

Banker’s clock Details: $410 Lumens

Romer clock Details: $360 lumens

City Hall clock Details: $380 Lumens

Bankers watch Details: $630 Nova

Romer Watch Details: $630 Lumens

City Hall watch Details: $630 Lumens

Flatware:
Designed in 1957 and used in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, this flatware has been a classic for almost 50 years.

Here is a picture from its big screen debut

Available from:

MOMA store for $115
StudioLX: $115
Unica: $114

From the 1950s onwards Jacobsen became one of the dominant figures in Danish architecture, but outside of Denmark he made his large inroads in his work as a furniture and product designer. As well as the Swan, Egg and the Series 7 chairs, he was also responsible for another 20th century classic, the Cylinda Line stainless steel set and the AJ flatware.

Arne Jacobsen initially was trained as a mason deciding to study architecture at the Royal Danish Academy of Arts, Copenhagen eventually graduating from there in 1927.  From his graduation until 1930, he worked in the architectural office of Paul Holsoe. He then decided to establish his own design office, and continue to operate until he died in 1971.

He was also a professor of Architecture at the Royal Academy of Arts from 1956 in Copenhagen. Some of his better known projects are St. Catherine´s College in Oxford, and the SAS Hotel located in Copenhagen.

Here is a chornological list of his built work:

Bellevue Theatre (1935-36)

Århus City Hall (1939-42)

Søllerød Town Hall (1940-42)

Søholm semi-detached houses in Klampenborg (1950-54)

Rødovre Town Hall (1957)

Glostrup Town Hall (1958)

The Munkegård School in Copenhagen (1955-59)

SAS Royal Hotel Copenhagen (1958-1960)

Toms Chocolate Factories in Ballerup (1961)

Danmarks National bank (started in 1965)

St Catherine’s College, University of Oxford (1964-66)

Hamburger Elektrizitaetswerke Verwaltungsgebaeude in Hamburg

Arne Jacobsen reflected on his career, a few Months before his death in 1971, "The fundamental factor is proportion," he concluded. "Proportion is precisely what makes the old Greek temples beautiful…And when we look at some of the most admired buildings of the Renaissance or the Baroque, we notice that they are all well-proportioned. That is the essential thing." Here is a quick gallery of Arne Jacobsen work.

 Jacobsen was interested in the idea of "total design", often including clauses in his contract: "Professor Jacobsen should undertake as much as possible of the landscape design and the design of fixtures and fittings."  This attention to detail and harmonious design led to some of the better known designs of the modern era. 

From his AJ cutlery/flatware, to his doorknobs and watches, and of course what he is most famous for his furniture designs featured below.   This attention to detail and total design packages are probably best exemplified in his architecture at The Royal Hotel from 1956-61 in Copenhagen and St Catherine’s College.

(1952) The Ant

The chair takes advantage of techniques from theaircraft industry .

Inspired by Ray and Charles Eames designs.

In order to press the double shell as one piece the chair had to be narrow in the transition between seat and back. 

Originally onstructed with 3 legs to ensure the stability ,later a four-legged variant was developed for Rodovre town hall.

Materials:
Form-moulded, laminated veneer with a tubular steel frame.  The chair itself consists of 9 transversed layers of veneer with 2 layers of linen glued-in. Model 3100 has 3 legs in mirror chromed steel. Model 3101 has 4 in mirror or satin chromed steel.

Dimensions:
W:19 x D:19 x H:30.25, SH:17.25".
Weight: 4 kg.

(1958) The Swan

The Swan was a technologically innovative chair in 1958.  Designed for the Royal Hotel in Copenhagen.

Materials:
A moulded coherent shell of synthetic material on an aluminium star base. A layer of cold foam covers the shell, which is covered by a choice Kvadrat-fabric or leather upholstery in a wide range of colours, with a swivel base in steel.

DImensions:
W:76 x D:68 x SH:75 cm (H:31 x W:30 x D:27, SH:29.5")
 

Interested in learning more about the Swan chair? her is a resource site dedicated to the design-swan-chair.com

 (1955) Series 7

Part of the Series 7 group, which was awarded a Grand Prix at the 1957 Milan Triennale. 

The series includes:

chairs with arms
swivel chairs on castors and a
pedestal chair 

Materials:
Molded maple plywood seat with tubular steel base.

Dimensions:
19"w x 20.5"d x 30"h (50 x 52 x 78 cm, SH: 46,5 cm).

Interested in learning more abou the Series7 chair?  Series7chair.com

(1965) Oxford Chair

The Oxford chair series for office, meeting and conference use was originally designed for St. Catherine College in Oxford.

The chair originally made in the tall version in teak with form-moulded wooden base and as a prototype with armrests and all-wood frame.

Available in cloth or leather in a range of colours with a swivel base in steel, in both a tall and a short version and with or without armrests and/or sheels.

Cylina	Flatware	Lighting
Clocks	Watches	To see a complete list of these designs, visit our post on Arne Jacobsen Objects.

Here is a listing of a few lesser known Arne Jacobsen furniture designs:

Quick Facts + Links:

+ Born in Copenhagen.

+ Graduated from the Academy of Arts, Copenhagen in 1928

+ Won a silver medal for a chair design at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.  This is also  where he discovers the work of  Le Corbusier’s.

+ Spent two years in Sweden as an exile during the war. 

+ Nickname the "Fat man"

+ In 1956 Designs the Egg and Swan chairs as well as the Aj Cutlery all for his latest building the SAS Royal Hotel in Copenhagen

+ His chair the Series 7, was used as a prop for the famous Christine Keeler’s nude portrait, and the Profumo Affair.

+ Arne Jacobsen Died in Copenhagen 1971

Biography:

As an architect and industrial designer, Jacobsen became one of the most influential Danish architect and designer of the 20 th century .  Known as much for his furniture design: such as Swan, Egg and Series 7 chairs as he is for his famous works of architecture: SAS Royal Hotel and St Catherine’s College in Oxford.

Overall Jacobsen did not engage in  theory-building as did many of his colleagues in the modernist movement, He was heavily influenced by their designs early on and was inspired by the work of Mies-Corbu-and Charles and Ray Eames. Jacobsen tended to be able to stray from the pure modernist as once was quoted as saying  "You can always see a thing from two sides, if only one has a little imagination"

Born in Copenhagen in 1902, Arne Jacobsen worked as an apprentice bricklayer until he began his studies at the Royal Academy of Art in 1924. This background working with materials would prove to play an important role in his work  later on.

As a student, Jacobsen went to Paris in 1925 for an International Exhibition of Arts Décoratifs School, where he won the silver medal for his chair design. Here is where he was first introduced to the work of Le Corbusier in the L ‘spirit of Modernism pavilion.  Before he finished his studies Jacobsen  visited Berlin, where he learned of the rationalist architecture of Mies Van Der Rohe and Walter Groupius. Their work had an impact on some of his earlier project completed in Denmark.

In 1929, the 27-year-old Jacobsen entered his life-size model of the”House of the Future” (designed with his partner, Flemming Lassen) which won them 1st prize in the Academic Architects’ Association’s Housing and Building Fair.  The structure was temporarily erected that year at the Housing and Building Exhibition in Copenhagen. Some of the highlighs of their house design included:

Windows that rolled down like car windows,
Conveyor tube for the mail
Helicopter Pad on the roof
Kitchen stocked with ready-made meals.

The project was eventually dismantled, but today a group of Danish Architects are attempting to rebuild the ”House of the Future” .

Architectural commissions disappeared during World War II, Being Jewish, Jacobsen was in danger of the Nazi occupation of Denmark. In 1943 he fled to neighboring Sweden. Two years later he returned to Denmark in time for the countries urgent need new residential and public buildings.  This allowed Jacobsen to design some of his bigger commisions.

During 1950′s, Jacobsen after seeing some of the work of Charles and Ray Eames and their bent plywood designs became interested in product designs again.  But Jacobsen,  considered himself foremost an architect. ”He didn’t call himself a designer; he didn’t even like the word,” said Scott Poole, a professor of architecture at Virginia Tech 

By the end of 1950′s, Jacobsen was given the opportunity to put his thories into a comprehensive design package, with the Ari terminal SAS Royal Hotel in Copenhagen. He designed almost every element of the building, from its glassy exterior structure to the Cylinda ashtrays, AJ Handles and the dining rooms flatware  This is also the birthplace of the Swan and Egg chairs.  This building was not met with the kindest reception and Jacobsen has said the following about the hotel:

"Well, yes, they call it the punch card, and it’s funny, for that is actually what it looks like when the windows are open on a hot summer’s day. It has been called a lot of different things. Svend Erik Møller called it the ‘glass cigarbox’. And many people thought it was a terribly ugly building, and many may still think so. At least, it came in first when they held a competition for the ugliest building in Copenhagen."

Arne Jacobsen when asked to reflect on some of his career said that proportion is one of the main factors in his work, he was on to say "The proportion is exactly what makes the beautiful ancient Egyptian temples … And if we look at some of the most admired buildings of the Renaissance and Baroque, we noticed that they were all well-proportioned. Here is the basic thing.  You can see a complete list and corresponding images of his work the-egg-chair.com/arne-jacobsen-architecture

Awards + Recognition: Arne Jacobsen

 + In 1927 he even won a gold medal with an academy project for a national open air museum situated in Klampenborg, Bellevue.

+ 1930 he won a design competition entitled ‘The House of the Future

+ 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs, where he won a silver medal for a chair design

+ 1966 Jacobsen wins the competition to design the new National Bank of Denmark

+ Won the competition for the office Buildings for the Hamburg Power station (1970)

+ The Cylinda-line has won awards from The Danish Society of Industrial Design and The American Institute of Interior Designers.

Additional Resources | Interviews | Articles:

ARTICLE: Independent.co.uk

ARTICLE: Design Museum

MOMA: Design Collection

Design Addict: Biography

Arne Jacobsen.com

Fritz Hansen.com

Wikipedia: Arne Jacobsen