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Arne Jacobsen
(1902-1971)
An exemplar of the Danish Modern style, Arne Jacobsen began his career as an industrial designer as a student at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, when in 1925 he won a silver medal for one of his early chair designs. After graduation in 1927, he began working as an architect and designed many single family homes and later some larger projects all over Denmark. His work eventually bloomed into furniture and houseware design, working with many materials but all in the classic style of Danish Modern and heavily influenced by his international travels. Many of his designs have entered the modernist lexicon as seminal forms. His 1952 Ant Chair, 1958 Egg chair, and 1958 swan chair are among the most recognizable furniture pieces in the Danish Modern style.
When asked about his design philosophy, Jacobsen would reply "If I have a philosophy, it must be to sit at the drawing board." Ever the perfectionist, it was not uncommon for his projects to get tied up in production delays as he endlessly reworked his designs. This was especially true in his work with plastics, a material which does not hold the innate limitations of wood.
Today his designs are still considered some of the best Scandinavia had to offer in the mid twentieth century. Evidence of Jacobsen's influence still permeates contemporary design culture, and will likely continue to do so well on into the future.
To learn more about Arne Jacobsen:
• Arne Jacobsen dot com
• Design Addict: Arne Jacobsen
• Great Buildings Online: Arne Jacobsen
• Scandinavian Design: Arne Jacobsen
• Wikipedia: Arne Jacobsen
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