Mid2Mod: Arne Jaobsen

I started this blog September 6, 2010. Some of you have been readers since the beginning. Others have come on board later. From now through the end of the month, I'm going to be on a short blogging break. Not only am I in the middle of a big volunteer project, I'm also trying to help get the new store open, so I've decided share some of my favorite posts from the past four years. I'll throw in a few new photos for you longtime supporters who read the posts when they were first published.

(First posted 3/27/2011)

Arne Jacobsen (1902-1971) was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, and studied architecture at the Arts and Crafts Academy of Copenhagen. Upon graduating in 1927, he opened his own office. While his early work was influenced by Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe and Gunnar Asplund, he was firmly a part of the more organic modern movement by the 1950s. Charles Eames' s DCW inspired one of Jacobsen´s Ant chair (1952), which was ideally suited for mass production.

Jacobsen insisted on complete control of his projects, designing buildings and interiors that were beautifully cohesive, often designing the structures themselves, as well as the furniture, lighting, textiles and even the restaurant flatware.

His well-known Swan chair (1958) was designed for just such a project, the S.A.S. Royal Hotel in Copenhagen. Other famous works include the Egg chair (1958) and his 1957 flatware for A. Michelsen, which was considered so futuristic that it appeared in Stanley Kubrick´s film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Honors and awards received by Jacobsen include the grand prize at the 1957 Triennale di Milano, the 1960 Grande Prix Internationale, the 1969 Industrial Design Prize, and the 1971 gold medal from the French Academy of Architecture. He designed for Fritz Hansen, Louis Poulsen, Vola, Stelton and Michelsen, among others.

From lostcityarts.com