Famous Danish Furniture Designers

Arne Jacobsen

Arne Jacobsen is one of the grandfathers of modern Danish furniture and the minimalist Danish style. While Arne Jacobsen (1902-1971) was also a successful architect, he is best remembered for his simple, yet elegant and functional chair designs.

The cooperation between Arne Jacobsen and Fritz Hansen dates back to 1934. But it wasn't until 1952 that Jacobsen made a break-through: the Jacobsen Ant™ Chair. The Jacobsen Series 7™ Chair quickly followed in 1955. This propelled Jacobsen and Fritz Hansen's names into furniture history.

At the end of the 50s Arne Jacobsen was the lead architect for the Royal Hotel in Copenhagen, and designed the famous Egg™ Chair, the Swan™ Chair, the Swan™ Sofa and Series 3300™ Chairs. Arne Jacobsen was and is an admired and outstanding designer. While the significance of Arne Jacobsen's buildings was less appreciated, his furniture and other design work have become national and international heritage


Børge Mogensen


Functional is the word which best describes Børge Mogensen’s design. The majority of his furniture was designed with industrial production in mind and is characterized by strong and simple lines. His true genius is to be found in his almost scientific analysis of the functionality of a piece of furniture.  During his years at the Copenhagen School of Arts and Crafts the young Børge Mogensen developed a close partnership with his mentor Kaare Klint and subsequently also assumed Klint’s approach to simple and functional furniture design. Later on Børge Mogensen was to work as Klint’s teaching assistant at the Royal Academy



Cecilie Manz

Cecilie Manz was born in the Odsherred region of Denmark. As the child of parents occupied with art and design, designing always formed a natural part of her life. She chose design as her living when she began studying at the Danish School of Design in 1992. Her great interest for function and conceptualization took her further as an exchange student to Helsinki where she attended the Finnish University of Art and Design.  Cecilie Manz' strong feeling for functionality and insistence on quality make her an obvious choice for Fritz Hansen. Already, Cecilie Manz has exhibited all over the world and is permanently represented in the exhibitions of MOMA and the Danish Design Centre. She has been lectured and awarded several significant prizes for her conceptual design.


Charles & Ray Eames

With a grand sense of adventure, Charles and Ray Eames turned their curiosity and boundless enthusiasm into creations that established them as a truly great husband-and-wife design team. Their unique synergy led to a whole new look in furniture. Lean and modern. Playful and functional. Sleek, sophisticated, and beautifully simple. That was and is the "Eames look."  They loved their work, which was a combination of art and science, design and architecture, process and product, style and function. "The details are not details," said Charles. "They make the product."


Christian Dell

The Bauhaus occupies a place of its own in the history of the 20th century culture; architecture, design, art and new media. As one of the first colleges of design, it brought together a number of the most outstanding contemporary architects and artists. Beginning in 1926 Dell sketched lights, often for the lamp factory Gebr. Kaiser & Co. The first catalogue was launched in 1936 in which the table lamp model 6631 Luxus appeared for the first time. This lamp soon became  the undisputed top model of the KAISER idell™-serie – then, as well as today, the symbol of noble Germanic design, exquisite choice of materials and precise engineering.  The term “idell” is a reference to the word idea and his lastname, Dell. “Kaiser” is a reference to the original manufacturer – KAISER idell


George Nelson

George Nelson, born 1908 in Hartford, Connecticut, studied architecture at Yale University. A fellowship enabled him to study at the American Academy in Rome from 1932-34. In Europe he became acquainted with the protagonists and major architectural works of modernism. His collaboration with Vitra began in 1957. From 1946 onwards Nelson also ran his own design office, creating numerous products that are now regarded as icons of mid-century modernism.  Nelson's office also produced important architectural works and exhibition designs. George Nelson died in New York in 1986. His archive belongs to the holdings of the Vitra Design Museum.



Hans J. Wegner

Hans J. Wegner is the undisputed master of Danish chair design. Wegner has designed countless chairs, many of which—such as the Hans Wegner Wishbone Chair, Wegner Wing Chair, and Wegner CH07 Shell Chair—are internationally recognized classics. Hans Wegner’s furniture unites form and function; in every design, he places the highest demands on comfort and ergonomics. To Wegner, a chair isn't just a piece of furniture, but a work of art made to support the human form.

With a background as a skilled cabinet maker, Hans Wegner has a fondness for integrating wood into his chairs, and he has a special talent for using the characteristics of the material to create surprising, sculptural lines. The Danish word for design is “formgivning”, which translated literally means “giving shape”. When you see Hans J. Wegner’s furniture, you begin to understand the true meaning of the word.


Jørn Utzon

This is the primal theme of probably Denmark's most famous architect of all time: Jørn Utzon. His career culminated in 1957 when he won the international architectural competition for the Sydney Opera House. It is a thoroughly ingenious work that justifiably made him an icon of 20th Century architecture.  In developing his designs for Lightyears, Jørn Utzon has worked to ensure that light constantly promotes the atmosphere of a room, whether it is used for cosy togetherness, for a particular function or for sheer inspiration. The designs of his first lamp for Lightyears draw a golden thread from the Sydney Opera House. It completes the picture of Jørn Utzon as a lamp designer and architect of highest international stature.


Kasper Salto

Kasper Salto - the designer of the Ice™ Series, Little Friend™ and NAP™ - was trained as a cabinetmaker with Jørgen Wolff. He graduated in 1994 as a designer from the Danish Design School. During his studies Salto spent a term at the Art Center in Switzerland. From 1996-1997 Salto Lectured at the Royal Academy of Art in Copenhagen and was also appointed a member of S.E. (The Cabinetmakers' Autumn Exhibition). In 1997 Kasper Salto became an exhibiting architect for S.E. at the Museum of Applied Art in Copenhagen.  For Fritz Hansen, Kasper Salto has designed the Ice™ Series including tables, side chairs, two different bar chairs, Little Friend™ - a small multifunctional table and NAP™ - a series of light stacking chairs.


Poul Henningsen

 Danish architect Poul Henningsen, known by his initials, ”PH” was obsessed with light. He is the legendary creator of the lighting series carrying his name. He can be said to be the world’s first lighting architect.  Poul Henningsen devoted his entire career to investigating the importance of light for our well being. He worked on the theory that the observer should not be subjected to direct glare from the electric light source. Henningsen used a series of layered shades to both spread the light and conceal the light bulb, thus creating a softer more diffused lighting.


Poul Kjærholm

Poul Kjærholm was a trained carpenter and continued his studies at the Danish School of Arts and Crafts. He had a particular interest in different construction materials; especially steel which he considered a natural material with the same artistic fineness as other natural materials.
Poul Kjærholm was employed at Fritz Hansen for about a year, where he designed a number of noteworthy chair prototypes.
In 1955 Poul Kjærholm initiated his collaboration with manufacturer Ejvind Kold Christensen, which lasted until Poul Kjærholm's death in 1980. In 1982, Fritz Hansen took over the production and sales of "The Kjærholm Collection", developed from 1951 to 1967, designs, which are logical to the minute detail with an aura of exclusivity. In 2007 Fritz Hansen added two new pieces to the Kjærholm Collection. Pieces that were never in production before, the PK8™ side chair and PK58™ dining table.



Poul Volther
Poul M. Volther (1923-2001) belonged to a generation of architects with solid roots in the very best of craft. As an exponent to functionalism he was against fads and aesthetic smartness and he loved the simple manufacture of fine materials. Poul M. Volther was a trained cabinet-maker and later he graduated from The School of Arts and Crafts.  As a teacher at The Danish School of Art and Design he has influenced hundreds of young designers' sense of craft quality. The Corona chair is without comparison his most famous design.


Verner Panton

Verner Panton, born 1926 in Gamtofte, Denmark, studied at Odense Technical College before enrolling at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen as an architecture student.  He worked from 1950-52 in the architectural firm of Arne Jacobsen, and founded an independent studio for architecture and design in 1955. His furniture designs for the firm Plus-linje attracted attention with their geometric forms. In the following years Panton created numerous designs for seating furniture and lighting.  Panton's collaboration with Vitra began in the early 1960s, when the firm decided to develop what became his best-known design, the Panton Chair, which was introduced in 1967. This was also the first independently developed product by Vitra.  Verner Panton died in 1998 in Copenhagen. Vitra's re-edition of designs by Panton, as well as the retrospective of his work mounted by the Vitra Design Museum in 2000, bear witness to the special relationship between Vitra and Verner Panton.