Arne Jacobsen

Arne Jacobsen comes from a middle-class home North of Copenhagen, Denmark. In school, the young Jacobsen was restless and had trouble sitting still. He found maths a struggle and he dreamed of becoming a painter. But his parents did not share that dream, they wanted him to have a conventional and practical education.

The home Jacobsen grew up in is typical for the late 19^th and early 20^th century style of the period. It has thick carpet on the walls and floors, however, as a child, Arne Jacobsen painted his room completely white. An urge to break with the norms and traditions as a child, stayed with him throughout his career.

Jacobsen gave up the idea of becoming a painter and decided to study architecture at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. From a career perspective this was undoubtedly a great idea. Jacobsen designed some of the most iconic buildings in Denmark, including four city halls. Along with his minimalistic design (he notoriously hated the word ‘design’) he became a key contributor to functionalism in Denmark.

On a number of occasions Jacobsen realised his idea of integrating architecture, design and art. Examples of this are The Danish National Bank (1965) and the SAS Royal Hotel in Copenhagen (1956). These projects led to the design of some of his most famous furniture. The Egg chair, the Swan chair and the airport sofa were designed especially for the SAS Royal Hotel.

Jacobsen’s attention to detail and humble approach, meant that he got involved in design of the tiniest details. In fact, he designed cutlery that was used in Stanley Kubrick’s movie “2001: A Space Odyssey”.