Design story
This Piet Hein dining table belongs, alongside a number of square and super-circular tables, to a collection designed by Piet Hein, Bruno Mathsson and Arne Jacobsen in the late 1960s for Fritz Hansen. The table top is crafted from a 22 mm thick chip wood board, which is coated with white laminate. The board has a beautiful aluminium edge and the span legs are made of chromed steel.
Piet Hein was a multi-talented individual know in Denmark not only for his design and architecture but also his poetry. Hein was a mathematician, scientist, philosopher and designer.
Hein grew up in a well educated family often visited by artists and scientists among others Karen Blixen (author of ‘Out of Africa’ and Hein’s mother’s cousin) and Niels Bohr (world famous Danish physicist). Through Bohr, Hein also met Einstein and Charles Chaplin.
As a mathematician Hein invented a number of mathematical based board games. However, his mathematical achievements went further then that. In 1959 he decided to find a new physical form. Considering most basic mathematics is thousands of years old it would be quite an achievement.
Hein decided to combine the rectangular and the circle to what would become the ‘super ellipse’. This may not sound like a huge achievement but keep in mind it is based on mathematical equations and not simply rounding the corners of a rectangular.
Hein’s used the super ellipse to shape tables, bowls and door handles. However, the super ellipse has also been used in a number of architectural projects around the world. For example athletic stadiums such as the Olympic station in Mexico, swimming pool in Copenhagen. Hein even solved traffic problems in the city of Stockholm using new mathematical shape.
One of Piet Hein’s famous designs, is the super ellipse table and it was put into production in 1968.
