Scan Magazine | Design Profile | FDB Møbler
Poul M. Volther’s J46 chairs.
Furniture to make us feel at home FDB Møbler was founded by FDB, now COOP, and Børge Mogensen, one of Denmark’s most cherished designers, in 1942. The aim was to make affordable, high-quality furniture for normal people in normal homes. The project produced classics such as the J46 chair and significantly influenced Denmark’s rich design tradition in the 20th century. In 2013, FDB Møbler was relaunched, bringing back design classics as well as new furniture to suit 21st century people. By Louise Older Steffensen | Photos: Martin Juul
“The principles of FDB Møbler are the same today as in 1942,” says FDB Møbler’s CEO Ole Kiel. “The furniture should look good, of course, but most importantly of all, it should suit the needs of its users and be designed to withstand normal, everyday use.” The idea that practicality should be at least as important as aesthetics in good design, spurred on by the FDB designers and their generation, became a cornerstone in Danish design. The affordability of FDB Møbler also made high-quality design furniture available early on to 24 | Issue 111 | April 2018
much of the Danish population, helping to cement the idea that design pieces could be a part of every home.
Furniture for the 21st century “While most of the design classics work just as well now as ever, it is also important to adapt to the times,” says Kiel. “By that, I don’t primarily mean the look of things – good lines will always look good and I think most people agree that the streamlined, simple and elegant look of Danish design from the ‘50s and ‘60s, for example, looks as clean and inviting as ever.” The functional requirements of a
lot of furniture, however, have changed significantly. “We use our furniture differently than we did 50 or 70 years ago,” Kiel explains. “Back then, sofas were for sitting in, coffee tables were for putting coffee cups and biscuits on, and we liked to store tonnes of knick-knacks in large, dominant cabinet systems in our small apartments. Now, we lounge on the sofa, put our feet on the coffee table and prefer to have fewer things on display in more open, airy rooms. It’s important that our furniture is comfortable and practical for the actual needs we now have. It should look great while mirroring our real lives.” With its mix of old and new, FDB Møbler’s current catalogue reflects this mentality. “The J46 chair, which was designed by FDB’s second lead designer Poul M. Volther in 1946, continues to be the alltime best-selling chair to come out of