Scan Magazine | Special Theme | Scandinavian Culture – Denmark
Left: Designmuseum Danmark exhibits 110 of the most iconic and influential chair designs in the history of Danish design. Top right: Visitors can also pragmatically test the functional merits of a number of chairs exhibited in more authentic settings. Right: The exhibition The Danish Chair displays each chair as an individual work of art.
The Danish Chair – an international affair Designmuseum Danmark’s newest exhibition, The Danish Chair, exhibits 110 of the most iconic, innovative, and influential chairs ever designed. The exhibition shows the influence, legacy, and background of the early 20th century chair designs that put Danish design on the world map. By Signe Hansen | Photos: Pernille Klemp
With its arms, legs, seat and back, the chair is the piece of furniture that has the closest resemblance to the human body it is built to carry. It is recognised as a symbol of the status and identity of the person sitting in it and, like a work of art, it reflects the age and society in which it was created. Consequently, the exhibition The Danish Chair displays each chair individually as distinct works of art. However, the exhibition also clearly visualises how Danish designers learnt from, and built on, their predecessors’ designs. The exhibition is designed by architect Boris Berlin and curated by Christian 42 | Issue 98 | March 2017
Holmsted Olesen, head of exhibitions and collections. “What we wanted to do was to create a coherent story; by grouping the chairs by types, the exhibition clearly shows how the architects have drawn inspiration from each other. It’s almost a Darwinistic experience as you can see the evolution from one chair to the next,” explains Olesen. The display leads through a tunnel-like hall in which the chairs encapsulate visitors in darkness. When a visitor approaches, light beams are switched on to highlight distinct details and specific design features of the chair. “When Boris
Berlin saw the chairs for the exhibition, his immediate reaction was that they were fantastic – like individual works of art – and that’s why we’ve placed them in each their own frame, floating in a plastic box with light on the most important details,” explains Olesen. The exhibition not only includes chairs by Danish designers, but also designs that inspired, and were inspired by, Danish design, including Briton Jasper Morrison. Moreover, it comprises an area of chairs displayed in more authentic settings, where visitors can pragmatically test the functional merits of the famously stylish chairs, by for example sitting down to have a rest.
For more information, please visit: www.designmuseum.dk