Hans Wegner - Carpenter Turned Master Designer
In 2007, the great furniture designer Hans Wegner passed away. He entered this world in Tonger, Denmark, 93 years ago and over time became the most successful and noticed individual at the Danish Modern school of design. His beautiful and unobtrusive style is composed of clean and simple lines.
Hans Wegner started out in carpentry, but that was interrupted by service in the military. Following this he trained in a technical school, later enrolling at Copenhagen Architectural Academy, as well as the School of Arts and Crafts for his professional training. Later on he worked under Erik Moller and Arne Jacobsen, both masters in the field.
His specialty was the construction of chairs, which he liked to think of as a work of art as well as something useful to sit upon. One of his well known philosophies was that a chair should look great from every side and that there should be no "back" but rather a flow around the chair. He wanted very simple and refined designs, but employed many different shapes and materials within his preferences.
He extended his thoughts beyond the fundamental style. Among the chairs to arise were the "peacock" style as well as complementary tables and furniture (möbler). He experimented with the comfort of his own body to style a valet piece. After his children were of age, he and his daughter worked together and are credited with creating the pole light in the last quarter of the twentieth century.
Chairs are what Hans Wegner is best known for rather than his other furniture he had designed, especially ch25 (or Chair 25) which was created in 1950. He designed four chairs with woven style seats for Carl Hansen and Son; however this was the only one with rope weaving in the seat and the back. It is also uniquely engineered with the back legs are angled and the load bearing front legs are straight. This lounge chair is much more stable than other chairs of that type that have been constructed.
Chair 25 was designed with the use of several different woods, and had a paper rope for the seat and the back of the chair. Also interesting about the design is the side of the seat, which is made from one piece that curves and becomes the back legs. Often Chair 25 is grouped with wicker furniture (möbler), as some consider it to look wicker in style, but Wegner's design is in a league apart from flimsy wicker furnishings.
Wegner did not name his designs, preferring only to assign them catalogue numbers. One Wegner model, the PP203, gained international exposure when a television network purchase a dozen of them, and they were subsequently seen in the Kennedy-Nixon 1960 election debates. They chose the design because of its clean lines, and simple design, but the chairs are also quite comfortable.
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About the Author: Chairs are what Hans J Wegner is best known for rather than his other designs (design mobler), especially wegner ch 25 (or Chair 25) which was created in 1950. He was most talented at constructing chairs, which he considered as much a work of art, as a place to sit. One of his beliefs was that chairs should appear excellent from every perspective, but there should be no "back" to the chair, just a continuous flow around the chair. He designed four chairs with woven style seats for Carl Hansen and Son; however ch 25 was the only one with rope weaving in the seat and the back.
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