Egg chair (leather)by Arne Jacobsen

Arne-Jacobsen

As a student in 1925 the renowned Danish architect and designer Arne Jacobsen won a silver medal for a chair he designed at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, where he was also awestruck by Le Corbusier's Esprit Nouveau pavilion. Jacobsen was one of the first to introduce the principles of Modernism to Danish design, starting with the concept of "total design," in which no detail was too stereotypical. Right from his early works, what emerges is the influence of Le Corbusier, Asplund and Mies van der Rohe. However, his success as a designer came with his curved and elastic chairs, created in the 1950s and largely influenced by the artistic alliance of Eames-Saarinen during the 1940s. The Royal Hotel in Copenaghen is perhaps his most famous work: completed in 1960, it was one of the world's first design hotels, a true icon in its genre. Jacobsen personally attended to every minute detail, from the design of the facade to its interiors: from its furnishings, fabrics, chairs, lighting and ashtrays to the tableware and cutlery.