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Hans Wegner - Acclaimed Scandinavian Designer

by Richard Guilfoyle

The furniture (möbler) designer Hans Wegner passed away in 2007. Hans was born in 1914 in Tonger, Denmark and became a well known figure and successful graduate of the Danish Modern School of Design. His style was using simple and clean lines that worked together to create beautiful and unobtrusive furniture (möbler).

Hans Wegner started his career as a woodworker. Unfortunately, he was called to serve his country. He continued his training at a school that specialized in technical skills. Then he became a student at the Copenhagen Architectural Academy as well as the School of Arts and Crafts for additional training. Later, he studied with the masters Erik Moller and Arne Jacobsen.

Designing chairs as a work of art and a comfortable piece of furniture (möbler) was his area of expertise. He believed that a chair should look good from every angle. Also, he felt it should be viewed without a front or back but instead with one continuous movement around the chair. He liked his chairs to have a simplicity and sophistication, but used a variety of materials and shapes to design the pieces.

He did not restrict his work to totally basic chairs, though, making intricate designs such as his "peacock" style for design competitions, and also creating some beds, cabinets and tables. He created a valet chair after using himself as the guinea pig for how it looked and how well it did the intended job. Along with his daughter, he is also considered to have invented the pole light back in the 1970's.

Most of the furniture Hans Wegner is best known for is in fact chairs. One of the better known designs was the wegner ch25 (or Chair 25) created in 1950. He designed four chairs with woven style seats for Carl Hansen and Son, but this is the only one with rope weaving in both the seat and in the back. It is also uniquely engineered with the front legs being very straight and carrying most of the load. The back legs are angled and this lounge chair is much more stable than most of that type.

Chair 25 was made in several different woods and had a paper rope used for the back and seat. Another interesting part of the design is that the side of the seat is one continuous curved piece that becomes the back legs. Many people think Chair 25 looks a lot like wicker furnishings, and it is often used with it. However, Wegner's chair is in a whole other league from flimsy wicker.

Catalogue names were given to Hans Wegner's work instead of design names. The PP203, for example, was an item seen by millions when used by television networks during the famous Kennedy-Nikon debates of 1960. The PP203 was chosen for its simple and clean lines, as well as being comfortable.

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Chairs are what Hans Wegner is best known for rather than any other different furniture (annorlunda mobler) he had designed, especially ch 25 (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.

Published December 10th, 2007

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